Adule, supposed, by some, to be near the present Arkeko, latitude 15° 30′ N., is called, by Pliny (vi. 29.) the very great emporium of the Troglodytes and the Ethiopians, and the commerce chiefly consisted in ivory, horns of the rhinoceros, hides of the hippopotamus, shells of the tortoise, sphinxes, and slaves.[82] According to Bruce, there are, at the entrance of the Arabian Gulf, the ruins of a place, from which, to Arabia Felix, the passage only requires a few hours. The direct commerce with Arabia, and sale of her manufactures in that populous peninsula, must also have been very great; but the commerce of Africa was, doubtless, the principal source of the power of Meroe.
The superfluity of gold, which Herodotus (in his account of the Ichthyophagi sent as ambassadors, or rather spies, by Cambyses to the king of Ethiopia), describes as being applied to such common purposes, that even the prisoners were bound in chains of that metal, may, perhaps, have been a Greek mode of hyperbolically expressing its great abundance. I believe the supply of this metal to have been drawn chiefly from the interior. Diodorus says (lib. i. 29.), and Strabo repeats the passage, without acknowledging his author, “that island contains mines of gold, silver, iron, copper, and great abundance of ebony, and various kinds of precious stone, και μέταλλα χρυσου τε και αργύρου, &c., but the search of the Pasha after them has been fruitless. She may have derived a certain portion from mines in her own territories, and even in the island, which are now exhausted; but, from the limited traces of such mines hitherto discovered, I conceive it more probable that she obtained that abundance of the precious metals, not only from the now exhausted mines in the Great Nubian desert[83] (see pages [23.] and [28.]), but principally from the centre or the south of Africa. The Turkish governors now, when they make their expeditions into the Habeesh and the negro countries, frequently amass an immense quantity of gold; it is said, as much as 2000 or 3000 ounces; and before the conquest of the Pasha, I am informed that every peasant girl wore gold ornaments to a large amount. The inhabitants of the countries south of Sennaar are described to me as still possessing great abundance of gold, which must, in fact, be the case, for many merchants have told me that there is always plenty in the markets.
The exclusive commerce which Meroe must have long enjoyed with so considerable a portion of that vast continent, was quite sufficient to raise her to a great height of opulence. The countries of the interior, if not really conquered by her, would, at all events, gladly exchange their gold, and other natural productions, for her manufactures and merchandise, which, doubtless, far exceeded in quality what they made themselves, or could procure elsewhere, being the production of a people more advanced in civilisation and the arts; while they, isolated by immense deserts from the rest of the world, would be little visited, except by the caravans from the metropolis. Gold was, probably, not the only return these countries afforded to Meroe. Brown has given an account of the productions of Darfour, and, as I have said before, 2500 camel loads of gum are sent yearly from Kordofan to Cairo. Iron mines have been found both in Kordofan and Darfour. I have specimens of this metal from the latter country, which is current in the bazaars, like money.[84] I may here remark, that, not improbably, the Ethiopian stone, mentioned by Herodotus as employed to make incisions in the bodies, for the purpose of embalming and forming them into mummies, was iron procured from that country by the Egyptians, who had no mines of their own. Ivory is still found abundantly in Abyssinia, and also in the province of Fazoukl; and elephants are always found in the territory of the Bugara tribe, behind Kordofan. Probably Meroe received many other commodities, with which an imperfect knowledge of those remote regions prevents us from being acquainted; besides others, perhaps, which are no longer produced.
Herodotus (Thalia, 97.) says,—“The Ethiopians on the confines of Egypt, whom Cambyses subdued in his expedition, and those who inhabit the sacred island of Nysa, celebrate festivals to Bacchus. These Ethiopians and their neighbours bring, according to my memory, two half measures of pure gold, two hundred (φάλαγγας) long round pieces of ebony, five Ethiopian children, and twenty-large elephants’ teeth.” This passage reminds me of that magnificent procession in a tomb at Thebes, of the time of Thothmes III. Fifty figures are represented, exclusive of the Egyptians, painted red; six are black, and four of a dark brown, but apparently of the same country. These people, not having the Egyptian dress, are doubtless Ethiopian, and most of them are so called by the hieroglyphics. The splendid presents which they are presenting to the royal owner of the tomb, almost exactly correspond with the account just quoted from Herodotus.
They consist of ivory, ebony, a most beautiful collection of vases, and a variety of animals,—horses, cows, the giraffe, capricorn, leopards, cynocephali, greyhounds, &c. Among a gorgeous pile of offerings appear heaps of gold and silver, skins, precious wood, and indigo. In the same procession are also thirty-seven white people, with very nearly the features of Jews, although many, from the hieroglyphics, consider them to be Scythians. Some of the latter are leading a chariot and horses, an elephant, young children, and one of them a bear; they are also carrying a variety of elegant vases. I conceive these presents, with the exception, perhaps, of the bear, to be chiefly from Ethiopia, and from the richness and elegance of the form of the vases, the abundance of gold and silver, and the curious manner in which the latter is wrought into the form of the heads of animals, we have the very strongest proofs of the exquisite taste, knowledge, and wealth of the Ethiopians: but as this procession is so extremely interesting, so intimately connected with Ethiopia, and is, at the same time, one of the most gorgeous and magnificent paintings that adorn the walls of Thebes, I have selected it from my Egyptian portfolio, conceiving that it will give great additional value to this work to publish it with all the colours, which still exist, almost quite fresh. The hieroglyphics are unfortunately very much defaced, but sufficient remain to distinguish in several instances the names of the people and that of the King, Thothmes III., who reigned about 1500 B.C.
Parts [I.] [II.] [III.] and [IV.] form the whole of this procession; they are drawn to a scale of two inches to a foot, so that the reader may join them together, if he thinks proper. I will give a detailed description of them according to the plates. The first figure in [Part I.] has in one hand an ornamented vase, containing perhaps dates or some other dried fruit, in the other, apparently, an ivory club, and a string of precious stones hanging from his arm. The second figure has a couple of feathers in one hand, which are evidently those of the ostrich, from the circumstance of the vase he carries in the other containing the eggs. The third and fourth in this row bear a tree. The fifth carries a bowl, apparently of dates, in one hand, and in the other a couple of ostrich feathers, and a cord to which a leopard is attached. The sixth man has a gold or gilded vase in his hand, and has also charge of a monkey. The seventh bears a log of ebony on his shoulder, and is also leading a capricorn, an animal which abounds near Mount Sinai, and also, I believe, in the Bahiouda desert. The eighth has a log of ebony on his shoulder. The ninth, tenth, and last, are negroes, which may be distinguished from their colour and features. They have blue skull caps[85] and cinctures, with blue and red borders around their waists. The two last are carrying elephants’ teeth, and one of them has a string of precious stones, and the other the skin of a leopard turned inside out. The other negro is carrying a log of ebony, and, as will be observed, the light-coloured veins in that wood are distinctly marked.
From a Drawing by G. A. Hoskins Esqr.
GRAND PROCESSION.PART 1.
From a Tomb at Thebes.