This digression was not made so much to consider the probabilities of a flood having occurred as to give additional force to the historic fact that but a few generations after it is said to have occurred, immense tribes of people did exist in that portion of the world bordering on the eastern Mediterranean Sea, who were possessed of considerable general knowledge, immense wealth, and, for that age, good ideas of governmental justice; besides these people, it must also be remembered vast hosts of barbarians existed in the more remote parts of Europe, Asia and Africa, of whose origin and condition nothing can be positively known, either of which bodies of people could not have descended from Noah’s family through the common course of reproduction.
What concerns this inquiry most, is not whether all or any of the narratives of ancient writers are entitled to credence, but how and in what directions the ancient tribal nations extended themselves and became merged one with another. Following the history of Egypt from the time of Menes through the reigns of his successors—Busiris, Osymandyas (whose mausoleum displayed such extravagant magnificence), and Euchoreus, who built the famous Memphis and made it the key to the Nile—on through the space of two hundred and sixty years of the Shepherd Kings, from Phœnicia to Amosis, who expelled them, and reunited the country, and to Sesostris, the most powerful king and the greatest conqueror the world had then known, but little evidence of increasing proficiency in science and art is found, but much that the acquired standard was continually being extended among the people and among surrounding nations.
With the reign of Sesostris a new era was inaugurated, and a mighty impetus to general civilization, as well as to special advancement, was given by his wisdom and foresight. Amenophis, the father of Sesostris, no doubt feeling the weight of impending events, foresaw the necessity of preparing him to meet them. He not only took great care that his education in the arts and sciences, the principles of government, philosophy and the art of war, should be complete, but also caused all male children of Egypt born the same day he was, to be educated with him, with the distinct understanding that they were to be his future comrades, his officers, ministers and friends in the aggressive wars he intended he should engage in when he should ascend the throne. It is said that the celebrated Mercurius had charge over them all, especially in politics, war and government.
The first war Sesostris engaged in was against the Arabs, which his father sent him upon while yet quite young, that he might acquire practical knowledge in conducting military campaigns. This people, who had never before been subdued, he conquered, and added their country to Egypt The next year he invaded Lybia, a country to the southwest of Egypt. During this expedition his father died, leaving the throne to him. He immediately formed a no less design than of conquering the whole world. This was in 1491 B. C., and he was probably the first of the great conquerors of ancient times who conceived the idea of reducing the world to a single form of government, and most assuredly the first possessed of sufficient wisdom to carry out so gigantic an undertaking. The manner he set about to do this, and the capacity he evinced in all the preparations, we shall have occasion to compare hereafter with that pursued and shown by others in after time, simply remarking here that it is safe to conclude that Sesostris was great among the greatest; for, to boundless ambition—possessed by many—he united the capacity to sustain it, which few can boast. While making the most extensive preparations for raising and disciplining armies for foreign operations, he was not less active in providing for sustaining the dignity and power of his Government during his absence, which he foresaw would give opportunity for rivals to attempt to overthrow for their own benefit. His first army consisted of 600,000 foot, 24,000 horse, and 27,000 armed chariots, and its principal officers were the 1,700 youths who had been educated with him, and who now made it possible for him to secure perfect discipline and the greatest efficiency.
With this army he first invaded and conquered Ethiopia, and made it tributary to Egypt. He next fitted out an expedition of 400 sail, and made himself master of all the islands and coasts of the Red Sea, as a preparatory step to the conquest of Asia, then advanced into Asia, subduing all the countries, even “beyond the Ganges.” Returning westward, he conquered Scythia, Armenia, Cappadocia, Colchis, and all Asia Minor: then crossed into Europe, and would probably have subdued all its nations had he not encountered a great scarcity of provisions in Thrace, which caused him to return. Herodotus says that the Egyptian Empire extended from the Danube even beyond the Ganges, and included all of Africa, and that all over this vast territory there were erected pillars, on which was inscribed “Sesostris, king of kings and lord of lords, subdued this country by the power of his arms;” which, while it displayed a commendable spirit in marking the limits of his conquest, it at the same time evinces a growing personal vanity that afterward seriously tarnished his early fame.
After having thus conquered the then entire known world, Sesostris returned to Egypt with innumerable captives and laden with spoils, and, by devoting himself to enriching and benefiting Egypt, rather than to extending his dominions, fame and grandeur, showed that his ambition had expended itself in his first great campaign. From all that can be gathered of his reign over Egypt, it must be inferred that no country before, if since, was ever more happily disposed toward its sovereign. The many monuments of his greatness, throughout his dominions, were covered with inscriptions, asserting that all Sesostris’ mighty deeds were accomplished without burdening his subjects; but, on the contrary, they all had become able, through them, to pass the remainder of their days in “calm and repose.”
Having subdued so much of the world, had he been equally ambitious to extend over it the same beneficent Government that he held over Egypt—which he could easily have done through the numerous competent persons the foresight of Amenophis had provided him with, who were well versed in his policy and administration of affairs—Sesostris would undoubtedly have earned and been entitled to the appellation of the world’s benefactor. It appears, however, that he did not exert himself at all in this direction, but was content to receive the annual tributes he levied to enrich Egypt proper. His reasons for pursuing this course, rather than of endeavoring to reward his most worthy adherents by making them rulers of the countries they had assisted him to conquer, are incomprehensible, and that they should not have urged him to it equally so. When it is considered how wisely and happily he governed Egypt, it can be imagined how vastly he might have benefited the conquered people by diffusing correct knowledge of the art of government among them through extending his rule over them.
As it was, it came about, that various Egyptian colonies scattered here and there over the conquered country, and in this way were instrumental in spreading the wisdom of their nation. It was one of these colonies that afterward became the famous Athens—the seat of learning, literature and philosophy. It was about this time also that the use of letters was introduced by one Cadmus, whom the Egyptians claimed to be of their country; but the majority of writers agree that they originated in Syria, and that they were identical with the Hebraic. Of these, however, there were but sixteen, four others being added some two hundred and fifty years later, and the remaining four a long time afterward.
The reign of Sesostris may justly be considered as having produced more general and extended influence upon the world than that of any of his ancestors of any country, and that nothing occurred that can hold any degree of comparison to it until the time of Alexander, more than a thousand years afterward. Sesostris was succeeded by Pheron, and he by Proteus, who dedicated the beautiful temple to “Venus the Stranger,” supposed to be “Helen of Troy,” famous for her beauty, and who was stolen by Paris, from whom she was taken by Proteus and returned to the Greeks.
Under succeeding reigns, the glory of Egypt began to decline, violence and cruelty to usurp the places where justice and moderation had so long prevailed, and jealousies, petty malice and personal aggrandizement to take the place of that love of country which is superior to self; nor could aught else have been expected from the ill-advised luxury and ease the country obtained under Sesostris, which should have been converted into action and expended upon tributary nations. The downward tendency, or the disintegrating process, having begun, demonstrated that the principle upon which Egypt rose and flourished had culminated, and was now to be disseminated among other nations and tribes. Nor could any effort of succeeding rulers, who saw the process at work and understood the causes thereof, stop the downward tendency, which continued with but temporary interruptions until the death of Tharaca, 687 years B. C., when the kingdom remained in a state of anarchy, until twelve noblemen conspired to divide it among themselves. For some superstitious reasons Psammetichus, one of the twelve, was banished; but he, entering into a league with some Greeks, made war upon the eleven, defeated them, and again united the kingdom under one rule, and remained sole possessor of it until his death.