Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/763

739 THE EMPIRE.] EGYPT 739 equal terms. The conditions Avere no doubt changed from those of the time of Thothmes III., but the list of the con federacy which the next king of the Kheta led against Ramses II., compared with that which Thothmes defeated at Megiddo, shows that the Kheta could bring into the field much more formidable allies than did the Ruten. More over there was a change in the foreign policy of Egypt. Phoenicia and Palestine were ruled by means of a chain of fortresses held by Egyptian garrisons. (Brugsch, Hist., 1 ed. 135; Maspero, Hist. Anc., 215.) If the Empire was narrowed in its limits, it was more solidly ruled ; and this is quite consistent with the conclusion of a treaty with the Kheta. As a builder Setee I. is only equalled by llamses II. He constructed the great hall of columns of El- Karnak, on the outside of the north Avail of which he com memorated his victories in. a series of most interesting sculptures. His splendid tomb is in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings. llamses II. is without doubt the greatest figure in the long line of the Pharaohs, and at the same time he is the one of whose character we have the best idea. His early training was in war and in government, for it cannot be a pure figure of speech by which the tablet found near Dakkeh in Nubia says that when he was but ten years old no monuments were executed without his orders (Brugsch, Hist., 1 ed. 137). This position was due to his superior right to the throne. Before the death of Setee I. the maritime nations of the Mediterranean made a descent on Egypt. The Shardana, or Sardunes, and the Tuirsha, or Tyrseni, allied with the Libyans in this enterprise, llamses defeated them so effectually that they do not seem to have again attacked Egypt till the reign of his son Menptah, about seventy years or more later. The captives of the Shardana instead of being employed in public works were enrolled in the king s guard. After an expedition against Ethiopia, llamses, on the death of Setee, returned to Egypt. Early in his sole reign the peace between the Egyptians and the Hittites was broken. The king of the Hittites formed a great confederacy. The nations of Asia Minor, the Mysians, the Lycians, the Dardans, the people of Ilium, are found in the list of the poem of Pentaur, the Egyptian Eamesseid, which appropriately records the oldest war in which Troy had a part. To bring together the army of the confederates time must have been needed. Probably the war was determined on by the Hittites on the accession of the new king. The great campaign was that of the fifth year of llamses. The decisive battle was preceded by a repulse, when the Egyptian army, deceived by the Arabs (Shasu), were suddenly, while on the march, attacked and routed by the enemy, who numbered no less than 2500 war- chariots. It was only by the personal bravery of llamses that the Egyptians escaped destruction. This incident i the main subject of the poem of Pentaur. But on the next day the great battle was fought; the confederates were beaten and retreated into Kadesh. The Hittite king now sued for peace, which was granted. It was speedily broken. In his eighth year Ramses took Shalam, probably Salem or Jerusalem, Maram (Merom), and Tapur (Dabir 1 near Mount Tabor), Bethanath, and Ramon. In his eleventh year he captured Ascalon. The war does not seem to have been ended until the Hittite king Khetasar proposed condition of peace which he brought to Ramses written on a silver tablet. The treaty concluded on these bases in the twenty- first year of Ramses is sculptured at El-Karnak. It is a most interesting document, being an alliance offensive and defensive, with articles of extradition, remarkable for their humanity, and others for the protection of commerce (Maspero, Hist. Anc., 222, 223). Both kings swore to ob serve the compact, which was a renewal of the previou treaties. It is remarkable that in this document the Hittite prince, instead of being called the &quot; vile chief of the Kheta,&quot; .s now the &quot; great king,&quot; the style given to llamses also. The eldest daughter of the Hittite king was taken in marriage as queen by Ramses, in whose twenty-third year Khetasar visited his son-in-laAv in Egypt. This alliance does not seem to have been broken for full a century, and then by conquerors who overcame the resistance of the Kheta and carried them with them. The remainder of the reign of Ramses appears to have been undisturbed by great wars, and given up to those vast buildings which are found throughout Egypt acd Nubia, and which give him the first place among the architect Pharaohs. About the thirtieth year of his reign, his fourth son, the eldest surviving, was made regent, and on the death of this prince in the fifty- fifth year, Menptah the thirteenth son, now heir, took this post, holding it for the rest of his father s reign, which ended in the sixty-seventh year. Ramses must then have been at least near a hundred years old, perhaps more. 1 He married three queens, and apparently had by them 23 sous and at least 13 daughters. The whole number of hit children was 170, of whom 111 were sons and 59 daughtera All are styled princes or princesses, but probably only the children of queens had the right of succession. Menptah succeeded Ramses II. There are but few monu ments of his reign. The principal event they relate is a great incursion into the Delta of the maritime nations of the Mediterranean allied with the Libyans. By this time the Pelasgic tribes had wrested the dominion of the sea from the Phoenicians. Some causes, perhaps famines, had already disposed them to move from Asia Minor and the Greek islands, seeking new establishments in Egypt. The attempt that llamses II. defeated in the lifetime of Setoe I. was now renewed, apparently on a more formidable scale. The king of the Rebu (Libyans), with the warriors cf several tribes joined the Shardana (Sardones), the Shaka- lasha (Sikels), the Leku (Lycians), the Tuirsha (Tyrseni), and the Akaiusha (Achaeans). They had already entered Egypt and spread themselves over the west of the Delta, where they intended to settle, when the Egyptian forces attacked them and put them to rout after a battle of six hours duration. It is remarkable that in this confederacy the Shakalasha and Akaiusha are added to the former list, and the Leku, who were in the Hittite confederacy against Ramses II., now appear on the west. Everything indicates the growing strength of the maritime nations and that power of united action which marked the period of the Trojan War. For the time the invasion was checked, but the Empire was evidently failing. The Hittites, indeed, were true to the treaty, and during famine were supplied with corn from Egypt, and the external provinces seem to have continued quiet. But side by side with the kingly power that of the high priests of Amen-ra had grown to for midable dimensions, owing probably to the interest llamses II. and Menptah showed for Lower Eg3 pt, which put the weight of Thebes on the side of the highest local function ary. Menptah Avas not immediately folloAved by his son Setee II. There intervened tAvo reigns, those of Amen- meses and Siptah, the first of the Ramses family by descent, the second, apparently, by marriage. They appear to have 1 M. Maspero thinks Ramses II. was at least 50 in the 21st year of his reign (Hist. Anc., 250). This would make him at least 93 at the time of his death, and 30 at his accession. The latter age is barely reconcilable with the fact of three of his sons of the restricted class, which is evidently composed of the children of successive queens, being engaged in the campaign of the 5th year. Putting his marriage at 16, we must allow at least 4 years for the birth of these three sons, and cannot suppose the youngest to have gone to war in his chariot under the age of 1 1. If so (16 + 4 + 14 = ) 34 is the lowest age for the iifth year, and 29 for the accession, or 49 for the 21st year. But it is obvious that probability is cgainst these extreme limits, and the fact that Ramses outlived twelve of his sons of the shorter list is in favour of a greater aee.