FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37  
38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   >>   >|  
ect, to excuse from tribute, to receive presents and hostages, and even princesses destined for the harem of the Pharaoh, and also to grant the support of troops to such as could give adequate reason for seeking it.* Their tasks were always of a delicate and not infrequently of a perilous nature, and constantly exposed them to the danger of being robbed by highwaymen or maltreated by some insubordinate vassal, at times even running the risk of mutilation or assassination by the way.** * The Tel el-Amarna correspondence shows the messengers in the time of Amenothes III. and IV. as receiving tribute, as bringing an army to the succour of a chief in difficulties, as threatening with the anger of the Pharaoh the princes oL doubtful loyalty, as giving to a faithful vassal compliments and honours from his suzerain, as charged with the conveyance of a gift of slaves, or of escorting a princess to the harem of the Pharaoh. ** A letter of Ribaddu, in the time of Amenothes III., represents a royal messenger as blockaded in By bios by the rebels. They were obliged to brave the dangers of the forests of Lebanon and of the Taurus, the solitudes of Mesopotamia, the marshes of Chaldoa, the voyages to Puanit and Asia Minor. Some took their way towards Assyria and Babylon, while others embarked at Tyre or Sidon for the islands of the AEgean Archipelago.* The endurance of all these officers, whether governors or messengers, their courage, their tact, the ready wit they were obliged to summon to help them out of the difficulties into which their calling frequently brought them, all tended to enlist the public sympathy in their favour.** * We hear from the tablets of several messengers to Babylon, and the Mitanni, Rasi, Mani, Khamassi. The royal messenger Thutii, who governed the countries of the north, speaks of having satisfied the heart of the king in "the isles which are in the midst of the sea." This was not, as some think, a case of hyperbole, for the messengers could embark on Phoenician vessels; they had a less distance to cover in order to reach the AEgean than the royal messenger of Queen Hatshopsitu had before arriving at the country of the Somalis and the "Ladders of Incense." ** The hero of the _Anastasi Papyrus_, No. 1, with whom Chabas made us acquainted in his _Voyage d'un Egyptien_, is probab
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37  
38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
messengers
 

messenger

 

Pharaoh

 

obliged

 

vassal

 
Amenothes
 
tribute
 

difficulties

 

AEgean

 

Babylon


governed

 
favour
 

countries

 

Thutii

 

sympathy

 

tablets

 

Mitanni

 

Khamassi

 

officers

 

governors


endurance
 

Archipelago

 

embarked

 
islands
 
courage
 
frequently
 
brought
 

tended

 

enlist

 

calling


summon

 
public
 

Incense

 

Anastasi

 

Papyrus

 
Ladders
 

Somalis

 

Hatshopsitu

 

arriving

 
country

Egyptien

 

probab

 

Voyage

 
Chabas
 

acquainted

 

speaks

 

satisfied

 

distance

 

vessels

 
hyperbole