The sun., 1897-01-24

fighting" Prof. Mssrero suggests that the
Hyksos or Shepherds. may have owed their
rapid victory TO the presence in their armies Of
. faotor hitherto unknown 10 the Africans, the
war chariot, and that before the horse aud his
driver the Egyptians gave way IN . body. Just
90 tho Aztecs did before the mysterious cavalry
Of Cortez. II is certain that the horse was un-
known. or. NJ any rate. had not been employed
in Egypt prior 10 the inv ssion. while We hnd II
IN general u.e imm cd lat oily after the expulsion
OF the Shepherds. On the other hand. the use
Of the war chariot In Chaldea At an epoch
prior TO the H,k ,ksos Invasion. IL now proved:
IL IL, therefore. natural to suppose that the
Hykso. used the chariot In war. and that
tbs rapidity Of their conquest was due To IT. At
all events. the invaders appeared ~ q cloud OF
locusts on the bank. OF the Nile. Towns and
temples were pillased and burned; the new
comers At frst mssssored all they could of the
n,aie population. reduced to slavery those OF the
women and children whose lives they spared.
end then proclaimed as their king ssiatis one
OF their chiefs. He established . semblance of
regular government, chose Memphis as his cap
ital. and imposed . tar upon tho vanouished.
Two periIs, however. imme mediately threatened
him. In the eouth the Thcbsn lords. taking
matters into their own hands. after tho down.
fall Of tho Xoites refused the oath Of allegiance
to salstis. and organized an obstinate re-
VI
tako measures to protect himself acainst
an attack OF the Chaldeans or OF tho E.amites,
who were depressing chaides. From tho ma
tivss Of the Delta. who were tom porarily par
alyzed bv their reverscs. he had. for tho mo-
ment, little to fear. Restricting himself. there
FORE to establishing forts at the strategic points
In the Nile Valley. In order TO kesp the Thebans
In check. he led the main body OF his troops to
the frontier on the isthmus. Pacific immigra-
tIons had already introduced Asiatic settlers
into the Delta, and thus prepared the WAY for
securing the supremacy OF the new ruler; other
wise how could We explain the fact that the
Shepherd kinGs mAintained themselves after
. fashion, In at least parts OF the Delta,
for 700 years. In tho midst OF these
strangers. and on the ruins Of an ancient town,
connected by tradition with the myth Of Osiris
and Typhon, tho frst Shepherd King. Salatis
constructed an immense intrenohed camp capa-
BILE Of sheltarinR 100000 men. He visited II
yearly to w1nsas the military maneuvres. to
pay soldiers and to preside over the distribution
OF rations. This permanent garrison protected
him from . Chnldenn invasion. . not unlikely
event ~ Ions as Syria remained under the su-
premacy OF the Babylonian kings; II furnished
his successors also with an inexbaustible supply
OF trained soldiers, thus enabling thom to COM
plets the conquest Of Lower EgJpt Years
would declare themselves vauquished. and
nvo shepherd kings. epding with Asses, passed
their lifetime I" In perpetual warfare. desirous
OF tearing mp Egypt TO tho very root" The
ThebAn princes who, at this time. were continu-
ally under arms against the barbarians. were
subsequently, classsd In . dynasty by them
selvce, the fifteenth Of Msnstho, bat they At
last succumbed to the invader. and Assess be-
came mater of tho entire country. His sue
cessors. In thsir turn. formed . dynasty. the
the few remaining monuments Of
which arc found scattered over the length and
breadth OF the Nile valley from the shores Of
the Mediterranean to the rocks Of tho hrst
cataract
The Egyptians who witnessed the advent Of
this Asatio people called thsu by the general
term Amuu, Asiatics. or Monatiu. men Of the
desert. They had already given tho Bedouin
the opprobrious epithet Of Shausu. pillagers or
robber,, which sptly described them, and they
applied the same uame TO tho in
truders, Hiq ShAusu. whence the Greeks de-
rived their word Hyksos for this people. We
arc. however. without any clue ~ to tho real
name. language. or origin Of the invaders. The
writers OF classical times unable 70 come to
an agreement on these questions; some con-
others regarded them as Arabs. Modern schol.
srs have put forward at least . dozen
hypothesis on the matter. |
The Hyksos have been asserted 10 have been
Canaanitcs. Elamites, Hittites. Accadians. |
Scythians. The last opinion found great favor |
with the learned as long as thsy could boileve
that tho sphiuxes discovered by Marietts repre- |
ssn'ed the Shepherd King Apophis. or one OF his
As matter OF fact, these monu- |
ments present all tho characteristics OF tho |
Mongoloid type of countenance. the small and |
slightly oblique eyes. the arched, but somewhat |
nattened nose. the pronounced oh-ek bones and |
we'll covered Jaws, tho salient chin and full lip.
slightly depressed at the corners. These peculi-
arities arc also observed in the three heads |
found at Damanhur. In the colossal torso dug |
up In tho Fayorm. In the twin figures of !
tho Nile. removed from Tanis to the !
Bulaq Museum. and upon tho remains OF |
. statue In tho collection at the villa Ludovsi |
In Rome The same foreign type OF fsco Is also |
found to exist among the present inh abitants Of
certain villages scattered over tho eastern part
Of the Delta, and the conclusion was drawn that |
these people were tho direct descs nds nts of tho
Hyksos. This theory was abandoned, l. everthe- |
less. whom It was nscertalned that the sphlnxes |
OF San had born carved many centuries before |
tho Invasion for Amenemhat H.. King OF tho |
possess. tho problem. therefore, remains un- |
solved. and tho origin Of the Hyksos Is still as |
mysterious as over. From all tho evidence |
however. We gather that tho |
third millennium bofore our era WAS |
repeatedly disturbed by considerable migratory |
Tho expeditions far afeld OF
Elnmito and Ctaldean princes could not have |
taken place without seriously porturbing tho |
regions over which they passed. They must |
have encountered by the way many nomadic or |
trlbes, whom q slight shock would |
easily displace. An impulse once given, Il |
needed but littlo to accelerate or increase tho |
q collision with one horde reacted |
on Its neghbors, who either displaced or car
ried others with them. and the whole multi |
tude. gathering momentum as they went. were |
In the direction firsp given. A |
tradition picked M by Herodotus on his |
travels relates that the Phnnicians had |
psopled the eastern and south- /
ern shores OF the Persian Gulf: II WAS |
also said that Indathyrses. ScythiAn King. |
had victoriously secured tho whole OF Asia. and |