As may easily be imagined, the expulsion of the Egyptians from Palestine left the country in a very disturbed state, and marauding bands, having no longer anything to do in the way of wresting territory from the Egyptians, must have given considerable trouble to the native princes and governors, now once more independent in their own territories.
The loss of Palestine, on the other hand, probably brought with it a certain amount of loss of prestige [pg 303] to Egypt, which must have endured for some time. In any case, the Egyptian kings who succeeded Amenophis IV. seem to have made no attempt to regain the lost provinces.
Ankh-kheperu-Ra, the king who succeeded the ruler just named, lived for a while at Tel-el-Amarna, during which time, in all probability, the tomb of his predecessor's six daughters was finished. Several rings of this king exist, on two of which he calls himself “beloved of Nefer-kheperu-Ra” (or, in accordance with the indications of the Tel-el-Amarna tablets: Nafar-khoperu-Ria) and “beloved of Ua-en-Ra,” names of Amenophis IV. During his reign the worship of the sun's disc (Aten, or, if the derivation from the Semitic Adon, “lord,” be correct, Aton) began to give way to that of the national gods of Egypt. He reigned thirteen years (1365-1353 b.c.), and was succeeded by Ra-kheperu-neb (1353-1344). The paintings in the tomb of Hui at Thebes show that tribute was still received from the Syrians (Rutennu), as well as from the people of Kush in the Soudan. Evidently the road was being paved for the conquest of the lost provinces of Syria.
After this came a ruler who seems to have held the throne only on account of his wife being of royal blood. According to Petrie, he was “divine father Ay,” and his wife's name was Ty. He reigned thirteen years (1344-1332 b.c.). During his reign a complete reversion to the old worship took place.
Ay's successor, Ra-ser-kheperu (Hor-em-heb), 1332-1328 b.c., was apparently also a commoner, and is identified (Petrie) with the Hor-em-heb who was general in an earlier reign. He is represented being adored by negroes and Asiatics.
One or two other obscure names occur, and then begins the reign of king Rameses I., who came to the throne about 1300 b.c. This reign was short enough, but there is hardly any doubt that in it the [pg 304] prosperity of Egypt was renewed. From the treaty of the Khita with Rameses II., the grandson of Rameses I., we learn that the latter had a war with the Khita, and from the fact that he founded a storehouse for the temple of his divine father Hor-khem, and filled it with captive men-servants and maid-servants, we may conclude that he was fairly successful in his warlike expeditions.
With his son, Seti (Sethos) I., or Meneptah (“beloved of Ptah”), we attain firmer ground. In the very first year of his reign he warred in the east, among the Shasu Bedouin, “from the fortress of Khetam (Heb. Etham) in the land of Zalu, as far as Kan'ana (Canaan).” Kadesh, at that time a city of the Kheta (it had apparently fallen into the hands of the Hittites during the reign of Amenophis IV.), was conquered by him. Not only the Hittites, however, but also Naharain (Naharaim), the country of which Dušratta of old had been king, upper and lower Rutennu (Canaan and North Syria), Sinjar, the island of Cyprus, and Cappadocia, felt the force of his arms. His son, Rameses II., was associated with him on the throne, and afterwards succeeded him. This took place about 1300 b.c. It is to this ruler that the glory of the name of Rameses is principally due, and his grandfather, the first who bore it, shines mainly with a reflected light.
It is impossible here to do more than touch upon such of the details of his career as are essential in the present work. In all probability he is best known on account of his expedition into Syria, and the conquest of the Hittites, who, as recorded in the celebrated heroic poem of Pentaur, were allied with a number of other tribes, including the people of Naharaim, Aleppo, Gauzanitis, the Girgashites (?), Carchemish, etc. The result was success for the Egyptian arms, and the Hittites, on the whole, submitted, though some of the towns acknowledging [pg 305] Hittite rule, notably Tunep, refused to accept Egyptian suzerainty, necessitating another expedition, the result of which was, that the Egyptians found no more opposition to their overlordship. In his eighth and succeeding years he fought against the Canaanites, and in his descriptions of his operations there, many familiar names are to be found—names of great interest to all students of ancient Oriental history. It was in his eighth year, according to the texts in the Ramesseum, that he conquered Shalam (Salamis W. of Capernaum, according to Prof. Flinders Petrie), Marom (Merom), the spring of Anamimi (identified with Anamim), Dapur (identified with Tabor by Brugsch), and many other places.
Rameses II. is generally regarded as the Pharaoh of the Oppression, and one of the tasks placed upon the oppressed Israelites was the building of his store-cities, Pithom (Pi-tum, discovered by M. Naville when excavating for the Egypt Exploration Fund) and Raamses, the Pi-Ramessu of the inscriptions, concerning which there is a very interesting letter by an Egyptian named Panbesa, who visited it. As Brugsch says: “We may suppose that many a Hebrew, perhaps Moses himself, jostled the Egyptian scribe in his wandering through the gaily-dressed streets of the temple-city.”