The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-09-09


Picture lie Dreu-Baiiding
Up His Power.
Prof. Flinders Petrie contributes an
account of his discovery of a tablet
which gives the first historic account OF
the oppression of the Children of Israel
Concerning the character of Pharaoh
If the Hard Heart" Prof. Petrie writes
rs follows: a melancholy prospect he
had seen as he grew up. His father had
been active in the earlier years of the
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 allowed &c
take up the reins and save the country.
Egypt is desolated, and abandoned to
invasion from all lands; the barbarians
oyerrun its frontier, the revolters in
wade it daily, every country is pillagirg
its cities, raiding its dwellings in the
fields and on the river. They abide and
settle there for days and months seat
ed 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 pro-
vision for their mouths"
Such is the melancholy picture drawn
by Merenptah of the state of the coun.
try on his accession striking con.
trast to the work of the really great
kings of Egypt, of the Amenhotep and
Thothmes line, who had handed down
| the rule of Syria from father to son IN
| broken. The continuous record that
we have of Thothmes I'LL 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 coun-
try. Until he was over so this annual
outing was kept up, and his children to
| the third and fourth generation re-
ceived this dominion in peaceful success
sion. But under Rameses all this sta
bility had vanished; few raids which
did not cover half the previous con-
quests of Syria, a 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 this decay was what had eaten
into the soul of Merenptah during all
his youth and vigor; until he was at
least 40 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 II
still dwelt in and half alive with the
spirit of insensate pride-it 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 consolidat-
ing his power, with apparently one ex-
petition to Syria, up the coast to the
plain OF Esdraelon and Tyre; this re-
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 PhiIistia 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 repelled.
after the country had been long sub
uniting to minor attacks.
At the end of March, in his fifth year,
Merenptah had a dream. Ptah, the
great god of Memphis, appeared to him,
and warned him to be ready fortnight
hence. This is doubtless a priestly way
OF putting some warnings from spies
or travellers who reported the prepare
tons in progress. Then. early in April.
the great tempest Of foreign invasion
burst in from the west, just when all
the harvests were gathered in, the
fields stripped bare. the whole land
naked and open, and canals dried up;
in short, Just when the greatest facili-
ties existed for invasion. and the full
granaries tempted the desert peoples.
The warning had not been in vain. Mer-
enptah 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 dark.
ness; but he did not even secure a horse
or provisions. and fed from the fight on
foot, completely terrified. His wives
and his rich equipage, his silver and
gold and bronze vessels, the ornaments
Of his wife, his thrones, his bows, has
weapons. and all that he had were a
prey to the Egyptians. Some 10000
bodies lay on the field of battle. and
! 5000 prisoners were taken.-Century.
THE PENALTY OF HUMOR