11. Chapter II: Exodus, Chapters I-VII.

Chapter II: Exodus, Chapters I-VII. The Fears of Pharaoh and His Severity to the Israelites. In Exodus 1:10, Pharaoh says to his people: “Come on, let us deal wisely with them, (the people of the children of Israel,) lest they multiply, and it come to pass that when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.” These words are spoken perfectly in accordance with the state of things in Egypt. Fruitful and cultivated Egypt has for its natural enemies the inhabitants of the neighboring deserts, and it is never in greater peril than when these enemies find allies among its own inhabitants. The history of the Arabian Bedawîn in Egypt shows how very confident the Egyptian king might be that he had ground for his fears, and that he must make regulations in accordance with them. Of these Bedawîn Prokesch^[283] says: “They made common cause with the Arabs against the communities who possessed the land, and who were the enemies of the Arabs as soon as the latter became themselves land-tillers. They fought against the Saracen dynasty in Egypt, against the Turkomans as soon as they had acquired the ascendancy, against the Memlook Sultans who were the successors of the Turkomans, and they have been at war with the Osmanlies without intermission, since they first set foot upon Egypt more than three hundred years ago.”

[283] Erinnerungen aus Aeg. und Kleinas. Th. 2. S. 231. The measures which Pharaoh adopted for the oppression of the Israelites are entirely in accordance with the spirit of the Pharaohs, whose proud severity against hated and despised foreigners knew no bounds. According to Diodorus,^[284] Sesostris placed upon all his buildings erected by captives an inscription showing, that no native citizens had been engaged in this servile employment. According to Pliny,^[285] Sesostris harnessed captive kings to his chariot.^[286] Upon the sculptures, in the temple at Medeenet Haboo, representing the triumphal return of Remeses III, after his conquests in the Eastern war, three captives appear tied under the axle of his chariot, while others bound by ropes walk by the side of his horses as an offering to the deity of the place.^[287] According to Exodus 1:14, Pharaoh embittered the life of the Israelites with hard bondage in mortar and brick. We see from Exodus 5:7,^[288] that straw was used in the preparation of these bricks. 1. We have already shown that the use of brick was very general in Egypt, as is here implied.^[289] 2. Bricks were made in Egypt under the direction of the king or some privileged person as appears from the impressions found upon many of them.^[290] A great multitude of strangers were constantly employed in the brick fields of Thebes and other parts of Egypt. 2. But the most remarkable agreement with the Pentateuch is in the fact, that a small portion of chopped straw is found in the composition of the Egyptian bricks. This is evident from an examination of those brought by Rosellini from Thebes on which is the stamp of Thothmes IV., the fifth king of the eighteenth dynasty.^[291] “The bricks,” remarks Rosellini,^[292] “which are now found in Egypt, belonging to the same period, always have straw mingled with them, although in some of those that are most carefully made, it is found in very small quantities.” According to Rosellini, straw was used in order that the bricks, (they were not for the most part burned, but dried in the sun,) might be more firm, especially those of coarse clay and more roughly formed. Prokesch^[293] says, “The bricks (of the first pyramid at Dashoor) are of fine clay from the Nile mingled with chopped straw. This intermixture gives the bricks an astonishing durability.” The inquirer will not leave unnoticed such little and entirely undesigned circumstances as these.

[284] 1. 56.

[285] 33. 15.

[286] Sesostri Aegypti rege tam superbo, ut prodatur annis quibusque sorte reges singulos e subjectis jungere ad currum solitus, atque ita triumphare. Diodorus also relates the same thing, 1. 58.

[287] Wilkinson 1. p. 106 and plate.

[288] Luther has incorrectly translated in chap. 5:7: That they might burn brick, from which the false opinion might easily arise that the straw served as fuel. It should be: Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick with, etc.

[289] See p. 1—Also concerning the use of brick in Egypt, Quatremère de Quincy, état de l’Architect, Egypt, p. 64. seq.

[290] Wilkinson II. 97.

[291] Ros. II. 2. p. 252.

[292] II. 2. p. 259.

[293] In der Erinn. Th. 2. S. 31.

We are carried much farther by the comparison of our history with a picture discovered in a tomb at Thebes, of which Rosellini^[294] first furnished a drawing and an explanation: “Explanation of a picture representing the Hebrews as they were engaged in making brick.” We will first give an abstract of the account of Rosellini. “Of the laborers,” says he, “some are employed in transporting the clay in vessels, some in intermingling it with the straw, others are taking the bricks out of the form and placing them in rows, still others with a piece of wood upon their backs and ropes on each side carry away the bricks already burned or dried. Their dissimilarity to the Egyptians appears at the first view; the complexion, physiognomy and beard permit us not to be mistaken in supposing them to be Hebrews. They wear at the hips the apron which is common among the Egyptians, and there is also represented as in use among them a kind of short trowsers after the fashion of the מִכְנְסְיםMiknesim. Among the Hebrews, four Egyptians, very distinguishable by their mien, figure and color, are seen; two of them, one sitting and the other standing, carry a stick in their hand ready to fall upon two other Egyptians, who are here represented like the Hebrews, one of them carrying on his shoulder a vessel of clay, and the other returning from the transportation of brick, carrying his empty vessel to get a new load. The tomb belonged to a high court-officer of the king, Rochscerê, and was made in the time of Thothmes IV, the fifth king of the eighteenth dynasty. The question, “How came this picture in the tomb of Rochscerê?” Rosellini answers as follows: “He was the overseer of the public buildings and had, consequently, the charge of all the works undertaken by the king. There are found represented therein still other objects of a like nature; two collossal statues of kings, a sphinx and the laborers who hewed the stone,—works which he by virtue of his office had caused to be performed in his life-time.

[294] II. 2. p. 254 seq. To the question, “How came the representation of the labors of the Israelites at Thebes?” it is answered: “We need not suppose that the labors were performed in the very place where they are represented, for Rochscerê was overseer of the royal buildings throughout the land, and what was done in the circuit of his operations, could, wherever performed, be represented in his tomb at Thebes. It is also not impossible that the Hebrews went even to Thebes. In Exodus 5:12, it is said, that they scattered themselves through the whole land of Egypt in order to procure straw. So far Rosellini. The agreement of this painting with our account in many very striking points, appears at first view. We, consequently, select from them only two.

1. It is said in the narrative, the Israelites were subjected to severe labor in mortar and brick. Just so this servile labor appears throughout the painting as twofold, some are employed upon the clay from which the bricks were made, and some upon the finished brick. 2. We have in this painting an explanation with regard to the Egyptians who accompanied the Israelites in their Exodus. Of these Egyptians we read, first, in Exodus 12:38, “And also a great rabble (עֵרֶברַבereb rab) went up with them.” In Numbers 11:4, “The mixed Egyptian populace (הָֽאסַפְסֻףhasphuph) led astray the Israelites in the desert to discontentment.” In Deuteronomy 29:10-11—let it be observed how accurately these remote and disconnected passages agree with each other—the Egyptian aliens appear as very poor, as the lowest servants, as hewers of wood and drawers of water. The designations rabble and populace in the first passages, also show, that these attendants of the Israelites belonged to the lowest grades of society. Just such people we should naturally expect to find in Egypt. Their existence is the necessary consequence of strongly marked castes in society. The monuments indeed place vividly before us most manifest distinctions in station. A part of the people appear to be in the deep degradation which now presses upon the Fellahs.^[295] According to Herodotus^[296] the caste of swine-herds, a native tribe, was unclean and despised in Egypt. All intercourse with the rest of the inhabitants, even entrance into a temple, was forbidden, and they were as much despised as the Farias in India.”^[297] The contempt in which they were held was not certainly the consequence of their occupation, but their occupation of the disdain which was felt for them. Already unclean, they had no reason for avoiding the care of unclean animals. But full light first falls upon these notices of the Pentateuch through our painting. We see upon it Egyptians who are placed entirely on an equality with the hated and despised foreigners. What is more natural than that a considerable part of these Egyptians, bound close to their companions in sorrow by their common misery, should leave with them their native land, such now to them only in name.^{[298] [295]} Wilk. Vol. I. p. 285.

[296] B. 2. c. 47.

[297] Heeren, S. 150.

[298] Compare upon the bondmen of Egypt, who like the Helots in Sparta, were in ignominious servitude, Böckh, Erklärung Einer Aeg. Urkunde S. 27, 28. Many reasons render it very probable that the Pharaoh who tyrannized over the Israelites in the age of Moses, was not a native Egyptian, but a foreign conqueror, probably belonging to the intrusive dynasty of the Hyksos. He is described as “another, or an alien king, who knew not Joseph;” and it would be hard to believe that any native prince could be ignorant of the advantages which the Egyptian monarch and people derived from the administration of that patriarch. He is represented as saying, “The people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we;” it is very possible that a warlike race of conquerors, such as the Hyksos of old, or the Turks of modern times, might be inferior in number even to the least division of the races subject to their sway, but it is utterly improbable that the Israelites should have multiplied so fast in the land of Goshen, as to exceed in number all the inhabitants of Egypt. One of the labours which he imposed upon the Israelites, was, to erect “treasure cities,” that is, fortresses to secure his plunder: Joseph took no such precaution when he received all the money of Egypt in exchange for corn, but of course it became necessary under the iron rule of a foreign conqueror. Finally, we find this Pharaoh actually proposing to Moses to violate the laws and customs of Egypt, by sacrificing the sacred animals within their land. The remonstrance of the Jewish legislator is, as we shall see, very appropriate when addressed to a foreigner, but scarcely within the bounds of credibility if we suppose that any such speech could be made to a native prince. “And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us.” (Exodus 8:25-27.)

He who has carefully examined the engraving in Rosellini, the great importance of which has been acknowledged by such historians as Heeren,^[299] perceiving its striking accordance with the Pentateuch, will ask first of all, whether then this picture is really genuine, whether it is not probably a supposititious work, prepared after the Pentateuch was written. This question, almost sufficiently answered by the condition of the painting itself, is, by the judicious Wilkinson, who made a new examination on the spot, decided entirely in favor of the picture. This decision is the more to be relied on, since Wilkinson,^[300] while he questions whether the painting has direct reference to the labors of the Israelites, does not deny the significance of it for the Pentateuch. But the arguments with which he contends against its referring to Israelites, are of so little importance, that we can scarcely avoid thinking that he is influenced by something foreign from the thing itself; and they are decidedly outweighed by the evident Jewish bearing and cast of physiognomy, which can be traced even in the common wood cuts such as are found in Taylor.^[301]Wilkinson, first, makes the place where the painting is found, a matter of importance. That it cannot represent work done in another part of Egypt, the hieroglyphic inscription shows. According to this, the bricks are made for a building in Thebes. But at least as given by Rosellini,^[302] the inscription does not so definitely affirm this; and even if it did, what valid objection is there to the assumption that the Israelites were carried even as far as Thebes for the sake of their work? That Egypt in all times, even the most ancient, formed one kingdom, is now, since the witness of the Holy Scriptures in this respect has received so strong a confirmation from the monuments, generally acknowledged.^[303] 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.^[304] 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 countenance as to costume, weapons, etc., but rather, for the most part, employed a certain general style of features, for the inhabitants of a particular region,^[305] 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.

[299] He says, Gött. Anz. 1835, S. 1328: If this painting represents the servitude of the children of Israel in these labors, it is equally important for exegesis and chronology. For exegesis, because it would be a strong proof of the great antiquity of the Mosaic writings, and especially of the book of Exodus which in chapters one and five gives a description that applies most accurately to this painting, even in unimportant particulars. For chronology, since it belongs to the eighteenth dynasty, under the dominion of Thothmes-Moeris, about 1740 before Christ, and therefore would give a fixed point both for profane and sacred History.

[300] Vol. II. p. 98 seq: “It is curious,” he remarks, “to discover other foreign captives occupied in the same manner, overlooked by similar ‘task-masters,’ and performing the very same labors as the Israelites described in the Bible; and no one can look at the paintings of Thebes, representing brick-makers, without a feeling of the highest interest.”

[301] p. 79.

[302] II. p. 262. Commendamento, che rechino—i mattoni? verso le construzioni della divina casa [del tempio] del—Dio.

[303] Compare Plath, Quaestiones Aegypt. Gött. 1829, Rosellini, Wilkinson and others.

[304] 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,” etc.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 sex. 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.

[305]Wilkinson I. p. 386.

It is also characteristic of Egypt, when in this same (Exodus 1:14) 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 labor as in Egypt. Irrigation especially, is here very laborious.^{[306] [306]} See the more recent Commentators onDeuteronomy 11:10.

Use of the Papyrus and Bitumen in Egypt.

According to Exodus 2:3, the mother of Moses taking a chest of papyrus smears it with bitumen and pitch, lays the child in it and puts 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 favor. 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.^[307] Even boats were constructed of it.^[308] The use of the papyrus belongs to the earliest times. Even in the most ancient sculptures it is found with writing upon it.^[309] Bitumen was one of the principal ingredients in embalming in Egypt.^[310] In a passage in the Travels of Minutoli,^[311] giving a description of the “analysis of the resinous composition of a black shining finger 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 bituminous substances in the embalming materials in connexion with a child-mummy.^[312] According to Rosellini,^[313] there have been found in the tomb of Usirei, or Menephthah^[314] many small statues of wood in the form of a mummy, covered with a stratum of bitumen.^[315] That pitch was known at this time in Egypt, we cannot doubt, since it is found in objects which belong to the oldest times.

[307] Wilkinson, Vol. III. pp. 62, 146.

[308] 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 ofthe 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.

[309]Wilk. III. 150.

[310] Diod. 19. chap. 99.

[311] S. 373.

[312] S. 344.

[313] Vol. I. 1. p. 249.

[314] Ros. II. 3. p. 350 seq.

[315] Wilk. Vol. III. p. 186. The Daughter of Pharaoh Finds the Child, Moses.

According to Exodus 2:5, 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.^[316] 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.^[317]

^[316] P. 26.

[317] Vol. III. p. 389. The Israelites Directed to Borrow of the Egyptians Ornaments, etc. In Exodus 3:22, and the parallel passage where the Israelitish women are directed to borrow of their Egyptian neighbors 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,^[318] vases of costly metals 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.^[319]

^[318] 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.”Genesis 24:22. 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.”Genesis 24:55. 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.”Exodus 11:2. The wordשאל(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.

[319]Wilkinson, Vol. III. p. 223.

Moses’ Rod.

According to Exodus 4:2, 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 Exodus 7:12, where each of the magicians carries his rod. According to the monuments, the Egyptian nobles generally carried a stick from three 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.^[320]Egyptian priests and other persons of rank are represented as walking with sticks.^{[321] [320]} Wilk. III. 386-8.

[321] Wilk. III. 386.

Writing Much Practised in Egypt. The name of the Israelitish officers, which the task-masters of Pharaoh placed over them, ‍שֹׁמְרִים (Shaterim,) the writers, is derived from the verb שָּׁמַר (Shater,) to write.^[322] 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,^[323] “to engrave upon each square block an inscription in hieroglyphics; an impression was made upon the bricks, (which besides very frequently bore inscriptions,)^[324]—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,^[325] “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 subterranean 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 upon them 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,^[326] that in judicial transactions, everything was transacted in writing. The scribes, who meet our eyes wherever we look, act an important part.^[327] The judges of the under-world all carry upon their heads the symbolic pen of truth and justice.^[328] 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.^[329] 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,^[330] 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^[331] allows that the manuscript of Sallier, containing a description of the expedition of Remeses 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.

[322] See the arguments for this in Th. II. der Beiträge zur Einl. S. 449 ff.

[323] II. 3. p. 241.

[324] p. 252, 3.

[325] p. 239.

[326] Vol. II. 3. p. 272 seq.

[327] Ros. p. 272 seq.

[328] Ros. II. 500.

[329] See e. g. Girard in the Descr. t. 17. p. 192.

[330] They are found collected in Th. 2. der Beiträge S. 457 ff.

[331] Campagne de Rhamsés, Paris 1835, p. 123.

We will here make some additions to our Essay concerning writing materials in the Mosaic period.^[332] The Egyptians wrote with reddish ink.^[333] 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 and fine paper which, from the dates, belonged to the different dynasties of the Pharaohs, at 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.^[334] They also wrote catalogues, accounts, and other such like things with ink upon wood, vessels of Terra Cotta, pieces of lime-stone, etc.^[335] Finally, they also wrote on parchment.^{[336] [332]} Th. 2. der Beiträge, S. 481 ff.

[333] Ros. II. 2. p. 207, with which, in order to call to mind that the use of ink is implied inNumbers 5:23, compare what was said on this passage, Beiträge, Th. 2. S. 489.

[334] Ros. p. 227.

[335] Ros. p. 228.

[336] Wilk. Vol. III. p. 152.

Preparation of Stone for Inscriptions. The passage, Deuteronomy 27, 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.^[337] We here add also, a reference to Wilkinson, Vol. III. p. 300, where the sand-stone 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^[338] 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.

[337] Beiträge, Th. 2. S. 464.

[338] Erinnerungen aus Aeg. und Kleinas, Th. 2. S. 31. The Bastinado. The scene in Exodus 5:14, 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.^[339] With this compare another representation,^[340] where “the laborers are stimulated to work by the persuasive powers of the stick.” The first painting shows conclusively, that the mode of inflicting stripes described in Deuteronomy 25:2, (the guilty person is laid down flat upon the ground before the judge and beaten,) was precisely 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.”^{[341] [339]} Vol. II. p. 41.

[340] Wilk. II. p. 42.

[341] 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. “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.” The Shoterim of the Israelites, the Same as the Modern Sheikh El-Beled.

Analogy, for the taking of officers from the oppressed people themselves, who are made responsible for the performance of prescribed labor, 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,^[342] 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 the prescribed labor, 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.^{[343] [342]} Correspondence, t. 5. p. 254.

[343] Ros. II. 2. p. 257. 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 Deuteronomy 20:1 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 Deuteronomy 20:9,) 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.^[344] 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,^[345] and they perform whatever such like things there are to be done.

[344] Ros. II. 3. p. 218.

[345] Wilk. I. p. 393. 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 Exodus 5:2; 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 various 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,^[346] 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^[347] 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 forever.” 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 recognized from it.

[346] In den. Briefen aus Aeg. p. 227.

[347]“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 ofUltor,‘avenger,’ like the Roman- god of war.’—Wilkinson,Vol. II. Sec. Ser. p. 34. The ancient Egyptian kings named themselves in their pride, Kings of the whole world,^[348] and what is yet more, they in this arrogance claim divine honors 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,^[349] 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^[350] furnishes, relying specially upon the fact that among the royal emblems, a disk, representing the sun, takes the first place. This is, accordingly, the first title which all the kings of Egypt bore. Phre also occurs, Genesis 41:45, in the name of the priest at On or Heliopolis, city of the sun, Potiphera, that is, consecrated to Phre. This name is also very common on the Egyptian monuments.^{[351] [348]} Champollion, p. 231.

[349] Champollion, p. 257.

[350] I. 1. p. 115.

[351] See also Wilkinson, Egypt and Thebes, p. 5, note, and Manners and Customs, Vol. I. p. 43.