Moses did not return from his exile during the lifetime of Rameses, but ‘in process of time’ that sovereign died.[71] On the accession of Menephtah the hardships of the people were intensified, but their deliverance was close at hand. There is no need to relate the familiar story of their marvellous escape, and of the pursuit, in which so many of the chosen chariots and horses of Menephtah perished.
No inscriptions or records have, as yet, been found relating to the long sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt, to the oppression, or to the exodus, though there can be little doubt that some of the highest interest might be brought to light were the exploration of the historic sites of the Delta undertaken in earnest.[72] The chief event recorded of the reign of Menephtah is connected with the western boundary. On the north-east the frontier district bristled with fortresses, where sentinels kept their daily and nightly watch. The great military route that started thence was well guarded, and a regular communication kept up with the Egyptian garrisons, which were still maintained in some parts of Syria. By the same road there was a constant commercial intercourse with Phœnicia, and probably also to some extent with the distant Khetan allies;—we find, at any rate, from an incidental allusion, that during a famine in that land, the lives of the people were saved by corn sent from Egypt at Menephtah’s direction. But on the western frontier, the limits were not so definite. There was less anxiety and less watchfulness. Whilst the utmost thought and vigilance had been exerted in the north-east, the west had been left practically undefended. Whole districts had long been harassed by the inroads of the Libyan tribes, and cultivation had ceased. The invaders had even gained a firm footing in some places, and had ventured to settle themselves in the neighbourhood of the towns, whilst the fortifications of Memphis itself had been suffered to fall into neglect. The Libyan people apparently regarded these settlements as a sort of advanced posts, and in the fifth year of Menephtah they were followed up by the further advance upon Egypt of an immense host, composed of the Libyans, their mercenary troops, and allies drawn from every part of North Africa, and possibly from more distant regions still. Tidings were brought the king that Marmaiu, the Libyan king, had ‘sought out the best of all the combatants and of all the quick runners, and had brought his wife and children with him’—being apparently sure of success, and intent on finding a new home in the rich Egyptian land. No little alarm was excited throughout the country and even in the army itself, for we are told that the king addressed his troops ‘with flashing eyes,’ and upbraided them with trembling like geese, and not knowing what to do or how to meet the enemy. ‘The pillagers,’ he said, ‘are devastating the country; they have come, following their chief, that they may gain cultivated lands, and fill their mouths with food daily. Fain would they establish themselves in Khemi.... Behold, I am your shepherd. Who is like me to keep life in his children? Should they be anxious and frightened like birds?’ These remonstrances were received in silence. Then the king proceeded to declare that he would not ‘await the enemy’s approach, so that the land should be wasted by the advance of the foreign peoples. Their king is like a dog; he brags with his mouth, but his courage is naught.’ Pharaoh’s own heart, however, may not have been quite at ease, in spite of his brave speeches, when he retired to rest that night—but his confidence was revived by a dream. The god Ptah appeared to him, and put a scimitar into his hand, exhorting him to ‘put away dejection and desponding thoughts.’ ‘What am I to do?’ inquired the king. Ptah, in reply, directed him to proceed with all his forces, and join battle with the foe at Pi-ari-sheps (Prosopis). Accordingly, he there attacked the confederates, and gained a complete victory. The brunt of the battle, however, seems to have been borne by the mercenary troops. ‘For six hours,’ says the narrative, ‘the foreign mercenaries of his majesty hewed down the foe. The sword gave no mercy, and the land was full of corpses.’ The fugitives, amongst whom was the Libyan king himself, were pursued by the horsemen. All the goods and ornaments of the hostile prince were captured, and the skin tents of the Libyans burnt upon the field of battle. More than 14,000 were reckoned amongst the slain, and over 9000 were made prisoners. The battle of Prosopis secured tranquillity upon the frontier for a considerable time.
The reign of Seti Menephtah ii. affords very little worthy of notice. It was quiet and uneventful, but was followed by a period of confusion and civil war. The names of rival kings are preserved, but the details of the history are very obscure. A good general impression, however, of the disastrous scenes amidst which the nineteenth dynasty closed is given by Rameses iii., first king of the succeeding dynasty. ‘The land,’ he tells us, ‘had fallen into confusion; each man did as he chose; there was no sovereign master. The princes of the nomes bore sway, and men slaughtered each other through fear and jealousy. The end of these years of calamity was that Aarsu, a Syrian by birth, gained the chief supremacy, and the whole land did him homage. The gods fared no better than men; their images were overthrown, and no oblations were brought to the temples.
‘Then was Setnekht, the beloved of Amen, raised up by the gods. He was like Set in the day of his wrath, and terrible like the god of war. He took command of the whole country, and destroyed the evil-doers who had wasted Lower Egypt; he purified the great throne of Khemi, and restored that which had been disturbed. Each man saw and knew his brother again, from whom he had been separated as by a wall. The sacrifices were reinstated for the gods. He made me heir of the throne of Seb, and ruler of the lands of Khemi. Then he sought repose among the gods; the royal bark crossed the river, and he entered his eternal dwelling-place in Western Thebes.’
[CHAPTER XII.]
Twentieth and Twenty-first Dynasties—The Ramessidæ and the Priest-Kings.
(Circa 1200-970 b.c.)
It may be doubtful whether Rameses iii., son of the Setnekht who pacified Egypt and restored order, was connected by blood with the preceding dynasties. He bore the name of an illustrious predecessor, however, and throughout his reign he appears to have made it his aim to emulate the great Rameses. His first task was to reorganise the public service, which had fallen into great disorder; to appoint and to regulate the station and office of the prince-governors, of the soldiers of the army and their foreign auxiliaries, of the inferior servants and the bondsmen. The earliest years of his reign were disturbed by invasion both from east and west. The Shashu and the Libyans, ever hanging on the confines, were always ready to cross the border of the Delta when opportunity served, and during the tumults, amidst which the nineteenth dynasty closed, such an opportunity certainly presented itself. After assailing the invaders and driving them back, Rameses transplanted his prisoners into large fortified places, where they were kept under guard, and a certain quantity of woven stuff and corn was yearly exacted from them, for the service of the temples. But a more dangerous foe remained to be assailed. A certain tribe, known as the Mashausha, had penetrated the land south of Memphis, had entered the oasis of the Fayoum, and had not only gradually crept south, but had advanced eastwards from the Fayoum to the Nile itself. Of certain towns these foreigners had even held possession for years. In the fifth year of his reign, Rameses iii. attacked the Mashausha, and, after a fearful slaughter, drove them out of the land. The prisoners appear to have been employed as mercenaries in the army and navy, whilst their wives and children were removed to fortified places, and their flocks and herds confiscated to the service of the temple of Amen-Ra.