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

302 FOREIGN CAPTIVES IN EGYPT ch. xiii.

people in the north, in order by this prudent measure
to prevent any dangerous combination of neighbours
related by blood.

The foreigners were employed in various services,
according to their capacities. Those most active, and
most experienced in war, were formed into foreign
legions, the commanders of which, for the most part
Egyptians, bore the name of Her-pit (' captain of the
foreigners')- Others, experienced in sea life, were
enrolled in the Egyptian fleet. Others again were
assigned places in the royal palace, or the temples, or
in the households of distinguished personages, while no
less a number were employed on the buildings, in the
quarries, or in the mines. The king's name was branded
upon them, to prevent their flight, and to facilitate their
re-capture. On the whole, they were treated with
mildness, for their captivity was not regarded as slavery
in our sense of the word.

The influx of Semitic hostages and prisoners from
Asia exercised a continually increasing influence on
religion, manners, and language. The Egyptian lan-
guage was enriched with foreign expressions, often
indeed from mere whim, but more often for good
reasons, in order properly to designate unknown objects
by their native names. The letters and documents of
the time of the Eamessides are full of Semitic words thus
introduced. The learned court-scribes, especially, seem
to have felt a sentimental craving for the use of foreign
words, in order to give themselves in the eyes of the
public an air of learned culture. The Egyptian ex-
pressions for designating a ' hero ' were supplanted by
the words Mohar, or Ariel, borrowed from the Semitic;
the Egyptian Nefer, ' a young man,' was changed for
the Semitic name Naara-na ; the army was in the same