The sun., 1897-01-24

foreign trbes. who. whea transplanted into
| Egypt waned and died out. or. at the end OF two
or three generations. became merged In the ns-
! tive population. In pursuing their calling ~
shepherds almost within sight Of the rich cities
Of the Nile valley. they never forsook the God
OF their fathers to bow d own boforo the Enneads
! or Triads OF Egypt: whether their God was al
ready known to them As Jahvah. or waa wor-
J shipped under the collective name OF Elohim.
they served Him with almost unbrskon hdslity.
even In the presence of Ra and Osiris OF Thtah
I and Sit
For hundreds OF years the Shepherd Kings.
| seated at Memphis or at Tsnis. remained not
, only absolute masters Of the Delta. but also
overiords OF all Egypt and the princes OF
Thebcs paid tribute to them. Even from
the time when q prince OF Thobes declared
, himself an independent ruler. . century and
half ELAPSED before the complete expulsion Of
the uyksos from the Delta. 1t Was Ahmosis.
the founder Of the eighteenth dynasty. who
ousted the Shepherds from the last towns occu-
pied By them. IL was not without reason that
the ofncisl chroniclers Of later times separated
him from his ancestry. and made him tho head
Of q new dynasty. No doubt his forefathcrs
Of tho seventeenth dynasty had been long press
ing the Aslatics toward the East, but even when
tie Shepherds had been driven into Avaris.
they were still adversaries not to be despsed.
Forced by the continual pressure OF the
Egyptian armies into this corner Of the
Delta. they were, as . compact body. the more
able 10 mako . protractsd resistance sgainst
supsrior forces. As long - they could hold
their ground at Avaris, . reinvasion was always
possible. and It was by driving them from this
last stronghold that Ahmosis sverted the dan
ger Of reconauest- Aftsr the destruction Of the
intrenchsd camp At Avaris, and the expulsion
Of the Hyksos lords, tho vAnquished Asiatio
people In the Delta. hsmmed n. - they were,
by . network Of fortresses, were reduced TO .
rabbis Of serfs. to be taxed and subjected to the
corv6s without mercy.
We pass to the reign OF Msnsphtah. the son Of
Ramsss II. OF the nineteenth dynasty. Al
though during his reign the disintegrating
process, which had begun In the old age
Of his father. was checked TO . consid-
ersbls extent. there were already indications
that Egypt was drifting toward It's downfall.
The feudal barons who had been restricted By
the strong sovereiGns OF the eighteenth and
ninetsenth dynasties 10 the position OF simple
oticers TO the King now pronted by an epoch of
comparative laxity TO recover a. many as pos
siblo of their ancient privileges. Tho invasion
Of tho peoples of the sea. the rivalry OF claim
ants to the throne. and the intrigues OF Minis
ters had. one after the other. served TO
break the bonds which had fsttered the
feudal mobiles. who In one generation managed
to regain that liberty Of action OF which they
had been deprived for centuries There was
another danger threatening the country besides
that arising from tho weakening Of the hands Of
the sovereign and the turbulence of tho barons.
For some three centuries the Theban Pharaohs
had bcen accustomed to bring into the country
after each victorious campaign thousands of
capttvos. The number OF foreigners around
them had thus increased to q notable degree.
The majority Of these strangers. indeed! had
either died without issue or their posterity had
become assimilate ed with the indigenous inhab-
itants. In some places, on the other hand.
they bad accumulated In such propor-
tions that they wers able 70 retain among
themselves the remembrance OF their
origin. their religion. and their customs
and, with these, the natural desire to leave the
country OF their exile for their former father
land. Az long as strict watch was kept over
them they remained peaceful subjects. but a.
soon ~ this vigilance was relaxed rebellion was
likely TO break out, especially among thsss who
worked In the quarries Traditions Of the Greek
period have preserved certain romantic cpl
sodes In the history Of thess captivos. Some
Babylonian prisoners, for instance. brought
back By Sesostris. and unable any longer to en-
conde mned. broke ont into oman revolt Tb.v
made themselves masters of \ position AL.
most opposite Memphis and commapdine
the river. and they held their ground
there with such obstinacy that II WAS
found necdful to sive mp to them tho
province which they oocupied. tb,v buiIt
there q town which they afterwsrd called Rab
ylon. A similar legend attribute, the building
Of the neishboripr village Of TroIo 70 csp,iy.,
from Troy. Tho scattered barbarian tribes Of
the Delta. whether Hebrevs or tho remnant of
tho Hyk.os. had endured there n mi,.r.bl. lot
ever since the accession OF tho R.mes.de,.
Tho rebuildinr OF the elite. which had b..n d..
stroyed there during the wars with the Hvt.o,
had restricted the extsnt Of tsrr,torv on which
they oouid n.s,uro their herd. R.m.,s n
treated them a- ,Iays. of IN. tr.,.prv ana ,h.
Hebrews were not lon. under hi, rul- b.,o,.
thew ber.n N ioot bact With r.g,., on
the time NJ the mon.roh. "who tn.w Jo..nh !"
"The Euyptian, A., over them t.,tm..,.r. n
m,., ., = 1T ...,. L,,. ,,..,,.