AFTER Jacob's funeral was over Joseph returned into Egypt. Fear then took possession of his brethren. They did not know the heart of Joseph. They knew how they had behaved unto Joseph, and now that their father was dead feared what Joseph would do, and admitted that they were his servants. But Joseph says, "Fear not," and he comforted them. After this Joseph, who had lived one hundred and ten years, said, "I die." He made them swear to carry up his bones, and he was embalmed to preserve the body.
The ancient Egyptians always embalmed their dead. It was done in order to keep the bodies from decaying, so that the flesh remained perfect on the bones. They are then called mummies. There are some in the British Museum. The Egyptians, too, often embalmed the bodies of birds, cats, snakes and crocodiles in the same way as human bodies, at least the birds and cats were sealed up in earthenware jars. In this way their sacred bulls were preserved and then placed in sarcophagi, hugh marble coffins, and in tombs. They are from ten to twelve feet long, by six feet wide, and six feet deep, and are of hard granite, beautifully polished. Some of them were covered with hieroglyphics, that is, picture-writing.
The Egyptians took great pains to preserve their bodies, because they thought the spirit wandered, never resting, waiting for the return of the original body. They had no written revelation to which to refer, and after the death of the patriarchs turned mostly to tradition. In Egypt funerals are attended, except the very poorest, by wailing women. Some women actually make a living out of it.
In Jer. 9 they are mentioned as cunning women in connection with wailing. Sometimes when a person died the relations and friends send bread to the house of mourning, and this is what Ezekiel calls the bread of men. (Eze. 24:2222And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. (Ezekiel 24:22).)
Let us now consider the Pharaoh (about 1571 B.C.) “who knew not Joseph.” He made a cruel edict to put to death all the male children, and no doubt numbers of the children of Israel perished, but one we now escaped. His parents were of the tribe of Levi, and they could not sacrifice their beautiful boy at the king's command. The mother trusted God, and we learn from Heb. 11 that “by faith” this beautiful boy, Moses, was hidden three months, and that neither the mother nor the father was afraid of the king's commandment.
There was no mixture of fear with faith. How often Christians are afraid when they wish to do a right thing, and hindered by it.
The mother then did the thing which first occurred to her. She did not look for a miracle, but was no doubt guided by God, for she took that which was at hand and provided. She took for him an ark, or a basket, of bulrushes, daubed it with slime and pitch, and put the child in it, and laid it in the flags or papyrus reeds by the river's brink.
This story is so simple and so well known, but there may be some things to note.
It is interesting to know that Moses lived in the reigns of five kings, and that he was rescued by the humane princess, the daughter of Pharaoh, probably from the dreadful crocodiles. So he became known as the son of the princess.
But was he an Egyptian in heart?
Ah! no. We are told that going out one day unto his brethren, he saw an Egyptian smiting one of them. Looking all around and seeing no man, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he saw two of the Hebrews striving together. He tried to make peace, but they misunderstood him. No doubt his mother had talked to him, and trained him for God, and had spoken to him of his brethren. His zeal was perhaps rash, and Pharaoh heard of it and was angry, and Moses had to flee from Egypt.
But before continuing his history, shall we consider the birthplace of Moses, as some suppose? The traveler, whom we have before mentioned, tells us that, leaving Cairo, he and his friend took a turn to the bank of the Nile and found there a ferry-boat, which a ferryman, paddled across to the Island of Rôda. Many say it was here that the princess found Moses; certainly a lovely spot, gardens and fruit trees, bananas, oranges and dates in profusion, and liberty to pick them.
On the west were flowing the broad waters of the Nile, with boats on its surface; there were also the pyramids, and the desert; to the south the upper valley of the Nile. Altogether it was a picturesque scene and brought a dreamy sensation of happiness.
But we must remember that Rôda is the island noted for the Nilometer, that is, a deep, square well with a gauge cut in the side by which the people can tell how high the water is when the Nile is rising. This was in 1856. In 1897 we read of a column, eight-sided, built into the center of this well, which communicates with the Nile. Originally it was covered by a dome supported by columns, but being destroyed by Napoleon, it was replaced by a wooden one with wooden columns. The height of the water is measured in June, and by the height of the waters it can be told whether the lower lands are covered, then the higher lands, and when a little higher the whole country is watered and there cannot, humanly speaking, be any famine. The taxes are arranged according to the rise of the waters.
With reference to the pyramids, the distance from Cairo is about eight miles. Our travelers hired donkeys and took a boat, the donkeys being lifted in, and reached the Libyan side of the river. Near here there is a large egg-hatching establishment, in which a great number of chickens were hatched by artificial means. This system was carried on in many places. Here the Nile is about three-quarters of a mile broad.
Again we mounted our donkeys, the pyramids being six miles further on. We passed several groups, that went by the name of villages, which looked like hovels, only enlivened by palms and other trees. Here there was a piece of water like a small lake. Whilst wondering what to do to get across, the donkeys took the reins into their own control and settled it by walking through the water, whilst some of the Arabs carried us over on their shoulders.
After an hour more we were standing at the base of the pyramids, and I at least was dumb with wonder and surprise. Such a colossal work! How could it have been done by man? and that about four thousand years ago!
The first one, the Pyramid of Cheops, was the largest, and covered an area of thirteen acres. Some of the stones were thirty-nine feet by fifteen feet by four and a half feet. These figures will give some idea of the structure if a drawing of a pyramid be consulted.
In a book written by a well-known writer, he says that the first sight of the pyramids did not impress him so much, the sameness of their appearance was deceptive and there was nothing to show their relative height.
It is possible to ride round the pyramids on the back of a camel, but it is a very trying performance. The camel goes down on its knees, then tucks his hind legs under him, and you get astride; but when it gets up if you are not careful you may fall over its head as the camel rises on its hind legs, or you may be pitched over its tail s the animal rises to its forefeet. So camel riding is not a delightful occupation; you must be careful not to slip off, and not to knock your head on the camel's head as he sways and bobs about. It also tries the muscles of the back, and some people feel giddy and sick; still, one is glad not to have to walk in the hot sun.
And now let us suppose that we have reached the pyramids and are resting under their shadow. There are three really great pyramids, the largest is called the Pyramid of Cheops, which is supposed to have been built by a king of that name before Abraham came down to Egypt, so he may have seen it. I mentioned the size of the stones earlier, so now only notice that the pyramid becomes smaller and smaller as you reach the top, until it becomes nearly a point. One cannot enter into all the details of this great structure, let it suffice for us to know that it took thousands of men ten years to form the roads for conveying the stones and twenty more years to build it. Herodotus tells us the value of two hundred thousand pounds was paid for garlic, radishes and onions alone as food for the workers, so what must the whole of the provisions have cost The second pyramid, the Pyramid of Rhafra, is almost as large as the first; but the third, the Pyramid of Menkaura, is only about half the size of the second. These most wonderful and colossal works really require a history to themselves.
The pyramids are full of stuffy, dusty and dark passages, built in the rough rock, and the bats scream overhead. The curious may ask, What about the inside? It sometimes happens that when people go to visit them, having torches, the bats arise en masse, making such a strong current of air as they fly, that the torches are extinguished, thus leaving the visitors in darkness. When this happens it makes rather an unpleasant ending to the visit.