CHAPTER XVIII.

THE TWENTY-FIFTH DYNASTY.

THE ETHIOPIANS.

WE have already had occasion to become acquainted with and to estimate the position and character of Hirhor, the high-priest of the Theban Amon, and founder of the Twenty-first Dynasty.1 Urged on by haughty pride, Hirhor had realized his ambitious designs upon the crown of Egypt, had robbed his benefactor Ramessu XIII. of his throne, had banished his whole family and connections to the Great Oasis, and had placed himself, to the best of his power, in the forefront of Egyptian history. Retribution was not long delayed; and the avenger came from Assyria. The history of the Dynasty ended with the overthrow of the royal and priestly family, which suddenly vanishes from the stage, as soon as Shashanq I. obtained the throne, to find however in Ethiopia the satisfaction of their lust for a sceptre and a crown.

Towards the end of the eleventh century, Egypt had far too much to do in defending herself and her independence, to trouble herself further about the supremacy in the South, which she had formerly won,

and till now had carefully guarded. The Viceroys of the South' and King's sons of Kush' are now struck out of the official list of court dignitaries, and the 'Kings of Kush' take their place. The whole South, from the boundary line at the city of Syene, recovers its freedom, and the tribes of Ethiopia begin to enjoy a state of independence. Meanwhile however, if the power of Egypt was no longer felt, Egyptian civilization and the Egyptian doctrine of the gods had survived. All that was wanting was a leader, to keep alive the ideas that had been once acquired.

Nothing could have appeared more opportune for the priests of Amon, who had now become unpopular, in order to make their profit out of the favourable opportunity of the moment, than this state of things in Nubia and Ethiopia, where the minds of an imperfectly developed people must needs, under skilful guidance, soon show themselves pliable and submissive to the dominant priestly caste. Mount Barkal, where Amenhotep III. had already raised for the great Amon of Thebes a sanctuary in the form of a strongly fortified templecity, was the site chosen by the newly arrived priests of Amon for the seat of their future royalty. The capital of this newly founded kingdom of Kush was the city of Nap or Napata, which is so often mentioned in the inscriptions of Ethiopian origin.

It is difficult to say which it was of the chief-priests of Amon of the race of Hirhor, that first entered Napata and made preparations for the foundation of

that Ethiopian kingdom which became afterwards so dangerous to the Egyptians. The Ethiopian monuments, from which the royal shields have been carefully erased by a later Egyptian dynasty, give not the slightest information on this point. So much the more important is the circumstance, that several successors of this priest, among whom we have already met with the son and successor of Hirhor,-bore the same name, namely, that of the priest-king Pi-ankhi, an Egyptian word, which signifies the living one.' Before we pass on to that Piankhi whose invasion of Egypt will form the most striking subject of this chapter, it seems convenient to premise, however briefly, some observations on the kingdom of Kush.

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As we have already stated, the sovereign enthroned at Napata, the City of the Holy Mountain,' called himself King of the land of Kush.' The Theban Amon-ra was reverenced as the supreme god of the country. The king's full name was formed exactly according to the old-Egyptian pattern. The Egyptian language and writing, divisions of time, and everything else relating to manners and customs, were preserved. A distinguished position was assigned to the mother, daughters, and sisters of the king; each of whom bore the title of honour- Queen of Kush.'

In the course of time, the power of the Ethiopians extended beyond the southern boundary of Egypt; till at last the whole of Patoris came into their possession, and the 'great city' of Ni-'a, that is, Thebes, became their capital in that region. While the Assyr

ians regarded Lower Egypt-the Muzur1 so often mentioned in the cuneiform inscriptions as their permanent fief, the districts of Patoris were virtually an Ethiopian province. Middle Egypt formed a 'march,' contested on both sides between the two kingdoms, and likewise a barrier which tended to hinder the outbreak open hostilities between the one and the other.

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Thus the old priestly race had succeeded in again acquiring full possession of Thebes, the city out of which the Assyrian Shashanq I. had chased them with contumely and shame. The loss of the city of Amon, through the occasional expeditions of the Assyrians southwards, was to them equivalent to suffering a conquest. That this in fact did sometimes happen, we shall presently see authentic evidence.

As in Lower Egypt the Assyrians were content with drawing a tribute from the petty kings and satraps, whom they confirmed in power, so in Patoris and Middle Egypt petty kings or vassals were set up by the Ethiopians, whose supremacy these princes had to recognise, and to pay their taxes. Ethiopian garrisons served to guard the Ethiopic-Egyptian territory, under the command of Ethiopian generals.

Thus had Egypt become a shuttlecock in the hands of the Assyrians and the Ethiopians, those princes of Naph or Noph, whom we find mentioned in Scripture.2 The great kingdom of Kemi was split up into little dependent states, which leant, now on Ethiopia, now on

This name, the Mazor of the hieroglyphic inscriptions, is probably the special name of the Tanitic Nome.

2 Isaiah xix. 13; Jer. ii. 16, xlvi. 14, 19; Ezek, xxx, 13, 16.

Assyria, as each foreign master gained preponderance for the time.

About the year 766 (estimating the chronology by the sequence of generations) the Assyrians still held Lower Egypt in their possession. Petty kings and Assyrian satraps obeyed the Great King. At this time a revolt broke out under an enterprising petty king of Saïs and Memphis, by name Tafnakhth, the Technactis or Thephachthus of the classic writers. Profiting by the momentary weakness of the Assyrian Empire, he had prevailed on the other princes of Lower Egypt to join him, whether through persuasion or force. As soon as he was thus strengthened, he made an inroad with his whole force upon Middle Egypt, where the Egyptian vassals of Piankhi at once submitted to him. The tidings reached Piankhi, who forthwith sent orders to his generals to check the advance of Tafnakth, and so to force the bold petty king to beat a

retreat.

We leave our readers to construct for themselves a picture of the whole campaign from the long and remarkable description of it preserved for us on the memorial stone of Piankhi, discovered several years ago at Mount Barkal. This monument, a block of granite covered with writing on all sides, up to the very edges, was set up on the spot where it now stands, by command of the Ethiopian king Pi-ankhi, in remembrance of his complete conquest of Middle and Lower Egypt. The subjoined translation of this record will set in the

The translations of this important document, with which I am acquainted, one in English and another in German, are far