CHAPTER IV
PHARAOH AT HOME
The time is coming
on now for the King to go in state to the great temple at Karnak to
offer sacrifice, and as we go up to the palace to see him come forth in
all his glory, let me tell you a little about him and the kind of life
he leads. Pharaoh, of course, is not his real name; it is not even his
official title; it is just a word which is used to describe a person
who is so great that people scarcely venture to call him by his proper
name. Just as the Turks nowadays speak of the "Sublime Porte," when
they mean the Sultan and his Government, so the Egyptians speak of
"Per-o," or Pharaoh, as we call it, which really signifies "Great
House," when they mean the King.
For the King of
Egypt is a very great man indeed; in fact, his people look upon him,
and he looks upon himself, as something more than a man. There are many
gods in Egypt; but the god whom the people know best, and to whom they
pay the most reverence, is their King. Ever since there have been Kings
in the country, and that is a very long time now, the reigning monarch
has been looked upon as a kind of god manifest in the flesh. He calls
himself "Son of the Sun"; in the temples you will see pictures of his
childhood, where great goddesses dandle the young god upon their knees
(Plate 2). Divine honours are paid, and sacrifices offered to him; and
when he dies, and goes to join his brother-gods in heaven, a great
temple rises to his memory, and hosts of priests are employed in his
worship. There is just one distinction made between him and the other
gods. Amen at Thebes, Ptah at Memphis, and all the rest of the crowd of
divinities, are called "the great gods." Pharaoh takes a different
title. He is called "the good god."
At present "the
good god" is Ramses II. Of course, that is only one part of his name;
for, like all the other Pharaohs, he has a list of titles that would
fill a page. His subjects in Thebes have not seen very much of him for
a long time, for there has been so much to do away in Syria, that he
has built another capital at Tanis, which the Hebrews call Zoan, down
between the Delta and the eastern frontier, and spends most of his time
there. People who have been down the river tell us great wonders about
the beauty of the new town, its great temple, and the huge statue of
the King, 90 feet high, which stands before the temple gate. But Thebes
is still the centre of the nation's life, and now, when it is growing
almost certain that there will be another war with those vile Hittites
in the North of Syria, he has come up to the great city to take counsel
with his brother-god, Amen, and to make arrangements for gathering his
army. The royal palace is in a constant bustle, with envoys coming and
going, and counsellors and generals continually passing in and out with
reports and orders.
Outside, the palace
is not so very imposing. The Egyptians built their temples to last for
ever; but the palaces of their Kings were meant to serve only for a
short time. The new King might not care for the old King's home, and so
each Pharaoh builds his house according to his own taste, of light
materials. It will serve his turn, and his successor may build another
for himself. A high wall, with battlements, towers, and heavy gates,
surrounds it; for, though Pharaoh is a god, his subjects are sometimes
rather difficult to keep in order. Plots against the King have not been
unknown in the past; and on at least one occasion, a great Pharaoh of
bygone days had to spring from his couch and fight single-handed for
his life against a crowd of conspirators who had forced an entrance
into the palace while he was enjoying his siesta. So since then Pharaoh
has found it better to trust in his strong walls, and in the big
broadswords of his faithful Sardinian guardsmen, than in any divinity
that may belong to himself.
Within the great
boundary wall lie pleasant gardens, gay with all sorts of flowers, and
an artificial lake shows its gleaming water here and there through the
trees and shrubs. The palace itself is all glittering white stucco on
the outside. A high central door leads into a great audience hall,
glowing with colour, its roof supported by painted pillars in the form
of lotus-stalks; and on either side of this lie two smaller halls.
Behind the audience chamber are two immense dining-rooms, and behind
these come the sleeping apartments of the numerous household. Ramses
has a multitude of wives, and a whole army of sons and daughters, and
it takes no small space to house them all. The bedroom of the great
King himself stands apart from the other rooms, and is surrounded by
banks of flowers in full bloom.
The Son of the Sun
has had a busy day already. He has had many letters and despatches to
read and consider. Some of the Syrian vassal-princes have sent clay
tablets, covered with their curious arrow-headed writing, giving news
of the advance of the Hittites, and imploring the help of the Egyptian
army; and now the King is about to give audience, and to consider these
with his great nobles and Generals. At one end of the reception hall
stands a low balcony, supported on gaily-painted wooden pillars which
end in capitals of lotus-flowers. The front of this balcony is overlaid
with gold, and richly decorated with turquoise and lapis lazuli. Here
the King will show himself to his subjects, accompanied by his
favourite wife, Queen Nefertari, and some of the young Princes and
Princesses. The folding doors of the audience chamber are thrown open,
and the barons, the provincial governors, and the high officers of the
army and the State throng in to do homage to their master.
In a few moments
the glittering crowd is duly arranged, a door opens at the back of the
balcony, and the King of the Two Lands, Lord of the Vulture and the
Snake, steps forth with his Queen and family. In earlier times,
whenever the King appeared, the assembled nobles were expected to fall
on their faces and kiss the ground before him. Fashion has changed,
however, and now the great folks, at all events, are no longer required
to "smell the earth." As Pharaoh enters the balcony, the nobles bow
profoundly, and raise their arms as if in prayer to "the good god."
Then, in silent reverence, they wait until it shall please their lord
to speak.
Plate 16.
Pharaoh on his Throne.
Ramses sweeps his
glance over the crowd, singles out the General in command of the Theban
troops, and puts a question to him as to the readiness of his division
— the picked division of the army. The soldier steps forward with a
deep bow; but it is not Court manners for him to answer his lord's
question directly. Instead, he begins by reciting a little psalm of
praise, which tells of the King's greatness, his valour and skill in
war, and asserts that wherever his horses tread his enemies flee before
him and perish. This little piece of flattery over, the General begins,
"O King, my master," and in a few sensible words gives the information
required. So the audience goes on, counsellor after counsellor coming
forward at the royal command, reciting his little hymn, and then giving
his opinion on such matters as his master suggests to him. At last the
council is over, the King gives orders to his equerry to prepare his
chariot for the procession to the temple, and, as he turns to leave the
audience chamber, the assembled nobles once more bow profoundly, and
raise their arms in adoration.
After a short
delay, the great gates of the boundary wall of the palace are opened; a
company of spearmen, in quilted leather kilts and leather skull-caps,
marches out, and takes position a short distance from the gateway.
Behind them comes a company of the Sardinians of the guard, heavily
armed, with bright helmets, broad round shields, quilted corselets, and
long, heavy, two-edged swords. They range themselves on either side of
the roadway, and stand like statues, waiting for the appearance of
Pharaoh. There is a whir of chariot-wheels, and the royal chariot
sweeps through the gateway, and sets off at a good round pace towards
the temple. The spearmen in front start at the double, and the
guardsmen, in spite of their heavy equipment, keep pace with their
royal master on either side.
The waiting crowd
bows to the dust as the sovereign passes; but Pharaoh looks neither to
the right hand nor to the left. He stands erect and impassive in the
swaying chariot, holding the crook and whip which are the Egyptian
royal emblems. On his head he wears the royal war helmet, in the front
of which a golden cobra rears its crest from its coils, as if to
threaten the enemies of Egypt. His finely-shaped, swarthy features are
adorned, or disfigured, by an artificial beard, which is fastened on by
a strap passing up in front of the ears. His tall slender body is
covered, above his corselet, with a robe of fine white linen, a perfect
wonder of pleating; and round his waist passes a girdle of gold and
green enamel, whose ends cross and hang down almost to his knees,
terminating in two threatening cobra heads (Plate 4). On either side of
him run the fan-bearers, who manage, by a miracle of skill and
activity, to keep their great gaily-coloured fans of perfumed ostrich
feathers waving round the royal head even as they run.
Behind the King
comes a long train of other chariots, only less splendid than that of
Ramses. In the first stands Queen Nefertari, languidly sniffing at a
lotus-flower as she passes on. The others are filled by some of the
Princes of the blood, who are going to take part in the ceremony at the
temple, chief among them the wizard Prince Khaemuas, the greatest
magician in Egypt, who has spells that can bring the dead from their
graves. Some in the crowd shrink from his keen eye, and mutter that the
papyrus roll which he holds so close to his breast was taken from the
grave of another magician Prince of ancient days, and that Khaemuas
will know no peace till it is restored. In a few minutes the whole
brilliant train has passed, dazzling the eyes with a blaze of gold and
white and scarlet; and crowds of courtiers stream after their master,
as fast as their feet can carry them, towards Karnak. You have seen, if
only for a moment, the greatest man on earth — the Great Oppressor of
Hebrew story. Very mighty and very proud he is; and he does not dream
that the little Hebrew boy whom his daughter has adopted, and who is
being trained in the priestly college at Heliopolis, will one day
humble all the pride of Egypt, and that the very name of Ramses shall
be best remembered because it is linked with that of Moses.
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