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CHAPTER XVIII.

FURTHER NOTICES OF EGYPT IN EXODUS.

IN considering the Biblical notices of Egypt contained in the Book of Exodus, we have hitherto confined ourselves almost entirely to the main narrative, and indeed to such points of it as are capable of illustration from historical documents, monumental or literary. But the full force of the illustration which profane sources are capable of lending to the Scriptural account cannot be rightly estimated, unless we add to this some consideration of those various minor matters, incidentally touched upon, which constitute the entourage of the main narrative, and render it altogether so graphic and life-like. These touches must be either the natural utterances of one familiar with the country at the time, as Moses, the traditional author of Exodus, would have been, or the artful imitation of such utterances by a later writer, unfamiliar with the time, and probably with the scene, drawing upon his imagination or his stock of antiquarian knowledge. In the former case, a general agreement between the Biblical portraiture and the facts as otherwise known to us might be confidently

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looked for; in the latter, there would be sure to appear, on examination, repeated contradictions and discrepancies.

It will be the object of the present chapter to show that there is a close accord between the Scriptural notices and the facts as otherwise known to us in respect of almost all the minor matters of which we have spoken. These may be summed up under the following principal heads:-(a) the climate and productions of Egypt, (b) the dress and domestic habits of the people, (c) the ordinary food of the labouring classes, (d) customs connected with farming and cattle-keeping, and (e) miscellaneous customs.

The climate of Egypt is touched upon mainly in connection with the seventh plague, in ch. ix. We find there heavy rain (ver. 33), hail, thunder and lightning mentioned as occurring in early spring, and doing great damage to the crops. The particular visitation is spoken of as miraculous in coming at the command of Moses (ver. 23), and as extraordinary in its intensity (ver. 24), but not as a thing previously unknown. On the contrary, it is implied that similar visitations of less severity were not unusual. Objection has been taken to the narrative on this account; and it has been represented as indicative of a great want of acquaintance with the climatic circumstances of the country, since rain and hail are, it has been said, unknown in Egypt. But the only ground for such a statement is the authority of the classical writers. Herodotus regarded rain in Upper Egypt as a

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prodigy,' and Mela goes so far as to call Egypt generally "a land devoid of showers."2 But the observation of modern travellers runs counter to such views,3 and supports the credit of the author of Exodus. In Upper Egypt, indeed, "very heavy rain is unusual, and happens only about once in ten years. Four or five showers fall there every year, after long intervals." But in Lower Egypt, rain is as common in winter as it is in the south of Europe. Storms of great severity occur occasionally, more especially in February and March, when snow, hail, thunder and lightning are not uncommon. The Rev. T. H. Tooke "describes a storm of extreme severity, which lasted twenty-four hours, in the middle of February," as high up the valley as Beni-Hassan. Other travellers, as Seetzen and Willmann, speak of storms of thunder and hail in March. “The ravines in the valley of the kings' tombs near Thebes, and the precautions taken in the oldest temples at Thebes to guard the roofs against rain by lions' mouths, or gutters, for letting off the water from them," prove sufficiently that there was no great difference between ancient and modern times in respect of the rainfall of the Nile valley.

1 Herod. iii. 10.

2 Pomp. Mel., “De Situ Orbis,” i. 9; “Ægyptus terra expers imbrium."

3 See the passages collected by Hengstenberg, "Egypt and the Books of Moses," pp. 117, 118.

4 Wilkinson in Rawlinson's "Herodotus," vol. ii., p. 409, note 4. 5"Speaker's Commentary," vol. i., p. 285.

6 Wilkinson, 1. s. c. Compare "Ancient Egyptians," vol. ii., p. 426.

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Among the cultivated products of Egypt mentioned in Exodus, the principal are, wheat, barley, flax, and rye, or spelt (ix. 32), to which may be added from the Book of Numbers (xi. 5) cucumbers, melons, onions, garlick, and leeks. Grains of wheat have been found abundantly in the coffins containing mummies, and 'mummy wheat" is said to have been raised from such grains in various parts of Europe. The monuments, moreover, represent to us in numerous instances the growth of wheat, the mode in which it was cut, bound into sheaves, or gathered into baskets, and threshed by the tread of cattle on a threshing-floor.1 Barley does not appear to be represented, but its growth is manifest. It is mentioned as the ordinary food of the Egyptian horses, and as one of the chief materials used in the making of bread. It was also largely employed in the manufacture of beer. was likewise cultivated on an extensive scale to furnish the linen garments necessarily worn by the priests, and preferentially by others, and needed also for mummycloths, corselets, and various other uses. Spelt, like wheat, is represented on the monuments, and according to Herodotus, was the grain ordinarily consumed by the Egyptians, as is the doora-probably the same plant at the present day. Herodotus also witnesses

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1 See Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," vol. ii., pp. 418-427.

Flax

2 The Egyptian wheat being bearded, it is not easy to say in some cases whether barley or wheat is represented.

3" Records of the Past," vol. ii., p. 75. 4 Ibid., vol. viii., p. 44. 5 Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," vol. ii., p. 42.

6 Ibid., p. 427.

7 Herod. ii. 36.

to the cultivation of onions and of garlick,' while that of cucumbers is attested by their being frequently figured in the tombs. The leeks of Egypt had the character of being superior to all others in the time of Pliny, which would imply a long anterior cultivation. Melons are among the most abundant of the modern products, but their growth in ancient times seems not to be distinctly attested.

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The abundant use of personal ornaments by the Egyptians, and especially of ornaments in silver and gold, implied in the direction given to the Israelites to "borrow" such things of their neighbours and lodgers before their departure from Egypt (ch. iii. 22), and in the spoil" which they thus acquired (ch. xii. 36), is among the facts most copiously attested by the extant remains. Ornaments in gold and silver have been found in the tombs, not only of the great and opulent, but even of comparatively poor persons; they were frequently worn by the men, and probably few women were without them. Among the articles obtained from the tombs are " rings, bracelets, armlets, necklaces, earrings, and numerous trinkets belonging to the toilet."3 Most of these articles were common to the two sexes; but ear-rings were affected especially, if not exclusively, by the women.

Egyptian men of the upper class carried, as a matter of course, "walking-sticks." Hence the "rod" of

1 Herod., ii. 125.

2 Plin., "H. N." xix. 33.

3 Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," vol. ii., p. 236.

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