in judicial transactions every thing was transacted in writing. The scribes, who meet our eyes wherever we look, act an important part. The judges of the under-world all carry upon their heads the symbolic pen of truth and justice. The passion for writing was so incorporated with the business of Egypt, that even now the last remains of the Egyptians, the Copts, are in exclusive possession of all secretaries' posts, and, as it were, form a nation of scribes. These Coptic scribes compose a numerous community, with a kind of hierarchy. These references show, that these and the remaining passages of the Pentateuch, which imply a great extension of the art of writing among the Israelites in the time of Moses, only make known what cannot have been otherwise, and thus are a strong confirmation of the narrative. These passages, so far from witnessing against the Mosaic period, have now become just so many proofs for the same. The little foundation there is at the present time for the argument against the authenticity of the Pentateuch, from the non-existence, or at least the limited diffusion of the art of writing, is shown by such facts as this, that Salvolini 5 allows that the manuscript of Sallier, containing a description of the expedition of Rameses the Great against the Scheta and their allies, was written about the year 1565 before Christ! Whether in this particular case he is in error or not, is, for our argument, a matter of indifference. For, it is sufficient that an inquirer so generally esteemed for discrimination, can suppose such a date possible,—that he did not even consider it necessary to question whether writing existed at that time in Egypt. We will here make some additions to our Essay concerning writing materials in the Mosaic period. The Egyptians wrote with reddish ink.7 The common material on which they wrote was paper made of the papyrus plant, which is found in great quantities in the common tombs. The great abundance of coarse 4 Ros. p. 272 seq. See e. g. Girard in the Descr. t. 17. p. 192. Ros. II. 500. They are found collected in Th. 2. der Beiträge, S. 457 ff. • Th. 2. der Beiträge, S. 481 ff. 7 Ros. II. 2. p. 207, with which, in order to call to mind that the use of ink is implied in Num. v. 23, compare what was said on this passage, Beiträg, Th. 2. S. 489. and fine paper which, from the dates, belonged to the different dynasties of the Pharaohs, as least as far back as the 18th, make it certain, that the use of paper in Egypt at the time of Alexander was very old, and therefore refutes the declarations of Pliny. The Egyptians also wrote with ink and red chalk upon cloth. We have in our possession, wrappers of mummies of byssos, written over with the ritual for the dead. They also wrote catalogues, accounts, and other such like things, with ink upon wood, vessels of Terra Cotta, pieces of limestone, &c.2 Finally, they also wrote on parchment.3 PREPARATION OF STONE FOR INSCRIPTIONS. 4 The passage, Deut. xxvii., according to which the stones to be written upon were to be first covered with lime, has already been explained and verified from the antiquities of Egypt. We here add also, a reference to Wilkinson, Vol. III. p. 300, where the sandstone of the Egyptians is said to have had a kind of stucco spread over it before the paintings were made, and even granite was covered with a similar composition. Prokesch says, "I saw one, (among the tombs in the pyramids of Dashoor,) where a red mortar is first laid upon the stone, and then the hieroglyphics and a figure of the apis are impressed upon this coating." THE BASTINADO. The scene in chap. v. 14, where the officers of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptian overseers of Pharaoh placed over them, were beaten because those under their charge had not performed their task in brick-making, is placed vividly before our eyes in the representation of an Egyptian bastinado in Wilkinson." With this compare another representation, where "the labourers are stimulated to work by the persuasive powers of the stick." The first painting shows conclusively, that the mode of inflicting stripes, described in Deut. xxv. 2, (the guilty person is laid down flat upon the ground before the judge and beaten,) was precisely Ros. p. 227. $ Wilk. Vol. III. p. 152. 2 Ros. 228. Erinnerungen aus Aeg. und Kleinas, Th. 2. S. 31. 7 Wilk. II. p. 42. the Egyptian mode, Wilkinson describes it in the following words: "Men and boys were laid prostrate on the ground, and frequently held by the hands and feet, while the chastisement was administered." THE SHOTERIM OF THE ISRAELITES, THE SAME AS THE MODERN Analogy, for the taking of officers from the oppressed people themselves, who are made responsible for the performance of prescribed labour, may be found in modern Egypt. This same thing is done among the Arab fellahs, whose condition, under the government of the Turks, as the description of Michaud, for example, shows, agrees in many respects remarkably with that of the Israelites. In each village, one of the Arabs, under the title of Sheikh el-Beled, occupies the place of mediator between the government and the people. He must see that the men perform 1 Compare Rosellini, II. 3. p. 274, and concerning the presence of a magistrate at the execution of the punishment, the same author, p. 278. From the monuments, we find that this descent of the bastinado in due subordination was the established rule of ancient Egypt, which, like modern China, was governed by the stick. The Moslems, who are well acquainted with its efficacy, have a favourite proverb, which says, "The stick came down from heaven, a blessing from God." The rulers of Egypt in every age have taken care that their subjects should have full enjoyment of that blessing. Ammianus Marcellinus informs us, that in his days endurance of the bastinado was a point of honour. "An Egyptian," says he, "blushes if he cannot show numerous marks on his body, which evince his endeavours to evade the taxes." Matters have not changed much since his time. 66 "Nothing," says M. Michaud, can equal the severity with which the imposts are levied. I have often seen the fellahs pursued by the merciless tax-gatherers, who exclaimed, Pay, pay!' ‘Ma Fich,' (I have nothing,) was the answer. You must pay,' retorted the officer, and forthwith a shower of heavy blows fell on the peasant's shoulders. The instrument of punishment on these occasions is a whip, made of the hide of rhinoceros. The fellahs make no doubt that this whip may claim the most remote antiquity, and that it was used in the time of the Pharaohs to enforce the payment of these imposts. Crowds of inspectors, and multitudes of agents, are met everywhere: one-half of the population seems employed to watch and torment the other. What will surprise you is, that the tax-gatherers, when convicted of malversation, receive the bastinado like the fellahs, and are shut up with them in the same prison.” Ꭲ . ' Correspondance, t. 5. p. 254. the prescribed labour, and collect from them the taxes which the government imposes upon them. The Sheikh el-Beled is often seen under the stick of the Kaim-makam, the Kashif or the Mamoor, in the place of some individual of the common people, of whom he in turn afterwards takes vengeance.1 THE DUTIES OF THE SHOTERIM. Since we are now occupied with the Shoterim, we will also add, that the position, hitherto not properly understood, which they, according to the precepts in Deut. xx. 1 seq. must have held with reference to warlike affairs, (they had the care of levying soldiers, and excusing those unable to perform military service, and they delivered the troops over to the military chiefs, the "captains of the armies," in verse 9th,) is explained by the post which the scribes occupy in the same sphere in modern Egypt, and in all probability the whole institution of the Shoterim, as it is entirely alien to patriarchal customs, is of Egyptian origin. The scribes in the representation of Egyptian warlike scenes, act an important part. In levying soldiers, for instance, they write down the names of those who are brought before them by their commanders.2 They count, in the presence of the king, the hands of the slain which have been cut off, and sometimes also their tongues and other members of the body; they make a statement of the weapons, the horses, and the rest of the booty, and present it to the king, and they perform whatever such like things there are to be done. THE ARROGANCE OF THE PHARAOHS. The insolent pride with which Pharaoh received the message communicated by Moses, as: "Who is Jehovah, that I should hear his voice, to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, and will not let Israel go," in chap. v. 2; the obstinacy which he afterwards exhibits, when the divine punishments fall upon him, one after another, in deciding to go to destruction with his land and people, rather than yield, are proved on the monuments in vari 1 Ros. II. 2. p. 257. Ros. II. 3. p. 218. 8 Wilk. I. p. 339. ous ways, to be in accordance with the genuine spirit of a Pharaoh. A comparison of the representation of the victory of Remeses Meiamun, in Thebes, explained by Champollion, is of special interest in this connection. The Pharaoh, it is there said, at whose feet they lay down these trophies of victory, (the severed right hand and other members of the body,) sits quietly in his chariot, while his horses are held by his officers, and directs a haughty speech to his warriors: "Give yourselves to mirth; let it rise to heaven. Strangers are dashed to the ground by my power. Terror of my name has gone forth; their hearts are full of it; I appear before them as a lion; I have pursued them as a hawk; I have annihilated their wicked souls. I have passed over their rivers; I have set on fire their castles; I am to Egypt what the god Mandoo has been; I have vanquished the barbarians; Amun Re, my father, subdued the whole world under my feet, and I am king on the throne for ever." It is said that we mistake the whole character of Champollion's work, if we assert the literal truth of this translation; but the spirit which the speech breathes may always be recognised from it. The ancient Egyptian kings named themselves in their pride, Kings of the whole world,3 and what is yet more, they in this arrogance claim divine honours for themselves. This can be proved by a multitude of arguments, of which we will here give only a few. The Menephtheum at Thebes has a double character,* that of a temple and palace. It is in all its plan destined for the dwelling of a man, and yet it reminds one, by its decorations, of the consecrated residence of a god. Even the name Pharaoh is a monument of this idea. It cannot be doubted that it designates the king, as the incarnation of the sun, which the Egyptians named Phre. The proof of this Rosellini' furnishes, relying specially upon the fact, that among the royal emblems, a disk, representing the sun, takes the first place. This is, accordingly, In den Briefen aus Aeg. p. 227. "The Pharaohs frequently styled themselves' Mandoo towards the Gentiles;' from which it appears that he was the avenger or protector against enemies, the Mars of Egyptian mythology, with the additional title of Ultor, avenger,' like the Roman god of war."-Wilkinson, Vol. II. Sec. Ser. p. 34. Champollion, p. 231. 4 Champollion, p. 257. 5 I. 1. p. 115. |