and the Egyptian inscriptions disclose that an hereditary prince of Cush, the High Priest of Amen, who bore the names of Smendes, Nisbindidi, and Hirhor, deposes the Ramessides, and founded the XXIst Egyptian dynasty. It becomes clear, then, that the Elamites have been overthrown, and the Cushites have succeeded to power; consequently the Cushites are now the greatest nation in the world.

I must beg the reader to bear in mind that this is authentic history gathered from inscriptions, and accepted by all scholars; and as Hirhor is disclosed as a Prince of Cush, he must have flown the Cushite flag.

We must remember that the Elamite Pharaoh, Ramses XII., ruled from Ecbatana to Thebes; but as Hirhor only styles himself the Pharaoh of Egypt and Lord of the Ruthen (Western Asia), we must understand that the Elamite forces had been driven beyond the Euphrates, and Hirhor's Cushite flag was only paramount from the Euphrates to Ethiopia. The Elamites would still have been dominant on the east of the Euphrates.

I. Samuel xvii.

CHAPTER III.

WE will now turn to the Biblical records of this period; but let us first clearly grasp the political situation. The Elamite Ramessides had been in power over the entire empire from Ecbatana to Thebes for more than a century, consequently the Elamite flag floated over every fortress in the empire; the word of Ramses XII. was law in Palestine.

It is recorded that the Philistines under Achish, King of Gath, were in conflict with the Israelites. What, then, can this possibly disclose but a war in the empire? and, as I have shown that the Philistines were the Cushite Hyksos, it is manifest that Achish had thrown off his allegiance to the Elamite Pharaoh. The Philistines, therefore, must have been fighting under the Cushite flag, and the Israelites were withstanding them under the banner of Elam. And, when we

xiii. 19.

find that King Achish defeated and dis- I. Samuel armed the Israelites, it becomes glaringly manifest that Achish had hoisted the Cushite flag in Palestine and was defying the Elamite great King.

We might then anticipate that the Pharaoh would move his forces into Palestine in order to crush the rebellion. Not one word, however, is found in the Biblical narratives which could lead us to infer that the Pharaoh was interested in the conflict; but two strange characters are introduced on the scene, who lead the Israelite forces against the Philistines; and we have it recorded that Saul, the son of Kish, who appears to have been his father's stable boy, was selected by the Israelites as their king, and David, the son of I. Samuel Jesse, a simple shepherd lad, becomes his

general.

I. Samuel ix.

xvii. 15.

I will not touch on details, but we gather that the war against the Philistines was carried on energetically. Saul slew his thousands and David his ten thousands. xiv. 46. The Philistines are defeated; a peace is concluded, and they retire to their strong

E

I. Samuel xiv. 47.

xxvii. 2.

I. Samuel xxxi. 7.

II. Samuel

ix. 9.

"So Saul took the Are we to suppose

holds on the sea coast.
Kingdom over Israel."
that two foreign races have been fighting
for the crown, and the great King of Egypt
is sitting idle on his throne?

We now learn that war breaks out again;
and it is recorded that David deserted Saul
and went over to the Philistine camp. A
general engagement scon takes place at
Gilboa, where the Israelites are utterly
defeated: "And when the men of Israel
that were on the other side of the valley,
and they that were on the other side of
Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and
that Saul and his sons were dead, they for-
sook the cities and fled; and the Philistines
came and dwelt in them." It becomes
clear, then, that the Philistines have de-
feated the
the Israelites and are absolute
masters of the country.

As we hear nothing more of King Achish, we must presume he fell in the battle; and we have it recorded that David was crowned King in Hebron.

The battle of Gilboa was not decisive, for we find that Esh-baal, one of Saul's sons, is

xi. 9.

declared King over the Israelites. Under II. Samuel these circumstances we can only understand that David and Esh-baal have divided the Pharaoh's kingdom, and still not a word concerning the Pharaoh.

David, who had succeeded Achish as King of the Philistines, carries on the war. After seven and a half years of conflict he iv. 6. defeats the Israelites, murders their king Esh-baal, and the Israelites acknowledge his supremacy, which secures him a dominion, according to the Biblical records, vii. 3. from the Euphrates to Egypt. This is the divinely promised land.

As the inscriptions informs us that Ramses XII. exercised sovereignty from Ecbatana to Thebes, it appears very remarkable that a mere shepherd lad could have overthrown the power of the greatest nation in the world; and this becomes still more extraordinary when we find that the priestly writers entirely ignore the Ramesside power.

At first sight the priestly records appear utterly irreconcilable with the inscriptions, but this is not the case; we may assure