DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4031#0042
KING NEHASI.
29
to Set, was afterwards the king of Tell
Mokdam who worshipped the same god; and
as he was the first-born of the royal family, it
is clear that he came to the throne by inherit-
ance as legitimate king, and not by right of
conquest. I have dwelt elsewhere8 on the
conclusions which may be deduced from this
fact. If we consider what was the history of
the Xllth Dynasty, and also that of the Xlllth,
as far as we know anything of the reigns of
the Sebekhoteps and Neferhoteps, there is no
doubt that most of their campaigns were
directed against the Nubians and the Bthio-
pians. The negroes and the peoples of the
Upper Nile must have been more formidable
enemies than we supposed, otherwise it would
not have been necessary to make war so con-
stantly against them, and to erect those
fortifications which may be seen to the
present day, in places like Semneh. There
would be nothing strange if in those troubled
times, the history of which is so obscure, Egypt
had been for a time under the rule of Ethiopian
negroes. This view would agree with the
tradition recorded by Herodotus,9 who says
that between Menes and Moeris, who dug the
lake bearing his name, there reigned three
hundred and thirty monarchs, whose names the
priests read to him from a papyrus, and that
among them there were eighteen Ethiopians.
However unreliable we may think the figures of
Herodotus, it is curious that the number of
Ethiopian kings should have been so large; and
it is quite possible that there may have been
negro kings like Nehasi, of whose existence we
were ignorant, especially as they are not likely
to have raised many monuments, or to have left
extensive and faithful records of their reigns.
It would be extraordinary that a king of the
XlVth Dynasty should call himself a negro, if
he did not belong to the Ethiopian race.
8 Transactions of the IXth Cong, of Orientalists. Eecueil
de travaux, vol. xv., p. 97.
9 Lib. ii., cap. 100.
The site of the temple atTellMokdam is clearly
discernible on the eastern side of the tell. It is
now a cornfield. I dug several trenches there,
but they yielded no results beyond a few frag-
ments of limestone, showing that the temple
ruins had shared the fate of those at Baklieh,
and of most of the sites of ancient cities in the
Delta. There could not have been much
granite in the building, as that would have
been at least partially preserved.
On the north side, at the end of the mound,
towards Mit Ghamr, in digging for sebakh,
the fellaheen had discovered, shortly before I
arrived, the base of a statue in red limestone,
which they immediately broke in two. I dug
in the same place, and found remains of
statues of Rameses II. and Osorkon II. in red
granite, and another base, also in hard red
limestone. The two monuments in limestone
have been brought to England ; one of them is
now in the British Museum. They both consist
of the lower parts of sitting statues of Usertesen
III., one of the greatest kings of the Xllth
Dynasty. Their workmanship is remarkably
good, the hieroglyphs are beautifully cut, and
the little that remains of the female figures
represented as standing on each side of the
throne, against the legs of the king, shows
that both statues must have been of great
beauty. This only increases our regret that
such fine works of art should have suffered
most wanton mutilation. One of the seated
figures is of natural, and the other of heroic size
(pi. xii. c). The smaller one has been usurped
by an officer of Osorkon II., while the larger
one bears the name of Usertesen III. only.
An examination of these statues indicates
that they were made for the temple which
stood at Tell Mokdam. The king is said to be
a worshipper of Osiris, who, as we know from
the inscription on the sarcophagus, was the
local deity of the place, and there assumed the
form of a lion. Moreover, in front of the feet
of one of the bases stood the name of a god
29
to Set, was afterwards the king of Tell
Mokdam who worshipped the same god; and
as he was the first-born of the royal family, it
is clear that he came to the throne by inherit-
ance as legitimate king, and not by right of
conquest. I have dwelt elsewhere8 on the
conclusions which may be deduced from this
fact. If we consider what was the history of
the Xllth Dynasty, and also that of the Xlllth,
as far as we know anything of the reigns of
the Sebekhoteps and Neferhoteps, there is no
doubt that most of their campaigns were
directed against the Nubians and the Bthio-
pians. The negroes and the peoples of the
Upper Nile must have been more formidable
enemies than we supposed, otherwise it would
not have been necessary to make war so con-
stantly against them, and to erect those
fortifications which may be seen to the
present day, in places like Semneh. There
would be nothing strange if in those troubled
times, the history of which is so obscure, Egypt
had been for a time under the rule of Ethiopian
negroes. This view would agree with the
tradition recorded by Herodotus,9 who says
that between Menes and Moeris, who dug the
lake bearing his name, there reigned three
hundred and thirty monarchs, whose names the
priests read to him from a papyrus, and that
among them there were eighteen Ethiopians.
However unreliable we may think the figures of
Herodotus, it is curious that the number of
Ethiopian kings should have been so large; and
it is quite possible that there may have been
negro kings like Nehasi, of whose existence we
were ignorant, especially as they are not likely
to have raised many monuments, or to have left
extensive and faithful records of their reigns.
It would be extraordinary that a king of the
XlVth Dynasty should call himself a negro, if
he did not belong to the Ethiopian race.
8 Transactions of the IXth Cong, of Orientalists. Eecueil
de travaux, vol. xv., p. 97.
9 Lib. ii., cap. 100.
The site of the temple atTellMokdam is clearly
discernible on the eastern side of the tell. It is
now a cornfield. I dug several trenches there,
but they yielded no results beyond a few frag-
ments of limestone, showing that the temple
ruins had shared the fate of those at Baklieh,
and of most of the sites of ancient cities in the
Delta. There could not have been much
granite in the building, as that would have
been at least partially preserved.
On the north side, at the end of the mound,
towards Mit Ghamr, in digging for sebakh,
the fellaheen had discovered, shortly before I
arrived, the base of a statue in red limestone,
which they immediately broke in two. I dug
in the same place, and found remains of
statues of Rameses II. and Osorkon II. in red
granite, and another base, also in hard red
limestone. The two monuments in limestone
have been brought to England ; one of them is
now in the British Museum. They both consist
of the lower parts of sitting statues of Usertesen
III., one of the greatest kings of the Xllth
Dynasty. Their workmanship is remarkably
good, the hieroglyphs are beautifully cut, and
the little that remains of the female figures
represented as standing on each side of the
throne, against the legs of the king, shows
that both statues must have been of great
beauty. This only increases our regret that
such fine works of art should have suffered
most wanton mutilation. One of the seated
figures is of natural, and the other of heroic size
(pi. xii. c). The smaller one has been usurped
by an officer of Osorkon II., while the larger
one bears the name of Usertesen III. only.
An examination of these statues indicates
that they were made for the temple which
stood at Tell Mokdam. The king is said to be
a worshipper of Osiris, who, as we know from
the inscription on the sarcophagus, was the
local deity of the place, and there assumed the
form of a lion. Moreover, in front of the feet
of one of the bases stood the name of a god