we cannot feel disposed to assign it to the Ethiopian monarch. With Tirhakah we are acquainted, both from sacred and profane records; and his successful opposition to the power of Assyria is noticed in the Bible*, may be traced in Herodotus †, and is recorded on the walls of a Theban temple. It is possible that in the early part of his reign Sethos shared the kingdom with him, and ruled in Lower Egypt, while the Ethiopian monarch possessed the dominion of the upper country; and this would account for the absence of the name of Sethos on the monuments of Thebes. Whether Tirhakah and Sabaco's claims to the throne of Egypt were derived from any right acquired by intermarriage with the royal family of that country, and whether their dominion was at first confined to the Thebaïd, it is difficult to determine; but the respect paid by their Egyptian successors to the monuments§ they erected argues the probability of their having succeeded to the throne by right, rather than by usurpation, or the force of arms. During the reign of Tirhakah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, threatened an incursion into Lower Egypt; and owing to the disaffection of the troops of * 2 Kings, xix. 9. "And when he (Sennacherib) heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, behold he is come out to fight against thee." Isaiah, xxxvii. 9. El Berkel (formerly Napata) was his Ethiopian capital, where his name and monuments are found. Herod. ii. 141. At Medéenet Háboo are the figure and name of this king, and the captives he took. Sabaco's name is found at Abydus. Sethos, Memphis and all that part of the country was in danger of falling a prey to the invader. Sethos, who had been a priest of Pthah, was more solicitous, even after his elevation to the throne, for the observance of religious ceremonies, than the welfare of the state; and induced by fanaticism to consider the services of the soldier unnecessary for the security of a country entrusted to the protection of the gods, "he treated that class with extreme contempt, and, among other indignities, deprived them of their aruræ, or fields, which, by way of reward, his predecessors had allowed to each soldier. They therefore refused to march against the Assyrians; and in this dilemma the priest-king retired to the shrine of the god, before which he lamented his danger and misfortunes. He there sunk into a profound sleep; and the deity, appearing to him in a dream, promised that if he marched to meet the enemy he should experience no injury, for that he would furnish him with assistance. Inspired with confidence from this vision, he put himself at the head of his adherents, and advanced to Pelusium, the entrance of Egypt, unaccompanied by a single soldier, his army being entirely composed of tradesmen and artisans.” * Nor was it long before this assistance arrived. Tirhakah, having heard of the approach of Sennacherib, marched with a numerous army from the Thebaïd, and entering Palestine, defeated the Assyrians; thus delivering Lower Egypt as well as Judæa from the arms of this powerful *Herodot. ii. 141. It might be supposed that the sections 164168. of the same book were intended to have been introduced here. invader. But the ingratitude, perhaps the jealousy of the Memphites, disguised the truth from the Greek historian, and the miraculous interposition of Pthah was affirmed to have been the cause of Sennacherib's defeat. Concealing the assistance received from the army of Tirhakah, the priests assured Herodotus, that when the Assyrians or Arabians and the feeble party commanded by Sethos were encamped opposite each other, a prodigious number of rats infested the enemy's camp by night, and gnawed in pieces their quivers and bows, as well as the handles of their shields; so that in the morning, finding themselves without arms, they fled in confusion, and lost great numbers of their men. And in order to commemorate the event, a marble statue of Sethos was erected in the temple of Pthah at Memphis, representing the king holding a rat in his hand, with this inscription —“ Whoever thou art, learn from my fortune to reverence the gods." "From Menes to this prince," adds the historian, "was a period of 341 generations, in which there had been as many high-priests, and the same number of kings. And as three generations are equal to 100 years, the total of these may be estimated at 11,340 years." Such are the extravagant dates given by ancient writers. That Tirhakah ruled at Napata and in the Thebaïd at the same period is sufficiently proved by the additions he made to the temples of Thebes, and by the monuments he built in Ethiopia; nor did the Egyptians efface his records, or forget the gratitude they owed to the defender of their country. The name of Nectanebo has indeed usurped the place of Tirhakah's ovals in one or two instances among the sculptures at Thebes; but such substitutions are not uncommon, and the name of the Ethiopian has not been erased from any ill-will, so often evinced when an obnoxious monarch had ceased to reign. That he was a very potent prince, is evident from his defeat of the numerous army of Sennacherib* as well as from the monuments he has left both in Egypt and Ethiopia, and his maintenance of the Egyptian possessions in Asia; and however Strabo may have exaggerated his power, when he affirms that he extended his conquests, like Sesostris into Europe, even as far as the Pillars of Hercules, yet his authority is of use, as it leads to the conclusion that Tirhakah, or, as he calls him, Tearcont, ruled Lower as well as Upper Egypt, to which he, perhaps, succeeded on the death of the priest-king Sethos. According to Herodotus, twelve kings, or rather monarchs‡, succeeded to the dominion of all Egypt; but it is probable they did not assume the title of Pharaoh, being only governors of the twelve provinces or nomes into which the country was divided. On this occasion the historian sarcastically observes, that "as the Egyptians were not capable of existing a single instant without a king, they elected twelve," each enjoying equal * In the Syriac and Arabic versions he is called Sanherib. Herodotus, ii. 147. rank and authority. 66 They connected themselves by intermarriages, solemnly promising to promote their common interests, and never to engage in any acts of separate policy: their principal motive in this union being to guard against the declaration of an oracle, which had predicted that whoever among them should offer a libation in the temple of Vulcan from a brazen vessel, should be sole sovereign of Egypt." For many years they continued the management of affairs in perfect amity and mutual confidence, and no administration was more eminent for justice and impartiality. An accident at length occurred to interrupt their friendship. "On a certain occasion they were called upon to offer sacrifice in the temple of Vulcan; and when the last day of the festival came, they prepared to make the accustomed libation. For this purpose the chief priest presented the golden cups used on those solemnities; but having mistaken the number, he brought only eleven. Psammitichus*, who was the last, not having a cup, took off his helmet, which was of brass, and poured from it the libation. The other princes had similar helmets, and wore them on the present occasion ; so that the circumstance of this one king using his was accidental and unpremeditated; but when they observed what Psammitichus had done, and remembered the prediction of the oracle, they examined him, suspecting he had acted designedly. Finding, however, that * This is Herodotus's mode of writing the name of Psamatik, or Psamaticus. |