38 THE HOESE OF AMERICA. 



and contemporaneous with the birth of Moses. If the Shepherd 

 Kings left behind them any records or delineations of the horse 

 it would be quite natural for the true kingly line to destroy and 

 erase every vestige of whatever would revive a memory to them so- 

 bitter and hateful. But the absence of all traces of horses under 

 the seventeenth dynasty of the Shepherds does not prove that 

 there was none, for we have direct proof in Joseph's case that 

 they were there one hundred and fifty-six years, and in Jacob's 

 burial one hundred and nineteen years before the beginning of 

 the eighteenth dynasty. 



The question as to the time when they procured their horses 

 having now been approximately settled, the inquiry naturally 

 follows as to where they came from? In answering this question 

 there seems to be no hesitation or doubt. They came from 

 Northern Syria, which embraces not only the northeastern 

 coast of the Mediterranean, including Phoenicia, but the countries 

 north and east of it trading there, which means the great horse- 

 breeding countries of Armenia and Cappadocia. Being largely 

 engaged in the Egyptian trade for many centuries, it is probable 

 the Phoenician merchants were the principal agents in supplying- 

 them. In speaking of the horse in Egypt, Prof. Maspero says: 

 "The horse when once introduced into Egypt soon became fairly 

 adapted to its environment. It retained both its height and 

 size, keeping the convex forehead which gave the head a slightly 

 curved profile the slender neck, the narrow hind-quarters, the 

 lean and sinewy legs and the long, flowing tail which had char- 

 acterized it in its native country. The climate, however, was 

 enervating, and constant care had to be taken, by the introduc- 

 tion of new blood from Syria, to prevent the breed from de- 

 teriorating. The Pharaohs kept studs of horses in the principal 

 cities of the Nile valley, and the great feudal lords, following their 

 example, vied with each other in the possession of numerous 

 breeding stables." 



There are some facts here that are worthy of special emphasis: 

 (1) There were no horses in Egypt till the period of the Shepherd 

 Kings, i.e., about the time of Joseph. (2) All Egyptologists 

 down to the present day agree that the supply of Egyptian horses 

 was procured from Northern Syria. (3) The Egyptians and the 

 Arabians were adjoining nations in constant, friendly intercourse, 

 exchanging the products of their respective countries, and yet 

 there is no shadow of an intimation that the Arabians had then 



