The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians Part 22

During the first years of his reign, he was as fortunate as any of his predecessors. He turned his arms against the island of Cyprus; besieged the city of Sidon by sea and land; took it, and made himself master of all Phnicia and Palestine.(476)

So rapid a success elated his heart to a prodigious degree, and, as Herodotus informs us, swelled him with so much pride and infatuation, that he boasted, it was not in the power of the G.o.ds themselves to dethrone him; so great was the idea he had formed to himself of the firm establishment of his own power. It was with a view to these arrogant notions, that Ezekiel put the vain and impious words following into his mouth: "My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself."(477) But the true G.o.d proved to him afterwards that he had a master, and that he was a mere man; and he had threatened him long before, by his prophets, with all the calamities he was resolved to bring upon him, in order to punish him for his pride.

Shortly after Hophra had ascended the throne, Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent an emba.s.sy, and concluded an alliance with him; and the year following, breaking the oath of fidelity which he had taken to the king of Babylon, he rebelled openly against him.(478)

Notwithstanding G.o.d had so often forbidden his people to have recourse to the Egyptians, or to put any confidence in that people; notwithstanding the repeated calamities which had ensued upon the various attempts which they had made to procure a.s.sistance from them; they still thought this nation their most sure refuge in danger, and accordingly could not forbear applying to it. This they had already done in the reign of the holy king Hezekiah; which gave occasion to G.o.d's message to his people, by the mouth of his prophet Isaiah: "Wo to them that go down to Egypt for help, and stay on horses and trust in chariots, because they are many; but they look not unto the holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. The Egyptians are men, and not G.o.d; and their horses flesh, not spirit: when the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they shall fail together."(479) But neither the prophet nor the king were heard; and nothing but the most fatal experience could open their eyes, and make them see evidently the truth of G.o.d's threatenings.

The Jews behaved in the very same manner on this occasion. Zedekiah, notwithstanding all the remonstrances of Jeremiah to the contrary, resolved to conclude an alliance with the Egyptian monarch; who, puffed up with the success of his arms, and confident that nothing could resist his power, declared himself the protector of Israel, and promised to deliver it from the tyranny of Nabuchodonosor. But G.o.d, offended that a mortal had dared to intrude himself into his place, thus declared himself to another prophet: "Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt. Speak and say, Thus saith the Lord G.o.d, Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is my own, and I have made it for myself. But I will put hooks in thy jaws,"(480) &c. G.o.d, after comparing him to a reed, which breaks under the man who leans upon it, and wounds his hand, adds, "Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee; the land of Egypt shall be desolate, and they shall know that I am the Lord, because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it."(481) The same prophet, in several succeeding chapters, continues to foretell the calamities with which Egypt was going to be overwhelmed.(482)

Zedekiah was far from giving credit to these predictions. When he heard of the approach of the Egyptian army, and saw Nabuchodonosor raise the siege of Jerusalem, he fancied that his deliverance was completed, and antic.i.p.ated a triumph. His joy, however, was but of short duration; for the Egyptians seeing the Chaldeans advancing, did not dare to encounter so numerous and well-disciplined an army. (M93) They therefore marched back into their own country, and left the unfortunate Zedekiah exposed to all the dangers of a war in which they themselves had involved him.(483) Nabuchodonosor again sat down before Jerusalem, took and burnt it, as Jeremiah had prophesied.

(M94) Many years after, the chastis.e.m.e.nts with which G.o.d had threatened Apries (Pharaoh-Hophra) began to fall upon him.(484) For the Cyrenians, a Greek colony, which had settled in Africa, between Libya and Egypt, having seized upon, and divided among themselves, a great part of the country belonging to the Libyans, forced these nations, who were thus dispossessed by violence, to throw themselves into the arms of this prince, and implore his protection. Immediately Apries sent a mighty army into Libya to oppose the Cyrenians; but this army being defeated and almost cut to pieces, the Egyptians imagined that Apries had sent it into Libya, only to get it destroyed; and by that means to attain the power of governing his subjects without check or control. This reflection prompted the Egyptians to shake off the yoke of a prince, whom they now considered as their enemy. But Apries, hearing of the rebellion, despatched Amasis, one of his officers, to suppress it, and force the rebels to return to their allegiance. But the moment Amasis began to address them, they placed a helmet upon his head, in token of the exalted dignity to which they intended to raise him, and proclaimed him king. Amasis having accepted the crown, staid with the mutineers, and confirmed them in their rebellion.

Apries, more exasperated than ever at this news, sent Patarbemis, another of his great officers, and one of the princ.i.p.al lords of his court, to put Amasis under an arrest, and bring him before him; but Patarbemis not being able to carry off Amasis from the midst of the rebel army, by which he was surrounded, was treated by Apries, at his return, in the most ignominious and inhuman manner; for his nose and ears were cut off by the command of that prince, who never considered, that only his want of power had prevented his executing his commission. So barbarous an outrage, committed upon a person of such high distinction, exasperated the Egyptians so much, that the greatest part of them joined the rebels, and the insurrection became general. Apries was now forced to retire into Upper Egypt, where he supported himself some years, during which Amasis made himself master of the rest of his dominions.

The troubles which thus distracted Egypt, afforded Nabuchodonosor a favourable opportunity to invade that kingdom; and it was G.o.d himself who inspired him with the resolution. This prince, who was the instrument of G.o.d's wrath (though he did not know himself to be so) against a people whom he was resolved to chastise, had just before taken Tyre, where himself and his army had laboured under incredible difficulties. To recompense their toils, G.o.d abandoned Egypt to their arms. It is wonderful to hear the Creator himself revealing his designs on this subject. There are few pa.s.sages in Scripture more remarkable than this, or which give a clearer idea of the supreme authority which G.o.d exercises over all the princes and kingdoms of the earth: "Son of man, (says the Almighty to his prophet Ezekiel,) Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled:(485) yet had he no wages, nor his army,(486) for the service he had served against it. Therefore, thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he shall take her mult.i.tude, and take her spoil, and take her prey, and it shall be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour, wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord G.o.d."(487) Says another prophet: "He shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment, and he shall go forth from thence in peace."(488) Thus shall he load himself with booty, and thus cover his own shoulders, and those of his fold, with all the spoils of Egypt. n.o.ble expressions! which show the ease with which all the power and riches of a kingdom are carried away, when G.o.d appoints the revolution; and shift, like a garment, to a new owner, who has no more to do but to take it, and clothe himself with it.

The king of Babylon, taking advantage, therefore, of the intestine divisions which the rebellion of Amasis had occasioned in that kingdom, marched thither at the head of his army. He subdued Egypt from Migdol or Magdol, a town on the frontiers of the kingdom, as far as Syene, in the opposite extremity where it borders on Ethiopia. He made a horrible devastation wherever he came; killed a great number of the inhabitants, and made such dreadful havoc in the country, that the damage could not be repaired in forty years. Nabuchodonosor, having loaded his army with spoils, and conquered the whole kingdom, came to an accommodation with Amasis; and leaving him as his viceroy there, returned to Babylon.

APRIES (Pharaoh-Hophra) now leaving the place where he had concealed himself, advanced towards the sea-coast, (probably on the side of Libya;) and hiring an army of Carians, Ionians, and other foreigners, he marched against Amasis, to whom he gave battle near Memphis; but being overcome, Apries was taken prisoner, carried to the city of Sais, and there strangled in his own palace.(489)

The Almighty had given, by the mouth of his prophets, an astonishing relation of the several circ.u.mstances of this mighty event. It was He who had broken the power of Apries, which was once so formidable; and put the sword into the hand of Nabuchodonosor, in order that he might chastise and humble that haughty prince. "I am," said he, "against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, which were strong, but now are broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand."(490)-"But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword into his hand."(491)-"And they shall know that I am the Lord."(492)

He enumerates the towns which were to fall a prey to the victors; Pathros, Zoan, No, (called in the Vulgate Alexandria,) Sin, Aven, Phibeseth, &c.(493)(494)

He takes notice particularly of the unhappy end of the king, who was to be delivered up to his enemies. Thus saith the Lord; "Behold, I will give Pharaoh-Hophra, the king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life."(495)

Lastly, he declares, that during forty years the Egyptians shall be oppressed with every species of calamity, and be reduced to so deplorable a state, "That there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt."(496) The event verified this prophecy, which was gradually accomplished. Soon after the expiration of these forty years, Egypt was made a province of the Persian empire, to which its kings, though natives of the country, were tributary, and thus the accomplishment of the prediction began. It was completely fulfilled on the death of Nectanebus, the last king of Egyptian extraction, A.M. 3654.

Since that time, Egypt has constantly been governed by foreigners. For since the ruin of the Persian monarchy, it has been subject, successively, to the Macedonians, the Romans, the Saracens, the Mamalukes, and lastly, to the Turks, who possess it to this day.

G.o.d was not less punctual in the accomplishment of his prophecies, with regard to such of his own people as had retired, contrary to his prohibition, into Egypt, after the taking of Jerusalem; and had forced Jeremiah along with them.(497) The instant they had reached Egypt, and were arrived at Tahpanhes, (or Tanis,) the prophet, after having hid in their presence (by G.o.d's command) stones in a grotto, which was near the king's palace, declared to them, that Nabuchodonosor should soon arrive in Egypt, and that G.o.d would establish his throne in that very place; that this prince would lay waste the whole kingdom, and carry fire and sword into all places; that themselves should fall into the hand of these cruel enemies, when one part of them would be ma.s.sacred, and the rest led captive to Babylon; that only a very small number should escape the common desolation, and be at last restored to their country. All these prophecies had their accomplishment in the appointed time.

(M95) AMASIS. After the death of Apries, Amasis became peaceable possessor of Egypt, and reigned over it forty years. He was, according to Plato, a native of the city of Sais.(498)

As he was but of mean extraction, he met with no respect in the beginning of his reign, but was only contemned by his subjects:(499) he was not insensible of this; but, nevertheless, thought it his interest to subdue their tempers by management and address, and win their affections by gentleness and reason. He had a golden cistern, in which himself and those persons who were admitted to his table, used to wash their feet: he melted it down, and had it cast into a statue, and then exposed the new G.o.d to public worship. The people hasted in crowds to pay their adoration to the statue. The king having a.s.sembled the people, informed them of the vile uses to which this statue had once been put, which, nevertheless, was now the object of their religious prostrations: the application was easy, and had the desired success; the people thenceforward paid the king all the respect that is due to majesty.

He always used to devote the whole morning to public business, to receive pet.i.tions, give audience, p.r.o.nounce sentence, and hold his councils: the rest of the day was given to pleasure: and as Amasis, in hours of diversion, was extremely gay, and seemed to carry his mirth beyond due bounds, his courtiers took the liberty to represent to him the unsuitableness of such a behaviour; when he answered, that it was as impossible for the mind to be always serious and intent upon business, as for a bow to continue always bent.(500)

It was this king who obliged the inhabitants of every town to enter their names in a book, kept by the magistrate for that purpose, with their profession, and manner of living. Solon inserted this custom among his laws.

He built many magnificent temples, especially at Sais, the place of his birth. Herodotus admired especially a chapel there formed of one single stone, which was twenty-one cubits(501) in front, fourteen in depth, and eight in height; its dimensions within were not quite so large; it had been brought from Elephantina, and two thousand men had employed three years in conveying it along the Nile.

Amasis had a great esteem for the Greeks. He granted them large privileges; and permitted such of them as were desirous of settling in Egypt, to live in the city of Naucratis, so famous for its harbour. When the rebuilding of the temple of Delphi, which had been burnt, was debated on, and the expense was computed at three hundred talents,(502) Amasis furnished the Delphians with a very considerable sum towards discharging their quota, which was the fourth part of the whole charge.

He made an alliance with the Cyrenians, and married a wife from among them.

He is the only king of Egypt who conquered the island of Cyprus, and made it tributary.

Under his reign Pythagoras came into Egypt, being recommended to that monarch by the famous Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, who had contracted a friendship with Amasis, and will be mentioned hereafter. Pythagoras, during his stay in Egypt, was initiated in all the mysteries of the country; and instructed by the priests in whatever was most abstruse and important in their religion. It was here he imbibed his doctrine of the Metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls.

In the expedition in which Cyrus conquered so great a part of the world, Egypt doubtless was subdued, like the rest of the provinces; and Xenophon positively declares this in the beginning of his _Cyropaedia_, or inst.i.tution of that prince.(503) Probably, after that the forty years of desolation, which had been foretold by the prophet, were expired, Egypt beginning gradually to regain strength, Amasis shook off the yoke, and recovered his liberty.

Accordingly, we find, that one of the first cares of Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, after he had ascended the throne, was to carry his arms into Egypt.

On his arrival there, Amasis was just dead, and succeeded by his son Psammenitus.

(M96) PSAMMENITUS. Cambyses, after having gained a battle, pursued the enemy to Memphis; besieged the city, and soon took it: however, he treated the king with clemency, granted him his life, and a.s.signed him an honourable pension; but being informed that he was secretly concerting measures to reascend his throne, he put him to death. Psammenitus reigned but six months: all Egypt submitted immediately to the victor. The particulars of this history will be related more at large, when I come to that of Cambyses.

Here ends the succession of the Egyptian kings. From this aera the history of this nation, as was before observed, will be blended with that of the Persians and Greeks, till the death of Alexander. At that period, a new monarchy will arise in Egypt, founded by Ptolemy the son of Lagus, which will continue to Cleopatra, that is, for about three hundred years. I shall treat each of these subjects, in the several periods to which they belong.

BOOK THE SECOND. THE HISTORY OF THE CARTHAGINIANS.

Part The First. Character, Manners, Religion, And Government Of The Carthaginians.

SECT. I. CARTHAGE FORMED AFTER THE MODEL OF TYRE, OF WHICH THAT CITY WAS A COLONY. The Carthaginians were indebted to the Tyrians, not only for their origin, but for their manners, language, customs, laws, religion, and their great application to commerce, as will appear from every part of the sequel. They spoke the same language with the Tyrians, and these the same with the Canaanites and Israelites, that is, the Hebrew tongue, or at least a language which was entirely derived from it. Their names had commonly some particular meaning:(504) thus _Hanno_ signified _gracious_, _bountiful_; Dido, _amiable_, or _well-beloved_; Sophonisba, _one who keeps faithfully her husband's secrets_. From a spirit of religion, they likewise joined the name of G.o.d to their own, conformably to the genius of the Hebrews. Hannibal, which answers to Hananias, signifies _Baal_, [or _the Lord_] _has been gracious to me_. Asdrubal, answering to Azarias, implies, _the Lord will be our succour_. It is the same with other names, Adherbal, Maharbal, Mastanabal, &c. The word Pni, from which Punic is derived, is the same with Phni, or Phnicians, because they came originally from Phnicia. In the _Pnulus_ of Plautus, is a scene written in the Punic tongue, which has very much exercised the learned.(505)

But the strict union which always subsisted between the Phnicians and Carthaginians, is still more remarkable. When Cambyses had resolved to make war upon the latter, the Phnicians, who formed the chief strength of his fleet, told him plainly that they could not serve him against their countrymen; and this declaration obliged that prince to lay aside his design.(506) The Carthaginians, on their side, were never forgetful of the country from whence they came, and to which they owed their origin. They sent regularly every year to Tyre a ship freighted with presents, as a quit-rent, or acknowledgment paid to their ancient country; and an annual sacrifice was offered to the tutelar G.o.ds of Tyre, by the Carthaginians, who considered them as their protectors likewise.(507) They never failed to send thither the first fruits of their revenues, nor the t.i.the of the spoils taken from their enemies, as offerings to Hercules, one of the princ.i.p.al G.o.ds of Tyre and Carthage. The Tyrians, to secure from Alexander (who was then besieging their city) what they valued above all things, I mean their wives and children, sent them to Carthage, where, though at a time when the inhabitants of the latter were involved in a furious war, they were received and entertained with such a kindness and generosity as might be expected from the most tender and opulent parents. Such uninterrupted testimonies of a warm and sincere grat.i.tude, do a nation more honour, than the greatest conquests and the most glorious victories.

SECT. II. THE RELIGION OF THE CARTHAGINIANS.-It appears from several pa.s.sages of the history of Carthage, that its generals looked upon it as an indispensable duty, to begin and end all their enterprises with the worship of the G.o.ds. Hamilcar, father of the great Hannibal, before he entered Spain in a hostile manner, offered up a sacrifice to the G.o.ds; and his son, treading in his steps, before he left Spain, and marched against Rome, went as far as Cadiz, in order to pay the vows which he had made to Hercules, and to offer up new ones, in case that G.o.d should be propitious to him.(508) After the battle of Cannae, when he acquainted the Carthaginians with the joyful news, he recommended to them, above all things, the offering up a solemn thanksgiving to the immortal G.o.ds, for the several victories he had obtained.(509) _Pro his tantis totque victoriis verum esse grates diis immortalibus agi haberique._

Neither did individuals alone pride themselves upon displaying, on every occasion, this religious care to honour the deity; but it evidently was the genius and disposition of the whole nation.

Polybius has transmitted to us a treaty of peace concluded between Philip, son of Demetrius, king of Macedon, and the Carthaginians, in which the great respect and veneration of the latter for the deity, and their inherent persuasion that the G.o.ds engage in, and preside over, human affairs, and particularly over the solemn treaties made in their name and presence, are strongly displayed.(510) Mention is therein made of five or six different orders of deities; and this enumeration appears very extraordinary in a public instrument, such as a treaty of peace concluded between two nations. I will here present my reader with the very words of the historian, as it will give some idea of the Carthaginian theology.

"This treaty was concluded in the presence of Jupiter, Juno, and Apollo; in the presence of the daemon or genius (da?????) of the Carthaginians, of Hercules and Iolaus; in the presence of Mars, Triton, and Neptune; in the presence of all the confederate G.o.ds of the Carthaginians; and of the sun, the moon, and the earth; in the presence of the rivers, meads, and waters; in the presence of all those G.o.ds who possess Carthage:" what should we now say to an instrument of this kind, in which the tutelar angels and saints of a kingdom should be introduced?

The Carthaginians had two deities to whom they paid a more particular worship, and who deserve to have some mention made of them in this place.

The first was the G.o.ddess Clestis, called likewise Urania, the same with the moon, who was invoked in great calamities, and particularly in droughts, in order to obtain rain: that very virgin Clestis, says Tertullian,(511) the promiser of rain, _Ista ipsa Virgo Clestis pluviarum pollicitatrix_. Tertullian, speaking of this G.o.ddess and of aesculapius, makes the heathens of that age a challenge, which is bold indeed, but at the same time very glorious to the cause of Christianity; declaring, that any Christian who may first come, shall oblige these false G.o.ds to confess publicly, that they are but devils; and consenting that this Christian shall be immediately killed, if he does not extort such a confession from the mouth of these G.o.ds. _Nisi se daemones confessi fuerint Christiano mentiri non audentes, ibidem illius Christiani procacissimi sanguinem fundite._ St. Austin likewise makes frequent mention of this deity. "What is now," says he,(512) "become of Clestis, whose empire was once so great in Carthage?" This was doubtless the same deity whom Jeremiah calls the queen of heaven;(513) and who was held in so much reverence by the Jewish women, that they addressed their vows, burnt incense, poured out drink-offerings, and made cakes for her with their own hands, _ut faciant placentas reginae cli_; and from whom they boasted their having received all manner of blessings, whilst they regularly paid her this worship; whereas, since they had failed in it, they had been oppressed with misfortunes of every kind.

The second deity particularly adored by the Carthaginians, and in whose honour human sacrifices were offered, was Saturn, known in Scripture by the name of Moloch; and this worship had pa.s.sed from Tyre to Carthage.

Philo quotes a pa.s.sage from Sanchoniathon, which shows that the kings of Tyre, in great dangers, used to sacrifice their sons to appease the anger of the G.o.ds; and that one of them, by this action, procured himself divine honours, and was worshipped as a G.o.d, under the name of the planet Saturn; to this doubtless was owing the fable of Saturn's devouring his own children. Private persons, when they were desirous of averting any great calamity, took the same method; and, in imitation of their princes, were so very superst.i.tious, that such as had no children, purchased those of the poor, in order that they might not be deprived of the merit of such a sacrifice. This custom prevailed long among the Phnicians and Canaanites, from whom the Israelites borrowed it, though forbidden expressly by heaven. At first, these children were inhumanly burnt, either in a fiery furnace, like those in the valley of Hinnon, so often mentioned in Scripture, or enclosed in a flaming statue of Saturn. The cries of these unhappy victims were drowned by the uninterrupted noise of drums and trumpets.(514) Mothers(515) made it a merit, and a part of their religion, to view this barbarous spectacle with dry eyes, and without so much as a groan; and, if a tear or a sigh stole from them, the sacrifice was less acceptable to the deity, and all the effects of it were entirely lost.

This strength of mind, or rather savage barbarity, was carried to such excess, that even mothers would endeavour, with embraces and kisses, to hush the cries of their children;(516) lest, had the victim been offered with an unbecoming grace, and in the midst of tears, it should be displeasing to the G.o.d: _Blanditiis et osculis comprimebant vagitum, ne flebilis hostia immolaretur._(517) They afterwards contented themselves with making their children pa.s.s through the fire; as appears from several pa.s.sages of Scripture, in which they frequently perished.

The Carthaginians retained the barbarous custom of offering human sacrifices to their G.o.ds,(518) till the ruin of their city:(519) an action which ought to have been called a sacrilege rather than a sacrifice.

_Sacrilegium verius quam sacrum._ It was suspended only for some years, from the fear they were under of drawing upon themselves the indignation and arms of Darius I. king of Persia, who forbade them the offering up of human sacrifices, and the eating the flesh of dogs: but they soon resumed this horrid practice, since, in the reign of Xerxes, the successor to Darius, Gelon the tyrant of Syracuse, having gained a considerable victory over the Carthaginians in Sicily, among other conditions of peace which he enjoined them, inserted this article:(520) _viz._ "That no more human sacrifices should be offered to Saturn." And, doubtless, the practice of the Carthaginians, on this very occasion, made Gelon use this precaution.

For during the whole engagement, which lasted from morning till night, Hamilcar, the son of Hanno their general, was perpetually offering up to the G.o.ds sacrifices of living men, who were thrown in great numbers on a flaming pile; and seeing his troops routed and put to flight, he himself rushed into it, in order that he might not survive his own disgrace, and to extinguish, says St. Ambrose speaking of this action, with his own blood this sacrilegious fire, when he found that it had not proved of service to him.(521)(522)

In times of pestilence(523) they used to sacrifice a great number of children to their G.o.ds, unmoved with pity for a tender age, which excites compa.s.sion in the most cruel enemies; thus seeking a remedy for their evils in guilt itself; and endeavouring to appease the G.o.ds by the most shocking barbarity.

Diodorus relates(524) an instance of this cruelty which strikes the reader with horror. At the time that Agathocles was just going to besiege Carthage, its inhabitants, seeing the extremity to which they were reduced, imputed all their misfortunes to the just anger of Saturn, because that, instead of offering up children n.o.bly born, who were usually sacrificed to him, there had been fraudulently subst.i.tuted in their stead the children of slaves and foreigners. To atone for this crime, two hundred children of the best families in Carthage were sacrificed to Saturn; besides which, upwards of three hundred citizens, from a sense of their guilt of this pretended crime, voluntarily sacrificed themselves.