|
Reign of Amenemhat II.: tablet belonging to his time |
|
|
|
|
The great official, who is named Khnum-hotep, receives the foreigners,
accompanied by an attendant who carries his sandals and a staff, and who is
followed by three dogs. A scribe, named Nefer-hotep, unrolls before his master a
strip of papyrus, on which are inscribed the words, "The sixth year of the reign
of King Usurtasen Sha-khepr-ra: account rendered of the Amu who in the lifetime
of the chief, Khnum-hotep, brought to him the mineral, mastemut, from the
country of Pit-shu—they are in all thirty-seven persons."
The mineral mastemut
is thought to be a species of stibium or antimony, used for dying the skin
around the eyes, and so increasing their beauty. Besides this offering, the head
of the tribe, who is entitled khak, or "prince," and named Abusha, presents to
Khnum-hotep a magnificent wild-goat, of the kind which at the present day
frequents the rocky mountain tract of Sinai. He wears a richer dress than his
companions, one which is ornamented with a fringe, and has a wavy border round
the neck. The scene has been generally recognized as strikingly illustrating the
coming of Jacob's family into Egypt (Gen. xlvi. 28-34), and was at one time
thought by some to represent that occurrence; but the date of Abusha's coming is
long anterior to the arrival in Egypt of Jacob's family, the number is little
more than half that of the Hebrew immigrants, the names do not accord; and it is
now agreed on all hands, that the interest of the representation is confined to
its illustrative force.
|
Ancient Egypt History 
