Although they had escaped for a time from Babylonian tyranny, the
descendants of Abraham in Canaan found themselves somewhat within the
range of the influence of the other great civilized power of that day,
that is, Egypt. Egyptian officers collected tribute from rich
Canaanite cities. The roads that led to Egypt were thronged with
caravans going to and fro. By and by, a series of dry seasons drove
several of the Hebrew tribes down these highways to Egypt in the
search of food. The story of Joseph tells how they settled there.[1]
They were hospitably received by the king (or Pharaoh, which was the
Egyptian word for "king"), and were allowed to pasture their flocks on
the plains called the land of Goshen in the extreme northeast of the
country west of what we now call the Isthmus of Suez. For some decades
or more they lived here, following their old occupation--sheep-raising.

=Egyptian civilization.=--Egypt was in many ways like Babylonia. In
Egypt too a great civilization had sprung up many millenniums before
Christ. In some ways it was an even greater civilization than that of
Babylonia. Egyptian sculptors and architects erected stone temples
whose grandeur has never been surpassed. Many of them are still
standing and are among the world's treasures. It would seem that there
was somewhat more of love of beauty and somewhat less of greed for
money among the Egyptians than among the Babylonians.


THE ACCESSION OF RAMESES II

There came to the throne of Egypt about B.C. 1200 a man of
extraordinary vanity and selfish ambition known as Rameses II. He
wished to build more temples in Egypt than any other king had ever