By the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.
He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations,
Shall be brought to destroy the land:

And they shall draw their swords against Egypt,
And fill the land with the slain.

And I will make the rivers dry,

And sell the land into the hand of the wicked:

And I will make the land waste, and all that is therein,
By the hand of strangers:

I the Lord have spoken it."

How literally the event justified these predictions, profane history declares. In the spring of the year, B. c. 570, Nebuchadnezzar, that "cruel lord, and fierce king," invaded Egypt; and he quickly overran the whole extent of the country, from Migdol, its northern extremity near the Red Sea, to Syene, the southern, bordering on Ethiopia, or Abyssinia. He made a fearful slaughter wherever he came, and desolated the country so effectually, that the damage could not be repaired in forty years. The spoils he collected were immense. With these, he clothed, as it were, his army, and after he had made alliance with Amasis, or placed him on the throne as his viceroy, he returned to Babylon.

When the Chaldean army had retired from Egypt, Apries left the retreat in which he had secreted himself, and advanced towards the sea coast, probably on the side of Libya. Then, hiring an army of Carians, Ionians, and other foreigners, he marched against Amasis, to whom he gave battle near Memphis. In this battle, Apries was taken prisoner, and he was carried to the city of Sais, and strangled in his own palace by the Egyptians; fulfilling the prophecy which saith, Behold, I will give Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life," Jer. xliv. 30. See also Ezek. xxxii. 32. This occurred B. C. 569.

We have intimated that the king of Babylon was an agent in the hands of God in thus punishing Pharaoh-hophra and his people the Egyptians. A notice of other remarkable prophecies, not before adduced, and relating to this event, may here be given. By the prophet Ezekiel, (chap. xxx. 22-24,) the Almighty said:

"Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt,

And will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken;
And I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.

And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations,

And will disperse them through the countries.

And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon,

And put my sword in his hand:

But I will break Pharaoh's arms,

And he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded

man.

The very towns which were to be ravaged by the victor are also enumerated, Ezek. xxx. 13—18.

"Thus saith the Lord God;

I will also destroy the idols,

And I will cause their images to cease out of Noph;

And there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt:

And I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.

And I will make Pathros desolate,

And will set fire in Zoan, [Tanis,]

And will execute judgments in No.

And I will pour my fury upon Sin, [Pelusium,] the strength of Egypt; And I will cut off the multitude of No.

And I will set fire in Egypt:

Sin shall have great pain,

And No shall be rent asunder,

And Noph shall have distress daily.

The young men of Aven [Heliopolis] and of Pibeseth [Pubastum] shall fall by the sword.

And these cities shall go into captivity.

At Tehaphnehes [Daphne Pelusia] also they shall be darkened,
When I shall break there the yokes of Egypt:

And the pomp of her strength shall cease in her:

As for her, a cloud shall cover her,

And her daughters shall go into captivity."

But the Almighty was not less punctual in the accomplishment of his prophecies which bare reference to such of his own people as had retired, contrary to his will, into Egypt, after the taking of Jerusalem, and who had forced Jeremiah to go down thither with them also. The moment they had arrived in Egypt, and had settled at Tanis, the prophet, after having hid in their presence, by the command of God, some stones in a grotto which was near the palace of the monarch, declared to them that the king of Babylon should soon arrive in Egypt, and that his throne should be established in that very place; that he would lay waste the whole kingdom, and carry fire and sword into all places: that themselves should fall into the hands of the Chaldeans, when one part of them should be slain, and the rest led captive to Babylon; and that only a very small number should escape, and be at length restored to their country. All these prophecies were accomplished in the appointed time. See Jer. xliii. xliv.

CHAPTER V.

THE KINGDOM OF EGYPT.

BABYLONIAN DOMINATION.

AMASIS.

THE defeat and death of Apries, before mentioned, are given on the authority of Herodotus, who represents Amasis as a rebel chief taking advantage of the disaffection of the army to dethrone his sovereign. This information he received from the Egyptian priests; but they made no mention of the signal defeat their army experienced, nor of that loss of territory in Syria which resulted from Nebuchadnezzar's success. It is reasonable to conclude, therefore, that they disguised the truth from the Greek historian; and without mentioning the disgrace which had befallen their country, and the interposition of a foreign power, attributed the change in the succession, and the elevation of Amasis to the throne, solely to his ambition and the choice of the military of Egypt. Josephus, however, expressly states that the Assyrian monarch led an army into Cœlo-Syria, of which he obtained possession, and then waged war on the Ammonites and Moabites. These being subdued, he invaded and conquered Egypt; and having put the king of that country to death, he appointed another in his stead. If Josephus be correct in this statement, there is reason to suppose he alludes to Apries being deposed, and succeeded by Amasis; and it may be readily imagined that the Assyrians, having extended their conquests to the extremity of Palestine, would, on the rumour of civil war in Egypt, hasten to take advantage of the opportunity thus afforded them of attacking the country. This would amount almost to a certainty, if, as some suppose, the war between Apries and Amasis did not terminate in the single conflict at Memphis, but lasted several years; and that

either Amasis solicited the aid and intervention of Nebuchadnezzar, or this prince, availing himself of the disordered state of the country, of his own accord invaded it, deposed the rightful sovereign, and placed Amasis on the throne, on condition of paying tribute to the Assyrians.

Amasis then ascended the throne of Egypt as a vassal of the king of Babylon; and the injury done to the lands and cities of Egypt by this invasion, and the disgrace with which the Egyptians felt themselves overwhelmed after such an event, would justify the predictions of the prophets concerning the fall of Egypt. To witness their countrymen taken captive to Babylon, and to become tributary to an enemy whom they held in abhorrence, would be considered by the Egyptians the greatest calamity, as though they had for ever lost their station in the scale of nations. This last circumstance would satisfactorily account for the title Melek,* given to inferior or tributary kings, being applied to Amasis, in some of the hieroglyphic legends accompanying his name.

According to Africanus, Amasis was a native of Siouph, in the nomos or district of Sais, in the Delta. Herodotus relates a whimsical experiment to which he had recourse in order to gain the affections of his subjects, who in the beginning of his reign despised him on account of his mean extraction. He had a golden cistern, in which himself and his guests were wont to wash their feet. This he caused to be melted down, and cast into a statute, which he exposed to public worship. The superstitious people hastened in crowds to pay their adoration to this new god. This Amasis anticipated, and calling them together, he informed them of the vile uses to which this statue, which they now adored, had once served. The application was obvious, and it had the desired effect; for the people ever afterwards paid Amasis the respect due to majesty. Diodorus, however, asserts that Amasis was originally a person of consequence; that he was a distinguished member of the military caste, which accords with his rank as a general; and that he married the daugh ter of Psammiticus.

Amasis used to devote the whole morning to public business, to receive petitions, give audience, pronounce sentence, and hold his councils. The rest of the day was devoted to

* The term Melek denoted an inferior grade of "king," or it was reserved for those who governed as tributaries or viceroys of a more powerful prince, of which this is an example; others will appear after the Persian conquest.

pleasure; and as Amasis, in these hours of diversion, was extremely gay, and indulged in unseemly mirth, his courtiers represented to him the unsuitableness of such conduct. He replied, that it was as impossible for the mind to be always intent upon business, as for a bow to continue always bent; a reply which indicated that he was well acquainted with the weakness of human nature.

This

This prince enacted a domiciliary law; namely, that every Egyptian, once during the year, should set forth to the nomarch, or chief magistrate of his district, by what means he subsisted; and whoever did not attend, or could not prove that he lived honestly, was to be punished with death. was a most effectual law against idlers, and thieves or robbers. So wise was it considered by Solon, the Greek legislator, who visited the court of Amasis about B. C. 554, that according to Herodotus, he introduced it at Athens; where, says this historian, it is still in use as being a blameless law.

Amasis married a Greek wife from Cyrene. He was an admirer of the Grecians; and he prepared the way for great changes in the social condition of Egypt, by allowing Greek merchants to settle at Naucratis, and to build temples and bazars. When the temple of Delphi was burned by accident, he sent a contribution of a thousand talents of alum towards rebuilding it; he also sent rich offerings to the temples of Cyrene, Lindus, and Samos.* From this cause, it has been inferred, that the Egyptian superstition was not so incompatible with that of other nations as might be imagained. from the domestic feuds of the several sects, for the worshippers of dogs, cats, wolves, and crocodiles, exercised a continual warfare with each other as humorously described by Juvenal. He says :

"How Egypt, mad with superstition grown,

Makes gods of monsters, but too well is known:
One sex devotion to Nile's serpent + pays

Others to Ibis,‡ that on serpents preys.

The present he made to the temple at Cyrene was a golden statute of Minerva, with a portrait of himself; to that of Lindus, two marble statutes, with a linen corslet; and to that of Samos, two figures of himself carved in wood, which were placed immediately behind the gates, where they remained till the time of Herodotus.

†The crocodile.

A bird that is a great destroyer of serpents in Egypt.