Speaker 1: Chapter four of History of Egypt. This is a LibriVox recording.
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Speaker 1: of Egypt by F. C. H. Wendell, Chapter four The
Speaker 1: decline of the Egyptian Kingdom and the Hixos domination about
Speaker 1: nineteen thirty to fifteen thirty b C. This period is
Speaker 1: one of the darkest in the history of Egypt. Very
Speaker 1: few monuments have come down to us from this epoch,
Speaker 1: and almost all we know of the entire four hundred
Speaker 1: years or more is the names of the kings, and
Speaker 1: in some cases the length of the various reigns of
Speaker 1: some of these rulers. We know from the monuments found
Speaker 1: how far their power extended, but here our knowledge ends.
Speaker 1: We know further that in this period the Egyptian kings
Speaker 1: were dethroned by foreign invaders coming from Asia and known
Speaker 1: to us as the Hixos, and that these foreigners held
Speaker 1: Egypt in subjugation from many years. Who they were and
Speaker 1: how long they remained in the country we have no
Speaker 1: means of knowing. The only review of this period that
Speaker 1: any ancient writer has given us is that copied from
Speaker 1: Manitho thirteenth dynasty from Thebes sixty kings in four hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty three years fourteenth dynasty, from Kois in the Delta,
Speaker 1: seventy six kings in four hundred and eighty four years
Speaker 1: fifteenth dynasty, Hixos six kings in two hundred and sixty
Speaker 1: years sixteenth dynasty, Hixos unknown kings in two hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty one years seventeenth dynasty, from Thebes unknown kings in
Speaker 1: unknown years. The number of hypotheses concerning this epoch is legion,
Speaker 1: but not one is supported by facts and monuments. The
Speaker 1: times of the thirteenth and fourteenth dynasties seem to have
Speaker 1: been troublesome. The kings of the four former ruled, according
Speaker 1: to Manitho, only about seven and a half years on
Speaker 1: an average, while those of the latter only about six years,
Speaker 1: while the members of the first Tixos dynasty ruled on
Speaker 1: an average forty three and one third years. The entire
Speaker 1: period is evidently set down as too long by Manetho's kopists,
Speaker 1: who give over one hundred forty two kings in over
Speaker 1: fourteen hundred and forty eight years. The monuments do not
Speaker 1: permit us to assume so great a gap in the
Speaker 1: history as five hundred eleven years between the close of
Speaker 1: the Fourteenth Dynasty and the beginning of the New Empire
Speaker 1: about fifteen thirty BC. There have come down to us
Speaker 1: from the genealogies of nobles who lived early in the
Speaker 1: eighteenth dynasty that after a few generations give names which
Speaker 1: certainly belong to contemporaries of the thirteenth and fourteenth dynasties.
Speaker 1: It is very probable, if not certain, that the last
Speaker 1: kings of the fourteenth dynasty were contemporary with the earliest
Speaker 1: Tixos king, and we know that all of the kings
Speaker 1: of the seventeenth dynasty were contemporaries of the last Hixos kings.
Speaker 1: If we must state the duration of this period in years,
Speaker 1: we would say that it cannot have exceeded four hundred years,
Speaker 1: of which one hundred and fifty years would give about
Speaker 1: the duration of dynasties thirteen and fourteen, and two hundred
Speaker 1: fifty years the duration of the Hexos domination Section one
Speaker 1: the thirteenth dynasty. The New dynasty, which was founded by
Speaker 1: King Rahutawi, seems to have been closely connected with the twelfth.
Speaker 1: Already at the close of the preceding dynasty, we find
Speaker 1: the crocodile god of the Fayoum, Sebak in ascendancy, owing
Speaker 1: to the extensive works erected by the last kings of
Speaker 1: that dynasty. In the Fayoum, names containing that of Sebak
Speaker 1: as a component part begin to appear about the same time,
Speaker 1: witness that of Queen Sebak Nofrurra. This custom has become
Speaker 1: prevalent in the new dynasty. It is further significant the
Speaker 1: two kings of this line adopted the throne name of
Speaker 1: amenem Hat, the first Sehotep ab Rah. A long list
Speaker 1: of kings of this house has been preserved, but of
Speaker 1: scarce a single one do we know more than the name.
Speaker 1: As above remarked. The times seem to have been troublesome
Speaker 1: and rife with insurrections and usurpations. Of se anngh abras Ameno.
Speaker 1: We know that he built at Karnak two altars dedicated
Speaker 1: by him to amon Ra having been found here Section two.
Speaker 1: The fourteenth dynasty, Ransonib, the eleventh or twelfth successor of Rajhutawi,
Speaker 1: the founder of dynasty thirteen founded a new dynasty. The
Speaker 1: greater part of his successors have left this monuments, and
Speaker 1: the fact that these monuments have been found in all
Speaker 1: parts of Egypt, from Tannis to Semne and even far
Speaker 1: to the south of this place, proves that these pharaohs
Speaker 1: had control of the entire country, though at times they
Speaker 1: must have found and it quite a difficult task to
Speaker 1: hold their own. Accordingly, we must not picture them to
Speaker 1: ourselves as exceedingly mighty monarchs. They were nothing of the kind.
Speaker 1: They merely succeeded in holding together the mighty kingdom of
Speaker 1: the twelfth dynasty. They have left us only short inscriptions
Speaker 1: and statues that are, it is true, sometimes of colossal
Speaker 1: proportions and of superior workmanship, but that could easily have
Speaker 1: been executed in a short period. Manipho states that this
Speaker 1: dynasty came originally from the town of COIs in the Delta,
Speaker 1: but where he got this information is a mystery to us.
Speaker 1: Segem Ru Taui ras sebac Jhotep the third has left
Speaker 1: us several records of the rise of the Nile at
Speaker 1: Semne and Cumne. The sixth king of this line, semng
Speaker 1: Kara Mermenfitu, is generally supposed to have been a usurper,
Speaker 1: but this supposition is based merely on the fact that
Speaker 1: his name Mermenfitou means general, and is very doubtful of him.
Speaker 1: There are extant to colossal statues that once adorned the
Speaker 1: temple of ptah at Tanis. Both of these were later
Speaker 1: on usurped by the Hexos king Apepi, and still later
Speaker 1: Rameses the second put his cartouches on one of them.
Speaker 1: At the same time, a third statue of this ruler
Speaker 1: was found, segemuach taui Ra. Sebakhotep the fourth was the
Speaker 1: son of a private citizen named Mentuhotep and the princess
Speaker 1: fuhnen Abu, the daughter of Queen Nenna. It would thus
Speaker 1: seem that Sebakhotep the fourth based his claim to the
Speaker 1: crown on his mother. Ha Sishestra Neferhotep, the son of
Speaker 1: a private citizen named ha Anghrev and his wife Kimat,
Speaker 1: was one of the mightiest of these kings, retaining the
Speaker 1: crown eleven years. The temple of Abydos was specially favored
Speaker 1: by this ruler. A long inscription found at this place
Speaker 1: relates the following story. One day King Neferhotep was seized
Speaker 1: with a desire to see the books of the god Attum,
Speaker 1: a solar deity. Receiving permission, he entered the temple library
Speaker 1: and studied them. Hereupon he resolved to restore the entire temple,
Speaker 1: a good resolution, this and one he carried out. One
Speaker 1: of the most interesting monuments of his reign is an
Speaker 1: inscription on the rocks of Aswan, representing him and his
Speaker 1: entire family, consisting of his parents, Prince Sahathor, Prince Sebakhotep,
Speaker 1: and a relative named Nebhotep. A sandstone block found at Karnak,
Speaker 1: which by the bye proves that he built here, is
Speaker 1: of great interest, as it bears on the one side
Speaker 1: the name of Neferhotep and on the other that of
Speaker 1: sebac Hotep, his son and second successor. It would seem
Speaker 1: from this that sebac Jotep had been appointed co regent
Speaker 1: by his father in order that his succession might be assured.
Speaker 1: A small granite statue of the king was found at
Speaker 1: Tannis after the short reign of Sahathor, who seems to
Speaker 1: have died soon after his accession, ha Nepherra, sebac Jotep
Speaker 1: the fifth ascended the throne. He was a powerful monarch
Speaker 1: who ruled over the entire land. A colossal statue of
Speaker 1: rose colored granite representing this king, on which Ramses the
Speaker 1: Second afterward cut his cartouches, was found at Tannis. A
Speaker 1: second statue was found at Bubastis, and a third on
Speaker 1: the island of Argo, far south of the Second Cataract.
Speaker 1: His name is frequently found on the walls of the
Speaker 1: Temple of Karnak. According to the classical authors who call
Speaker 1: him Canephris, he died of elephantiasis. Ra Anghra sebac Quotet
Speaker 1: the sixth is mentioned on the walls of the Temple
Speaker 1: of Karnak and on several smaller monuments. Harajtepra sebac Quotet
Speaker 1: the seventh ruled, according to the Turin Papyrus, four years,
Speaker 1: eight months and twenty nine days. Wah abra ah Ab
Speaker 1: reigned at ten years, eight months and eighteen days, and
Speaker 1: mehr Nefherah I reigned thirteen years, eight months and eighteen days,
Speaker 1: as far as we know, longer than any other king
Speaker 1: of this dynasty. Mer Kharah said al Kotep the eighth
Speaker 1: has left us a statue several important tombs at Siutz
Speaker 1: date from this time. Of the remaining kings of this dynasty,
Speaker 1: we know nothing. Little by little we lose grasp of
Speaker 1: the historical connection, and all that has left us is
Speaker 1: a mere list of names, with here and there the
Speaker 1: statement that a certain king ruled so and so many years.
Speaker 1: The tombs of Seiuts that date from this time all
Speaker 1: show that the nobles here buried were rich and powerful.
Speaker 1: They have the same value for this period as those
Speaker 1: of Beni Hassan have for the Twelfth dynasty, but are
Speaker 1: not nearly so well preserved and contain but few historical illusions.
Speaker 1: Section three. The Hixos domination about seventeen eight d to
Speaker 1: fifteen thirty b C. The Fifteenth dynasty. The fourteenth dynasty
Speaker 1: succumbed to an invasion of Asiatic Bedouins, who gradually succeeded
Speaker 1: in driving the Egyptian kings south. It is highly probable, however,
Speaker 1: that the pharaohs yielded only after a long and bitter struggle.
Speaker 1: The only account we have of the Hexos invasion is
Speaker 1: that copied from Manifo's book by Josephus. This account is
Speaker 1: as follows. At the time when King Timaeus ruled in Egypt. God,
Speaker 1: for unknown reasons, became incensed at the Egyptians, a people
Speaker 1: coming from the east, suddenly attacked the land and easily
Speaker 1: conquered it. The ruling class were taken prisoners, the cities
Speaker 1: were burnt down, and the temples devastated. All the inhabitants
Speaker 1: were treated in the most hostile and barbarous manner. Some
Speaker 1: were slain, and the wives and children of others were
Speaker 1: sold into slavery. At last, these barbarians elected one of
Speaker 1: their own number, named Salatus King. He made Memphis his capital,
Speaker 1: levied taxes in upper and Lower Egypt, and garrisoned a
Speaker 1: number of towns. The strongest garrisons were laid in the
Speaker 1: eastern forts, as he feared the Assyrians, who were at
Speaker 1: that time very powerful, might attack Egypt. Finding in the
Speaker 1: Saitic mistake for Cethroitic Gnome, a city favorably located east
Speaker 1: of the Bubastic branch of the Nile, which, owing to
Speaker 1: an old legend, was called Avarice, he built a great
Speaker 1: wall around it and put in a garrison of two
Speaker 1: hundred and forty thousand men to this city. He came
Speaker 1: in the summer partly to direct the distribution of food
Speaker 1: and pay, and partly to frighten the enemy by constantly
Speaker 1: drilling his men. After a reign of nineteen years, he died,
Speaker 1: and the following were his successors, Belon who ruled forty
Speaker 1: four years, Apacnas, who ruled thirty six years and seven months.
Speaker 1: According to Africanus sixty one years a Phoebus, also called
Speaker 1: Apolphus sixty one years, Annus fifty years and one month,
Speaker 1: and Asseth forty nine years and two months. These six
Speaker 1: kings were the first rulers of the people that lived
Speaker 1: in constant strife with the Egyptians and sought to exterminate them.
Speaker 1: The whole people had the name of hixos i e.
Speaker 1: Shepherd kings, for Huk signifies in the Old language king
Speaker 1: and soss shepherd, and still has this meaning in the
Speaker 1: demodic Some say they were Arabs. In another copy of Manitho, however,
Speaker 1: there is the note that the syllable huk does not
Speaker 1: signify king, but that the entire word means prisoners of war.
Speaker 1: This latter explanation seems to me that's Josephus, the more
Speaker 1: plausible and better in accord with ancient history. The last
Speaker 1: note given by Josephus was certainly not found in the
Speaker 1: original work of Manitho, but was added by some later copyists,
Speaker 1: provided it being an invention of Josephus himself. This writer's
Speaker 1: object in quoting this passage from Manifo in his History
Speaker 1: of the Jews was to prove that the Hixos and
Speaker 1: the Jews were one and the same people, and thus
Speaker 1: to demonstrate the great antiquity and nobility of the Jewish race.
Speaker 1: Now there was one thing that bothered him. The Hixos
Speaker 1: entered the land as conquerors, while the Jews, according to
Speaker 1: the Old Testament, entered it peacefully. Josephus therefore bethought himself
Speaker 1: of this not over ingenious compromise. On the other hand,
Speaker 1: Manitho's etymology is correct. Hert does mean prince, and huck
Speaker 1: may well be corrupted from this word, and souls certainly
Speaker 1: is a corruption of Chasu or Chas, which was the
Speaker 1: name commonly applied in this period to the Nomads on
Speaker 1: the Asiatic frontier. I must, in this connection remind the
Speaker 1: reader of the fact that the Greeks had no and nosh,
Speaker 1: and were compelled to render the former as k and
Speaker 1: the latter as The only difficulty lay in the fact
Speaker 1: that hick represented the singular hec, while the plural heku
Speaker 1: would have been the proper form. But it has been
Speaker 1: demonstrated that the form Hixos is a mistake for hikusos.
Speaker 1: While Manitho is right here, he has made some terrible
Speaker 1: slips in other parts of his narrative. His most glaring
Speaker 1: mistake is that he speaks of a powerful Assyrian empire
Speaker 1: in about seventeen eighty b C, at a time when
Speaker 1: Assur was a small and unimportant town that could scarcely
Speaker 1: hold its own against its near neighbors. Even three hundred
Speaker 1: years later, Assyria was so weak that when Thutmosis the
Speaker 1: third had defeated the Syrian kings, it sent him tribute.
Speaker 1: Another bad slip is the story about Avarice. Assuredly, the
Speaker 1: Hixos did not conquer Egypt in order to be able
Speaker 1: to garrison a town on the borders of the desert.
Speaker 1: Only the bare facts of Manitho's narrative are available for
Speaker 1: historical purposes, and these are that a vast horde of
Speaker 1: a Asiatic bedouins. This is the best rendering of Shasu
Speaker 1: invaded Egypt and after a long struggle succeeded in conquering
Speaker 1: the country. What race these Bedouins belonged to we cannot say,
Speaker 1: nor have we any idea of their appearance. The monuments
Speaker 1: at Tannis and formerly attributed to them have long since
Speaker 1: been proved to belong to another epoch of Egyptian history.
Speaker 1: Their religion was, of course, different from that of the Egyptians.
Speaker 1: An Egyptian text treating of the expulsion of the Hexos
Speaker 1: states that they worshiped the god Sutekh. This is the
Speaker 1: name applied by the Egyptians to the god of the foreigners,
Speaker 1: and is often a translation of the Semitic baal Thus,
Speaker 1: the baalim of the various Gheta towns are designated as
Speaker 1: Sutekhu plural of Sutek, as god of the foreign enemies
Speaker 1: of Egypt. Sutek is identified with set, the enemy of
Speaker 1: Horus and principle of evil, and it is but natural
Speaker 1: that this god should be looked upon as the tutelar
Speaker 1: deity of the hostile foreigners. In later times, when the
Speaker 1: power of the New Empire declined, Suttech as the powerful
Speaker 1: god of the mighty enemies, was considered a very potent
Speaker 1: divinity and found many worshipers in Egypt. The names of
Speaker 1: most of the Hixos kings or compounds of the name
Speaker 1: of the god set, but some are compounds of the
Speaker 1: name Ra, showing that the Hixos were to some extent
Speaker 1: influenced by Egyptian religious thought. The sixteenth dynasty, the Hixos
Speaker 1: did not always remain uncultured barbarians, but with time began
Speaker 1: to adopt the civilization of Egypt. Egyptian officials were put
Speaker 1: in charge of the various departments. Egyptian literature, science, and
Speaker 1: art were encouraged. Under King ah Wesserrah Apepi, the first
Speaker 1: was compiled a mathematical treatise of which a copy written
Speaker 1: in the twenty third year of his reign has come
Speaker 1: down to us Ah Penenra Apepi. The second is known
Speaker 1: from several monuments. The reign, or rather death of King
Speaker 1: ah Pehtisset Nubti is used as an era in an
Speaker 1: inscription of the time of Ramses the Second, which is
Speaker 1: dated four hundred years after King Nubti. This would place
Speaker 1: Nubti in the seventeenth century, somewhere between seventeen hundred and
Speaker 1: sixteen thirty b c. As the inscription unfortunately does not
Speaker 1: give the year of Ramses reign. Of the other Hixos kings,
Speaker 1: we know the names only section four the seventeenth dynasty,
Speaker 1: beginning of the struggle for independence toward the close of
Speaker 1: the Hexos domination. They are ruled in Thebes a line
Speaker 1: of kings who were in all probability descended from the
Speaker 1: last kings of the fourteenth or perhaps of the thirteenth dynasty.
Speaker 1: They are the rulers of the seventeenth dynasty who began
Speaker 1: the combat with the Hixos. A legend preserved on a
Speaker 1: papyrus belonging to the British Museum Salier I relates the
Speaker 1: story of the outbreak King Apepi, the Hixos ruler who
Speaker 1: was an ardent worshiper of Suttech, sent messengers to the
Speaker 1: Egyptian king of Thebes rasecnenta A, bearing certain propositions regarding
Speaker 1: religious matters, which Rasakinen rejected. There had also arisen misunderstandings
Speaker 1: regarding a well lying on or near the border, in
Speaker 1: regard to which no agreement could be reached. This brought
Speaker 1: on the war. Rasekanen is called throughout the story Prince
Speaker 1: of the Southern city i e. Thebes, and it would
Speaker 1: seem from this that the Hixos had either never reached
Speaker 1: that city or the country had been reconquered so far
Speaker 1: north as Thebes. At all events, the Theban kings were
Speaker 1: independent rulers and resented the Hixos king's attempt to assert
Speaker 1: any claim of sovereignty over them, and they boldly took
Speaker 1: up the cause of Egyptian liberty. Long years the war lasted,
Speaker 1: and the Hixos were slowly driven north. The kings who
Speaker 1: distinguished themselves in this war were raseeknenta A the First,
Speaker 1: Tar the Second, the Great, Ta the Third the Brave,
Speaker 1: and kames A, husband of Queen Ahhouttep and father of
Speaker 1: Ahmis the First, the final liberator of Egypt. In eighteen
Speaker 1: eighty one, the mummy of King Ra Sakanen was found
Speaker 1: in a shaft at Dare El Bahari. An ugly gash
Speaker 1: on the head of the mummy proves that the king
Speaker 1: died of violent death. In all probability, he was killed
Speaker 1: in his struggle for the liberty of his country. End
Speaker 1: of chapter four recording by Owen Cook in Potawatamie ceded
Speaker 1: Land