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CHAPTER XI

PALESTINE IN THE PATRIARCHAL AGE

THE TALE OF SINUHE. COMMUNICATION BETWEEN EGYPT AND PALESTINE.

1. The Tale of Sinuhe.

In the year 1970 B. C., when Amenemhet I died and was succeeded by Sesostris I, an Egyptian of high rank, named Sinuhe, for some reason now unknown to us, fled from Egypt to Asia. The details of his escape from Egypt are not of interest to the Biblical student, but his description of the hardships encountered in the desert and of his experiences in eastern Palestine are of great value, as they afford us our earliest description of that country outside the Bible. The following extract begins just after Sinuhe had told how he escaped the guards in the fort which stood at the eastern frontier of Egypt.1

I went on at the time of evening,

As the earth brightened, I arrived at Peten.
When I had reached the lake of Kemwer,2
I fell down for thirst, fast came my breath,
My throat was hot,

I said: "This is the taste of death."

I upheld my heart, I drew my limbs together,

As I heard the sound of lowing cattle,

I beheld the Bedawin.

That chief among them, who had been in Egypt, recognized me.

He gave me water, he cooked for me milk.

I went with him to his tribe,

Good was that which they did (for me).

One land sent me on to another,

I loosed for Suan,3

I arrived at Kedem;4

I spent a year and a half there.

1 From Breasted's Ancient Records, Egypt, I, p. 237, ff.

? An Egyptian name of the northern extension of the Gulf of Suez.

Some Egyptian trading-post in Asia.

An early name for the region east of the Jordan and the Dead Sea. It is called Kedemah in Gen. 25 15 and 1 Chron. 1: 30; Kedemoth in Deut. 2: 26, and translated "East" in Judges 6:3, 33; 7: 12; 8: 10, 11. In Gen. and Chron. the name is applied to a person.

Emuienshe,1 that sheik of Upper [Ru]tenu,2 brought me forth
saying to me: "Happy art thou with me,
(for) thou hearest the speech of Egypt.'
He said this (for) he knew my character,
He had heard of my wisdom;

The Egyptians, who were there with him, bare witness of me.

The Amorite chieftain then questioned Sinuhe concerning his flight. He gave evasive answers, merging with his reply a long hymn in praise of the king. After this Emuienshe said to him:

"Behold, thou shalt now abide with me;
Good is that which I shall do for thee."
He put me at the head of his children,
He married me to his eldest daughter,
He made me select for myself of his land,
Of the choicest of that which he had,
On his boundary with another land.
It was a goodly land, named Yaa;3
There were figs in it and vines,

More plentiful than water was its wine,
Copious was its honey, plenteous its oil;
All fruits were upon its trees.

Barley was there and spelt,

Without end all cattle.

Moreover, great was that which came to me,

Which came for love of me,

When he appointed me sheik of the tribe,

From the choicest of his land.

I portioned the daily bread,

And wine for every day,

Cooked flesh and fowl in roast;

Besides the wild goats of the hills,

Which were trapped for me, and brought to me;

Besides that which my dogs captured for me.

There was much-made for me,

And milk in every sort of cooked dish.

I spent many years,

My children became strong,

Each the mighty man of his tribe.

The messenger going north,

Or passing southward to the court,

He turned in to me.

For I had all men turn in (to me).

The tale goes on concerning the personal prowess of Sinuhe, who, in his old age, returned to Egypt and made his peace with the king.

1 This is an Amorite name, Ammi-anshi. It shows that the Amorites were already in this region. Later the Hebrews found Sihon, the Amorite here; see Num. 21: 21, ff. and Deut. 1: 4, ff. The Egyptian name for the higher parts of Palestine and Syria. The Egyptians had no l; they always used r instead. The name is identical with the Hebrew Lotan, Gen. 36: 20, of which Lot is a shorter form.

Perhaps the same name as Aiah (Ajah) of Gen. 36 : 24 and 1 Chron. 1 : 40.

2. Communication between Egypt and Palestine.

This document from the early patriarchal age reveals a close relationship between Egypt and Palestine. There was frequent communication between Kedem and Egypt; messengers went to and fro. The Egyptian language was understood at the court of the Amorite chieftain. These conditions throw light on the narratives of the descent of Abraham and Jacob to Egypt. Sinuhe's description of his life necessarily reminds one of the description of Palestine so often met with in the Pentateuch, Joshua, and the prophets, "a land flowing with milk and honey." (See, for example, Exod. 3:8, 17.)

CHAPTER XII

MOSES AND THE EXODUS

THE LEGEND of Sargon oF AGADE; ITS RESEMBLANCE TO THE STORY OF MOSES. THE PILLAR OF Merneptah; ThE ONLY APPEARANCE OF THE NAME "Israel" OUTSIDE OF THE BIBLE.

1. The Legend of Sargon of Agade.

The following legend' contains a story of the exposure of an infant on a river, strikingly like that told of Moses.

1. Sargon, the mighty king, king of Agade am I,

2. My mother was lowly; my father I did not know;2

3. The brother of my father dwelt in the mountain.

4. My city is Azupiranu, which is situated on the bank of the Euphrates.

5. My lowly mother conceived me, in secret she brought me forth.

6. She placed me in a basket of reeds, she closed my entrance with bitumen,

7. She cast me upon the river, which did not overflow me.

8. The river carried me, it brought me to Akki, the irrigator.

9. Akki, the irrigator, in the goodness of his heart lifted me out,

10. Akki, the irrigator, as his own son......brought me up;

11. Akki, the irrigator, as his gardener appointed me.

12. When I was a gardener the goddess Ishtar loved me,

13. And for four years I ruled the kingdom.

14. The black-headed3 peoples I ruled, I governed;

15. Mighty mountains with axes of bronze I destroyed (?).

16. I ascended the upper mountains;

17. I burst through the lower mountains.

18. The country of the sea I besieged three times;

19. Dilmun I captured (?).

20. Unto the great Dur-ilu I went up, I. . . . . . ..

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24. Let him rule, let him govern the black-headed peoples; 25. Mighty mountains with axes of bronze let him destroy;

26. Let him ascend the upper mountains,

27. Let him break through the lower mountains;

28. The country of the sea let him besiege three times;

29. Dilmun let him capture;

30. To great Dur-ilu let him go up.

1 From Cuneiform Texts, &c., in the British Museum, XIII, 42; cf. also King, Chronicles of Early Babylonian Kings, II, 87, ff.

2 Another tablet reads "a father I had not."

3 A name for the Semitic peoples of Babylonia. An island in the Persian Gulf.

The rest is too broken for connected translation.

It is thought by some scholars of the critical school that the parallelism between the secret birth, the exposure, the rescue and adoption of Sargon, and the account of the secret birth, exposure, rescue, and adoption of Moses in Exod. 2:1-10 is too close to be accidental. Conservative scholars, on the other hand, hold that, if the legend of Sargon is historical, it merely affords an example of a striking coincidence of events in two independent lives.

2. The Pillar of Merneptah.

In the fifth year of King Merneptah, who ruled from 1225-1215 B. C., and who is thought to be the Pharaoh of the exodus, he inscribed on a pillar an account of his wars and victories. The inscription concludes with the following poetic strophe:1

The kings are overthrown, saying: "salaam!"
Not one holds up his head among the nine bows.2

Wasted is Tehenu,3

Kheta is pacified,

Plundered is the Canaan with every evil,

Carried off is Askelon,

Seized upon is Gezer,

Yenoam is made as a thing not existing.

Israel is desolated, his seed is not;

Palestine has become a widow for Egypt.

All lands are united, they are pacified;

Every one that is turbulent is bound by King Merneptah, who gives life like Rǎ every day.

This inscription contains the only mention of Israel in a document of this age outside the Bible. It is, for that reason, of great importance. It should be noted that Israel is mentioned along with peoples and places in Palestine and Phoenicia. The Israel here referred to was not, accordingly, in Egypt. Israel, on the other hand, may not have been more than a nomadic people. The Egyptians used a certain "determinative" in connection with the names of settled peoples. That sign is here used with Tehenu, Kheta, Askelon, Gezer, and Yenoam, but not with Israel.

As Merneptah has been supposed by many to be the Pharaoh in whose reign the exodus occurred, the mention of Israel here has

1 Taken from Breasted's Ancient Records, Egypt, III, p. 264, ff.

That is, the foreign nations.

That is, Lybia, which lay to the west of the Egyptian Delta.

That is, the Hittites.

"The Canaan" refers to the land of Canaan, probably here Phoenicia.

Yenoam was a town situated at the extreme north of Galilee, just at the end of the valley between the two ranges of the Lebanon mountains.

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