tain that the 600 chariots are not the whole force with which Besides, the 600 chosen chariots But the number of the last must

Pharaoh pursued the Israelites. were also the chariots of Egypt.

also be fixed according to the analogy of the first.

3. The author in verse 7 makes a difference between the chosen chariots and the chariots of Egypt. The first evidently compose the guard of the king. We have already proved the existence of a royal guard in Egypt from Herodotus and the monuments.' From Herodotus: 2 "But they (the warriors) enjoyed these privileges in turn, never all at once-a thousand of the Calasaries and as many of the Hermotybies were the yearly guard of the king, and to these was given, in addition to their land, each day,” &c., it is certain that at least in early times, these guards changed each year. It is however true, that this must not be understood as implying that the soldiers all succeeded to this employment, without selection, in successive divisions; but the rotation took place rather, only among chosen troops.

4. It may perhaps appear remarkable, that the Israelites, notwithstanding their very great numbers, at the appearance of the not very numerous Egyptian hosts of war, considered themselves as absolutely lost, and that the thought of withstanding them did not even occur to them. A remark in Wilkinson 3 assists in explaining this fact: "The civilized state of Egyptian society required the absence of all arms except when they were on service." If the Israelites were entirely unarmed when they departed, they could not think of making resistance.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AMONG THE EGYPTIANS.

According to chap. xv. 20, 21, after they had passed through the sea, Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed after her with timbrels and dances, and Miriam answered them (Moses and the children of Israel:) "Sing to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and the rider hath he thrown into the sea." Analogies for this scene, in more than one respect, are found upon the Egyptian monuments. First, we find upon them, as here,

Pages 24, 67.

92.168.

» Vol. I. p. 347. Compare a minute discussion of this circumstance, p. 402.

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separate choirs of men and women. Champollion discovered in the grottoes of Beni Hassan, "a picture which represented a concert of vocal and instrumental music; a singer is accompanied by a player upon the harp, and assisted by two choirs, one of which is composed of men and the other of women; the latter beat time with their hands."

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Further; the timbrel or the tambourine was, according to the representations of the monuments, commonly the instrument of the women, as the flute of the men.2 A description and drawing of the tambourine is given by Wilkinson. We also find upon the Egyptian monuments, as here, the playing of the tambourine even unaccompanied by other instruments, in connection with the dance and singing. Women," says Wilkinson,4 in describing a scene in Thebes, "beat the tambourine and darabooka drum, without the addition of any other instrument, dancing or singing to the sound." Finally; the monuments and description show, that among the Egyptians generally, music had a decidedly religious destination. Moreover, the tambourine was used among them in sacred music. Religious dances were performed in Egypt in the worship of Osiris.7

1 S. 53. der Briefe.

2 Wilk. Vol. II. pp. 253, 314. Res. II. 3. p. 37 seq.

8 Vol. II. p. 254.

⚫ Vol. II. p. 240, where a representation of this scene is found. Rosellini, II. 3. p. 78.

• Wilkinson, II. p. 316. 7 Ros. II. 3. p. 96. The players on the timbrels and cymbals always danced to the sound of their own music, and these dances formed part of the ceremonials used in religious worship, as well as in triumphal processions. Thus, David exhorting to the worship of Jehovah, says, “Praise him with the timbrel and dance." (Psalm cl. 4.) Though men did not often join in these religious dances, boys were indulged in this pastime. It was probably because dancing in public was regarded as unmanly, that David's doing so exposed him to the contempt of his wife; we are told, "David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart." (2 Sam. vi. 14-16.) The Jews appear to have brought this custom of religious dances from Egypt, for we find that dancing was a part of the idolatrous worship offered to the golden calf. (Exod. xxxii. 19.) But festive dances were not confined to religious occasions; they were celebrated at stated

We will here add those things which the examination of Egyptian antiquity furnishes in explanation of the remaining passages of the Pentateuch, where music is mentioned.

According to Num. x. 2 seq. two silver trumpets, chatzotzeroth, were ordered to be made for calling together the congregation, to give the signal for breaking up the camp, for use in war, (see Num. xxxi. 6, where in the war against Midian the trumpets are taken,) and for festal occasions. By the blast of another kind of trumpets, called iw, shophar, according to Lev. xxv. 8 seq., the year of jubilee was announced. From Joshua, chap. vi. verse 4, where the same instrument is interchangeably called trumpet and horn, we see that this last instrument had the form of a horn, and accordingly the chatsotserah must be the straight trumpet.

Among the Egyptians, remarks Wilkinson,1 trumpets were already in use in the earliest times of the Pharaohs. The sculptures at Thebes show this. Trumpeters are often represented there in the battle scenes, sometimes standing still and summoning the troops to form, and at other times leading them to a rapid charge. Rosellini says: "The Egyptians were acquainted with the real straight trumpet, and made use of it for warlike purposes, as far as the monuments show, as the Tyrrhenians make use of it only in war." See the description of this trumpet in Wilkinson,2 who also remarks that it was especially used in war. The crooked trumpet is not found on the Egyptian monuments, but Eustathius makes mention of an instrument in the fashion of a crooked trumpet, whose invention he ascribes to Osiris, and whose Egyptian name he gives, remarking that it was used for assembling the people to sacrifice. It is remarkable that,

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times by the villagers, especially at the season of the vintage, and it was at such a time that the Benjamites seized the virgins of Shiloh. (Judges, xxi. 21.) There were also dances and hymns to commemorate a victory, or to honour a conqueror; for when David fled from Saul, and sought shelter among the Philistines, "The servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?" ( 1 Sam. xxi. 11.)

2

Vol. I. p. 297.

' II. 260, 262.

T.

Upon the Iliad, 2. 219, ed. Lips. t. iv. p. 65: devripa i orpoyyúλn (σάλπιγξ) παρ Αἰγυπτίοις, ἣν Οσιρις εὗρε; καλουμένη, φασὶ, χνούη, χρῶνται δ' αὐτῆ πρὸς θυσίαν, καλοῦντες τοὺς ὄχλους δὲ αὐτῆς.

as among the Egyptians, so also among the Israelites in the Mosaic times, only the straight trumpet was in general use, and especially among both, this only was made use of in war."

In Gen. iv. 2, Jubal is represented as the father of all who play the lute and the pipe; accordingly the invention of these instruments is referred to a primitive age. It serves indeed as a commendation of this passage, that it represents music as beginning with its natural beginning, the invention of stringed instruments.1 But the great antiquity of stringed instruments in general, and especially of those named, receives special confirmation from the monuments. Among the Egyptians, we find, even in the most ancient times, very curiously constructed stringed instruments, especially a three-stringed guitar, which implies a long succession of imperfect attempts. Such instruments indeed are represented in the pyramids. "The oldest perhaps," says the same author, "found in the sculptures, are in a tomb near the pyramids of Gizeh, between three and four thousand years old." According to Rosellini, there is represented in the tomb of Imai, at Gizeh, an eight-stringed harp, which must belong to the times preceding the last fifteen dynasties. In another very ancient tomb at Gizeh, there are represented players on a similar harp. Indeed, upon the oldest monuments instruments are found with the most diverse number of strings, and any advancement in the art of constructing them cannot be traced.5

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CHAPTER V.

MATERIALS AND ARTS EMPLOYED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TABERNACLE AND PRIEST'S GARMENTS.

CULTIVATION OF THE ARTS AMONG THE EGYPTIANS AND ISRAELITES.

It has been adduced as an argument against the historical character of the Pentateuch, that the construction of the tabernacle and the priests' garments, implies a cultivation of the arts and an abundance of costly materials, such as we could not expect to find among the Israelites when they left Egypt. These materials consisted not merely of gold, silver, and brass, but also of costly stuffs, furs and spices, things which a nomade people are not accustomed to carry with them in their wanderings. It is accordingly argued, that the whole description of the tabernacle belongs not to history but to fiction. The assertion was made with so much confidence that it has by degrees become established and traditional.

The foundation for its confutation we have indeed previously laid,2 by showing that the prevalent view concerning the condition of the Israelites in Egypt, according to which they merely continued their nomade life, is a false one, since they there availed themselves of the advantages of Egyptian culture and civilization, and in some respects attained to considerable prosperity. To complete the structure, there is now nothing further requisite than to show, that the materials which were used in making the tabernacle and priestly robes were at that time already in use in Egypt, but most especially that the arts and contrivances which come into consideration were there already in existence and known. For the material and intellectual resources of the Egyptians, we justly consider as common to the Israelites with

them.

1 See Vater, Abhand. S. 648, De Wette, Beitr. I. S. 259. II. S. 260. Von Bohlen, S. CXII.