The Storehouses of the King; Or, the Pyramids of Egypt / What They Are and Who Built Them

by Jane van Gelder

So Joseph laid the foundations of each storehouse very deep in the rock on which it was built, and the materials were strong stones, such as would resist the force of time; these were to unite themselves with the rock, and become a basis and a sure foundation for that superstructure which was to be erected over it. They were to be so strong in order to sustain with ease those vast superstructures whose own weight was to be not less than the weight of the casing stones which he designed to be used. He erected its entire body, quite up to the roof, of stone. Its base was square, the sides rising up slantwise, till there was only a small square aperture left unfinished; these sides were in steps, so that the labourers could ascend to the aperture.

The interior had chambers for the officers to reckon the quantity of corn stored, and for the measure a stone coffer or box to measure the corn with. There were vast chasms and receptacles with passages like tubes leading to them, all the length from the walls, with their mouths outside the walls, which Egyptologists call air passages, so that the men could get to them from the exterior by the steps. The corn was thrown into these vast spaces from outside, from the apertures in the sides, and the aperture at the summit. When the whole receptacle was well filled with the corn, which was as plentiful as the sand of the sea, then all the apertures were stopped with stones, like stoppers of bottles, made for the purpose. The side steps were then encased, from the base to the summit, with large casing stones, so that the sides became level, and, with the coatings of cement, the entire building outside became level and smooth, and the top in a peak.

The corn within this grand storehouse was hermetically sealed, utterly impervious to the sun, rain, and wind. The doors of it, as in Solomon’s temple, were small, and in the sides. Now the whole of this structure was made, with great skill, of stones, and those laid together so very harmoniously and smoothly that there appeared to the spectators no signs of any hammer or other instrument of architecture, but as if, without any use of them, the materials had naturally united themselves together, the agreement of one part with another seeming rather to be natural than to have arisen from the force of tools upon them.

The foresight and discretion of Joseph were rewarded by Pharaoh, who gave him the powers of a king and the attributes of a god.

And the seven years of plenteousness that was in the land of Egypt were ended, according as Joseph had said, and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And the famine was over all the face of the earth. Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold corn unto the Egyptians; and all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn, because the famine was sore in all lands. Now Joseph’s thoughts reverted to his father’s home, and he knew that his brothers would be obliged to come to Egypt to purchase food, for the famine was very grievous in the land of Canaan. He gave orders that no man desiring corn should send his servant to purchase it, but that the head of each family should personally appear as a purchaser; he also proclaimed that no man should be allowed to purchase corn in Egypt to sell it again in other countries, but only such as he required for the support of his immediate family; neither should any purchaser be allowed to buy more corn than one animal could carry. He put guards at all the gates of Egypt, and every man who passed through the gates was obliged to record his name and the name of his father in a book, which was brought by the guards every night for Joseph’s inspection. By doing this he ascertained when his brethren entered Egypt. When they came and stood before him, they wondered at his magnificence, the handsome appearance and the majestic presence of the powerful man, but they did not recognise in him their brother. He sold them corn, but contrived to entrap them, so that they should bring down with them his own brother Benjamin, who did not come with them this time; they departed, leaving an hostage with Joseph, and on their next visit to buy corn they brought with them his brother Benjamin, and a letter and presents from Jacob. When Joseph recognised his father’s hand, his feelings grew too strong for him; the recollections of his youth overpowered him, and, retiring into a side apartment, he wept bitterly. He entertained all his brothers, and sold them corn, but the price thereof he returned without their knowledge into the sacks of each of his brothers. Before they left Egypt he made himself known to them, and, after greetings and explanations, he presented his brothers to Pharaoh; and Pharaoh, seeing they were goodly men, was much pleased and very gracious towards them. Then it was arranged that Jacob should come with all his family into Egypt; and Pharaoh gave his chariots for their accommodation. In due time Jacob and all his family came into Egypt. Joseph went to meet his father, dressed in royal robes, with the crown of state upon his head; and when he came within fifty cubits of his father’s company, he descended from his chariot and walked to meet his father. Now when the nobles and princes of Egypt saw this, they too descended from their steeds and chariots and walked with him. And when Jacob saw all this great procession he wondered exceedingly, and he was much pleased thereat, and, turning to Judah, he asked, “Who is the man who marcheth at the head of this great array in royal robes?” Judah answered, “This is thy son.” And when Joseph drew nigh to his father he bowed down before him, and his officers also bowed low to Jacob. And Jacob ran towards his son and fell upon his neck and kissed him, and they wept and shed tears of joy and gratitude. Joseph greeted his brethren with affection. And Joseph brought his father and presented him to Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And the King said unto Jacob, “How old art thou?” And Jacob answered him, and said, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”

And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread according to their families (1706 B.C.).

And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. When all their money was spent they brought their cattle unto Joseph, and he gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year. After this, Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s. And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt, even to the other end thereof. Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.

During these seven years of famine the Egyptians sold all they had, and that being insufficient they sold themselves, so that from subjects they became servants to Pharaoh. Joseph again showed his forethought and discretion, and called the people and said to them, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones. Thus they became serfs. The wretchedness and poverty of the people was complete; as if the curse of Noah on his son Ham was accomplished to the letter.

After this Jacob died, and his sons buried him in great state in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a burying-place, in the land of Canaan (1689 B.C.).

Joseph had two sons by his wife Asenath. At the age of one hundred and ten years this remarkable man died, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt, and afterwards laid in the ground near the banks of the Nile. And all Egypt wept for Joseph seventy days, and his brethren mourned for him seven days, as they did for Jacob his father.