Brugsch, Heinrich: Egypt under the pharaohs: a history derived entirely from the monuments (London, 1891)

102 THE KHAR oh. t.

were the Khar, in whom may be recognised the
Phoenicians. They carried on a brisk trade with
Egypt, and seem to have been a people held in esteem
and consideration, slaves from Kharl being a much-
desired merchandise, procured by distinguished Egyp-
tians at a high price, either for their own houses or
for the service of the Egyptian deities.

The strong city of Zoan seems to have been a
primeval habitation of the Phoenicians, since Zoan-Tanis-
formed an important centre for intercourse with the
rest of Egypt. The name of Zor, as well as Zoan,
is a reminder of the celebrated Zor-Tyre. The im-
portance of these people culminates in the fact that a
Phoenician named Arisu towards the end of the Nine-
teenth Dynasty was able to make himself master of
the throne of Egypt. The Khar spoke their own
language—Phoenician—which is the only foreign
tongue mentioned on the monuments with a distinct
reference to its importance. Whoever lived in Egypt
spoke Egyptian; whoever stayed in the south had to
speak the language of the Nahasu, or dark-coloured
people; while those who went northwards to the
Asiatic region had to be acquainted with the language
of the Phoenicians, in order to converse at all intel-
ligibly with the inhabitants of the country.

The latest descendants of this old race may be
seen to-day in the same region where their forefathers
settled thousands of years ago, and the traveller still
meets on the shores of Lake Menzaleh, near the old
district of Kamses and Pithom, a race of fishermen
and sailors, whose manners and customs, whose
historical traditions, and whose ideas on religious
matters characterise them as foreigners. They are
the same whom the Arab writers mention sometimes

1 The name Khar denoted both the people and their country.