Discoveries in Egypt, Ethiopia and the peninsula of Sinai, in the years 1842-1845, during the mission sent out by his majesty, Frederick William IV of Prussia.Lepsius, Richard
History
Discoveries in Egypt, Ethiopia and the peninsula of Sinai, in the years 1842-1845, during the mission sent out by his majesty, Frederick William IV of Prussia.
At Benihassan I have had a complete rocktomb perfectly copied; it will
serve as a specimen of the grandiose style of architecture and art of
the second flourishing time of the Old Empire, during the mighty twelfth
dynasty.[51] I think it will cause some surprise among Egyptologers,
when they learn from Bunsen’s work,[52] why I have divided the tablet of
Abydos, and have referred Sesurtesen and Amenemha, these Pharaohs, well
known through Heliopolis, the Faiûm, Benihassan, Thebes, and up to Wadi
Halfa, from the New Empire into the Old. It must then have been a proud
period for Egypt--that is proved by these mighty tombs alone. It is
interesting, likewise, to trace in the rich representations on the
walls, which put before our eyes the high advance of the peaceful arts,
as well as the refined luxury of the great of that period; also the
foreboding of that great misfortune which brought Egypt, for several
centuries, under the rule of its northern enemies. In the
representations of the warlike games, which form a characteristically
recurring feature, and take up whole sides in some tombs, which leads to
a conclusion of their general use at that period afterwards
disappearing, we often find among the red or dark-brown men, of the
Egyptian and southern races, very light-coloured people, who have, for
the most part, a totally different costume, and generally red-coloured
hair on the head and beard, and blue eyes, sometimes appearing alone,
sometimes in small divisions. They also appear in the trains of the
nobles, and are evidently of northern, probably Semitic, origin. We find
victories over the Ethiopians and negroes on the monuments of those
times, and therefore need not be surprised at the recurrence of black
slaves and servants. Of wars against the northern neighbours we learn
nothing; but it seems that the immigration from the north-east was
already beginning, and that many foreigners sought an asylum in fertile
Egypt in return for service and other useful employments.
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