13. Chapter IV: Exodus, Chapters XIV and XV.

Chapter IV: Exodus, Chapters XIV and XV. The Military Force of the Egyptians. In our section on the references of the Pentateuch to the geographical features of Egypt, we have spoken of some things which come within the range of our inquiry in connection with these chapters of Exodus. We have pointed out the agreement of the fact, that a considerable army stood ready at the command of Pharaoh to pursue the fugitive Israelites, with the declarations of Herodotus, which show that the principal stations of the military caste were in the vicinity of the scene of these transactions, in the Delta.^[467] It remains for us to make here the following remarks.

[467] Page 48,57 seq. Compare in reference to this last fact also Rosellini, II. 3. p. 200.

1. “Wherever,” says Rosellini,^[468] “the armies are represented on the great monuments of Egypt, they are composed of troops of infantry, armed with the bow or lance, and of ranks of chariots drawn by two horses.” Chariots appear also in Homer^[469] as the principal strength of the Egyptian army. Upon the Egyptian monuments, says the same author,^[470] neither a king nor any other person of consequence is represented in any other way, than on foot, upon a chariot or throne, or in a litter. The few figures upon horses almost all belong to foreigners. Wilkinson^[471]agrees with Rosellini in the principal point, namely, that chariots composed the main military force of the Egyptians, and the cavalry took only a subordinate place. That the Egyptians had no horsemen at all he does not admit,—although he concedes that no representations of them are found on the monuments,—relying upon the authority of Herodotus, 2. 162, where Amasis appears on horseback, (the more important passage, chap. 108, he omits,) the declaration of Diodorus, according to which Sesostris had, besides 27,000 who fought upon chariots, also 24,000 horsemen, and the fact that in the hieroglyphics the “command of the cavalry” is represented as a very honorable post, generally occupied by the most distinguished among the sons of the king.^[472] This last argument, however, Rosellini^[473] attempts to set aside, by remarking that the designation is properly overseer of horses, and probably has reference to the care of the breed of horses. Champollion^[474] of the war chariots: “This was the cavalry of the age, cavalry properly speaking did not exist then in Egypt.”

[468] II. 3. p. 232.

[469] Iliad, 9. 383, where it is said of Thebes:Αἰθʼἐκατόμπυλοίἐισι,διηκόσιοι δʼἀν ἑκάστην Ἀνέρες ἐξοιχνεῦσι σὺν ἵπποισιν καὶἔχεσφιν.

[470] II. 3. p. 240.

[471] Vol. I. p. 288, 335.

[472] Wilk. Vol. 1. p. 292.

[473] II. 3. S. 259.

[474] Page 442 of the German Translation of his Letters. Brussels Ed. says

It is accordingly certain, that the cavalry, in the more ancient period of the Pharaohs, was but little relied on, and it is doubtful whether it generally existed. The question now is: What relation the declarations in our passage have to this result? Were the common view, according to which riding on horses is superadded with equal prominence to the chariot of war, in our passage, the right one, there would arise strong suspicion against the credibility of the narrative. But a more accurate examination shows, that the author does not mention Egyptian cavalry at all, that according to him the Egyptian army is composed only of chariots of war, and that he therefore agrees in a wonderful manner with the native Egyptian monuments. And this agreement is the more minute, since the second division of the army represented upon them, the infantry, could not, in the circumstances of our narrative, take part in the pursuit. The first and principal passage concerning the constituent parts of the Egyptian army which pursued the Israelites, is that in Exodus 14:6-7 : “And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him; and took 600 chosen chariots, all the chariots of Egypt and chariot warriors upon all of them.” Here Pharaoh’s preparation for war is fully described. It consists, first, of chariots, and secondly of chariot warriors. Cavalry are no more mentioned than infantry. This passage, which is so plain, explains the second one, Exodus 14:9, where the arrival of this same army in sight of the Israelites is plainly and graphically described, in order to place distinctly before the reader the impression which the view made upon the Israelites: “And the Egyptians followed them and overtook them, where they were encamped by the sea, all the chariot-horses of Pharaoh and his riders and his host.” If riders here be understood in the common sense, (chariot-warriors rather than riders upon horses might so much the sooner be mentioned, since the Egyptian war-chariot was very small and light,) where then are the chariot warriors? The author would not leave them out, since it is to his purpose to be minute, and since he evidently intended to accumulate circumstances as much as possible. Also in Exodus 14:17 : “I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots and upon his riders,” the riders again correspond with the chariot-warriors in Exodus 14:7. If there were then chariot-warriors and riders, how strange that they are never spoken of together.^[475] In Exodus 14:23 were named, and that chariot-warriors, who are most important, were left out. Finally, the meaning of the passage, Exodus 15:1 : “Horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea,” is clear from Exodus 15:4 of the same chapter, where only the overwhelming of the chariots and chariot-warriors is spoken of.

[475]In the Illustrations of the Bible from the monuments of Egypt, I took a different view of this passage, but on further examination, I am convinced that I was wrong, and that Dr Hengstenberg is right.

2. The number of chosen chariots of Egypt is limited in Exodus 14:6 ( Exodus 14:7) to 600. If we compare with this other declarations with regard to the strength of the Egyptian hosts of war, we shall be the better prepared to appreciate these moderate statements, so inappropriate in a mythic representation. Josephus adds, from his own resources, to the 600 chariots which Pharaoh brought into the field, 50,000 horsemen and 200,000 footmen. The Jewish tragic poet, Ezekiel, says that the Egyptian hosts of war amounted to a million. According to Diodorus,^[476] Sesostris had 600,000 footmen, and 24,000 horsemen, and 27,000 chariots of war. He gives an equally extravagant number in Ezekiel 45:47.^[477] It is certain that the 600 chariots are not the whole force with which Pharaoh pursued the Israelites. Besides, the 600 chosen chariots were also the chariots of Egypt. But the number of the last must also be fixed according to the analogy of the first.

[476] 1. 54.

[477] Compare Rosellini, Vol. II. 3. p. 231.

3. The author in Exodus 14:7 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.^[478] From Herodotus:^[479] “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,” etc., 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.

[478] Pages 24, 67.

[479] 2. 168.

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^[480] 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.

[480] Vol. I. p. 347. Compare a minute discussion of this circumstance, p. 402.

Musical Instruments Among the Egyptians.

According to Exodus 15:20-21, 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, separate choirs of men and women. Champollion^[481] 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.”

[481] S. 53. der Briefe.

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.^[482] description and drawing of the tambourine is given by Wilkinson.^[483] 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,^[484]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 descriptions show, that among the Egyptians generally, music had a decidedly religious destination.^[485] Moreover, the tambourine was used among them in sacred music.^[486] Religious dances were performed in Egypt in the worship of Osiris.^{[487] [482]} Wilk. Vol. II. p. 253, 314. Ros. II. 3. p. 37 seq. A [483] Vol. II. p. 254.

[484] Vol. II. p. 240, where a representation of this scene is found.

[485] Rosellini, II. 3. p. 78.

[486] Wilkinson, II. p. 316.

[487] 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.” (Psalms 150:4.) 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 Samuel 6:14-16.) 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. (Exodus 32:19.) But festive dances were not confined to religions occasions; they were celebrated at stated 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 21:21.) 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 Samuel 21:11.)

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 Numbers 10:2 seq., two silver trumpets, חֲצֽוֹצְרֹ֣תchatzotzeroth, were ordered to be made for calling together the congregation, to give the signal for breaking up the camp, for use in war, (see Numbers 31:6, where in the war against Midian the trumpets are taken,) and for festal occasions. By the blast of another kind of trumpets, called שׁוֹפַ֤רshophar, according to Leviticus 25:8 seq., the year of jubilee was announced. From Joshua, Joshua 6:4, 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,^[488] trumpets were already in use in the earliest times of the Pharaohs. The sculptures at Thebes show this. Trumpeters are there often represented 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,^[489] who also remarks that it was especially used in war. The crooked trumpet is not found on the Egyptian monuments, but Elistathius 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.^[490] It is remarkable that, 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.”

[488] Vol. I. p. 297.

[489] II. 260, 262.

[490] Upon the Iliad,Σ. 219, pd. Lips. t. iv. p. 65:δευτέρα ἡστρογγύλη(σάλπιγξ)παρʼΑἰγυπτίοις,ἥν Ὄσιρις εὖρε;Καλουμένη,φασὶ,χνύη,χρῶνται δʼαὐτῆπρὸς θυσίαν καλοῦντες τοῦς ὄχλους δἰαὐτῆς. In Genesis 4:2, 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.^[491] 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.^[492] “The oldest perhaps,” says the same author,^[493] “found in the sculptures, are in a tomb near the pyramids of Gizeh, between three and four thousand years old.” According to Rosellini,^[494] 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.^[495] [491] Burney in Wilk. II. p. 226.

[492] Wilk. II. p. 230.

[493] Wilk. p. 271.

[494] II. 3. p. 13.

[495] p. 12, 13.