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Egyptian priests and other persons of rank are represented as walking with sticks.*

Writing much practised in Egypt.

The name of the Israelitish officers, which the task-masters of Pharaoh placed over them, D, the writers, is derived from the verb, to write.† This is highly characteristic of the state of things in Egypt. In no land of the old world was facility in writing so great, and the materials for writing by any means so perfect, as in Egypt. "Stoneworkers were accustomed," says Rosellini, "to engrave upon each square block an inscription in hieroglyphics; an impression was made upon the bricks, (which besides very frequently bore inscriptions,)—even oxen were represented, -the steward of the house kept a written register. They probably wrote more in ancient Egypt, and on more ordinary occasions, than among us." "The Egyptians," says the same author,|| "differ specially from all other people, in that they constantly cover the interior and exterior of their houses, and the walls of all the innumerable apartments, of their wonderful subterranean burial places with images and writing." "Upon the implements, and even garments of the Egyptians, the name of the owner is frequently wholly or in part inscribed." "The proper name of the profession of the men is written upon them on the monuments, the name of animals upon their representatives, and that of implements of every sort upon the figures which represent them." "We must shut our eyes against the clearest light, if we would deny that the art of reading and writing was generally studied and practised in ancient Egypt, to as great a degree at

* Wilk. III. 386.

See the arguments for this in Th. II. der Beiträge zur Einl. S. 449 ff.

II. 3. p. 241.

§ p. 252. 3.

|| p. 239.

least as it now is among us." Proof from the monuments is also furnished by Rosellini,* that in judicial transactions, everything was transacted in writing. The scribes, who meet our eyes wherever we look, act an important part.† The judges of the under-world all carry upon their heads the symbolic pen of truth and justice. The passion for writing was so incorporated with the business of Egypt, that even now the last remains of the Egyptians, the Copts, are in exclusive possession of all secretaries' posts, and as it were, form a nation of scribes. These Coptic scribes compose a numerous community, with a kind of hierarchy. These references show, that these and the remaining passages of the Pentateuch which imply a great extension of the art of writing among the Israelites in the time of Moses,|| only make known what cannot have been otherwise, and thus are a strong confirmation of the narrative. These passages, so far from witnessing against the Mosaic period, have now become just so many proofs for the same. The little foundation there is at the present time for the argument against the authenticity of the Pentateuch, from the non-existence, or at least the limited diffusion of the art of writing, is shown by such facts as this, that Salvolini¶ allows that the manuscript of Sallier, containing a description of the expedition of Remeses the Great against the Scheta and their allies, was written about the year 1565 before Christ! Whether in this particular case he is in error or not, is, for our argument, a matter of indifference. For, it is sufficient that an inquirer so generally esteemed for discrimination, can suppose such a date possible,—that he did not even con* Vol. II. 3. p. 272 seq. ↑ Ros. p. 272 seq. Ros. II. 500.

§ See e. g. Girard in the Descr. t. 17. p. 192.

They are found collected in Th. 2. der Beiträge S. 457 ff.

¶ Campagne de Rhamsés, Paris 1835, p. 123.

sider it necessary to question whether writing existed at that time in Egypt.

We will here make some additions to our Essay concerning writing materials in the Mosaic period.* The Egyptians wrote with reddish ink.t The common material on which they wrote was paper made of the papyrus plant, which is found in great quantities in the common tombs. The great abundance of coarse and fine paper which, from the dates, belonged to the different dynasties of the Pharaohs, at least as far back as the 18th, make it certain that the use of paper in Egypt at the time of Alexander was very old, and therefore refutes the declarations of Pliny. The Egyptians also wrote with ink and red chalk upon cloth. We have in our possession, wrappers of mummies of byssos, written over with the ritual for the dead. They also wrote catalogues, accounts, and other such like things with ink upon wood, vessels of Terra Cotta, pieces of lime-stone, etc. Finally, they also wrote on parchment.||

Preparation of Stone for Inscriptions.

The passage, Deut. chap. xxvii, according to which the stones to be written upon were to be first covered with lime, has already been explained and verified from the antiquities of Egypt.¶ We here add also, a reference to Wilkinson, Vol. III. p. 300, where the sand-stone of the Egyptians is said to have had a kind of stucco spread over it before the paintings were made, and even granite was covered with a similar composition. Prokesch** says: "I saw one, (among

* Th. 2. der Beiträge, S. 481 ff.

Ros. II. 2. p. 207, with which, in order to call to mind that the use of ink is implied in Num. 5: 23, compare what was said on this passage, Beiträg, Th. 2. S. 489.

+ Ros. p. 227.

|| Wilk. Vol. III. p. 152.

**

§ Ros. p. 228.
¶ Beiträge, Th. 2. S. 464.
Erinnerungen aus Aeg. und Kleinas, Th. 2. S. 31.

the tombs in the pyramids of Dashoor,) where a red mortar is first laid upon the stone, and then the hieroglyphics and a figure of the apis are impressed upon this coating.

The Bastinado.

The scene in chap. 5: 14, where the officers of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptian overseers of Pharaoh placed over them, were beaten because those under their charge had not performed their task in brick-making, is placed vividly before our eyes in the representation of an Egyptian bastinado in Wilkinson.* With this compare another representation,† where "the laborers are stimulated to work by the persuasive powers of the stick." The first painting shows conclusively, that the mode of inflicting stripes described in Deut. 25: 2, (the guilty person is laid down flat upon the ground before the judge and beaten,) was precisely the Egyptian mode. Wilkinson describes it in the following words: "Men and boys were laid prostrate on the ground, and frequently held by the hands and feet, while the chastisement was administered."‡

The Shoterim of the Israelites, the same as the Modern
Sheikh el-Beled.

Analogy, for the taking of officers from the oppressed people themselves, who are made responsible for the performance of prescribed labor, may be found in modern Egypt. This same thing is done among the Arab fellahs, whose condition, under the government of the Turks, as the description of

* Vol. II. p. 41.

+ Wilk. II. p. 42.

Compare Rosellini, I1. 3. p. 274, and concerning the presence of a magistrate at the execution of the punishment, the same author, p. 278.

Michaud, for example, shows, agrees in many respects remarkably with that of the Israelites. In each village, one of the Arabs, under the title of Sheikh el-Beled, occupies the place of mediator between the government and the people. He must see that the men perform the prescribed labor, and collect from them the taxes which the government imposes upon them. The Sheikh el-Beled is often seen under the stick of the Kaim-makam, the Kashif or the Mamoor, in the place of some individual of the common people, of whom he in turn afterwards takes vengeance.†

The Duties of the Shoterim.

Since we are now occupied with the Shoterim, we will also add, that the position, hitherto not properly understood, which they, according to the precepts in Deut. 20: 1 seq., must have held with reference to warlike affairs, (they had the care of levying soldiers, and excusing those unable to perform military service, and they delivered the troops over to the military chiefs, the "captains of the armies,” in verse 9th,) is explained by the post which the scribes occupy in the same sphere in modern Egypt, and in all probability the whole institution of the Shoterim, as it is entirely alien to patriarchal customs, is of Egyptian origin. The scribes in the representation of Egyptian warlike scenes act an important part. In levying soldiers, for instance, they write down the names of those who are brought before them by their commanders. They count, in the presence of the king, the hands of the slain which have been cut off, and sometimes also their tongues and other members of the body; they make a statement of the weapons, the horses and the rest of the booty, and present it to the king, and they perform whatever such like things there are to be done.

*

Correspondance, t. 5. p. 254.

Ros. II. 3. p. 218.

+ Ros. II. 2. p. 257.

§ Wilk. I. p. 393.

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