The Portland daily press., 1896-09-19

coloring the narrative is. The Egyptol
ogist, as he studies 1t. is more and more
compelled to admit that the writer was
at all evonts well acquainted with the
details of old Egyptian life. Even such
an Important point Is noticed as the ne.
cessity there was for being freshly shaved
before au bject could be admitted into
the presence Of the Pharaoh. And in
| matters of greater moment there is q
similar amount of accuracy. The
| chiefs" of the bakers and the butler
are mentioned in list of officials at the
royal court: the seven kine seen in the
dream of Pharaoh are the seven forms Of
Hathor, the oow-headed goddess, who
symbolized the Nile; the gold chain
placed around the neck of Joseph was
the usual sign Of royal favor in the age
to which Joseph belonged. and Joseph
change of name was in strict accordance
with Egyptian usage. In. the paintings
OF the tombs we see the great official
seated at table by himself, while his
guests sit at other tables below him. and
we hear of the public granaries.'' un-
der the charge of great minister Of state
to which the agriculturists had to bring
their yearly tributes of grain and out
of which the salaries and wages of the
servants of the king were paid.
According to traditions the Pharaoh OF
Joseph was Apophis II. of a Hyksos or
shepherd dynasty. The Hyksos were in
tluders from Asia. They had conquered
Egypt and held 1t in subsection for sew
eral centuries. But the oonquerors were
themselves soon overcome by the higher
civilization Of the people they had sub
dued. In all respects save one they be-
came thoroughly Egpytianized. and the
Hy ksos court was modelled on the court
of the older Pharaohs. 1t was only in
the matter of religion that they differed
from their Egyptian SUBJECTS. In place
Of the gods OF Egypt they worshipsd as
their supreme deity Susekh, whom they
identified with the 6un-god of On or
Heliopolis. They seem accordingly to
have bonored the temple of On, and a
papyrus which tells the story of their
eAAssAoA0A "a PuAbiOu 6Uhtob buHU WulIo
Apophis held his court in the capital,
On was occupied by the worshipers OF the
strange god. This would expain how the
Hebrew foreigner came to marry the
daughter of the priest of On.
Joseph's action in securing for the
Phar soh the landed property Of Egg pit is
illustrated BY the facts which study of
the monuments has brought to light. Be-
fore the age OF the Hyksos the land Of
Egypt was held by feudal princes and
other private proprietors. the crowns
lands being of comparatively small sx-
tent; after that age, In the time of the
18th and following dynasties the land is
d tvided between the Pharaoh and the
priests. Individual ownership of it has
become thing of the past; apart from
the estates appropriated to the temples.
the whole of Egypt belongs to he king.
1t is only the book of Genesis which
tells us how the change had come about.
1.-THE sojourning of the children of Is
rael, who dwelt in Egypt, was 430 years.
(Ex. xii. 40.) II Apophis I was the
Pharaoh of Joseph the 490 years would
bring us to the close of the 18th dynas ty.
OF this dynasty the central figure was
Rameses |. During his long reign of 81
years, B. Q. 1348-12S1) Egypt was filled
with temples and other public buildings,
the Egyptian armies marched into Syria
and the Soudan, and Canaan was a prov
ince of the Egyptian empire. Egypto-
logists had long since come to the CON-
clusion that in Rameses II 1t Is necessary
to see the Pharaoh of the Oppression.
and the conclusion was verified by Ma
ville's excavations at Tel el-Maskhuta
which showed that he was the builder
of Pa-Tum or Pithom. But If Ram se 8
II were the Pharaoh of tho Oppressi Cd,
the Pharaoh of the Exodus must have
been one of his immediate successors.
An Egyptian legend, repol ted by the
historian Mnnetho. assigned the Exodus
to the reign Of his son and successor,
Meneptah. Meneptnh's reign was dis
turbed BY great invasion of Egypt on
tho part of the Libyans and the popula-
lions of the Greek seas, who swarmed
into the Delta, destroying and pillaging
as they went. At last, in the fifth year
of the Pharaoh, the Egyptian troops sue
ceded in defeating the invaders in q de-
cisive battle, and Egypt was saved. But
the royal power had received shook
from which ii did not recover. Two
short reigns followed that of Mensptah.
and then the 10th dynasty fell in the
midst Of civil war and the uhorne was
seized by an adventurer from Syria.
The period was favorable for the esoape
of the Israelitsh bondsmen. The excava-
tions and researches of DR.. Naville have
shown that the land of Goshen in which
they dwelt was the district which ex-
tends along the " adj Tumjlat, from Is-
MALTA westward to Zagazig. The settlers
in Goshen were accordingly just beyond
the boundary of the native Egyptian
population in close contact with the
Bedouin tribes of the adjoining desert
and in region suited for the pasturags
of f1ooks. With the Delta overrun' by an
enemy and the Pharaoh struggling for
ISfo nd fho