THE ROUTE OP THE EXODUS. 17 



two statues, said to be Moses and Aaron." If this tradition 

 is to be trusted as to the site of the city, Rameses must have 

 been in the vicinty of Saft el-Henneh (Goshen), east of 

 Zagazig, not far from Tell el-Kebir. 



According to historical synchronisms, Rameses Il.must have 

 been the persecutor of the Hebrews, whereas the Exodus took 

 place under the reign of his son. Since the history of the 

 reign of Rameses has become better known, his prestige and 

 glory" have declined considerably. It has been recognized 

 that he was bent chiefly on dazzling his subjects and the future 

 generations by his outward show and his magnificence, which 

 concealed but imperfectly the rapid progress of decay in his 

 weakened and exhausted kingdom. He saw near his 

 residence of Bubastis a foreign race, which had never amalga- 

 mated with his subjects, and which at any time might become 

 a danger to his kingdom. He knew by experience that the 

 Asiatics m the East were troublesome neighbours ; he could 

 remember the difficulty he had found in beating the Khetas, 

 to whom nevertheless he had been obliged to offer an honour- 

 able peace. The strangers, the Hebrews, were settled in a 

 district which was the very gate of Egypt, and the key of 

 the kingdom. Nothing is more natural than that Rameses 

 should wish to make profit for his realm out of the presence of 

 those strangers, instead of their being a constant threat to its 

 safety. We should even say that it was good policy on his 

 part. Why not turn them into useful workmen and labourers ? 

 Scripture says that Pharaoh employed the Israelites in build- 

 ing the store cities of Pithom and Raamses ;* in other words, 

 he compelled them to be masons. He changed their manner 

 of life, and instead of grazing their cattle, they had to make 

 bricks and to raise walls. Josephus gives a more complete 

 account of what they had to do : " they had to divide the 

 river into many canals, to fortify cities, and to build dykes so 

 that the river might not overflow and make lakes." Pharaoh 

 treated the Israelites as if they had been prisoners. In a 

 famous picture of the time of Thothmes III. which is found 

 in a tomb at Thebes, we see prisoners of a Semitic type 

 occupied in making bricks ; some of them dig out the clay, 

 others pour water over it, others knead the clay, others put 

 it in moulds. The work is done under the eye of the overseer, 

 who is sitting with a stick in his hand, and waiting patiently 

 until he shall have to make use of his sign of office. These 

 men are called war prisoners, therefore they are not Hebrews ; 



* Exodus i., 11. 





