New-York tribune., 1896-12-08

feasor Petrie prefers the less laIniilar lott"
'Tahutimes) invaded Syria. Apparently these
wars covered two-thrds or century Al
the end OF them Greater Egypt was outlined in
Guiding the whole Nile Valley below Nubia and
SYRIA to the northeastern angle Of the Medter-
ranean coast and across to the nearest point on
the Euphrates River In modern history one
would naturally look for some motive besides
mere lust of conquest for the devastation Of Syria
by the first Thothmes Nearly all the raids Of re-
cent years in Asia by either Great Britain or Rus
sia have had an excuse ia disorders on the from
tiers The statesmen Of Egypt appear TO nave
known many OF the devices OF modern diplomacy.
They were expert in the matter Of royal interna-
tional marriages. They had regular forms ior
treaties. 1t is not unlikely that they may nave
anticipated such modern tricks as creating
sphere of influence and the pacification of from
tier.
They had good reason to invent these things
even ~ they neglected to name them. for the
Asatics. exiled from Egypt. finding their march
blocked to the eastward by Assyra. settled IN
what is now called Palestine and founded the
city of Jerusalem. From that stronghold they
could easily have harassed the Egyptian border
unless they were completely subdued The out
line Of conquest made By the first Thothmes was
filled in by his descendant the third of the name,
gave him legendary renown for ages afterward.
not only in Egypt. but throughout Western ASIA
and In Greece. The authority created by these
wars In Syria was distinctively that of influence.
rot of ownership The tribal cheftains became
the tributaries OF the Egyptian kings. But their
dignity was still such that they could give the
king daughter to wife and could occasionally de-
mand an Egyptian princess for themselves Ihe'r
letters. found at Tel el Amarna and summarized
in this volume. give the salient features IN the
narrative Of Egyptian rule In Syria They snow
what things were valued as tribute by the Egyp-
tian kinys what a large contribution Syria made
directly and indirectly to the population of Egypt
The memoirs Of the Egyptian conquerors show
that the Syrian civilization contributed to It's
own defeat Before the earliest of these wars the
Egyptians had no chariots. or AT least no such
chariots as they possessed later. The moment
they obtained good models. they made these war
vehicles for themselves in great numbers. Before
these wars they had no metal armor. But Thoth-
mes III appears to have had mail-clad warriors
Artificers skilled in work unfamiliar to the
Egyptians were ruthlessy torn from their homes
and sent TO practise their arts In Egypt. The re-
suit was that in a few generations the art and
learning and literature Of Egypt were modified
in the same way that English, American and Ger
man literature and art have been coiored by
French influence more than once within the last
two centuries. Even in so simple detail as the
script in use there was change as great as that
which separates medieval manuscript from
bit Of modern handwriting. The change was in
part marked by delicacy of line and precisely the
same change Is recognized in the portraits Of the
older Egyptian times as contrasted with those
after the Egyptians and Syrians began to inter
mngle as people But the revolution In
In i.c.
from the merely national point of view. The new
Egyptian changed his ideas as to forms or
dress as TO styles in doing up the hair. as
TO designs in furniture and in the decoration of
the tombs. which he valued more than he did
his dwelling In life But once having broken
through the system which his ancestors had
labored for ages to develop "dazz.ed with
the taste for incongruous novelties" he passed
fevershly from change TO change. from worse To
worse until only archaistic revival was possible.
II an Improvement was attempted and finally all
arts became hopelessly degraded in the Greek
period
Taking these words as a fair statement of re-
suits from the Asiatic and alliances. the in
ference must be that the example OF the great
queen Hatshepsut would have been better for
Egypt than that OF her successor, Thothmes III.
She profited indeed. by the earlier conquests in
Syria. She had the advantage also Of soldery
trained in many battles and ready for any adj
ventures. But her policy. like that Of Elizabeth.
was to maintain peace. She turned the attention
of her subjects to exploration in the Red Sea and
beyond They coasted far along the eastern side
OF Africa and brought back many curious
things as ever were shown at kings courts In the
so-callcd Era OF Discovery 1t may be thought
that the special artist in a modern expedition is
a novelty. But Queen Hatshepsut sent artists
with her ships. and their works are still extant
1t may be thought that the accurate observation
OF animal life Is a recent thing But the drawings
Of land animals and fishes in Queen IIatshep-
SUITS time were from life and the very counter
parts of the creatures delineated for her have
been recognized In the Red Sea and along the
African coast by naturalsts. That she left
Egypt strong In a military sense Is shown by the
sudden successes of Thothmes III In his cam
paigns that she enriched 1t with variety Of for
eign natural products can be inferred. not only
from the pictures. literature Of her reign, but
from the exotics shown in the gardens of some
what later time. 1t her fortune. also. to leave
remarkable illustration of the skill and organ-
zation Of Egyptian craftsmen in her day She
raised In memory Of her father an obelisk nearly
one hundred feet in height II was a single block
of hard red granite yet according to her own rec
ord Il was taken fresh from the quarry and com
pleted to the last detail Of polish and inscription
In seven months. If this had been solely a task
for unskilled workmen driven by the lash. 1t
would be less Of marvel. but men capable OF
carving elaborate devices on granite cannot be
made more efficient with blows. After dcduciing
the time required for work in the quarry and
transportation Professor Petrle reckons that four
months left for men working by relays to
dress down. polish and engrave at least three
four square yards for each man. Nothing" he
adds "impresses us more with the magnificent
organization Of the Egyptians than this power of
launching hundreds Of highly trained and compe-