a well-shaped
mouth, with lips that are not too full, a small delicate chin, and an
eye that is thoughtful and pensive. We may conclude that Seti was of the
true Egyptian race, with perhaps an admixture of more southern blood;
while Ramesses, born of a Semitic mother, inherited through her Asiatic
characteristics, and, though possessing less energy and strength of
character than his father, had a more sensitive temperament, a wider
range of taste, and a greater inclination towards peace and
tranquillity. His important wars were all concluded within the limit of
his twenty-first year, while his entire reign was one of sixty-seven
years, during fifty of which he held the sole sovereignty. Though he
left the fame of a great warrior behind him, his chief and truest
triumphs seem to have been those of peace--the Great Wall for the
protection of Egypt towards the east, with its strong fortresses and
"store-cities," the canal which united the Nile with the Red Sea, and
the countless buildings, excavations, obelisks, colossal statues, and
other great works, with which he adorned Egypt from one end to the
other.

FOOTNOTES:

[24] "History of Architecture," vol. i. pp. 119, 120.

[25] Adapted from Dean Stanley's "Sinai and Palestine," Introduction, p.
xl.

[26] Stanley, "Sinai and Palestine," p. xlvii.

[27] Stuart Poole, "Cities of Egypt," p. 105

[28] The mummy of Seti I. has been recently uncovered. It was in good
condition, and is said to have revealed a face very closely resembling
that of Ramesses II., with fine delicate features, and altogether of an
elevated type. "The nose, mouth, chin, in short all the features," says
M. Maspero, "are the same; but in the father they are more refined, more
intelligent, more spiritual, than when reproduced in the son. Seti I.
is, as it were, the idealized type of Ramesses II." (Letter of M.
Maspero in _The Times_ of July 23, 1886.) It may perhaps be doubted
whether the shrunken mummy, 3300 years old, is better evidence of the
living reality than the contemporary sculptures.

CHAPTER XVI.

MENEPHTHAH I., THE PHARAOH OF THE EXODUS.

Menephthah, the thirteenth son and immediate successor of Ramesses II.,
came to the throne under circumstances which might at first sight have
seemed favourable. Egypt was on every side at peace with her neighbours.
The wail of Ramesses, and his treaty with the Hittites, cemented as it
had been by a marriage, secured the eastern fronti