The Pillar of Fire; or, Israel in Bondage

by J. H. Ingraham

The queen usually passes the afternoon with her maidens, in her embroidering rooms, where she always has a large number of handmaids at work with the needle or the loom, or engaged in the art of needle-work, or embroidering for the use and decoration of the palace. She also, at evening, receives guests, and at that time Remeses is usually found in her company. She retires not long after the close of day, unless it be a moonlight night, when her players on instruments of music fill the gardens with harmony, while the queen and her friends, seated in the corridors, listen, or converse together. In conversation the queen never speaks evil of any one, and she frowns upon slander; hence this vice is scarcely known in Egypt, and the Egyptian ladies, when they hear one of their own sex spoken against, at once defend her, and find excuses for her. This is certainly a delightful trait, and should cause the world to concede to the dames of Egypt the foremost position in the rank of civilization.

I will now speak of the proposed succession of Prince Remeses to the throne. As I have before said, the king is the representative of the deity. His title, Ph'rah, or Pharaoh, signifies "the sun," "a king," the "lord of light." The head of the religion of the state, he is not only the judge and lawgiver, but commander of the army, and its leader in war. These latter duties have been delegated by his mother to Remeses, by the consent of her council, many years ago. The sceptre of Egypt is hereditary; but in the event of there being no lineal heir, the monarch can adopt one, if taken from the priestly or military class; as the army or the priesthood are the two professions followed by all men of rank, the navy not having been, until Prince Mœris, its admiral, demanded it, an exclusive service. Most of the Pharaohs have been from the military class, and younger princes, from the days of Osirtasen to Prince Remeses, have adopted the warlike profession; but it is the universal belief, that no former prince of Egypt has evinced such ability as Remeses to command vast armies, and lead the destinies of a mighty people.

When a prince is about to ascend the throne, the laws require that he should be instructed in all the mysteries of the religion of his empire, and initiated into the various offices of a sovereign pontiff. He is taught all that relates to the gods and other mysteries hitherto concealed from him, the services of the temple, the laws of the country, and the duties of a king, as inscribed in the ten sacerdotal books.

In order that in these things he may be properly instructed, he is enjoined to pass forty days in the temples of Osiris, Pthah, Isis, Athor, and other gods; and to remain one night, the last of all, in the temple of Thoth, before the pyramids, watching alone, praying for the blessings of the gods, and offering sacrifice and libations. This solemn vigil ended, and the sun risen, he is escorted by a grand procession of priests, who swing incense before him, and lead him to the temple of the Sun, to be crowned in the presence of all the nobles, high officers, and people of Egypt. This ceremony, as described in the royal books, is grand beyond conception.

In order, therefore, to enter upon this formal preparation, the Prince Remeses, on the third day after his interview with his mother, retired from the palace, and sought the holy solitudes of the temple of the Sun. A council of the hierarchy, assembled by the queen, had reluctantly given their consent to her abdication; but willingly yielded to the coronation of Remeses; for, however devoted a warlike nation may be to a reigning queen, the preference of the people's heart is for a king. While, therefore, the intelligence, which soon spread through Egypt, that Amense the Good was to lay down her sceptre in favor of her son, cast a shadow over their hearts, it was chased away by the light of the anticipated splendor, which the reign of a prince, a "Pharaoh," would shed upon the land of Egypt.

"As the good queen will still live, we need not grieve," said some of the artisans at work upon her obelisk; "we can rejoice in Remeses, and still honor his royal mother."

It was an affecting parting between the prince and his mother when he left the palace. I accompanied him to the vestibule of the temple. Here twelve priests, led by the high-priest, received him; and three others came forward to disrobe him of his vesture, his bonnet and sandals; while three more invested him with sacerdotal robes, a priestly tiara, and placed upon his feet the sacred sandals. Then inclosing him in their midst, as if to shut him out from the world, they moved forward into the gloomy cloisters of the temple, and disappeared with him from my gaze.

At his previous request, and at the earnest solicitation of the queen, who, in his absence, depressed in spirits, finds relief, as she kindly says, in my presence, I returned to the Island of Rhoda, and am now occupying the apartments of the prince; for when he is crowned king, he will remove to the superb old palace of the Pharaohs, on the banks of the Nile, between the river and the City of the Sun.

No one is permitted to speak with the royal novitiate until the forty days are ended; and when he proceeds from temple to temple, to go through in each certain rites and receive certain instructions, it is at midnight; and all persons are forbidden to appear in the streets through which the mysterious procession of priests passes.

It is now the thirty-fourth day since he entered upon his initiation. Since that time I have seen much more of Egypt and of the people. I have not, however, been far from the Island of Rhoda, as the queen constantly demands my society, and inquires of Acherres after me, if I am long away.