06 - History of Egypt by Frederick C. H. Wendel

one of the darkest in the history of Egypt. Very few monuments have come down to us from this epoch, and almost all we know of the entire four hundred years or more is the names of the kings, and in some cases the length of the various reigns of some of these rulers. We know from the monuments found how far their power extended, but here our knowledge ends.

We know further that in this period the Egyptian kings were dethroned by foreign invaders coming from Asia and known to us as the Hixos, and that these foreigners held Egypt in subjugation from many years. Who they were and how long they remained in the country we have no

means of knowing. The only review of this period that any ancient writer has given us is that copied from Manitho thirteenth dynasty from Thebes sixty kings in four hundred and fifty three years fourteenth dynasty, from Kois in the Delta, seventy six kings in four hundred and eighty four years fifteenth dynasty, Hixos six kings in two hundred and sixty years sixteenth dynasty, Hixos unknown kings in two hundred and fifty one years seventeenth dynasty, from Thebes unknown kings in

unknown years. The number of hypotheses concerning this epoch is legion, but not one is supported by facts and monuments. The times of the thirteenth and fourteenth dynasties seem to have been troublesome. The kings of the four former ruled, according to Manitho, only about seven and a half years on an average, while those of the latter only about six years, while the members of the first Tixos dynasty ruled on

an average forty three and one third years. The entire period is evidently set down as too long by Manetho's kopists, who give over one hundred forty two kings in over fourteen hundred and forty eight years. The monuments do not permit us to assume so great a gap in the history as five hundred eleven years between the close of the Fourteenth Dynasty and the beginning of the New Empire

about fifteen thirty BC. There have come down to us from the genealogies of nobles who lived early in the eighteenth dynasty that after a few generations give names which certainly belong to contemporaries of the thirteenth and fourteenth dynasties. It is very probable, if not certain, that the last kings of the fourteenth dynasty were contemporary with the earliest Tixos king, and we know that all of the kings of the seventeenth dynasty were contemporaries of the last Hixos kings.

If we must state the duration of this period in years, we would say that it cannot have exceeded four hundred years, of which one hundred and fifty years would give about the duration of dynasties thirteen and fourteen, and two hundred fifty years the duration of the Hexos domination Section one the thirteenth dynasty. The New dynasty, which was founded by King Rahutawi, seems to have been closely connected with the twelfth.

Already at the close of the preceding dynasty, we find the crocodile god of the Fayoum, Sebak in ascendancy, owing to the extensive works erected by the last kings of that dynasty. In the Fayoum, names containing that of Sebak as a component part begin to appear about the same time, witness that of Queen Sebak Nofrurra. This custom has become prevalent in the new dynasty. It is further significant the two kings of this line adopted the throne name of

amenem Hat, the first Sehotep ab Rah. A long list of kings of this house has been preserved, but of scarce a single one do we know more than the name. As above remarked. The times seem to have been troublesome and rife with insurrections and usurpations. Of se anngh abras Ameno. We know that he built at Karnak two altars dedicated by him to amon Ra having been found here Section two. The fourteenth dynasty, Ransonib, the eleventh or twelfth successor of Rajhutawi,

the founder of dynasty thirteen founded a new dynasty. The greater part of his successors have left this monuments, and the fact that these monuments have been found in all parts of Egypt, from Tannis to Semne and even far to the south of this place, proves that these pharaohs had control of the entire country, though at times they must have found and it quite a difficult task to hold their own. Accordingly, we must not picture them to

ourselves as exceedingly mighty monarchs. They were nothing of the kind. They merely succeeded in holding together the mighty kingdom of the twelfth dynasty. They have left us only short inscriptions and statues that are, it is true, sometimes of colossal proportions and of superior workmanship, but that could easily have been executed in a short period. Manipho states that this dynasty came originally from the town of COIs in the Delta, but where he got this information is a mystery to us.

Segem Ru Taui ras sebac Jhotep the third has left us several records of the rise of the Nile at Semne and Cumne. The sixth king of this line, semng Kara Mermenfitu, is generally supposed to have been a usurper, but this supposition is based merely on the fact that his name Mermenfitou means general, and is very doubtful of him. There are extant to colossal statues that once adorned the

temple of ptah at Tanis. Both of these were later on usurped by the Hexos king Apepi, and still later Rameses the second put his cartouches on one of them. At the same time, a third statue of this ruler was found, segemuach taui Ra. Sebakhotep the fourth was the son of a private citizen named Mentuhotep and the princess fuhnen Abu, the daughter of Queen Nenna. It would thus seem that Sebakhotep the fourth based his claim to the

crown on his mother. Ha Sishestra Neferhotep, the son of a private citizen named ha Anghrev and his wife Kimat, was one of the mightiest of these kings, retaining the crown eleven years. The temple of Abydos was specially favored by this ruler. A long inscription found at this place relates the following story. One day King Neferhotep was seized with a desire to see the books of the god Attum, a solar deity. Receiving permission, he entered the temple library

and studied them. Hereupon he resolved to restore the entire temple, a good resolution, this and one he carried out. One of the most interesting monuments of his reign is an inscription on the rocks of Aswan, representing him and his entire family, consisting of his parents, Prince Sahathor, Prince Sebakhotep,

and a relative named Nebhotep. A sandstone block found at Karnak, which by the bye proves that he built here, is of great interest, as it bears on the one side the name of Neferhotep and on the other that of sebac Hotep, his son and second successor. It would seem from this that sebac Jotep had been appointed co regent by his father in order that his succession might be assured.

A small granite statue of the king was found at Tannis after the short reign of Sahathor, who seems to have died soon after his accession, ha Nepherra, sebac Jotep the fifth ascended the throne. He was a powerful monarch who ruled over the entire land. A colossal statue of rose colored granite representing this king, on which Ramses the

Second afterward cut his cartouches, was found at Tannis. A second statue was found at Bubastis, and a third on the island of Argo, far south of the Second Cataract. His name is frequently found on the walls of the Temple of Karnak. According to the classical authors who call him Canephris, he died of elephantiasis. Ra Anghra sebac Quotet the sixth is mentioned on the walls of the Temple

of Karnak and on several smaller monuments. Harajtepra sebac Quotet the seventh ruled, according to the Turin Papyrus, four years, eight months and twenty nine days. Wah abra ah Ab reigned at ten years, eight months and eighteen days, and mehr Nefherah I reigned thirteen years, eight months and eighteen days, as far as we know, longer than any other king of this dynasty. Mer Kharah said al Kotep the eighth has left us a statue several important tombs at Siutz

date from this time. Of the remaining kings of this dynasty, we know nothing. Little by little we lose grasp of the historical connection, and all that has left us is a mere list of names, with here and there the statement that a certain king ruled so and so many years. The tombs of Seiuts that date from this time all show that the nobles here buried were rich and powerful.

They have the same value for this period as those of Beni Hassan have for the Twelfth dynasty, but are not nearly so well preserved and contain but few historical illusions. Section three. The Hixos domination about seventeen eight d to fifteen thirty b C. The Fifteenth dynasty. The fourteenth dynasty succumbed to an invasion of Asiatic Bedouins, who gradually succeeded

in driving the Egyptian kings south. It is highly probable, however, that the pharaohs yielded only after a long and bitter struggle. The only account we have of the Hexos invasion is that copied from Manifo's book by Josephus. This account is as follows. At the time when King Timaeus ruled in Egypt. God, for unknown reasons, became incensed at the Egyptians, a people coming from the east, suddenly attacked the land and easily conquered it. The ruling class were taken prisoners, the cities

were burnt down, and the temples devastated. All the inhabitants were treated in the most hostile and barbarous manner. Some were slain, and the wives and children of others were sold into slavery. At last, these barbarians elected one of their own number, named Salatus King. He made Memphis his capital, levied taxes in upper and Lower Egypt, and garrisoned a number of towns. The strongest garrisons were laid in the eastern forts, as he feared the Assyrians, who were at

that time very powerful, might attack Egypt. Finding in the Saitic mistake for Cethroitic Gnome, a city favorably located east of the Bubastic branch of the Nile, which, owing to an old legend, was called Avarice, he built a great wall around it and put in a garrison of two hundred and forty thousand men to this city. He came in the summer partly to direct the distribution of food and pay, and partly to frighten the enemy by constantly

drilling his men. After a reign of nineteen years, he died, and the following were his successors, Belon who ruled forty four years, Apacnas, who ruled thirty six years and seven months. According to Africanus sixty one years a Phoebus, also called Apolphus sixty one years, Annus fifty years and one month, and Asseth forty nine years and two months. These six kings were the first rulers of the people that lived in constant strife with the Egyptians and sought to exterminate them.

The whole people had the name of hixos i e. Shepherd kings, for Huk signifies in the Old language king and soss shepherd, and still has this meaning in the demodic Some say they were Arabs. In another copy of Manitho, however, there is the note that the syllable huk does not signify king, but that the entire word means prisoners of war. This latter explanation seems to me that's Josephus, the more

plausible and better in accord with ancient history. The last note given by Josephus was certainly not found in the original work of Manitho, but was added by some later copyists, provided it being an invention of Josephus himself. This writer's object in quoting this passage from Manifo in his History of the Jews was to prove that the Hixos and the Jews were one and the same people, and thus to demonstrate the great antiquity and nobility of the Jewish race.

Now there was one thing that bothered him. The Hixos entered the land as conquerors, while the Jews, according to the Old Testament, entered it peacefully. Josephus therefore bethought himself of this not over ingenious compromise. On the other hand, Manitho's etymology is correct. Hert does mean prince, and huck may well be corrupted from this word, and souls certainly is a corruption of Chasu or Chas, which was the name commonly applied in this period to the Nomads on

the Asiatic frontier. I must, in this connection remind the reader of the fact that the Greeks had no and nosh, and were compelled to render the former as k and the latter as The only difficulty lay in the fact that hick represented the singular hec, while the plural heku would have been the proper form. But it has been demonstrated that the form Hixos is a mistake for hikusos. While Manitho is right here, he has made some terrible

slips in other parts of his narrative. His most glaring mistake is that he speaks of a powerful Assyrian empire in about seventeen eighty b C, at a time when Assur was a small and unimportant town that could scarcely hold its own against its near neighbors. Even three hundred years later, Assyria was so weak that when Thutmosis the third had defeated the Syrian kings, it sent him tribute.

Another bad slip is the story about Avarice. Assuredly, the Hixos did not conquer Egypt in order to be able to garrison a town on the borders of the desert. Only the bare facts of Manitho's narrative are available for historical purposes, and these are that a vast horde of a Asiatic bedouins. This is the best rendering of Shasu invaded Egypt and after a long struggle succeeded in conquering the country. What race these Bedouins belonged to we cannot say,

nor have we any idea of their appearance. The monuments at Tannis and formerly attributed to them have long since been proved to belong to another epoch of Egyptian history. Their religion was, of course, different from that of the Egyptians. An Egyptian text treating of the expulsion of the Hexos

states that they worshiped the god Sutekh. This is the name applied by the Egyptians to the god of the foreigners, and is often a translation of the Semitic baal Thus, the baalim of the various Gheta towns are designated as Sutekhu plural of Sutek, as god of the foreign enemies of Egypt. Sutek is identified with set, the enemy of Horus and principle of evil, and it is but natural that this god should be looked upon as the tutelar

deity of the hostile foreigners. In later times, when the power of the New Empire declined, Suttech as the powerful god of the mighty enemies, was considered a very potent divinity and found many worshipers in Egypt. The names of most of the Hixos kings or compounds of the name of the god set, but some are compounds of the name Ra, showing that the Hixos were to some extent

influenced by Egyptian religious thought. The sixteenth dynasty, the Hixos did not always remain uncultured barbarians, but with time began to adopt the civilization of Egypt. Egyptian officials were put in charge of the various departments. Egyptian literature, science, and art were encouraged. Under King ah Wesserrah Apepi, the first was compiled a mathematical treatise of which a copy written in the twenty third year of his reign has come down to us Ah Penenra Apepi. The second is known

from several monuments. The reign, or rather death of King ah Pehtisset Nubti is used as an era in an inscription of the time of Ramses the Second, which is dated four hundred years after King Nubti. This would place Nubti in the seventeenth century, somewhere between seventeen hundred and sixteen thirty b c. As the inscription unfortunately does not

give the year of Ramses reign. Of the other Hixos kings, we know the names only section four the seventeenth dynasty, beginning of the struggle for independence toward the close of the Hexos domination. They are ruled in Thebes a line of kings who were in all probability descended from the last kings of the fourteenth or perhaps of the thirteenth dynasty. They are the rulers of the seventeenth dynasty who began

the combat with the Hixos. A legend preserved on a papyrus belonging to the British Museum Salier I relates the story of the outbreak King Apepi, the Hixos ruler who was an ardent worshiper of Suttech, sent messengers to the Egyptian king of Thebes rasecnenta A, bearing certain propositions regarding religious matters, which Rasakinen rejected. There had also arisen misunderstandings regarding a well lying on or near the border, in regard to which no agreement could be reached. This brought

on the war. Rasekanen is called throughout the story Prince of the Southern city i e. Thebes, and it would seem from this that the Hixos had either never reached that city or the country had been reconquered so far north as Thebes. At all events, the Theban kings were independent rulers and resented the Hixos king's attempt to assert any claim of sovereignty over them, and they boldly took up the cause of Egyptian liberty. Long years the war lasted,

and the Hixos were slowly driven north. The kings who distinguished themselves in this war were raseeknenta A the First, Tar the Second, the Great, Ta the Third the Brave, and kames A, husband of Queen Ahhouttep and father of Ahmis the First, the final liberator of Egypt. In eighteen eighty one, the mummy of King Ra Sakanen was found in a shaft at Dare El Bahari. An ugly gash on the head of the mummy proves that the king died of violent death. In all probability, he was killed

in his struggle for the liberty of his country. End of chapter four recording by Owen Cook in Potawatamie ceded Land