Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1896-09-23
PHARAOH OF THE HARD HEApr
Condition of His Kingdom On nj
Accession

Condition of His Kingdom On u.
Accession.
Prof. Flinders Petrie contributes -
the Century an account of his discov,
cry of a tablet which gives the first
historic account of the oppression "a
the Children of Israel. Coneernin,
the character of Pharaoh of the Hard
Heart" Prof. Petrie writes as fol.
lows: A melancholy prospect he had
seen as he grew up. His father had
been active in the earlier years of tho
reign; but after about twenty years he
ceased all personal labor, and seems
to have sunk in his fatuous pride into
a mere despot, devoted to perpetuating
his effigies on the monuments, and his
family in the harem. The kingdom
went steadily into decay year after
year, and the old man became more in.
,dolent and more fatuous, while none
of his sons seems to have been allow.
ed to take up the reins and save the
country. Egypt is desolated, and
abandoned to invasion from all lands.
the barbarians overrun it's frontier, the
reyolters invade it daily, every coun-
try is pillaging its cities, raiding its
dwellings in the fields and on the riy-
er. They abide and settle there for
days and months, seated in the land
they reach the hills Of middle Egypt,
They search for the corn
land, seeking to fill their bellies; they
come to Egypt to find provision for
their mouths"
Such is the melancholy picture drawn
by Merenptah of the state Of the coun-
try ON his accession-a striking con-
trast to the work of the really great
kings of Egypt, of the Amenhotep and
Thothmes line, who had handed on the
rule of Syria from father to son un-
broken. The continuous record that
we have of Thothmes III. shows that
every year regularly he went through
Syria to receive tribute and maintain
his power, taking all the young princes
to be educated in Egypt before they
came to act as vassals in their own
country. Until he was over fifty this
outing was kept up, and his children
to the third and fourth generation re.
ceived this dominion in peaceful sue
cession. But under Rameses all this
stability had vanished; a few raids
which did not cover half the previous
conqests of Syria, treaty ON equal
terms with the foe, and the boastful
king sunk into an inglorious lethargy,
in which even Egypt itself was largely
given up to the foreigners.
And tbiS 6pnau uoS ubot bod oo+o,
into the soul of Merenptah during all
his youth and vigor; until he was at
least forty nothing could be done by
him. 1t was not until the old king had
come to that condition which we can
now see before our eyes in the Cairo
Museum-a withered mummy, which
seems as If still dwelt In and half
alive with the spirit of insensate pride
1t was not until this evil genius of
the land was in his tomb that a stroke
could be struck for the freedom of
the country.
Then began careful preparation. For
four years Merenptah was consolidate
ing his power, with apparently one ex-
petition to Syria, up the coast to the
Dldlu VI anu Ic, llllS It.
conquest we have learned of only since
finding the new tablet But it did not
do more than secure the principal for
tresses near the coast and command
the corn districts of Philistia and ES
draelon, which were cultivated by the
people of Israel, among others. 1t is
evident that reorganization had been
going on Strengthening the resistance
of the country, by the vigor with
which the great Libyan invasion was
repealed, after the country had been
long submitting to minor attacks.
At the end of March in his fifth year
Merenptah had dream. Ptah, the
great god of Memphis, appeared to him,
and warned him to be ready fort
night hence. This is doubtless priest
ly way of putting some warnings from
spies or travellers who reported
the preparations in progress. Then,
early in April the great tempest
of foreign invasion burst in from the
west coming just when all the har-
vests We're gathered In, the fields strip
ped bare. the whole land naked and
open, and canals dried up; in short,
just when the greatest facilities exist
ed for the invasion, and the full gran
aries tempted the desert peoples. Inc
warning had not been in vain. Meren-
ptah was prepared, and attacked the
assembled host with his cavalry; the
gods fought with them, and for one
long afternoon, from midday till dark,
they slew, and slew, and slew, for six
hours slaughtering the multitude. The
defeat was utter. The king, Maury,
son of Dad, escaped, thanks to the
darkness; but he did not even secure
horse or provisions and fed from the
fight on foot completely terrified. His
wives and his rich equipage, his sill
yer and gold and bronze vessels, the
ornaments of his wife, his thrones, his
bows, his weapons, and all that he had
were a prey to the Egyptians. Some
sixteen thousand bodies lay on the field
of battle, and nine thousand prisoners
L..