A FIND OF LETTERS FOUR THOUSAND YEARS OLD.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2587, 9 February 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)

A FIND OF LETTERS FOUR THOUSAND YEARS OLD.

« 1 Royal Correspondence Before the i Exodus. J A discovery, some fruits of which have t been added to tlic treasures in the i British Museum, hns just enabled modern i learning to rille the escritoire of the ] Pharoahs before the Exodus, and to ex- < plore their correspondence. i AS III.STOKICU, CUDX : WHAT BROUGHT ! JKWS TO KOYPT. ' The presence of large numbers of Semites in ancient Egypt has always been a puzzle to historians, and what first led to their migrating from Mesopotamia to the land of the Piiaronhs lias never hitherto been made clear. Qaite recently, however, Uk: British Museum has become possessed of a millibar of cuneiform tablets which throw considerable light on the subject. Eirly in the present year a number of these tablets were offered for sale in Cairo. They hid been dug up from the grave of a Royal scribe of Amenophis 111 and IV., of the eighteenth dynasty, which had given up its records, and not only records but seals and papyri of great historical and artistic value. Some went to (lie Boulak Museum,some to Berlin others to private individuals, and eightyone have found their way to the British Museum. These last have now been arranged and catalogued by Mr Budge, the well known Egyptologist, whose investigations have brought to light a n.ost interesting chapter in the history of ancient Egypt. Not only do the tablets explain the historical crux mentioned above, but they introduce us to the family life of the early kings ; they picture to us the splendors of the royal palaces ; they enable us to assist at the betrothal of the kings' daughters, and to follow the kings to their hunting grounds. Most of the tablets are letters addressed to Amenophis 111., and some are from Tushratta, King of Mesopotamia. ANSWER : THKjLOVE STORf OF TI. Amenophis 111. was a mighty hunter, and once on a shooting trip into Mesopotamia after big game he, like a king in the fairy tale, met and loved Ti, the daughter of Tus'iratta. They were married in due time, and Ti went lown into Egypt with 317 of her principal ladie3. This brought a host of their Semitic countrymen along, who found in Egypt a good field for their business capacities, and gradually, like the modern Jews in Russia, they got possession of the lands and goods nf their hosts. The influence of the Semitic Queen is attested by the very fact that this library of cuneiform tablets was preserved. And under tho feeble sovereigns who followed, her countrymen doubtleps held their own. But at last came the nineteenth dynasty, and the Pharoah " who knew not Joseph." Then they were set to brick-making and pyramid-building, t.iil the outbreak which led to the Red Sea triumph. ROYAL MATCH-MA RISK FOURTKKN' CENTURIES 3! U. Mr Budge, of the British Museum, has translated three of tho letters. One is from Tushratta to Amenophis. After many sompliincntary salutations he proposes to his son-in-law that they should continue tho arrangements made by their fathers for pasturing double-humped camels, and in this way he leads up to the main purport of bis epistle. Ho says that

Manic, his great nephew, is ambitious to marry the daughter of the King of Eg-ypt, and he pleads that Manic might be allowed to go down to Egypt to woo iu person. The allianco would, he considers, ho a bond of union between the two countries, and he adds, as though by an afterthought, that the gold which Amenophis appears to have asked for should be sent at onco, together with "large gold jars, largo goidplat.es, and other articles made of gold." After this meaning interpolation he returns to the marriage question, and proposes to act in t.he matter of the dowry in the same way ! in which his grandfather acted, presumably on a like occasion. Ho then enlarges on the wealth of his kingdom, where " irold is like dust which cannot bo counted," and lie adds an inventory of presents which he is sending, articles of i gold, inlay, and harness, and thirty | eunuchs. | A NOTK I'ROM TIIH KIN'O OF TUB GARDEN i OK EDEN*. i Another letter is from the King of i Kataduniya*h, the traditional garden of Eden. A third is from the Kin? of Alashiya, asking for the return of the jjoods of a decea>ed subject who had died in Egypt, and sending many consolatory presents—bronze vessels, some trees, and a hull. In return he asks only for " two kukupu jars and a man who understands eatjles"—just as a medieval magnate might ask for a falconer. There is also a (-upjjosed) reference to the plague.