The Pillar of Fire; or, Israel in Bondage

by J. H. Ingraham

At length the voice of trumpets, faint and far off, broke the silence of expectation. Nearer and louder it was heard, now rising on the breeze, now gradually dying away; but soon other instruments were heard: the cymbals, the drum, the pipe and the cornet from a hundred bands poured upon the air a martial uproar of instruments, which made the blood bound quicker in every pulse. All eyes were now turned in the direction of the entrance to the grand causeway of the pyramids, and in a few moments, amid the answering clangor of the brazen trumpets of the queen's guards, a party of cavalry, shining like the sun, dashed into sight.

Their appearance was hailed by the vast assemblage of spectators with acclamations. Then came one hundred and seventy priests abreast, representing the male deities of Memphis, each attired like the image of his god—an imposing and wonderful spectacle; as in it Horus was not without his hawk-head, nor Thoth his horns and globe. Anubis displayed the head of a jackal, and Osiris held the emblems of his rank. These were followed by the high-priest of On, before whom was borne the shield of the sun, resting upon a car carried by twenty-four men, representing the hours. Following these were one thousand priests—a hundred in line—chanting, with mighty voice, the song of victory to the gods. They were succeeded by a battalion of cavalry, the front of which filled the whole breadth of the avenue. It advanced in solid column, till four thousand horsemen, in varied armor and arms, had entered the immense quadrangle. Now burst out afresh the clang of martial bands, and alone in his state-chariot, drawn by three black steeds, appeared the Prince of Egypt, standing erect upon the floor of his car. He was in full armor, and so splendid was his appearance, so majestic his aspect, that he was hailed with a thunder of voices, as conqueror! Leaving the golden-hued reins loosely attached to the hilt of his sword, he suffered his proudly stepping horses freely to prance and curvet, yet held them obedient to the slightest gesture of his hand. On each side of their heads walked three footmen. Behind him came his war-chariot of iron, from which he had fought in battle on the Theban plains. The horses were led by two lords of Egypt, and it was empty, save that it held his battered shield, emptied quiver, broken lances, the hilt of his sword, and his dented helmet—mute witnesses of his presence in the heat of battle. Behind the chariot was a guard of honor, consisting of a brave soldier out of every company in the army. But close to it, his wrists locked together with a massive chain of gold, which was attached to the axle of the war-chariot, walked the captive King of Ethiopia. His step was proud and defiant, and a constant smile of contempt curled his lip, as he saw the eyes of the spectators bent upon him, and heard their shouts of hostile joy on beholding him. He moved, the king in heart, though bound in hand. Over his shoulders hung a lion's skin as a royal mantle, but his feet were bare. Behind him came a solid front of chariots, which, line behind line, rolled into the square, until nearly three thousand war-cars had entered, and moved, with all the van of the vast warlike procession, towards the great pylon, before which, in her chariot, stood the Queen of Egypt; for, as soon as the head of the column came in sight, she had risen to her feet to receive her returning army.

When Remeses came before her, he turned his horses towards her and remained at her side. Past them marched first the foot-soldiers. To the sound of drums and the tramp of ten thousand sandals, they wheeled into the arena of temples, elevating their war-hacked symbols, each man laden with his spoil. Then it was, that a company of sacred virgins, issuing from the temple of Athor, each with a silver star upon her brow, all clad in white, and bearing branches of flowers, green palm-branches, ivy and lotus leaves, cast them before the army, and sang with beautiful voices the hymn of the Conqueror. As they passed, the priests, with censers, waved incense towards them, and others sprinkled sacred water in the path of the battle-worn warriors. The soldiers responded to the hymn of the maidens with a loud chorus, that rent the skies as they marched and sang.

When half the army had defiled, there came a procession of Ethiopian cars and wagons, drawn by captured oxen, and laden with trophies. Upon one was piled scores of shields, another was filled with helmets, a third bristled with spears, and a fourth was weighed down by cuirasses and swords. After many hundreds of these had passed—for the whole Ethiopian army was destroyed and their possessions captured—came chariots, heavy with chests containing gold, and silver, and bronze vessels; others glaring with ivory tusks; others full of blocks of ebony. Five royal elephants, with their castles and keepers, and a troop of camels, laden with treasures and mounted by their wild-looking guides, preceded a body of horse escorting the purple pavilion of the captive king—a gorgeous yet barbaric edifice of ivory frames, covered with silk and fringed with gold. Next came a painted car containing his wives, all of whom were closely veiled, and followed by a train of royal servants and slaves.

Bringing up the rear of the immense procession was another large body of horse, at the head of a long column of captives, twelve thousand in number—the disarmed and chained soldiers of the defeated monarch. Such a spectacle of human misery, such an embodiment of human woe!—how can I depict the scene, my mother! Perhaps when I am older, and have seen more of war than I have, I may feel less sympathy at a sight so painful, and be more indifferent to the necessary horrors of this dread evil.

Their features denoted them to be of a race very different from the Egyptian. They were slender and tall, with swarthy, but not black, faces like the Nubians—showing more of the Oriental than the African in their physiognomy. Their long hair hung half-way down the back, and they were dressed in costumes as various as the tribes which composed the army of Occhoris.

These captives marched in parties of from one to two hundred each—some linked by the wrists to a long connecting chain passing along the line; others, chained two and two by the hands, and with shackled feet, were led by their captors. Many of them were confined to a long iron bar, by neck-collars, eight and ten abreast, each compelled to step together, and sit or rise at the same moment, or be subjected to dislocation of the neck. Several, of the most unmanageable, were tied with their hands high above their heads, in the most painful positions; while other wretches were so cruelly bound, that their arms met behind in the most unnatural manner. There was a long chain of Nubian and Southern Arabian soldiers so bound, who writhed in agony as they were forced onward in the march. After these came hundreds of women and children, the latter naked, and led by the hand, or carried by their mothers in baskets, slung behind by a belt carried across the forehead. Finally, when these had passed the queen, who humanely ordered those so unnaturally bound to be relieved, the rear division of the army came tramping on, with symbols aloft, and drums beating, and trumpets blowing.

At length, this vast army of nearly one hundred thousand men, including chariots, horsemen, and foot-soldiers, had marched past before the queen, receiving her thanks and smiles, and the flowers that were showered upon them from thousands of fair hands. As they moved on, they wheeled in column, and gradually filled up the whole area of the vast quadrangle, save the space in front of the pyramidal gateway, where the queen and Remeses stood in their chariots.

At this juncture, the high-priest of On—a man of venerable aspect—amid the profoundest silence, advanced before them, and thus addressed Prince Remeses:

"Mighty and excellent prince, and lord of worlds, son of the queen, and upholder of the kingdoms of the earth, may the gods bless thee and grant thee honor and prosperity! Thou hast led the armies of Misr to battle, and conquered. Thou hast brought down the pride of Ethiopia, and placed the crown of the South underneath thy foot. Thou hast fought, and overthrown, and taken captive the enemy of Egypt, and the scourge of the world. Lo, chained he walks at thy chariot-wheels! his soldiers are captives to thy sword, and his spoil is in thy hand! By thy courage in battle, thou hast saved Egypt from desolation, filled her borders with peace, and covered her name with glory. Let thy power, henceforth, be exalted in the world like the sun in the heavens, and thy glory and virtues only be equalled by those of the sacred deities themselves!"