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Title: The Storehouses of the King
Author: Gelder, Jane van
Language: English
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Transcriber’s Note
When italics were used in the original book, the corresponding text has
been surrounded by _underscores_. Some corrections have been made to
the printed text. These are listed in a second transcriber’s note at
the end of the text.
THE STOREHOUSES OF THE KING.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE
STOREHOUSES OF THE KING
THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT
WHAT THEY ARE AND WHO BUILT THEM
BY
JANE VAN GELDER
(_née_ TRILL)
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of
wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see
thou hurt not the oil and the wine.—_Revelation_ vi. 6.
LONDON: W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE.
1885.
(_All Rights reserved._)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LONDON:
PRINTED BY W. H. ALLEN AND CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE, S. W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THIS VOLUME
IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
TO
EGYPTOLOGISTS AND FREEMASONS
OF ALL NATIONS,
BY
THE DISCOVERER OF WHAT THE STONE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT ARE,
AND WHO BUILT THEM,
THE AUTHOR.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREFACE.
The Pyramids have been reckoned among the wonders of the world, and
every effort has been made to discover for what purpose they were
constructed, and by whom they were built.
Their immense size, their solid construction, the lonely positions in
which they are placed, add to the amazement of the spectator.
Many conjectures and assertions have been made regarding them. Some
assert they were the tombs of the kings of Egypt, and others differ,
and say they were built for astronomical purposes; and those who give
up guessing or speculating regarding them, consider they were the
tokens of the folly and tyranny of the rulers of Egypt.
All travellers, and learned men and women who have visited these
gigantic monuments, admit their grandeur, and admire their sublimity.
Many expeditions have been sent to Egypt for the purpose of gaining
information regarding these Pyramids; and many public and private
individuals have spent princely fortunes in exploring them; and on
almost every occasion a book has been written, and given to the world,
showing the result of each expedition. Everything that could possibly
be said and written regarding these relics of antiquity has been given
forth to the world in all languages, from the remotest times till the
present day.
It is now the pleasant task of the author to state that the vexed
question may be set at rest, as the solution to the mystery has been
found. The discovery was made whilst reading the latest works on the
Pyramids; she recognised some features in the interior of the Great
Pyramid, and recalled to mind for what purpose such passages have been
used, and followed up the incident by reading more carefully every
book, and examining all the illustrations showing the interior and the
exterior of the noble buildings, till ultimately there remained not the
shadow of a doubt that the discovery was real. The sensation after the
removal of doubt was painful. When this sensation of amazement and
wonder had passed away, a feeling of gratitude took possession of the
mind.
This memorable discovery was made in August 1880. Began writing this
work on the 20th August and finished it on the 30th November.[1] The
entire work has been begun and brought to a conclusion without the
assistance of any person.
The narrative connected with the Pyramids is most touching; on that
account the writer proposes giving the life of the builder as she
describes these wonderful monuments of antiquity. She has never
attempted writing for publication before, therefore she humbly prays
the reader to be indulgent and to overlook all errors and shortcomings,
and to believe that this volume is brought before the world simply to
uphold the truth of the Holy Bible which has recorded the narrative;
and the appositeness of St. Paul’s assertion, that God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God
chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought the things
that are.
CONTENTS.
Chap. Page.
I. JOSEPH—THE BUILDER 1
II. MOSES—THE RECORDER 16
III. TOWER OF BABEL—THE MODEL 38
IV. THE PYRAMIDS AS GRANARIES 49
V. THE HEBREWS IN EGYPT 58
VI. THE SPHINX—THE ENTRANCE 75
VII. MISSION OF MOSES IN THE EAST 86
VIII. MISSION OF MOSES IN THE WEST 123
IX. GRANARIES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD 162
X. DEATH OF MOSES 189
XI. RECORD OF FAMINES 198
XII. APOTHEOSIS OF MOSES 237
APPENDICES—
I. THE GREAT FAMINE IN EGYPT 247
II. THE TRANSLATION OF THE SEPTUAGINT 273
III. HERODOTUS ON THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT 296
IV. ON THE HEBREW AND GRECIAN FEAST OF FIRST-FRUITS 298
V. PREDICTIONS CONCERNING EGYPT 308
THE
STOREHOUSES OF THE KING.
CHAPTER I.
JOSEPH—THE BUILDER.
Joseph was the son of Jacob’s old age, and consequently he loved him
more than any of his other sons, by which Joseph incurred the envy and
hatred of his brothers, and they, knowing that the lad carried evil
reports of their conduct to their father, determined to do him some
harm. Besides, Joseph was always having strange dreams, which he
related to his father in the presence of his brothers, which dreams
were interpreted to mean some great advancement in the life of the
dreamer. The brothers watched for an opportunity to get rid of this
favourite child. The opportunity presented itself, and they availed
themselves of it. Jacob sent Joseph to see the state of affairs in the
field where the flocks were fed, and to bring him word; so Joseph, in
obedience to his father’s command, went, and when the brothers who were
guarding the flocks saw him approaching, they agreed to kill him. But
one of the elder ones said that it would be a great sin to shed the
blood of their relative, and that it would be better to throw him into
a pit and leave him there to die; to which suggestion the rest
consented. When Joseph came up to them, they insulted him, and stripped
him of the coat which his father, in his fondness for him, had made for
him, and, unheeding the lad’s cries and remonstrances, they threw him
into a pit. After this cruel deed, the men went to their meal; and
whilst eating it they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites, and to them they
sold Joseph, who was taken out of the pit and given to them. The
Ishmaelites, fearing that Joseph was not a slave, judging from his
handsome face and noble carriage, sold him to a company of Midianites,
merchants going down to Egypt. When these merchants arrived in Egypt,
they sold him as a slave to an Egyptian nobleman. Here he was kindly
treated by his master, who had confidence in his integrity, and was
made an overseer of his master’s property. Joseph was seventeen years
old when he was taken away from his home and country, and his father
mourned for him as dead. This took place in the year 1728 B.C.
The ways of the Almighty God are mysterious, and far above human
comprehension. God blessed Joseph, and he grew into man’s estate goodly
and well-favoured.
His master’s wife noticed him and became madly enamoured; losing all
self-control, she made criminal advances to him, which he repelled, and
entreated her to remember that he was her husband’s trusted servant,
and that she should not induce him to commit such wickedness against
his master and sin in the sight of God. She still persisted, till at
last she used force, and he fled from her presence, leaving a piece of
his coat by which she held him. Seeing that he was not to be overcome,
she hated him, and, to revenge herself on him, she reversed the story
and told it to her husband, who, believing her tale, became very angry
with Joseph and prosecuted him. Though the Court wherein he was tried
found him innocent, yet the nobleman persuaded the judge to place
Joseph in confinement, that his wife’s conduct might not be made
public; and, as Joseph had neither friends nor means, he was helpless,
and consequently was sent to prison, where he remained many years.
In his solitude, the mind of the captive must have often recalled
scenes of home, and all the lessons that he had learnt orally—as was
the custom in the East—and remembered the great deeds and renown of
his ancestors, and the marvellous acts of God towards Noah and Abraham
and Isaac, and his own father Jacob, who was surnamed by God Israel. In
regarding his miserable condition he must have thought of the visit to
Egypt of his great-grandfather, Abraham, who came as a prince, and was
treated by the king as his friend; and how the king, when he found he
was misinformed by Abraham regarding his wife, made honourable amends,
and gave him flocks and herds as presents; and when the famine in
Canaan was over, he and his wife and their nephew left Egypt in state
(the Egyptian historians call these visitors “Shepherd Kings”); and how
when there was another famine in Canaan, in the lifetime of Isaac,
there was corn in Egypt, and Isaac would have visited Egypt as did his
father, but that he was forbidden by God.
Thus time sped till Joseph was thirty years old, when Pharaoh, King of
Egypt, was warned in dreams of the approach of the great and memorable
famine, which was to last seven long years, during which time the earth
would make its sabbath, and produce no food for man or beast. It was
then that the unhappy captive was remembered by a fellow-prisoner,
whose dream Joseph had interpreted, and which was realised as he
predicted; so that, when all the wise men of Egypt could not tell the
King the meaning of his dreams, and when the King in his disappointed
rage was about to condemn them to death, Joseph was called.
He was taken from the prison and brought before the King, who, seeing
in him a superior deportment and a stately person, came down from his
throne and addressed him as an equal; he told him his dreams, and said
there was none who could interpret them, and that he had heard that he
understood dreams and could interpret them. Joseph answered the King
with humility, and told him what was the will of God regarding the land
of Egypt; that there would be seven years of great plenty throughout
all the land of Egypt, and after them seven years of famine; that all
the plenty would be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine
would consume the land. Joseph advised Pharaoh to look out for a man
discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt; to appoint
officers over the land, and to take up the fifth part of the produce of
the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years; to let them gather all
the food of those good years that were to come, and lay up corn under
the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities, that it
might be for store to the land against the seven years of famine which
should be in the land of Egypt, that the land might not perish through
the famine.
Pharaoh was greatly pleased, both at the interpretation and the advice;
and, as there was none like him, in whom was the spirit of God, Pharaoh
made Joseph the Viceroy of Egypt; and Pharaoh took off his ring from
his hand and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of
fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; and he made him ride
in the second chariot which he had, and the people cried before him,
“Bow the knee!” or “Bend the knee!” and Pharaoh made him ruler of all
the land of Egypt.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no
man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” And Pharaoh
called Joseph’s name Zaphnath-paaneah, or “Preserver of the Age.”
Consequently Joseph had absolute power vested in him. The King also
gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On. And
Joseph went throughout all the land of Egypt. And in the seven
plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. And he gathered up
all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and
laid up the food in the cities; the food of the field, which was round
about every city, laid he up in the same. And Joseph gathered corn as
the sand of the sea, very much, until he left off numbering; for it was
without number.
The land of Egypt is six hundred miles long, and is bounded by two
ranges of naked limestone hills which sometimes approach, and sometimes
retire from each other, leaving between them an average breadth of
seven miles. Northwards they part and finally disappear, giving place
to a marshy meadow plain which extends to the Mediterranean coast. To
the south they are no longer of limestone, but of granite; they narrow
to a point; they close till they almost touch; and through the mountain
gate thus formed the river Nile leaps with a roar into the valley, and
runs due north towards the sea. This land and its neighbourhood was
first inhabited by the descendants of Ham, the third son of Noah;
Mizraim, the second son of Ham, occupied Egypt. The noble river Nile is
recorded in the Scriptures as the second river which parted from the
main stream which went out of Eden to water the garden where Adam and
Eve were placed by their Creator.
In the winter and spring it rolls a languid stream through a dry and
dusty plain; but in the summer an extraordinary thing happens. The
river grows troubled and swift, it turns red and then green; it rises,
it swells, till at length, overflowing its banks, it covers the
adjoining lands to the base of the hills on either side. The whole
valley becomes a lake, from which the villages rise like islands, for
they are built on artificial mounds. The land of Egypt is by nature a
rainless desert, which the Nile, the mysterious Nile only, converts
into a fruitful garden every year.
The task that Joseph had been entrusted with was stupendous. He had to
build storehouses that would contain all the fifth part of the produce
of the plenteous years of the fertile land of Egypt that were gathered
up during the seven years. Before he set himself to the building of
these vast receptacles he must have searched for models, and whilst
doing this the building of the Tower of Babel must have come to his
recollection, for the father of Abraham was the chief officer of King
Nimrod who built it. This was a grand model, and that he followed it is
evident from what we see in the Pyramids, or Storehouses of the King,
in this, the nineteenth century of our Lord.
When the Temple at Jerusalem was about to be built by Solomon, he must
have read how the storehouses were built, and he must have been aware
for what use they were intended, as well as by whom they were built.
Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, and as
son-in-law of the King he must have had free access to all the secret
buildings and records of the land of Egypt.
This is the account of the building of the Temple: Solomon laid the
foundations of the Temple very deep in the rock of Moriah, and the
materials were strong stones, and such as would resist the force of
time; these were to unite themselves with the rock, and become a basis
and a sure foundation for that superstructure which was to be erected
over it. They were to be so strong in order to sustain with ease those
vast superstructures and precious ornaments, whose own weight was to be
not less than the weight of those other high and heavy buildings which
the King designed to be very ornamental and magnificent. He erected its
entire body, quite up to the roof, of white stone; its height was sixty
cubits, its length was the same, and its breadth was twenty. There was
another building erected over it, equal to it in its measures, so that
the entire altitude of the Temple was a hundred and twenty cubits. Its
front was to the east.
Now the whole structure of the Temple was made, with great skill, of
polished stones, laid together so very harmoniously and smoothly that
there appeared to the spectators no signs of any hammer, or other
instrument of architecture, but as if, without any use of them, the
materials had naturally united themselves together, the agreement of
one part with another seeming rather to be natural, than to have arisen
from the force of tools upon them. The King also had a fine contrivance
for an ascent to the upper room over the Temple, and that was by steps
in the thickness of its wall; for it had no large door on the east end,
as the lower house had, but the entrances were by the sides, through
very small doors. He also overlaid the Temple, both within and without,
with boards of cedar, that were kept close together by thick chains, so
that this contrivance was in the nature of a support and strength to
the building.
The Temple was built on the crown of Moriah, “the threshing floor of
Ornan the Jebusite” (2 Chr. iii. 1), with a surrounding platform six
hundred and twelve feet square. The building called the Naos would seem
to have stood on the summit of the rock, in which graduated platforms
were cut, forming the courts of the Jews and women. The Naos was small
(sixty by twenty cubits), and was divided into the Holy of Holies and
Holy Place, the former used once a year, the latter occupied only by
the priests performing daily service. In the former was the Ark; in the
latter the altar of incense, with the table of Shew-bread on its one
side, and golden candlestick on the other. These two parts were
separated by a veil, which was rent at the crucifixion (Matt. xxvii.
51). The court of the Gentiles surrounded the Naos, but was on a lower
platform, separated by a trellis fence. The Naos was, like Mount Sinai,
the sanctuary of Jehovah, fenced off from the Gentiles’ court, the
plain below.
Solomon must have referred to the discovery that he had made regarding
these buildings (the Pyramids) and to the builder of them, when he
said: “Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king,
who will no more be admonished. For out of prison he cometh to reign;
whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor” (Eccl. iv.
13, 14).
Joseph built these storehouses near the fields of every city, according
to the size of the city and the number of its inhabitants. In the
north, near the Delta, he built many and large, according to the amount
of corn the fields there yielded. He was occupied seven years in
building them, and during the time thus occupied, he must often have
recalled the fond memories of home, and of his aged father, and his
youngest brother, the son of his deceased mother; and doubtless the
three largest Pyramids of Jeezeh he dedicated to the memory of his
ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
So Joseph laid the foundations of each storehouse very deep in the rock
on which it was built, and the materials were strong stones, such as
would resist the force of time; these were to unite themselves with the
rock, and become a basis and a sure foundation for that superstructure
which was to be erected over it. They were to be so strong in order to
sustain with ease those vast superstructures whose own weight was to be
not less than the weight of the casing stones which he designed to be
used. He erected its entire body, quite up to the roof, of stone. Its
base was square, the sides rising up slantwise, till there was only a
small square aperture left unfinished; these sides were in steps, so
that the labourers could ascend to the aperture.
The interior had chambers for the officers to reckon the quantity of
corn stored, and for the measure a stone coffer or box to measure the
corn with. There were vast chasms and receptacles with passages like
tubes leading to them, all the length from the walls, with their mouths
outside the walls, which Egyptologists call air passages, so that the
men could get to them from the exterior by the steps. The corn was
thrown into these vast spaces from outside, from the apertures in the
sides, and the aperture at the summit. When the whole receptacle was
well filled with the corn, which was as plentiful as the sand of the
sea, then all the apertures were stopped with stones, like stoppers of
bottles, made for the purpose. The side steps were then encased, from
the base to the summit, with large casing stones, so that the sides
became level, and, with the coatings of cement, the entire building
outside became level and smooth, and the top in a peak.
The corn within this grand storehouse was hermetically sealed, utterly
impervious to the sun, rain, and wind. The doors of it, as in Solomon’s
temple, were small, and in the sides. Now the whole of this structure
was made, with great skill, of stones, and those laid together so very
harmoniously and smoothly that there appeared to the spectators no
signs of any hammer or other instrument of architecture, but as if,
without any use of them, the materials had naturally united themselves
together, the agreement of one part with another seeming rather to be
natural than to have arisen from the force of tools upon them.
The foresight and discretion of Joseph were rewarded by Pharaoh, who
gave him the powers of a king and the attributes of a god.
And the seven years of plenteousness that was in the land of Egypt were
ended, according as Joseph had said, and the dearth was in all lands;
but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And the famine was over
all the face of the earth. Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold
corn unto the Egyptians; and all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to
buy corn, because the famine was sore in all lands. Now Joseph’s
thoughts reverted to his father’s home, and he knew that his brothers
would be obliged to come to Egypt to purchase food, for the famine was
very grievous in the land of Canaan. He gave orders that no man
desiring corn should send his servant to purchase it, but that the head
of each family should personally appear as a purchaser; he also
proclaimed that no man should be allowed to purchase corn in Egypt to
sell it again in other countries, but only such as he required for the
support of his immediate family; neither should any purchaser be
allowed to buy more corn than one animal could carry. He put guards at
all the gates of Egypt, and every man who passed through the gates was
obliged to record his name and the name of his father in a book, which
was brought by the guards every night for Joseph’s inspection. By doing
this he ascertained when his brethren entered Egypt. When they came and
stood before him, they wondered at his magnificence, the handsome
appearance and the majestic presence of the powerful man, but they did
not recognise in him their brother. He sold them corn, but contrived to
entrap them, so that they should bring down with them his own brother
Benjamin, who did not come with them this time; they departed, leaving
an hostage with Joseph, and on their next visit to buy corn they
brought with them his brother Benjamin, and a letter and presents from
Jacob. When Joseph recognised his father’s hand, his feelings grew too
strong for him; the recollections of his youth overpowered him, and,
retiring into a side apartment, he wept bitterly. He entertained all
his brothers, and sold them corn, but the price thereof he returned
without their knowledge into the sacks of each of his brothers. Before
they left Egypt he made himself known to them, and, after greetings and
explanations, he presented his brothers to Pharaoh; and Pharaoh, seeing
they were goodly men, was much pleased and very gracious towards them.
Then it was arranged that Jacob should come with all his family into
Egypt; and Pharaoh gave his chariots for their accommodation. In due
time Jacob and all his family came into Egypt. Joseph went to meet his
father, dressed in royal robes, with the crown of state upon his head;
and when he came within fifty cubits of his father’s company, he
descended from his chariot and walked to meet his father. Now when the
nobles and princes of Egypt saw this, they too descended from their
steeds and chariots and walked with him. And when Jacob saw all this
great procession he wondered exceedingly, and he was much pleased
thereat, and, turning to Judah, he asked, “Who is the man who marcheth
at the head of this great array in royal robes?” Judah answered, “This
is thy son.” And when Joseph drew nigh to his father he bowed down
before him, and his officers also bowed low to Jacob. And Jacob ran
towards his son and fell upon his neck and kissed him, and they wept
and shed tears of joy and gratitude. Joseph greeted his brethren with
affection. And Joseph brought his father and presented him to Pharaoh;
and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And the King said unto Jacob, “How old art
thou?” And Jacob answered him, and said, “The days of the years of my
pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days
of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of
the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”
And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a
possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land
of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph nourished his father,
and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread according
to their families (1706 B.C.).
And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore,
so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason
of the famine. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in
the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they
bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. When all
their money was spent they brought their cattle unto Joseph, and he
gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the
cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for
all their cattle for that year. After this, Joseph bought all the land
of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field,
because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s.
And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the
borders of Egypt, even to the other end thereof. Only the land of the
priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of
Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore
they sold not their lands.
During these seven years of famine the Egyptians sold all they had, and
that being insufficient they sold themselves, so that from subjects
they became servants to Pharaoh. Joseph again showed his forethought
and discretion, and called the people and said to them, Behold, I have
bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for
you, and you shall sow the land. And it shall come to pass in the
increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four
parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and
for them of your households, and for food for your little ones. Thus
they became serfs. The wretchedness and poverty of the people was
complete; as if the curse of Noah on his son Ham was accomplished to
the letter.
After this Jacob died, and his sons buried him in great state in the
cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for
a possession of a burying-place, in the land of Canaan (1689 B.C.).
Joseph had two sons by his wife Asenath. At the age of one hundred and
ten years this remarkable man died, and they embalmed him, and he was
put in a coffin in Egypt, and afterwards laid in the ground near the
banks of the Nile. And all Egypt wept for Joseph seventy days, and his
brethren mourned for him seven days, as they did for Jacob his father.
Then Pharaoh took the dominion in his own hands, and governed the
people wisely and in good faith.
CHAPTER II.
MOSES—THE RECORDER.
The narrative in connection with the Storehouses of the King would be
incomplete without a brief survey of the life of the inspired writer
who recorded all the particulars regarding them; and as almost every
existing religion is derived from his writings, it will not be deemed
superfluous. Moses was born in 1571 B.C. At this time a proclamation
was issued throughout the land of Egypt, dooming every male born to the
Hebrews to immediate destruction. The elders and wise men advised the
King to do this, because they feared that a war might come upon them,
and they feared that the Israelites might so increase and spread in the
land that they might drive them away from their own country. At first
they gave the Israelites hard work to reduce their numbers, but, as
that was unavailing, they advised the King, who did not know Joseph,
nor remember all the good that he had done for the Egyptians, to adopt
this barbarous method of reducing the numbers of the Israelitish
inhabitants of Goshen.
It was foretold to Amram, a descendant of Levi, the son of Jacob, that
the child, out of dread of whose nativity the Egyptians had doomed the
Israelite children to destruction, should be his, and be concealed from
those who watched to destroy him; and having been brought up in a
surprising way, he should deliver the Hebrew nation from the distress
they were under from the Egyptians. His memory should be famous while
the world lasts; and this not only among the Hebrews, but foreigners
also; and that this child should also have such a brother that he would
himself obtain God’s Priesthood, and his posterity should have it after
him to the end of the world. Amram and his wife Jochebed were in great
perplexity, and fear increased upon them on account of this prediction.
And when the child was born they nourished him at home privately for
three months. But after that time Amram—fearing he would be
discovered, and, by falling under the King’s displeasure, both he and
his child would perish, and so he should make the promise of God of
none effect—determined rather to entrust the safety and care of the
child to God, than to depend on his own concealment of him, which he
looked upon as a thing uncertain, and whereby both the child, so
privately to be nourished, and himself should be in imminent danger;
but he believed that God would in some way procure the safety of the
child, in order to realise the truth of his own predictions. When they
had thus determined, they made an ark of bulrushes, after the manner of
a cradle, and of a size sufficiently large for an infant to be laid in
without being too straitened. They then daubed it over with slime,
which would naturally keep the water from entering between the
bulrushes, and put the infant into it, and setting it afloat upon the
river, they left its preservation to God; so the river received the
child, and carried him along. Now Thermuthis, the daughter of Pharaoh,
was diverting herself by the banks of the river; and seeing a cradle
borne along by the current, she sent some that could swim, and bade
them bring the cradle to her. When those that were sent on this errand
came to her with the cradle, and she saw the little child, she was
greatly in love with it, on account of its largeness and beauty.
Thermuthis bade them bring her a woman that might afford her breast to
the child. Now Miriam, the sister of Moses, was standing near when this
happened, and, when she had this order given her, she went and brought
the mother, and the child gladly took her breast, and seemed to stick
close to it; and so it was that, at the Queen’s desire, the nursing of
the child was entirely entrusted to its mother.
The following names were given to Moses by the different persons
interested in him:—
Moses, “I have drawn him from out the water,” by Thermuthis,
Pharaoh’s daughter.
Heber, “Because he was reunited to his family,” by his father Amram.
Yekuthiel, “I hoped in God,” by his mother Jochebed.
Yarah, “I went down to the river to watch him,” by his sister
Miriam.
Abigedore, “For God had repaired the breach in the house of Jacob,
and the Egyptians ceased from that time to cast the infants into
the water,” by his brother Aaron.
Abi Socho, “For three months he was hidden,” by his grandfather
Caath.
Shermaiah Ben Nethaniel, “Because in his day God heard their
groaning and delivered them from their oppressors,” by the children
of Israel.
Moses became as a son to Thermuthis, the daughter of Pharaoh, as a
child belonging rightly to the palace of the King.
The first exploit of Moses was as a general of the Egyptian army, which
he led into Ethiopia; he marched by land, and on the way gave a
wonderful demonstration of his sagacity. The ground was difficult to be
passed over, because of the multitude of serpents; these it produces in
vast numbers, and, indeed, is singular in some of those species, which
other countries do not breed, and yet such as are worse than others in
power and mischief, possessing unusual keenness of sight. Some of these
serpents ascend from the ground unseen, and also fly in the air, and so
come upon men unawares, and do them mischief. Moses invented a
wonderful stratagem to preserve the army safe and without hurt; for he
made baskets, like unto arks, of sedge, and filled them with ibises,
Egyptian birds, and carried them along with them. These birds are the
greatest enemies to serpents imaginable, for they fly from them when
they come near them, and as they fly they are caught and devoured by
them. As soon, therefore, as Moses came to the land which bred these
serpents, he let loose the ibises, and by their means repelled the
serpentine kind; using them as his assistants before the army came upon
that ground. When, therefore, he proceeded thus on his journey he came
upon the Ethiopians before they expected him; and, joining battle with
them, he beat them and overthrew their cities, and, indeed, made a
great slaughter of the Ethiopians. Moses laid siege to Saba, afterwards
called Meroë, the capital of Ethiopia, a strong city encompassed by the
Nile and by two other rivers, Astapus and Astaboras, and strongly
fortified with great ramparts, insomuch that when the waters come with
the greatest violence it can never be overthrown; these ramparts also
make it next to impossible for even such as have crossed over the
rivers to take the city. However, while Moses was uneasy at the army’s
lying idle (for the enemies durst not come to battle), this accident or
incident occurred: Tharbis, the daughter of the King of Ethiopia,
happened to see Moses as he led the army near the walls, and fought
with great courage, and admiring the subtlety of his undertakings, and
taking him to be the author of the success of the Egyptians, she fell
deeply in love with him, and sent to him the most faithful of all her
servants to discourse with him about their marriage. He thereupon
accepted the offer, on condition that she would procure the delivering
up of the city; and gave her the assurance of an oath to make her his
wife, and that when he had once taken possession of the city he would
not break his oath to her. No sooner was the agreement made than its
condition was fulfilled; and when Moses had cut off the Ethiopians he
gave thanks to God, and consummated his marriage, and led the Egyptians
back to their own land.[2]
Now the Egyptians, after they had been preserved by Moses, entertained
a hatred to him, and were very eager in compassing their designs
against him, suspecting that he would take occasion, from his great
success, to raise a sedition and bring innovations into Egypt; so they
told the King he ought to be slain. The King had also some intentions
of his own to the same purpose; and, being instigated by the elders and
wise men, he was ready to undertake to kill Moses. But when Moses
learned this he went away privately and joined the army of Kikanus, the
King of Ethiopia, at that time suppressing a rebellion in Assyria, and
soon became a great favourite with the King and with all his
companions. Then Kikanus became sick and died in Ethiopia, and his
soldiers buried him and reared a monument over his remains, inscribing
upon it the memorable deeds of his life. After the death of King
Kikanus the army appointed Moses to be their King and leader. This took
place in the hundred and fifty-seventh year after Israel went down into
Egypt. The Ethiopians placed Moses upon their throne and set the crown
of state upon his head, and they gave him the widow of Kikanus for a
wife; but the widow of Kikanus was a wife to Moses in name only. When
Moses was made King of Ethiopia the Assyrians again rebelled as they
had done before; but Moses subdued them and placed them under yearly
tribute to the Ethiopian dynasty. Moses reigned in Ethiopia in justice
and righteousness. But the dowager Queen of Ethiopia, Adonith, who was
a wife to Moses in name only, said to the people: “Why should this
stranger continue to rule over you? Would it not be more just to place
the son of Kikanus upon his father’s throne, for he is one of you?” The
people, however, would not vex Moses, whom they loved, by such a
proposition; but Moses voluntarily resigned the power which they had
given him, and departed from their land. And the people of Ethiopia
made him many rich presents, and dismissed him with great honours.[3]
Moses being still fearful of returning to Egypt, travelled towards
Midian, and sat there to rest by a well of water. And the seven
daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian, came there and drew water
and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock; and Moses helped
them, and at the invitation of their father he dwelt with them, and
married Zipporah, one of his daughters.
And in process of time the King of Egypt died, and the children of
Israel sighed by reason of the bondage; and God sent Moses to them to
deliver them. After the enthronement of the next King, Moses and his
brother Aaron came before Pharaoh and asked permission for the
Israelites to leave Goshen on a three days’ journey into the
wilderness, to hold a religious festival unto the Lord their God. But
Pharaoh refused; and thereupon Moses and Aaron showed miraculous signs
and deeds. Still the King persisted in his refusal; till at last the
anger of the Lord became great towards Pharaoh. God then commanded
Moses and Aaron to prepare the Passover sacrifice, saying: “I will pass
over the land of Egypt and slay the first-born, both of man and beast.”
The Israelites did as they were commanded, and at midnight the angel of
the Lord passed over the land and smote the first-born of Egypt, both
of man and beast. Then there was a great and grievous cry through all
the land, for there was not a house without its dead; and Pharaoh and
his people rose up in alarm and consuming grief, and called for Moses
and Aaron and bade them be gone, supposing that, if once the Hebrews
were gone out of the country, Egypt would be freed from its miseries.
They also gave the Israelites gifts, some in order to get them to
depart quickly, and others on account of their neighbourhood, and the
friendship they had with them.[4]
So the Hebrews went out of Egypt, while the Egyptians wept, and
repented that they had treated them so hardly. And Moses took the bones
of Joseph, the builder of the Storehouses of the King, with him; for
Joseph had strictly sworn the children of Israel, saying: “God will
surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.”
And they took their journey from Goshen, and encamped in Etham, in the
edge of the wilderness. This was in the eightieth year of the age of
Moses, and the eighty-third of his brother Aaron.
But the King soon regretted that he had let the Hebrews depart, so he
resolved to go after them to bring them back. Accordingly he pursued
after them with six hundred chariots, fifty thousand horsemen, and two
hundred thousand footmen, all armed. On coming up to the Hebrews they
seized on the passages by which they imagined the Hebrews might fly,
shutting them up between precipices and the sea; for there was on each
side a ridge of mountains that terminated at the sea, which were
impassable by reason of their roughness, and obstructed their flight.
Wherefore they were in great distress, as they had no weapons of war
for defence, nor was there a way of escape. So there was sorrow and
lamentation among the women and children, who had nothing but
destruction before their eyes, being encompassed with mountains, the
sea, and their enemies, and discerned no way of flying from them.
At this juncture Moses called all the people, and when they were ready
he stood on the sea-shore and prayed to God in these words: “Thou art
not ignorant, O Lord, that it is beyond human strength and human
contrivance to avoid the difficulties which we are now under; but it
must be Thy work altogether to procure deliverance to this army, which
has left Egypt at Thy appointment. We despair of any other assistance
or contrivance, and have recourse only to that hope we have in Thee;
and if there be any method that can promise us an escape by Thy
providence, we look up to Thee for it. And let it come quickly, and
manifest Thy power to us; and do Thou raise up this people to good
courage and hope of deliverance, who are deeply sunk into a
disconsolate state of mind. We are in a helpless place, but still it is
a place that Thou possessest; still the sea is Thine, the mountains
also that enclose us are Thine, so that these mountains will open
themselves if Thou commandest them; and the sea also, if Thou
commandest it, will become dry land. Nay, we might escape by a flight
through the air, if thou shouldst determine we should have that way of
salvation.”[5] When he ended his prayer, Moses lifted up his hand and
smote the sea with his rod, which parted asunder at the stroke, and,
receding, left the ground dry, as a road and a place of flight for the
Hebrews. Seeing the assistance of the Almighty thus vouchsafed in
answer to his prayer, he entered in first, and made the Hebrews follow
him; they obeyed and went on earnestly, as led by God’s presence. The
Egyptians supposed at first that they were distracted, and were going
rashly upon manifest destruction. But when they saw that they were
going a great way without any harm, and that no obstacle or difficulty
fell in their journey, they made haste to pursue them, hoping that the
sea would be calm for them also. They put their horse foremost, and
went down themselves into the sea. By this time the Hebrews had got
over to the land on the opposite side without any hurt. Whence the
others were encouraged, and more courageously pursued them, as hoping
no harm would come to them; but they were mistaken, for as soon as ever
the whole Egyptian army was within it, the sea flowed to its own place,
and came down with a torrent raised by storms of wind, and encompassed
the Egyptians. Showers of rain also came down from the sky, and
dreadful thunder and lightning, with flashes of fire. Thunderbolts also
were darted upon them; nor was there anything which used to be sent by
God upon men as indications of His wrath which did not happen at this
time, for a dark and dismal night oppressed them. And thus did the King
of Egypt and all his men perish, so that there was not one man left to
be a messenger of this calamity to the rest of the Egyptians.[6] On the
next day Moses gathered together the weapons of the Egyptians, which
were brought on shore by the current of the sea, the force of the winds
assisting it; and he armed the Hebrews with them. After returning
grateful thanks for this miraculous deliverance, he led the people to
Mount Sinai, as he was ordered by God beforehand. Here he instructed
them, and prepared them against the time when they should enter the
land of Canaan, which country they considered their inheritance, and to
which they looked as the destination of their journey. And Moses gave
them, among other lessons, the Ten Commandments, which were engraved
upon two stone slabs or tables, five on each table, and two and a half
upon each side of them. The First Commandment taught that there is but
one God, and that they ought to worship Him only; the Second commanded
them not to make the image of any living creature, to worship it; the
Third, that they must not swear by God in a false matter; the Fourth
that they must keep the seventh day, by resting from all sorts of work;
the Fifth, that they must honour their parents; the Sixth, that they
must abstain from murder; the Seventh, that they must not commit
adultery; the Eighth, that they must not be guilty of theft; the Ninth,
that they must not bear false witness; the Tenth, that they must not
admit the desire of anything that is another’s.[7] These two tables
were, for security, placed in a box or ark, made of wood that was
naturally strong and could not be corrupted. This ark was called, in
the Hebrew language, Eron. Its construction was thus: its length was
five spans, but its breadth and height were, each of them, three spans.
It was covered all over with gold, both within and without, so that the
wooden part was not seen. It had also a cover united to it by golden
hinges in a wonderful manner; which cover was every way evenly fitted
to it, and had no irregularities to hinder its exact conjunction. There
were also two golden rings fastened to each of the longer boards, and
passing right through the wood; through them gilt bars passed along
each board, that it might thereby be moved and carried about as
occasion should require; for it was not drawn in a cart by beasts of
burden, but borne on the shoulders of the priests. Upon this cover were
two images, which the Hebrews call cherubims; they are flying
creatures, but their form is not like to that of any of the creatures
which men have seen, though Moses said he had seen such beings near the
throne of God.[8]
As the people were dwelling in tents, and were marching towards the
land of Canaan by easy marches, Moses made a tent called the
Tabernacle, in which he placed the ark containing the two tables. This
Tabernacle served as a church in the wilderness, and wherever they
travelled they carried it about with them. Moses appointed his brother
Aaron to be the High Priest; and after the death of Aaron, Eleazar, his
son, became his successor, and the garments of his high office were put
upon him. The family of the Levites were the priests.
Moses remained with the Hebrews forty years, and laboured to make them
a religious and God-fearing people; but they frequently revolted
against him, murmuring whenever they were in distress, and tried his
patience to the utmost, till he forgot himself, and also complained
against God, for which he was forbidden to enter the land of Canaan.
Therefore, when he had admonished and repeated to the people all the
laws he had given them, he brought them to the border of Canaan, and
gave over the charge of the Hebrews to Joshua, his disciple and their
commander. Now, as Moses went from them to the place where he wished to
vanish out of their sight, they all followed after him weeping; but he
beckoned with his hand to those that were remote from him, and bade
them stay behind in quiet, while he exhorted those that were near him
that they would not mourn so at his departure. Whereupon they thought
they ought to grant him that favour, to let him depart according as he
himself desired; so they restrained themselves, though weeping still
towards one another. All those who accompanied him were the Senate, and
Eleazar the High Priest, and Joshua, their commander. Now as soon as
they were come to the mountain called Abarim (which is a very high
mountain, situate over against Jericho, and one that affords, to such
as are upon it, a prospect of the greatest part of the excellent land
of Canaan), he dismissed the Senate; and, as he was going to embrace
Eleazar and Joshua, and was still discoursing with them, suddenly a
cloud stood over him, and he disappeared in a certain valley out of
their sight.[9]
Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he left the camp of the
Israelites. He spent forty years of his life in teaching the Laws of
God to the people in the wilderness. He was one that exceeded all men
that ever were in understanding, and made the best use of what that
understanding suggested to him. He had a very graceful way of speaking
and addressing himself to the multitude; and as to his other
qualifications, he had such a full command of his passions, as if he
had hardly any such in his soul, and only knew them by their names, as
rather perceiving them in other men than in himself. He was also such a
general of an army as is seldom seen, as well as a king and a prophet
as was never known, and this to such a degree, that whatsoever he
pronounced one would think he heard the voice of God Himself. So the
people mourned for him thirty days, nor did any grief so deeply affect
the Hebrews as did this upon the departure of Moses; nor were those who
had witnessed his conduct the only persons who desired him, but those
also who perused the laws he left behind him greatly longed for him,
and from those laws learned the extraordinary virtue he was master
of.[10] At this period of his life his eye was not dim, nor his natural
force abated. “And Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of
wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the children of
Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses. And
there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the
Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and the wonders, which the
Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his
servants, and to all his land, and in all that mighty hand, and in all
the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel.”[11]
Although he wrote in the holy books that he died, it was for fear lest
they should say that, because of his extraordinary virtue, he went to
God.[12]
Moses was as we shall see, a great traveller, and acquainted with the
vast wilderness that extends from the centre of Africa to the jungles
of Bengal, that consists of rugged mountains and of sandy wastes; it
was traversed by three river-basins or valley plains. In its centre was
the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates. On its east was the basin of the
Indus; on its west was the basin of the Nile. Each of these river
systems was enclosed by deserts; the whole region resembling a broad
yellow field with three green streaks running north and south. The
inhabitants of these regions were not in the habit of travelling beyond
the confines of their own valleys. They resembled islanders, and they
had no ships. But the intermediate seas were navigated by the wandering
tribes, who sometimes pastured their flocks by the waters of the Indus,
sometimes by the waters of the Nile. It was by their means that the
trade between the river-lands was carried on. They possessed the camels
and other beasts of burden requisite for the transport of goods. Their
numbers and their warlike habits, their intimate acquaintance with the
watering-places and seasons of the desert, enabled them to carry the
goods in safety through a dangerous land; while the regular profits
they derived from the trade, and the oaths by which they were bound,
induced them to act fairly to those by whom they were employed. At this
time, 1451 B.C., a mighty tide of the Aryans immigrated to the basin or
valley plain of the Indus. They called themselves Arya, or noble, and
spoke a language the common source of Sanskrit, Prakrit, Zand, Persian,
and Armenian in Asia. They settled down as agriculturists in the
districts surrounding the Indus, their wealth consisting of flocks and
herds; thence, after a time, they overran by successive irruptions the
plains of the Ganges, and spread themselves over the regions called
Aryavarta, occupying the whole of Central India. They were the
promoters of the moral and intellectual progress and civilization in
India; and notwithstanding all the diversities of the Hindoo
populations throughout India, their religious faith has been preserved
in their one language and one literature, furnishing a good evidence of
the original unity of the Indo-Aryans. Their leader and legislator was
known by the name of Manu, who was no other than Moses. After leaving
the camp of the Israelites he travelled to the Indus; the form of
Government he established there was the counterpart or duplicate of the
one he established among the Hebrews; the laws and customs were the
very same; the most careful comparison will confirm the fact. Moses was
afraid that the Hebrews would trace his footsteps, so he sank his
identity by assuming a foreign name: thus, for Moses he used Manu; for
Abraham, Brahman; for Amram, Ram. All the remarkable Biblical events
are familiar to the Brahmans, and the record of the creation as
contained in the Bible was given in the Rig-veda of the Hindoos. The
narrative of the finding of Moses by the daughter of Pharaoh has a
corresponding record, but as he was more than one hundred and twenty
years old when he arrived in India, the account is that the Lawgiver
was cradled by a large sea-serpent on the bosom of the great waters for
ages, whilst he was in a state of somnolence.
The origin of the belief in the Transmigration of the Soul is also
taken from an event in the life of Moses, which is recorded in the
Hebrew Talmud thus: The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, thy days approach
that thou must die.” On this Moses thought that he had committed but a
slight offence, which would be pardoned; for ten times had Israel
tempted God’s wrath and been forgiven through his intercession, as it
is written: “And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word.”
But when he became convinced that he would not be pardoned, he made the
following supplication: “Sovereign of the universe, my trouble and my
exertion for Israel’s sake is revealed and known before Thee. How I
have laboured to cause thy people to know Thee, and to believe in Thy
Holy Name, and practise Thy holy law, has come before Thee. O Lord, as
I had shared their trouble and their distress, I hoped to share their
happiness. Behold, now, the time has come when their trials will cease,
when they will enter into the land of promised bliss, and Thou sayest
to me, Thou shalt not pass over this Jordan. O Eternal, great and just,
if thou wilt not allow me to enter into this goodly land, permit me at
least to live on here in this world.”
Then God answered Moses, saying: “If thou wilt not die in this world,
how canst thou live in the world to come?” But Moses continued: “If
thou wilt not permit me to pass over this Jordan, let me live as the
beasts of the field; they eat of the herbs and drink of the waters, and
live and see the world; let my life be even as theirs.”
And God answered: “Let it suffice thee; do not continue to speak unto
me any more on this matter.” Yet again Moses prayed: “Let me live even
as the fowls; they gather their food in the morning, and in the evening
they return unto their nests. Let my life be even as theirs.”
And again God said: “Let it suffice thee; do not continue to speak to
me any more on this matter.” Then Moses proclaimed: “He is the Rock;
His work is perfect, and His ways are just; the God of Truth, just and
upright is He.”[13]
The Persians, known in India as Parsees, are worshippers of the element
of fire. This fire-worship originated from an event that took place in
Persia when the Hebrews were captives in that country. The King of
Persia gave the Hebrews leave to sacrifice to the Lord as Moses had
commanded them; and when the prophet Nehemiah had prepared the
sacrifice, the priests and the Israelites offered up this prayer: “O
Lord, Lord God, Creator of all things, Who art fearful and strong, and
righteous and merciful, and the only and gracious King, the only giver
of all things, the only just, almighty, and everlasting, Thou that
deliverest Israel from all trouble, and didst choose the fathers, and
sanctify them: Receive the sacrifice for Thy whole people Israel, and
preserve Thine own portion, and sanctify it. Gather those together that
are scattered from us, deliver them that serve among the heathen, look
upon them that are despised and abhorred, and let the heathen know that
Thou art our God. Punish them that oppress us, and with pride do us
wrong. Plant Thy people again in Thy holy place, as Moses hath spoken.”
And the priests sang psalms of thanksgiving.
Now when the sacrifice was consumed, Nehemiah commanded the water that
was left to be poured on the great stones. When this was done, there
was kindled a flame; but it was consumed by the light that shined from
the altar. So when this matter was known, it was told the King of
Persia that, in the place where the priests that were led away had hid
the fire, there appeared water, and that Nehemiah had purified the
sacrifices therewith. Then the King, inclosing the place, made it holy,
after he had tried the matter and convinced himself of the fact.[14]
The Mohammedans are the followers of Mohammed, and the Koran that he
gave them, he told his followers, “is not a new invented fiction, but a
confirmation of those Scriptures which have been revealed to Moses
before it, and a distinct explication of everything necessary in
respect either to faith or practice, and a direction and mercy unto
people who believe.”[15]
As for the Israelites, though they are now scattered over the face of
the whole earth, yet the Tabernacle, and the Altar of Incense, and the
Ark containing the two Stone Tables on which were engraven the Ten
Commandments given by God, by the hand of Moses, are still in Mount
Abarim, hidden there by Jeremiah the prophet, before the sack and
burning of the Temple of Solomon by the Babylonians. They are in a
cave, wherein Jeremiah laid them and stopped the door, saying, “As for
that place, it shall be unknown until the time that God gather his
people again together, and receive them unto mercy. Then shall the Lord
show them these things, and the glory of the Lord shall appear, and the
cloud also, as it was showed under Moses, and as when Solomon desired
that the place might be honourably sanctified.”[16]
After the departure of the Israelites from the land of Egypt, that
country was reduced to the lowest depth of misery. The King, with all
his chariots, horsemen, and footmen were all overwhelmed and destroyed;
there was no firstborn of man (or beast) to mourn the loss of their
kindred. The land was desolate, and the Storehouses of the King stood
out in their grandeur to remind the survivors of their ingratitude to
the relatives of the man who built them, to preserve the Egyptians
during the seven years of the grievous famine that afflicted the land
of Egypt. They must have avoided the sight of these monuments, thereby
to forget the misery and desolation they had brought on themselves by
their cruel treatment of the Hebrews. The Egyptian priests knew what
these buildings were, for they were the historians of their country;
but when Herodotus visited Egypt and made minute inquiries regarding
the Pyramids, they gave him a confused account, telling him, however,
that for one hundred and six years the Egyptians suffered all kinds of
calamities, and that for this length of time the temples were closed
and never opened. From the hatred they bore them, the Egyptians were
not willing to mention the names of their kings, but called the large
Pyramids after Philition (Zaphnath-paaneah, Psothom Phanech), a
shepherd who at that time kept his cattle in those parts.[17] Philition
is a corruption of the other two names given to Joseph by Pharaoh;
while the shepherds were the brothers of Joseph, and Goshen—Gizeh of
our time—the region where they dwelt, as commanded by the King. The
Greeks could make nothing out of the information gathered by Herodotus.
In course of time the first Republic of France sent a traveller into
Upper and Lower Egypt, and the inhabitants of the land of Egypt had so
far forgotten the events of the past that they showed him an enclosed
space as the granaries of Joseph. The traveller says: “You see at
ancient Cairo the granaries of Joseph, if the name of granaries can
with propriety be given to a vast space of ground surrounded with walls
twenty feet in height, and divided into a sort of courts which have no
roof, or any other covering whatever, in which are deposited the grains
brought out of Upper Egypt for the revenue, where they are the food of
a multitude of birds, and the receptacle of their ordure. The walls of
this enclosure are of a bad construction; they have nothing in their
appearance which announces an ancient building, and the love of the
marvellous alone could have attributed its elevation to the patriarch
Joseph.”[18] The French Government gained nothing, and its attention
was diverted from the Storehouses of the King. Since that time many
explorers have gone to the Pyramids, and spent princely fortunes in
trying to solve the mystery as to what they were and who built them.
But the Arabs are too cunning and too indolent to tell the truth; for
they know from experience that, if the truth were known, they would be
made to assist in repairing the Storehouses of the King, just as many
of the people were set to cut the Suez Canal, when the French
discovered an old undertaking of the reign of Necho, which had been
left unfinished because the oracle declared that the king was making
the canal for a barbarian. Wherefore the Arabs reckon that, ignoring
all knowledge, they gain a good livelihood as guides, by taking
travellers to the Pyramids, which is little trouble to them, but brings
them “plenty backsheesh.”
CHAPTER III.
TOWER OF BABEL—THE MODEL.
The Pyramids were, without doubt, copied from and built after the model
of the Tower of Babel. At the time that Joseph was entrusted by Pharaoh
with the task of making provision against the approaching famine that
he predicted would take place, the building of the City and Tower of
Babel by Nimrod the son of Cush, the son of Ham, the son of Noah, and
the confusion of tongues that followed, were of comparatively recent
date. Abraham’s father Terah was in the service of King Nimrod during
their erection.
We are told in the Scriptures that “the whole earth was of one language
and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the
east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt
there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn
them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for
mortar. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose
top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be
scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”[19]
In this description the motive assigned for the building of the
above-mentioned city and tower is that the people over whom Nimrod
reigned might be preserved together with renown. They found a plain by
the river Euphrates that suited their purpose, resembling the plain of
Egypt by the river Nile. In Shinar there was no stone, so brick was
used in its stead. This plain was fertile and produced much corn. The
settlers anticipated another Deluge, and on that account they provided
themselves with the means of subsistence when that calamity might recur
on the earth. The precaution they took for this event was to build a
place of safety, with a granary that would hold a sufficient amount of
corn to last during the whole period of the visitation. They built a
gigantic granary resembling the great Pyramid of Jeezeh, which they
filled with corn. Joseph imitated this example in Egypt.
The same event is thus recorded in the Talmud:—“Cush, the son of Ham
and grandson of Noah, married in his old age a young wife, and begat a
son, whom he called Nimrod, because in those days the people were
beginning to rebel again against the Lord’s command, and Nimrod
signifies ‘Rebellion.’ Now Nimrod grew up, and his father loved him
exceedingly, because he was the child of his old age. When Nimrod was
forty years old his brethren, the sons of Ham, quarrelled with the sons
of Japhet. And Nimrod assembled the tribe of Cush, and went forth to
battle with the sons of Japhet. And he addressed his army, saying, ‘Be
not dismayed, and banish fear from your hearts. Our enemies shall
surely be your booty, and ye shall do with them as ye please.’ Nimrod
was victorious, and the opposing armies became his subjects. And when
he and his soldiers returned home rejoicing, the people gathered around
and made him king, and placed a crown upon his head. And he appointed
counsellors, judges, chiefs, generals, and captains. He established a
national government, and he made Therach, the son of Nahor, his chief
officer. When Nimrod had thus established his power he decided to build
a city, a walled town, which should be the capital of his country. And
he selected a certain plain and built a large city thereon, and called
it Shinar. And Nimrod dwelt in Shinar in safety, and gradually became
ruler over all the world; and at that time all the people of the earth
were of one language and of one speech. Nimrod in his prosperity did
not regard the Lord. He made gods of wood and stone, and the people
copied his doings. His son Mordan served idols also, from which we
have, even to this day, the proverb, ‘From the wicked wickedness comes
forth.’
“And it came to pass about this time that the officers of Nimrod and
the descendants of Phut, Mitzrayim, Cush, and Canaan took counsel
together, and they said to one another, ‘Let us build a city, and also
in its midst a tall tower for a stronghold, a tower the top of which
shall reach even to the heavens. Then shall we truly make for ourselves
a great and mighty name, before which all our enemies shall tremble.
None will then be able to harm us, and no wars may disperse our ranks.’
And they spoke these words to the King, and he approved of their
design. Therefore these families gathered together and selected a
suitable spot for their city and its tower on a plain towards the east
in the land of Shinar.
“And while they were building rebellion budded in their hearts,
rebellion against God, and they imagined that they could scale the
heavens and war with Him. They divided into three parties. The first
party said, ‘We will ascend to heaven and place there our gods and
worship them.’ The second party said, ‘We will pour into the heavens of
the Lord and match our strength with His.’ And the third party said,
‘Yea, we will smite Him with arrow and with spear.’
“And God watched their evil enterprise and knew their thoughts, yet
they builded on. If one of the stones which they had raised to its
height fell, they were sad at heart, and even wept; yet when any of
their brethren fell from the building and were killed, none took
account of the life thus lost. Thus they continued for a space of
years, till God said, ‘We will confuse their language.’ Then the people
forgot their language, and they spoke to one another in a strange
tongue. And they quarrelled and fought on account of the many
misunderstandings occasioned by this confusion of language, and many
were destroyed in these quarrels, till at last they were compelled to
cease building.
“The tower was exceedingly tall. The third part of it sank down into
the ground, a second third was burned down, but the remaining third was
standing until the time of the destruction of Babylon. Thus were the
people dispersed over the globe, and divided into nations.”[20]
In this narrative the object of these wicked idolaters was to ascend
and carry war into heaven against God. To accomplish this object or
design they built the city and tower; the latter served for the granary
as well as the stronghold of the new city.
Abraham was born about this time. His father Terah was then in the
service of King Nimrod, in Babylon. Owing to the idolatry and the
wickedness of the people, Abraham left the country with his wife and
nephew, and settled in the land of Canaan. When Joseph was a child he
must have heard from his father the story of those eventful times, when
Abraham dwelt in the country wherein he was born. In due time he
availed himself of the knowledge thus imparted to him in his early days.
Modern travellers have found many remains of Pyramids in the ancient
kingdom of Babylonia. There was, therefore, nothing new or wonderful in
the fact of Joseph erecting granaries throughout Egypt when a severe
famine was expected. These granaries or Pyramids began in the Delta,
which was most fertile and yielded the largest amount of corn. The
Pyramids here are the finest as well as the largest; the rest are
erected along the western shore of the Nile as far as Ethiopia, which
was a province of Egypt. This province revolted in the lifetime of
Moses. He went there as commander of the Egyptian forces and suppressed
the rebellion. The ruins in Meroë and Axum, and other places in
Ethiopia, attest the truth of this statement.
Egyptologists have spent much time and labour in pursuit of their
science, but, very unfortunately, their researches have been directed
by misleading guides.
The authorities they took for their guidance were the Greek and Roman
writers, who knew nothing about the events that took place before Egypt
became a province of Alexander the Great and of the emperors of Rome.
The oldest and best records of Egypt and the ancient world were written
by the inspired historian Moses, and these records, or a small portion
of them, were translated from the Hebrew into the Greek language by
seventy Jewish elders for the King Ptolemy Philadelphus in the year 284
B.C.; so that before this time the outer or the Gentile world was in
utter ignorance regarding the history of Egypt, as well as that of the
Jews. The authors held in veneration by Egyptologists are Manetho and
Herodotus. Manetho’s ignorance as to the history of his own country is
shown by Flavius Josephus; and Herodotus wrote his account of the
Pyramids from hearsay. The priests who related the anecdotes concerning
the kings Cheops and his brother Chephren, and the shepherd Philition,
knew nothing themselves as to the real truth, for the whole account is
in confusion, worse confounded by their stupendous ignorance.
The writings of these two authors have misled every Egyptologist. Had
the Bible, the Jewish records called the Talmud, and Flavius Josephus
been studied instead, Egyptologists would have learnt the truth, and
nothing but the truth, and their time and labour would have been
rewarded most satisfactorily. The reader of this work will find
extracts in the later portion of it, which will repay the trouble of
perusal.
The testimony of recent travellers proves the reality of the existence
of granaries in Babylon, and the indisputable fact that the Pyramids
were built in imitation of them. The following is an instance:—[21]
“On the 9th December 1811 Mr. Rich made an expedition to the
Birs-i-Nimrúd. He found vestiges of mounds all round it to a
considerable extent, and the country traversed by canals in every
direction. The soil round it is sandy. Close to the Birs, or at about a
hundred yards from it, and parallel with its southern front, is a high
mound, almost equal in size to that of the Kasr.
“‘The Birs,’ says he, ‘is an enormous mound. At the north end it rises,
and there is an immense brick wall, thirty-seven feet high and
twenty-eight in breadth, upon it. This wall is not in the centre of the
north summit of the mound, but appears to have formed the southern face
of it. The other parts of the summit are covered by huge fragments of
brickwork, tumbled confusedly together; and what is most extraordinary
is that they are partly converted into a solid vitrified mass. The
layers are in many parts perfectly distinguishable; but the whole of
these lumps seem to have undergone the action of fire. Several lumps of
the same matter have rolled down, and remain partly on the side of the
mound and partly in the plain. The large wall on the southern face of
the summit is built of burnt bricks, with writing on them, and so close
together that no cement is discoverable between the layers. Small
square apertures are left, which go quite through the building, and are
arranged in a kind of quincunx form. Down the face of the wall the
bricks have been separated, leaving a large crack. On the side towards
the mound of Ibrahím Khalil, the mound slopes gradually down, and up
nearly half its height is a flat road running round this part of it,
twenty of my paces broad.
“‘From this the mound slopes more gradually to the plain or valley
between it and the mound of Ibrahím Khalil, and is worn into deep
ravines or furrows, like the Mujelibé. On the other or north face of
this pile it slopes down more abruptly at once into the plain, with
only hollows or paths round it, the road before mentioned, which from
that part appears to surround the building, losing itself before it
reaches this. On the north-west face, where it also slopes down into
the plain, are vestiges of building in the side, exactly similar in
appearance and construction to the wall on the top, with the holes or
apertures which are mentioned in the description of that. At foot of
all is, seemingly, a flat base of greater extent, but very little
raised above the level of the plain. The whole sides of the mound are
covered with pieces of brick, both burnt and unburnt, bitumen, pebbles,
spar, black stone, the same sand or limestone which covers the canal at
the Kasr, and even fragments of white marble. No reeds were to be seen
in any part of the building, though I saw one or two specimens of burnt
bricks which evidently had reeds in their composition, and some had the
impression of reeds on their cement. I saw also several bricks which
were thickly coated with bitumen on their lower face. In the lowest
part of the mound opposite Ibrahím Khalil, the mounds are most
evidently composed of unburnt bricks, the layers being in great measure
visible. This would lead one to suppose that it was not originally part
of the great pile, were not specimens of this kind of bricks found in
it also.
“‘The circumference of the base—not the low one—is 762 yards. The
whole height of it, from this measured base to the summit of the tower
or wall, is 235 feet; but there can be no doubt that it was much
higher. The form is more oblong than square. I found the longest side
to be 248 of my paces. Fortunately for the preservation of the ruin, it
is too far from the Euphrates for the Arabs to think it worth their
while to excavate for bricks; while they are so closely joined
together, that it is impossible to procure them quite unbroken.’
“Mr. Rich will not admit this tower to be that of Belus, because,
according to his view, it is on the wrong side of the river.
“The whole height of the Birs-i-Nimrúd above the plain to the summit of
the brick wall is 235 feet. The brick wall itself, which stands on the
edge of the summit, and was undoubtedly the face of another stage, is
37 feet high. In the side of the pile, a little below its summit, is
very clearly to be seen part of another brick wall, precisely
resembling the fragment which crowns the summit, and still encasing and
supporting its part of the mound. This is clearly indicative of another
stage of greater extent.
“Without forming any conjecture as to what might have been its original
construction, the impression made by the sight of it is, that it was a
solid pile, composed in the interior of unburnt brick, and perhaps
earth or rubbish; that it was constructed in receding stages, and faced
with kiln-burnt bricks having inscriptions on them, laid in a very thin
layer of lime cement; and that it was reduced by violence to its
present ruinous condition. The upper stones have been forcibly broken
down, and fire has been employed as an implement of destruction, though
it is not easy to say how or why. The facing of fine bricks has been
partly removed and partly covered by the falling down of the mass which
it supported and kept together.
“A still later traveller, Mr. Buckingham, is of opinion that the traces
of four stages are clearly discernible.
“As to Major Rennell’s doubt whether the ruin was artificial, Mr. Rich
observes that, ‘so indisputably evident is the fact of the whole mass
being from top to bottom artificial, that he should as soon have
thought of writing a dissertation to prove that the Pyramids are the
work of human hands as of dwelling upon this point. The Birs-i-Nimrúd,’
he adds, ‘is, in all likelihood, at present nearly in the state in
which Alexander saw it, if we give any credit to the report that ten
thousand men could only remove the rubbish, preparatory to repairing
it, in two months. If, indeed, it required one half of that number to
disencumber it, the state of dilapidation must have been complete.
“‘The immense masses of vitrified brick which are seen on the top of
the mound appear to have marked its summit since the time of its
destruction. The rubbish about its base was probably in much greater
quantities, the weather having dissipated much of it in the course of
so many revolving ages; and possibly portions of the interior facing of
fine brick may have disappeared at different periods.’”
CHAPTER IV.
THE PYRAMIDS AS GRANARIES.
The land of Shinar, with its desolate tower, the marvellous prototype
of the Great Pyramid of Jeezeh, passed from one conqueror to another;
and when the descendants of the Prophet Mohammed became rulers of the
east and west, the Caliph Al Mamoun, in the year A.D. 820, came from
Bagdad to El Fostat, an earlier Cairo, and determined to enter the
largest Pyramid and examine its contents, for he believed from the
reports brought to him that it contained untold treasures. He ordered
his Mohammedan workmen to begin at the middle of the northern side of
the Great Pyramid. These men worked on unceasingly by night and by day.
Weeks and months were consumed in these toilsome exertions; so
persevering, however, were they, that, though progressing slowly, they
at length penetrated no less than one hundred feet in depth from the
entrance. By that time, they were becoming thoroughly exhausted, and
began to despair of the hard and hitherto fruitless labour, when one
day they heard a great stone fall evidently in some hollow space within
not more than a few feet on one side of them. In the fall of that
particular stone there seems to have been somewhat more than an
accident.
They instantly pushed on in the direction of the strange noise.
Breaking through a wall surface, they burst into the hollow way, very
dark and dreadful to look at, and difficult to pass. It was the
inclined and descending entrance-passage of the Pyramid, where the
Romans and others passed up and down in their occasional visits to the
subterranean chamber and its unfinished, unquarried-out floor.
A large angular-fitting stone, that had been for ages, with its lower
flat side, a smooth and polished portion of the ceiling of the inclined
and narrow entrance-passage, quite undistinguishable from any other
part of the whole of its line, had now dropped on to the floor before
their eyes, and revealed that there was just behind it the end of
another passage, clearly ascending therefrom towards the south. That
ascending passage itself was still closed a little further up by a
portcullis or stopper, formed by a series of huge granite plugs, of
square wedge-like shape, dropped or slid down, and then jammed in
immovably from above. To break this in pieces within the confined
space, and pull out the fragments there, was entirely out of the
question; so the workmen broke through the smaller ordinary masonry,
and thus up again by a huge chasm—still visible, and used by visitors
into the interior—to the ascending passage, at a point past the
terrific hardness of its lower granite obstruction. They found up there
beyond the portcullis the passage-way still blocked, but the filling
material at that part was only limestone; so, making themselves a very
great hole in the masonry along the western side, they there wielded
their tools on the long blocks which presented themselves to their
view. But as fast as they broke up and pulled out the pieces of one of
the blocks in this ascending passage, other blocks, also of such a size
as to completely fill it, slid down from above, and where there should
have been free passage there was still an obstruction of solid stone.
The men despair; but the Caliph, being present, insists that, whatever
the number of stone plugs still to come down from the mysterious
reservoir, his men shall hammer and hammer them, one after the other,
and bit by bit, to little pieces, at the only opening where they can
get at them, until they at last come to the end. So the work goes on,
till at length the ascending passage, beginning just above the granite
portcullis, leading thence upward and to the south, becomes free from
obstruction.
On they rush, up one hundred and ten feet of the steep incline,
crouching hands and knees and chin together, through a passage of
polished white limestone, forty-seven inches in height and forty-one in
breadth. They suddenly emerge into a long high gallery, all black as
night and in death-like silence; still ascending, they see another low
passage. On their right hand is the dark, ominous-looking mouth of a
deep well, in which not even at a depth of more than 140 feet is the
water reached; while onwards and above them is a continuation of the
gallery leading them on.
The way was narrow, not more than six feet broad anywhere, and
contracted to three feet at the floor, but twenty feet high, and of
polished marble-like stone throughout. Ascending at an angle of 26°,
these men had to push their dangerous and slippery way for about a
hundred feet still further; then an obstructing three-foot step to
climb over; next a low doorway; then a hanging portcullis to pass,
almost to creep under; and then another low doorway, with awful blocks
of red granite on either side, above, and below.
After this they leaped without further obstruction at once into the
grand chamber, a right noble apartment now called the King’s Chamber,
about thirty-four feet long, seventeen broad, and nineteen high, of
polished red granite throughout, in blocks squared and put together
with exquisite skill. In this apartment they found—nothing, except an
empty stone chest or box or coffer without a lid![22]
The Caliph Al Mamoun was amazed, for he had arrived at the very
furthest part of the interior of the Great Pyramid he had so long
desired to take possession of, and had now found absolutely nothing
that he could make any use of, or saw the smallest value in. He
returned to El Fostat greatly disappointed, and the Grand Gallery, the
King’s Chamber, and the stone coffer without a lid were troubled by him
no more; for after this he left Egypt and returned to his imperial
residence in Bagdad, where he died in A.D. 842.
The entrance into the Great Pyramid in use in our time is the one thus
made by this prince. The granite chest or coffer without a lid, found
in the King’s Chamber above-mentioned, was not a sarcophagus, or a
coffin, but simply a corn measure, and nothing else, which holds about
four English quarters. It was placed in that chamber by the inspired
builder Joseph, the great-grandson of Abraham the Hebrew, the friend of
God; the Pyramid being a gigantic granary holding corn, and this the
measure by which he ascertained the quantity stored in it. The passages
in the walls, called air-channels by Egyptologists, were apertures
through which the corn was thrown from without into the chamber, and
thence into the vast receptacles below. The grain was brought from the
fields to the apertures up the steps, before the casing-stones were
fitted to the whole edifice, which, being afterwards polished, kept the
contents secure from moth and mildew.
When Joseph died “his body was embalmed and afterwards laid in the
ground near the banks of the Nile.”[23] The locality that exactly
answers this place of sepulture has been discovered in modern times.
“The structure found there is situated about a thousand feet south-east
of the Pyramid building, and still to be seen, descended into, and
measured, is a colossally large and deep burial pit, on the square and
level bottom of which rests an antique rude sarcophagus of very
gigantic proportions. But deep as is the pit containing it, it is
surrounded by a grand rectangular trench which goes down deeper still,
cut clearly in solid limestone rock the whole of the way down; and to
such a depth does it reach at last as to descend below the level of the
adjacent waters of the Nile at inundation time. Then, as the waters of
that river necessarily percolate the hygroscopic rock of the hill up to
their own level, the lower depths of the trench are filled with Nile
water, and the grand old sarcophagus of the interior pit does then rest
in a manner on an island surrounded by the waters of the Nile; and it
is the only known tomb on the Jeezeh hill which is gifted with that
peculiarity or privilege.”[24]
This is the tomb of which Herodotus speaks as the resting-place of the
builder of the Great Pyramid, to whom he gives the names of Chemmis,
Cheops, Xufu, Suphis, Philition the Shepherd, &c. All these
appellations belong to no other person than Zaphnath-paaneah, the
Viceroy of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, the great-grandson of Abraham the
Hebrew, the friend of God!
The sarcophagus is empty, for the bones of Joseph were carried away by
the children of Israel when they took their departure from Egypt under
the leadership of Moses and Aaron.
Visitors who enter the Pyramid get covered with a fine grey dust or
powder similar to that found in large rooms or buildings wherein grain
has been stored; for any person entering such places, though emptied of
their contents, but left unswept, would get covered with a grey powder
fallen from corn, or rice, or wheat, &c., which in every respect
resembles this fine grey dust. In confirmation of this the following is
an instance:—
“Last month (1877) an American newspaper, recounting a recent visit to
the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid, mentions how the clergyman of
the party, the Rev. Dr. ——, insisted on laying himself down full
length inside the coffer. He had heard the inspiration, and scientific
metrological theory of the Great Pyramid duly related by Dr. Grant, and
had not denied it; but so strongly was he imbued with the mere tombic
idea of the Egyptians, that he held, as he lay there, with the notion
that he was lying down in a royal coffin; and when he, Dr. ——, rose
up from that open granite chest and found himself filthy, horrible,
odious, with fine grey dust begriming his hair and transfusing his
clothes, he had a great deal of trouble about it; for not until he had
got right away from Egypt, and obtained the help of the steward’s
assistant on board ship to give the clothes an extra beating over the
waves of the rolling sea, was the last of the penetrating powdery stuff
got rid of.”[25]
Colonel Howard Vyse also found a substance of this description when he
entered the Pyramids, of which he gave a minute account in his work on
the Pyramids of Egypt. It is as follows:—“For a day or two after the
chamber had been opened those who remained in it became blackened as if
by a London fog. As this effect gradually disappeared, I conceive it to
have been occasioned by the blasting and by the sudden admission of the
air.
“Upon first entering the apartment, a black sediment was found, of the
consistence of a hoar-frost, equally distributed over the floor, so
that footsteps could be distinctly seen impressed on it, and it had
accumulated to some depth in the interstices of the blocks. Some of
this sediment which was sent to the French establishment near Cairo was
said to contain ligneous particles. When analysed in England it was
supposed to consist of the exuviæ of insects; but as the deposition was
equally diffused over the floor, and extremely like the substance found
on the 25th instant (1837) at the Second Pyramid, it was most probably
composed of particles of decayed stone. If it had been the remains of
rotten wood, or of a quantity of insects that had penetrated through
the masonry, it would scarcely have been so equally distributed; and if
caused by the latter, it is difficult to imagine why some of them
should not have been found alive when the place was opened evidently
for the first time since the Pyramid was built.”
Previous to the visitation of the seven years’ famine, these granaries
were built and stored, and the casing-stones fitted with cement and
polished, making these edifices appear like natural rocks. Bruce, the
great traveller, and other old travellers of those days, mistook them
for such (natural rocks) and paid no attention to them whatever.
When the time arrived that the Storehouses of the King were required to
be tapped, and food distributed to the famine-stricken people, the
exterior of these buildings was left entire, and the operation of
taking out the grain carried on by means of long shafts bored in the
adjacent ground to a depth reaching the foundation of the Pyramid,
where there were openings from which the contents could be tapped.
These could be opened and shut at pleasure, as Joseph ordered that all
the granaries should be closed with the exception of one, where he
hoped to see his brothers when they came to buy corn in Egypt.
Colonel Howard Vyse gives a description of one of these entrances,
thus:—“The Pyramid of Saccara. This Pyramid was built in steps, or
degrees, and was entered from a sort of well, or shaft, made in the
sand on the northern side. The passage, which was long and winding, and
apparently in many places forced, led to a lofty chamber, in the roof
of which wood had been employed. Various forced passages wound around
this chamber, and conducted to openings, or windows, which looked down
into it from a considerable height.[26] These passages were much
encumbered with rubbish, pieces of alabaster, and decayed wood; and in
one place there was an accumulation of large blocks of polished
granite, raised up by small fragments of stone sufficiently high to
admit of a man’s crawling beneath them. For what purpose they were so
placed we did not find out.”
CHAPTER V.
THE HEBREWS IN EGYPT.
In the Talmud it is recorded that after Joseph’s marriage with Asenath,
daughter of Potipherah the priest of On, “he built for himself a
palace, elegant and complete in its details and surroundings, so
elaborate that three years’ time was required for its completion.” A
man so wise and so powerful as to be looked upon by the Egyptians as
their king was certainly able to make a suitable provision for the
anticipated advent of his beloved father, as well as for all his
brothers, who came with their entire households, and possessions in
flocks and herds, &c., for the famine was over the whole earth.
The large palace called the Labyrinth by Herodotus, would correspond
with such a provision for their accommodation and comfort. Herodotus
saw this palace himself in the year 448 B.C., and he describes it
thus:—“The Egyptians having become free, after the reign of the priest
of Vulcan, for they were at no time able to live without a king,
established twelve kings, having divided all Egypt into twelve parts.
These having contracted intermarriages, reigned, adopting the following
regulations: that they would not attempt the subversion of one another,
nor one seek to acquire more than another, and that they should
maintain the strictest friendship. They made these regulations and
strictly upheld them, for the following reason: it had been foretold
them by an oracle, when they first assumed the government, ‘that
whoever among them should offer a libation in the temple of Vulcan from
a brazen bowl should be king of all Egypt,’ for they used to assemble
in all the temples. Now, they determined to leave in common a memorial
of themselves; and having so determined, they built a Labyrinth, a
little above the lake of Mœris, situated near that called the city of
crocodiles. This I have myself seen, and found it greater than can be
described. For if anyone should reckon up the buildings and public
works of the Grecians, they would be found to have cost less labour and
expense than this Labyrinth; though the temple in Ephesus is deserving
of mention, and also that in Samos. The Pyramids likewise were beyond
description, and each of them comparable to many of the great Grecian
structures. Yet the Labyrinth surpasses even the Pyramids. For it has
_twelve_ courts enclosed with walls, with doors opposite each other,
six facing the north, and six the south, contiguous to one another; and
the same exterior wall encloses them. It contains two kinds of rooms,
some under ground and some above ground over them, to the number of
three thousand, fifteen hundred of each. The rooms above ground I
myself went through and saw, and relate from personal inspection. But
the underground rooms I only know from report, for the Egyptians who
have charge of the building would on no account show me them, saying
that there were the sepulchres of the kings who originally built this
Labyrinth, and of the sacred crocodiles. I can therefore only relate
what I have learned by hearsay concerning the lower rooms; but the
upper ones, which surpass all human works, I myself saw; for the
passages through the corridors, and the windings through the courts,
from their great variety, presented a thousand occasions of wonder as I
passed from a court to the rooms, and from the rooms to halls, and to
other corridors from the halls, and to other courts from the rooms. The
roofs of all these are of stone, as also are the walls; but the walls
are full of sculptured figures. Each court is surrounded with a
colonnade of white stone, closely fitted. And adjoining the extremity
of the Labyrinth is a Pyramid forty orgyæ in height,[27] on which large
figures are carved, and a way to it has been made under ground.”[28]
This curious record of these twelve kings can be easily explained by
referring to the book of Genesis, chapter xlvii. This chapter
corroborates it, for the Israelites, the twelve sons of Jacob, had
absolute power given them by Pharaoh, and had the whole land of Egypt
under their control; for “Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, ‘Thy
father and thy brethren are come unto thee. The land of Egypt is before
thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren dwell: in
the land of Goshen let them dwell; and if thou knowest any men of
activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.’”
Owing to the severity of the famine every Egyptian had to part with his
cattle, and “Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the
flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed
them with bread for all their cattle for that year.”
But as the famine still continued, the poor Egyptians, when they had
exchanged all they possessed for bread, sold even their own persons.
When the whole country was in this desperate condition, the Hebrews
governed the nation for Pharaoh, who placed implicit faith in their
wisdom and probity. These were the men styled by Egyptologists
“Shepherd Kings,” and this period or epoch is mentioned by Manetho, the
Egyptian historian, in the record written in the Greek language, of
which he was a master; it is as follows:—
“There was a king of ours, whose name was Timaus.[29] Under him it came
to pass, I know not how, that God was averse to us, and there came,
after a surprising manner, men of ignoble birth out of the eastern
parts, and had boldness enough to make an expedition into our country,
and with ease subdued it by force, yet without our hazarding a battle
with them.[30] So when they had gotten those that governed us under
their power, they afterwards burnt down our cities and demolished the
temples of the gods, and used all the inhabitants after a most
barbarous manner; nay, some they slew, and led their children and their
wives into slavery.[31] At length they made one of themselves king,
whose name was Salatis.[32] He also lived at Memphis, and made both the
upper and lower regions pay tribute, and left garrisons in places that
were most proper for them.[33]
“He chiefly aimed to secure the eastern part, as foreseeing that the
Assyrians, who had then the greatest power, would be desirous of that
kingdom and invade them; and as he found in the Saite Nomos
(Seth-roite) a city very proper for his purpose, and which lay upon the
Bubastic Channel, but, with regard to a certain theologic notion, was
called Avaris, this he rebuilt, and made very strong by the walls he
built about it, and by a most numerous garrison of 240,000 armed men
whom he put into it to keep it. Thither Salatis came in summer-time,
partly _to gather his corn_ and pay his soldiers their wages, and
partly to exercise his armed men, and thereby to terrify foreigners.
“When this man had reigned thirteen years, after him reigned another,
whose name was Beon, for forty-four years; after him reigned another,
called Apachnas, thirty-six years and seven months; after him Apophis
reigned sixteen years; and then Jonias, fifty years and one month;
after all these, Assis,[34] forty-nine years and two months. And these
six were the first rulers among them, who were all along making war
with the Egyptians, and were very desirous gradually to destroy them to
the very roots. This whole nation was styled Hycsos, that is, Shepherd
Kings; for the first syllable _Hyc_, according to the sacred dialect,
denotes a king, as is _sos_ a shepherd, but this according to the
ordinary dialect, and of these is compounded Hycsos; but some say that
these people were Arabians. It is also said that this word does not
denote kings, but, on the contrary, denotes captive shepherds, and this
on account of the particle _Hyc_; for that _Hyc_, with the aspiration,
in the Egyptian tongue again denotes shepherds, and expressly also; and
this seems the more probable opinion and more agreeable to ancient
history.
“These people, whom we have before named kings, and called shepherds
also, and their descendants, kept possession of Egypt 511 years. After
these, the kings of Thebais and of the other parts of Egypt made an
insurrection against the shepherds, and that then a terrible and long
war was made between them. That under a king whose name was
Alisphragmuthosis,[35] the shepherds were subdued by him, and were,
indeed, driven out of other parts of Egypt, but were shut up in a place
that contained 10,000 acres; this place was named Avaris. The shepherds
built a wall round all this place, which was a large and strong wall,
and this in order to keep all their possessions and their prey within a
place of strength, but that Thummosis,[36] the son of Alisphragmuthosis
made an attempt to take them by force and by siege with 480,000 men to
lie round about them; but that, upon his despair of taking the place by
that siege, they came to a composition with them, that they should
leave Egypt, and go without any harm to be done to them, whithersoever
they would; and that, after this composition was made, they went away
with their whole families and effects, not fewer in number than
240,000, and took their journey from Egypt, through the wilderness, for
Syria;[37] but that, as they were in fear of the Assyrians, who had
then dominion over Asia, they built a city in that country which is now
called Judea, and that large enough to contain this great number of
men, and called it Jerusalem.”[38]
Manetho is altogether in a mist, for he seems unwilling to state the
truth, and still he is compelled, as a historian, to write something,
though against his will. His malice against the Hebrews is manifest
throughout. To give an account of the overthrow of the Egyptians at the
Red Sea, he invents this story:—
“After those that were sent to work in the quarries had continued in
that miserable state for a long while, the King was desired that he
would set apart the city Avaris,[39] which was then left desolate of
the shepherds, for their habitation and protection, which desire he
granted them.
“Now this city, according to the ancient theology, was Trypho’s city.
But when the men were gotten into it, and found the place fit for a
revolt, they appointed themselves a ruler out of the priests of
Heliopolis, whose name was Osarsiph, and they took their oaths that
they would be obedient to him in all things. He then, in the first
place, made this law for them: that they should neither worship the
Egyptian gods, nor should abstain from any one of those sacred animals
which they have in the highest esteem, but kill and destroy them all;
that they should join themselves to nobody but to those that were of
this confederacy.
“When he had made such laws as these, and many more such as were mainly
opposite to the customs of the Egyptians, he gave order that they
should use the multitude of the hands they had in building walls about
their city,[40] and make themselves ready for a war with King
Amenophis[41], while he did himself take into his friendship the other
priests, and those that were polluted with them, and sent ambassadors
to those shepherds who had been driven out of the land by Tethmosis to
the city called Jerusalem, whereby he informed them of his own affairs,
and of the state of those others that had been treated after such an
ignominious manner, and desired that they would come with one consent
to his assistance in this war against Egypt. He also promised that he
would, in the first place, bring them back to their ancient city and
country Avaris, and provide a plentiful maintenance for their
multitude; that he would protect them and fight for them as occasion
should require, and would easily reduce the country under their
dominion.
“These shepherds were all very glad of this message, and came away with
alacrity altogether, being in number 200,000 men, and in a little time
they came to Avaris. And now Amenophis, the King of Egypt, upon his
being informed of their invasion, was in great confusion, as calling to
mind what Amenophis, the son of Papis, had foretold him; and, in the
first place, he assembled the multitude of the Egyptians, and took
counsel with their leaders, and sent for their sacred animals to him,
especially for those that were principally worshipped in their temples,
and gave a particular charge to the priests distinctly, that they
should hide the images of their gods with the utmost care.
“He also sent his son Sethos, who was also named Ramesses from his
father Rhampses, being but five years old, to a friend of his. He then
passed on with the rest of the Egyptians, being 300,000 of the most
warlike of them, against the enemy, who met them. Yet did he not join
battle with them; but, thinking that would be to fight against the
gods, he returned back and came to Memphis, where he took Apis and the
other sacred animals which he had sent for to him, and presently
marched into Ethiopia, together with his whole army and multitude of
Egyptians;[42] for the King of Ethiopia was under an obligation to him,
on which account he received him, and took care of all the multitude
that was with him, while the country supplied all that was necessary
for the food of the men.
“He also allotted cities and villages for this exile, that was to be
from its beginning during those fatally-determined thirteen years.
Moreover, he pitched a camp for his Ethiopian army, as a guard to King
Amenophis, upon the borders of Egypt. And this was the state of things
in Ethiopia. But for the people of Jerusalem, when they came down
together with the polluted Egyptians, they treated the men in such a
barbarous manner, that those who saw how they subdued the
fore-mentioned country, and the horrid wickedness they were guilty of,
thought it a most dreadful thing, for they did not only set the cities
and villages on fire, but were not satisfied till they had been guilty
of sacrilege, and destroyed the images of the gods, and used them in
roasting those sacred animals that used to be worshipped, and forced
the priests and prophets to be the executioners and murderers of those
animals, and then ejected them naked out of the country.
“It was also reported that the priest who ordained their polity and
their laws was by birth of Heliopolis, and his name Osarsiph, from
Osiris, who was the god of Heliopolis; but that when he was gone over
to these people his name was changed, and he was called Moses.”[43]
At this period the land of Egypt was in a most desolate condition. The
hand of God was upon it, for evil plagues were sent, and nothing that
did harm to the land and its people was withheld during the time that
Moses and Aaron were negotiating with the King to let the Hebrews go a
short journey into the wilderness to hold a festival to the Lord.
Pharaoh refusing them leave to do so, the last and direst plague was
sent, the death of the first-born in the land of Egypt, “from the
first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the first-born of the
captive that was in the dungeon, and all the first-born of cattle.”
Then “Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants, and all
the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a
house wherein there was not one dead.” In his hour of affliction the
King desired these Hebrews to depart, with everything they possessed.
When the permission was obtained, the Israelites borrowed from the
Egyptians jewels of gold and jewels of silver, and raiment, and the
Egyptians lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled
the Egyptians. After this they took their departure towards the Red Sea.
Pharaoh, when he recovered from his paroxysm of grief, wished to revoke
the permission and get the Hebrews back to work for him again. So he
called his people together, and, making ready his chariot, he took them
with him. “And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the
chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them, and he pursued
after the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with
an high hand.” And Pharaoh with all his forces “overtook them encamping
by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.”
Now at this place there was no retreat for the Israelites by land. They
were compelled to effect their escape from their pursuers by crossing
the sea to the opposite shore. Seeing the dangerous position they were
in, Moses, the man gifted with supernatural resources, contrived to
make a passage through the sea, and, a strong east wind assisting him
throughout the night, he accomplished the construction of a road for
himself and his followers, which should also serve as a trap to engulph
their enemies after they had effected their own escape.
He, the builder of the monuments now extant in Ethiopia and Upper
Egypt, and in other parts of the habitable earth (of which mention will
be made in the course of this narrative)—he it was who contrived and
made this passage during the night, while the Egyptians rested after
their weary march. It was the sublimest effort of mechanical skill!
When day dawned the passage was ready, and Moses stood by and saw all
his people walk down from the Egyptian shore into the dry road in the
sea prepared for them. The waters were divided; “and the waters were a
wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians
pursued and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all
Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
When the Israelites gained the Arabian shore, and the Egyptians were in
the middle between the two shores, Moses threw back the waters that
were driven aside, and the waters returned and covered all the host of
Pharaoh that came into the sea; there escaped not so much as one of
them! And the Israelites saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore;
“and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and His servant
Moses.”
At this crisis there were only women and children left in Egypt, and
these in the deepest grief for the death of their first-born sons. No
one came back from the camp to relate the terrible catastrophe to these
unfortunate widows and orphans; and there was neither priest nor
grown-up man to record the events of this period in the sacred books of
the nation. Consequently, when Manetho compiled his history from the
sacred records, he was unable to relate the events of this period
clearly and without contradiction.
He accounts for the non-appearance of the King Amenophis and his forces
in Egypt, after his pursuit of the Hebrews, by saying that he retired
into Ethiopia, and remained there thirteen years as the guest of the
king and people of Ethiopia. The son of this Pharaoh, whom Manetho
calls Sethos, was at this time, when his father was drowned, five years
old; so that at the end of these thirteen years he attained his
majority, and the children that were his contemporaries were old enough
to help themselves. These thirteen years form a gap in the history of
Egypt.
After the departure of the Israelites, Egypt became a complete
wilderness, and the Egyptians were so crushed and desolate that they
seemed to have become almost extinct. They mourned and grieved so long
that they appear to have quite forgotten even the names of their kings
and the history of their nation. No wonder the Nile was termed the
Lethe by classic writers.
The present Egyptians, the real descendants of Mizraim, are the Copts
and the Fellaheen,—poor wretched specimens of humanity—and if these
represent their ancestors, it conclusively proves to every traveller,
when he stands in mute admiration on the stupendous monuments of past
grandeur, that they never were the founders of such works of art and
magnificence; they never were the players on the harp and other
musical instruments depicted on the walls of palaces, nor the refined
occupants of those noble apartments, representing the highest culture
and intelligence—apartments furnished with chairs, sofas, and
tables, and embellished with pictures of battles and banquets,
marriage-processions, funerals, and other subjects of the greatest
interest. The real Egyptians were not the founders or builders of any
of those monumental remains which make Egypt the land of wonders and
the favourite resort of the learned.
The descendants of Abraham the Hebrew were the guiding intellects that
ruled Egypt for her Pharaohs, who possessed discernment enough to
appoint them to rule their kingdom on account of their wisdom and
activity.
About the year 1900 B.C. Abraham went down to Egypt from Canaan because
of the famine. And when he had seen and spoken to Pharaoh, that monarch
“gave him leave to enter into conversation with the most learned among
the Egyptians, from which conversation his virtue and his reputation
became more conspicuous than they had been before. For whereas the
Egyptians were formerly addicted to different customs, and despised one
another’s sacred and accustomed rites, and were very angry one with
another on that account, Abram conferred with each of them, and,
confuting the reasonings they made use of every one for their own
practices, demonstrated that such reasonings were vain and void of
truth; whereupon he was admired by them in those conferences as a very
wise man, and one of great sagacity, when he discoursed on any subject
he undertook; and this not only in understanding it, but in persuading
other men also to assent to him. He communicated to them arithmetic,
and delivered to them the science of astronomy; for, before Abram came
into Egypt, they were unacquainted with those parts of learning, for
that science came from the Chaldeans into Egypt, and from thence into
Greece and elsewhere.”[44]
This visit has been mentioned by the Greek and Roman writers, who state
these visitors to be Shepherd Kings, the Hycsos. Abraham was immensely
wealthy, for the Bible says that “Abram went up out of Egypt, he and
his wife Sarai, and all that he had, and Lot, his nephew, with him,
into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in
gold.”
The ruins that are now existing in the Vostani, or Middle
Egypt—comprising the provinces of Fayoum, Beni-Souef, and Minieh—and
in the Bahari, or Lower Egypt—comprising the provinces of Bahireh,
Rosetta, Damietta, Gharbiyeh, Menouf, Mansoura, and Sharkeyeh—were the
constructions and erections of Joseph, otherwise called
Zaphnath-paaneah, and his eleven brothers; while those found in the
Saïd, or Upper Egypt—comprising the provinces of Thebes, Djergeh, and
Siout—as well as those in Nubia and Ethiopia, sometimes called
Abyssinia, owe their erection to Moses, the descendant of Levi, one of
the brothers of Joseph.
Being the adopted son of Princess Thurmuthis, daughter of Pharaoh,
Moses ruled Egypt as his ancestors had done before his time. His return
after the siege and re-conquest of Meroë, and the entrance in state of
his bride, the Princes Tharbis, daughter of the King of Ethiopia, are
commemorated on the walls of the palace in Upper Egypt. He became very
hateful to the Egyptians on account of his great acts and the power he
displayed, so that they conspired against him.
To save his life Moses left Egypt, and meeting Kikanus, the King of
Ethiopia, returning home from an incursion into Assyria, Moses went
with him and his army. After a residence of nine years with the King,
the Ethiopians elected Moses to the throne of Ethiopia on the death of
Kikanus. This event took place in the hundred and fifty-seventh year
after Israel went down into Egypt.[45]
On the son of the King coming of age, Moses abdicated and left
Ethiopia. The Ethiopians made him many rich presents, and sent him away
with great honours.
In Abyssinia there is a colony of people quite distinct from the
Ethiopians. They differ totally from them in personal appearance, being
fair and handsome, and decidedly of the Jewish type. In religion and
customs and language they resemble the Jews; the characters of their
writing are similar to the Hebrew. This people must have entered
Ethiopia with Moses, and stayed behind when he went away and entered
Midian. The place they occupy is called Amhara, situate on a hill, and
their language Amharic.
CHAPTER VI.
THE SPHINX—THE ENTRANCE.
The Great Sphinx that is on the Mokattam Hill, facing the large
Pyramids of Jeezeh, is the link of union between the north and south of
Egypt, as well as the union of the works of those great men living at
different periods of time as rulers of Egypt—Joseph and Moses. The
following account of this Sphinx is taken from a work called _View of
Ancient and Modern Egypt_, by the Rev. Michael Russell, LL.D.
“Our account of the mechanical productions of ancient Egypt would be
incomplete did we not mention the Great Sphinx, which has always been
regarded as an accompaniment, and sometimes even as a rival, to the
Pyramids. The latest information in regard to this stupendous figure
was obtained through the persevering labours of Mr. Caviglia, whose
name has been already mentioned with so much honour.
“After the most fatiguing and anxious endeavours during several months,
he succeeded in laying open the whole statue to its base, and exposing
a clear area extending to a hundred feet from its front. ‘It is not
easy,’ says Mr. Salt, who witnessed the process of excavation, ‘for any
person unused to operations of this kind to form the smallest idea of
the difficulties which he had to surmount, more especially when working
at the bottom of the trench; for, in spite of every precaution, the
slightest breath of wind, or concussion, set all the surrounding
particles of sand in motion, so that the sloping sides began to crumble
away, and mass after mass to come tumbling down, till the whole surface
bore no unapt resemblance to a cascade of water. Even when the sides
appeared most firm, if the labourers suspended their work but for an
hour, they found on their return that they had the greatest part of it
to do over again. This was particularly the case on the southern side
of the paw, where the whole of the people—from sixty to a
hundred—were employed for seven days without making any sensible
advance, the sand rolling down in one continued torrent. But the
discovery amply rewarded the toil and expense which were incurred in
revealing the structure of this wonderful work of art.
“‘The huge legs stretched out fifty feet in advance from the body,
which is in a cumbent posture; fragments of an enormous beard were
found resting beneath the chin; and there were seen all the appendages
of a temple, granite tablet, and altar, arranged on a regular platform
immediately in front. On this pavement, and at an equal distance
between the paws of the figure, was the large slab of granite just
mentioned, being not less than fourteen feet high, seven broad, and two
thick. The face of this stone, which fronted the east, was highly
embellished with sculptures in bas-relief, the subject representing two
sphinxes seated on pedestals, and priests holding out offerings, while
there was an inscription in hieroglyphics most beautifully executed;
the whole design being covered at top, and protected, as it were, with
the sacred globe, the serpent, and the wings.
“‘Two other tablets of calcareous stone, similarly ornamented, were
supposed, together with that of granite, to have constituted part of a
miniature temple, by being placed one on each side of the latter, and
at right angles to it. One of them, in fact, was still remaining in its
place; of the other, which was thrown down and broken, the fragments
are now in the British Museum.
“‘A small lion, couching in front of this edifice, had its eyes
directed towards the main figure. There were besides several fragments
of other lions rudely carved, and the fore-part of a sphinx of
tolerable workmanship; all of which, as well as the tablets, walls, and
platforms on which the little temple stood, were ornamented with red
paint, a colour which seems to have been, in Egypt as well as in
_India_, appropriated to sacred purposes. In front of the temple was a
granite altar, with one of the four projections or horns still
retaining its place at the angle. From the effects of fire evident on
the stone, it is manifest that it had been used for burnt-offerings.
“‘On the side of the left paw of the Great Sphinx were cut several
indistinct legends in Greek characters, addressed to different
deities.[46] On the second digit of the same was sculptured, in pretty
deep letters, an inscription in verse, of which the subjoined
translation was given by the late Dr. Young, whose extensive knowledge
of antiquities enabled him at once to restore the defects of the
original, and to convey its meaning in Latin as well as in English.
“‘Thy form stupendous here the gods have placed,
Sparing each spot of harvest-bearing land;
And with this mighty work of art have graced
A rocky isle, encumber’d once with sand:
Not that fierce Sphinx that Thebes erewhile laid waste,
But great Latona’s servant, mild and bland:
Watching that prince beloved who fills the throne
Of Egypt’s plains, and calls the Nile his own.
That heavenly monarch who his foes defies,
Like Vulcan powerful, and like Pallas wise.’
“This remarkable statue is again as much under the dominion of the
desert as it was half a century ago; and, consequently, it now meets
the eye of the Egyptian traveller shrouded in sand to the same depth as
before.
“Dr. Richardson relates that the wind and the Arabs had replaced the
covering on this venerable piece of antiquity, and hence the lower
parts were quite invisible. The breast, shoulders, and neck, which are
those of a human being, remain uncovered, as also the back, which is
that of a lion; the neck is very much eroded, and, to a person near,
the head seems as if it were too heavy for its support. The head-dress
has the appearance of an old-fashioned wig, projecting out about the
ears like the hair of the Berberi Arabs;[47] the ears project
considerably, the nose is broken, the whole face has been painted red,
which is the colour assigned to the ancient inhabitants of Egypt, and
to all the deities of the country except Osiris. The features are
Nubian, or what, from ancient representations, may be called ancient
Egyptian, which is quite different from the negro feature. The
expression is particularly placid and benign; so much so, that the
worshipper of the Sphinx might hold up his god as superior to all the
other gods of wood and stone which the blinded nations worshipped.
“Pococke found the head and neck—all that were above ground—to be
twenty-seven feet high; the breast was thirty-three feet wide; and the
entire length about a hundred and thirty. Pliny estimated it at a
hundred and thirteen feet long and sixty-three in height. According to
Dr. Richardson, the stretch of the back is about a hundred and twenty
feet, and the elevation of the head above the sand from thirty to
thirty-five, a result which accords pretty nearly with the measurement
of Coutelle. It is obvious, at the same time, that the discrepancy in
these reports as to the elevation of the figure must be attributed to
the varying depth of the sand, which appears to have accumulated
greatly since the days of the Roman naturalist.
“There is no opening found in the body of the statue, whereby to
ascertain whether it is hollow or not; but we learn from Dr. Pococke
that there is an entrance both in the back and in the top of the head,
the latter of which, he thinks, might serve for the arts of the priests
in uttering oracles, while the former might be meant for descending to
the apartments beneath.”
Colonel Howard-Vyse made ineffectual attempts to pierce the Sphinx; the
result, in the back of the statue, he gives in these words:—
“The boring-rods were broken, owing to the carelessness of the Arabs,
at the depth of twenty-seven feet in the back of the Sphinx. Various
attempts were made to get them out, and on the 21st of July[48]
gunpowder was used for that purpose; but, being unwilling to disfigure
this venerable monument, the excavation was given up, and several feet
of boring-rods were left in it. During the operation a very beautiful
fossil of a reed was discovered, which is now in the British Museum.”
Respecting the attempt near the shoulder, he says:—“The operations
carried on at the Sphinx were suspended, and the hole made near the
shoulder, about twenty-five and a half feet in depth, was plugged up.”
It was Moses who had the Sphinx cut out of the solid rock on which it
stands. The features and the head-dress of the statue represent in
colossal proportions the features and the head-dress of his beloved
Ethiopian bride, who was “black but comely.”
The statue served as the royal entrance into the Great Pyramid, near
which it is constructed. That this Pyramid has been entered from this
direction is evident from the fact that a ramp-stone has been taken
away from its place by some person who approached it by a subterranean
passage.
“The original builders,[49] then, were not those who knocked out from
within on the well side that now lost ramp-stone, and exposed the inlet
to the well-mouth as it is presently seen, near the north-west corner
of the Grand Gallery. Neither was Al Mamoun the party, for no one could
have done it except by entering the well from the very bottommost
depths of the subterranean region; and he, the son of Caliph Haroun Al
Raschid, and all his crew, did not descend further down the
entrance-passage than merely to the level of his own forced hole, which
is not subterranean at all. Nor is the credit claimed for any of his
Arab successors, who rather alluded to the well as an already existing
feature in their earliest time, and one they did not understand; in
large part, too, because they had only seen, and only knew of, the
upper end of it in the north-west corner of the Grand Gallery floor;
and there it was simply a deep hole, the beginning of darkness and the
shadow of death.
“Who, then, did burst out that now missing ramp-stone? Who, indeed! For
the whole band of Egyptological writers we have mentioned appear to be
convinced that ages before Caliph Al Mamoun made his way by blundering
and smashing,—long ages, too, before Mohammed was born, and rather at
and about the period of Judah being carried captive to Babylon,—the
Egyptians themselves had entered the Great Pyramid by cunning art and
tolerable understanding of its mere methods of construction, and had
closed it again when they left.”
Yes; this Sphinx was the grand royal entrance by which Moses and his
consort entered into the interior of the Great Pyramid. He, being
inspired by Heaven, had foreseen that in future ages the knowledge of
this entrance would be forgotten; he therefore removed the ramp-stone
and left the space it occupied open, so as to excite the curiosity of
those who might visit the spot.
He also left the world a specimen of this entrance in a wooden statue,
built far away, that this wooden construction might serve to unriddle
the passage in the Sphinx, which leads into the Great Pyramid. The
openings in the head and back of the Sphinx were to give light and air
to the passage. The following is a description of the wooden statue,
taken from Captain Meares’ voyages:—[50]
“After the English had been for some time in King George’s Sound, the
Americans began to make use of sails of mats, in imitation of my ship.
Not long after this the English were waited upon by Wicananish, a
prince of greater wealth and power than any they had yet seen, who
invited them to visit his kingdom, which lay at some distance to the
southward, that a commercial intercourse might be established for the
advantage of both parties.
“The invitation was accepted, and Wicananish himself met the ‘Felice’
at some distance from the shore with a small fleet of canoes, and,
coming on board, piloted them into the harbour. They found the capital
to be at least three times the size of Nootka. The country round was
covered with impenetrable woods of great extent, in which were trees of
enormous size.
“After the King and his chiefs had been entertained on board, the
English were in return invited to a feast by Wicananish; and it is not
easy to conceive a more interesting picture of savage life than
witnessed on this occasion. On entering the house, we were absolutely
astonished at the vast area it enclosed.
“It contained a large square, boarded up close on all sides to the
height of twenty feet with planks of an uncommon breadth and length.
Three enormous trees, rudely carved and painted, formed the rafters,
which were supported at the ends and in the middle by gigantic images,
carved out of huge blocks of timber. The same kind of broad planks
covered the whole to keep out the rain; but they were so placed as to
be removable at pleasure, either to receive the air and light or to let
out the smoke. In the middle of this spacious room were several fires,
and beside them large wooden vessels filled with fish soup. Large
slices of whale’s flesh lay in a state of preparation, to be put into
similar machines filled with water, into which the women, with a kind
of tongs, conveyed hot stones from very fierce fires, in order to make
it boil.
“Heaps of fish were strewed about; and in this central part of the
square, which might properly be called the kitchen, stood large
seal-skins filled with oil, from whence the guests were served with
that delicious beverage. The trees that supported the roof were of a
size which would render the mast of a first-rate man-of-war diminutive
on a comparison with them; indeed, our curiosity as well as our
astonishment was at its utmost stretch when we considered the strength
which must have been required to raise these enormous beams to their
present elevation, and how such strength could be commanded by a people
wholly unacquainted, as we supposed, with the mechanic powers.
“The door by which we entered this extraordinary fabric was the mouth
of one of these images, which, large as it may, from this circumstance,
be supposed to have been, was not disproportioned to the other features
of its colossal visage. We ascended by a few steps on the outside; and,
after passing the portal, descended down the chin into the house, where
we found new matter for wonder in the number of men, women, and
children who composed the family of the chief, which consisted of at
least 800 persons. These were divided into groups according to their
respective offices, which had distinct places assigned them.
“The whole of the interior of the building was surrounded by a bench,
about two feet from the ground, on which the various inhabitants sat,
ate, and slept. The chief appeared at the upper end of the room,
surrounded by natives of rank, on a small raised platform, round which
were placed several large chests, over which hung bladders of oil,
large slices of whale’s flesh, and proportionable gobbets of blubber.
“Festoons of human skulls, arranged with some attention to uniformity,
were disposed in almost every part where they could be placed, and,
however ghastly such ornaments appeared to European eyes, they were
evidently considered by the courtiers and people of Wicananish as a
very splendid and appropriate decoration of the royal apartment.
“When the English appeared, the guests had made a considerable advance
in their banquet. Before each person was placed a large slice of boiled
whale, which, with small wooden dishes filled with oil and fish-soup,
and a mussel-shell instead of a spoon, composed the economy of the
table. The servants busily replenished the dishes as they were emptied,
and the women picked and opened some bark, which served the purpose of
towels. The guests despatched their messes with astonishing rapidity
and voracity, and even the children, some of them not above three years
old, devoured the blubber and oil with a rapacity worthy of their
fathers. Wicananish, in the meantime, did the honours with an air of
hospitable yet dignified courtesy, which might have graced a more
cultivated society.”
The Sphinx was cut or carved on Moses’ return from Meroë, and prior to
his departure for Ethiopia, where he was elected King. He carefully
closed the mouth, which was the door of the passage, that it should
never be opened till the fulness of time arrived. But to prevent the
monument from being broken into by strangers, he instructed the
above-mentioned savages to make the large image, with a door in its
mouth, that it might in the future serve as a key to solve the mystery
of the Sphinx in connection with the Great Pyramid.
CHAPTER VII.
MISSION OF MOSES IN THE EAST.
During his reign in Ethiopia, Moses erected the Sphinxes and other
monuments, and left inscriptions and bas-reliefs as tokens of his
presence in that country. From thence he went to Midian, where he did
not remain idle, for there are mines there which he must have had
worked. He was commissioned by the Almighty to deliver the Israelites
and bring them out of Egypt, and, after teaching them how to govern
themselves, to lead them to the Land of Promise. During the forty years
that the Hebrews sojourned in the desert, Moses wrote inscriptions on
the rocks—all resembling those he left in Thebes—in order to show to
future generations the route by which he led his people.
At the foot of Mount Hor there is a remarkable place, called by the
Arabs Wady Mousa, or the Valley of Moses; and the whole of this wild
region is celebrated for its beautiful architectural remains.
Travellers of our time are told by the Arabs that a great prince dwelt
there, and they show them a noble edifice as Pharaoh’s Castle, and
another equally beautiful as the Palace of Pharaoh’s daughter. The
following extract, taken from the account given by an American
traveller, Mr. Stephens, describes these edifices:—[51]
“At the entrance of the city there was not a creature to dispute our
passage; its portals were wide open, and we passed along the stream
down into the area, and still no man to oppose us. In front of the
great temple, the pride and beauty of Petra, I saw a narrow opening in
the rocks, exactly corresponding with my conception of the object for
which I was seeking. A full stream of water was gushing through it, and
filling up the whole mouth of the passage.
“Mounted on the shoulders of one of my Bedouins, I got him to carry me
through the swollen stream at the mouth of the opening, and set me down
on a dry place a little above, whence I began to pick my way,
occasionally taking to the shoulders of my follower, and continued to
advance more than a mile. I was beyond all peradventure in the great
entrance I was seeking. There could not be two such, and I should have
gone on to the extreme end of the ravine.
“For about two miles it lies between high and precipitous ranges of
rocks, from five hundred to a thousand feet in height, standing as if
torn by some great convulsion, and barely wide enough for two horsemen
to pass abreast. At the end was a large open space, with a powerful
body of light thrown down upon it, and exhibiting in one full view the
facade of a beautiful temple, hewn out of the rock, with rows of
Corinthian columns and ornaments, standing out fresh and clear as if
but yesterday from the hands of the sculptor.
“Though coming directly from the banks of the Nile, where the
preservation of the temples excites the admiration and astonishment of
every traveller, we were roused and excited by the extraordinary beauty
and excellent condition of the great temple at Petra (Wady Mousa). The
whole temple, its columns, ornaments, porticoes, and porches, are cut
out from and form part of the solid rock; and this rock, at the foot of
which the temple stands like a mere print, towers several hundred feet
above, its face cut smooth to the very summit, and the top remaining
wild and misshapen as Nature made it.
“The whole area before the temple is perhaps an acre in extent,
enclosed on all sides, except at the narrow entrance, and an opening to
the left of the temple, which leads into the area of the city by a pass
through perpendicular rocks five or six hundred feet in height.
“Ascending several broad steps, we entered under a colonnade of four
Corinthian columns, about thirty-five feet high, into a large chamber
of some fifty feet square and twenty-five feet high. The outside of the
temple is richly ornamented, but the interior is perfectly plain, there
being no ornament of any kind upon the walls or ceiling; on each of the
three sides is a small chamber; and on the back wall of the innermost
chamber I saw the names of Messrs. Leigh, Banks, Irby, and Mangles, the
four English travellers who with so much difficulty had effected their
entrance to the city; of Messieurs Laborde and Linant, and several
others.
“Leaving the temple and the open area on which it fronts, and following
the stream, we entered another defile much broader than the first, on
each side of which were ranges of tombs, with sculptured doors and
columns; and on the left, in the bosom of the mountain, hewn out of the
solid rock, is a large theatre, circular in form, the pillars in front
fallen, and containing thirty-three rows of seats, capable of
containing more than three thousand persons. Above the corridor was a
range of doors opening to chambers in the rocks, the seats of the
princes and wealthiest inhabitants of Wady Mousa (Petra), and not
unlike a row of private boxes in a modern theatre. The whole theatre is
at this day in such a state of preservation that if the tenants of the
tombs around could once more rise into life, they might take their old
places on its seats and listen to the declamation of their favourite
player.
“Though I had no small experience in exploring catacombs and tombs,
these were so different from any I had seen that I found it difficult
to distinguish the habitations of the living from the chambers of the
dead. The façades or architectural decorations of the front were
everywhere handsome; and in this they differed materially from the
tombs in Egypt. In the latter the doors were simply an opening in the
rock, and all the grandeur and beauty of the work within; while here
the door was always imposing in its appearance, and the interior was
generally a simple chamber, unpainted and unsculptured.[52] I say that
I could not distinguish the dwellings from the tombs; but this was not
invariably the case. Some were clearly tombs, for there were pits in
which the dead had been laid, and others were as clearly dwellings,
being without a place for the deposit of the dead. One of these last
particularly attracted my attention. It consisted of one large chamber,
having on one side, at the foot of the wall, a stone bench about one
foot high and two or three broad, in form like the divans in the East
at the present day; at the other end were several small apartments,
hewn out of the rock, with partition-wall left between them, like
stalls in a stable, and these had probably been the sleeping apartments
of the family.
“There were no paintings or decorations of any kind within the chamber;
but the rock out of which it was hewn, like the old stony rampart that
encircled the city, was of a peculiarity and beauty that I never saw
elsewhere, being a dark ground, with veins of white, blue, red, purple,
and sometimes scarlet and light orange, running through it in rainbow
streaks; and within the chambers, where there had been no exposure to
the action of the elements, the freshness and beauty of the colours in
which these waving lines were drawn gave an effect hardly inferior to
that of the paintings in the tombs of the Kings at Thebes.
“Farther on, in the same range—though, in consequence of the steps of
the streets being broken, we were obliged to go down and ascend again
before we could reach it—was another temple, like the first, cut out
of the solid rock, and, like the first, too, having for its principal
ornament a large urn, shattered and bruised by musket-balls; for the
ignorant Arab, believing that gold is concealed in it, day after day,
as he passes by, levels at it his murderous gun, in the vain hope to
break the vessel and scatter a golden shower on the ground.”
From this encampment Moses led the Hebrews to the plains of Moab, and
after taking a survey of Canaan from the top of Mount Pisgah, that is
over against Jericho, he bade them a last farewell. He was then a
hundred and twenty years old; “his eye was not dim, nor his natural
force abated. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains
of Moab thirty days,” and Joshua became their leader in the place of
Moses. It is also recorded, that “there arose not a prophet since in
Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the
signs and wonders, which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt
to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land ... and in all
the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel.”
Josephus the Jewish historian gives an account of the departure of
Moses from the children of Israel thus:—[53]“Now as soon as they were
come to the mountain called Abarim (which is a very high mountain,
situate over against Jericho, and one that affords, to such as are upon
it, a prospect of the greatest part of the excellent land of Canaan),
he dismissed the senate; and as he was going to embrace Eleazar and
Joshua, and was still discoursing with them, a cloud stood over him on
the sudden, and he disappeared in a certain valley, although he wrote
in the Holy Books that he died, which was done out of fear, lest they
should venture to say that, because of his extraordinary virtue, he
went to God.”
Modern travellers have found remains of architecture and sculpture,
which serve as landmarks in the royal progress towards the East. No
doubt Moses had these works executed that they might give ample proof
of his presence in all those countries wherein the remains
exist—countries far divided from each other—and so that by them his
route could easily be followed from Ethiopia to the place where he
ended his pilgrimage on earth.
From Mount Abarim he took his journey eastward, evidently with a large
caravan, consisting of his faithful followers, and forming a formidable
escort. The first place at which they halted for any length of time is
in Persia, where there are unmistakable signs of his sojourn. The
following is an account given by Mr. Morier, who accompanied Sir
Harford Jones Brydges on the mission to Persia in 1809:—[54]
“The sculptures are situated at the distance of about fifteen miles
from Kázerún. About seven miles from it I passed the ruined village of
Derses; and, leaving two tombs, one on the right hand and the other on
the left of the road, came to the bed of a torrent, over which there
seems to have been built an aqueduct, for, on each side of its banks,
there are remains of masonry, and traces of its conduit may be
perceived on the southern bank.
“The extent of the ruins of Shahpúr to the southward is bounded by a
beautiful stream of water. Over the spring from which it issues the
road is sustained by fragments of architecture, which are part of the
entablature of some public building, and, by their dimensions, must
have once been magnificent.
“Immediately after passing the spring, we came upon the ruins of
Shahpúr. When standing on an eminence, we computed the whole to be
comprised, on a rough calculation, within a circumference of six miles.
This circumference enclosed a tract of plain, and a hill, on which the
remains of the ancient citadel formed a conspicuous and commanding
object. Whether by the caprice of Nature or by the labour of man, this
hill or acropolis is distinctly separated from the great range of
mountains forming the most eastern boundary of the plain of Kázerún.
“Between this and another imposing mass of rock runs the beautiful
river of Shahpúr. We reckoned the space between the two rocks at thirty
yards, which formed a little plain of verdure and shrubbery,
intersected, indeed, by the stream of the river. The opening between
the two grand masses presented a landscape the most varied, the most
tranquil, the most picturesque, and, at the same time, the most
sublime, that imagination can form.
“A black and stupendous rock flanked the right of the picture; while
another still more extraordinary rock, as richly illumined as the other
was darkened, supported the left. Between both a distant range of
mountains, whose rocks were terminated by a plain, filled up the
interstices, forming a fine aërial perspective; whilst the river and
rich shrubbery completed a most enlivening foreground.
“The hill on which the remains of the citadel stand is covered by ruins
of walls and turrets. On its eastern aspect the nature of the
fortification can be traced easily; for walls fill the chasms from rock
to rock, forming altogether a place of defence admirably strong. The
first object which arrested our attention was a mutilated sculpture of
two colossal figures on horseback, carved on the superfices of the
rock. The figure on the right was most injured; the only part, indeed,
which we could ascertain with precision was one of the front and two of
the hinder feet of a horse, standing over the statue of a man, who was
extended at his full length, his face turning outwardly, and reposed
upon his right hand, and his attire bearing marks of a Roman costume. A
figure in the same dress was placed in an attitude of supplication at
the horse’s knees, and a head in alto-relievo just appeared between the
hinder feet. The equestrian figure on the left is not quite so much
mutilated, the horse and parts of the drapery on the thighs being still
well preserved.
“The next piece of sculpture (which, like the former, was carved upon
the mountain of the citadel) is perfect in all its parts. It consists
of three grand compartments; the central and most interesting
represents a figure on horseback, whose dress announces a royal
personage. His head-dress is a crown, on which is placed a globe; his
hair flows in very large and massy curls over both shoulders, whilst a
slight mustachio just covers his upper lip, and gives much expression
to a countenance strongly indicative of pride and majesty.
“His body is clothed with a robe, which falls in many folds to his
girdle, and then extends itself over his thigh and legs as low as his
ancle. A quiver hangs by his side; in his right hand he holds the hand
of a figure behind him, which stands so as to cover the whole hind
quarter of his horse, and which is dressed in the Roman tunic and
helmet. A figure, habited also in the Roman costume, is on its knees
before the head of the horse, with its hands extended and with a face
betraying entreaty. Under the feet of the horse is another figure
extended, in the same attire and character as that of the other two
Roman figures.
“To the right of the tablet stands a figure with his hands also
extended, but dressed in a different manner, and, as far as we could
judge, with features more Egyptian than European. In the angle between
the King’s head and the horse’s is a Victory displaying the scroll of
fame. A figure (part of which is concealed by the one on its knees)
completes the whole of this division.
“The second grand compartment, which is on the right, is divided again
into six sub-compartments, in each of which are carved three figures,
the costumes and general physiognomies of which are all different. They
appear mostly in postures of supplication, and, I should suspect, are
representations of vanquished people.
“On the left, in the third grand compartment, are rows of horsemen,
divided by one line into two smaller compartments. They have all the
same characteristic dress and features as the royal figure in the
centre, and certainly represent his forces. The whole of this most
interesting monument is sculptured in a very hard rock, which bears the
finest polish, and which we pronounced to be a coarse species of
jasper. The figures on foot are in height five feet nine inches:
figures on horseback, from the rider’s cap to the horse’s hoofs, six
feet ten inches in length; the grand tablet eleven feet eleven inches.
“Having examined these, we next crossed the river to the sculptures on
the opposite rock. The first is a long tablet containing a multitude of
figures. The principal person (who is certainly the King represented in
the former tablet) is placed in the very centre of the piece, alone in
a small compartment, and is seated with a sword placed betwixt his
legs, on the pommel of which rests his left hand. On his right, on the
uppermost of two long slips, are many men, who seem to be a mixture of
Persians and Romans, the former conducting the latter as prisoners.
Under these, in the lower step, are others, who by their wigs appear to
be Persians. Their leader bears a human head in both hands, and extends
it towards the central figure. On the left are four small compartments.
The first (nearest that figure, and the highest from the ground)
incloses a crowd of men, whose arms are placed over one another’s
shoulders. Below these are five figures, one of whom leads a horse
without any more furniture than a bridle.
“The other two compartments are filled up with eight figures each. We
considered this to represent in general a King seated in his room of
audience, surrounded by his own people, and by nations tributary to
him. The length is eleven yards four inches. On the left of this were
two colossal figures on horseback carved in alto-relievo. The one to
the right had all the dress, character, and features of the King above
described; the other on the left appeared also a royal personage, but
differing in dress and in the furniture of his horse. Both had their
hands extended, and held a ring, which we conceived to be emblematical
of peace.
“After having re-passed the river, we walked over the numerous mounds
of stones and earth which cover the ruined buildings of Shahpúr, and
which, if ever explored, would discover innumerable secrets of
antiquity. We were conducted by the peasants who were with us to the
remains of a very fine wall, which in the symmetry of its masonry
equalled any Grecian work that I have ever seen. Each stone was four
feet long, twenty-seven inches thick, and cut to the finest angles.
“The wall formed the front of a square building, the area of which is
fifty-five feet. At the top were placed sphinxes couchant, a
circumstance which we ascertained from discovering accidentally two
eyes and a mutilated foot, at the extremity of one of the upper stones.
In this wall there is a window, which is arched by the formation of its
upper stone. Behind this square building we traced most correctly the
configuration of a theatre, thirty paces in length and fourteen in
breadth. The place resembled, at least, those called theatres which I
have seen in Greece. From a comparison of their positions, we were led
to suppose that the building still extant must have been connected with
the other behind it, and may have formed, perhaps, the entrance to
it.”[55]
These commemorative sculptures denote that the stranger King (Moses)
and his forces took possession of Derses near Shahpúr by conquest; and
the length of time he remained in the country may be inferred from the
interregnum, or unrecorded interval, between the Assyrian epochs of
Nimrúd and Khorsabad. The supposed duration of that period is about
sixty or seventy years, and it began just about the time that Moses
left the children of Israel, so that it synchronises with the arrival
of Moses in the country, and his residence there fills up the gap.
The number of his followers must have increased during the years that
Moses travelled from one country to another, and he was likely in
consequence to leave some of them to colonise, and to teach his
doctrine, and to carry on the ordinances of his religion, in every
region that was suitable for that purpose.
The Afghans, whose country lies nearest to Persia, claim descent from
the Jews, and the people of Kafiristan are unmistakably Jews. These
inhabit a mountainous country adjoining Afghanistan, on the north-west
of Cashmere.
“The Caufirs[56] have no general name for their nation. Each tribe has
its peculiar name, for they are all divided into tribes, though not
according to genealogy, but to geographical position, each valley being
held by a separate tribe. The Mussulmans confound them all under the
name of Caufir, or infidel, and call their country Caufiristaun. They
also call one division of them Seeaposh (black-vested), or Tor Caufirs
(black infidels), and another Speen Caufirs (white infidels). Both
epithets are taken from their dress, for the whole of the Caufirs are
remarkable for the fairness and beauty of their complexion, but those
of the largest division wear a sort of vest of black goat-skin, while
the others dress in white cotton.
“There are several languages among the Caufirs, but they have all many
words in common, and all have a near connection with the Sanskrit.
Their religion does not resemble any other with which I am acquainted.
They believe in one God; but they also worship numerous idols, which,
they say, represent great men of former days, who intercede with God in
favour of their worshippers. These idols are of stone or wood, and
always represent men or women, some mounted and some on foot.
“They have hereditary priests. They have also persons who can procure
an inspiration of some superior being by holding their heads over the
smoke of a sacrifice. Their festivals are often accompanied with a
sacrifice, and always with a feast. They have no titles of their own,
but they have borrowed that of Khaun from the Afghans for their rich
men. Their property chiefly consists in cattle and slaves.
“The houses of the Caufirs are often of wood, and they have generally
cellars where they keep their cheeses, clarified butter, wine, and
vinegar. In every house there is a wooden bench fixed to the wall, with
a low back to it. There are also stools shaped like drums, but smaller
in the middle than at the ends, and tables of the same sort, but
larger. The Caufirs, partly from their dress and partly from habit,
cannot sit like the other Asiatics; and if forced to sit down on the
ground, stretch out their legs like Europeans. They have also beds made
of wood and thongs of neats’ leather: the stools are made of
wicker-work.
“They celebrate a sacrifice at a particular place near the village
where there was a stone post; a fire was kindled before it, through
which flour, butter, and water were thrown on the stone. At length an
animal was sacrificed, and the flesh was burned, and part eaten by the
assistants, who were numerous, and who accompanied the priest in
prayers and devout gesticulations.”[57]
Their neighbours, the dwellers in the beautiful vale of Cashmere, also
claim descent from the Jews, “a claim[58] borne out by the personal
appearance of the race, their garb, the cast of their countenance, and
the form of their beards. There is a belief, too, among them that Moses
died in the capital of Cashmere, and that he is buried near it.” (This
belief is erroneous, as that Lawgiver ended his days very far away from
Cashmere.)
“There is no doubt that they were originally of Brahmin (Hebrew)
origin; and prosperous must have been the people—wise, beneficent, and
energetic the rulers, in those old days, if tradition and legend are to
be believed, and the mighty monuments of a past grandeur, long anterior
to the days when Mogul wealth and taste embellished the valley, are to
be looked on as faithful witnesses; but to this golden age succeeded
centuries of oppression.
“We must, therefore, not be too hard on the Kashmiri; his faults are
those that oppression fosters, and his virtues, for he has some, are
his industry, his religious toleration, his observance of family ties
and obligations, while for qualities of head and hand he is second to
no Eastern race. As artificers, the pale, slim, sneaking denizens of
the crowded lanes of Sreenuggur will compete with any in the East, and
the sturdy, broad-shouldered, large-limbed peasant is a painstaking and
successful husbandman.
“Among the many changes of masters which Cashmere has undergone, one
class of men appear not only to have retained the religion of their
Brahmin (Hebrew) forefathers, but also a high position among their
fellows. I allude to the Kashmiri Pundits—men of lengthy pedigree, of
wealth and influence, who, thanks to their superior education and
fitness for business, were largely employed by their successive
conquerors, placed in posts of trust, and seemingly exempted from the
forcible conversion to the creed of Mahommed, which was universally
imposed on their countrymen.”
From Cashmere the invading host of Moses entered Hindostan, known at
that period under the name of Ind, from the river Indus. The natives of
the country were a variety of barbarous tribes, who resisted the entry
of Moses and his followers, and many sanguinary battles were fought
before they were subdued, and the conquerors permitted to take
possession of the whole peninsula. Here Moses assumed the name of Manu,
and called his Hebrew nationality Brahmin.
The language he employed while in Hindostan was Sanscrit; all his laws
and ordinances were written in this sacred language. He established
classes or castes. The Brahmins in India occupied the same position as
the Levites in Judea, and were the priests, the instructors, and the
philosophers of the nation.
The chronicles of this epoch record the wars and the brave exploits of
heroes, and the wisdom and learning of the conquerors. The first
mention made of this invading nation gives as their residence a tract
of country between the rivers Sersooty and Caggar, distant from Delhi
about one hundred miles to the north-west. It then bore the name of
Bram-haverta, as being the haunt of gods; and although it was but about
sixty-five miles long by forty broad, it was the scene of the
adventures of the first princes, and the residence of the most famous
sages. They extended their territory, which seems to have included at
that time the districts of Oude, Agra, Allahabad, Lahore, and Delhi.
The city of Oude, then termed Ayodha, was the capital. In course of
time they moved down the peninsula, and subdued the Deccan and the
whole of the south. The celebrated rock temples of Ellora, and the
sculptured cave of Elephanta, are some of the many monuments left by
these Brahmins, the descendants of Abraham the Hebrew. Every traveller,
in viewing these wonderful remains is forcibly reminded of similar
remains in Egypt and Nubia—unmistakable proof of the works having been
executed under the guidance of the same inspired intellect.
The colonies left by Moses or Manu in the peninsula of India within the
Ganges were distinctly traceable in the days of Alexander the Great,
the southern colonists being swarthy, tall, and handsome, not unlike
Ethiopians, whilst those of the northern latitudes were much fairer,
and not unlike the Egyptians, and those still farther south were Jews.
Of such as these were the forces and followers of Moses in his progress
over the earth.
After conquering the whole peninsula he left the mainland and went over
to the island of Ceylon. The Cingalese are well versed in biblical
history; and they even believe that Adam and Eve came to Ceylon after
their expulsion from the garden of Eden. There are remains of former
grandeur and colossal statues to mark the presence of the god-like
Lawyer in the island.
From the island of Ceylon he went by sea and landed on the opposite
peninsula, or India beyond the Ganges. The neighbourhood of Siam has
splendid ruins of most noble buildings and statuary. In Bangkok, the
capital of Siam, the temples and all other religious buildings are
evidently of Egyptian origin. The Siamese of the present time, from the
King to the peasant, live in poor houses of wood or bamboo; and they
frankly admit that they did not build those ancient monuments, and do
not even know who were the builders of them.
Recent travellers in Chin-India speak in rapturous terms of the ruins
of Angkor, the great temple in Siam. One writer says: “The ruins of
Angkor are as imposing as the ruins of Thebes or Memphis, and more
mysterious”; while another thinks that “one of these temples, a rival
to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michael Angelo, might
take an honourable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is
grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome.”
The following description of these wonderful ruins is taken from the
work of a recent traveller who visited them:—[59]
“The ruins of Angkor are situated in the province of Siamrap, eastern
Siam, in about lat. 13° 30’ N. and long. 104° E. We entered upon an
immense causeway, the stairs of which were flanked with six huge
griffins, each carved from a single block of stone. This causeway,
which leads directly to the main entrance of the temple, is 725 feet in
length, and is paved with stones, each of which measures four feet in
length by two in breadth. On either side of it are artificial lakes fed
by springs, and each covering about five acres of ground. We passed
through one of the side gates and crossed the square to a _sala_
situated at the very entrance of the temple. Embosomed in the midst of
a perfect forest of cocoa, betel-nut, and toddy palms, and with no
village in sight, excepting a dozen or more huts, the abodes of priests
having the charge of it; the general appearance of the wonderful temple
is beautiful and romantic as well as impressive and grand. A just idea
of it can hardly be conveyed by writing; it must be seen to be
understood and appreciated. Still, perhaps, a detailed description
might assist the imagination somewhat in forming a proper estimate of
the grand genius which planned, and the skill and patience which
executed, such a masterpiece of architecture.
“The outer wall of Nagkon Wat—which words signify a city or assemblage
of temples or monasteries—about half a mile square, is built of
sandstone, with gateways on each side, which are handsomely carved with
figures of gods and dragons, arabesques, and intricate scrolls. Upon
the western side is the main gateway, and passing through this and up a
causeway (paved with slabs of stone three feet in length by two in
breadth) for a distance of a thousand feet, you arrive at the central
main entrance of the temple. About the middle of the causeway, on
either side, are image-houses, much decayed and overgrown with rank
parasitic plants; and a little farther on are two small ponds, with
carved stone copings, which in most places are thrown down.
“The foundations of Nagkon Wat are as much as ten feet in height, and
are very massively built of the same volcanic rock as that used in the
construction of the ‘Angels’ Bridge.’ The entire edifice, which is
raised on three terraces, the one about thirty feet above the other,
including the roof, is of stone, but without cement; and so closely
fitting are the joints as even now to be scarcely discernible. The
quarry where the stone was hewn is about two days’ travel—thirty
miles—distant; and it is supposed the transportation of the immense
boulders could only have been effected by means of a water
communication—a canal or river, or when the country was submerged at
the end of the rainy season. The shape of the building is oblong, being
796 feet in length and 588 feet in width, whilst the highest central
pagoda rises some 250 odd feet above the ground, and four others, at
the angles of the court, are each about 150 feet in height.
“Passing between low railings, we ascend a platform composed of
boulders of stone four feet in length, one and a half feet in width,
and six inches in thickness, and enter the temple itself through a
columned portico, the façade of which is beautifully carved in
basso-relievo with ancient mythological subjects. From this doorway, on
either side, runs a corridor, with a double row of columns, cut—base
and capital—from single blocks, with a double, oval-shaped roof
covered with carving and consecutive sculptures upon the outer wall.
“This gallery of sculptures, which forms the exterior of the temple,
consists of over half a mile of continuous pictures, cut in
basso-relievo upon sandstone slabs six feet in width, and represents
subjects taken from Hindoo mythology—from Ramayana, the Sanscrit epic
poem of India, with its 25,000 verses describing the exploits of the
god Rama and the son of the King of Oudh. The contests of the King of
Ceylon, and Hunaman, the monkey god, are graphically represented. There
is no key-stone used in the arch of this corridor, and its ceiling is
uncarved. On the walls are sculptured the immense number of 100,000
separate figures (or at least heads). Entire scenes from the Ramayana
are pictured; one, I remember, occupies 240 feet of the wall.
“Weeks might be spent in studying, identifying, and classifying the
varied subjects of this wonderful gallery. You see warriors riding upon
elephants and in chariots, foot soldiers with shield and spear, boats,
unshapely divinities, trees, monkeys, tigers, griffins, hippopotami,
serpents, fishes, crocodiles, bullocks, tortoises, soldiers of immense
physical development, with helmets, and some people with beards. The
figures stand somewhat like those on the great Egyptian monuments, the
side partly turned towards the front; in the case of the men, one foot
and leg are always placed in advance of the other; and I noticed,
besides, five horsemen, armed with spear and sword, riding abreast,
like those seen upon the Assyrian tablets in the British Museum. In the
procession several of the kings are preceded by musicians playing upon
shells and long bamboo flutes. Some of the kings carry a sort of
battle-axe, others a weapon which much resembles a golf-club, and
others are represented as using the bow and arrow. In one place is a
grotesque divinity, who sits elegantly dressed upon a throne surmounted
by umbrellas; this figure, of peculiar sanctity, evidently, has been
recently gilded, and before it, upon a small table, there were a dozen
or more ‘joss-sticks’ kept constantly burning by the faithful.[60] But
it is almost useless to particularise when the subjects and style of
execution are so diverse. Each side of the long corridor seemed to
display figures of distinct feature, dress, and character.
“‘The most interesting sculptures,’ says Dr. Adolf Bastian, the
President of the Royal Geographical Society of Berlin, who explored
these wonderful ruins in 1864, ‘the most interesting sculptures at
Nagkon Wat are in two compartments, called by the natives respectively
the procession and the three stages (heaven, earth, and hell). What
gives a peculiar interest to this section is the fact that the artist
has represented the different nationalities in all their distinctive
characteristic features, from the flat-nosed savage in the tasseled
garb of the Pnom, and the short-haired Lao, to the straight-nosed
Rajaput, with sword and shield, and the bearded Moor, giving a
catalogue of nationalities, like another column of Trajan in the
predominant physical conformation of each race. On the whole there is
such a prevalence of Hellenic cast in the features and profiles, as
well as in the elegant attitude of the horsemen, that one might suppose
Xenocrates of old, after finishing his labours in Bombay, had made an
excursion to the east.’
“There are figures sculptured in high relief (nearly life-size) upon
the lower parts of the walls about the entrance; all are females, and
apparently of Hindoo origin. The interior of the quadrangle, bounded by
the long corridor just described, is filled with galleries—halls,
formed with huge columns, crossing one another at right angles. In the
Nagkon Wat as many as 1,532 solid columns have been counted, and among
the entire ruins of Angkor there are reported to be the immense number
of 6,000, almost all of them hewn from single blocks and artistically
carved. On the inner side of the corridor there are blank windows, each
of which contains seven beautifully turned little columns. The ceilings
of the galleries were hung with tens of thousands of bats and pigeons,
and other birds had made themselves comfortable nests in out-of-the-way
corners.
“We pass on up steep staircases, with steps not more than four inches
in width, to the centre of the galleries which here bisect one another.
There are two detached buildings in this square. In one of the
galleries we saw two or three hundred images—made of stone, wood,
brass, clay—of all shapes and sizes and ages (some of the large stone
idols are said to be 1,400 years old).
“We walk on across another causeway, with small image-houses[61] on
either hand, and up a steep flight of steps, fully thirty feet in
height, to other galleries crossing each other in the centre above
which rises the grand central pagoda, 250 feet in height, and at the
four corners of the court four smaller spires. These latter are much
dilapidated and do not now display their full height; the porticoes
also bear evidence of the presence of the ‘heavy hand of time.’
“There is one more gallery, and then we come to the outer corridor, and
pass through a magnificent doorway to the rear of the temple, and walk
round to our _sala_, not knowing which to admire the most, the vastness
of the plan or the propriety and grace of the performance.
“The principal ruins of Siam and Cambodia yet discovered lie in the
province of Siamrap, as already stated. At about three miles north-east
of Angkor, on the opposite side of the Siamrap river, are the ruins of
a city called Pentaphrohm, the citadel of Taphrohm, and near it is a
_wat_ styled Phrakeoh, or the Gem Tower, presenting the same
combination of a royal and priestly residence as Angkor and Nagkon Wat.
Some of these temples and palaces, with their columns, sculptures, and
statues, are quite as interesting, though not so well-preserved, as
those at Angkor. About four miles east of Nagkon Wat are two other
remains of antiquity, Bakong and Lailan.
“In the province of Battambong, forty or fifty miles south-west from
Siamrap town, there are also ruins, temples, monasteries, and palaces,
and indeed the whole valley of the Makong river to the very borders of
China is spread with ruins of more or less magnitude, beauty, and
interest. Near the monastery of Phrakeoh is an artificial lake called
Sasong (the royal lake), built by the kings of Pentaphrohm, and
surrounded with pleasure-houses for their recreation. Dr. Bastian
thinks that it must have been a work of immense labour, and the whole
population of Cambodia of to-day would scarcely be able to raise such a
gigantic structure.
“The lake of Sasong he describes as being ‘of oblong shape, about 2,000
feet broad and 4,000 feet long, and surrounded by a high embankment of
solid masonry. Some of the blocks are fourteen to sixteen feet long and
highly finished. In convenient places square platforms were built
overhanging the water, with broad flights of steps leading down to it,
and in such places the huge masses of stone laid on each other are
embellished by delicate chisellings, bearing the figures of serpents,
eagles, lions (in their fabulous shapes as Naga, Kruth, Sinto) on the
ends. In the middle of the lake is a small island with the remains of a
former palace upon it. Of all the figures used for ornaments, that
which recurs most frequently is that of the Naga; and the Chinese
officer who visited Cambodia in 1295 describes already ‘the pillars of
the stone bridges adorned with serpents, each of which had nine heads.’
“About half a mile north-west of Nagkon Wat there are the ruins of an
observatory, built upon the summit of a hill perhaps 500 feet in
height. A foot-path leads up this hill through the thick jungle. The
first indication of any antiquities thereabouts is two immense stone
griffins, one standing on each side of the path; and next we pass a
small image with the head of an elephant and the body of a human being;
it is the elephant-headed Ganesh—the god of wisdom of the Hindoo
mythology. This hill is cut in five terraces paved with stone, and
having staircases, each about twelve feet in height, ornamented with
stone lions upon their balusters; and at the corners of each terrace
are small image-houses.
“The building is quadrilateral, and covers the entire crest of the
hill, there being four entrances; the central spire is now an unshapely
mass of large boulders, all overgrown with trees, shrubs, and vines.
From the summit we obtained an extensive view of the surrounding
country. To the north there extended from east to west a range of low
blue hills; to the south-east we could just discern the placid waters
of Lake Thalaysap; to the south lay the quaint old town of Siamrap, and
to the south-west there was another large lake of bright, clear water.”
On his arrival in the southern portion of the peninsula beyond the
Ganges, the great Lawgiver evidently set his followers to execute the
wonderful monuments above described.
The sculptures on the walls of the palace of Angkor represent exploits
of bravery and conquest, from the first invasion of Ind to the arrival
of the invaders on the island of Ceylon, and to their landing in Siam.
The observatory shows that Moses loved astronomy, and pursued the study
of that science in the distant east as he had done in Thebes.
When these noble undertakings were completed—which serve as
_souvenirs_ of his visit to the country—he, no doubt, left a colony to
protect them, and proceeded northward, where there are ample traces
which clearly indicate the route. The country he came to was like that
which is on the other side of the Bay of Bengal, inhabited by various
tribes of savages.
The empire he founded here was called the Empire of Brahma, and the
people Brahmins. The scriptures were expounded, and the doctrine of the
Lawgiver propagated, so that the natives of the country to this day
relate the fall of Adam, and all the particulars regarding that
memorable event. The following is a literal translation, by Dr. Mason,
of some rude verses which the Karens have preserved:—
“Anciently, God commanded, but Satan appeared bringing destruction.
Formerly, God commanded, but Satan appeared deceiving unto death.
The woman Eu and the man Tha-nai pleased not the eye of the dragon.
The dragon looked on them, the dragon beguiled the woman and Tha-nai.
How is this said to have happened?
The great dragon succeeded in deceiving—deceiving unto death.
How do they say it was done?
A yellow fruit took the great dragon, and gave to the children of God;
A white fruit took the great dragon, and gave to the daughter and son
of God.
They transgressed the commands of God, and God turned His face from
them.
They kept not all the words of God—were deceived, deceived unto
sickness.
They kept not all the law of God—were deceived, deceived unto death.”
It is evident that this tradition came from a written source, and there
is no other source than the books of Moses.
There is in the Christian world an erroneous acceptation of the first
and second chapters of the first book of Moses. Expounders of the
Pentateuch, of our enlightened age, err with respect to these two
chapters, and the consequence of this error is much confusion among
believers. These expounders say that God created only one man at the
creation of the world; and that when this man complained of _ennui_ and
loneliness, then the Almighty created the woman to keep him company.
This account of the creation of man has been the cause of many
controversies and divisions and secessions from the true faith.
In the first chapter of Genesis, Moses records the creation of heaven
and earth with all the contents of each of them. Man, male and female,
was created on the sixth day—not one couple, but many couples, as
other animals were created; they were without number. And the Almighty
blessed them, and told them to multiply and replenish the earth, and
subdue it; to have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl
of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. He
gave them every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the
earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding
seed, for meat, &c.
This was accomplished on the sixth day; and “on the seventh day He
rested from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh
day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His
work which God had created and made.”
After this first seventh day, God created Adam, and the Lord God formed
_this_ man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life; and he became a living soul. “And the Lord God
planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put _this_ man whom he
had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree
that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also
in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it
was parted, and became into four heads.”
The man Adam was ruddy, for the earth or dust out of which he was
formed was red. The rest of the men who were created on the sixth day
were black, for the garden of Eden was divided from the rest of
negroland by the river Nile, which surrounded it entirely. During the
heavy rains in this portion of Africa, the waters of the lakes
overflow, the Nile, passing in its course through the red soil of
Ethiopia, gets tinged with that colour; and the waters, after entering
Egypt, retain that hue for a long distance towards the Mediterranean
Sea.
“And the Lord God took the man (Adam) and put him in the garden of
Eden, to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man,
saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for
in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” So this man
alone, of all the created human beings, received this commandment from
God.
There is sculptured on the wall of a palace in Upper Egypt, which
Norden, the Danish traveller saw and sketched, a group of three persons
with a tree in the centre. The principal personage in this group is
seated, and is addressing a man standing before him, as if giving the
commandment above stated. The third figure is of a man standing behind
the seated person, with a sarcastic expression of countenance. This
sculpture no doubt represents the event in question.
After this, Eve was created. And it is recorded that “the serpent was
more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.”
He tempted the woman, and succeeded in making her break the commandment
which God had given to Adam.
Now there is another sculpture in Upper Egypt, representing a man with
a serpent’s head. So that the creature that tempted and seduced Eve was
a man; and he made her commit two sins: she broke the commandment of
God, and her troth to her husband. When she had thus doubly sinned, she
beguiled her husband, and persuaded him to disobey his Creator.
The Lord God visited the garden of Eden at certain hours of the day,
and Adam and Eve attended as keepers of it. But when the time of the
visit of the Lord God arrived, the man and his wife hid themselves, so
that the Lord called for Adam, “and said unto him, Where art thou? And
he said, I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I
was naked; and I hid myself. And He said, Who told thee that thou wast
naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou
shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be
with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
“And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast
done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And
the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou
art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; _upon
thy belly shalt thou go_, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy
life; and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his
heel.”
From this it is evident that the serpent, before he was cursed by God,
walked erect as a man, and it was only after the curse that he became
the creeping animal that we see him now. The Almighty, in His pity,
made coats of skins for Adam and Eve, and clothed them. This is another
proof that this man and his wife were different from the rest of
mankind, for these clothe themselves, whereas savages, to this day, go
about without clothing of any kind—perfectly naked as in the day they
were created.
Moses, in thus separating these two from other beings, gave a beginning
to the Jewish nation, as descending from the children of God. He was
the historian of this nation, and it was for these people that he wrote
his laws and ordinances of religion. Other nations of the earth are
only mentioned by him in his records incidentally, as coming in contact
with his nation by chance or accident.
The confusion made by the seventy elders who translated the Pentateuch
from the Hebrew into Greek, by having added six verses to the second
chapter of the book of Genesis, has caused great mischief in the
Church, resulting in disbelief of the Bible. If these first six verses
were removed from the second chapter, the version would be quite
correct, and as it was intended by Moses.
Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden of Eden, and, proceeding to
the East along the Nile, they made the caves in the rocks their
dwelling-place. In due time Eve gave birth to the child conceived in
sin, and she called him Cain. She had another son after this, whom she
called Abel. Cain had the vices of the serpent, and consequently hated
this younger brother; and when they became old enough to offer
sacrifices to God, he found that while his brother’s offering was
accepted, his was rejected. Thereupon high words were spoken, and,
rising up in anger, he struck his brother and killed him.
“And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I
know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And He said, What hast thou done?
the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And
now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to
receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; when thou tillest the
ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a
fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
“And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
Behold, Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth;
and from Thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a
vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that
findeth me shall slay me.
“And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain,
vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon
Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. And Cain went out from the
presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of
Eden.”
Here we have the first mention of intercourse between the people that
were created in the world on the sixth day, and a descendant of Adam
and Eve, who were created by the Lord God in the second week, and
placed by themselves in the garden of Eden. This land of Nod, on the
east of Eden, where Cain took up his abode, and married a woman of the
land, must have been near Noph in Egypt.
It is said Eve had another son, after the death of Abel and the
departure of Cain; he was named Seth. In the Pentateuch the children of
Adam and Eve are called the sons of God; and the descendants of the
human family in the world at large were styled the sons and daughters
of men.
In Munipúr snake-worship is still in existence. It is reported
that:—“The Raja’s peculiar god is a species of snake called Pakúng-ba,
from which the royal family claim descent. When it appears it is coaxed
on to a cushion by the priestess in attendance, who then performs
certain ceremonies to please it.
“This snake appears, they say, sometimes of great size, and when he
does so it is indicative of his being displeased with something. But as
long as he remains of diminutive form it is a sign he is in good
humour. Pakúng-ba is a snake by day, and by night assumes the human
form. A house is prepared for it, and when it appears the priests give
intimation of it, and all the head men and most orthodox Hindus, from
the Raja downwards, do _poojah_ (worship) before it.”[62]
The colonists left by Moses in his progress through the different
countries of Eastern Asia claim descent from celestial beings,
especially in India beyond the Ganges, in China, and other kingdoms as
far as the western shores of America. This claim originated from their
being the direct descendants of Adam and Eve. The savages among whom
they dwelt in bygone days admitted the claim, and, moreover, credited
them with divine attributes.
The kings of Burmah consider the throne-room of their palace, where
they receive homage from their subjects and strangers, as holy ground,
and have made it a rule that all who seek the royal presence shall put
off their shoes. Embalming the dead is also practised in Burmah, the
members of the royal family, when they die, being embalmed—a custom
brought by Moses from Egypt. The title of Phra among the Siamese is
also imported from Egypt, being used in both countries as a royal
appellation.
The inspired Lawgiver proceeded eastward from the kingdom of Brahma,
and entered China. The inhabitants of this immense tract of land lying
along the sea-shore were savages, ignorant of the arts and comforts of
civilized life. He imparted to them the knowledge of agriculture and
astronomy, arithmetic and navigation, and all the useful arts and
sciences. He reclaimed them from the darkness of profound ignorance,
and gave them laws for guidance in their duties towards God and their
fellow-beings.
Moses also taught these people to read and write; the writing being in
hieroglyphics, similar to that of Egypt. He established here a form of
government resembling that of the other kingdoms he had founded on his
route. And when he had reclaimed these savages and raised them to a
height of civilization equal to that of Egypt, he departed, leaving a
colony to continue the good work which he had begun.
It is remarked by Dr. Mason, that “there have been Jews in China from
time immemorial, and that ancient copies of the Pentateuch, written on
sheep-skins, have been found in their possession.”
Since the departure of Moses the kingdom of China, which he founded,
has many times been invaded by different nations of Western Asia; and
has had conquerors so savage that they ordered all the books to be
burnt, and compelled the people to adopt many strange customs, which
prevail in China even to this day. So that the Chinese were more
civilized in the days immediately succeeding Moses’ time than they are
in this century.
The country along the sea-board adjoining China is Corea; and the
Lawgiver visited this country also before he crossed over to the island
of Japan. The original Coreans were savages, like all their primitive
neighbours; and here the god-like Lawgiver imparted to the ignorant men
the same lessons he had given in all the countries along his route. He
formed the peninsula of Corea into a dependency of China; so that its
annals are included in the History of China.
The Coreans have a knowledge of the writings of Moses; and a system of
caste prevails as in the Eastern parts of India. The colonists were, of
course, the nobles of the land. A traveller states:—[63]
“The features of a very considerable portion of the natives I had an
opportunity to see during my travels in the country bore an expression
so noble and so marked, that they might have passed for Europeans, had
they been dressed after our fashion. This was also most strikingly
observable in a great number of children, whose handsome, regular
features, rosy skin, blue eyes, and auburn hair really made it so
difficult to distinguish them from European children that at first I
could not account for their looks but by believing them to be of
European descent—an impression which had, of course, to be abandoned
as altogether false and erroneous after penetrating further into the
interior, when appearances of the same nature became of daily
occurrence.”
From the peninsula of Corea Moses and his followers crossed over to the
beautiful island of Japan, in the North Pacific Ocean, not far distant
from the continent of Asia. The people inhabiting the numerous isles
which compose the kingdom of Japan were savages—ignorant and
superstitious, like the rest of the children of Nature, whom the
Lawgiver had met in his journey, and whom he reclaimed from the
darkness of ignorance to the knowledge of God and His commandments.
Here he taught the Japanese as he had other people; and after giving
laws and ordinances for their guidance, he departed, leaving a colony
to govern the country.
CHAPTER VIII.
MISSION OF MOSES IN THE WEST.
Proceeding still further eastward Moses landed on the western coast of
North America. He found the natives inhabiting this vast tract of land
as savage as those he had left on the continent and the adjacent
islands of Asia—profoundly ignorant of God, living like the animals
around them, and going about as nude as in the day when they were first
created. The god-like Lawgiver founded an extensive empire in this
wilderness, and brought these savages under subjection, and taught them
all things necessary for their happiness and well-being. This empire
was Mexico.
In this new empire he constructed monuments resembling those of Upper
and Lower Egypt, Nubia and Ethiopia; he set up statues, built pyramids,
aqueducts, palaces, and bridges. His works he embellished with
sculpture portraying the battles his forces had fought with the
different nations that opposed their landing to occupy the country. And
he brought his new subjects to the same state of civilization as the
ancient Egyptians of his time. The following extracts are from the work
of a modern traveller, concerning the pyramids and other ruins of
Mexico:—[64]
“We arrived at Chollula after a pleasant ride over plains covered with
corn-fields, interspersed with plantations of the _Agava Americana_.
This city was, before the conquest, one of the most considerable
belonging to the ancient Mexicans. It was famed for its idols, its
sanctity, and its pagan worship.
“The Teocalli or temple is composed of alternate layers of clay and
sun-burnt brick, forming an immense pyramid, divided into regular
stages, or platforms; but time, and the growth of the prickly pear, the
tuna, or nopal, and other vegetables, have left but little of its
original form visible, and it now resembles a natural hill; the high
road from Puebla is cut through a part of it, which serves to show its
internal structure.
“We ascended by a steep winding road, partly cut into steps, to a level
area of 140 (one hundred and forty) feet long, on which stands a very
neat church, ninety feet in length, with two towers and a dome; from
this exalted platform the spectator enjoys a most lovely landscape. We
descended with reluctance the side of this pyramid, whose base is more
extensive than that of the Great Pyramid of Egypt. It is covered with
trees of great variety, some species of which I had never before seen;
but they had evidently been planted there.
“On our descent to the plains we visited two detached masses,
constructed, like the great pyramid, of unburnt brick and clay. The one
to the north-east had been cut or taken away; its broken sides were so
perpendicular as to prevent access to its summit. The other detached
piece has been engraved by Humbolt, whose figure of the great pyramid
conveys an idea of its ancient rather than its present state, nor is
the church on its summit like the original.
“The corner-stone of the building now occupied by the lottery-office,
and fronting the market for shoes, is the head of the serpent-idol, of
great magnitude, which I should judge was not, when entire, less than
seventy-feet in length. Under the gateway of the house, nearly opposite
the entrance to the mint, is a fine statue, in a recumbent posture, of
a deity, bearing the human form, and ornamented with various symbols;
it is about the size of life, and was found a few years since in
digging a well.
“The house at the corner of a street at the south-east of the great
square is built upon and in part supported by a fine circular altar of
black basalt, ornamented with the tail and claws of a gigantic reptile.
In the cloisters behind the Dominican Convent is a noble specimen of
the great serpent idol, almost perfect, and of fine workmanship; this
monstrous divinity is represented in the act of swallowing a human
victim, which is seen crushed and struggling in its horrid jaws.
“The only works of art of the inhabitants of the city of Mexico before
the conquest, then called Tenochtitlan, now publicly seen, are the
great Calendar Stone, popularly called Montezuma’s watch, and the
Sacrificial Stone, or the grand altar, once standing in the great
temple before the principal idol. The former measures twelve feet in
diameter, and is cut from one large block of porous basaltic stone. It
is supposed to have been placed in the roof of the great temple in the
same manner as the Zodiac was in the temple of Tentyra in Upper
Egypt.[65] It now stands against the north-west wall of the cathedral,
and is an attractive object of antiquarian research, and a striking
proof of the perfection the nation to which it belonged had attained in
some of the sciences; few persons, even of the most enlightened cities
of Europe, of the present day, would be capable of executing such a
work.
“From the first moment I beheld it I determined, if possible, to convey
to Europe a fac-simile of so fine a specimen of Aztec skill. Through
the influence of Don Lucas Alarman, the prime minister, I obtained
permission of the clergy to erect a scaffold against the cathedral, and
took an impression of it in plaster, which was afterwards carefully
packed up, and with some difficulty conveyed to Vera Cruz. It has
fortunately arrived safely in England, and now forms one of the
subjects of the exhibition of Ancient Mexico to be seen in the Egyptian
Hall.
“The Sacrificial Stone, or altar, is buried in the square of the
cathedral, within a hundred yards of the Calendar Stone. The upper
surface only is exposed to view, which seems to have been done
designedly. As I had been informed that the sides were covered with
historical sculpture, I applied to the clergy for the further
permission of having the earth removed from around it, which they not
only granted, but moreover had it performed for me at their own expense.
“I then took casts of the whole. It is twenty-five feet in
circumference, and consists of fifteen groups of figures, representing
the conquests of the warriors of Mexico over different cities, the
names of which are written over them.
“After a pleasant ride over a country not very fertile, we reached the
gates of Tescuco. Some time before approaching the immediate vicinity
of the city, you are apprised that you are near a place of great
antiquity. You pass the large aqueduct for the supply of the town,
which is still in use, and you also pass the ruins of several stone
buildings of great strength.
“On entering the gates, to the right are seen those artificial tumuli,
the teocalli of unburnt brick so common in most Indian towns, supposed
to be temples, tombs, or places of defence, or perhaps serving for all
these purposes. The foundations and ruins of temples, fortresses,
palaces, and other extensive buildings, are alone sufficient to attest
its former consequence and splendour; but it is likewise well known to
have been in earlier times the seat of Mexican literature and art. It
was the Athens of America, and the residence of historians, orators,
poets, artists, and the great men of every department of the sciences
who existed in those days.
“What a subject for contemplation does this collection of ruins present
to the reflecting mind! The seat of a powerful monarch, whose subjects
(if we may judge from their works) were probably an enlightened people,
existing and flourishing long before the continent of America was known
to Europe, and yet a people whose customs, costume, religion, and
architecture strongly resembled those of an enlightened nation of
Africa.”
Mr. Bullock continues:—
“We soon arrived at the foot of the largest pyramid (at Otumba), and
began to ascend. It was less difficult than we expected, although, the
whole way up, lime and cement are mixed with fallen stones.[66] The
terraces are perfectly visible, particularly the second, which is about
thirty-eight feet wide, covered with a coat of red cement eight or ten
inches thick, composed of small pebble-stones and lime. In many places,
as you ascend, the nopal trees have destroyed the regularity of the
steps, but nowhere injured the general figure of the square, which is
as perfect in this respect as the Great Pyramid of Egypt.
“We everywhere observed broken pieces of instruments like knives, arrow
and spear-heads, &c. composed of obsidian, the same as those found on
the small hills of Chollula; and, on reaching the summit, we found a
flat surface of considerable size, but which has been much broken and
disturbed. On the north-east side, about half-way down, at some remote
period, an opening has been attempted.
“Dr. Oteyza, who has given us the measure of these Pyramids, makes the
base of the largest six hundred and forty-five feet in length, and one
hundred and seventy-one in perpendicular height. I should certainly
consider that the latter measurement is considerably under the mark,
and that its altitude must be half its breadth.”
There is no doubt that these Mexican pyramids were built by Moses for
the same purpose as those in Egypt; and that these were similarly
finished off with casing-stones, to preserve the corn from the effects
of the elements, like their prototypes throughout Egypt. Dr. Robertson
in his _History of North and South America_, says:—
“As far as one can gather from their obscure and inaccurate
descriptions, the great temple of Mexico, the most famous in New Spain,
which has been represented as a magnificent building, raised to such a
height that the ascent to it was by a flight of a hundred and fourteen
steps, was a solid mass of earth of a square form, faced partly with
stone. Its base on each side extended ninety feet, and decreasing
gradually as it advanced in height, it terminated in a quadrangle of
about thirty feet.”
In its original state this building would have terminated in a sharp
point, instead of a quadrangle of such extent; and have been faced
entirely with stone, smoothly polished, from base to summit—resembling
the Egyptian pyramids.
When the Spaniards under Cortes, visited Mexico, “the Empire[67] was at
a pitch of grandeur to which no society ever attained in so short a
period. Its dominion extended from the North to the South sea, over
territories stretching, with some small interruption, above five
hundred leagues from east to west, and more than two hundred from north
to south, comprehending provinces, not inferior in fertility,
population, and opulence, to any in the torrid zone.
“The people were warlike and enterprising, the authority of the monarch
unbounded, and his revenues considerable. If, with the forces which
might have been suddenly assembled in such an empire, Montezuma had
fallen upon the Spaniards whilst encamped on a barren unhealthy coast,
unsupported by any ally, without a place of retreat, and destitute of
provisions, it seems to be impossible, even with all the advantages of
their superior discipline and arms, that they could have stood the
shock, and they must either have perished in such an unequal contest,
or have abandoned the enterprise.”
The Spaniards were received by Montezuma in the city of Mexico, and Dr.
Robertson goes on to say:—
“When they drew near the city, about a thousand persons, who appeared
to be of distinction, came forth to meet them, adorned with plumes and
clad in mantles of fine cotton. Each of these, in his order, passed by
Cortes, and saluted him according to the mode deemed most respectful
and submissive in their country. They announced the approach of
Montezuma himself, and soon after his harbingers came in sight.
“There appeared first two hundred persons in an uniform dress, with
large plumes of feathers, alike in fashion, marching two and two, in
deep silence, bare-footed, with their eyes fixed on the ground. These
were followed by a company of higher rank, in their most showy apparel,
in the midst of whom was Montezuma, in a chair or litter richly
ornamented with gold and feathers of various colours.
“Four of his principal favourites carried him on their shoulders,
others supported a canopy of curious workmanship over his head. Before
him marched three officers with rods of gold in their hands, which they
lifted up on high at certain intervals, and at that signal all the
people bowed their heads, and hid their faces, as unworthy to look on
so great a monarch.
“When he drew near, Cortes dismounted, advancing towards him with
officious haste, and in a respectful posture. At the same time
Montezuma alighted from his chair, and leaning on the arms of two of
his near relations, approached with a slow and stately pace, his
attendants covering the street with cotton cloths, that he might not
touch the ground.
“Cortes accosted him with profound reverence, after the European
fashion. He returned the salutation, according to the mode of his
country, by touching the earth with his hand, and then kissing it. This
ceremony, the customary expression of veneration from inferiors towards
those who were above them in rank, appeared such amazing condescension
in a proud monarch, who scarcely deigned to consider the rest of
mankind as of the same species with himself, that all his subjects
firmly believed those persons, before whom he humbled himself in this
manner, to be something more than human.
“Montezuma conducted Cortes to the quarters which he had prepared for
his reception, and immediately took leave of him, with a politeness not
unworthy of a court more refined. ‘You are now,’ says he, ‘with your
brothers in your own house; refresh yourselves after your fatigue, and
be happy until I return.’
“The place allotted to the Spaniards for their lodging was a house
built by the father of Montezuma. It was surrounded by a stone wall,
with towers at proper distances, which served for defence as well as
for ornament, and its apartments and courts were so large as to
accommodate both the Spaniards and their Indian allies.
“In the evening, Montezuma returned to visit his guests with the same
pomp as in their first interview, and brought presents of such value,
not only to Cortes and to his officers, but even to the private men, as
proved the liberality of the monarch to be suitable to the opulence of
his kingdom. A long conference ensued, in which Cortes learned what was
the opinion of Montezuma with respect to the Spaniards.
“It was an established tradition, he told him, among the Mexicans, that
their ancestors came originally from a remote region, and conquered the
provinces now subject to his dominion: that after they were settled
there, the great captain who conducted this colony returned to his own
country, promising that at some future period his descendants should
visit them, assume the government, and reform their constitution and
laws; that from what he had heard and seen of Cortes and his followers
he was convinced they were the very persons whose appearance the
Mexican traditions and prophecies taught them to expect; that
accordingly he had received them, not as strangers, but as relations of
the same blood and parentage, and desired that they might consider
themselves as masters in his dominions, for both himself and his
subjects should be ready to comply with their will, and even to prevent
their wishes.
“Cortes made a reply in his usual style, with respect to the dignity
and power of his sovereign, and his intention in sending him into that
country; artfully endeavouring so to frame his discourse that it might
coincide as much as possible with the idea which Montezuma had formed
concerning the origin of the Spaniards.
“Mexico, or Tenuchtitlan, as it was anciently called by the natives, is
situated in a large plain, environed by mountains of such height, that,
though within the torrid zone, the temperature of its climate is mild
and healthful. All the moisture which descends from the high grounds is
collected in several lakes, the two largest of which, of about ninety
miles in circuit, communicate with each other. The waters of the one
are fresh, those of the others brackish. On the banks of the latter,
and on some small islands adjoining to them, the capital of Montezuma’s
empire was built.
“The access to the city was by artificial causeways or streets formed
of stones and earth, about thirty feet in breadth. As the waters of the
lake during the rainy season overflowed the flat country, these
causeways were of considerable length. That of Tacuba, on the west,
extended a mile and a half; that of Tepeaca, on the north-west, three
miles; that of Cuoyacan, towards the south, six miles.
“On the east there was no causeway, and they could be approached only
by canoes. In each of these causeways were openings at proper
intervals, through which the waters flowed, and over these beams of
timber were laid, which, being covered with earth, the causeway or
street had everywhere an uniform appearance.
“As the approaches to the city were singular, its construction was
remarkable. Not only the temples of their gods, but the houses
belonging to the monarch, and to persons of distinction, were of such
dimensions, that, in comparison with any other buildings which had been
hitherto discovered in America, they might be termed magnificent. The
habitations of the common people were mean, resembling the huts of
other Indians. But they were all placed in a regular manner, on the
banks of the canals which passed through the city in some of its
districts, or in the sides of the streets which intersected it in other
quarters.
“In several places were large openings or squares, one of which,
allotted for the great market, is said to have been so spacious that
forty or fifty thousand persons carried on traffic there. In this city,
the pride of the New World, and the noblest monument of the industry
and art of man, the Spaniards reckon that there were at least sixty
thousand inhabitants.”
The explanation given to the Spaniards by the King of Mexico of his
conduct in receiving them in the manner he did—humbling himself in the
presence of his European visitors—proves that the founders of the
Mexican Empire were white men, similar to the Spaniards; and, in firm
belief in the promise of the great chief—that at some future time his
descendants would visit the Mexicans—the king made up his mind to
deliver the empire into the hands of Cortes, as the representative of
that chief.
So that, even when Montezuma was kept a prisoner, and ill-treated by
these Spaniards, he submitted with the utmost humility to every
indignity without offering the slightest opposition. He only discovered
his mistake regarding the identity of these men when Cortes tried to
impose the forms of the Roman Catholic religion, and placed the image
of the Virgin Mary in their great temple in Mexico. Then, and only
then, did he resent, and allow the Mexican nobles to assert their
liberty, and to take up arms against their cruel invaders, who had
broken every international law, and usurped the power of their kingdom.
The cruelty and the superstition of the Spaniards in New Spain are well
known throughout the civilized world, so that it is needless to recount
them here. These usurpers did all in their power to destroy every
monument of the ancient Mexicans, under the ignorant impression that
every building was a heathen temple, and every statue the image of a
pagan god, to whom prayers and sacrifices were offered. They even built
churches on the tops of some of the large Pyramids, thinking that these
were temples, erected for the performance of idolatrous worship!
The inspired Law-giver, after establishing a firm government, with good
laws and regulations for its continuance, left a colony in power over
the conquered natives of the soil, and, departing from Mexico, landed
on the shores of the southern continent of America, where he founded
the extensive Empire of Peru.
At the time of Pizarro’s arrival in Peru the dominion of its sovereign
extended in length, from north to south, above fifteen hundred miles
along the Pacific Ocean; its breadth from east to west was much less,
it being uniformly bounded by the vast ridge of the Andes, stretching
from one extremity of the country to the other.
When Moses and his followers landed, the country was inhabited, like
the rest of the primitive world, by independent tribes of savages,
differing from each other in manners, and in their rude forms of
polity. He, however, brought them all under his government; imparted to
them the knowledge of God; gave them laws; and instructed the men in
agriculture and other useful arts, while the women were taught to spin
and weave, as in China and other kingdoms and empires that he had
already founded. So that, as by the labour of the one sex subsistence
became less precarious, by that of the other life was rendered more
comfortable.
There is a tradition preserved among the Peruvians, that when their
ancestors were mere savages roaming the woods, without clothing, or any
settled place of residence, their condition became changed under the
following circumstances:—
“After they had struggled for several ages with the hardships and
calamities which are inevitable in such a state, and when no
circumstance seemed to indicate the approach of any uncommon effort
towards improvement, we are told that there appeared, on the banks of
the Lake Titiaca, a man and a woman of majestic form, clothed in decent
garments.
“They declared themselves to be children of the sun, sent by their
beneficent parent, who beheld with pity the miseries of the human race,
to instruct and to reclaim them. At their persuasion, enforced by
reverence for the divinity in whose name they were supposed to speak,
several of the dispersed savages united together, received their
commands as heavenly injunctions, and followed them to Cuzco, where
they settled and began to lay the foundations of a city.
“Manco Capac and Mama Ocollo, for such were the names of these
extraordinary personages, having thus collected some wandering tribes,
formed that social union which, by multiplying the desires and uniting
the efforts of the human species, excites industry, and leads to
improvement.
“After securing the objects of first necessity in an infant state, by
providing food, raiment, and habitations for the rude people of whom he
took charge, Manco Capac turned his attention towards introducing such
laws and policy as might perpetuate their happiness. By his
institutions the various relations in private life were established,
and the duties resulting from them prescribed with such propriety, as
gradually formed a barbarous people to decency of manners.
“In public administration, the functions of persons in authority were
so precisely defined, and the subordination of those under their
jurisdiction maintained with such a steady hand, that the society in
which he presided soon assumed the aspect of a regular and well
governed state.
“Thus, according to the Indian tradition, was founded the empire of the
Incas, or Lords of Peru. At first its extent was small. The territory
of Manco Capac did not reach above eight leagues from Cuzco. But within
its narrow precincts he exercised absolute and uncontrolled authority.
His successors, as their dominions extended, arrogated a similar
jurisdiction over the new subjects which they acquired; the despotism
of Asia was not more complete.
“The Incas were not only obeyed as monarchs, but revered as divinities.
Their blood was held to be sacred, and, by prohibiting intermarriages
with the people, was never contaminated by mixing with that of any
other race. The family, thus separated from the rest of the nation, was
distinguished by peculiarities in dress and ornaments, which it was
unlawful for others to assume. The monarch himself appeared with
ensigns of royalty reserved for him alone; and received from his
subjects marks of obsequious homage and respect, which approached
almost to adoration.
“But, among the Peruvians, this unbounded power of their monarchs seems
to have been uniformly accompanied with attention to the good of their
subjects. It was not the rage of conquest, if we may believe the
accounts of their countrymen, that prompted the Incas to extend their
dominions, but the desire of diffusing the blessings of civilization,
and the knowledge of the arts which they possessed, among the barbarous
people whom they reduced. During a succession of twelve monarchs, it is
said that not one deviated from this beneficent character.”[68]
At the time Pizarro arrived in Peru there was a civil war between two
Incas; and he was invited by one of these to visit Caxamalca as a
friend and ally. The following is an account of his visit:—
“On entering Caxamalca, Pizarro took possession of a large court, on
one side of which was a house which the Spanish historians call a
palace of the Inca, and on the other a temple of the sun, the whole
surrounded with a strong rampart or wall of earth. When he had posted
his troops in this advantageous station, he dispatched his brother
Ferdinand and Hernando Soto to the camp of Atahualpa, which was about a
league distant from the town.
“He instructed them to confirm the declaration which he had formerly
made of his pacific disposition, and to desire an interview with the
Inca, that he might explain more fully the intention of the Spaniards
in visiting his country. They were treated with all the respectful
hospitality usual among the Peruvians in the reception of their most
cordial friends, and Atahualpa promised to visit the Spanish commander
next day in his quarters.
“The decent deportment of the Peruvian monarch, the order of his court,
and the reverence with which his subjects approached his person and
obeyed his commands, astonished those Spaniards who had never met in
America with anything more dignified than the petty cazique of a
barbarous tribe. But their eyes were still more powerfully attracted by
the vast profusion of wealth which they observed in the Inca’s camp.
“The rich ornaments worn by him and his attendants, the vessels of gold
and silver in which the repast offered to them was served up, the
multitude of utensils of every kind formed of those precious metals,
opened prospects far exceeding any idea of opulence that a European of
the sixteenth century could form.
“Early in the morning the Peruvian camp was all in motion. But as
Atahualpa was so solicitous to appear with the greatest splendour and
magnificence in his first interview with the strangers, the
preparations for this were so tedious, that the day was far advanced
before he began his march. Even then, lest the order of the procession
should be deranged, he moved so slowly, that the Spaniards became
impatient, and apprehensive that some suspicion of their intention
might be the cause of this delay. In order to remove this, Pizarro
despatched one of his officers with fresh assurances of his friendly
disposition.
“At length the Inca approached. First of all appeared four hundred men,
in a uniform dress, as harbingers to clear the way before him. He
himself, sitting on a throne or couch adorned with plumes of various
colours, and almost covered with plates of gold and silver enriched
with precious stones, was carried on the shoulders of his principal
attendants.
“Behind him came some chief officers of his court, carried in the same
manner. Several bands of singers and dancers accompanied the cavalcade,
and the whole plain was covered with troops, amounting to more than
thirty thousand men.
“As the Inca drew near the Spanish quarters, Father Vincent Valverde,
chaplain to the expedition, advanced, with a crucifix in one hand and a
breviary in the other, and in a long discourse explained to him the
doctrine of the Creation, the fall of Adam, the incarnation, the
sufferings and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the appointment of St.
Peter as God’s vicegerent on earth, the transmission of his apostolic
power by succession to the popes, the donation made to the King of
Castile, by Pope Alexander, of all the regions of the New World.
“In consequence of all this, he required Atahualpa to embrace the
Christian faith, to acknowledge the supreme jurisdiction of the Pope,
and to submit to the King of Castile as his lawful sovereign;
promising, if he complied instantly with this requisition, that the
Castilian monarch would protect his dominions, and permit him to
continue in the exercise of his royal authority; but if he should
impiously refuse to obey this summons, he denounced war against him in
his master’s name, and threatened him with the most dreadful effects of
his vengeance.
“This strange harangue, unfolding deep mysteries, and alluding to
unknown facts, of which no power of eloquence could have conveyed at
once a distinct idea to an American, was so lamely translated by an
unskilful interpreter, little acquainted with the idiom of the Spanish
tongue, and incapable of expressing himself with propriety in the
language of the Inca, that its general tenor was altogether
incomprehensible to Atahualpa. Some parts in it, of more obvious
meaning, filled him with astonishment and indignation.
“His reply, however, was temperate. He began with observing that he was
lord of the dominions over which he reigned by hereditary succession;
and added, that he could not conceive how a foreign priest should
pretend to dispose of territories which did not belong to him; that if
such a preposterous grant had been made, he, who was the rightful
possessor, refused to confirm it; that he had no inclination to
renounce the religious institutions established by his ancestors; nor
would he forsake the service of the sun, the immortal divinity whom he
and his people revered, in order to worship the god of the Spaniards,
who was subject to death; that with respect to other matters contained
in his discourse, as he had never heard of them before, and did not
understand their meaning, he desired to know where the priest had
learned things so extraordinary.
“‘In this book,’ answered Valverde, reaching out to him his breviary.
The Inca opened it eagerly, and turning over the leaves, lifted it to
his ear. ‘This,’ says he, ‘is silent; it tells me nothing’; and threw
it with disdain to the ground. The enraged monk, running towards his
countrymen, cried out, ‘To arms, Christians! to arms! the word of God
is insulted; avenge this profanation on those impious dogs!’
“Pizarro, who, during this long conference, had with difficulty
restrained his soldiers, eager to seize the rich spoils of which they
had now so near a view, immediately gave the signal of assault. At once
the martial music struck up, the cannon and muskets began to fire, the
horse sallied out fiercely to the charge, the infantry rushed on sword
in hand.
“The Peruvians, astonished at the suddenness of an attack which they
did not expect, and dismayed with the destructive effect of the
fire-arms, and the irresistible impression of the cavalry, fled with
universal consternation on every side, without attempting either to
annoy the enemy or to defend themselves.
“Pizarro, at the head of his chosen band, advanced directly towards the
Inca; and though his nobles crowded around him with officious zeal, and
fell in numbers at his feet, while they vied one with another in
sacrificing their own lives, that they might cover the sacred person of
their sovereign, the Spaniards soon penetrated to the royal seat; and
Pizarro, seizing the Inca by the arm, dragged him to the ground, and
carried him as a prisoner to his quarters.
“The fate of the monarch increased the precipitate flight of his
followers. The Spaniards pursued them towards every quarter, and with
deliberate and unrelenting barbarity continued to slaughter wretched
fugitives who never once offered to resist. The carnage did not cease
until the close of the day. About four thousand Peruvians were killed.
Not a single Spaniard fell, nor was one wounded but Pizarro himself,
whose hand was slightly hurt by one of his own soldiers, while
struggling eagerly to lay hold on the Inca.
“The plunder of the field was rich beyond any idea which the Spaniards
had yet formed concerning the wealth of Peru, and they were so
transported with the value of the acquisition, as well as the greatness
of their success, that they passed the night in the extravagant
exultation natural to indigent adventurers on such an extraordinary
change of fortune.
“At first the captive monarch could hardly believe a calamity, which he
so little expected, to be real. But he soon felt all the misery of his
fate, and the dejection into which he sank was in proportion to the
height of grandeur from which he had fallen. Pizarro, afraid of losing
all the advantages which he hoped to derive from the possession of such
a prisoner, laboured to console him with professions of kindness and
respect, that corresponded ill with his actions.
“By residing among the Spaniards, the Inca quickly discovered their
ruling passion, which, indeed, they were nowise solicitous to conceal,
and, by applying to that, made an attempt to recover his liberty. He
offered as a ransom what astonished the Spaniards, even after all they
now knew concerning the opulence of his kingdom. The apartment in which
he was confined was twenty-two feet in length and sixteen in breadth;
he undertook to fill it with vessels of gold as high as he could reach.
“Pizarro closed eagerly with the tempting proposal, and a line was
drawn upon the walls of the chamber, to mark the stipulated height to
which the treasure was to rise. Atahualpa, transported with having
obtained some prospect of liberty, took measures instantly for
fulfilling his part of the agreement, by sending messengers to Cuzco,
Quito, and other places, where gold had been amassed in largest
quantities, either for adorning the temples, or the houses of the Inca,
to bring what was necessary for completing his ransom directly to
Caxamalca. Though Atahualpa was now in the custody of his enemies, yet
so much were the Peruvians accustomed to respect every mandate issued
by their sovereign, that his orders were executed with the greatest
alacrity.
“Soothed with hopes of recovering his liberty by this means, the
subjects of the Inca were afraid of endangering his life by forming any
other scheme for his relief; and though the force of the empire was
still entire, no preparations were made and no army assembled to avenge
their own wrongs or those of their monarch. The Spaniards remained in
Caxamalca tranquil and unmolested. Small detachments of their number
marched into remote provinces of the empire, and instead of meeting
with any opposition, were everywhere received with marks of the most
submissive respect.
“The Indians daily arrived at Caxamalca from different parts of the
kingdom, loaded with treasure. A great part of the stipulated quantity
was now amassed, and Atahualpa assured the Spaniards that the only
thing which prevented the whole from being brought in was the
remoteness of the provinces where it was deposited.
“But such vast piles of gold presented continually to the view of needy
soldiers, had so inflamed their avarice, that it was impossible any
longer to restrain their impatience to obtain possession of this rich
booty. Orders were given for melting down the whole, except some pieces
of curious fabric, reserved as a present for the Emperor. After setting
apart the fifth due to the crown, and a hundred thousand pesos as a
donation to the soldiers which arrived with Almagro, there remained one
million five hundred and twenty-eight thousand five hundred pesos to
Pizarro and his followers.
“The festival of St. James, the patron saint of Spain, was the day
(July 25, A.D. 1533) chosen for the partition of this enormous sum, and
the manner of conducting it strongly marks the strange alliance of
fanaticism and avarice, which I have more than once had occasion to
point out as a striking feature in the character of the conquerors of
the New World. Though assembled to divide the spoils of an innocent
people, procured by deceit, extortion, and cruelty, the transaction
began with a solemn invocation of the name of God, as if they could
have expected the guidance of Heaven in distributing those wages of
iniquity.
“In this division above eight thousand pesos, at that time not inferior
in effective value to as many pounds sterling in the present century,
fell to the share of each horseman, and half that sum to each
foot-soldier. Pizarro himself, and his officers, received dividends in
proportion to the dignity of their rank.
“The Spaniards having divided among them the treasure amassed for the
Inca’s ransom, he insisted with them to fulfil their promise of setting
him at liberty. But nothing was further from Pizarro’s thoughts. During
his long service in the New World, he had imbibed those ideas and
maxims of his fellow soldiers, which led them to consider its
inhabitants as an inferior race, neither worthy of the name nor
entitled to the rights of men. In his compact with Atahualpa, he had no
other object than to amuse his captive with such a prospect of
recovering his liberty as might induce him to lend all the aid of his
authority towards collecting the wealth of his kingdom. Having now
accomplished this, he no longer regarded his plighted faith; and at the
very time when the credulous prince hoped to be replaced on his throne,
he had secretly resolved to bereave him of life.
“Many circumstances seemed to have concurred in prompting him to this
action, the most criminal and atrocious that stains the Spanish name,
amidst all the deeds of violence committed in carrying on the conquest
of the New World. Though Pizarro had seized the Inca, in imitation of
Cortes’s conduct towards the Mexican monarch, he did not possess
talents for carrying on the same artful plan of policy. Destitute of
the temper and address requisite for gaining the confidence of his
prisoner, he never reaped all the advantages which might have been
derived from being master of his person and authority.
“Atahualpa was, indeed, a prince of greater abilities and discernment
than Montezuma, and seems to have penetrated more thoroughly into the
character and intentions of the Spaniards. Mutual suspicion and
distrust accordingly took place between them. The strict attention with
which it was necessary to guard a captive of such importance, greatly
increased the fatigue of military duty. The utility of keeping him
appeared inconsiderable; and Pizarro felt him as an encumbrance from
which he wished to be delivered.
“But in order to give some colour of justice to this violent action,
and that he himself might be exempted from standing singly responsible
for the commission of it, Pizarro resolved to try the Inca with all the
formalities observed in the criminal courts of Spain. Pizarro himself,
and Almagro, with two assistants, were appointed judges, with full
power to acquit or to condemn; an attorney-general was named to carry
on the prosecution in the King’s name; counsellors were chosen to
assist the prisoner in his defence, and clerks were ordered to record
the proceedings of court.
“Before this strange tribunal, a charge was exhibited still more
amazing. It consisted of various articles: that Atahualpa, though a
bastard, had dispossessed the rightful owner of the throne, and usurped
the regal power; that he had put his brother and lawful sovereign to
death; that he was an idolater, and had not only permitted, but
commanded the offering of human sacrifices; that he had a great number
of concubines; that since his imprisonment he had wasted and embezzled
the treasures which now belonged of right to the conquerors; that he
had incited his subjects to take arms against the Spaniards.
“On these heads of accusation, some of which are so ludicrous, others
so absurd, that the effrontery of Pizarro in making them the foundation
of a serious procedure is not less surprising than his injustice, did
this strange court go on to try the sovereign of a great empire, over
whom he had no jurisdiction. With respect to each of the articles,
witnesses were examined; but as they delivered their evidence in their
native tongue, Philippillo had it in his power to give their words
whatever turn best suited his malevolent intentions. To judges
predetermined in their opinion, this evidence appeared sufficient. They
pronounced Atahualpa guilty, and condemned him to be burnt alive. Friar
Valverde prostituted the authority of his sacred function to confirm
this sentence, and by his signature warranted it to be just.
“Astonished at his fate, Atahualpa endeavoured to avert it by tears, by
promises, and by entreaties that he might be sent to Spain, where a
monarch would be the arbiter of his lot. But pity never touched the
unfeeling heart of Pizarro. He ordered him to be led instantly to
execution; and, what added to the bitterness of his last moments, the
same monk who had just ratified his doom offered to console, and
attempted to convert him. The most powerful argument Valverde employed
to prevail with him to embrace the Christian faith, was a promise of
mitigation in his punishment. The dread of a cruel death extorted from
the trembling victim a desire of receiving baptism. The ceremony was
performed; and Atahualpa, instead of being burnt, was strangled at the
stake!
“On the death of Atahualpa, Pizarro invested one of his sons with the
ensigns of royalty, hoping that a young man without experience might
prove a more passive instrument in his hands than an ambitious monarch,
who had been accustomed to independent command.”
These accounts of the wealth and the fate of these two monarchs—the
one of the extensive empire of Mexico, and the other of the equally
powerful dominions of Peru—recall to mind the power and wealth of
Solomon, the King of Israel. These three kingdoms were founded by
Moses, and peopled and ruled by the descendants of Abraham. The wealth
of Solomon was so great that it is recorded in the Bible that “he made
silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, and cedar trees
made he as the sycamore trees that are in the vale for abundance.”
The display made by the two American sovereigns of their grandeur and
riches before foreigners, and the consequences of their pride and
ostentation, have a parallel in the scriptures.
“At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, King of Babylon,
sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah; for he had heard that
Hezekiah had been sick. And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed
them all the house of his precious things, the silver and the gold, and
the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour,
and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his
house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
“Then came Isaiah the prophet unto King Hezekiah, and said unto him,
What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah
said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon. And he said,
What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the
things that are in mine house have they seen; there is nothing among my
treasures that I have not shewed them. And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah,
Hear the word of the Lord. Behold, the days come that all that is in
thine house, and all that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto
this day, shall be carried into Babylon; nothing shall be left, saith
the Lord.”[69]
The words of Isaiah the prophet, addressed to King Hezekiah, could have
been as appositely addressed to King Montezuma and to his neighbour and
kinsman Atahualpa; for they were equally applicable, and the words came
true in all three cases. As the Babylonians conquered and took
possession of Judea, so did the Spaniards in Mexico and Peru.
Moses, the founder of these several empires in different parts of the
earth, foresaw the power and opulence to which they would attain in the
course of time, and forbade the colonists from having intercourse with
the outer world, who were strangers to them, knowing that they would be
envied by them. For wherever indigent adventurers have been admitted by
the rulers of these empires, they have been deceived, and their
possessions carried away, as the prophet so graphically described to
King Hezekiah.
The historian of North and South America continues:—
“The violent convulsions into which the empire had been thrown, first
by the civil war between the two brothers, and then by the invasion of
the Spaniards, had not only deranged the order of the Peruvian
Government, but almost dissolved its frame. When they beheld their
monarch a captive in the power of strangers, and at last suffering an
ignominious death, the people in several provinces, as if they had been
set free from every restraint of law and decency, broke out in the most
licentious excesses.
“So many descendants of the sun, after being treated with the utmost
indignity, had been cut off by Atahualpa that not only their influence
in the state diminished with their number, but the accustomed reverence
for that sacred race sensibly decreased. In consequence of this state
of things, ambitious men in different parts of the empire aspired to
independent authority, and usurped jurisdiction to which they had no
title. The general who commanded for Atahualpa in Quito, seized the
brother and children of his master, put them to a cruel death, and,
disclaiming any connection with either Inca, endeavoured to establish a
separate kingdom for himself.”[70]
The Spaniards eventually became masters of the whole empire, and in
their endeavours to obliterate every record of its past history they
burned everything they found which had any hieroglyphics or painting on
it. Though only the ruins of monuments remain, yet these attest the
superior ingenuity of the Peruvians. Ruins of sacred or royal buildings
are found in every province of the empire, and by their great number
demonstrate that they are monuments of a powerful people. They appear
to have been edifices of various dimensions; some of a moderate size,
many of immense extent, but all remarkable for solidity, and resembling
each other in style of architecture.
“The temple of Pachacamac, together with a palace of the Inca, and a
fortress, were so connected together as to form one great structure,
above half a league in circuit. In this prodigious pile the same
singular taste in building is conspicuous as in other works of the
Peruvians.”
The land of the Peruvians and the Mexicans contained the precious
metals in greater abundance than any other part of America; and Moses
taught them to obtain gold by searching in the channels of rivers, or
washing the earth in which particles of it were contained. But in order
to procure silver, under his instruction, they exerted no
inconsiderable degree of skill and invention. They hollowed deep
caverns in the banks of rivers, and the sides of mountains, and
exhausted such veins as did not dip suddenly beyond their reach. In
other places, where the vein lay near the surface, they dug pits to
such a depth that the person who worked below could throw out the ore,
or hand it up in baskets. Moses taught them, moreover, the art of
smelting and refining, either by the simple application of fire, or,
where the ore was more stubborn, and impregnated with foreign
substances, by placing it in small ovens or furnaces, so constructed on
high ground that the draught of air performed the functions of a
bellows. By this simple device the purer ores were smelted with
facility; and the quantity of silver in Peru was so considerable that
many of the utensils commonly employed were made of it.
In the land of Midian, where the Law-giver dwelt for many years, there
are remains of similar caverns and pits where mines of the precious
metal have been worked, which attest his ingenuity and skill.
“In the armoury[71] of the royal palace at Madrid are shown suits of
armour, which are called Montezuma’s. They are composed of thin
lacquered copper-plates. In the opinion of very intelligent judges,
they are evidently eastern. The forms of the silver ornaments upon
them, representing dragons, &c., may be considered as confirmation of
this.
“The only unquestionable specimen of Mexican art that I know of in
Great Britain, is a cup of very fine gold, which is said to have
belonged to Montezuma. It weighs 5 oz. 12 dwt. Three drawings of it
were exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries, June 10, 1765. A man’s
head is represented on the cup. On one side the full face, on the other
the profile, on the third the back parts of the head. The relievo is
said to have been produced by pinching the inside of the cup, so as to
make the representation of a face on the outside. The features are
gross, but represented with some degree of art. This cup was purchased
by Edward, Earl of Orford, while he lay in the harbour of Cadiz with
the fleet under his command, and is now in the possession of his
grandson, Lord Archer. I am indebted for this information to my
respectable and ingenious friend Mr. Barrington.
“As the Mexican paintings are the most curious monument extant of the
earliest mode of writing, it will not be improper to give some account
of the means by which they were preserved from the general wreck of
every work of art in America, and communicated to the public. For the
most early and complete collection of these published by Purchas, we
are indebted to the attention of that curious inquirer, Hakluyt.
“Don Antonio Mendoza, viceroy of New Spain, having deemed those
paintings a proper present for Charles V., the ship in which they were
sent to Spain was taken by a French cruiser, and they came into the
possession of Thevet, the King’s geographer, who, having travelled
himself into the New World, and described one of its provinces, was a
curious observer of whatever tended to illustrate the manners of the
Americans.
“On his death they were purchased by Hakluyt, at that time chaplain of
the English ambassador to the French court; and being left by him to
Purchas, were published at the desire of the learned antiquary Sir
Henry Spelman. They were translated from English into French by
Melchizedeck Thevenot, and published in his collection of voyages, A.D.
1683.
“The second specimen of Mexican picture-writing was published by Dr.
Francis Gemelli Carreri, in two copper-plates. The first is a map, or
representation of the progress of the ancient Mexicans[72] on their
first arrival in the country, and of the various stations in which they
settled, before they founded the capital of their empire in the lake of
Mexico. The second is a chronological wheel, or circle, representing
the manner in which they computed and marked their cycle of fifty-two
years. He received both from Don Carlos de Siguenza y Congorra, a
diligent collector of ancient Mexican documents.
“But as it seems now to be a received opinion (founded, as far as I
know, on no good evidence) that Carreri was never out of Italy, and
that his famous _Giro del Mundo_ is an account of a fictitious voyage,
I have not mentioned these paintings in the text. They have, however,
manifestly the appearance of being Mexican productions, and are allowed
to be so by Boturini, who was well qualified to determine whether they
were genuine or supposititious. Mr. Clavigero likewise admits them to
be genuine paintings of the ancient Mexicans. To me they always
appeared to be so, though, from my desire to rest no part of my
narrative upon questionable authority, I did not refer to them.
“The style of painting in the former is considerably more perfect than
any other specimen of Mexican design; but as the original is said to
have been much defaced by time, I suspect that it has been improved by
some touches from the hand of an European artist. The chronological
wheel is a just delineation of the Mexican mode of computing time, as
described by Acosta. It seems to resemble one which that learned Jesuit
had seen; and if it be admitted as a genuine monument, it proves that
the Mexicans had artificial or arbitrary characters, which represented
several things besides numbers. Each month is there represented by a
symbol expressive of some work or rite peculiar to it.
“The third specimen of Mexican painting was discovered by another
Italian. In 1736, Lorenzo Boturini Benaduci set out for New Spain, and
was led by several incidents to study the language of the Mexicans, and
to collect the remains of their historical monuments. He persisted nine
years in his researches, with the enthusiasm of a projector and the
patience of an antiquary.
“In 1746 he published, at Madrid, _Idea de una Nueva Historia General
de la America Septentrional_, containing an account of the result of
his inquiries; and he added to it a catalogue of his American
historical Museum, arranged under thirty-six different heads. His idea
of a New History appears to me the work of a whimsical, credulous man.
But his catalogue of Mexican maps, paintings, tribute-rolls, calendars,
&c., is much larger than one could have expected. Unfortunately a ship,
in which he had sent a considerable part of them to Europe, was taken
by an English privateer during the war between Great Britain and Spain,
which commenced in the year 1739; and it is probable that they perished
by falling into the hands of ignorant captors.
“Boturini himself incurred the displeasure of the Spanish court, and
died in an hospital in Madrid. The history, of which the _Idea, &c._,
was only a prospectus, was never published. The remainder of his Museum
seems to have been dispersed. Some part of it came into the possession
of the present Archbishop of Toledo, when he was primate of New Spain;
and he published from it that curious tribute-roll which I have
mentioned.
“The only other collection of Mexican paintings, as far as I can learn,
is in the Imperial Library at Vienna. By order of their imperial
majesties, I have obtained such a specimen of these as I desired, in
eight paintings made with so much fidelity that I am informed the
copies could hardly be distinguished from the originals. According to a
note in this Codex Mexicanus, it appears to have been a present from
Emanuel, King of Portugal, to Pope Clement VII., who died A.D. 1533.
After passing through the hands of several illustrious proprietors, it
fell into those of Cardinal of Saxe-Eisenach, who presented it to the
Emperor Leopold. These paintings are manifestly Mexican, but they are
in a style very different from any of the former. An engraving has been
made of one of them. Were it an object of sufficient importance, it
might, perhaps, be possible, by recourse to the plates of Purchas, and
the Archbishop of Toledo, as a key, to form plausible conjectures
concerning the meaning of this picture. Many of the figures are
evidently similar. The targets and darts, are almost in the same form
with those published by Purchas. The figures of temples, nearly
resemble those in Purchas and in Lorenzana. A bale of mantles, or
cotton cloths, is also shown, the figure of which occurs almost in
every plate of Purchas and Lorenzana; and there appear to be Mexican
captains in their war-dress, the fantastic ornaments of which resemble
the figures in Purchas. I should suppose this picture to be a
tribute-roll, as the mode of noting numbers occurs frequently.
“According to Boturini the mode of computation by the number of knots
was known to the Mexicans as well as to the Peruvians, and the manner
in which the number of units is represented in the Mexican paintings in
my possession seems to confirm this opinion. They plainly resemble a
string of knots on a cord or slender rope.
“Since I published the former edition, Mr. Waddilove, who is still
pleased to continue his friendly attention to procure me information,
has discovered, in the library of the Escurial, a volume in folio,
consisting of forty sheets of a kind of paste-board, each the size of a
common sheet of writing-paper, with great variety of uncouth and
whimsical figures of Mexican painting, in very fresh colours, and with
an explanation in Spanish to most of them. The first twenty-two sheets
are the signs of the months, days, &c. About the middle of each sheet
are two or more large figures for the month, surrounded by the signs of
the days. The last eighteen sheets are not so filled with figures. They
seem to be signs of deities, and images of various objects.
“According to this Calendar in the Escurial, the Mexican year contained
286 days, divided into 22 months of 13 days. Each day is represented by
a different sign, taken from some natural object, a serpent, a dog, a
lizard, a reed, a house, &c. The signs of days in the Calendar of the
Escurial are precisely the same with those mentioned by Boturini,
_Idea, &c._, p. 45.
“But, if we may give credit to that author, the Mexican year contained
360 days, divided into 18 months of 20 days. The order of days in every
month was computed, according to him, first by what he calls a
tridecenary progression of days from one to thirteen, in the same
manner as in the Calendar of the Escurial, and then by a septenary
progression of days from one to seven, making in all twenty. In this
Calendar not only the signs which distinguish each day, but the
qualities supposed to be peculiar to each month, are marked.
“The paste-board, or whatever substance it may be on which the Calendar
in the Escurial is painted, seems, by Mr. Waddilove’s description of
it, to resemble nearly that in the Imperial Library in Vienna. In
several particulars the figures bear some likeness to those in the
plate which I have published. The figures ... which induced me to
conjecture that this painting might be a tribute-roll similar to those
published by Purchas and the Archbishop of Toledo, Mr. Waddilove
supposed to be signs of days; and I have such confidence in the
accuracy of his observations as to conclude his opinion to be well
founded.
“It appears, from the characters in which the explanations of the
figures are written, that this curious monument of Mexican art had been
obtained soon after the conquest of the Empire. It is singular that it
should never have been mentioned by any Spanish author.”
The following are the various modes in which the Mexicans contributed
towards the support of government, modes resembling the revenue system
of Egypt in ancient times. Some persons of the first order were
exempted from payment of tribute, but at the same time were bound to
personal service in war, and to follow the banner of their sovereign
with their vassals. The immediate vassals of the crown not only
contributed by personal military service, but also paid a certain
proportion of the produce of their lands in kind. Those who held
offices of honour or trust paid a certain share of the emoluments
derived therefrom.
Each “association” cultivated some part of the common field allotted to
it, for the behoof of the crown, and deposited the produce in the royal
granaries. Some part of whatever was brought to the public markets,
whether fruits of the earth or the various productions of artists and
manufacturers, was demanded for the public use, and the merchants who
paid this tax were exempted from every other. The peasants were bound
to cultivate certain districts in every province, which may be
considered as crown lands, and brought the increase into public
storehouses.
Thus the sovereign received some part of whatever was useful or
valuable in the country, whether it was the natural production of the
soil, or the result of the industry of the people. Yet what each
contributed towards the support of government was inconsiderable, the
value of it in money being not more than about eighteen-pence or two
shillings per head.
CHAPTER IX.
GRANARIES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.
The storehouses or granaries now in use in Mexico, Peru, and other
empires, are not the Pyramids which were built and used in the time of
Joseph and Moses. A recent traveller gives the following description of
a modern granary situated near Canton, in China:—
“Here we saw a large magazine for grain; it was a quadrangular building
about 350 feet each way, lined on the outside with plank, and on the
whole appeared well adapted for the intended purpose. Such depôts for
corn, they (the Chinese) tell us, are very common everywhere, yet,
except in this instance, they have hitherto escaped our notice.”
From what the same traveller says about some remarkable rocks that he
saw in China, there appears to be every likelihood of finding pyramids
in that country which, built by Moses and his followers during their
sojourn there, still remain unopened after all these ages, even by the
present generation of the Chinese, who conquered the country from the
colonists left in the empire by the Law-giver. These solitary rocks
were situated in plains surrounded by corn-fields, similar to the
situation and position of the Pyramids of Egypt and Mexico. The
traveller says:—
“In the course of the day we passed by one town and three villages
(proceeding towards Canton from the south), likewise several remarkable
rocks, nearly perpendicular on all sides, and about two hundred feet
high, perfectly isolated, and unconnected with any elevated ground
whatsoever; besides, the circumjacent country is low, level, alluvial
soil, _well cultivated_.
“All these circumstances considered, it is rather difficult to account
for the existence of such a phenomenon as these solitary rocks, so
remote, too, from any mountain, unless, perhaps, those prodigious
masses of solid stone have been, at some very remote period of time,
each the nucleus of a hill, in which case they must have been below the
surface of the soil, which, being gradually washed down and carried
away by the floods, these rocks became denuded, and left exposed in
their present situation.
“Another conjecture may be offered on this subject, that probably they
have been placed, as now seen, by the operation of the same causes that
effected the general deluge, when the globe suffered such dreadful
disruptions and convulsions as, according to the Mosaic relation, to
shake the very pillars of the earth, and to break up the fountains of
the great deep; the truth of this will appear obvious when we consider
the nature of that powerful agent which occasioned this memorable
catastrophe.”[73]
The Pyramids of Mexico are termed by the learned Dr. Robinson temples
and mounds of earth; and the Pyramids of Egypt have been mentioned by
Bruce and other travellers as natural rocks and mounds. So that it is
not extraordinary that a shipwrecked seaman, travelling on foot along
the coast of China towards Canton, should call these unexplored
pyramids solitary rocks. There are such mounds or rocks in Ireland. Now
that country was visited in ancient times by the Phenicians, who were
originally a colony of Egyptians, and who must have witnessed the
construction, or perhaps even assisted in the building of the Pyramids
of Egypt, by command of Joseph, or Zaphnath-paaneah; they also assisted
King Solomon in building the Temple in Jerusalem. These Phenicians,
then, built pyramids in Ireland, which, though a fertile island, has
been subject to frequent visitations of famine. The learned traveller
Kohl speaks of these erections, in his work on Ireland, as follows:—
“The Moate of Lisserdowling is a round conical hill, about forty feet
high, and almost five hundred feet in circumference. It stands in a
plain, and is surrounded by _corn-fields_, and, being planted with
trees and white-thorn bushes, presents a stately object on the naked
level. On the summit the Moate was flat, with an indentation in the
middle, leaving a few stones bare, that seemed to form part of some
masonry concealed under the turf, by which the whole of the artificial
hill was covered.
“The popular tradition, I was told, assigned the moat as a
dwelling-place to an ancient Irish chief of the name of Naghten
O’Donnell, and a small by-road in the neighbourhood is still called,
after him, Naghten’s Lane. The hill stands in high repute throughout
the country, and is a favourite resort on fine afternoons, when
hundreds may be seen sitting and lying on its sides; but not one of
these visitors remains after dark, when the Moate of Lisserdowling, and
the lane leading to it, are abandoned to the fairies, or ‘good people,’
as they are called in Ireland. Nor will anyone touch a stone or a stick
on the hill, ‘unless they have had a dream,’ as my farmer expressed
himself, ‘and have had a commission from the good people.’
“I observed on the side of the mount the stump of an old thorn-bush. My
guide informed me that the bush itself had been blown down one windy
night, many years ago, and had been left to rot on the ground where it
fell, no one daring to touch it, though in general the poor people are
ready enough to appropriate to themselves anything burnable that they
may find by the wayside. Young trees they will steal with very little
remorse, but wood growing on one of these fairy mounts is almost always
secure from their depredations.
“On the following day I visited a similar hill, the Moate-o’-Ward,
which was likewise covered with white thorns, and in the sequel I met
with great numbers of these artificial hillocks, of which Ireland
contains many more than England or Scotland. The people call them
moats, a word used in English to designate the ditch of a fortress. In
Irish they are called ‘raths,’ a word bearing precisely the same
signification. They are also sometimes called ‘Dane’s Mounts’; for in
Ireland, as every art of destruction is charitably set down to
Cromwell’s account, so every erection of a remote date is attributed to
the Danes.
“The popular belief is quite unanimous, therefore, in giving the Danes
the credit of having erected these tumuli, as fortresses whence they
might hold the country in subjection; and when the Danes had been
expelled, an Irish chief here and there chose the deserted fastness for
his dwelling-place. The learned are not quite so unanimous in their
views as to the origin of these erections. Some go with the stream, and
set them down to Danish account; others believe the hillocks to be of a
much more ancient date, and to have formed the strongholds of the
ancient native kings. In the north of Ireland is a mound of enormous
size, said to have been the seat of the kings of Ulster.
“Probably this earthy architecture, which appears to have been so
widely diffused over Ireland, was the work of different ages, of
various races, and had more objects than one in view. Nearly all the
nations of Europe, in the infancy of their civilization, seem to have
delighted in the erection of these artificial hills. The whole of
Southern Russia is full of them, and we meet with them in Hungary,
Turkey, Scandinavia, and Denmark, as well as in England and Ireland;
but nowhere in such numbers as in Ireland, whence we may conclude that
the ancient Irish must have built many of their raths long before the
Danes arrived among them.
“It is also probable that they were erected with different objects in
view. Some, we know, were intended as boundary marks, and some, we
know, were raised over the remains of distinguished heroes and chiefs.
From some it was customary for the law-givers and judges to announce
their decisions to the assembled multitude, and on others kings were
anointed and crowned. The Druids required sacred hills to offer their
sacrifices on, and where a natural hill was not to be had an artificial
one, no doubt, was often formed.
“Others, again, may have been intended as fortresses on which the
people might seek refuge from an enemy. Many, no doubt, remain that are
quite enigmatical. Several, when opened, are found to contain passages
and cells, of which it is difficult to guess what use they were
intended for. They are too small for storehouses, and can scarcely have
served as tombs, or bones and other remains would have been found there.
“Lisserdowling, a high pyramid surrounded by a low rampart and ditch,
is more likely, in my opinion, to have been erected as a religious
monument than as a fortress. Had it been intended for a fortress, why
should so much labour have been expended in giving it a conical form,
and why not have bestowed more pains on the circumvallation. As a
fortress it would have been the strangest and most ineligible that
could have been built. The space on the summit would scarcely afford
room for two huts, and when the ramparts had once been stormed by the
enemy, the defenders would have been at the greatest disadvantage on
the sides of the cone.
“Probably the circumvallation has led to the belief that this, and many
other tumuli, were intended for fortresses; but Stonehenge, which
nobody ever took to be a fortress, is also surrounded by rampart and
ditch. The circumvallation may have been intended simply to mark the
boundary of the holy place, and to cut off all connection with the
profane part of the world.”
These ruins which Mr. Kohl has described, and respecting which he has
given his opinion, are simply the remains of ancient granaries or
pyramids, erected by the Phenicians, who left them standing when they
returned to their own country. After the departure of these Phenicians,
Ireland was visited by the Moors, who were masters of Spain and
Portugal. These Moors coming from the coast of Africa, opposite Spain,
were a colony formerly from the heart of Negroland, whence they reached
the coast by way of the great desert called the Sahara, and joined
their countrymen who had already settled in the new empire called
Mauritania, which comprised Morocco and Tunis, &c., of our time.
These new visitors erected the round towers, in which to stack corn,
just as their predecessors had constructed the Pyramids for a like
purpose. There are round granaries in Africa, constructed with
materials procurable in the place; but in Ireland they used stone
instead, which was more durable, although retaining the same form as in
the prototypes. The following is what Kohl says about the round
towers:—
“On leaving Kilrush I entrusted my person and my portmanteau to a small
boat which I had engaged to carry me over to Scattery Island, and
thence to the coast of Kerry. The morning was warm, and not a breath of
wind disturbed the surface of the water, but the sun was completely
concealed by a thick yellow fog, which scarcely allowed us to see
beyond the length of our boat. Nevertheless, my boatman brought me in
safety to the little green island, which I was about to visit for the
sake of its interesting ruins, and by the time we reached its shore the
fog had sufficiently dispersed to allow us to distinguish the remains
of its ‘Seven Churches,’ while the lofty column of the round towers
presented itself at first as a dark line, and then gradually broke with
more distinctness through the turbid atmosphere.
“These Round Towers are the most interesting remains of antiquity that
Ireland possesses. Like most travellers in Ireland, I was soon infected
with a passion for round towers; but as this passion is one of which
few of my friends in Germany are likely to have a distinct idea, I
believe that some introductory remarks on these venerable buildings
will not be out of place here.
“These Round Towers are built of large stones, and when seen at a
distance look rather like lofty columns than towers, being from the
base to the top of nearly the same thickness. They are now, indeed, by
no means all of the same height, many of them having fallen into ruins;
but those which remain tolerably complete are all from 100 to 120 feet
high, from forty to fifty in circumference, and from thirteen to
sixteen in diameter. At the base the wall is always very thick and
strong, but becomes slighter towards the top. Within, the tower is
hollow, without any opening but a door, generally eight or ten feet
from the ground, and some very narrow apertures or windows, mostly four
in number, near the top.[74] These windows are usually turned towards
the four cardinal points of the compass.
“In all parts of Ireland these singular buildings are found scattered
about, all resembling each other like the obelisks of Egypt. Sometimes
round towers are found in solitary islands, sometimes on the side of a
river, or a plain, or some secluded corner of a valley. The whole
number of them, according to the map of Ireland published by the
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, is, at present, 118; of
these fifteen are in a perfect state of preservation, and of thirty-six
little more than the foundation remains.
“The general name of ‘Round Towers’ is very little characteristic of
these remarkable buildings, for towers are seldom otherwise than round.
Some writers have called them ‘pillar temples,’ but this name assigns
to them a designation which it is by no means certain that they bore.
The characteristic peculiarity of these towers consists in their
resemblance to mighty pillars, and the most appropriate name for them
would, in my opinion, be ‘pillar towers.’
“In no part of Europe do we find any similar building of antiquity. In
Scotland, it is said, two or three pillar towers exist, and these, it
may be inferred, were reared by Irish colonists. In the far east only
we come to erections of the same character and dimension; the first
thing that a traveller is reminded of on seeing an Irish round tower,
is a Turkish minaret.
“No authentic records exist to guide us to a knowledge of the time when
these towers were built, or of the use for which they were intended.
Everything proves that they have existed from a very remote antiquity,
and the most opposite conclusions have been adopted with respect to the
period and object of their erection; none of these hypotheses carry
conviction with them, but of many, at least, the absurdity can be shown
with little trouble.
“Some, for instance, have maintained that these towers were built by
the Danes; but these sages appear to have forgotten that round towers
are found in parts of the island where the Danes never set foot, as,
for instance, in Donegal and the remote counties of Connaught. Besides,
had these been Danish erections, how came the Danes not to leave any of
them in England?
“Popular tradition assigns them to the Phœnicians, and learned
antiquarians ought not too hastily to reject popular tradition, for
often the memory of a people undergoes less corruption and change in
the course of a thousand years than do the records preserved in books.
There is nothing very improbable in the hypothesis that these towers
were built by the Phœnicians, who are known to have visited the island
and to have exercised power there.
“Travellers have recently discovered in the Persian province of
Masanderan towers precisely similar to those of Ireland, and in India
erections of a similar kind, dedicated to religious purposes, have also
been met with. This, taken in connection with the shape of the Turkish
minaret, makes it extremely probable that the round towers have had an
Oriental origin. Many have been staggered by the great antiquity which
such an hypothesis would assign to the Irish towers, but they are
buildings of wonderful solidity, and there is nothing at all
extraordinary in the supposition that these stones may have remained in
their present position for some thousands of years. Have we not even
brick buildings of Roman erection, that are known to have been built
before the Christian era?
“No less diversified have been the opinions respecting the use for
which the round towers were intended, and on this subject some
strangely absurd doctrines have been advanced. Some people have
supposed them to have formed chains of telegraph stations spread out
over the whole island; but the absurdity of this notion is sufficiently
shown by the position of some of the towers upon low ground, in the
corners of valleys, and on remote and solitary islands, whence nothing
could well be seen, and nothing, therefore, made known. This opinion
is, nevertheless, still entertained by many.
“Others suppose the towers to have been fortresses, erected in the
early ages of Christianity as places of refuge, in case of danger, for
the priests and their church treasures. I can hardly think, however,
that any people could have selected such a style of architecture for
places of defence. The defenders within would have had to stand upon
each other’s heads, and their only means of annoying their enemies
would have been the four small openings at the top, eighty or a hundred
feet from the ground. Besides, had the round towers been military
places of defence, they would probably have all been destroyed in the
course of the constant wars by which the island has been afflicted,
whereas the round towers have evidently been preserved by the people
with great care, and have ever been looked on by them with the greatest
veneration.
“The notion that the round towers were built by the early Christians as
steeples to hang their bells in is equally untenable, for, though they
are frequently found in close vicinity to the ruins of churches, yet no
kind of steeple could be worse constructed for such a purpose, as the
sound of the bells would scarcely have been heard through the small
apertures at the top, except by those who had already assembled around
the tower.
“Many other opinions have been hazarded, but all at variance with the
popular tradition, which represents the round towers to have been the
temples of the old fire-worshippers from the East, who came over with
the Phœnicians. The poet Moore and other Irish antiquarians are
disposed to adopt this tradition, the more so as the pyreas of the
Ghebers, according to the account of several travellers, bear the
closest similitude to the Irish towers, and because the worship of fire
is known to have been at one time the prevailing religion of Ireland.
The dark interiors of these towers have been well calculated to show
the sacred fire preserved there to the greatest advantage, and the
height of the entrance-door from the ground would be explained by the
sanctity of the place, to which only a few were probably allowed to
have access.
“The great height of the towers has been objected to as entirely
superfluous, supposing them to have been applied to such a use; but it
may have been customary to place the sacred fire in an elevated
position, as an additional mark of respect, and then the towers may
have answered more purposes than one; from the windows at the top
signals may have been made to summon the faithful to prayer, or the
apertures may have been used for astronomical observations, intended to
fix the time of the religious feasts.
“Christian emblems have been discovered in some of these towers. On the
summit of that near Swords, in the county of Dublin, is a small stone
cross, and in others even representations of the Virgin have been
found; but these, there cannot be a doubt, are of modern addition. That
churches and cemeteries should so often be found in the vicinity of
these towers is nothing surprising, for a building that has once become
sacred in the eyes of a people, generally retains a portion of its
sanctity, even though the original religion may be utterly swept away.
Most of the early Christian churches were erected on the foundations of
heathen temples, and a large portion of the Turkish mosques were
formerly Christian churches.
“Generally, where in the vicinity of a round tower there occur the
ruins of churches, these are in number seven. This has been explained
by supposing that, previously to the appearance of St. Patrick,
Christianity—but not Roman Catholic Christianity—had been introduced
into Ireland. This ante-patrician Christianity is said to have been
introduced by the Apostle James, who first preached the gospel in
Ireland, and established the Eastern Church there, with the rites of
the Eastern Œcumenic Synods; and the frequent appearance of seven
churches close to each other is accounted for as a reference to the
seven celebrated churches of the East.
“In this hypothesis, though stoutly denied by the Roman Catholics,
there is nothing improbable, and, if true, it affords another
remarkable proof of the early connection between Ireland and the East.
In no other Christian land in Europe do we constantly find the ruins of
ancient churches in groups of seven.
“We effected a landing on Scattery Island, called in ancient times
Inniscattery, and at present occupied by a few tenants of a Mr. M’Kean,
who graze their cattle there. ‘It is a very old ancient place,’ said
one of the boatmen, as he was carrying me through the water on his
shoulders, for we had come to a landing-place where the tide had left
one foot of water over a large extent of coast. This pleonasm of ‘old
ancient’ might be applied to many parts of Ireland, where old and older
ruins are constantly found in close contiguity.
“In general, where there are seven churches, in Ireland, some ancient
saint is named as having lived and died there, and as having belonged
to the first preachers of Christianity in the country. At Scattery it
is Saint Senanus, whose grave is still shown amid one of the ruins, and
whose fame has been extended far beyond his native isle by one of
Moore’s melodies. These ancient ruins, however, have many graves of a
more modern date; for bodies are still brought over from the mainland
to be interred at Scattery. On the occasion of such a funeral, one boat
serves generally as a hearse, and the mourners follow in other boats.
“I saw many tomb-stones only a few years old, with new inscriptions,
from which the gilding had scarcely begun to fade, and their effect
upon the solitary and remote island was peculiar and by no means
unpleasing. Among them were the tombs of several captains of ships, and
it would have been difficult to suggest a more appropriate place of
interment for such men than this little island cemetery at the mouth of
a great river, with the wide ocean rolling in front. Indeed, there is
no other country in Europe where there are such interesting cemeteries,
or such picturesque tombs, as in Ireland, partly on account of the
abundance of ivy with which they are hung, and partly on account of the
practice that still prevails of burying the dead among ruins.
“Of some of the seven churches on Scattery isle, scarcely a trace
remained; but three of them were in tolerable preservation. Their
walls, covered with ivy, remained, and into the wall of one of them,
that nearest the round tower, a stone strangely sculptured into the
form of a human face had been introduced. Strange to say, it has
completely the stiff, mask-like features and projecting ears of the
Egyptian statue, whence I conclude it must have belonged originally to
some other building. On the opposite wall is a stone with evident
traces of an ancient inscription.
“The round tower stands a little to the side. Although not perfect, it
belongs to the most picturesque in Ireland, for it has been struck by
lightning, and has received a split on one side from top to bottom. On
the south side it is covered completely with mosses and creeping
plants; on the north and west side it is bare, the heavy winds, as the
sailors told me, making all vegetation impossible there. Lightning and
vegetation are the worst enemies the round towers have to contend with,
and it is strange that such active foes should not have been able to
overturn the whole of them in a space of two thousand years.
“All the land upon the little island, except the cemetery, is
pasturage. A small battery has been erected here to protect the mouth
of the Shannon, the entrance to which river is defended by no less than
six batteries and forts, while at the mouth of the Thames there is not
one.
“On leaving Inniscattery, to repair to the kingdom of Kerry, we had
work enough before us, for the tide was against us, besides which we
had to contend with such a variety of currents, that the boatmen
required all their skill and experience to carry their slight skiff in
safety to the little port of Tarbert, whither we were bound. The mouth
of the Shannon has rather the character of an arm of the sea, but to
consider it as such would be in violation of the principles of Irish
geography.
“The waves, now of a very respectable size, were rolling out towards
the ocean; but the fog was completely gone, and we had the most
beautiful sunshine. With the exception of our own little bark, which
seemed to crest the waves like a bird, neither ship nor boat was to be
seen upon the noble estuary, and, without passing a human creature with
whom we could have exchanged a salutation, we arrived at length in
safety at our destined harbour.
“There I learned, when it was too late, that without any additional
expenditure of time or trouble, I might have effected a landing at
Ballybunian, whose marine caverns, at the mouth of the Shannon, are
reckoned among the wonders of Ireland. These caverns stretch more than
a mile from the sea into the land. Ireland, indeed, is rich in
remarkable caverns, many of which are but little known to the
scientific world.”
The original models from which the Round Towers of Ireland were taken
are still to be found in the Soudan of Africa; and the people whose
ancestors erected buildings after this fashion, as they migrated from
their native country to the seaboard, and crossed over to Spain—whence
they visited Ireland—are to this day as savage in manners and customs
as their forefathers were before they left Africa. The following
description of the round conical granaries, the country where they are
situated, and the builders of them, is taken from a work called _Egypt,
the Soudan, and Central Africa_, by John Petherick, F.R.G.S., Her
Britannic Majesty’s Consul for the Soudan:—
“Those of my men who had wintered with the Djour had procured from the
negroes a large quantity of tusks, the accumulation of several years’
hunting. Their journeys had extended to the confines of the Rohl, in
the east, and in the territory of the Djour westwards beyond the large
stream which, on reference to the map, will be seen as the largest
feeder of the lake. I had discovered southwards they had penetrated the
Dôr territory; and as they had succeeded in gaining the good-will of
the Dôr chief Djau, I despatched a party to invite him to meet me.
“The porters who had accompanied me from the Raik, on learning my
intention to proceed south amongst tribes unknown to them, and dreaded
in consequence of the difference of weapons and savage habits, refused
to proceed; and, consigning loads of ivory to them, in charge of a
detachment of my Khartoumers, I sent them back to their own country.
Levying in their stead a party of Djour for the transport of my stock
in trade, I took the advantage of a moonlight night to perform the
journey to the Dôr to Fan-Djau (the country of Djau), so named after my
chief Djau, situated in about six degrees north latitude.
“Our reception amongst them was most hospitable, and in the vicinity of
the chief’s huts we were accommodated with strong wooden sheds, about
six feet high, upon which their corn, divested of its reeds, was
prettily stacked, consisting of different kinds of dourra of different
colours—white, grey, and red—in separate batches. The stacks were
formed with much taste, the sides being perpendicular, terminating in a
cone. The precaution of raising their stacks so high from the ground
was to preserve it from vermin and the white ants.
“The Dôr surpass the Djour in industry, a proof of which existed in
their extensive fields and granaries. Prior to the rainy season, their
grain was threshed and preserved in large cylindrical receptacles,
constructed of reeds and clay, from twelve to fifteen feet in diameter,
and four feet in height, supported upon a strong wood framework some
four feet from the ground. To preserve its contents from the rain, it
was covered by a large thatched framework, not unlike an extinguisher
in shape, and was so light in substance, that when the grain was
required, one side of it could be lifted and supported by a pole, and
the granary entered.[75]
“Their huts were constructed of a beautiful basket-work of cane. The
perpendicular walls were six feet high, and were surmounted with a
pretty cupola-shaped reed roof, topped with wood carvings of birds. A
wooden bedstead occupied its centre, and an oval-shaped hole, two and a
half feet high, barely sufficient to admit a man in a stooping posture,
formed the doorway. At night this was barricaded with logs of wood laid
horizontally upon each other, between perpendicular posts.
“Cooking was carried on in a separate hut, and in lieu of the
stone-mill in use in the Soudan, a large wooden mortar, the pestle some
four or five feet in length, by three inches diameter, served as their
flour-mill. Their food consisted principally of a thick porridge, and a
sauce flavoured with herbs and red pepper; but beef, whenever they
could obtain it by barter for grain with the Djour, or meat from the
chase, was preferred. Rats, mice, and snakes were highly esteemed, and
of these the children were continually in search. Fowls were reared to
a great extent, but from some unaccountable superstition they were only
considered proper food for women: if eaten by men, it was a proof of
effeminacy.
“The Dôr territories are more considerable than any I had yet
traversed; and their language, the nouns of which generally terminated
in _o_ or _a_, was entirely different from any that I had heard. The
men were shorter in stature than the tall Dinka Shillooks, but broader
in the chest and stouter-limbed.
“Total nudity was held in contempt by them, although their covering was
reduced to the smallest possible amount; and when the Djour entered
their village, the little hide ornament worn by them in common with the
Dinka tribes, as a mark of respect was turned round to the front.
“Of a dark brown colour, they further differed from the negroes
hitherto described, in the preservation of their teeth and the
difference of their weapons: these consisted of bows and arrows,
fearfully-barbed lances, and a variety of clubs. Some resembled the
mace of the Middle Ages, whilst others, made of hard wood, were like
the mushroom. The edges were firm and sharp, and when employed against
an enemy would cleave the skull. The points of their arrows, made of
iron, are also numerously barbed; the workmanship, in a variety of
patterns, is admirable.
“The Dôr perhaps excel the Djour in smithery; and, possessing no
cattle, their valuables consist in objects of iron, mostly in circular
plates from nine inches to one foot in diameter, and long ornamented
lance-like articles. For a certain number of these they intermarry.
“Goats and fowls are their only domestic animals; the former a
short-legged and smooth-haired variety. The coat is fine, and coloured
frequently with large round spots of black, yellow, or brown upon
white: they are not milked, although, when taken to Khartoum and
crossed with the native race, they become excellent milkers.
“The women would be handsome were it not for a disfiguration of the
under lip, in which circular pieces of wood are inserted, varying in
size, according to age, from a sixpence to a florin. The young women
are naked, but the married women wear large clusters of green leaves in
front and behind, which, attached by a belt to the waist, reach to the
ankles. Clean in their habits, they are particular in the daily renewal
of their costume from the bush, the numerous evergreens and creeping
plants affording them an abundant material for that purpose.
“Their ears, necks, and waists are profusely adorned with beads, and on
their wrists they wear numerous iron bracelets. The ankles are
encumbered with bright heavy iron rings, fully one inch thick; and
these tinkling together as they dance produce a peculiarly fascinating
sound.
“In the centre of the village is a large circus, where, on a tree,
their war-trophies, the skulls of the slain, are suspended. Beneath it
large tom-toms, made of hollowed trunks of trees, well finished, and
strung with dressed buffalo-hides, were used only on occasions of
universal rejoicing, or to sound the alarm in time of war. The sound
could be heard miles distant. At ordinary times smaller instruments of
the same kind were employed. This large circus was carefully swept and
watered; and under the shade of the tree the men met during the day,
and in the evenings, more especially on moonlight nights, it was the
scene of great conviviality.
“The several approaches to it were narrow foot-paths, and both sides
were ornamented with rough wooden posts, carved into semblances of
human figures, four feet apart; the first were largest in size, the
others had on their heads wooden bowls. These figures were said to
represent the chief proceeding to a festival, and followed by his
retainers bearing viands and _mau_ to the feast.
“The village was prettily situated at the foot of a hill, around which
were two or three other villages, this forming the entire community of
a large district. From its summit a beautiful view of the surrounding
country was obtained. Surrounding the village, at a moderate distance,
were the unfenced gardens of the villagers, in which cucurbits,
vegetables, and seeds were grown; and beyond, to the eastward, was a
large plain of cultivated dourra fields; southward, at about one mile
distant, a winding brook was to be seen, bordered with superb trees and
flourishing canes.
“The bush supplied a variety of game, consisting of partridges,
guinea-fowl, a large white boar, gazelles, antelopes, and giraffes.
Elephants and buffalo I did not encounter, and I was told they only
frequented the locality during the rainy season.
“The Dôr acknowledge no superior chief, and the tribe is divided into
separate communities; and these, although living, as in this instance,
in close proximity, look upon each other as almost separate tribes,
holding little or no communication. They live in a state of continual
feud, attributable to encroachments on hunting-grounds. Their battues
consist in driving the game into strong nets, which, suspended to the
trunks of trees at right angles, cover a space of several miles.
“During my stay at Djau, a hunt of this description, in which the
inhabitants of a village some miles distant joined, took place, and, as
usual, ended in a quarrel. Sitting under my habitation at noon, several
boys returned to the village for extra weapons for the use of their
fathers. The alarm spread instantly that a fight was taking place, and
the women _en masse_ proceeded to the scene with yellings and shrieks
indescribable. Seizing my rifle, and accompanied by four of my
followers, curiosity to see a negro fight tempted me to accompany them.
“After a stiff march of a couple of hours through bush and glade,
covered with waving grass reaching nearly to our waists, the return of
several boys warned us of the proximity of the fight, and of their fear
of its turning against them—the opposing party being the most
numerous. Many of the women hurried back to their homes, to prepare, in
case of emergency, for flight and safety in the bush. For such an
occurrence, to a certain extent, they are always prepared; several
parcels of grain, and provisions neatly packed up in spherical forms,
in leaves surrounded by network, being generally kept ready in every
hut for a sudden start.
“Accelerating our pace, and climbing up a steep hill, as we reached the
summit and were proceeding down a gentle slope, I came in contact with
Djau and his party in full retreat, and leaping like greyhounds over
the low underwood and high grass. On perceiving me they halted, and
rent the air with shouts of ‘The white chief! the white chief!’ and I
was almost suffocated by the embraces of the chief. My presence gave
them courage to face the enemy again; a loud peculiar shrill whoop from
the grey-headed but still robust chief was the signal for attack, and,
bounding forward, they were soon out of sight. To keep up with them
would have been an impossibility; but, marching at the top of our pace,
we followed them as best we could.
“After a long march down a gentle declivity, at the bottom of which was
a beautiful glade, we again came up with them, drawn up in line in
pairs, some yards apart from each other, within the confines of the
bush, not a sound indicating their presence. Joining them, and
inquiring what had become of the enemy, the men whom I addressed
silently pointed to the bush on the opposite side of the glade, some
three hundred yards across.
“Notwithstanding my intention of being a mere spectator, I now felt
myself compromised in the fight; and although unwilling to shed blood,
I could not resist my aid to the friends who afforded me an asylum
amongst them. Marching accordingly into the open with my force of four
men, I resolved that we would act as skirmishers on the side of our
hosts, who retained their position in the bush.
“We had proceeded about a third of the way across the glade, when the
enemy advanced out of the wood and formed a long line of two or three
deep, on its confines opposite to us. I also drew up my force, and for
an instant we stood looking at each other. Although within range, at
about two hundred yards’ distance, I did not like to fire upon them;
but in preference continued advancing, thinking the prestige of my
fire-arms would be sufficient. I was right. We had scarcely marched
fifty yards, when a general flight took place, and in an instant Djau
and his host, amounting to some three or four hundred men, passed us in
hot pursuit.
“After reflection on the rashness of exposing myself with so few men to
the hostility of some six hundred negroes, and in self-congratulation
on the effect my appearance in the fight had produced, I awaited the
return of my hosts. In the course of an hour this took place; and as
they advanced I shall never forget the impression they made upon me. A
more complete picture of savage life I could not have imagined. A large
host of naked negroes came trooping on, grasping in their hands bow and
arrow, lances and clubs, with wild gesticulations and frightful yells
proclaiming their victory, whilst one displayed the reeking head of a
victim.
“I refused to join them in following up the defeat of their enemies by
a descent on their villages. With some difficulty they were persuaded
to be content with the success already achieved—that of having beaten
off a numerically superior force—and return to their homes. Their
compliance was only obtained by an actual refusal of further
co-operation; but in the event of a renewed attack upon their villages,
the probability of which was suggested, I promised them my willing
support.
“We had not gone fifty paces, when I beheld the form of a young man
prostrate, apparently lifeless; and seeing only a deep incision across
his wrist, nearly severing the hand from the arm, and a lance-thrust
that had penetrated the shoulder between the muscle and the flesh, his
open eyes suggested that life might not be extinct. I felt his pulse,
but it was imperceptible. At the same time a negro with his lance
coolly severed the muscle, and extricated the barbed projectile. I
looked upon the man with disgust; but, with a laugh, taking the body by
the hand, he rolled it over on the chest, and then two open
lance-wounds between the shoulders plainly showed the cause of death.
“On our way home the body was drawn by the legs for a considerable
distance, and finally carried on the shoulders of some of the party to
conceal the trail. It was secreted in the bush in the hope of its
eluding the search of the enemy, leaving it to be devoured by beasts of
prey; but the head, severed from the body, was secured and destined,
with four others, to be suspended on the tree in the centre of the
village circus.
“At night great rejoicings took place, commencing with a war-dance by
the women, who, in pairs, closely following each other to the sound of
the tom-tom, and chanting a war-song, moved in measured steps round the
tree. At each time, as the procession approached the heads of the
victims, a halt took place, and insulting epithets addressed to the
fallen were followed by the clanking of their anklets and shrieks of
applause. Sickened with the exhibition, I retired from the scene.
“The day following, after a night’s conviviality, the heads were
secreted in the bush in order to bleach the skulls. Another feast
celebrated their suspension on the tree.”
These are the descendants of the Moors who built the Round Towers in
Ireland, when they became masters of Spain!
CHAPTER X.
DEATH OF MOSES.
The Law-giver, when he had firmly established the two extensive empires
of Mexico and Peru, had it in his mind to found another kingdom in the
north of Mexico, which should include King George’s Sound, in the
Pacific Ocean, and stretch across the continent of North America till
it reached the Atlantic Ocean.
This immense tract of country was inhabited by savages, living like the
wild animals by whom they were surrounded. They knew not God, nor had
they any idea of religion, having no greater intelligence than that
possessed by the brute creation. It was, however, the intention of
Moses to visit these people, to teach them the knowledge of civilised
life, and to impart to them the blessings of religion and industry.
This, indeed, was the mission on which Moses was sent over the
different quarters of the habitable globe by his God, who spoke to him
on Mount Sinai, and who took him away from the camp of the children of
Israel at the ford of the river Jordan, viz. that he (Moses) might
carry the glorious tidings of salvation to nations that were living in
ignorance and superstition. He obeyed the sacred behest, and there are
ample proofs which attest the success of his mission and labour of love.
The route he took is marked by signs of flourishing empires, with
religion, learning, and laws, as far as the spot where the servant of
God was killed by savages—the very people whom he came to reclaim. He
visited the coast of North America in a boat made of copper, everything
on board of which was made of that metal. Of this the Indians are
passionately fond, and for the sake of it they killed the inspired
missionary.
But the sequel proves that they repented of their wicked deed—when it
was too late. In the hope of obtaining forgiveness from the murdered
old man, they paid him divine worship, and carved an image to represent
the visitant whom they so cruelly deprived of life. The memory of this
remarkable event was handed down to posterity from generation to
generation, even to the time when Captain Meares visited that coast in
his ship; and the story was related to him by one of the descendants of
those who committed the horrid crime. Captain Meares gives the
following narrative of what he heard:—[76]
“For a long time the English thought the inhabitants had no religious
belief whatever. To the huge mis-shapen images seen in their houses
they addressed no homage; they had neither priests nor temples, nor did
they offer any sacrifices; but an accidental circumstance led to the
discovery that, though devoid of all superstitious observances, and
wholly ignorant of the true God, they were not without a certain
species of mythology, including a belief of an existence after death.
This discovery arose from our inquiries on a very different subject.
“On expressing our wish to be informed by what means they became
acquainted with copper, and why it was such a peculiar object of their
admiration, a son of Hannapa, one of the Nootkan chiefs, a youth of
uncommon sagacity, informed us of all he knew on the subject; and we
found, to our surprise, that his story involved a little sketch of
their religion. When words were wanting he supplied the deficiency by
those expressive actions which nature or necessity seems to communicate
to people whose language is imperfect; and the young Nootkan conveyed
his ideas by signs so skilfully as to render them perfectly
intelligible. He related his story in the following manner:—
“He first placed a certain number of sticks on the ground, at small
distances from each other, to which he gave separate names. Thus, he
called the first his father, and the next his grandfather: he then took
what remained and threw them all into confusion together, as much as to
say that they were the general heap of his ancestors, whom he could not
individually reckon.
“He then, pointing to this bundle, said, when they lived an old man
entered the sound[77] in a copper canoe, with copper paddles, and
everything else in his possession of the same metal; that he paddled
along the shore, on which all the people were assembled to contemplate
so strange a sight, and that, having thrown one of his copper paddles
on shore, he himself landed. The extraordinary stranger then told the
natives that he came from the sky, to which the boy pointed with his
hand; that their country would one day be destroyed, when they would
all be killed, and rise again to live in the place from whence he came.
“Our young interpreter explained this circumstance of his narrative by
lying down as if he were dead, and then, rising up suddenly, he
imitated the action as if he were soaring through the air. He continued
to inform us that the people killed the old man, and took his canoe,
from which event they derived their fondness for copper; and he added
that the images in their houses were intended to represent the form,
and perpetuate the mission, of this supernatural person who came from
the sky.”
Thus ended the glorious life of the man of God. His death was as
mysterious to his followers in America, as was his disappearance and
supposed death to the Israelites in Asia. He was the first missionary
who carried the glad tidings of God’s good-will towards an erring
world; and he died the death of a martyr at the hands of the very world
that he came to enlighten.
At the time of his death Moses must have been very old, for he was
already one hundred and twenty years old when he left the Israelites.
To arrive at the exact age to which he attained, an acquaintance with
the chronicles of many kingdoms would be necessary, in order to know
the date at which he arrived, and what length of time he sojourned, in
each. But as most of the empires which Moses founded are now under the
government of various nations, who have wantonly destroyed every
vestige of the history and traditions of their former kings, this
knowledge cannot be attained in this age of the world.
When Moses commenced his missionary life he was accompanied by his
Ethiopian consort,[78] and a son, by her, as there is evidence to prove
in the painting at Thebes, where there is a representation of the
Ethiopian princess with a boy on her lap.[79] There also went with him
Zipporah and her two sons, Gershom and Eliezer,[80] and their sons,[81]
and a large company of Jews, Egyptians, and Ethiopians.[82]
The doctrine that Moses preached everywhere was the same as that he
wrote and left among the Jews. It will, therefore, not be out of place
to rehearse it here, as he rehearsed it before the Israelites previous
to his departure from their midst:—
“Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words
of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil
as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers
upon the grass: Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye
greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all
his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and
right is he.
“They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his
children. Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Is
not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and
established thee?
“Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask
thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.
When the Most High divided to the nations the inheritance, when he
separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according
to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord’s portion is his
people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert
land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he
instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
“As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth
abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: so the Lord
alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. He made him
ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of
the fields, and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out
of the flinty rock; butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of
lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of
kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.
“But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxed fat, thou art grown
thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made
him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked him
to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to
anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew
not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of
the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God
that formed thee.
“And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking
of his sons, and of his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face
from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very
froward generation, children in whom is no faith. They have moved me to
jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger
with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which
are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest
hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire
the foundations of the mountains.
“I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.
They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and
with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon
them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. The sword without, and
terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the
suckling also with the man of gray hairs.
“I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the
remembrance of them to cease from among men: Were it not that I feared
the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves
strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord
hath not done all this. For they are a nation void of counsel, neither
is there any understanding in them.
“O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would
consider their latter end! How should one chase a thousand, and two put
ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord
had shut them up? For their Rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies
themselves being judges. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of
the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters
are bitter. Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of
asps. Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my
treasures?
“To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in
due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that
shall come upon them make haste. For the Lord shall judge his people,
and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is
gone, and there is none shut up or left. And he shall say, Where are
their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, which did eat the fat of
their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them
rise up and help you, and be your protection.
“See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill,
and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can
deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say I live
for ever. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on
judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them
that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword
shall devour flesh: and that with the blood of the slain and of the
captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.
“Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood
of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will
be merciful unto his land, and to his people.
“And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the
people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun. And Moses made an end of
speaking all these words to all Israel.
“And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I
testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to
observe to do, all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing
for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall
prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess
it.”[83]
CHAPTER XI.
RECORD OF FAMINES.
It appears from the numerous ruins of Pyramids (and Round Towers), that
the ancients, such as Zaphnath-paaneah and Moses—the latter under a
great many different names—in their wisdom and forethought erected
them as granaries, so that, notwithstanding the various causes of
famine, their territories might be always well provisioned and able to
withstand the attack of the dire enemy.
The Famine Statistics of modern times show how necessary those
precautions were. If the Round Towers of Ireland had still been used in
the Christian Era as granaries, and well stored with corn, instead of
being turned into towers for hanging church bells in, how many precious
lives would have been saved during all those famines which devastated
that beautiful island!
The following is a Chronological Table of Famines[84] that visited
Ireland within the Christian Era.
A.D.
10-15 | A general fruitlessness, giving rise to famine and great
| mortality.
|
76 | Great scarcity.
|
192 | General scarcity; bad harvest; mortality and emigration,
| “so that lands and houses, territories and tribes, were
| emptied.”—First notice of emigration.
|
535 | Destruction of food and scarcity, lasted four years.
|
664 | Great famine.
|
669 | Great scarcity; and in following year.
|
695-700 | Famine and pestilence during three years, “so that men ate
| each other.”
|
759 | Great famine throughout the kingdom;
| and more or less for several years.
|
768 | Famine and an earthquake.
|
772 | Famine from drought.
|
824-25 | Great dearth.
|
895-97 | Famine from invasion of locusts.
|
963-64 | An intolerable famine, “so that parents sold their children
| for food.”
|
1047 | Great famine and snow.
|
1116 | Great famine, “during which the people even ate each
| other.”
|
1153 | Great famine in Munster, and spread all over Ireland.
|
1188 | Great scarcity of food in north of Ireland.
|
1200 | “A cold, foodless year.”
|
1203 | A great famine, “so that priests ate flesh in Lent.”
|
1227 | A great famine throughout the country.
|
1262 | Great destruction of people from plague and hunger.
|
1271 | Pestilence and famine in the whole of Ireland.
|
1295 | Great dearth during this and the previous and following
| years.
|
1302 | Famine.
|
1314 | Famine and various distempers.
|
1316 | Great dearth. Eight captured Scots eaten at siege of
| Carrickfergus.
|
1317 | A great famine throughout the country in consequence of
| Bruce’s invasion.
|
1332 | A peck of wheat sold for 22 shillings.
|
1339 | A general famine.
|
1410 | “A great famine.”
|
1433 | Famine of great severity.
|
1447 | Great famine in the Spring.
|
1491 | Such a famine that it was called, “The Dismal Year.”
|
1497 | “Intolerable famine throughout all Ireland—many perished.”
|
1522 | A great famine.
|
1586 | Extreme famine consequent on the wars of Desmond. Human
| flesh said to have been eaten.
|
1588-89 | Great famine, “when one did eate another for hunger.”
|
1601-03 | Great scarcity and want. Cannibalism again reported.
|
1650-51 | A famine throughout the country. Sieges of Limerick and
| Galway.
|
1690 | Famine and disease.
|
1727-29 | Corn very dear. “Many hundreds perished.” Emigration.
|
1739-40 | Potatoes destroyed by frost; wheat 42 shillings per
| kilderkin.
|
1765 | Great scarcity; distilling and exportation of corn
| prohibited by Act of Parliament.
|
1822 | Dreadful famine, produced by failure of potato crop.
| “While, however, the agriculturists of the continent were
| suffering from an abundance, a grievous famine arose in
| Ireland, showing the anomalies of her situation,
| resulting either from the staple food of her population
| differing from that of surrounding nations, or the
| limitation of her commercial exchanges with her
| neighbours. Her distresses from scarcity were aggravated
| by the agrarian outrages, originating in the pressure of
| tythes and rack-rents on the peasantry and small farmers.
| Several of the ringleaders of these disorders were
| apprehended by the civil and military power, and great
| numbers executed or transported.”—Wade’s _Brit. Hist._
|
|
1831 | Famine; Parliament granted £40,000 for relief; £74,410
| subscriptions in England.
|
1845 | Famine; the Government expended £850,000 in relief of
| sufferers.
|
1846-47 | Great potato famine; Parliament advanced nearly
| £10,000,000; about 275,000 persons are supposed to have
| perished. The famine in the whole lasted over nearly six
| years; the population became reduced by about 2,500,000.
| The emigration to America was 1,180,409, and 1,029,552
| are said to have died from starvation and pestilence
| consequent upon it. This is probably over-stated. It is
| further said that about 25 per cent. of the emigrants
| died within twelve months of leaving. The Commerce and
| Navigation Laws were repealed.
The above table shows how terribly the Irish people have suffered from
want of food, and how in their hunger they have been compelled to have
recourse to cannibalism in order to save themselves from death by
starvation. This sad picture should be a lesson to fanatics like those
who, in their misdirected zeal to serve their Master in heaven,
destroyed the granaries of the ancient people, mistaking them to be
temples dedicated to heathen gods. For, had the pyramids, which appear
to have existed in large numbers all over Ireland, been filled during
the years of plenty, and the grain kept in reserve until the time of
scarcity, there would then have been sufficient food not only for the
inhabitants of Ireland, but also for the wants of the sister islands.
The following chronological table of the famines that have devastated
England, Scotland and Wales, is taken from Walford’s _Famines of the
World_. It presents a sad picture of human misery and wretchedness,
which might have been prevented by wisdom and forethought.
TABLE OF FAMINES IN ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND WALES.
A.D. |
|
54 | England. Grievous famine
|
104 | England and Scotland. Famine.
|
107 | Britain. From long rains.
|
119 | Britain. “After a pillar of fire seen several nights in the
| air.”
|
151 | Wales. Grievous.
|
160 | England. Multitudes starved.
|
173 | England. After severe frost and snow.
|
228 | Scotland. “Thousands were starved.”
|
238 | Scotland. “Most grievous.”
|
259 | Wales. Thousands were “pined to death.”
|
272 | Britain. People ate the bark of trees and roots.
|
288 | Britain. Famine all through.
|
298 | Wales. After a comet.
|
306 | Scotland. Thousands died; most grievous and fatal for four
| years.—Short.
|
310 | England. 40,000 perished.
|
325 | Britain. Generally, severe famine.
|
439 | Britain. After a comet.
|
466 | Britain. “And bad fatal air.”—Short.
|
480 | Scotland. After a comet.
|
515 | Britain. “Most afflictive.”
|
523 | Scotland. “Terrible.”
|
527 | North Wales. Famine.
|
531 | South Wales. And a small plague.
|
537 | Scotland. Dearth; also in Wales.
|
576 | Scotland. “Fatal.”
|
590 | England. From a tempest that raised a great flood.
|
592 | England. Drought from 10th January to September; and
| locusts.
|
605 | England. From heat and drought.
|
625 | Britain. Grievous.
|
667 | Scotland. Grievous.
|
680 | Britain. From three years’ drought.
|
695-700 | England. Famine and pestilence during three years, “so that
| men ate each other.”
|
712 | Wales. Famine.
|
730 | England, Wales and Scotland. Great famine.
|
746 | Wales. Dearth.
|
748 | Scotland. Famine.
|
774 | Scotland. “With plague.”
|
791 | Wales. Grievous.
|
792 | Scotland. Dearth.
|
793 | England. “After many meteors”; and in other parts of the
| world.
|
803 | Scotland. “Terrible.”
|
822-23 | England. “Thousands starve”; also in Scotland, according to
| Short.
|
836 | Wales. “The ground covered with dead bodies of men and
| beasts.”—Short.
|
856 | Scotland. A four years’ famine began.
|
863 | Scotland. With a plague.
|
872 | England. “From ugly locusts.”
|
887 | England. “Grievous two years.”
|
890 | Scotland. Great dearth.
|
900 | England. Famine.
|
931 | Wales. Famine.
|
936 | Scotland. After a comet; four years, “till people began to
| devour one another.”—Short.
|
954 | England, Wales, and Scotland. Great famine, which lasts
| four years.
|
962 | England. Famine caused by frost.
|
969 | England. “All grain burnt by the winds.”—Short.
|
975 | England. Famine scoured the hills.
|
976 | England. This was the “great famine,” micla hungor.—John of
| Brompton.
|
988 | England. From rains and barren land.
|
989 | England. “Grievous, from a rainy winter; bad spring;
| neither ploughing nor sowing; snowy harvest.”
|
1004 | England. “Such a famine prevailed as no man could
| remember.”
|
1005 | England. “This year was the great famine in England.” Sweyn
| the Dane quits in consequence.
|
1008 | Wales. Attended with plague.
|
1012 | England. Endless multitudes died of famine.
|
1025 | England. From rains, and plague.
|
1031 | England. From great rains and locusts.—Short.
|
1042 | England. About this time such a famine came on that a
| sextarius of wheat, which is usually a load for one
| horse, sold for five solidi and more.—Henry of
| Huntingdon. Lasted seven years.
|
1047 | England. From snow and frost.
|
1047-48 | Scotland. Famine-extending over two years.
|
1050 | England. Great famine and mortality; from barrenness of the
| land.
|
1053 | England. Famine after a comet; lasted two years.
|
1068 | England. Famine and plague after a severe winter.
|
1069 | England. Normans desolated England, and in the following
| year famine spread over the northern counties of England,
| “so that man, driven by hunger, ate human, dog, and horse
| flesh”; some to sustain a miserable life sold themselves
| for slaves. All land lying “between Durham and Yorke lay
| waste, without inhabitants or people to till the ground,
| for the space of nine years, except only the territory of
| St. John of Bewlake.”—(Beverley.)
|
| “Divers other parts of his realm were so wasted with
| his wars that, for want both of husbandry and habitation,
| a great dearth did ensue, whereby many were forced to eat
| horses, dogs, cats, rats, and other loathsome and vile
| vermin; yea, some abstained not from the flesh of men.
| This famine and desolation did specially rage in the
| north parts of the realm.”—_Harleian Miscellany_,
| III. p. 151.
|
1073 | England. Famine, followed by mortality so fierce that “the
| living could take no care of the sick, nor bury the
| dead.”—Henry of Huntingdon.
|
1086 | England. A great murrain of animals, and such intemperate
| weather that many died of fever and famine.—Henry de
| Knyghton. Excessive rains.—Short.
|
1087 | England. Pestilence followed by famine; great suffering.
|
|
1093 | England. Great famine and mortality.—Stow.
|
1096 | England. “Heavy-timed hunger that severely oppressed the
| earth.”—_Saxon Chronicle._ “Summer rain, tempests,
| and bad air.”—Short.
|
1099 | England. Famine from rains and floods.
|
1106 | England. From barren land; then plague.
|
1111 | England. Winter long and very severe; great scarcity
| followed.
|
1117 | England. From tempest, hail, and a year’s incessant rains.
|
1121-22 | England. “Great famine from long and cruel frosts.”
|
1124 | England. “Such a famine prevailed that everywhere in
| cities, villages, and cross-roads lifeless bodies lie
| unburied.”
|
| “By means of changing the coine all things became very
| deere, whereof an extreame famine did arise, and afflict
| the multitude of the people, even to death.”—Penkethman.
|
1125 | England. Great flood on St. Lawrence’s Day; famine in
| consequence of destruction of crops, &c.
|
1126 | England. “Incessant rains during the summer, when followed
| in all England a most unheard-of scarcity. A sextarius of
| wheat sold for 20 shillings.”
|
1135-37 | England. Great drought and famine.
|
1141 | England. Famine, said to have lasted twelve years.—Short.
|
1154 | England. From rains, frost, tempest, thunder, and
| lightning.
|
1175 | England. Pestilence, followed by great dearth.
|
1176 | Wales. A great famine and mortality.
|
1183 | England and Wales. A great famine severely afflicted both
| England and Wales.
|
1193-96 | England. Famine occasioned by incessant rains. “The common
| people (_Vulgus pauperum_) perished everywhere for
| lack of food; and on the footsteps of famine the
| fiercest pestilence followed, in the form of an acute
| fever.”—Walter Hemingford.
|
1203 | England. A great mortality and famine, from long rains.
|
1209 | England. Famine from a rainy summer and severe winter.
|
1224 | England. A very dry winter and bad seed-time, whence
| followed a great famine.
|
1235 | England. Famine and plague; 20,000 persons die in London;
| people eat horseflesh, bark of trees, grass, &c.—Short.
|
1239 | England. Great famine, “people eat their children.”—Short.
|
1248 | England. “By reason of embasing the coin of great penury
| followed.”
|
1252 | England. No rain from Whitsuntide to autumn; no grass;
| hence arose a severe famine; great mortality of man and
| cattle; dearness of grain and scarcity of fruit.
|
1257 | England. The inundations of autumn destroyed the grain and
| fruit, and pestilence followed.
|
1258 | England. North winds in spring destroyed vegetation; food
| failed, the preceding harvest having been small, and
| innumerable multitudes of poor people died. Fifty
| shiploads of wheat, barley, and bread were procured
| from Germany; but citizens of London were forbidden
| by proclamation against dealing in same. “A great dearth
| followed this wet year pest, for a quarter of wheat was
| sold for 15 and 20 shillings, but the worst was in the
| end; there could be none found for money when—though many
| poor people were constrained to eat barks of trees and
| horseflesh, but many starved for want of food—20,000 (as
| it was said) in London.”—Penkethman.
|
1271 | England. A violent tempest and inundation, followed by a
| severe famine in the entire district of Canterbury.
|
1286 | England. Short speaks of a twenty-three years’ famine
| commencing this year.
|
1289 | England. A tempest destroyed the seed, and corn rose to a
| great price.
|
1294 | England. Severe famine; many thousands of the poor died.
|
1295 | England. No grain or fruits, “so that the poor died of
| hunger.”—Camden. Hail, great concussion of
| elements.—Short
|
1297 | Scotland. “Calamitous” famine and pestilence.
|
1298 | England. 26 Edward I. “A great famine in England, chiefly
| want of wine; so that the same could scarcely be had to
| minister the communion in the churches.”—Penkethman.
|
1302 | England and Scotland. Famine.
|
1314 | England. Grains spoiled by the rains. Famine “so dreadful
| that the people devoured the flesh of horses, dogs, cats,
| and vermin.” Parliament passed a measure limiting the
| price of provisions.
|
1316 | England. Universal dearth, and such a mortality,
| particularly of the poor, followed, that the living could
| scarcely bury the dead. Royal proclamation: no more beer
| to be made.
|
1321 | England. Famine again; this is regarded by some writers as
| the last serious famine in this country.
|
1335 | England. Famine occasioned by long rains.
|
1336 | Scotland. Desolated by a famine.
|
1341 | England, Scotland. Great dearth in this and following year.
| People ate horses, dogs, cats, &c., to sustain
| life.—Holinshed.
|
1353 | England. Great famine.—Rapin.
|
1355 | England. Great scarcity; grain brought from Ireland
| afforded much relief.
|
1358 | England. “A great dearth and pestilence happened in
| England, which was called the second
| pestilence.”—Penkethman.
|
1369 | England. Great pestilence among men and larger animals;
| followed by inundations and extensive destruction of
| grain. Grain very dear.
|
1390 | England. Great famine arising from scarcity of money to
| buy food.
|
1392 | England. Great scarcity for two years; people ate unripe
| fruit, and suffered greatly from “Flux.” The Corporation
| of London advanced money and corn to the poor at easy
| rates.—Stow.
|
| Short attributes the famine of these three years to the
| “hoarding of corn.”
|
| Penkethman gives further details regarding the
| assistance rendered by the Corporation of London, as
| follows: “The Mayor and Citizens of London took out of
| the Orphans’ chest in their Guildhall, 2,000 marks to buy
| corn and other victualls from beyond the sea; and the
| Aldermen each of them layd out twenty pound to the like
| purpose of buying corn; which was bestowed in divers
| places, where the poore might buy at an appointed price,
| and such as lacked money to pay doune, did put in surity
| to pay in the yeare following: in which yeare, when
| Harvest came, the fields yielded plentifull increase, and
| so the price of Corne began to decrease,” p. 68.
|
1427 | England. Famine from great rains.
|
1429 | Scotland. Dearth.
|
1437-38 | England. Wheat rose from its ordinary price of 4s. to 4s.
| 6d. per quarter to 26s. 8d.
|
| Bread was made from fern-roots.—Stow.
|
| Rains and tempests.—Short.
|
1438 | England. “In the 17th yeere of Henry the Sixt, by meanes of
| great tempests, immeasurable windes and raines, there
| arose such a scarcitie that wheat was sold in some places
| for 2 shillings 6 pence the bushell.”—Penkethman.
|
1439 | England. (18 Hen. VI.). “Wheat was sold at London for 3s.
| the bushell, mault at 13s. the quarter, and oates at 8d.
| the bushell, which caused men to eat beanes, peas, and
| barley, more than in an hundred years before: wherefore
| Stephen Browne, then maior, sent into Pruse (Prussia),
| and caused to be brought to London many ships laden with
| rye, which did much good; for bread-corne was so scarce
| in England that poor people made their breade of ferne
| rootes.”—Penkethman.
|
1440 | England. A scarcity. Scotland.—A famine.
|
1486 | England. “Famine sore.”
|
1491 | England. Considerable scarcity.
|
1494 | England. Great scarcity and high prices.
|
1521 | England. Famine and mortality. “Wheat sold in London for
| 20s. a quarter.”
|
1523 | England. Severe famine.
|
1527 | England. (19 Hen. VIII.). “Such scarcitie of bread was at
| London and throughout England that many dyed for want
| thereof. The King sent to the Citie, of his owne
| provision, 600 quarters: the bread carts then coming from
| Stratford (where nearly all the bakings were, probably on
| account of proximity to Epping Forest) towards London,
| were met at the Mile End by a great number of citizens,
| so that the maior and sheriffes were forced to goe and
| rescue the same, and see them brought to the markets
| appointed, wheat being then at 15s. the quarter. But
| shortly after the merchants of the Stiliard (Steelyard)
| brought from Danske (Danzic) such store of wheat and rye,
| that it was better cheape at London than in any other
| part of the Realme.”—Penkethman.
|
1545 | England. A wonderful dearth and extreme prices.
|
1549 | England. Famine from neglect of agriculture.
|
1556-58 | England. Famine from great rains, bad and inconstant
| seasons; heat and long south winds.—Short.
|
1563 | London. Famine and pestilence, said to have carried off
| 20,000 people.
|
1565 | British Isles. Extended famine. £2,000,000 said to have
| been expended in importation of grain.
|
1586 | England. “In the 29th yeare of Queen Elizabeth, about
| January, Her Majesty observing the general Dearthe of
| Corne, and other Victual, growne partly through the
| unseasonablenesse of the year then passed, and partly
| through the uncharitable greediness of the Corne-masters,
| but especially through the unlawful and overmuch
| transporting of graine in forreine parts; by the advice
| of Her most Hon. Privy Council, published a Proclamation,
| and a Booke of Orders, to be taken by the Justices for
| reliefe of the Poore [commencement of the poor law],
| notwithstanding all which the excessive prices of graine
| still encreased: so that Wheat in meale, was sold at
| London for 8s. the Bushel, and in some other parts of the
| Realme above that price.”—Penkethman.
|
1594 | England. Famine. During the siege of Paris by Henry IV.
| this year, owing to famine, bread which had been sold,
| while any remained, for a crown a-pound, was at last made
| from the bones of the charnel-house of the Holy
| Innocents.—Hinault.
|
1595 | England. (36 Elizabeth.) “By the late Transportations of
| graine into forreine parts, the same was here grown of
| an excessive price, as in some parts of this Realme, from
| 14s. to 4 markes the quarter, and more, as the Poore did
| feele; and all other things whatsoever were made to
| sustain man, were likewise raysed, without all conscience
| and reason. For remedie whereof our Merchants brought
| back from Danske (Danzic) much rye and wheat, but passing
| deere; though not of the best, yet serving the turn in
| such extremities. Some ’Prentices and other young people
| about the Citie of London, being pinched of their
| Victuals, more than they had beene accustomed, tooke
| Butter from the market folkes in Southwarke, paying but
| 3d. where the owners would not afford it under 5d. by
| the pound. For which disorder the said young men were
| punished on the 27th June, by whipping, setting on the
| Pillorie, and long imprisonment.”—Penkethman.
|
1630 | England. Dearth; bread made of turnips, &c.
|
1649 | Scotland and North of England. “From rains and wars”; also
| following year.
|
1649 | Lancashire. Occasioned by the ravages of the armies; and
| the plague follows it.—Salmon’s _Chronological
| Historian_.
|
1694-99 | Scotland. Famine; England, great dearth, “from rains,
| colds, frosts, snows; all bad weathers.”—Short.
|
1700 | England. From rain and cold of previous year.
|
1709 | Scotland. From rain and cold; also in England.
|
1740-41 | England. “From frost, cold, exporting and hoarding up
| corn.”—Short.
|
1741 | Scotland. From “terrible shake-winds when corn was ready
| for reaping.”—Short.
|
1748 | England. Extended famine.
|
1766 | Scotland. “The magistrates of Edinburgh and Glasgow have
| put a stop to the exportation of grain, tallow, and
| butter, in their respective jurisdictions; a power which
| the magistrates of London do not seem to
| possess.”—_Gentleman’s Magazine_, February.
|
1795 | England. Scarcity of food severely felt.
|
1801 | United Kingdom. Great scarcity; flour obtained from
| America; Committees of both Houses of Parliament were
| appointed to inquire into means of supplying food.
|
1812 | United Kingdom. Great scarcity in England and Ireland.
To this list of heart-rending desolation caused by famine, may be added
many other cases which have occurred more recently, and among them the
appalling famine in China—a kingdom well provided with granaries
constructed by the ancient founder, Moses. From the account given by a
traveller, who marvelled at such solitary hills standing in plains
surrounded by fertile corn-fields, it may safely be inferred that these
Pyramids or Storehouses still remain unopened, and, consequently, are
stored with the produce of the fields that surround them. So that had
the Emperors of China been aware of the existence of such
treasure-houses in their extensive dominions, peopled by innumerable
millions of human beings, they would never have had the sorrow of
reading such a harrowing account of misery suffered by their subjects,
arising from want of food, which was so near at hand! This severe
famine visited China in A.D. 1877-78, and is thus chronicled by
Walford:—
“North China.—A telegram dated 26th January 1878, says: ‘Appalling
famine raging throughout four provinces North China. Nine million
people reported destitute. Children daily sold in markets for (raising
means to procure) food. Foreign Relief Committee appeal to England and
America for assistance.’ Total population of districts affected,
seventy millions. Mr. Fredk. H. Balfour, of Shanghai, said: ‘The
people’s faces are black with hunger; they are dying by thousands upon
thousands. Women and girls and boys are openly offered for sale to any
chance wayfarer. When I left the country, a respectable married woman
could be easily bought for six dollars, and a little girl for two. In
cases, however, where it was found impossible to dispose of their
children, parents have been known to kill them sooner than witness
their prolonged sufferings, in many instances throwing themselves
afterwards down wells, or committing suicide by arsenic.’
“‘Lord Derby received a report drawn up by Mr. Mayers, Chinese
Secretary of the Legation at Pekin, upon the distress which the drought
of the last two years has caused in the northern and central provinces
of China. This famine, it seems, has been most severely felt in the
district furthest from the coast. With the exception of Chefoo, and, in
a lesser degree, Tien-tsin, no foreign settlement has come directly
into contact with the misery which has been described as existing in
the interior, nor are any immediate traces of it visible in the
neighbourhood of the capital. The apparent cause was disturbance in the
usually unfailing regularity of the summer monsoons. The spring and
summer of 1876 were marked in the southern maritime provinces,
Kwangtung and Fuhkien, and in a less degree also along the coast as far
north as Ningpo, by an excessive rain-fall, causing in the two
provinces above-named disastrous floods and much destruction of crops.
In the north, on the contrary, from the Yangtsze to the neighbourhood
of Pekin and thence eastward to the borders of Corea, an unusual
drought was experienced.’—_Times_, 13th March 1878.
“Further papers on this famine were presented to Parliament, 2nd July
1878. The number of souls for whom relief is required is said to be
between three and four millions. One point brought out is the enormous
cost of transporting supplies to the province of Shansi, where a
mountain range has to be crossed and a distance of some hundreds of
miles to be traversed by carts. Mr. Mayers says the reported cost of
transporting these supplies to Shansi would be about four taels per
picul, or, say, £12 sterling per ton. Mr. Hugh Fraser sends from Pekin,
18th January, the translation of a memorial addressed to the throne by
Yen King-Ming, ‘Special High Commissioner for the Superintendence of
the Arrangements for Famine Relief in Shansi. The commissioner dwells
upon the painful scenes he has witnessed at every stage of his journey,
in the course of which his chair has continually been surrounded by
crowds of the famine-stricken population imploring relief, to whom he
has administered comfort in soothing words, assuring them of the
Imperial sympathy. The roads are lined with corpses in such numbers as
to distance all efforts for their interment, while women and children,
starving and in rags, know not where to look for the means of keeping
body and soul together. The memorialist, his heart wrung with
despairing pity, cannot but ask, why has a calamity so awful as this
been visited upon the people. He can only ascribe it to his own failure
in the due discharge of his duty, and he feels that his short-coming
admits of no excuse. In reply, the Grand Council has received a
rescript expressing profound sympathy with the sufferings of the people
as reported in this memorial, and directing that all that is possible
for their relief be done, in consultation with the governor of the
province.”
“Note.—The Empire of China has long been subject to the most serious
famines; but of these we have found no details available.”
It is sad to know that famines will occur, as long as man exists on the
earth at enmity with his Creator. The ground was cursed on man’s
account, and therefore it is man’s duty to appease the anger of his
offended God. As man was taught by the Lord God to plough, and to sow,
to reap and to garner up for the winter; so is it incumbent on those
who govern nations to exercise their benevolence and make provision of
food in granaries and storehouses against the recurrence of famines.
In the olden times, there were constructed near corn-fields, in all the
countries over which the descendants of Israel ruled, most noble, solid
granaries in rocks, as well as aqueducts and canals throughout their
dominions. In the present age not a single civilized nation is prepared
for a calamity which is sure to visit every country under heaven,
sooner or later.
Of all countries, India is the one where famines recur most frequently,
as the following table attests.
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF FAMINES IN INDIA.[85]
B.C. |
|
503-443 | India. During the reign of the Emperor Jei-chund; extending
| over this period, there was a great pestilence and
| famine.
|
A.D. |
|
1022 | Hindoostan (reign of Musaood I). Great drought followed by
| famine; whole countries entirely depopulated. This year
| was remarkable for drought and famines in many parts of
| the world.—Dow’s _Hindustan_.
|
1052-60 | Hindustan. There was seven years’ drought in Ghor (? Ghore,
| supposed to be one of the earliest seats of the Afghan
| race), so that the earth was burned up, and thousands of
| men and animals perished with heat and famine.—Dow’s
| _Hindustan_.
|
1291 | India. No rain fell in the provinces about Delhi, and there
| was in consequence a most terrible famine.—_Vide_
| Birni’s _History of Feroze_.
|
1342 | India. Famine in Delhi, very severe; few of the inhabitants
| could obtain the necessaries of life.
|
1344-45 | India. A famine, supposed to have extended more or less
| over the whole of Hindustan. Very severe in the Deccan.
| The Emperor Mahommed, it is said, was unable to procure
| the necessaries for his household.—Dow’s _Hindustan_.
|
1412-13 | India. Great drought, followed by famine, occurred in the
| Ganges-Jumna delta.
|
1471 | India. A famine in Orissa.
|
1495 | India. A great dearth occurred about this date in
| Hindustan.
|
1521 | India. A very general famine in Sind.
|
1540-43 | India. A general famine in Sind during these years.
|
1631 | India. A general famine caused by drought and war; and
| throughout Asia.
|
1661 | India. Famine caused by drought, and supposed to be
| confined to the Punjab.
|
1703 | India. Famine in Thar and Parkar districts of Sind.
|
1733 | India. Famine; appears to have been confined to North
| Western Provinces.
|
1739 | India. Famine in Delhi and its neighbourhood.
|
1745-52 | India. Famine in Nara districts of Sind, and Thar and
| Parkar.
|
1769-70 | Hindustan. First great Indian famine of which we have
| record. It was estimated that 3,000,000 of people
| perished. The air was so infected by the noxious effluvia
| of dead bodies, that it was scarcely possible to stir
| abroad without perceiving it; and without hearing also
| the frantic cries of the victims of famine who were seen
| at every stage of suffering and death. Whole families
| expired, and villages were desolated. When the new crop
| came forward in August it had in many cases no
| owners.—_Encyclopædia Britannica_, Art. Hindustan.
| Other estimates have been that one-third of the
| population perished.
|
| “Alarming want of rain was also reported throughout all
| the upper parts of Bengal. Madras was also suffering from
| drought, and from the ravages of the enemy, and the
| demands for grain caused a scarcity also in Calcutta.
| During September, October, and November, the drought
| continued nearly all over Bengal, the calamity being most
| severely felt in Behar and the Bengal districts north of
| the Ganges. A plentiful rain fell in June 1770; but the
| hopes of relief from the next crop which were thereby
| raised, were disappointed by the overflowing of the
| rivers in the eastern provinces; but the new crops in all
| the districts not greatly injured by floods were good.”
| The famine ceased by the end of the year.—Danvers, 1877.
|
1781-83 | India. Famine in the Carnatic and the Madras Settlement.
| “The Carnatic had been devastated by Hyder Ali’s
| incursions in 1780-81, and the settlement of Madras was
| reduced to great straits for food, as the whole country
| in its vicinity was suffering from a general scarcity.
| Early in 1781 the Government of Madras took steps to
| regulate the supply of grain; and the distress
| continuing, in January 1782 a public subscription was
| raised for the relief of the poor, to which the
| Government contributed. This was the origin of the
| institution for the relief of the native poor, known as
| the Monegar Choultry. Early in October the Government
| deemed it necessary to take the supply of rice and
| food-grain into their own hands. The scarcity seems to
| have come to an end in the early months of
| 1783.”—Danvers, 1877.
|
1782-84 | India. Famine in province of Sind, including Thar and
| Parkar. “When the Kulhora dynasty ceased in 1782, and
| that of the Talpors commenced, a very severe famine
| occurred, which lasted for two and a half years. During
| four months of this time not a grain of corn was
| procurable. This famine was caused by the burning of
| crops, and the suspension of cultivation during a period
| of hostilities. There was also no rainfall for two
| years.”—Danvers, 1877.
|
1783-84 | India. Famine in the north-west provinces of the Punjab.
| “The disturbance of the season of 1783 seems to have been
| general; but as the countries most affected were not then
| subject to British rule, very little information therein
| is obtainable. There are reasons for believing that the
| upper parts of Hindustan had been visited with
| extraordinary drought during the two previous years. In
| September and October 1783 there was an abnormal
| cessation of rain and extreme drought, and in the latter
| month a terrible famine was reported in all the countries
| from beyond Zahore to Karumnasa (the western boundary of
| Behar) ... and the famine had been already felt in all
| the western districts towards Delhi. To the northward of
| Calcutta, the crops upon the ground had been scorched,
| and nearly destroyed.”—Danvers, 1877. By the middle of
| 1784 the famine had abated.
|
1787-88 | India. Famine prospects in Behar and north-west provinces
| of Punjab, consequent upon excess of rain and floods. The
| Government laid an embargo on the exportation of grain.
|
1790-91 | India. Famine in district of Baroda, and in many adjoining
| districts, in some of which, however, it was only partial
| and local. “Very little is known concerning the famine in
| many of the districts named, beyond the fact that in 1790
| tradition records the occurrence of a very severe famine.
| An almost total failure of rain was the immediate cause,
| apparently, of the calamity; and sufficient information
| exists to prove that it was one of the most remarkable on
| record. So great was the distress that many people fled
| to other districts in search of food; while others
| destroyed themselves, and some killed their children, and
| lived on their flesh. In Belgaum the scarcity was
| aggravated by people flocking into the district boarding
| on the Godavery.”—Danvers, 1877.
|
| In Kach, in 1791, a famine was caused by innumerable
| black ants which swarmed in almost all parts of the
| country, and destroyed vegetation. [This Kach, formerly
| Cutch, is in Bombay Presidency, situated south-east of
| the mouths of the Indus, and appears in later times to
| have become a terribly God-forsaken place: famines and
| plagues constantly!]
|
1790-92 | India. Serious dearth in the northern districts of the
| Madras Presidency, and the pressure continued for about
| two years, from November 1790 to November 1792. “Many
| deaths from starvation occurred. At an early period
| Government suspended the import and transit duties on all
| kinds of grain and provisions, and themselves imported
| grain from Bengal. In the latter part of 1791 the export
| of rice from Tanjore was prohibited, except to the
| distressed districts. Rice was distributed by Government,
| and relief was afforded by employing the poor on public
| works.”—Danvers, 1877.
|
| This was the first occasion of the poor being employed on
| public works by the Government in India.
|
1802-4 | India. Famine in the Nizam’s dominions (Bombay Presidency).
| “This famine was caused in the several districts affected
| by it by four distinct causes, which operated apparently
| about the same time. In Kach the crops are said to have
| been destroyed by locusts. In Pahlumpur, Rerva Kanta,
| Surat, Guzerat, Hyderabad, Belgaum, and Rutnagherry, the
| famine is stated to have been caused by want of rain.
| Candeish was overrun by the armies of Holkar; and the
| Pindaree bands sacked and burnt villages in every
| direction, even destroying the grain standing in the
| fields; and the same fate attended the districts of
| Ahmednagar, Poona, and Sholapur: whilst the influx of
| starving people from other districts into Sattara,
| Kolapur, Dharwar, and Colaba, caused a scarcity of food
| in those districts.”—Danvers, 1877.
|
1804-7 | India. Scarcity in the Bombay Presidency, following the
| unfavourable season of 1804; severe pressure on the
| poorer classes. “In the latter part of the following year
| a general failure of crops appears to have occurred in
| most parts of the presidency, and the scarcity caused
| thereby had not passed over until October 1807.”—Danvers,
| 1877.
|
1812-13 | India. Famine in parts of Sind and other neighbouring
| districts, attributed to failure of rain. “In Kach and
| Pahlunpore the loss was aggravated by locusts; and in
| Kattywar it was followed by a plague of rats. Guzerat
| suffered most from scarcity caused by export of grain to
| the famine districts; and Ahmedabad was overrun with
| starving immigrants. In Mahee Kanta the distress was
| caused by internal disturbances; whilst in Broach there
| was no failure of rain, but the crops, before they were
| reaped, were entirely devoured by locusts, which came in
| very large numbers, and spread all over the
| country.”—Danvers, 1877.
|
1812-14 | India. Scarcity in Madras Presidency, following
| unfavourable season of 1811; “but no serious distress
| appears to have been generally experienced throughout the
| presidency on this occasion, although the district of
| Madras suffered considerably.”—Danvers, 1877.
|
1813-14 | India. Partial famine in many parts of the Agra district;
| the autumn crop of 1812 failed, and the harvest of the
| following spring was indifferent. In 1813 the rains set
| in late, and were then only partial.
|
1819 | India. Great scarcity in the Allahabad and neighbouring
| districts, under the following circumstances:—”The rains
| set in late, but when they did come they appear to have
| fallen in abundance. The land which had hitherto been so
| dried up by the heat that sowing had to be undertaken
| twice without any effect, became so drenched that a third
| sowing was not possible till the middle of September. In
| Bundelkhand the kharif of 1819 failed extensively, and
| frost nipped the spring crops in the beginning of
| 1820.“—Danvers, 1877.
|
1820-22 | India. Famine in Upper Sind and neighbouring provinces,
| caused only partially by drought. “In 1819 there was a
| failure of crops in Ahmedabad, caused by unseasonable
| weather after the monsoon; whilst in Sawunt Warru it was
| occasioned by a sudden and unusual fall of rain,
| accompanied by a terrific storm—the former destroying the
| ground crops, and the latter the bagayut
| produce.”—Danvers, 1877.
|
1824-25 | India. Famine in several districts. In Delhi and
| neighbouring provinces it was due to severe drought; in
| the Madras Presidency, and more particularly in the
| Carnatic and Western districts, the cause was failure of
| rains at the usual season. In Hindustan the same.
|
1825-26 | India. Famine in the north-west provinces, occasioned by
| failure of rains; and scarcity in Saugor and Nerbada
| territories caused by blight, and a succession of heavy
| thunderstorms.
|
1827-28 | India. Famine in parts of Hindustan. “The autumn of 1827
| and the following spring were marked by drought across
| the Jumna. In Pergunnahs, Raneea, and Sirsa, the rains
| commenced auspiciously, but stopped abruptly early in
| July, and did not begin again till the 22nd September. It
| was then too late to retrieve the mischief which the
| drought had already caused; and to add to the general
| distress, there was every chance of a failure in the
| wheat. This was the staple rubbee crop in these regions,
| and its success was mainly dependent on the river Ganges
| overflowing its banks, but on this occasion the usual
| inundations did not occur.”—Danvers, 1877.
|
1831-32 | India. Scarcity in Poona and the Mahratta country,
| producing considerable distress, but hardly a famine.
|
1832-34 | India. Famine in some of the north-west provinces. “It is
| said that not a single shower of rain fell in Ajmir in
| 1832. In the following year the drought was most severely
| felt in Bundelkhand, and in the southern pergunnahs of
| Cawnpore; but in the pergunnahs bordering on the Ganges,
| the rubbee was good owing to the facilities for
| irrigation.”—Danvers, 1877.
|
1833 | India. Famine in the Guntoor and other districts in the
| Madras Presidency; about 200,000 perished. Mr. Danvers
| says, “this was the most serious famine which has
| occurred since the British occupation, and from the
| fearful loss of life which took place in the Guntoor
| district on this occasion, the scarcity became generally
| known as the ‘Guntoor Famine.’”
|
1833-35 | India. Famine in Madras Presidency. “In 1834 rain fell
| copiously in Kach; grain was sown and came up well; but
| locusts appeared and destroyed all the crops and grass as
| well as the trees. In Ahmedabad there was excessive rain
| the same year, which rendered cultivation impossible, and
| locusts also appeared in great quantities. In Broach the
| famine of 1835 was also caused by excessive rain, which
| destroyed the spring crops, whilst the winter crops were
| also burnt up by intense cold. In the other districts
| named, the scarcity appears to have been caused by
| failure of crops owing to drought.”—Danvers, 1877.
|
1837-38 | India. Famine in north-west provinces, resulting from a
| general failure of rain. This was also felt in the lower
| provinces: for in Calcutta it is said the tanks were
| empty. Lord Auckland wrote in January 1838: “The fall in
| the usual season of the rains last year was unusually
| late and scanty; and an absolute drought has followed up
| to the present time.”
|
1838-39 | India. Great scarcity and considerable distress, caused by
| failure of rains in Surat and other districts in the
| Bombay Presidency. Large numbers of people left these
| provinces in search of food elsewhere.
|
1853-54 | India. Great scarcity in the Bellary district (Madras
| Presidency). “The rains which usually fall in the months
| of October and November, ceased at an unusually early
| period in the year 1853; and the showers which usually
| fall in June and July had been scanty. The grain harvests
| were consequently almost universally deficient, and
| considerable distress occurred in several parts of this
| presidency. In Bellary district the season had been
| exceptionally unfavourable: an average fall of only 9½
| inches of rain having taken place during the year,
| against an average of about double that quantity in
| previous years. The stocks of grain on hand were small:
| for serious damage had been occasioned by a storm in 1851
| to several of the irrigation works of the district; and
| in 1852 the falls of rain had been unseasonable, and the
| crops short.”—Danvers.
|
1860-61 | India. “In 1859-60 the Delhi territory suffered from want
| of rain. The great Nujjufghar Jheel became entirely dry—a
| thing never before known within the memory of man. The
| rains of 1860 completely failed in the country between
| the Jumna and the Sutlej; and except where irrigation was
| available, no autumn or spring crop could be
| sown.”—Danvers, 1877.
|
1861-62 | India. Considerable scarcity of food in Kach and various
| other districts of the Bombay Presidency, owing to scanty
| and unseasonable rains in 1861, and to short fall in the
| early part of 1862.
|
1866 | India. Awful famine in the Lower Provinces of Bengal,
| Orissa, Behar, &c.; 1,500,000 persons reported to have
| perished.
|
| “The total quantity of rainfall for the year (1865) was
| not unusually small in most of the districts of Bengal,
| but it fell abnormally and out of time. Much rain fell
| early in the season, before the usual time for sowing,
| while the later rains, which are usually expected in the
| end of September and October, failed.”—Danvers, 1877.
|
| Great scarcity also in Madras Presidency, through many
| districts.
|
1868-70 | India. Famine and scarcity in a considerable number of the
| north-west provinces, including Delhi, Meerut, &c. This
| was occasioned by failure of the harvest of 1868,
| following upon the inferior crop of 1867.
|
1874 | India. Bengal; famine arising from drought. The Government
| took early measures, and at a cost of £6,500,000
| organised a system of relief. About 1,000,000 tons of
| rice were carried into the distressed districts, and
| about 100,000 remained after relief concluded. Mr.
| Danvers gives us the following details respecting this
| famine:—
|
| “During three successive years the weather in Bengal had
| been abnormal. In 1871 the rain was excessive, but the
| crops were good. In 1872 the rain was deficient, but
| although extraordinarily scanty, it was happily
| distributed both in time and place, and the crops were
| good in Bengal, and not bad in Behar. The year 1873 was
| again dry, almost beyond precedent, and what rain there
| was was unfortunately distributed. South of the Ganges it
| was excessive; but in North Behar, and almost the whole
| of Bengal, the rain was below the average. Coupled with
| deficient rainfall, the monsoon of 1873 was abnormally
| hot.... In January 1874 it was reported that the frost
| and west winds were drying up the crops in Patna. The
| famine reached its culminating point in April and May.”
|
1877 | India. Madras Presidency. One of the most extended famines
| on record. The cost to the Government of India, in
| remedial measures and loss of revenue, is estimated at
| £10,000,000. The actual amount of mortality occasioned is
| difficult to determine, the estimates vary so much.
| Cholera prevailed in some of the famine districts, and
| added greatly to the number of deaths. The Mansion House
| Relief Fund, instituted by the Lord Mayor (Sir Thomas
| White), exceeded half a million sterling. Mr. Danvers
| gives the following details regarding the meteorological
| incidents associated with this famine:—
|
| “The season of 1874 was generally good, but in parts it
| was unfavourable. In 1875 the season was in many places
| unpropitious. In 1876 the south-west monsoon, or summer
| rains, were deficient throughout the greater part of the
| Madras Presidency, and in the Bombay district of Poona.
| In the northern portions only of the Madras Presidency
| ... was the rainfall ordinarily propitious. The
| north-east monsoon, or autumn rains, failed still more
| disastrously. In October the whole of the nine districts
| of the Bombay Deccan were threatened with a serious
| famine, nearly all the monsoon crops having perished, and
| there having been no later rains to admit of sowing the
| rabi.... The spring and summer rains again failed in
| 1877 ... and added to this, the rainfall was short almost
| all over Northern India.”
“Famines in India have arisen from several different causes; but the
most general cause has not been failure of the usual rains. Distress
has also, however, been caused by hostile invasions; by swarms of rats
and locusts; by storms and floods; and not unfrequently by the
immigration of the starving people from distant distressed parts into
districts otherwise well provided with food supplies; and occasionally
by excessive exports of grain into famine-stricken districts; or by
combinations of two or more of the above-named circumstances.”—Report
1878, p. 2, Mr. F. C. Danvers.
These stern facts prove that, in times of plenty, grain should be
garnered in each district, and held in reserve till the time of famine,
when, food being found at hand, the people would have no need to
migrate into neighbouring provinces. The finest example set for the
imitation of those who have the destiny of nations in their hands, is
that precaution adopted by Joseph, when he expected the visitation of
the seven years’ famine.
This memorable famine took place in the year B.C. 1708. But the land of
Egypt had corn in her granaries—the Pyramids of our time; therefore
none of the Egyptians died from starvation. Egypt even supplied food to
other famine-stricken countries; for the Bible says, “the famine was
over all the face of the earth; and all countries came into Egypt to
Joseph for to buy corn, because that the famine was so sore in all
lands.”
In the year A.D. 1064 there was another seven years’ famine in Egypt,
but the land was governed by a people ignorant of what the Pyramids
were, and how their contents had once saved the world from a cruel
death. The following account shows the consequences of their
ignorance:—
“Egypt.[86] For seven successive years the overflow of the Nile failed,
and with it almost the entire subsistence of the country; while the
rebels interrupted supplies of grain from the north. Two provinces were
entirely depopulated; in another half the inhabitants perished; while
in Cairo city (El-Káhireh) the people were reduced to the direst
straits. Bread was sold for 14 dirhems to the loaf; and all provisions
being exhausted, the worst horrors of famine followed. The wretched
resorted to cannibalism, and organised bands kidnapped the unwary
passenger in the desolate streets, principally by means of ropes
furnished with hooks and let down from the latticed windows.
“In the year 1072 the famine reached its height. It was followed by a
pestilence, and this again was succeeded by an invading army.”
And again in “1877, short rainfall and low Nile; great scarcity.”
These calamities have occurred hitherto, and so long as the world
exists they will occur again. It therefore behoves all monarchs and
governors to adopt measures similar to those employed by Joseph, the
first Viceroy of Egypt; that, wherever and whenever the enemy may
appear, every nation may be found so well provided against it as to
escape its dire consequences.
CHAPTER XII.
APOTHEOSIS OF MOSES.
During the period when the Shepherd Kings ruled the land of Egypt
famine was not allowed to depopulate the world. After these Kings came
their descendant Moses, the mortal to whom the Almighty spoke from the
top of Mount Sinai, in the presence of a multitude of witnesses, and
gave laws by which man must defend himself from an enemy more cruel
than famine; for those who die from famine may still rise to enjoy life
eternal, whereas death brought into the world by sin, through the
instigation of Satan, is death eternal, from which there is no
resurrection.
This inspired Moses taught the Israelites how to serve God, the only
way by which they can secure themselves from eternal death. And when he
considered them capable of continuing in the way he set them, he went
to other nations, and everywhere instructed the people, that they might
live for ever.
One of the moral precepts he taught in the Far East, in Hindustan, is
still revered by the Hindoos to this day. In that country he assumed
the name of Manu, so that the children of Israel who were in Palestine
might not recognise him and claim him as their sovereign. The precept
is this:—
Daily[87] perform thine own appointed work
Unweariedly; and to obtain a friend—
A sure companion to the future world—
Collect a store of virtue like the ants
Who garner up their treasures into heaps;
For neither father, mother, wife, nor son,
Nor kinsman, will remain beside thee then,
When thou art passing to that other home—
Thy virtue will thy only comrade be.
Single is every living creature born,
Single he passes to another world,
Single he eats the fruits of evil deeds,
Single, the fruit of good; and when he leaves
His body like a log or heap of clay
Upon the ground, his kinsmen walk away;
Virtue alone stays by him at the tomb,
And bears him through dreary trackless gloom.
Depend not on another, rather lean
Upon thyself; trust to thine own exertions.
Subjection to another’s will gives pain;
True happiness consists in self-reliance.
Strive to complete the task thou hast commenced;
Wearied, renew thy efforts once again;
Again fatigued, once more the work begin;
So shalt thou earn success and fortune win.
This Law-giver’s moral teaching extended all over the Eastern world,
including Corea and Japan, and thence to the western shores of the
American continent; so that when his earthly course was finished, the
dwellers in all these countries founded religions based on his
precepts, making his memory the object of their worship.
The Mexicans and Peruvians held him and his followers in such
reverence, and were so confident that some day he would revisit them,
that, when the Spaniards appeared among them, they mistook them for the
expected visitors, and were ready to worship them.
It is related that “Viracocho, the eighth Inca, beheld in a vision a
man of majestic form, with a long beard, and garments reaching to the
ground, who declared that he was a child of the sun. That monarch built
a temple in honour of this person, and erected an image of him,
resembling as nearly as possible the singular form in which he had
appeared to him. In this temple divine honours were paid to him under
the name of Viracocho.”
“When the Spaniards first appeared in Peru, the length of their beards,
and the dress they wore, struck everybody as so like to the image of
Viracocho, that they supposed them to be children of the sun, who had
descended from heaven to earth. All concluded that the last days of the
Peruvian Empire were at hand, and that the throne would be occupied by
new rulers. Atahualpa himself, considering the Spaniards as messengers
from heaven, was so far from entertaining any thoughts of resisting
them, that he determined to yield implicit obedience to their commands.
From these sentiments flowed his professions of love and respect; to
these were owing the cordial reception of Soto and Ferdinand Pizarro in
his camp, and the submissive reverence with which he himself advanced
to visit the Spanish general in his quarters.”[88]
The same idolatrous worship is paid in Japan and China to the memory of
the Law-giver Moses, who was the founder and sovereign of these
Empires. In Japan this mode of worship is called Shintoism, and in
China Confucianism. The institutor of the latter was Confucius. After
him came his disciple Laou-tsze, who wrote a book containing five
thousand characters; on this he constructed the modern Chinese
religion. The book is called Taou-tih-King; the religion, Taouism.
“The first chapter of the Taou-tih-King tells us that, ‘that which is
nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth,’ and elsewhere we are
let into the secret of the processes which led up to this creation.
Taou produced one, the first great cause; one produced two, the male
and female principles of nature; two produced three; and three produced
all things, beginning with heaven and earth.
“Heaven is treated by Laou-tsze much in the same way as by Confucius,
but with far more reserve. In the utterances of both teachers we find
the word used to designate the material heaven as well as a personified
heaven. Just as Confucius speaks of the Sage as being the equal of
heaven, Laou-tsze says that he is the associate of heaven, and that he
is heaven itself.
“Heaven, also according to him, gives laws to the earth, just as it
takes its laws from Taou. It has no special love, but regards all
existing beings as grass-dogs made for sacrificial rites, _i.e._ for
temporary purposes. It is as unselfish as it is impartial, and because
it does not aim at life it lasts long. It is great and compassionate,
and is ever ready to become the saviour of men. But it is also the
material heaven, and maintains its existence by the ‘clearness’ which
is imparted to it by its unity with Taou.”[89]
These religious systems are at the present time to a great extent
superseded by Buddhism. This religion has many followers, and its
tenets are known throughout the East, in Thibet, Central Asia, Siberia,
and even as far west as Swedish Lapland.
The founder of Buddhism was born on the borders of Nepaul about B.C.
620, and was heir to the throne of Kapilavastu. Renouncing his claim,
he made himself known to the world as the Buddha Gautama, whose advent
was foretold by the Brahmans. It had been predicted that either he
would live among men and become a Chacawati, or mighty ruler, whose
sway all the human race would acknowledge; or, withdrawing from the
world, he would become a recluse, and in that condition, after
disentangling himself from the miseries of existence, would become a
Buddha, and remove the veils of ignorance and sin from the world.
The tribe to which belonged the father of Gautama, whose name was
Suddhódana, was called Sākya. His mother’s name was Mâya, “daughter of
Supra-buddha, chief of the neighbouring and kindred tribe of Kolyans.
Both tribes were of pure Aryan race, and branches of the Suryavansi, or
line of the Sun.”[90]
All statues of Guatama represent him with short points of hair on the
top of the head; in some the hair has a curled or woolly appearance.
This, together with other circumstances, proves that the Sage descended
from the Ethiopian Colonisers who entered India with Moses. Some of the
precepts of the Buddha resemble those of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, who preached six hundred years later, though there are some
differences of doctrine. Gautama abolished sacrifices, and taught the
law of Love and Charity, and the reward of obedience; also the
liberation of the soul from self, with its absorption into the
Infinite, or the Finite lost in the Infinite and the Mortal in the
Immortal.
The invocation which he taught his disciples was addressed to the
Spirit in the Lotus, a mystical reference to the preservation of the
Founder of his tribe—the Hebrew infant cast on the bosom of the sacred
Nile in a cradle of bulrushes. The Trinity of the Buddhists, also, is
analogous to the Trinity of the Egyptians—the Osiris, Isis, and their
son Horus, signifying Moses (rescued from the water) and his Ethiopian
consort Tharbis, and their son (represented in paintings in Thebes).
About six hundred years after Gautama’s death Our Lord Jesus Christ
entered the world. His coming was expected by the followers of the last
Buddha, insomuch that the Brahmans came to Judea in search of the
Infant, whose birth was made known to them by a bright, extraordinary
star.
The mission of the Saviour was to fulfil the predictions of the Hebrew
Scriptures, that, by His death, the world might be restored to the
favour of God. And the reward of His Sacrifice of Himself on man’s
behalf will be the restoration of God’s favour to His erring creatures,
so that, in the fulness of time, the Lord God will again walk with man
on earth, in the cool of the day, as He did in the days of Adam’s
innocency in the Garden of Eden.
APPENDICES.
APPENDIX I.
_A Narrative of the Great Famine in the Land of Egypt,
as recorded in the Talmud._[91]
Pharaoh the King issued a proclamation throughout the whole land of
Egypt to the wise men thereof. And he called upon all the wise men to
seek his presence and listen to the dreams which troubled him.
“He who can properly interpret to me the meaning of these visions shall
have his dearest wishes granted as they issue from his lips; but he who
is able to read dreams and neglects my bidding shall surely be put to
death.”
Then the wise men, and the soothsayers, and the magicians of the land
of Egypt, came and stood before the King.
And the King related to them his dream, and though many interpreted, no
two agreed as to its meaning. They contradicted one another, and they
served but to confuse the King. Many were the interpretations.
“The seven fat cows,” said one, “are seven kings who will arise over
Egypt from royal families, and the seven lean cows are seven princes
who will arise from them, and in the end of days destroy the seven
kings. The seven rank ears are seven great princes of this land who
shall in a coming time of war fall into the power of seven princes, now
weak and in no wise to be feared.”
“The seven fat cows,” said another, “are seven queens whom thou shalt
marry in the coming days, and the seven lean cows declare that these
queens shall die during thy life, O King! The seven rank ears and the
seven lean ears are fourteen children whom thou shalt beget, and they
will fight among themselves, and the seven weaker ones shall conquer
their stronger brethren.”
But the King was not satisfied with these interpretations. His mind was
still unquiet, for the Lord had ordained that Joseph was to be released
from his prison and elevated to a princely position; therefore did
Pharaoh remain unsatisfied with the words of his wise men.
And the King was wroth, and he dismissed the wise men from his
presence; and all the wise men and the soothsayers and magicians of
Egypt went out from the presence of their King in shame and confusion.
And the King commanded in his wrath that all these men should be put to
death.
When the chief butler heard this he sought the presence of the King,
and in deep obeisance before him spoke as follows:
“O King, live for ever! May thy greatness, O King, increase for ever
through the land. Lo, thou wast wroth with thy servant, and thou didst
place him in confinement. For a year was I imprisoned, I and the chief
baker. And with us in our dungeon was a Hebrew servant who belonged to
the captain of the guard. His name was Joseph, and his master growing
wroth with him, had placed him in prison, where he served the captain
of the guard, and he served us also.
“And it came to pass when we had been in the prison for a year we
dreamed, each, a dream, and the Hebrew slave interpreted for each of us
his dream. And lo, as he interpreted our dreams so was the reality. As
he spoke so did it come to pass.
“Therefore, my lord King, I pray thee, do not kill the wise men of
Egypt for naught. Behold, this slave is still in the prison. If it be
pleasing in the eyes of the King let him be sent for. Let him listen to
the dreams which trouble the mind of the King, and he will be able to
solve them correctly.”
The King listened to the words of the chief butler, and he ordered that
Joseph should be brought before him. But he commanded his officers to
be careful not to frighten the lad, lest through fear he should be
unable to interpret correctly.
And the servants of the King brought Joseph forth from his dungeon, and
shaved him and clothed him in new garments, and carried him before the
King. The King was seated upon his throne, and the glare and glitter of
the jewels which ornamented the throne dazzled and astonished the eyes
of Joseph.
Now the throne of the King was reached by seven steps, and it was the
custom of Egypt for a prince or noble who held audience with the King,
to ascend to the sixth step; but when an inferior or a private citizen
of the land was called into his presence, the King descended to the
third step and from there spoke with him. So when Joseph came into the
presence of the King he bowed to the ground at the foot of the throne,
and the King descended to the third step and spoke to him.
And he said:
“Behold, I have dreamed a dream, and among all the wise men and
magicians of the land there is not one able to read for me its meaning.
I have heard that thou art far-sighted and blest with the gift of
divination, and I have sent for thee to solve my dream.”
And Joseph answered:
“O King, the power is not with me; but God will answer and give Pharaoh
peace.”
And Joseph found favour in the eyes of the King, and he told to him his
dream. And the spirit of God was upon Joseph, and the King inclined his
ears and heart to the words of Joseph.
And Joseph said to Pharaoh:
“Let not the King think that his dreams are two and distinct; they have
but a single portent, and what the Lord intends doing upon the earth He
has shown to Pharaoh in a vision. Let me advise thee, O King, how thou
mayest preserve thy life and the lives of all the inhabitants of thy
land from the grievous evils of the famine which is soon to drain and
dry up its fruitfulness and its plenty. Let the King appoint a man wise
and discreet, a man well versed in the laws of the country, and let him
appoint other officers under him to go out through all the length and
breadth of the land to gather food during the years of plenty and store
it carefully away for future use, that the land may not die in the
years of famine which will follow. And let the King command the people
of the land, that they shall each and every one gather and store up in
the years of plenty of the produce of the fields, to provide for their
wants when the ground shall be barren and the fields unproductive.”
And the King answered, “How knowest thou that thou hast read the dream
aright?”
And Joseph said, “Lo, this shall be a sign that my words are true. A
son shall be born to the King, and upon the day of his birth, thy
first-born son, who is now two years old, shall die.”
And when Joseph finished speaking these words, he bowed low before the
King and departed from his presence.
The occurrence which Joseph predicted came to pass. The queen bore a
son, and upon the day when it was told to the King he rejoiced greatly.
But as the messenger of glad tidings retired, the servants of the King
found his first-born son dead, and there was a great crying and wailing
in the palace of the King.
And when Pharaoh inquired as to the cause of this great cry he was
informed of his loss, and remembering the words of Joseph he
acknowledged them as true.
After these things the King sent and gathered together all his princes,
officers, and men of rank, and when they came before him, he said: “You
have seen and heard all the words of this Hebrew, and you know that as
he spoke so has the thing occurred; therefore must we believe that his
solution of my dream was the correct one, and that his words of advice
were of good weight and consideration. We must take measures of
protection against the famine which is surely to come upon us.
Therefore search, I pray you, over all Egypt for a man with wisdom and
knowledge in his heart, that we may appoint him over the land.”
And they answered the King: “The advice of this Hebrew was very good;
behold, the country is in the hands of the King to do with it what is
pleasing in his eyes; but the Hebrew has proved himself wise and
skilful, why should our lord the King not select and appoint him as
governor over the land?”
“Yea, surely,” said the King, “if God has made these things known to
the Hebrew, then there is none among us as wise and discreet as he is.
What you have suggested is in accordance with my own thoughts; we will
appoint the Hebrew our governor, and through his wisdom shall our
country be saved the pangs of want.”
And Pharaoh sent for Joseph and said to him: “Thou didst advise me to
appoint a wise and discreet man to deliver the land from the anguish of
famine. Surely, there can be none more discreet than thyself to whom
God has made known all these things. Thy name shall no more be Joseph,
but ‘Zaphenath-Päaneah’ (Revealer of hidden things) shalt thou
hereafter be called among men.
“Thou shalt be second to me only, and according to thy words shall the
land of Egypt be ruled; only upon the throne shall I be greater than
thyself.”
Then the King removed his ring from his finger and placed it upon the
hand of Joseph. And he dressed Joseph in royal apparel, and placed a
crown upon his head and a chain of gold about his neck. And Pharaoh
commanded that Joseph should ride in his second chariot throughout the
land of Egypt. And the people followed him with music, and a large
concourse accompanied him upon his journey.
Five thousand soldiers with drawn swords in their hands, swords
glittering in the sunlight, preceded him, and twenty thousand soldiers
followed. And the people of the land, men, women, and children, gazed
upon the pageant from windows and from house-tops, and the beauty of
Joseph pleased all eyes.
And flowers were strewn in his path when he walked, and the air was
made sweet with perfume, and the savoury odour of balms and spices. And
proclamations were placed in prominent places declaring the authority
of Joseph, and threatening death to those who failed to pay him homage;
for he was considered as dishonouring his King who failed to honour the
man made second in the kingdom. The people bowed down and shouted,
“Long live the King and his Viceroy!” And Joseph, seated in his
chariot, lifted his eyes to heaven, and exclaimed in the fulness of his
heart, “He raiseth the poor from the dust; from the dunghill He lifteth
up the needy. O Lord of Hosts, happy is the man who trusteth in thee!”
And it came to pass after this, that Joseph saw Osnath, the daughter of
Potipharah, a pearl among the beauties of the land, and he loved her
and she became his wife. And Joseph was but thirty years old when he
was elevated to his honourable and trustworthy position. He built for
himself a palace, elegant and complete in its details and surroundings,
so elaborate that three years’ time was required for its completion.
And the Lord was with Joseph, and increased his wisdom and
understanding, and blessed him with manners so affable and deserving
that he quickly won the love and favour of all the inhabitants of the
country.
And during seven years, as Joseph had foretold, the Lord increased the
produce of Egypt sevenfold. And Joseph appointed officers to gather up
the plenty. They built huge storehouses[92] and heaped up corn during
the seven years of plenty, till the amount stored grew so great that no
man could number it. And Joseph and his officers were watchful and
diligent that their stores of grain should not suffer from moth or
mould. The people of the land, too, stored up their surplus crop, but
they were not as careful and watchful as was Joseph and his assistants.
And the wife of Joseph bore him two sons, Manassah and Ephraim, and
their father taught them diligently the way of truth; they listened to
his words and departed not from the paths of pleasantness either to the
right hand or to the left.
They grew up bright and intelligent lads, and were honoured among the
people as were the children of the King.
But the seven years of plenty drew to an end, and the fields became
barren and the trees gave forth no fruit, and the famine which Joseph
had predicted threw its gloomy shadow and threatening presence over the
once fruitful land.
And when the people opened their storehouses, they found to their
sorrow that moth and mould had taken advantage of their neglect. And
they cried aloud to Pharaoh, “Give us food; let us not die of hunger
before thee, we and our children; give to us, we pray thee, from the
plenty of thy storehouses.”[93]
And Pharaoh answered, “Why cry ye unto me, O careless people? did
Joseph not tell ye of the famine which has come upon us? Why did ye not
hearken to his voice, and obey his commands to be frugal and
painstaking?”
“By thy life, our lord,” replied the people, “as Joseph spoke, so did
we, and gathered in our corn during the years of plenty, but lo, when
the pangs of hunger and the barrenness of the land bid us open our
granaries, the moth had destroyed the provisions which we had garnered.”
The King became alarmed lest all their precaution should prove
unavailing against the famine’s blight, and he bade the people to go to
Joseph. “Obey his commands and rebel not against his words.”
And the people repeated to Joseph the cry for food they had addressed
to Pharaoh.
When Joseph heard the words of the people and learned the result of
their want of care, he opened the storehouses of the King and sold food
unto the hungry people.
And the famine grew sore in the land of Egypt and spread through Canaan
and the land of the Philistines, and to the other side of the Jordan.
And when the inhabitants of these countries heard that corn could be
obtained in Egypt, they came all of them into that country to buy, so
that Joseph was obliged to appoint many officers to sell corn to the
large multitude of people.
And Joseph’s thoughts reverted to his father’s home, and he knew that
his brothers would be obliged to come to Egypt to purchase food, for
the famine was very grievous in their neighbourhood. Therefore he gave
orders that no man desiring corn should send his servant to purchase
it, but the head of each family should personally appear as a
purchaser; either the father of a family or his sons. He proclaimed
also, as the order of the King and his viceroy, that no man should be
allowed to purchase corn in Egypt to sell it again in other countries,
but only such as he required for the support of his immediate family;
neither should any purchaser be allowed to buy more corn than one
animal could carry.
And he put guards at all the gates of Egypt, and every man who passed
through the gates was obliged to record his name and the name of his
father in a book, which was brought by the guards every night for
Joseph’s inspection.
Thus did Joseph design to ascertain when his brothers came to buy food;
and all the commands which he had given were faithfully executed.
Now, when the patriarch Jacob learned that food could be purchased in
Egypt, he bade his sons proceed thither and obtain a stock of
provisions, for the famine was growing very severe, and he feared that
his family would suffer from its pangs. Jacob instructed his sons to
enter the city by different gates, so that no objection should be made
to the amount of their purchases; and as he commanded, so they did.
Thus did the sons of Jacob go down to Egypt, and while upon the way
they thought of their brother Joseph, and their hearts chid them for
their cruelty towards him, and they said one to the other:
“Behold, we know that Joseph was carried down to Egypt; now, when we
come to the city let us seek for him, perchance we may discover his
whereabouts, and then we will redeem him from his master.”
And so did Jacob’s ten sons travel to Egypt. Benjamin was not with
them, for his father feared that mischief might befall him as it did
the other son of Rachel, and he kept him at home by his side.
By ten different gates did the ten sons of the patriarch enter into the
land of Egypt, and the guards at the gates took down their names, which
were sent with the other names to Joseph at the close of the day. When
Joseph read the names he commanded that all the storehouses[94] save
one should be closed, and he ordered further, that every purchaser at
this storehouse should be required to give his name; and mentioning the
names of his brethren, he said, “If these men come before ye, see that
ye seize them, every one.”
When the sons of Jacob had entered the city they met together, and
before buying their corn they resolved to make a thorough search for
their brother. They visited all places of public resort, and the houses
of divination, but though they continued their search for three days,
it proved unavailing.
Now when three days had passed, and his brothers had not put in an
appearance at the storehouse, Joseph wondered at their delay, and he
sent sixteen of his servants to search for them quietly through the
city. They were found among the Egyptian players, and brought
straightway before the viceroy.
Joseph was seated upon his throne dressed in his royal apparel, with
his officers around him, when his brothers bowed to the ground before
him. They wondered exceedingly at the magnificence, the handsome
appearance and the majestic presence of the powerful man before them,
but they did not recognise in him their brother.
And Joseph spoke to them, saying, “Whence came ye?” “From the land of
Canaan,” they answered, “and to buy food, for lo! the famine is sore in
the land; and thy servants learning that corn might be purchased in
Egypt, have journeyed hither to provide for their support and the
support of their families.”
But Joseph said, “Nay, ye are spies, else why did ye enter the city by
ten different gates?”
They answered, “We are true men; thy servants have never been spies.
Thy servants are brothers, the sons of one father, and by his command
did we enter the city separately, for coming together he feared our
appearance might attract unfavourable attention.”
But Joseph repeated, “Ye are spies; to spy out the nakedness of our
land have ye come. Behold, every man who comes to buy corn, makes his
purchase and departs; but ye, lo, three days have ye been in the city,
in public places and among the players; it is as I have spoken, ye are
spies.”
“God forbid!” they exclaimed; “our lord misjudges us. We are altogether
twelve brothers, the sons of Jacob, in the land of Canaan; Jacob, the
son of Isaac, and grandson of Abraham the Hebrew. Behold, our youngest
brother is with his father, we ten are here, and the other brother,
alas, he is not with us, we know not where he is. We thought perchance
he might be in your land, therefore have we searched all public places
these three days.”
“And what should the son of Jacob be doing in the public places?” asked
Joseph.
“We heard,” they answered, “that the Ishmaelites had sold him in Egypt,
and being of very handsome appearance, we thought he might have been
sold in one of the play-houses, therefore we went there hoping to find
and to redeem him.”
“Suppose you had found him,” said Joseph, “and his master had asked for
him an enormous amount of money; were you prepared to comply with
extraordinary demands?”
The brothers answered in the affirmative, and Joseph continued:
“Suppose again that you should find him and his master should refuse to
sell or deliver him to you under any circumstances, what would you do
in such a case?”
“In such a case,” they answered, “if neither prayers nor money should
prove of avail, we would rescue our brother by violence: aye, even the
death of his master, and flee with him to our father’s house.”
“It is as I have said,” retorted Joseph; “ye are spies; lo, with evil
designs upon the inhabitants of our city ye have come. We have heard
and know indeed how ye killed all the males of Shechem in the land of
Canaan on your sister’s account, and now ye would treat the men of
Egypt in the same way for the sake of a brother. But yet we will give
ye an opportunity to prove yourselves true men. Send one of your number
to your father’s house to bring hither the youngest brother of whom you
have spoken. If ye will do this, I shall know that you have spoken
truly. Take three days to consider.”
And in obedience to Joseph’s commands his brothers were held in ward
for three days.
After this time the brothers concluded to leave one of their number as
a hostage, while the others returned to Canaan to bring Benjamin down
to Egypt. So Menasseh, the son of Joseph, chose Simeon as the hostage,
and he was kept in ward.
Ere his brothers departed, Joseph spoke to them once more. “Take heed,”
said he, “that ye forget not my commands. If ye bring this brother to
me, I shall consider ye true men, and ye shall be free to traffic in
the land; neither will I do harm to your brother; he shall be at
liberty to return with ye to your father’s house in peace.”
They bowed down to the ground and departed from Egypt. As they
proceeded upon their homeward journey, they stopped at an inn to feed
their asses, and Levi opened his sack to provide the corn for the meal.
And lo, when he opened the sack, his money which he had paid for the
corn was lying on the top. And he was exceedingly afraid, and he told
the thing to his brethren, and they, too, were filled with alarm. And
when every man found his money returned they cried aloud:
“What is this that God has done to us? Has the Lord withdrawn from us
the mercy which He showed to our ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and
to Jacob, that He has given us into the hands of Egypt’s prince to mock
us and make merry with us?”
But Judah said, “It is just! Are we not guilty and sinful before the
Lord? We sold our brother, our flesh. Why should we now complain that
the favour God has lavished on our ancestors is denied to us?”
“Did I not warn ye, ‘sin not against the child?’” said Reuben, “and ye
would not hearken to my words. His blood is upon us. Why do ye say,
therefore, ‘Where is the kindness which the Lord promised unto our
fathers?’ Verily we have forfeited His protection.”
When Jacob’s sons approached their home, and the patriarch came forth
to meet them, he quickly missed the face of Simeon, and he asked,
“Where is Simeon, your brother?”
Then the brothers told their father all that had happened to them in
Egypt, and Jacob said to them: “What is this that ye have done to me?
Your brother Joseph I sent to ye to inquire of your welfare, and his
face I looked upon no more,—his bloody garments ye brought me, saying,
‘Lo, the wild beasts of the forest have destroyed thy son.’ Simeon I
sent with ye to purchase food, and ye tell me that he is imprisoned in
a cruel land; and now Benjamin ye wish to take also,—for Joseph and
for Benjamin ye would bring my grey hairs in sorrow to the grave. No,
my son shall not go with ye.”
And Reuben said, “The lives of my two sons I place in your hands; if we
do not bring back Benjamin safely to thee, their lives shall prove the
forfeit.”
But Jacob said, “Neither shall ye return again to Egypt; stay here, for
my son shall not go with ye, to die as did his brother.”
And Judah said to his brothers, “Urge him no more at present. Let us
wait until these provisions have been consumed, and when cruel want and
hunger press us he will consent to what we ask.”
And it came to pass when the provisions were gone, that the sons of his
children gathered around Jacob and cried to him, “Oh, give us bread.”
And the heart of Jacob was torn with anguish at the cry, and summoning
his sons, he said to them, “Hear ye not the voices of your children
crying for food? ‘Give us bread,’ they cried to me, and I—I have none
to give them. Get ye down to Egypt, I pray ye, and buy us a little
food.”
Then Judah answered, and said to his father, “If thou wilt send
Benjamin with us, we will go,—otherwise we cannot. The King of Egypt
is a mighty potentate; we dare not trifle with him. Should we return to
Egypt, and our youngest brother be not with us, lo, he would destroy us
all. Our father, we cannot disobey this King; greater even is he than
Abimelech, the Philistine. Thou hast not seen, as we have, his throne,
his palace, his myriads of officers; thou hast not witnessed, as have
we, his wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. God has blessed him with
unequalled gifts; greater is he than all on earth beside. Our names he
told us; what had happened to us in our youth; he inquired of thee,
saying, ‘Is your father yet alive? Are all things well with him?’ Thou
hast not heard, as we have, of his power; over his people he is
supreme; upon his word they go out, and upon his word they come in; his
word governs, and the voice of his master, Pharaoh, is not required.
Oh, my father, send the lad,—we cannot go without him; if thou
refusest, we must see our children die with hunger.”
And Jacob said, in his sorrow: “Why did ye tell the man ye had a
brother? Oh, evil, evil is this thing which ye have done!” “Give the
boy into my hands,” said Judah, “and let us go down to Egypt and buy
the corn. If I do not return him safely to thee, a sinner against my
father shall I be considered all my days. Our children weep before
thee, and we have naught to stay their cries; have mercy on them, send
our brother with us. Hast thou not often told us of the mercy which our
God has promised to thee? Lo, He will protect thy son and return him to
thee safely. Pray unto the Lord for our sakes, entreat Him to give us
grace and favour in the eyes of Egypt’s prince. Lo, had we not tarried
thus long, we should have now been back with food; yea, back twice to
thee, and with thy son in safety.”
And Jacob answered: “The Lord God give you grace in the eyes of the
King and officers of Egypt. In Him will I put my trust. Arise, go unto
the man, take with ye gifts, the best the land affords; the Lord will
be with ye, and ye shall bring back to me your brothers, Benjamin and
Simeon.”
Then the sons of Jacob went down again to Egypt. And they took Benjamin
with them, and they took, also, presents and twofold money.
“Take heed of the lad,” were Jacob’s parting words; “separate not from
him either in Egypt or upon the road”; and when they had gone, he
sought the presence of the Almighty in prayer.
And the wives of Jacob’s sons, and his grandchildren, they, too, lifted
their eyes and hearts to Heaven.
Jacob also addressed the following letter, to be delivered by his sons
into the hands of Joseph:
“From thy servant, Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham the
Hebrew.
“The prince of God unto the mighty and wise King Zaphenath-Päaneah, the
King of Egypt, peace.
“My lord, the King, knows well that the famine is sore in the land of
Canaan; therefore I sent my sons to thee to buy food for our
sustenance. I charged them not to enter the city by the same gate, lest
coming together they might attract the attention of the inhabitants.
And, lo, their obedience to my orders has caused them to be accused by
thee as spies. Oh, my lord, could not an intelligent man, such as thou
art, read truth upon the faces of my sons? Much have I heard of thy
wisdom and the understanding which thou didst display in the
interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams, in foretelling this grievous
famine,—how, then, was it possible that thou shouldst suspect my sons?
“Behold, I am surrounded with children; I am very old, and my eyes wax
dim; tearful have they been for twenty years in lamenting the loss of
my son Joseph, and now I have sent to thee his brother Benjamin as thou
didst command; I pray thee, O my lord, to be good to him, and return
him to me with his brothers. The strength of God has ever been with us;
He has listened to our prayers, and He has never forsaken us; protect
thou my son who is coming unto thee, and God will look favourably upon
thee and upon thy kingdom. Send him home again with his brothers, and
Simeon also send with them in peace.”
This letter was entrusted into Judah’s hands.
Thus the sons of Jacob went down again to Egypt with Benjamin and with
the presents, and they stood before Joseph. And Joseph released Simeon
from prison, and restored him to his brethren. And Simeon told them of
the kind treatment which he had received since their departure.
Then Judah took Benjamin and brought him before Joseph, and they
prostrated themselves to the ground. And the brothers gave Joseph the
presents which their father had sent to him. And Joseph asked them
whether all went well with their children and with their old father,
and they answered, “It is well with all of us.”
Then Judah delivered his father’s letter to Joseph, and the latter
recognised his father’s hand, and his feelings grew too strong for him;
the recollections of his youth overpowered him, and retiring into a
side apartment he wept bitterly.
Returning to the presence of his brothers, Joseph’s eyes rested upon
Benjamin, his mother’s son, and he asked, “Is this your youngest
brother of whom ye told me?” And when Benjamin drew near, Joseph laid
his hand upon his brother’s head, and said, “God be gracious unto thee,
my son.”
Then restraining his feelings, he ordered his officers to prepare the
dining-tables.
Then when the meal was ready Joseph took into his hand a cup,—a cup of
solid silver, set with precious stones, and holding it in his hand in
the presence of his brothers, Joseph said, “I know by this cup that
Reuben is the first-born of your father, therefore shall he sit first,
and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun shall follow him in this
order, according to their ages; the rest shall follow these according
to their ages.”
And he said further, “I know that your youngest brother has no mother,
neither have I a mother, therefore will we two sit together.”
And the men marvelled much at the words of Joseph, as they ate and
drank with Joseph upon that day.
In the morning Joseph dismissed his brethren, and bade them return to
their father in peace. But when they had departed he called his
servants, and ordered them to pursue after, overtake them, and bring
them back.
And when the servants of Joseph overtook them, and said to them, “Why
have ye done this thing to steal our master’s cup?” the brothers of
Joseph were indignant, and they answered, “If ye find the cup in the
possession of any one of us, lo, he shall die, and we, his brethren,
shall be your master’s slaves”; but when the cup was found where Joseph
had ordered it to be put, in Benjamin’s sack, they returned, grieving
and crestfallen, to the presence of Joseph.
The viceroy was seated upon his throne, and his officers of state were
gathered about him when his brethren entered, and speaking roughly to
them, he said: “What evil deed is this which you have wrought? Why did
ye take my silver cup? Is it because you could not find that brother
you spoke of in the country that you stole the cup instead? Answer and
tell me why have ye done this thing?”
And Judah spoke, saying, “What shall we say unto my lord? What shall we
speak, for how shall we justify ourselves? God hath found out the
iniquity of thy servants, and sent this calamity upon us.”
Then Joseph arose, and grasping hold of Benjamin he led him to another
room, and pushing him therein closed the door upon him. He then told
the others to return to their homes in peace, saying, “I will keep the
one in whose possession the cup was found; return ye in peace.”
Then Judah answered: “Know that I became a surety with our father for
the lad’s safe return. ‘If he comes not back with us,’ I said, ‘lo, I
shall be considered as sinning before thee all my days.’ Oh, my lord,
let me find grace in thy eyes; let me but take the lad home to his
father, and I will return to take his place as thy servant. See, I am
stronger and older than he is, let me be thy servant instead of
Benjamin.”
“Upon one condition,” replied Joseph, “the lad may go with you. Bring
before me his brother, his mother’s son of whom you have spoken, and I
will take him in place of Benjamin. You did become a surety for him to
your father, therefore let me have him, and the brother for whom you
did become a surety shall return home with you.”
Then Simeon drew near and answered: “Did we not tell my lord, when
first we came before him, that this lost brother we could not find?
Wherefore will my lord speak such idle words? We know not, alas!
whether this brother be alive or dead.”
“Suppose, then,” said Joseph, “that I should call him before me, will
ye then give him to me in place of Benjamin?” And, raising his voice,
he called aloud, “Joseph! Joseph! appear Joseph, and sit before thy
brethren.”
The sons of Jacob wondered much at these words, and their blood grew
chill as they looked around in fear and amazement to see from whence
their brother was to appear.
And Joseph said to them: “Why do ye look around? Your brother is before
you. I am Joseph whom ye sold to Egypt. But nay, be not alarmed, ye
were but instruments, and to save life did God send me hither.”
And the men were much frightened, and Judah especially was terrified at
the startling words. Benjamin, who was in the inner court, heard them,
and hurrying before Joseph, he threw himself upon the latter’s breast,
and kissing him, they wept together. The other brothers too were much
affected, and the people about wondered, and the report of the
occurrence reached Pharaoh’s palace.
Pharaoh was pleased with the news, and sent a deputation of his
officers to welcome Joseph’s brethren, and to bid them, in his name, to
bring their families and their household goods and make their homes in
Egypt.
And Joseph clad his brethren in new and elegant garments, and made them
many generous presents, and gave to each of them three hundred pieces
of silver; and then he took them before Pharaoh and introduced them to
the King.
And when Pharaoh saw what goodly men the sons of Jacob were he was much
pleased and very gracious towards them.
And when it became time for them to return to Canaan, Joseph procured
eleven of Pharaoh’s chariots and added to them his own, for their
accommodation. And he sent rich presents to his father, and garments
and presents to the children of his brothers and sister, and to his
brothers’ wives. And he accompanied his brethren upon their journey to
the boundaries of Egypt, and parting with them, he said: “Do not, my
brethren, quarrel on the way. This thing was wrought through God’s
wisdom; ye were but the instruments to save from famine and hunger a
vast multitude.” He also commanded them to be careful in imparting the
great news they carried to their father, lest speaking suddenly, it
might have a bad effect upon so old a man. And the sons of Jacob
returned unto the land of Canaan in gladness with happy hearts.
And it came to pass when they drew near to Canaan that they said one to
the other, “How shall we break this news unto our father? We cannot
tell him suddenly that Joseph is still alive.”
But it chanced when they reached Beer-Shebah that Serach, the daughter
of Asher, came to meet her father and her uncles. And Serach was a
sweet singer, and she played upon the harp. So they said unto her,
“Take thy harp, and go and sit before our father and play to him, and
as thou playest, sing; sing of his son Joseph, and let him know in this
manner that Joseph lives.”
And the maiden did as she was bid, and sitting before her grandfather,
she sang to him a song, wherein she repeated seven times these words:
“Lo, Joseph is not dead; he lives,
My uncle rules o’er Egypt’s land.”
And Jacob was pleased with her singing and playing; happiness seemed to
find birth in his heart at her sweet voice, and he smiled upon the
maiden and blessed her. And while he was talking to her his sons
arrived with their horses and chariots, and Jacob arose and met them at
the door, and they said to him, “We have joyful tidings for our father.
Joseph, our brother, is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land
of Egypt.”
But Jacob remained cool and unaffected, for he did not believe their
words, until he saw the presents which Joseph had sent, and all the
signs of his greatness; then his eyes brightened and gladness sparkled
in their depths, and he said: “Enough, my son lives; I will go and see
him before I die.”
And the inhabitants of Beer-Shebah and the surrounding countries heard
the news, and came and congratulated Jacob, and he made a great feast
for them. And he said, “I will go down to Egypt and see my son, and
then will I return to Canaan, as the Lord has spoken to Abraham, giving
this land unto his seed.”
And the word of the Lord came to Jacob, saying, “Go down to Egypt; be
not afraid, for I am with thee, and will make of thee a great nation.”
And Jacob commanded his sons and their families to prepare to go down
with him to Egypt, as the Lord had spoken, and they arose and started
upon the way. And Jacob sent Judah in advance, to announce his coming
and to select a place for his residence.
And when Joseph learned that his father was upon the way he gathered
together his friends and officers, and soldiers of the realm, and they
attired themselves in rich garments and gold and silver ornaments, and
the troops were armed with all the implements of war, and they gathered
together and formed a great company to meet Jacob upon the way and
escort him to Egypt. Music and gladness filled the land, and all the
people, the women and the children, assembled upon the house-tops to
view the magnificent display.
Joseph was dressed in royal robes, with the crown of state upon his
head; and when he came within fifty cubits of his father’s company, he
descended from his chariot and walked to meet his father. And when the
nobles and princes saw this, they too descended from their steeds and
chariots and walked with him.
And when Jacob saw all this great procession he wondered exceedingly,
and he was much pleased thereat, and turning to Judah he asked, “Who is
the man who marcheth at the head of this great array in royal robes?”
and Judah answered, “That is thy son.” And when Joseph drew nigh to his
father he bowed down before him, and his officers also bowed low to
Jacob.
And Jacob ran towards his son and fell upon his neck and kissed him,
and they wept. And Joseph greeted his brethren with affection.
And Jacob said to Joseph, “Now let me die. I have seen thy face; my
eyes have beheld thee living and in great honour.”
And the great company escorted Jacob and his family to Egypt, and there
Joseph gave to his relatives the best of the land, even Goshen.
And Joseph lived in the land and governed it wisely. And the two sons
of Joseph were great favourites with their grandfather, and were ever
in his house.[95] And Jacob taught them the ways of the Lord, and
pointed out to them the path of happiness and peace in His service.
And Jacob and his family lived in Goshen, and had possession of the
land and multiplied therein exceedingly.[96]
APPENDIX II.
_An Account of the Translation of the Jewish Laws
from the Hebrew into Greek, as contained in the
Works of Flavius Josephus._[97]
When Alexander had reigned twelve years, and after him Ptolemy Soter
forty years, Philadelphus then took the kingdom of Egypt, and held it
forty years within one. He procured the law to be interpreted, and set
free those that were come from Jerusalem into Egypt, and were in
slavery there, who were a hundred and twenty thousand. The occasion was
this:—Demetrius Phalerius, who was library-keeper to the King, was now
endeavouring, if it were possible, to gather together all the books
that were in the habitable earth, and buying whatsoever was anywhere
valuable, or agreeable to the King’s inclination (who was very
earnestly set upon collecting of books); to which inclination of his,
Demetrius was zealously subservient.
And when once Ptolemy asked how many ten thousands of books he had
collected, he replied that he had already about twenty times ten
thousand; but that, in a little time, he should have fifty times ten
thousand.
But he said he had been informed that there were many books of laws
among the Jews worthy of inquiring after, and worthy of the King’s
library, but which, being written in characters and in a dialect of
their own, will cause no small pains in getting them translated into
the Greek tongue: that the character in which they are written seems to
be like to that which is the proper character of the Syrians, and that
its sound, when pronounced, is like to theirs also; and that this sound
appears to be peculiar to themselves. Wherefore, he said, that nothing
hindered why they might not get those books to be translated also; for
while nothing is wanting that is necessary for that purpose, we may
have their books also in this library.
So the King thought that Demetrius was very zealous to procure him
abundance of books, and that he suggested what was exceeding proper for
him to do; and therefore he wrote to the Jewish high priest that he
should act accordingly.
Now there was one Aristeus, who was amongst the King’s most intimate
friends, and, on account of his modesty, very acceptable to him. This
Aristeus resolved frequently, and that before now, to petition the King
that he would set all the captive Jews in his kingdom free; and he
though this to be a convenient opportunity for the making that
petition. So he discoursed, in the first place, with the captains of
the King’s guards, Sosibius of Tarentum and Andreas, and persuaded them
to assist him in what he was going to intercede with the King for.
Accordingly, Aristeus embraced the same opinion with those that have
been before mentioned, and went to the King and made the following
speech to him: “It is not fit for us, O King, to overlook things
hastily, or to deceive ourselves, but to lay the truth open: for since
we have determined not only to get the laws of the Jews transcribed,
but interpreted also, for thy satisfaction, by what means can we do
this, while so many of the Jews are now slaves in thy kingdom?
“Do thou, then, what will be agreeable to thy magnanimity, and to thy
good-nature: free them from the miserable condition they are in,
because that God, who supporteth thy kingdom, was the author of their
laws, as I have learned by particular inquiry; for both these people
and we also worship the same God, the framer of all things. We call
him, and that truly, by the name of Ζηνα (or life, or Jupiter), because
He breathes life into all men. Wherefore, do thou restore these men to
their own country; and this do to the honour of God, because these men
pay a peculiarly excellent worship to Him.
“And know this further, that though I be not of kin to them by birth,
nor one of the same country with them, yet do I desire these favours to
be done them, since all men are the workmanship of God; and I am
sensible that He is well pleased with those that do good. I do
therefore put up this petition to thee, to do good to them.”
When Aristeus was saying thus, the King looked upon him with a cheerful
and joyful countenance, and said, “How many ten thousands dost thou
suppose there are of such as want to be made free?” To which Andreas
replied, as he stood by, and said, “A few more than ten times ten
thousand.” The King made answer, “And is this a small gift that thou
askest, Aristeus?” But Sosibius, and the rest that stood by, said that
he ought to offer such a thank-offering as was worthy of his greatness
of soul, to that God who had given him his kingdom.
With this answer he was much pleased; and gave order that when they
paid the soldiers their wages, they should lay down twenty drachmæ for
every one of the slaves. And he promised to publish a magnificent
decree about what they requested, which should confirm what Aristeus
had proposed, and especially what God willed should be done; whereby,
he said, he would not only set those free who had been led away captive
by his father and his army, but those who were in his kingdom before,
and those also, if any such there were, who had been brought away
since. And when they said that their redemption-money would amount to
above four hundred talents, he granted it. A copy of which decree I
have determined to preserve, that the magnanimity of this king may be
made known. Its contents were as follows:—
“Let all those who were soldiers under our father, and who, when they
overran Syria and Phœnicia, and laid waste Judea, took the Jews
captives, and made them slaves, and brought them into our cities, and
into this country, and then sold them; as also all those that were in
my kingdom before them, and if there be any that have lately been
brought thither, be made free by those that possess them; and let them
accept of twenty drachmæ for every slave.”
“And let the soldiers receive this redemption-money with their pay, but
the rest out of the King’s treasury: for I suppose that they were made
captives without our father’s consent, and against equity; and that
their country was harassed by the insolence of the soldiers, and that,
by removing them into Egypt, the soldiers have made a great profit by
them.
“Out of regard, therefore, to justice, and out of pity to those that
have been tyrannized over contrary to equity, I enjoin those that have
such Jews in their service to set them at liberty, upon the receipt of
the before-mentioned sum: and that no one use any deceit about them,
but obey what is here commanded.
“And I will that they give in their names within three days after the
publication of this edict, to such as are appointed to execute the
same, and to produce the slaves before them also, for I think it will
be for the advantage of my affairs: and let everyone that will, inform
against those that do not obey this decree; and I will that their
estates be confiscated into the King’s treasury.”
When this decree was read to the King, it at first omitted those Jews
that had formerly been brought, and those brought afterwards, which had
not been distinctly mentioned; so he added these clauses out of his
humanity, and with great generosity. He also gave order that the
payment, which was likely to be done in a hurry, should be divided
among the King’s ministers, and among the officers of his treasury.
When this was over, what the King had decreed was quickly brought to a
conclusion: and this in no more than seven days’ time; the number of
the talents paid for the captives being above four hundred and sixty,
and this, because their masters required the twenty drachmæ for the
children also, the King having, in effect, commanded that these should
be paid for, when he said, in his decree, that they should receive the
fore-mentioned sum for every slave.
Now when this had been done after so magnificent a manner, according to
the King’s inclinations, he gave order to Demetrius to give him in
writing his sentiments concerning the transcribing of the Jewish books;
for no part of the administration is done rashly by these kings, but
all things are managed with great circumspection. On which account I
have subjoined a copy of these epistles, and set down the multitude of
the vessels sent as gifts (to Jerusalem), and the construction of every
one, that the exactness of the artificers’ workmanship, as it appeared
to those that saw them, and which workmen made every vessel, may be
made manifest, and this on account of the excellency of the vessels
themselves. Now the copy of the epistle was to this purpose:—
“Demetrius to the great King. When thou, O King, gavest me a charge
concerning the collection of books that were wanting to fill your
library, and concerning the care that ought to be taken about such as
are imperfect, I have used the utmost diligence about those matters.
And I let you know, that we want the books of the Jewish legislation,
with some others; for they are written in the Hebrew characters, and,
being in the language of that nation, are to us unknown.
“It hath also happened to them, that they have been transcribed more
carelessly than they should have been, because they have not had
hitherto royal care taken about them. Now it is necessary that thou
shouldst have accurate copies of them. And indeed this legislation is
full of hidden wisdom, and entirely blameless, as being the legislation
of God: for which cause it is, as Hecateus of Abdera says, that the
poets and historians make no mention of it, nor of those men who lead
their lives according to it,[98] since it is a holy law, and ought not
to be published by profane mouths.
“If then it please thee, O King, thou mayst write to the high priest of
the Jews, to send six of the elders out of every tribe, and those such
as are most skilful of the laws, that by their means we may learn the
clear and agreeing sense of those books, and may obtain an accurate
interpretation of their contents, and so may have such a collection of
these as may be suitable to thy desire.”
When this epistle was sent to the King, he commanded that an epistle
should be drawn up for Eleazar, the Jewish high priest, concerning
these matters; and that they should inform him of the release of the
Jews that had been in slavery among them. He also sent fifty talents of
gold, for the making of large basins, and vials, and cups, and an
immense quantity of precious stones. He also gave order to those who
had the custody of the chests that contained those stones, to give the
artificers leave to choose out what sorts of them they pleased. He
withal appointed that a hundred talents in money should be sent to the
temple for sacrifices, and for other uses.
Now I will give a description of these vessels, and the manner of their
construction, but not till after I have set down a copy of the epistle
which was written to Eleazar the high priest, who had obtained that
dignity on the occasion following:—
When Onias the high priest was dead, his son Simon became his
successor. He was called Simon the Just, because of both his piety
towards God, and his kind disposition to those of his own nation. When
he was dead, and had left a young son, who was called Onias, Simon’s
brother Eleazar, of whom we are speaking, took the high priesthood; and
he it was to whom Ptolemy wrote, and that in the manner following:—
“King Ptolemy to Eleazar the high priest, sendeth greeting. There are
many Jews who now dwell in my kingdom, whom the Persians, when they
were in power, carried captives. These were honoured by my father; some
of whom he placed in the army, and gave them greater pay than ordinary;
to others of them, when they came with him into Egypt, he committed his
garrisons, and the guarding of them, that they might be a terror to the
Egyptians; and when I had taken the government, I treated all men with
humanity, and especially those that are thy fellow-citizens, of whom I
have set free above a hundred thousand that were slaves, and paid the
price of their redemption to their masters out of my own revenues; and
those that are of a fit age, I have admitted into the number of my
soldiers; and for such as are capable of being faithful to me, and
proper for my court, I have put them in such a post, as thinking this
(kindness done to them) to be a very great and acceptable gift, which I
devote to God for His providence over me; and as I am desirous to do
what will be grateful to these, and to all the other Jews in the
habitable earth, I have determined to procure an interpretation of your
law, and to have it translated out of Hebrew into Greek, and to be
deposited in my library.[99]
“Thou wilt therefore do well to choose out and send to me men of a good
character, who are now elders in age, and six in number out of every
tribe. These, by their age, must be skilful in the laws, and of
abilities to make an accurate interpretation of them; and when this
shall be finished, I shall think that I have done a work glorious to
myself.
“And I have sent to thee Andreas, the captain of my guard, and
Aristeus, men whom I have in very great esteem; by whom I have sent
those first-fruits which I have dedicated to the temple, and to the
sacrifices, and to other uses, to the value of a hundred talents; and
if thou wilt send to us, to let us know what thou wouldst have further,
thou wilt do a thing acceptable to me.”
When this epistle of the King was brought to Eleazar, he wrote an
answer to it with all the respect possible:—
“Eleazar the high priest to King Ptolemy, sendeth greeting. If thou and
thy queen Arsinoe, and thy children, be well, we are entirely
satisfied. When we received thy epistle, we greatly rejoiced at thy
intentions; and when the multitude were gathered together, we read it
to them, and thereby made them sensible of the piety thou hast towards
God. We also showed them the twenty vials of gold, and thirty of
silver, and the five large basins, and the table for the shew-bread; as
also the hundred talents for the sacrifices, and for the making what
shall be needful at the temple: which things Andreas and Aristeus,
those most honoured friends of thine, have brought us; and truly they
are persons of an excellent character, and of great learning, and
worthy of thy virtue.
“Know then that we will gratify thee in what is for thy advantage,
though we do what we used not to do before; for we ought to make a
return for the numerous acts of kindness which thou hast done to our
countrymen. We immediately, therefore, offered sacrifices for thee and
thy sister, with thy children and friends; and the multitude made
prayers, that thy affairs may be to thy mind; and that thy kingdom may
be preserved in peace, and that the translation of our law may come to
the conclusion thou desirest, and be for thy advantage.
“We have also chosen six elders out of every tribe, whom we have sent,
and the law with them. It will be thy part, out of thy piety and
justice, to send back the law when it hath been translated; and to
return those to us that bring it in safety. Farewell!”
This was the reply which the high priest made; but it does not seem to
me to be necessary to set down the names of the seventy elders who were
sent by Eleazar, and carried the law, which yet were subjoined at the
end of the Epistle.
However, I thought it not improper to give an account of those very
valuable and artificially contrived vessels which the King sent to God,
that all may see how great a regard the King had for God, for the King
allowed a vast deal of expenses for these vessels, and came often to
the workmen, and viewed their work, and suffered nothing of
carelessness or negligence to be any damage to their operations; and I
will relate how rich they were as well as I am able, although, perhaps,
the nature of this history may not require such a description; but I
imagine I shall thereby recommend the elegant taste and magnanimity of
this King to those that read this history.
And, first, I will describe what belongs to the table. It was, indeed,
in the King’s mind to make this table vastly large in its dimensions;
but then he gave orders that they should learn what was the magnitude
of the table which was already at Jerusalem, and how large it was, and
whether there were a possibility of making one larger than it; and when
he was informed how large that was which was already there, and that
nothing hindered but a larger might be made, he said that he was
willing to have one made that should be five times as large as the
present table; but his fear was, that it might be then useless in their
sacred ministrations by its too great largeness; for he desired that
the gifts he presented them should not only be there for show, but
should be useful also in their sacred ministrations.
According to which reasoning, that the former table was made of so
moderate a size for use, and not for want of gold, he resolved that he
would not exceed the former table in largeness, but would make it
exceed it in the variety and elegancy of its materials; and as he was
sagacious in observing the nature of all things, and in having a just
notion of what was new and surprising, and where there were no
sculptures, he would invent such as were proper by his own skill, and
would show them to the workmen, he commanded that such sculptures
should now be made; and that those which were delineated should be most
accurately formed, by a constant regard to their delineation.
When therefore the workmen had undertaken to make the table, they
framed it in length two cubits, in breadth one cubit, and in height one
cubit and a half; and the entire structure of the work was of gold.
They withal made a crown of a hand-breadth round it, with wave-work
wreathed about it, and with an engraving which imitated a cord, and was
admirably turned on its three parts; for as they were of a triangular
figure, every angle had the same disposition of its sculptures, that
when you turned them about, the very same form of them was turned about
without any variation.
Now that part of the crown-work that was enclosed under the table had
its sculptures very beautiful; but that part which went round on the
outside was more elaborately adorned with most beautiful ornaments,
because it was exposed to sight, and to the view of the spectators; for
which reason it was that both those sides which were extant above the
rest were acute, and none of the angles, which we before told you were
three, appeared less than another when the table was turned about.
Now into the cord-work thus turned were precious stones inserted, in
rows parallel one to the other, enclosed in golden buttons, which had
ouches in them; but the parts which were on the side of the crown, and
were exposed to the sight, were adorned with a row of oval figures
obliquely placed, of the most excellent sort of precious stones, which
imitated rods laid close, and encompassed the table round about; but
under these oval figures thus engraven, the workmen had put a crown all
round it, where the nature of all sorts of fruit was represented,
insomuch that the bunches of grapes hung up; and when they had made the
stones to represent all the kinds of fruit before mentioned, and that
each in its proper colour, they made them fast with gold round the
whole table.
The like disposition of the oval figures, and of the engraved rods, was
framed under the crown, that the table might on each side show the same
appearance of variety and elegancy of its ornaments, so that neither
the position of the wave-work nor of the crown might be different,
although the table were turned on the other side, but that the prospect
of the same artificial contrivances might be extended as far as the
feet; for there was made a plate of gold four fingers broad, through
the entire breadth of the table, into which they inserted the feet, and
then fastened them to the table by buttons and button-holes, at the
place where the crown was situate, that so on what side soever of the
table one should stand, it might exhibit the very same view of the
exquisite workmanship, and of the vast expenses bestowed upon it.
But upon the table itself they engraved a meander, inserting into it
very valuable stones in the middle like stars, of various colours; the
carbuncle and the emerald, each of which sent out agreeable rays of
light to the spectators; with such stones of other sorts also as were
most curious and best esteemed, as being most precious in their kind.
Hard by this meander a texture of network ran round it, the middle of
which appeared like a rhombus, into which were inserted rock-crystal
and amber, which, by the great resemblance of the appearance they made,
gave wonderful delight to those that saw them.
The chapiters of the feet imitated the first budding of lilies, while
their leaves were bent and laid under the table, but so that the chives
were seen standing upright within them. Their bases were made of a
carbuncle; and the place at the bottom, which rested on that carbuncle,
was one palm deep, and eight fingers in breadth.
Now they had engraven upon it, with a very fine tool, and with a great
deal of pains, a branch of ivy, and tendrils of the vine, sending forth
clusters of grapes, that you would guess they were nowise different
from real tendrils; for they were so very thin, and so very far
extended at their extremities, that they were moved with the wind, and
made one believe that they were the product of nature, and not the
representation of art.
They also made the entire workmanship of the table appear to be
three-fold, while the joints of the several parts were so united
together as to be invisible, and the places where they joined could not
be distinguished. Now the thickness of the table was not less than half
a cubit.
So that this gift by the King’s great generosity, by the great value of
the materials, and the variety of its exquisite structure, and the
artificer’s skill in imitating nature with graving tools, was at length
brought to perfection, while the King was very desirous, that though in
largeness it were not to be different from that which was already
dedicated to God, yet that in exquisite workmanship, and the novelty of
the contrivances, and in the splendour of its construction, it should
far exceed it, and be more illustrious than that was.
Now of the cisterns of gold there were two, whose sculpture was of
scale-work, from its basis to its belt-like circle, with various sorts
of stones enchased in the spiral circles. Next to which there was upon
it a meander of a cubit in height: it was composed of stones of all
sorts of colours; and next to this was the rod-work engraven; and next
to that was a rhombus in a texture of net-work, drawn out to the brim
of the basin, while small shields, made of stones, beautiful in their
kind, and of four fingers’ depth, filled up the middle parts.
About the top of the basin were wreathed the leaves of lilies, and of
the convolvulus, and the tendrils of vines in a circular manner; and
this was the construction of the two cisterns of gold, each containing
two firkins;—but those which were of silver were much more bright and
splendid than looking-glasses; and you might in them see images that
fell upon them more plainly than in the other.
The King also ordered thirty vials; those of which the parts that were
of gold, and filled up with precious stones, were shadowed over with
the leaves of ivy and vines, artificially engraven; and these were the
vessels that were, after an extraordinary manner, brought to this
perfection, partly by the skill of the workmen, who were admirable in
such fine work, but much more by the diligence and generosity of the
King, who not only supplied the artificers abundantly, and with great
generosity, with what they wanted, but he forbade public audiences for
the time, and came and stood by the workmen, and saw the whole
operation; and this was the cause why the workmen were so accurate in
their performance, because they had regard to the King, and to his
great concern about the vessels, and so the more indefatigably kept
close to the work.
And these were what gifts were sent by Ptolemy to Jerusalem, and
dedicated to God there. But when Eleazar the high priest had devoted
them to God, and had paid due respect to those that brought them, and
had given them presents to be carried to the King, he dismissed them.
And when they were come to Alexandria, and Ptolemy heard that they were
come, and that the seventy elders were come also, he presently sent for
Andreas and Aristeus, his ambassadors, who came to him, and delivered
him the epistle which they brought him from the high priest, and made
answer to all the questions he put to them by word of mouth. He then
made haste to meet the elders that came from Jerusalem for the
interpretation of the laws; and he gave command, that everybody who
came on other occasions should be sent away, which was a thing
surprising, and what he did not use to do; for those that were drawn
thither upon such occasions used to come to him on the fifth day, but
ambassadors at the month’s end.
But when he had sent those away, he waited for these that were sent by
Eleazar; but as the old men came in with the presents, which the high
priest had given them to bring to the King, and with the membranes,
upon which they had their laws written in golden letters, he put
questions to them concerning those books; and when they had taken off
the covers wherein they were wrapt up, they showed him the membranes.
So the King stood admiring the thinness of those membranes, and the
exactness of the junctures, which could not be perceived (so exactly
were they connected one with another); and this he did for a
considerable time. He then said that he returned them thanks for coming
to him, and still greater thanks to him that sent them; and, above all,
to that God whose laws they appeared to be.
Then did the elders, and those that were present with them, cry out
with one voice, and wished all happiness to the King. Upon which he
fell into tears by the violence of the pleasure he had, it being
natural to men to afford the same indications in great joy that they do
under sorrow.
And when he had bidden them deliver the books to those that were
appointed to receive them, he saluted the men, and said that it was but
just to discourse, in the first place, of the errand they were sent
about, and then to address himself to themselves. He promised, however,
that he would make this day on which they came to him remarkable and
eminent every year through the whole course of his life; for their
coming to him, and the victory which he gained over Antigonus by sea,
proved to be on the very same day. He also gave orders that they should
sup with him; and gave it in charge that they should have excellent
lodgings provided for them in the upper part of the city.
Now he that was appointed to take care of the reception of strangers,
Nicanor by name, called for Dorotheus, whose duty it was to make
provision for them, and bade him prepare for every one of them what
should be requisite for their diet and way of living; which thing was
ordered by the King after this manner: he took care that those that
belonged to every city, which did not use the same way of living, that
all things should be prepared for them according to the custom of those
that came to him, that being feasted according to the usual method of
their own way of living, they might be the better pleased, and might
not be uneasy at anything done to them from which they were naturally
averse.
And this was now done in the case of these men by Dorotheus, who was
put into this office because of his great skill in such matters
belonging to common life: for he took care of all such matters as
concerned the reception of strangers, and appointed them double seats
for them to sit on, according as the King had commanded him to do; for
he had commanded that half of their seats should be set at his right
hand, and the other half behind his table, and took care that no
respect should be omitted that could be shown them.
And when they were thus set down, he bid Dorotheus to minister to all
those that were come to him from Judea, after the manner they used to
be ministered to; for which cause he sent away their sacred heralds,
and those that slew the sacrifices, and the rest that used to say
grace: but called to one of those that were come to him, whose name was
Eleazar, who was a priest, and desired him to say grace: who then stood
in the midst of them, and prayed that all prosperity might attend the
King and those that were his subjects. Upon which an acclamation was
made by the whole company, with joy and a great noise; and when that
was over, they fell to eating their supper, and to the enjoyment of
what was set before them.
And at a little interval afterward, when the King thought a sufficient
time had been interposed, he began to talk philosophically to them, and
he asked every one of them a philosophical question, and such a one as
might give light in those inquiries; and when they had explained all
the problems that had been proposed by the King about every point, he
was well pleased with their answers. This took up the twelve days in
which they were treated; and he that pleases may learn the particular
questions in that book of Aristeus, which he wrote on this very
occasion.
And while not the King only, but the philosopher Menedus also, admired
them, and said, that all things were governed by Providence, and that
it was probable that thence it was that such force or beauty was
discovered in these men’s words,—they then left off asking any more
questions. But the King said that he had gained very great advantages
by their coming, for that he had received this profit from them, that
he had learned how he ought to rule his subjects. And he gave order
that they should have every one three talents given them; and that
those that were to conduct them to their lodgings should do it.
Accordingly, when three days were over, Demetrius took them, and went
over the causeway seven furlongs long: it was a bank in the sea to an
island. And when they had gone over the bridge, he proceeded to the
northern parts, and showed them where they should meet, which was in a
house which was built near the shore, and was a quiet place, and fit
for their discoursing together about their work.
When he had brought them thither, he entreated them (now they had all
things about them which they wanted for the interpretation of their
law), that they would suffer nothing to interrupt them in their work.
Accordingly, they made an accurate interpretation, with great zeal and
great pains; and this they continued to do till the ninth hour of the
day; after which time they relaxed and took care of their body, while
their food was provided for them in great plenty: besides, Dorotheus,
at the King’s command, brought them a great deal of what was provided
for the King himself. But in the morning they came to the court, and
saluted Ptolemy, and then went away to their former place, where, when
they had washed their hands and purified themselves, they betook
themselves to the interpretation of the laws.
Now when the law was transcribed, and the labour of interpretation was
over, which came to its conclusion in seventy-two days, Demetrius
gathered all the Jews together to the place where the laws were
translated, and where the interpreters were, and read them over. The
multitude did also approve of those elders that were the interpreters
of the law. They withal commended Demetrius for his proposal, as the
inventor of what was greatly for their happiness; and they desired that
he would give leave to their rulers also to read the law.
Moreover they all, both the priests and the ancientest of the elders,
and the principal men of their commonwealth, made it their request,
that since the interpretation was happily finished, it might continue
in the state it now was, and might not be altered. And when they all
commended that determination of theirs, they enjoined, that if any one
observed either anything superfluous, or anything omitted, that he
would take a view of it again, and have it laid before them, and
corrected; which was a wise action of theirs, that when the thing was
judged to have been well done, it might continue for ever.
So the King rejoiced when he saw that his design of this nature was
brought to perfection, to so great advantage: and he was chiefly
delighted with hearing the laws read to him; and was astonished at the
deep meaning and wisdom of the legislator. And he began to discourse
with Demetrius, “How it came to pass that, when this legislation was so
wonderful, no one, either of the poets or of the historians, had made
mention of it.” Demetrius made answer, “that no one durst be so bold as
to touch upon the description of these laws, because they were Divine
and venerable, and because some that had attempted it were afflicted by
God.”
He also told him that “Theopompus was desirous of writing somewhat
about them, but was thereupon disturbed in his mind for above thirty
days’ time; and upon some intermission of his distemper he appeased God
(by prayer), as suspecting that his madness proceeded from that cause.”
Nay, indeed, he further saw in a dream that his distemper befell him
while he indulged too great a curiosity about Divine matters, and was
desirous of publishing them among common men; but when he left off that
attempt, he recovered his understanding again.
Moreover he informed him of Theodectes, the tragic poet, concerning
whom it was reported that, when in a certain dramatic representation,
he was desirous to make mention of things that were contained in the
sacred books, he was afflicted with a darkness in his eyes; and that
upon his being conscious of the occasion of his distemper, and
appeasing God (by prayer), he was freed from that affliction.
And when the King had received these books from Demetrius, as we have
said already, he adored them; and gave order, that great care should be
taken of them, that they might remain uncorrupted. He also desired that
the interpreters would come often to him out of Judea, and that both on
account of the respect which he would pay them, and on account of the
presents he would make them; for he said, it was now but just to send
them away, although if, of their own accord, they would come to him
hereafter, they should obtain all that their own wisdom might justly
require, and what his generosity was able to give them.
So he sent them away, and gave to every one of them three garments of
the best sort, and two talents of gold, and a cup of the value of one
talent, and the furniture of the room wherein they were feasted. And
these were the things he presented to them. But by them he sent to
Eleazar the high priest ten beds, with feet of silver, and the
furniture to them belonging, and a cup of the value of thirty talents,
and besides these, ten garments, and purple, and a very beautiful
crown, and a hundred pieces of the finest woven linen; as also vials
and dishes, and vessels for pouring, and two golden cisterns, to be
dedicated to God.
He also desired him, by an epistle, that he would give these
interpreters leave, if any of them were desirous of coming to him;
because he highly valued a conversation with men of such learning, and
should be very willing to lay out his wealth upon such men. And this
was what came to the Jews, and was much to their glory and honour, from
Ptolemy Philadelphus.[100]
APPENDIX III.
_An Extract from the Works of Herodotus[101] concerning
the Pyramids of Egypt._
The Egyptians say that this Cheops[102] reigned fifty years; and when
he died, his brother Chephren succeeded to the kingdom; and he followed
the same practices as the other, both in other respects, and in
building a pyramid; which does not come up to the dimensions of his
brother’s, for I myself measured them; nor has it subterraneous
chambers; nor does a channel from the Nile flow to it, as to the other;
but this flows through an artificial aqueduct round an island within,
in which they say the body of Cheops is laid.
Having laid the first course of variegated Ethiopian stones, less in
height than the other by forty feet, he built it near the large
Pyramid. They both stand on the same hill,[103] which is about a
hundred feet high. Chephren, they said, reigned fifty-six years.
Thus one hundred and six years are reckoned, during which the Egyptians
suffered all kinds of calamities,[104] and for this length of time the
temples were closed and never opened. From the hatred they bear them,
the Egyptians are not very willing to mention their names; but call the
Pyramids after Philition,[105] a shepherd, who at that time kept his
cattle in those parts.
APPENDIX IV.
_On the Hebrew and Grecian Feast of First-Fruits._
These extracts are given as showing the real nationality of the first
colonists of ancient Greece; their mysterious intercourse with the
Hyperboreans, who were the followers of Moses in the Far East; their
observance of the law given by Moses to the Hebrews, and commemorative
representation of the marvellous escape from Egypt into Arabia; and
include a description of the Islands of Delos and Rhenea.
---------------------
“Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord,
and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed
gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
“The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and
his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are
drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them: they sank into
the bottom as a stone.
“The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the
spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my
hand shall destroy them.
“Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead
in the mighty waters.”[106]
---------------------
“Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat
unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed
of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out of Egypt: and none shall
appear before me empty:)
“And the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of thy labours, which thou
hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the
end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the
field.”[107]
The following narrative describes the manner in which the Greeks
practised the above law, and represented the crossing of the Red Sea.
“This[108] charming season (spring) brought with it festivals still
more charming: I mean those which are celebrated every four years in
Delos, in honour of Diana and Apollo. The worship of these two
divinities has subsisted in that island for a long succession of ages.
But as it latterly began to decline, the Athenians instituted, during
the Peloponnesian war, games which drew thither a great concourse of
people from various nations.
“The youth of Athens were eager to distinguish themselves in these, and
the whole city was in motion. Preparations were likewise made for the
solemn deputation which is annually sent to the temple of Delos, to
present a tribute of gratitude for the victory which Theseus gained
over the Minotaur. The voyage is made in the same ship which carried
that hero to Crete; and already the priest of Apollo had crowned its
stern with his sacred hands. The sea was covered with small vessels
which were getting under sail for Delos.
“On the next day we coasted Scyros, and, leaving Tenos on the left,
entered into the channel which separates Delos from the island of
Rhenea. We immediately came in sight of the temple of Apollo, which we
saluted with new transports of joy; and the city of Delos was almost
entirely displayed to our view.
“With an eager eye we ran over the superb edifices, elegant porticoes,
and forests of columns by which it is embellished; and this prospect,
momentarily varying, suspended in us the desire to arrive at the land.
“When we had reached the shore, we ran to the temple, which is distant
from it only about a hundred paces. It is more than a thousand years
since Erisichthon, son of Cecrops,[109] laid the first foundation of
this edifice, to which the different states of Greece continually add
new embellishments. It was covered with festoons and garlands, which,
by the contrast of their colours, gave a new lustre to the Parian
marble of which it is built.
“Within we saw the statue of Apollo, less celebrated for the delicacy
of the workmanship than its antiquity. The god is represented holding
his bow in one hand; and to signify that music owes to him its origin
and charms, with his left he supports the three Graces, who are
represented, the first with a lyre, the second with flutes, and the
third with a pipe.
“Near the statue is that altar which is esteemed one of the wonders of
the world. It is not gold or marble which is admired in it; horns of
animals, forcibly bent, and artfully interwoven, form a whole equally
solid and regular. Some priests, whose employment it is to adorn it
with flowers and boughs, made us observe the ingenious contexture of
its parts.
“‘It was the god himself,’ exclaimed a young priest, ‘who in his
childhood interwove them as you see. Those menacing horns, which you
behold suspended on the wall, and those of which the altar is composed,
are the spoils of the wild goats which fed on Mount Cynthus, and which
fell beneath the shafts of Diana. Here the eye meets nothing but
prodigies. This palm tree, which displays its branches over our heads,
is the sacred tree that supported Latona when she brought forth the
divinities we adore.
“‘The form of this altar has become celebrated by a problem in
geometry, of which an exact solution will perhaps never be given. The
plague laid waste our island, and Greece was ravaged by war. The
oracle, being consulted by our ancestors, declared that these
calamities would cease if they could make this altar double the size it
is of at present. They imagined it would be sufficient to make it twice
as large every way; but they found, with surprise, that they were
constructing an enormous mass that would contain the altar in question
eight times. After other attempts, equally fruitless, they sent to
consult Plato, then just returned from Egypt; who told their
messengers, that the god, by this oracle, sported with the ignorance of
the Greeks, and exhorted them to cultivate the accurate sciences,
rather than to be continually occupied in dissensions and wars. At the
same time he proposed a simple and mechanical method of resolving the
problem; but the plague had ceased when his answer arrived.’
“These words, though pronounced in a low voice, engaged the attention
of a citizen of Delos, who approached us, and showing us an altar less
embellished than the former: ‘This,’ said he, ‘is never drenched with
the blood of victims; on this the devouring flame is never kindled.
Hither Pythagoras came, to offer, after the example of the people,
cakes, barley, and wheat; and beyond all doubt the god was better
pleased with the enlightened worship of that great man than with all
those streams of blood with which our altars are perpetually inundated.’
“The Island of Delos is only seven or eight miles in circuit, and its
breadth is but about one third of its length. Mount Cynthus, which
extends from north to south, terminates in a plain that on the west
side reaches to the sea. The city stands in this plain. The rest of the
island presents only an uneven and sterile soil, if we except some
pleasant valleys, which are formed by several hills, on the south side.
The source of the Inopus is the only spring with which it is favoured
by nature; but we find, in different places, cisterns and lakes, which
preserve the rain-water during several months.
“Delos was originally governed by kings, who united the priesthood to
the regal authority. It afterwards fell under the power of the
Athenians, who purified it, during the Peloponnesian war. The tombs of
its ancient inhabitants were removed to the Isle of Rhenea; and there
their successors have seen for the first time the light of day, and
there are they to behold it for the last. But if they are deprived of
the advantage of being born and dying in their own country, they enjoy
there a profound tranquillity during their lives.
“The fury of barbarians, the enmity of nations, and the animosities of
individuals, all subside at the view of this sacred land; nor ever have
the coursers of Mars trodden it with their ensanguined feet. Everything
that can present the image of war is rigorously banished; and even the
animal most faithful to man is not suffered to remain in it, because he
would destroy the weaker and more timid creatures.
“At length the day arrived which had been expected with so much
impatience. The morning faintly indicated in the horizon the course of
the sun, when we arrived at the foot of Cynthus.
“This mountain is but of a moderate height. It is a block of granite,
of different colours, and containing pieces of a blackish and shining
talc. From its top a surprising number of islands of various sizes are
discoverable. They are dispersed in the midst of the ocean, in the same
beautiful disorder as the stars are scattered in the heavens. Here the
bosom of the waves is become the habitation of mortals. We behold a
city scattered over the surface of the sea; and view the picture of
Egypt when the Nile has inundated the plains, and appears to bear on
its waters the hills which afford a retreat to the inhabitants. The
greater part of these islands are named Cyclades, because they form a
kind of circle round Delos. Sesostris, King of Egypt, subjected a part
of them by his arms; and Minos, King of Crete, governed some of them by
his laws. The Phœnicians, the Carians, the Persians, the Greeks, and
all the nations which have possessed the empire of the sea, have
successively conquered or colonized them: but the colonies of the
latter have effaced all traces of those of other nations; and powerful
interests have for ever attached the destiny of the Cyclades to that of
Greece.
“Their inhabitants are separated by the sea, but united by pleasure.
They have festivals which are common to them, and which assemble them
together sometimes in one place and sometimes in another; but these
cease the moment our solemnities commence. Thus, according to Homer,
the gods suspend their profound deliberations, and arise from their
thrones, when Apollo appears in the midst of them. The neighbouring
temples are about to be deserted; the divinities there adored permit
the incense destined to them to be conveyed to Delos. Solemn
deputations, known by the name of Theoriæ, are charged with this
illustrious commission. They bring with them choruses of boys and
maidens, who are the triumph of beauty, and the principal ornament of
our festivals. They repair hither from the coasts of Asia, the islands
of the Ægean sea, the continent of Greece, and the most distant
countries. They arrive to the sound of musical instruments, to the
voice of pleasure, and with all the pomp that taste and magnificence
can furnish. The vessels which bring them are covered with flowers;
chaplets of flowers are worn by the mariners and pilots; and their joy
is the more expressive as they consider it as a religious duty to
forget every care by which it may be destroyed or abated. The small
fleets which bring the offerings to Delos had already left the ports of
Mycone and Rhenea, and other fleets appeared at a distance. An infinite
number of vessels of every kind flew over the surface of the sea,
resplendent with a thousand different colours. They were seen to issue
from the channels which separate the islands, cross, pursue, and join
each other. A fresh gale played in their purple sails; and the waves
beneath their oars were covered with a foam, which reflected the rays
of the rising sun.
“At the foot of the mountain an immense multitude overspread the plain.
The crowds of people advanced, and fell back, with a motion resembling
that of a field of corn when agitated by the wind; and the transports
of joy by which they were animated produced a vague and confused sound
that seemed to float over that vast body.
“In the meantime, the Theoria of the Athenians was perceived at a
distance. A number of light vessels seemed to sport round the sacred
galley. At sight of them, some old men, who had with difficulty come
down to the beach, regretted their youthful days, when Nicias, the
general of the Athenians, was appointed to conduct the Theoria. He did
not proceed with it, said they to us, immediately to Delos; but brought
it secretly to the Isle of Rhenea, which you see before you. _The whole
night was employed in erecting over the channel between the two islands
a bridge, the materials of which, prepared long before, and richly gilt
and painted, only required to be joined together._ It was nearly four
_stadia_ (about 3 furlongs and 145 yards) in length, covered with
superb carpets, and ornamented with garlands; _and on the day
following_, at early dawn, the Theoria crossed the sea, not, like the
army of Xerxes, to ravage and lay waste nations, but bringing to them
pleasures in its train; and, that they might taste the first-fruits of
these, it remained long suspended over the waves, chanting sacred
songs, and delighting all eyes with a glorious spectacle which the sun
will never again behold.
“The number of those foreign merchants whom the situation of the
island, the privileges it enjoys, the vigilant attention of the
Athenians, and the celebrity of the festivals, bring in crowds to
Delos; whither they come to exchange their respective riches for the
corn, wine, and commodities of the neighbouring islands; for the
scarlet linen tunics, which are made in the isle of Amorgos, the rich
purple stuffs of _Cos_, the highly-esteemed alum of Melos, and the
valuable copper that from time immemorial has been extracted from the
mines of Delos, and of which are made elegant vases. The island was
become as it were the storehouse of the treasures of nations; and near
the place where they were collected, the inhabitants of Delos, obliged
by an express law to furnish water to the whole multitude of strangers,
set out, on long tables, cakes, and eatables prepared in haste.[110]
“A sudden shout announced the arrival of the Theoria of the Tenians,
who, besides their own offerings, brought also those of the
Hyperboreans.
“The latter people dwell towards the north of Greece: they especially
pay adoration to Apollo; and there is still to be seen at Delos the
tomb of two of his priestesses, who came thither to add new rites to
the worship of that god. They also preserve there, in an edifice
dedicated to Diana, the ashes of the last Theori, whom the Hyperboreans
sent to their island. They unfortunately perished; and, since that
event, that nation has sent the first-fruits of their harvests through
a foreign channel.
“A neighbouring tribe of the Scythians receive them from their hands,
and transmit them to other nations, who convey them to the shores of
the Adriatic sea, from whence they are carried to Epirus, cross Greece,
arrive at Eubœa, and are brought to Tenos.
“The fleets of the Theoriæ presented their prows to the shore, and
these prows art had decorated with the symbols peculiar to each nation.
Those of the Phthiotes were distinguished by the figures of Nereides.
On the Athenian galley, Pallas was represented guiding a resplendent
car; and the ships of the Bœotians were ornamented with an image of
Cadmus holding a serpent.”
APPENDIX V.
_Predictions regarding the land of Egypt, recorded in
the Holy Bible._
“In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the
land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. And it
shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the
land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the
oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he
shall deliver them. And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the
Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacrifice and
oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it.
“And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they
shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be intreated of them, and
shall heal them.
“In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the
Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the
Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.
“In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria,
even a blessing in the midst of the land: whom the Lord of hosts shall
bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my
hands, and Israel mine inheritance.”—Isa. xix. 19-25.
London: Printed by W. H. Allen & Co. 13, Waterloo Place, S. W.
Footnotes
Footnote 1:
It was revised, and two-thirds rewritten by the author in October and
November 1884.
Footnote 2:
Josephus.
Footnote 3:
Polano’s Talmud.
Footnote 4:
Josephus.
Footnote 5:
Josephus.
Footnote 6:
Josephus.
Footnote 7:
Josephus.
Footnote 8:
Josephus.
Footnote 9:
Josephus.
Footnote 10:
Josephus.
Footnote 11:
Deuteronomy xxxiv.
Footnote 12:
Josephus.
Footnote 13:
Polano’s Talmud.
Footnote 14:
2 Maccabees i.
Footnote 15:
Al Koran, chap. xii.
Footnote 16:
2 Maccabees ii.
Footnote 17:
Herodotus, _Euterpe_, ii.
Footnote 18:
Sonnini, _Travels in Upper and Lower Egypt_.
Footnote 19:
Gen. xi.
Footnote 20:
Polano’s Talmud.
Footnote 21:
W. T. W. Vaux, _Nineveh and Persepolis_.
Footnote 22:
Piazzi Smyth, _Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid_.
Footnote 23:
Polano’s Talmud.
Footnote 24:
Piazzi Smyth, _Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid_.
Footnote 25:
Piazzi Smyth, _Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid_.
Footnote 26:
These are passages by which the grain was thrown down into the
building from the outside before the casing-stones were fixed.—J. V.
G.
Footnote 27:
One hundred and sixty cubits high.—J. V. G.
Footnote 28:
Herodotus, _Euterpe_, ii.
Footnote 29:
The Pharaoh of Joseph.—J. V. G.
Footnote 30:
A malicious, culpable suppression of the truth. These people were the
Hebrews who came from Canaan to Joseph during the famine.—J. V. G.
Footnote 31:
They sold themselves for food and became slaves to Pharaoh.—J. V. G.
Footnote 32:
Joseph, made governor by Pharaoh.—J. V. G.
Footnote 33:
To guard the Pyramids from being broken into, as the people at that
time knew that they were granaries.—J. V. G.
Footnote 34:
These men were the brethren that Joseph presented to Pharaoh
immediately on their arrival, and who were appointed by him to be
rulers over his cattle. Gen. xlvii. 6.—J. V. G.
Footnote 35:
This Alisphragmuthosis is meant for Moses, the son of the daughter of
Pharaoh, by adoption.—J. V. G.
Footnote 36:
Thummosis was not the son, but brother, of Moses—Aaron.—J. V. G.
Footnote 37:
The exodus of the Children of Israel for the Land of Promise.—J. V.
G.
Footnote 38:
Josephus, _Against Apion_.
Footnote 39:
Goshen.—J. V. G.
Footnote 40:
Building treasure-cities for Pharaoh—Pithom, and Raamses.
Footnote 41:
The new king, who knew not Joseph.
Footnote 42:
The true and authentic version is in the Bible, written by Moses.
They were overwhelmed in the Red Sea, instead of retiring into
Ethiopia!—J. V. G.
Footnote 43:
Josephus, _Against Apion_.
Footnote 44:
Josephus.
Footnote 45:
The Talmud.
Footnote 46:
Done by Greeks in modern times.—J. V. G.
Footnote 47:
The consort of Moses was from Meroë, and she must have had her hair
dressed in that fashion.—J. V. G.
Footnote 48:
A.D. 1837.
Footnote 49:
Piazzi Smyth, _Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid_.
Footnote 50:
Tytler, _Historical View of the Progress of Discovery on the more
Northern Coasts of America_.
Footnote 51:
Laborde, _Journey through Arabia Petræa, to Mount Sinai, and the
excavated City of Petra, the Edom of the Prophecies_.
Footnote 52:
This being the camp of the Children of Israel, these chambers were
the dwellings of the living.—J. V. G.
Footnote 53:
Josephus, _Antiquities of the Jews_.
Footnote 54:
Vaux, _Nineveh and Persepolis_.
Footnote 55:
Vaux, _Nineveh and Persepolis_.
Footnote 56:
Mountstuart Elphinstone, _Account of the Kingdom of Cabul_.
Footnote 57:
See Lev. vi. 14-18.—J. V. G.
Footnote 58:
Lieut.-Colonel Torrens, _Travels in Ladâk, Tartary, and Kashmir_.
Footnote 59:
Frank Vincent, Jun., _The Land of the White Elephant._
Footnote 60:
A modern addition.—J. V. G.
Footnote 61:
Out-offices for the servants of the palace.—J. V. G.
Footnote 62:
Lieut.-General Fytche, _Burmah Past and Present_.
Footnote 63:
Ernest Oppert, _A Forbidden Land_.
Footnote 64:
W. Bullock, _Six Months’ Residence and Travels in Mexico_.
Footnote 65:
And the Zodiac in the Hindoo Temple at Benares in India.—J. V. G.
Footnote 66:
These must have been fallen casing-stones.—J. V. G.
Footnote 67:
Dr. Robertson.
Footnote 68:
Dr. Robertson.
Footnote 69:
2 Kings xx.
Footnote 70:
Dr. Robertson.
Footnote 71:
Dr. Robertson, _History of North and South America_.
Footnote 72:
Moses and his followers, from Japan.—J. V. G.
Footnote 73:
_Voyages and Travels_, vol. vi.
Footnote 74:
In the Pyramids these apertures are called by Egyptologists “air
channels”; they were for throwing the corn into the body of the
granary.—J. V. G.
Footnote 75:
In the Round Tower there is a door by which it can be entered.—J. V.
G.
Footnote 76:
Meares, _Voyages_, vol. ii. pp. 70-71.
Footnote 77:
Nootka Sound.—J. V. G.
Footnote 78:
Numbers, xii. 1.
Footnote 79:
See Wilkinson, _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians_,
illustration facing p. 222.
Footnote 80:
Exodus, xviii.
Footnote 81:
1 Chronicles, xxiii. 15-17.
Footnote 82:
Exodus, xii. 37, 38.
Footnote 83:
Deut. xxxii. v. 1 to 47.
Footnote 84:
Walford, _On the Famines of the World: Past and Present_.
Footnote 85:
Walford, _Famines of the World, Past and Present_.
Footnote 86:
Walford, _Famines of the World_.
Footnote 87:
Monier Williams, _Hinduism_.
Footnote 88:
Dr. Robertson, _History of America_.
Footnote 89:
Douglas, _Confucianism and Taouism_.
Footnote 90:
Fytche, _Burmah, Past and Present_.
Footnote 91:
From _The Talmud: Selections, &c._, by H. Polano, pp. 85-112.
Footnote 92:
The Pyramids.—J. V. G.
Footnote 93:
The Pyramids.—J. V. G.
Footnote 94:
The Pyramids.—J. V. G.
Footnote 95:
The Palace, known as the Labyrinth.—J. V. G.
Footnote 96:
These Hebrews are mentioned in Egyptian history as Shepherd Kings or
Hycsos.—J. V. G.
Footnote 97:
_The Antiquities of the Jews_, bk. xii. ch. 2.
Footnote 98:
That accounts for the ignorance of Tacitus as to who the Jews
were.—J. V. G.
Footnote 99:
At Alexandria.—J. V. G.
Footnote 100:
This took place about 284 B.C.—J. V. G.
Footnote 101:
_Enterpe_, 2.
Footnote 102:
Joseph the Hebrew, son of Jacob.—In the thirty-second year after the
children of Israel went down into Egypt, the Pharaoh the friend of
Joseph died. Joseph was then seventy-one years of age. Before his
death, Pharaoh commanded his son who succeeded him to obey Joseph in
all things, and the same instructions he left in writing. Thus, while
this Pharaoh reigned over Egypt the country was governed by Joseph’s
advice and counsel. Joseph lived in Egypt ninety-three years, as a
prince of the country eighty years of that time. Chephren the brother
was no other than Benjamin, who was Joseph’s brother. Joseph’s age
when he died was one hundred and ten years; and his body was embalmed
and afterwards laid in the ground near the banks of the river Nile,
in the subterranean island near the Great Pyramid. During Joseph’s
lifetime the temples were closed, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob was worshipped.
Footnote 103:
The Mokattam Hill.
Footnote 104:
The memorable famine recorded in the Holy Bible, and its dire
consequences.
Footnote 105:
Corrupted from Psothom Phaneeh (the revealer of secrets), the name
given to Joseph the son of Israel the Hebrew, by Pharaoh the King of
Egypt. He was a shepherd by profession, as all his ancestors were. It
was, therefore, Joseph who built all the Pyramids to store corn in,
against the famine that he declared would take place in Egypt.—J. V.
G.
Footnote 106:
Exodus, xv.
Footnote 107:
Exodus, xxiii. 15, 16.
Footnote 108:
Abbé Barthelemi, _Travels of Anacharsis the Younger in Greece_, ch.
76, pp. 309, &c.
Footnote 109:
Cecrops left Egypt the same year that Moses fled from the Court of
Pharaoh.—J. V. G.
Footnote 110:
See Deut. xvi. 1-3.
Transcriber's Note
Some presumed printer’s errors have been corrected, including
normalizing punctuation. Further corrections are listed below.
Printed Text Corrected Text
p. 19 ibes ibises
p. 38 throughly thoroughly
p. 156 Ida Idea
p. 168 cuuntrymen countrymen
p. 168 Mauritana Mauritania
p. 279 intepretation interpretation
p. 284 should he should be
p. 281 to do do to do
p. 302 pronouned pronounced
Footnote 32 Pharoah Pharaoh
Footnote 74 Egyptolologists Egyptologists
Footnote 76 Meare Meares
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