Chapter XXI

REQUISITES FOR A STATE ENJOYING EXTENSIVE COMMERCE. — ADVANTAGEOUS POSITION OF MEROE. — PROBABLE EXTENT OF HER COMMERCE. — THE FACILITY AFFORDED TO ITS EXTENSION BY MEANS OF THE CAMEL. — COMMERCE OF ARABIA AND INDIA. — ABUNDANCE OF GOLD. — IRON AND GUM. — ETHIOPIAN TRIBUTE TO EGYPT. — DESCRIPTION OF A SPLENDID ETHIOPIAN PROCESSION AT THEBES. — COMMERCE OF THE INTERIOR. — CAUSES OF THE DECLINE OF MEROE. — DIMINUTION OF HER AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES. — EXHAUSTION OF MINES. — RIVALRY OF EGYPT. — WARS WITH EGYPT. — ARAB CONQUEST. — PRESENT COMMERCE.

_Commerce of Meroe._—The history of nations, and particularly of cities, clearly evinces the extraordinary effects of commerce. Those countries which have attained to any high degree of power and prosperity have been, in a great measure, indebted for them to that source of wealth. A wise government, anxious for the welfare of its subjects, always affords the utmost encouragement and protection to commerce, guarding it against those accidents which endanger its security, and when, from unavoidable circumstances, one branch is closed, seeks to open other channels to its successful activity. In order that a state may carry on extensive commerce, it ought to possess an advantageous position, contiguous to other rich countries, with the opportunity of becoming an emporium for their commodities, and of supplying them with those in which they are deficient. She ought also to enjoy abundant internal resources, derived from agriculture, manufactures, and mines.

A slight examination of the map of this part of Africa will satisfy us that there could not have been a situation, on that immense continent, more admirably adapted for commercial intercourse than Meroe. Placed at a short distance only from the conflux of the Astaboras and the Nile, she was connected, by the former, with that part of Ethiopia now called Abyssinia; and, by the latter, now denominated the Bahr el Azruk, or Blue River, with the provinces of Sennaar, Fazoukl, and, perhaps, with regions still further to the south. It is also highly probable that, by the Bahr el Abiad, or White River, the true Nile, she communicated extensively with vast districts in the interior of Africa. The distance from these rivers, particularly from the Astaboras, to the present ports of Massoua (the ancient Adule) and Souakim, on the Red Sea, whence she received, perhaps, the productions of Arabia and the Indies, was by no means great. Nature seems to have facilitated the intercourse by providing her with the ship of the desert—the camel. By its means, probably, the commerce of Meroe may have been widely diffused into the centre of Africa; to the countries now called Kordofan and Darfour, which are only at a short distance from the Nile; nor is it improbable that a powerful and enterprising nation, such as the Ethiopians then appear to have been, may have extended their caravan trade to the kingdoms of Soudan, Bornou, &c., and possibly even to the now impervious Timbuctoo.

It may be asked, if the profit which the merchants of Meroe could derive from such distant expeditions would repay the cost and hazard; but an examination of the expense of transporting merchandise on camels will remove that objection. In the estimate which I am about to make, of the expenses of sea and land carriage, the rates must, of course, be those of the present day; this, however, will be to the disadvantage of my argument, as navigation, at that remote period, was in a much more imperfect state, and consequently more tedious and expensive, than it now is. I shall select wool, as a bulky article, and, therefore, more difficult to transport by land. I shall suppose a vessel, laden with 1000 bags of wool, of 450 lbs. each, and that its average passage was thirty days, for which the owners received a freight of 1_d._ per lb., which, I believe, is about the usual rate for a voyage of that length. Supposing, also, that the average sailing of the vessel, allowing for detentions from contrary winds, and for the time occupied in loading and reloading, be fifty miles per day, making thus 1500 miles. Now, the usual load for a camel is 500 lbs., sometimes 600 lbs., so that 450 lbs. is a very moderate calculation; and at the rate the merchandise of the Pasha is now carried down to Cairo, not more than sixty days would be necessary to accomplish the above distance. They charged me eighteen shillings for twenty days, averaging about twenty-five miles per day; therefore the expense of the sixty days, at present, would not exceed two pounds fourteen shillings; about sixteen shillings more than by water.

In ancient times the expense of labour and camels was not likely to differ materially from what it now is; but that of maritime conveyance must have been much larger. We know the number of men that were necessary to impel the boats, and their system of following all the sinuosities of the coasts. Hence the time taken to accomplish a voyage of any extent must have been very long. The period required by Solomon’s vessels to reach the country of Ophir is a proof of the dilatory, and consequently expensive, navigation in that age. As I have stated in my account of Dongolah, 2500 loads of gum, of 450 rotols each, are carried down to Cairo, that is, a distance of about 1800 miles, for 2_l._, including all expenses; being thirteen per cent. on the value.

This calculation proves, that the cost of land carriage, particularly for the short journeys to the Red Sea, Kordofan, and Darfour, would be only a slight inconvenience; and even the expense of a regular trade to Fezzan and Bornou, by the route which the Mamelukes took, would have been no very heavy burden on the articles. That on which I have chosen to make this calculation, was, as already observed, one of the most disadvantageous that could have been selected. The expense of 18_s._ (and I, as a traveller, of course paid the highest price), on conveying, for a journey of twenty days, 500 pounds weight of rich Indian stuffs, or of Arabian spices, must have been quite trifling.

Meroe, therefore, enjoyed the advantage, not only of a direct water communication by the Nile, Bahr el Abiad, Bahr el Azruk, and the Astoboras, to an extent of several thousand miles of the vast continent of Africa, but also, by means of the ship of the desert, had an intercourse with her ports on the Red Sea, and could thence open a communication with Arabia, and through it, perhaps, with India. Thus, also, she could exchange her merchandise or the rich natural productions of the centre of Africa. The circumstance mentioned in my topographical description (page 200.), that in the reign of the fourth caliph after Mahomet, this country was overrun by a powerful tribe from Yemen, and not from the Hedjas, as was generally supposed, renders it very probable, that that part of Arabia in particular had been deeply engaged in the commerce of Meroe. The knowledge thus obtained of its former wealth and power, its then entirely decayed condition, and the facilities afforded by its ports to invaders, were likely to induce a nation, then in full power, and inflamed by religious zeal, to invade and lay waste that country to which it was formerly, perhaps, tributary, or even subject.

A glance at the map is sufficient to show, that the commerce of the Indies must have been much more easily carried on with Meroe than with Egypt; for, whether the Ethiopians navigated directly to India, or received the produce of that rich country, by the caravans and vessels of the Arabians; in either case, she possessed superior local advantages over Egypt. Her ports on the Red Sea were better, the distance far shorter, and the dangerous navigation of that sea in a great measure avoided.

Adule, supposed, by some, to be near the present Arkeko, latitude 15° 30′ N., is called, by Pliny (vi. 29.) the very great emporium of the Troglodytes and the Ethiopians, and the commerce chiefly consisted in ivory, horns of the rhinoceros, hides of the hippopotamus, shells of the tortoise, sphinxes, and slaves.[82] According to Bruce, there are, at the entrance of the Arabian Gulf, the ruins of a place, from which, to Arabia Felix, the passage only requires a few hours. The direct commerce with Arabia, and sale of her manufactures in that populous peninsula, must also have been very great; but the commerce of Africa was, doubtless, the principal source of the power of Meroe.

The superfluity of gold, which Herodotus (in his account of the Ichthyophagi sent as ambassadors, or rather spies, by Cambyses to the king of Ethiopia), describes as being applied to such common purposes, that even the prisoners were bound in chains of that metal, may, perhaps, have been a Greek mode of hyperbolically expressing its great abundance. I believe the supply of this metal to have been drawn chiefly from the interior. Diodorus says (lib. i. 29.), and Strabo repeats the passage, without acknowledging his author, “that island contains mines of gold, silver, iron, copper, and great abundance of ebony, and various kinds of precious stone, και μέταλλα χρυσου τε και αργύρου, &c., but the search of the Pasha after them has been fruitless. She may have derived a certain portion from mines in her own territories, and even in the island, which are now exhausted; but, from the limited traces of such mines hitherto discovered, I conceive it more probable that she obtained that abundance of the precious metals, not only from the now exhausted mines in the Great Nubian desert[83] (see pages 23. and 28.), but principally from the centre or the south of Africa. The Turkish governors now, when they make their expeditions into the Habeesh and the negro countries, frequently amass an immense quantity of gold; it is said, as much as 2000 or 3000 ounces; and before the conquest of the Pasha, I am informed that every peasant girl wore gold ornaments to a large amount. The inhabitants of the countries south of Sennaar are described to me as still possessing great abundance of gold, which must, in fact, be the case, for many merchants have told me that there is always plenty in the markets.

The exclusive commerce which Meroe must have long enjoyed with so considerable a portion of that vast continent, was quite sufficient to raise her to a great height of opulence. The countries of the interior, if not really conquered by her, would, at all events, gladly exchange their gold, and other natural productions, for her manufactures and merchandise, which, doubtless, far exceeded in quality what they made themselves, or could procure elsewhere, being the production of a people more advanced in civilisation and the arts; while they, isolated by immense deserts from the rest of the world, would be little visited, except by the caravans from the metropolis. Gold was, probably, not the only return these countries afforded to Meroe. Brown has given an account of the productions of Darfour, and, as I have said before, 2500 camel loads of gum are sent yearly from Kordofan to Cairo. Iron mines have been found both in Kordofan and Darfour. I have specimens of this metal from the latter country, which is current in the bazaars, like money.[84] I may here remark, that, not improbably, the Ethiopian stone, mentioned by Herodotus as employed to make incisions in the bodies, for the purpose of embalming and forming them into mummies, was iron procured from that country by the Egyptians, who had no mines of their own. Ivory is still found abundantly in Abyssinia, and also in the province of Fazoukl; and elephants are always found in the territory of the Bugara tribe, behind Kordofan. Probably Meroe received many other commodities, with which an imperfect knowledge of those remote regions prevents us from being acquainted; besides others, perhaps, which are no longer produced.

Herodotus (Thalia, 97.) says,—“The Ethiopians on the confines of Egypt, whom Cambyses subdued in his expedition, and those who inhabit the sacred island of Nysa, celebrate festivals to Bacchus. These Ethiopians and their neighbours bring, according to my memory, two half measures of pure gold, two hundred (φάλαγγας) long round pieces of ebony, five Ethiopian children, and twenty-large elephants’ teeth.” This passage reminds me of that magnificent procession in a tomb at Thebes, of the time of Thothmes III. Fifty figures are represented, exclusive of the Egyptians, painted red; six are black, and four of a dark brown, but apparently of the same country. These people, not having the Egyptian dress, are doubtless Ethiopian, and most of them are so called by the hieroglyphics. The splendid presents which they are presenting to the royal owner of the tomb, almost exactly correspond with the account just quoted from Herodotus.

They consist of ivory, ebony, a most beautiful collection of vases, and a variety of animals,—horses, cows, the giraffe, capricorn, leopards, cynocephali, greyhounds, &c. Among a gorgeous pile of offerings appear heaps of gold and silver, skins, precious wood, and indigo. In the same procession are also thirty-seven white people, with very nearly the features of Jews, although many, from the hieroglyphics, consider them to be Scythians. Some of the latter are leading a chariot and horses, an elephant, young children, and one of them a bear; they are also carrying a variety of elegant vases. I conceive these presents, with the exception, perhaps, of the bear, to be chiefly from Ethiopia, and from the richness and elegance of the form of the vases, the abundance of gold and silver, and the curious manner in which the latter is wrought into the form of the heads of animals, we have the very strongest proofs of the exquisite taste, knowledge, and wealth of the Ethiopians: but as this procession is so extremely interesting, so intimately connected with Ethiopia, and is, at the same time, one of the most gorgeous and magnificent paintings that adorn the walls of Thebes, I have selected it from my Egyptian portfolio, conceiving that it will give great additional value to this work to publish it with all the colours, which still exist, almost quite fresh. The hieroglyphics are unfortunately very much defaced, but sufficient remain to distinguish in several instances the names of the people and that of the King, Thothmes III., who reigned about 1500 B.C.

Parts I. II. III. and IV. form the whole of this procession; they are drawn to a scale of two inches to a foot, so that the reader may join them together, if he thinks proper. I will give a detailed description of them according to the plates. The first figure in Part I. has in one hand an ornamented vase, containing perhaps dates or some other dried fruit, in the other, apparently, an ivory club, and a string of precious stones hanging from his arm. The second figure has a couple of feathers in one hand, which are evidently those of the ostrich, from the circumstance of the vase he carries in the other containing the eggs. The third and fourth in this row bear a tree. The fifth carries a bowl, apparently of dates, in one hand, and in the other a couple of ostrich feathers, and a cord to which a leopard is attached. The sixth man has a gold or gilded vase in his hand, and has also charge of a monkey. The seventh bears a log of ebony on his shoulder, and is also leading a capricorn, an animal which abounds near Mount Sinai, and also, I believe, in the Bahiouda desert. The eighth has a log of ebony on his shoulder. The ninth, tenth, and last, are negroes, which may be distinguished from their colour and features. They have blue skull caps[85] and cinctures, with blue and red borders around their waists. The two last are carrying elephants’ teeth, and one of them has a string of precious stones, and the other the skin of a leopard turned inside out. The other negro is carrying a log of ebony, and, as will be observed, the light-coloured veins in that wood are distinctly marked.

GRAND PROCESSION._PART 1._

From a Tomb at Thebes.

_Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835._

_Printed in Colours by C. Hullmandel._]

The second row of figures in this plate are still more curious. They are called Ethiopians. The cinctures and boots of each individual are of a different pattern, rivalling in variety and elegance the chintz morning dresses of our modern belles. These Ethiopians have their hair dressed in curls above their foreheads, and ringlets hanging down on their shoulders. The first is carrying a piece of an elephant’s tooth and a vase in his hand; the others, eleven in number, are bearing elegant descriptions of vases, apparently of gold and silver; these, although unadorned with figures and mythological subjects, are most exquisite in form, and I am sure the reader will admit their decorations to be most beautiful. Those carried by the third, fifth, and tenth figures of the second row of this plate, apparently contain flowers; whether these are artificial decorations of the vases, or really represent plants,—varieties, perhaps, of the lotus peculiar to Ethiopia—is a question I cannot decide. The necklaces which the third figure is bearing are very elegant, apparently of lapis lazuli and gold. The elegant vase the seventh figure is carrying, is either of ivory or silver.

The third row in this plate contains a most interesting group of Ethiopians. The first figure, bearing a log of ebony and a monkey on his shoulder, is conducting a drove of seven oxen. I might have taken the liberty to restore the forms of the latter; but, as will be seen by the plate, the heads and fore-legs only are still remaining, showing the curious and beautiful manner in which the Egyptians grouped their cattle. Above the oxen is a curious group of dogs, not very unlike the greyhounds that at present exist in Ethiopia. The next group is very interesting; two Ethiopians are conducting a giraffe, admirably drawn. A mischievous monkey is climbing up its neck. The way in which he is conducted, with cords attached to his feet, is curious, and the cincture of the Ethiopians leading him is formed apparently of the skin of a giraffe, they being, perhaps, inhabitants of the deserts where the animal is found. The next, or fourth figure, is leading a monkey, and bearing a vase full of ostrich eggs and feathers. The fifth figure is a negro, carrying a tooth of an elephant and skins; he has a blue cap. I do not believe that such caps were then worn, but that their hair is represented blue, to distinguish it from the colour of their faces, which was black; otherwise, from the same colours joining, it would have appeared as if they wore no hair at all. The Egyptian border is a great finish to the painting. The broad blue streak above the top-line represents the heavens. The ground colour, which is exactly the tint of the original, adds to the richness of the painting, and throws out the white.