THE ancient paintings upon the monuments of Egypt show to us the abundant wealth of those people in various kinds of cattle. Many animals which, in our days, are not tamed or used for domestic purposes, were rendered gentle by the Egyptians of olden time. Those wise people did not hunt animals simply for the pleasure of destroying them, but they often captured such of the wild creatures as, when tamed, might prove useful to them. They also possessed the art of rendering animals of value which now seems lost. Thus the hyena was used to guard the flocks, and, as you see in our picture, the cat was taught to hunt with his master.
This picture shows us the sportsman, throw-stick in hand, with perhaps his daughter, in his papyrus boat, amid butterflies, rushes, and flowers, and his cat bringing out the game he has struck. And very cleverly is puss at work, for with his paws he holds two birds, while with his mouth he seizes another, the form of which clearly shows that it is a waterfowl. You observe that a tamed bird stands upon the prow of the boat.
The monuments indicate to us wealthy people, with their stewards, looking at their cattle, and the clerk standing by, writing materials in hand, recording the number and quality of the flocks and herds. In this picture one of the herdsmen prostrates himself before his master’s scribe, while the other stands with folded arms, in a posture the villagers along the Nile may still be often seen placing themselves.
The owner may also be seen observing, with especial interest, his slave, leading some favorite long-horned ox, or a beautiful white bull, for inspection. And we read, graven with the iron pen, upon the stone walls of their houses, how many cattle and sheep were owned by this gentleman or that prince. In the earlier books of the Bible we frequently find the numbers recorded of the sheep and oxen which the person spoken of possessed.
We must also remember that the ancient Egyptians had various sacred bulls, so that not only did they prize cattle, they also revered them.
We have already noticed the rise of the water of the Nile in our remarks upon the plagues. As the waters gradually flood the low country, you should know that the cattle had to be driven to the higher parts, This work was one of anxiety and labor. The crocodiles would creep up the banks of the Nile, following the rising water, and these great creatures, as well as the flood, endangered the lives of the oxen. The herdsmen, some in paper (papyrus) boats, some wading, others swimming, would drive the cattle through the waters.
The cattle would be liable to sickness at this season of the year, both from being so crowded together, and because of the chill of the water; and such is usually the case in Egypt now. Also, at this time of the year, the cattle would be required for treading in the seed sown upon the water at the beginning of the inundation, as you may observe in our picture, in which the sower casts his seed while the cattle trample it in the soft earth.
It seems that it was when the attention of Egypt was necessarily drawn to its cattle by reason of the height to which the Nile had risen, that the word of Jehovah was sent to Pharaoh, announcing
THE FIFTH PLAGUE,
A grievous murrain, which should destroy the horses, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep. And as murrains are not uncommon in Egypt, there was a special action of Jehovah in respect of this plague; a set time was appointed for its accomplishment. And not only so, but Jehovah drew the line between His people and the Egyptians in the most marked manner. Nothing that belonged to the children of Israel died. The miraculous character of the judgment was unanswerable, and the favor of the Lord to His own people equally manifest. Yet this very circumstance was used by Pharaoh for the hardening of his heart. Probably he thought that he could replenish his supplies by taking of the wealth of Israel.
THE SIXTH PLAGUE
Once more the Lord spoke to Pharaoh before the overflowing waters of the Nile sank away and the ebbing river returned to its ordinary limits.
Travelers tell us that when the water of the inundation is at its height—that is, about the month of August—that the ridges of land left untouched by the waters present a most peculiar appearance. And what is then seen, on a small scale, reminds the searchers into the monuments of those scenes which, in the feasts, went by the names of the feasts of the greater and the lesser burning.
Imagine the vast river rolling on like a sea between two distant shores, each of which, day and night, blazes incessantly, while the north wind, which, at the period of the year now before us, blows strongly, drives along in clouds the smoke and the ashes of the burnings. The peasants have made bonfires of the heaps of weeds all along the uncovered ground, and they are clearing the land of all its field refuse before the waters recede. In the present day the peasants are superstitiously particular in burning up the whole of the heaps. In those times a religious feast was connected with the incident.
If in autumn you have passed within a mile of the burning weed-heaps in our country, you may have seen the smoke pass before your face, and if we suppose that the climate of this country would allow the whole of the autumn weed-heaps to be burned upon the same day, then, even in the heart of great London—where the scent of the haymaking in the distant fields is often smelt—would be discerned the burning of the weeds. All Egypt knew what these burnings were, and the king and his priests joined in the ceremonies connected with the feasts of the greater and the lesser burning.
Then Moses and Aaron were bidden, “Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace (conflagration), and let Moses sprinkle it toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh, and it shall become dust in all the land of Egypt, breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast throughout all the land of Egypt;” and forthwith the dust became boils, breaking out upon all the Egyptians. Wherever the wind carried the subtle dust and blew a particle of the ashes upon man or beast there fell the plague.
There is at this present day a peculiar kind of painful boil which afflicts the inhabitants of parts of Egypt, and this some consider to be the remains of the awful pestilence sent thousands of years ago.
This was the last plague Jehovah sent them in direct connection with their god, the River Nile. He had other plagues in store after the sixth plague, but for the space of some months the idolatrous land had time given it to ponder the judgments already poured upon it. H. F. W.