When I came hither, after visiting Baal-Phegor and other places, he received me with affection, and gave me rooms in his palace, and servants, and a place at his table. I found him dwelling in a city he himself had builded, and reigning the wealthiest, wisest, and yet humblest prince in all the East. Around it lay the cities of Shuh, Teman, and Naamath, the lesser princes of which are his bosom friends, and once a week meet at his hospitable board. They hang upon the words of his lips, and reverence him as a father. He also possesses vast herds of cattle and oxen, which cover his plains; fourteen thousand sheep are on his mountains; six thousand camels; and stores of silver and gold. He has seven sons, who are princes of as many provinces, and three daughters, the youngest of whom, Keren-happuch, is married to the Lord of Midian; for when the Prince of Uz, three years ago, travelled down into Egypt with a large caravan of his merchants, he passed through Midian, having this daughter in company, who, being comely in person, was admired by the prince of that land, and by him asked in marriage of her father. Of the two daughters who remain, no women in all the land are found so fair. Such is the prosperity and power of this mighty and wise prince.
Now, at length, my dear brother, I have written the book of the life of this venerable man; not as I began it in Egypt, with imperfect ideas of the God of heaven, whose servant he is, but from his own lips have I received the narrative which I inclose to you. When you have read it, you will arrive at the knowledge of the Almighty, whose name, and glory, and being, and goodness, and justice, and love, are recognized in every page. As you read, reflect that the God of the Prince of Uz is also my God, and the God worshipped by our fathers when they were in Syria. Away, O Aaron! with all the gods of Egypt! They are brazen and golden lies, all! The myth of Osiris and Isis is an invention of the priests. The whole system of their mythology is hostile to true religion, and the adorers of idols are the worshippers of Satan—for this is the name of that spirit of evil, antagonistic to the true God, hitherto represented to us under the title of Typhon.
It would take a score of papyri for me to convey to you the course of divine and sage instruction by which I arrived at that clear, luminous, and just notion of the Lord God of heaven and earth, which I now hold; the possession of which fills my soul with repose, my intellect with satisfaction, my heart with joy, peace, and love to God and man. With this certain knowledge of the Almighty that has entered into my soul, is an apprehension of His omnipresence, His truth, holiness, majesty, and benevolence; and a consciousness that I have received his Divine Spirit, which last is, as it were, a witness vouchsafed of Himself to me. By the light of this new spirit within me I behold His glory, and recognize that He is my God, my Creator, my Benefactor, and Lawgiver. I feel that in Him I live, move, and have my being, and that besides Him there is no God. The realization of these majestic truths, O my brother, is a source to me of the profoundest happiness. Before their light the dark clouds of the myths of Egypt dissolve and fade away forever!
When I speak of Him I find new language rise to my lips: when I write of Him my words seem to clothe themselves with sublimity and majesty. Henceforth, like the holy Prince of Uz, I am a worshipper of One God, whose name is the Almighty, and the Holy One.
To Sesostris I have written of these great things, and to you also I will send a treatise, that you may, without obscurity, behold His unity and glory as they were known to our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, before the false worship of Egypt corrupted our hereditary faith. With this knowledge, O Aaron, our people, even in bondage, are superior to Pharaoh on his throne.
Your affectionate brother,
Moses.
LETTER IV.
REMESES TO MIRIAM.