firmation from the monuments, generally acknowledged. It was for the interest of the oppressor to scatter the Israelites as much as possible through his whole land. Even now, the Fellahs are often collected in troops from the most remote provinces in Egypt, when any great work is to be executed. Secondly, the beard is wanting, which is so marked in the people of Syria on the Egyptian monuments and in the case of the prisoners of Sheshonk. But in one individual the beard is certainly represented, and if it is wanting in the case of the others, it is easy to account for it by supposing that they were compelled to accommodate themselves to Egyptian customs. There is a plain difference between the Israelites and those just made captives, who naturally appear upon the monuments in the costume of their own nation. Thirdly, the argument from Jewish physiognomy is not decisive; for the Egyptians, who generally did not give the same attention to the 1 1 Compare Plath, Quaestiones Acgypt. Gött. 1829, Rosellini, Wilkinson, and others. 2 Even Wilkinson, Vol. III. p. 358, says: “Although foreigners, who were brought to Egypt as slaves, had beards on their arrival in the country, we find that as soon as they were employed in the service of this civilized people, they were obliged to conform to the cleanly habits of their masters; their beards and heads were shaved," &c. The Fellahs exhibit the sadness of men accustomed to suffer, the timidity and fear of wretches who have no refuge or protection. In vain does the Nile lavishly distribute its treasures, none of them fall to the share of the peasant. In the midst of all the wonders of fertility, the Fellah keeps his eyes fixed upon the ground, as if he lived in an accursed country. There are in Egypt myriads of labourers who reap abundant harvests, and who never eat anything but herbs, linseed cakes, and boiled beans. The celebrated Amrú compared the Egyptians to bees working diligently for the advantage of others, but enjoying no fruit of their toil; and since the days of Amrú, the condition of the cultivators of Egypt has undergone but little change. An idea can scarcely be formed of the number of wretched creatures in the villages; everywhere are seen men almost naked, or covered with rags worse than nudity,-countenances furrowed with grief-youth in premature sadness-women in whom misery has effaced the traits of their The traveller in Egypt requires a very varied vocabulary of expressions to describe the intense misery which is presented to him at every fresh step, in a new shape. Nevertheless the population continues to increase, for the happy climate of Egypt seems of itself sufficient to support life, and supply man's prime necessities; the most miserable villages are filled with multitudes of children,—a circumstance seeming to prove, that there will be always men born to suffer, and that despotism will never want slaves.-Correspondance d'Orient, V. 73. sex. T. countenance as to costume, weapons, &c., but rather, for the most part, employed a certain general style of features, for the inhabitants of a particular region,1 have adopted the same characteristics for all the inhabitants of Syria, as appears from the sculptures. Assuming the correctness of this position, which seems to us very doubtful, would the Egyptians, since the Jewish cast of physiognomy throughout can by no means be denied, have borrowed the type for the Syrians generally, from the Jews? This at least is certain, that a people from the region in which the Israelites dwelt were found in Egypt in the circumstances represented in the painting, and, by a comparison of the picture with the account of Moses, we should be perfectly justified in the assumption that these persons were real Israelites. It is also characteristic of Egypt, when, in this same 14th verse, it is said, that the life of the Israelites was also embittered through all manner of service in the field." There is scarcely a country in which the cultivation of the land requires so much peculiarly servile labour as in Egypt. Irrigation especially, is here very laborious.2 USE OF THE PAPYRUS AND BITUMEN IN EGYPT. According to chap. ii. 3, the mother of Moses, taking a chest of papyrus, smears it with bitumen and pitch, lays the child in it, and put it down among the reeds on the shore of the Nile. That the author names the papyrus as the material of the chest, is a strong argument in his favour. In Egypt, and there only, was the papyrus employed in the manufacture of many articles of use. Mats, baskets, sandals, and various other things, were made of it.3 Even boats were constructed of it.4 The use of the papyrus be 1 Wilkinson, I. p. 386. See the more recent Commentators on Deut. xi. 10. Wilkinson, Vol. III. pp. 62, 146. Herod. 2. 96. Plut. de Is. et Osir. p. 395; according to which Isis is borne upon a boat of papyrus. Wilk. Vol. III. p. 61. Ros. II. 3. p. 124. The papyrus boat in which Moses was exposed, was "daubed with slime and pitch," that is, with both mineral and vegetable substances, to serve as caulking. A mineral tar frequently used for this purpose, is produced on the coasts of the Red Sea; it is remarkable for its antiseptic properties, and has been successfully used in the preparation of mummies. A human hand preserved by this substance, may be seen in the Museum of longs to the earliest times. Even in the most ancient sculptures it is found with writing upon it.1 Bitumen was one of the principal ingredients in embalming in Egypt.2 In a passage in the Travels of Minutoli,3 giving a description of the "analysis of the resinous composition of a black shining figure from the body of a mummy" by John, it is said: "The resinous mass is composed of the pitch-wood mentioned in a preceding note, and of a kind of bitumen which the Egyptians might have obtained from the Dead Sea, Babylon, Susa, or even from Phoenicia, or at least of an entirely analogous substance." John also found bítumous substances in the embalming materials in connection with a childmummy. According to Rosellini,5 there have been found in the tomb of Usirei, or Menephthah,6 many small statues of wood in the form of a mummy, covered with a stratum of bitumen.7 That pitch was known at this time in Egypt, we cannot doubt, since it is found in objects which belong to the oldest times. THE DAUGHTER OF PHARAOH FINDS THE CHILD, MOSES. According to chap. ii. 5, the daughter of Pharaoh finds the child, Moses, as, accompanied by her maidens, she goes to bathe in the Nile. That the women in Egypt were far less restrained than in the rest of the East, as this fact implies, we have already shown. That the king's daughter went to the Nile to bathe, is explained by the Egyptian notion of the sacredness of the Nile. Of this we shall speak in a subsequent part of this volume. A representation of an Egyptian bathing scene-a lady with four female servants who attend upon her and perform various offices, is found in Wilkinson.o THE ISRAELITES DIRECTED TO BORROW OF THE EGYPTIANS In chap. iii. 22, and the parallel passage where the Israelitish the Royal Asiatic Society; it is so very perfect, that the shape of the nails, and even the mark of the place where a ring was worn, may be clearly distinguished. T. 3 S. 373. women are directed to borrow of their Egyptian neighbours gold and silver ornaments, it is implied that such ornaments were even then in very general use among the Egyptians. This has been fully confirmed by late discoveries. On the monuments, remarks Rosellini, vases of costly metal are found, not merely in the representations of religious ceremonies and the offerings of kings to the gods, but also among the objects of household use. Very many such things are found in the tombs of mere private individuals. Therefore it is clear, that not the great only, but all who possessed any wealth, had such articles among their household furniture.2 MOSES' ROD. According to chap. iv. 2, Moses carries a rod, and this we find to be afterwards his inseparable companion. That he follows an Egyptian custom in this, is evident from chap. vii. 12, where II. 2. p. 345. Jewels were anciently used as money, and are sometimes so employed at the present day; hence the weight of the jewels given by Abraham's steward to Rebekah is specifically recorded, apparently intimating that they were designed, not only as ornament, but as part of the purchase-money paid for a wife: "It came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden ear-ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands often shekels weight of gold." Gen. xxiv. 22. That the jewels were thus given as money, is still more evident from a subseqent verse, describing the payment of Rebekah's dowry: "The servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother, and to her mother, precious things." Gen. xxiv. 55. These circumstances enable us to explain the true meaning of a passage, which, from a slight inaccuracy of translation, has been frequently the object of sceptical cavils. When God, immediately before the tenth plague, gave Moses directions respecting the leading out of the Israelites, part of his injunctions was: "Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver and jewels of gold." Exod. xi. 2. The word sw (Shaal) translated "borrow," literally signifies "ask" or "demand;" and the "jewels," as we have seen, were current coin: the meaning then is, that the Israelites should demand payment of the hire justly due to them for their labour-a demand with which the Egyptians, terrified by the slaughter of the first-born, readily complied. Thus this transaction, so frequently represented as a loan fraudulently obtained, was in fact a simple demand of strict justice. T. 2 Wilkinson, Vol. III. p. 223. According to the monucarried a stick from three each of the magicians carries his rod, ments, the Egyptian nobles generally to six feet long when they went out. One of them, preserved to our time, is of cherry-wood; but they generally preferred, as it appears, the acacia wood.' Egyptian priests, and others persons of rank, are represented as walking with sticks. WRITING MUCH PRACTISED IN EGYPT. The name of the Israelitish officers, which the task-masters of Pharaoh placed over them, (Shaterim,) the writers, is derived from the verb (Shater,) to write. This is highly characteristic of the state of things in Egypt. In no land of the old world, was facility in writing so great, and the materials for writing by any means so perfect, as in Egypt. "Stone-workers were accustomed," says Rosellini, "to engrave upon each square block an inscription in hieroglyphics; an impression was made upon the bricks, (which besides very frequently bore inscriptions),5 -even oxen were represented, the steward of the house kept a written register. They probably wrote more in ancient Egypt, and on more ordinary occasions, than among us." "The Egyptians," says the same author,6" differ specially from all other people, in that they constantly cover the interior and exterior of their houses, and the walls of all the innumerable apartments, of their wonderful subterraneous burial places, with images and writing." "Upon the implements, and even garments of the Egyptians, the name of the owner is frequently wholly or in part inscribed." The proper name of the profession of the men is written on these implements as they appear on the monuments, the name of animals upon their representatives, and that of implements of every sort upon the figures which represent them." "We must shut our eyes against the clearest light, if we would deny that the art of reading and writing was generally studied and practised in ancient Egypt, to as great a degree at least as it now is among us. Proof from the monuments is also furnished by Rosellini," that 1 Wilk. III. 386-8. * See the arguments for this in Th. II. der Beiträge zur Einl. S. 449 ff. 4 II. 6 P. 239. 3. p. "Wilk. III. 386. P. 252, 3. |