represents a royal messenger as blockaded in By bios by the
rebels.

They were obliged to brave the dangers of the forests of Lebanon and of
the Taurus, the solitudes of Mesopotamia, the marshes of Chaldoa, the
voyages to Pûanît and Asia Minor. Some took their way towards Assyria
and Babylon, while others embarked at Tyre or Sidon for the islands of
the Ægean Archipelago.* The endurance of all these officers, whether
governors or messengers, their courage, their tact, the ready wit they
were obliged to summon to help them out of the difficulties into which
their calling frequently brought them, all tended to enlist the public
sympathy in their favour.**

* We hear from the tablets of several messengers to Babylon,
and the Mitanni, Rasi, Mani, Khamassi. The royal messenger
Thûtîi, who governed the countries of the north, speaks of
having satisfied the heart of the king in "the isles which
are in the midst of the sea." This was not, as some think, a
case of hyperbole, for the messengers could embark on
Phoenician vessels; they had a less distance to cover in
order to reach the Ægean than the royal messenger of Queen
Hâtshopsîtû had before arriving at the country of the
Somalis and the "Ladders of Incense."

** The hero of the _Anastasi Papyrus_, No. 1, with whom
Chabas made us acquainted in his _Voyage d'un Égyptien_, is
probably a type of the "messenger" or the time of Ramses
II.; in any case, his itinerary and adventures are natural
to a "royal messenger" compelled to traverse Syria alone.