History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 7 (of 12)Maspero, G. (Gaston)
History
History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 7 (of 12)
Maspero, G. (Gaston)
Civilization, Ancient; Egypt -- History -- To 640 A.D.; History, Ancient; Middle East -- History
he is king, and even as he doth not destroy himself, neither shalt thou
destroy thyself!"
The downfall of Khmunu led all who might still have shown resistance
in Middle Egypt to lay down their arms also. The fortress of
Pisakhmakhpirri* dominated the gorges of Lahunit, and thus commanded the
entrance to the Fayum; but the son of Tafnakhti agreed to surrender it,
provided he were allowed to march out with the honours of war.
* This fortress, which bears a name compounded with that of
Osorkon I., must have been rebuilt by that monarch on the
site of an earlier fort; the new name remained in use under
the XXIInd and XXIIIth dynasties, after which the old one
reappears. It is Illahun, where Petrie discovered the
remains of a flourishing town of the Bubastite epoch.
Shortly after, Maitumu threw open its gates, and its example was
followed by Titaui; at Maitumu there was rioting among the Egyptians in
the streets, one party wishing to hold out, the other to surrender, but
in the end the latter had their way.* Pionkhi discharged his priestly
duties wherever he went, and received the local taxes, always being
careful to reserve a tenth for the treasury of Amon-Ra; the fact that
his army was kept under rigid control, and that he showed great clemency
to the vanquished, helped largely to conciliate those who were not
bound by close ties of interest to the cause of Tafnakhti. On reaching
Memphis, Pionkhi at once had recourse to the persuasive methods which
had hitherto served him so well, and entered into negotiations with the
garrison. "Shut not yourselves up in forts, and fight not against the
Upper Country,** for Shu the god of creation, when I enter, he entereth,
and when I go out, he goeth out, and none may repel my attacks. I will
present offerings to Phtah and to the divinities of the White Wall,
I will honour Sokari in his mysterious coffer, I will contemplate
Eisanbuf,*** then I will return from thence in peace. If ye will trust
in me, Memphis shall be prosperous and healthy, even the children shall
not cry therein. Behold the nomes of the South; not a soul has been
massacred there, saving only the impious who blasphemed God, and these
rebels have been executed."
* Maritumu, or Maitumu, is the modern Meidum, associated in
the inscription with the characteristic epithet, Pisokari-
Nibu-Suazu, or "temple of Sokari, master of the
transfiguration." Titaui lay exactly on the frontier between
Upper and Lower Egypt--hence its name, which signifies
"commanding the two regions;" it was in the Memphite nome,
and Brugsch identifies it with the Greek city of Acanthos,
near Dahshur, but this position appears to me to be too
close to Memphis and too far from the boundary of the nome;
I should prefer to place Titaui at Kafr el-Ayat or
thereabouts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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