LETTER VII.
City of On.
My royal and beloved Mother:
I will now continue the narrative of my interview with the venerable bond-servant at the fountain or "well of strangers," near the treasure-city Raamses.
After the youth had recovered his senses, I was for a few moments an object of profound surprise to him. He surveyed me with mingled fear and wonder.
"My lord is good, fear him not, Israel," said the old man. The youth looked incredulous, and, had his strength permitted, would have fled away from me. I said—
"I am not thy taskmaster! Dread not my presence!" The tone of my voice reassured him. He smiled gently, and an expression of gladness lighted up his eyes. A drop of blood trickled down his forehead and increased the paleness of his skin.
"What is thy name?" I asked the old man, speaking in Syriac, for in that tongue I had heard him murmur the name of his son; and I have since found that all Hebrews of the older class speak this language, or rather Syro-Chaldaic. They also understand and speak the Egyptian vernacular.
"Ben Isaac, my lord!" he answered.
"I and my children, as my fathers were!"
"What brought thee and thy people into this servitude?"
"It is a sad history, my lord! Art thou then a stranger in Egypt, that thou art ignorant of the story of the Hebrew?"
"I am a Phœnician. I have been but a few weeks in Egypt."
"Phœnicia! That is beyond Edom; nay, beyond Philistia," he said musingly. "Our fathers came farther, even from Palestine."
"Who were your fathers?"
"Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
"I have heard of them, three princes of Syria, many generations past!"
"Yes, my lord of Phœnicia," said the venerable man, his eyes lighting up; "they were princes in their land! But, lo! this day behold their children in bondage! And such a servitude!" he cried, raising his withered hands heavenward. "Death, my lord, is preferable to it! How long must we groan in slavery? How long our little ones bear the yoke of Egypt?"
At this moment one of the footmen of Prince Remeses found me and said:
"My lord prince seeks for thee!"
I put money in the hands of the venerable Hebrew and his son, and left them amid their expressions of grateful surprise. When I rejoined Remeses, he was already in his chariot. Having placed myself by his side, he said that he would now drive me around the walls of the new city, and show me its general plan. He had explained all particulars with his builders, and they were to commence the erection of the palace of the governor the following week.
The wide circuit we made along the plain afforded me a commanding view of the treasure-city in its progress. The walls at one part were literally black with slaves, who like ants traversed them, carrying their burdens of bricks to those who laid the courses. A vast pile, built more for strength than beauty, attracted my notice. "That is one of the twelve great granaries of the Prince Joseph, which he built one hundred and fourscore years ago, in the twelve districts of Egypt. It is still in use as such." As we passed the gateway, I perceived that the cartouch was defaced. Remeses said that this was the act of Amunophis, when he came to the throne, whose policy was to remove not only every trace of the rule of the Palestinian kings, but all the memorials which brought their dynasty to remembrance; and these granaries of Pharaoh's prime minister, Iosepf or Joseph, were among the noblest monuments of the reign of the last of the foreign rulers, the father of the Princess Ephtha, from whom Remeses is descended, in the fourth generation only, I believe.
At length we stopped at a beautiful gate of a small temple dedicated to Apis. Every part of it was minutely and exquisitely sculptured. It contained a single shrine, within which was the effigy of the sacred bull, a cubit in length, of solid gold. Boys dressed in the finest white linen were the officiating priests. While I was admiring this miniature edifice and the richness of all its appointments, Remeses said:—
"This is an affectionate tribute of a mother's love On my twelfth birthday she had this sacred fane dedicated in honor of the event. Here she consecrated me as a boy to the youthful god Horus. I remember perfectly, the solemn impression the whole scene made upon my heart and imagination. Once a year I come hither and pass a night watching before its altar and in prayer, rather in filial acquiescence with her wishes, which to me are laws, than from reverence for the god!"
We had already alighted, and were standing on the portico of the temple, which was of crescent shape, and bordered by a row of elegantly veined alabaster columns from Alabastron, rich quarries of the Pharaohs near the Cataracts. After examining the temple, and expressing the admiration which it merited, we were going out, when I saw a young Hebrew girl flying from the pursuit of one of the taskmasters. Just as we were entering the temple, I had seen her passing with many other females, some laden with straw, others with bunches of leeks and garlic, which they were taking to the fields for the dinner of the laborers, who were not permitted to go to their huts until dark, having left them at the first blush of dawn to commence their ceaseless toils. Those women who worked not in the brick-fields were the providers of food for the rest. This young girl I had noticed was bending painfully under an intolerable load of garlic and leeks, which she bore upon her head, and yet assisting a tottering woman, who was walking by her side with an equally heavy burden of provisions, in a coarse wicker-basket. I was struck with the elegance of her figure and with the beauty of her face, as well as with her kindness to her companion, when she herself needed aid. We were leaving the temple, as I have said, when I beheld her flying. As she came near, she saw the prince, and cast herself at his feet, embracing them, and exclaiming—
"O my lord—O great and mighty god! mercy!—save me!"
Remeses regarded her with surprise, and said, sternly yet not cruelly—
"What dost thou wish? Why dost thou fly from thy taskmaster?"
"When I cast down my load and took up my mother's, who was ready to die, he struck me because I could not take both together. I would have done it, O lord prince, but had not the strength."
"Go back to thy task, young woman. Thou shalt not be punished for a kind act to thy mother. The gods forbid we should destroy all filial ties, even among our slaves." This last sentence was spoken rather with his own mind than addressed to any one. "What is this I hear?" he continued, speaking to the sub-officer, who, seeing his slave seek the protection of Remeses, had stopped, a short distance off, expecting to have her sent back to him. "Didst thou strike this Hebrew girl?"
"She is wilful and intractable, your highness," answered the man humbly, "and—"
"Is there not a law forbidding blows to be given to the females of this people? You will deliver your rod of office to my chief servant here, and are no longer a taskmaster. It shall be known, that it is the will of the queen that women shall have light tasks, that they be treated leniently, and not made to suffer the punishment of blows."
The man, with a downcast face, came forward, and placed his rod in the hands of the chief servant, who was the captain of the twelve footmen of the prince's chariot, and who, at a glance from his master, broke it, and cast the pieces upon the ground. "Now go, and bring hither the basket. I will see what are the burdens you place upon the weak, and, henceforth, they shall be proportioned to the strength of the bearer."
The man returned several hundred yards along the road, and after several strenuous efforts, with great difficulty lifted the basket, and placed it at the prince's feet. To the amazement of all about him he stooped to raise the wicker-basket of leeks from the ground. Putting forth his strength he lifted it, for he is a man of great vigor, but immediately setting it down again, he said, with indignation flashing from his eyes, as he addressed the disgraced taskmaster—
"Seest thou what thou wouldst compel this frail child to bear upon her head? Thou art cruel and barbarous! Bind him! He shall go to prison."
"My lord, I am not alone—"
"So much the worse. If the abuse is wide-spread, it is time to correct it, and see that the law of the realm is observed. Take him away!"
Two of the servants seized him, and, tying his hands behind him with the thong of one of his own sandals, led him away into the citadel of Raamses. The Hebrew girl still kneeled, trembling and wondering. Remeses spoke to her kindly, no doubt moved by her tears and extraordinary beauty, and said—
"Go in peace, child. Return to thy mother. Fear no more the rod of thy taskmasters. The hand of the first that is laid on a Hebrew woman shall be cut off with a sword."
The young girl kissed the sandaled feet of the prince, and hastened to the spot where she had left her mother seated on the ground. Remeses, with his eyes, followed her, and sighed. Who can tell what heavy thoughts were passing in his mind! When he comes to the throne, I know him not, my mother, if the condition of the Hebrews will not be greatly ameliorated, and their lot rendered far happier. I saw the girl embrace and raise her mother from the earth, and then supporting her affectionately, lead her away towards a group of huts, not far off, in one of which, probably, was their abode.
"My Sesostris," said the prince, "walk with me along this terrace. I have yet to see the governor of the queen's granaries, and will converse with thee until he arrives."
The terrace ran along the south side of the low pyramidal area on which the temple was elevated. From it there was a lovely view of fields, and gardens, and groves of palm and orange trees, extending over the land of Goshen, which is the most fertile and highly-cultivated portion of Egypt that I have seen. From the terrace, steps of polished porphyry led to a garden fragrant with flowers, which were cultivated alongside of the temple, in order to make of them offerings of chaplets to the god, who was crowned with them every morning by the "flower priest." The office of this dignitary was as sacred as his who offered incense, which indeed is but the fragrance of flowers in another form, purified by fire. In this garden I saw the myrobalanum, with its rich fruit, out of which a rare ointment is extracted for anointing the priests; the phœnicobalanus, which bears an intoxicating fruit, and gives to the priests who eat of it divining powers; the graceful palma, or sheath for the palm-flowers; the almond-tree, brilliant with its flowering branches; the wine-giving myxa; the ivory-palm fruit, of which censers are made; the mimosa Nilotica, and the golden olive of Arsinoë. All these grew on one path, which traversed the garden close to the terrace, and I enumerate them, dear mother, as I know your horticultural taste, and that any thing about the plants of Egypt will gratify you. I have already selected several of the most beautiful, and intend, by the first ship that sails for Tyre from the Nile, to forward them to you. That they may be cared for, and rightly managed when you receive them, I shall send with them an Egyptian gardener. I have seen no oaks in Egypt, nor does our majestic Libanian cedar grow here. It is a land rather of flowers than of trees. The myrtle is everywhere seen as an ornamental tree, and is highly odoriferous in this climate. Here, I saw also the endive, and the Amaracus, from the latter of which the celebrated Amaracine ointment, used to anoint the Pharaohs, is expressed. One bed of variegated flowers, at the end of the terrace, attracted my attention from their combined splendor. There were the edthbah, with its proud purple flower; the ivy-shaped-leaved dulcamara, used by the priests for sacred chaplets; also the acinos, of which wreaths are made by maidens, to wear intermingled with their braided tresses. Above all towered the heliochrysum, with which the gods are crowned, and by it grew its rival, the sacred palm, the branches of which are borne at the feasts of Isis.
There were many other rare and beautiful plants, but I have enumerated these to show you what a land of flowers is this sunny land of Osiris and Isis.
The prince, after we had once traversed the terrace in silence, turned his thoughtful face towards me and said, betraying what was upon his thoughts—
"Prince, this is the problem of Egypt. Its solution calls for greater wisdom than belongs to man!"
"You mean the bondage of the Hebrew people?" I answered, at once perceiving the meaning of his words.
"Yes," he replied, with a sigh and a grave brow. "I have promised to acquaint you with their history. Listen, and as far as I know it you shall have it given to you. Our records, kept and preserved by the priests in the Hall of Books in the Temple of the Sun, give the following account of the origin of this race, which, allowing for the errors that are interwoven in all mere tradition, is, no doubt, worthy of credit.
"About four hundred years ago," says the History of the Priests, "there arrived in the land of Palestine a Syrian prince from Mesopotamia or Assyria, with large flocks and herds; having formed an alliance with Melchisedec, king of Salem, the two dwelt near one another in peace and friendship,—for not only was the Assyrian wise and upright, but the gods were with him, and blessed and prospered him in all that he did."
"This Melchisedec the king," I said, "was also favored of his god; and his virtues have come down to us fragrant with the beauty of piety and good deeds."
"Tradition has been faithful to him," answered Remeses. "Among the Arabian priests of Petra he is held as a god, who came down on earth to show kings how to reign and benefit mankind. With him the Prince of Assyria, Abram, was on terms of the closest friendship. At length a famine arising in the land where he dwelt, he came down into Egypt just after the invading hosts of Phœnicia and Palestine had inundated our kingdom, and conquering On and Memphis, had subdued Lower Egypt, and set up their foreign dynasty, known as that of the Hyksos or Shepherd Kings."
"This history is well known to our archives kept in the temple of Astarte at Tyre," I answered; "and therein we learn that the hero Saites, who had a warlike spirit which could not find field in Lower Syria, was threatened by famine, and hearing of the abundance in Egypt and the splendor of its cities, combined with the enervating habits which grow out of luxury and unbroken peace, he conceived the idea of its invasion; and at the head of an undisciplined but brave army of one hundred and seventy thousand men, horsemen and footmen, with three hundred chariots of iron, he descended through Arabia Deserta, and entered Egypt by the desert of the sea, capturing and fortifying Ezion-Geber on his march."
"These particulars are not so fully given by our historians," answered Remeses. "This ambitious warrior having entered the Sethroite country, encamped and founded a city which he made his arsenal of war; and from it he sent out his armies and conquered Memphis and the whole of Lower Egypt. The kings of Egypt, abandoning to him Lower Egypt, retired with their court and army to the Thebaïd, and were content to reign there over half the kingdom, while the haughty conquerors established their foreign throne at Memphis.
"It was," continued Remeses, "during the reign of Bnon, the first Phœnician Pharaoh after the death of the conqueror, that Abram came into Egypt. He had known this prince in Palestine when he was in his youth, and the king gladly welcomed so powerful a lord and warrior, who had in battle overthrown Chedorlaomer, the mighty King of Elam, and whose language was nearly similar to his own. This Prince Abram dwelt in Egypt during the continuance of the famine in Syria and near the court of the king, who not only took him into his counsels, but lavished upon him great riches. 'But the king,' says the history, 'becoming enamored of the beautiful Princess Sara, the wife of the Lord of Palestine, Abram removed from his court; and with great riches of gold, silver, cattle, and servants, marched out of Egypt into Arabia of the South, and so to his own city.'"
"It is probably," I said, "from this fact of Prince Abram's coming into Egypt about the time that the Phœnicians came, that some traditions have made him its conqueror and the founder of the dynasty of the Shepherd Kings."
"Yes; for this Abram was not only eminent as a warlike prince, but his usual retinue was an army, wherever he moved; and no doubt Bnon, the king, willingly let him depart when he had offended him, rather than meet the valor of the arm which had already slain five kings of the East, and taken their spoil. At length Prince Abram died and left a son, who succeeded him not only in his riches but his wisdom. After a time he also died and left a son, Prince Jacob, who had twelve sons, all princes of valor—but who, like the Arabians of to-day, lived a nomadic life. One of these brothers was beloved of his father more than the others; and, moved by envy, they seized upon him and sold him to a caravan of the bands of Ishmael, the robber king of Idumea, as it was on its way to Egypt. These barbarians sold the young Prince Joseph to an officer of the king's palace, Potipharis, captain of the guard, whose descendant, Potiphar-Meses, is the general of cavalry you met at the queen's banquet. This officer became the friend of the young Syrian, and raised him to a place of honor in his household. In the course of time the king, who was the eminent Pharaoh-Apophis, dreamed a dream which greatly troubled his mind, and which neither his soothsayers, magicians, nor the priests could interpret. Joseph, who was eminent for his piety, love of truth, and devotion to his God, being in prison—to which, on some false charge of seeking the love of his master's wife, he had been committed—had interpreted the dreams of two prisoners, one of whom, being released and hearing of the king's dream, sent him word that while in prison the Hebrew captive had truly interpreted a dream, which both he and his companion had dreamed. Thereupon Pharaoh sent for the Hebrew, who interpreted his dream, which prophesied seven years of great plenty, such as was never known in Egypt, and seven years to follow them of such scarcity as no kingdom on earth had ever suffered from. And when the Hebrew had recommended the king to appoint an officer to gather in the corn during the years of plenty, and to husband it in treasure-houses against the seven years of scarcity, Apophis at once elevated him to that high position. Removing from his hand his own signet ring, he placed it upon the finger of Joseph; and, having arrayed him in vestures of fine linen and placed a gold chain about his neck, presented him with the second state-chariot to ride in, and made him ruler over all his realm, commanding all men to bow the knee before him as to a prince of the blood, and second in power only to himself."
"And these," I said, glancing at a group of Hebrew laborers not far off, who were seated upon a ruin eating garlic and coarse bread for their noon-day meal—"and these are of the same blood?"
"Yes, Sesostris! But you shall hear their history. This Joseph reigned in Egypt above threescore years, holding in his hand the supreme power, save only that he wore not the crown of Apophis, who, given up to pleasure or to war, gladly relieved himself of the active cares of state. But while he was early in power, and yet a young man, his father and brothers were driven into Egypt by the seven years' famine, which followed the seven years of plenty."
"Then," I interrupted, "the dream of Pharaoh was rightly read by the Hebrew youth?"
"In all particulars he interpreted it with the wisdom of a god, who sees into the future as into the past! But, to resume my narrative—he recognized his father, Jacob, and his brethren."
"Did he make use of his power to punish the latter for their cruelty in selling him into bondage?"
"On the contrary, he forgave them! At first they did not recognize their shepherd brother in the powerful and splendid prince of Egypt, before whom they came under his name of Hermes-Osiris, which Pharaoh had conferred upon him."
"It must have been both a wonderful surprise and a source of terror to them when they at length found in whose presence they bowed," I said, picturing in my mind the scene when they perceived who he was. I imagined not only the trembling fear of the men, but the joy of the venerable father.
"Doubtless a most touching and interesting interview," answered Remeses. "Instead of avenging their cruelty he entertained them in his palace with a banquet, and afterwards solicited of Pharaoh, who refused him no request, that his father and brethren might dwell in the land."
At this moment a tall Hebrew young man passed, returning with a proud, free step, having carried his burden and placed it by a well, which some workmen were repairing. I gazed upon him with interest, fancying I beheld in his face the lineaments of the prince of whom Remeses was talking. I thought, too, the eyes of my companion followed the youthful bondman, as he went away, with something like a kindred sentiment; for, as he discoursed of the glory and virtues of Prince Joseph, it was impossible that we should not be drawn nearer, as it were, to these hapless captives of his race.
"It was in this part of Egypt where the Syrian patriarch dwelt. This very temple is erected upon the site of his habitation, and from here, as far as you can see, stretched the rich fields and fertile plains occupied by him, his sons, and their descendants. Here they erected cities, most of which were destroyed by the subsequent dynasty, with all the monuments of Joseph's power; and here they dwelt for seventy years in peace and plenty, increasing in numbers, wealth, and intelligence—their best-educated men holding offices in the state, and commanding the respect and confidence not only of the king, but of the Egyptians."
But, my dear mother, it is time I close this letter. Until I again take up my pen to write you, remain assured, I pray you, of my filial reverence and love.
Your affectionate
Sesostris