From the time of Rameses II to that of the Ptolemy period no queen seems to make a marked impression on the passing centuries. We have here and there a name, here and there an anecdote; but no figure, with salient points, stands out, about which cluster vitalizing incidents, or upon whom we may drape a robe of woven romance. Nor were there many, even among the kings, who have the bold outlines of some of their predecessors.

Seck-net or Seti-nekht was first of the Twentieth Dynasty, is believed to have reigned seven years, and united with himself, and was succeeded by, his son Rameses III. He seems to have made no special mark upon his time, was neither a great ruler nor a great builder, and we know little of him. There is a picture of him and Rameses III kneeling on either side of the sun’s disk, and he appropriated and enlarged the tomb of Queen Tausert for himself, covering the figures and name of the queen with stucco.

Rameses III was a builder of temples, a rich, magnificent and splendor-loving monarch, a warrior and conqueror. His Hobrus names were[266] “Mighty bull, great one of kings,” and “Mighty bull, beloved of Maat, establisher of the lands.” But, even at a period, whose moral point of view was so different from the Christian, it is claimed that this was a court distinguished for its licentiousness. His queen’s name is given as Ast, or Ise, also as Hemalczotha, which seems to suggest that she was a foreigner, possibly a Khitan or Assyrian princess. Her father is spoken of as Hebuansozanath. Often the space beside the king’s name is left vacant, as if she could not or would not appear in his company. From her tomb also her name is obliterated, while that of her husband and son remain.

The walls of the temples and palaces built by Rameses III are adorned with the story of his life. There are naval engagements, the ships with embroidered sails, and the king is seen as a conqueror, of the Libyans and others, carried in state above the heads of the people, surrounded by priests and followed by warriors and captives, while in other processions the queen also appears, following. The great Harris papyrus, too, of the thirty-second year of his reign, found near the temple of Medinet-Abou or Haboo, gives much information concerning him and a long list of gifts which he presented to the temples.

Among the other pictures on the walls we see Rameses III enjoying himself in the midst of, some say his daughters, but more probably the members or slaves of his harem. Others, again, believe them to be intended for goddesses or mythological characters. Sylph-like figures attend upon[267] the king. To quote from a previous article upon the subject, “One plays draughts with him, another holds a lotus blossom to his nose (a favorite attention in Egypt), others offer him wine and refreshments. The queen, as a chief figure, nowhere appears. The costumes approach that of the Garden of Eden, a necklace and light sandals. We are reminded of the description of a Japanese family: ‘The summer costume of a middle class Japanese consists of a queue, a breechcloth and a pair of sandals; that of his son and heir the same minus the queue, the cloth and the sandals, while that of his spouse is a little, and only a little more elaborate.’”

It is impossible, naively and gravely, remarks one critic, rather than from the standpoint of the Twentieth Century, than the Twentieth Dynasty, that respectable families should so have conducted themselves, therefore the garments must have evaporated in the course of years. But it was so near the Garden of Eden, the climate was so warm, and the little creatures seem so at ease in their airy nothings, that it is almost appears as if “beauty unadorned was adorned the most.” Some of the pictures are too obscene for reproduction.

It is of interest to note how very ancient are certain games, such as chess, draughts or checkers, and others which still hold a place among our modern amusements. Other pictures, discovered years ago in the mastabas or grave chambers, of still earlier date, 5200 B. C., give also the[268] game of chess, the invention of which has been attributed both to India and China.

Extensive insurrection and disturbances, it is evident, had prevailed in the kingdom, and that Rameses III had brought order out of the chaos. He described himself as “the darling of Amen, the victory-bringing Horus.” After his conquests he turned his attention to building, commerce, digging of reservoirs and planting of trees; nevertheless a general decline of Egypt is said to have begun in his reign.

But if the king had restored order in the land, not so well had he kept his own household in check. Records remain of a conspiracy which arose in his harem, headed by the Lady Ti, Thi, or Tey, said to be the mother of a certain Pentaur or Pen-ta-urt, whom she wished to put upon the throne. She probably hated the “royal wife, the great lady, the lady of two lands, Ast.” In exactly what way the Lady Ti was related to the king is not specified. In both the museums of Paris and Turin there is some account of this cause celebre. The steward, Pal-bak-Amen, was her chief co-adjutor, also a certain Penhuiban or Hui, a cattle inspector, who indulged in “Black Art,” made amulets and images of wax for ladies, and had books containing directions how to strike people blind and to make figures in effigy to bring trouble upon any one who was hated. Melting wax figures and sticking pins in them to harm an enemy we think of as belonging to the age of Queen Elizabeth, and lo, it was known and practiced in Egypt thousands of years before!

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On the other hand, may it not have been also possible that Queen Ise or Ast had some share in the plot, or at least sympathized with it, thus giving another reason for the non-appearance of her name beside the king’s. One of the ladies concerned wrote to her brother, commanding the army in Ethiopia, and ordered or entreated him to fight against the king. But whether he did as was desired or not, the revolt was unsuccessful. It was crushed with some severity, and it is said forty men and six women were compelled to commit suicide, and a mummy, thought to be that of Pentaur, and showing signs of death by poison, has been found.

Rameses III reigned thirty-seven years, and there is a list of his sons, several of whom succeeded him. He was buried in the Tombs of the Kings, doubtless with all the honors of state, but his body was not allowed to rest in peace, it was included in the general upheaval caused by robbers, before described. His mummy was found in the large coffin of Nefertari-Aames, and on being unrolled fell to dust. His features were said to be softer, finer and more intelligent than some of his predecessors, his figure less straight and vigorous and his shoulders narrower. His red granite sarcophagus is in the Louvre and the lid in the Fitz-William museum at Cambridge. His tomb is sometimes called “the Harpers,” from the figure of two harpers in a scene on one side, also “Bruce’s tomb” from the name of the modern discoverer. Among the treasures found in this[270] tomb were two golden baskets. His period is given as 1200 B. C.

Rameses III was succeeded by his sons or connections of the same name, who followed him, as one writer has said, with “ominous rapidity,” from number one to number thirteen. They seem to have been a faineant race, and the proud name of Rameses degenerated from reign to reign. Here and there in the Tombs of the Kings, or in other spots, we find their last resting places.

Among them, perhaps, Rameses IV was one of the most conspicuous; and his queen, given as Isis-Ast, was buried in the Tombs of the Queens. The tombs of Rameses IV and VI are decorated with astronomical designs; the sun appears in his chariot as Horus-Ra, and that of Rameses IV has pictures of the resurrection. The seventh son is given as Ramessu Meritum, son of Queen Muf-nofer-ari.

A papyrus of the time of Rameses IX gives an account of the violation of the royal tombs by robbers, which was then discovered; and this Abbott papyrus contains a list of the tombs inspected, hence the mummies were removed at different periods from place to place for greater safety. A woman called “Little Cat” confessed that she had been in the tomb of Queen Ast, wife of Rameses III, and purloined various articles.

The line of priest-kings, of whom Her-Hor was the first, chose a common place of sepulture, and thither were at last carried many of the earlier royal remains. The discovery of these in the cave at Deir-el-Bahari made a world-wide sensation[271] and has already been referred to. There were three kings of the Thothmes name, two Rameses and Seti I, as well as the later kings of the priestly line, Pinotem or Pinozem I and II.

Here, too, we learn the little we know of some of the queens. There was Queen Ansera, of the Seventeenth Dynasty, Queen Aames Nofritari, Hatimoohoo, and Sitha of the Eighteenth, and queens Notem-Maut, Hathor-Houtta-ni, Ma-ka-Ra, and Isem-Kheb, and a queen Hest-em-Seket, as well as Princess Nesi-Khonsu, and a number of princesses and priestesses, called “Singers of Amen.”

Some of the coffins of this period show, on a yellow ground, a picture of the dead piercing a serpent with a lance. Among the Tombs of the Queens are a few of the Eighteenth, but more of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties. Here was placed the wife of Rameses III, with name no longer legible. Here Queen Ti, or Titi, wife of the earlier King Amenophis III, with her blue eyes and fair skin, pictured as making offerings to the gods. Here Bint-Antha, favorite daughter of Rameses II. One tomb has the name obliterated and Tuattent-apt written upon it in red ink. Here is Isis-Ast, wife of Rameses IV, Queen Sitra of the Twentieth Dynasty, and many others.

There is an interesting story of a queen, by some authorities said to be the wife of Rameses XIII, by others of Rameses XII, and by some queen of Rameses II or III, claiming that Rameses XII was never in Mesopotamia, while Mariette believes it to have been merely a legend invented[272] by the priests to do honor to the god Chonsu or Khonsu. This king, whatever his place in the royal line, was, like his great predecessor, Amenophis III, fond of hunting. He also went abroad to collect tribute from subjugated peoples, and in Mesopotamia among those who came to pay was a certain chief or prince, who brought with him a beautiful daughter, with whom the Egyptian king at once fell in love and bore her home to share his life and throne. This princess of Bakhten took the name of Ra-neferu, “the glories of the sun,” and evidently had much influence with her husband. For later came messengers from her native country, saying that her sister, Bentresh, was ill, and begging for the loan of the ark of the god Khonsu, which was sure to cure her. We can hardly imagine the king willing to part with such a treasure, except to pleasure the queen. To her wishes, therefore, he yielded, and the ark, with a proper escort, was sent away, and accomplished a miraculous cure, as had been anticipated. Naturally, those who were benefited clung to the same, and years passed without the return of the borrowed treasure. But finally the king, or prince, of Bakhtan, “dreamed a dream,” like the Pharaoh of Scriptures, in which a golden hawk came out of the ark and flew to Egypt. Possibly the king of Egypt had demanded its return before, or perhaps the queen’s influence had been used to induce him to leave it, for the benefit of her family, as long as possible. The explanation is not gi............