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