12 The Fundamentals. Nebuchadnezzar would “set his throne upon these stones,” and “spread his royal pavilion over them.” A brick platform in partial ruins, corresponding to this de scription, was found by Mr. Petrie adjoining the fort “upon the northwest.” In every respect the arrangement corre sponded to that indicated in the Book of Jeremiah. Farther to the north, not a great way from Tahpanhes, on the Tanitic branch of the Nile, at the modern village of San, excavations revealed the ancient Egyptian capital Tanis, which went under the earlier name of Zoan, where the Pharaoh of the oppression frequently made his headquarters. According to the Psalmist, it was in the field of “Zoan” that Moses and Aaron wrought their wonders before Pharaoh; and, according to the Book of Numbers, “Hebron” was built only seven years before Zoan. As Hebron was a place of importance before Abraham’s time, it is a matter of much significance that Zoan appears to have been an ancient city which was a favorite dwelling-place of the Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings, who pre ceded the period of the Exodus, and were likely to be friendly to the Hebrews, thus giving greater credibility to the precise statements made in Numbers, and to the whole narrative of the reception of the patriarchs in Egypt. The Pharaoh of the Oppression, “who knew not Joseph,” is generally supposed to be Rameses II., the third king of the nineteenth dynasty, known among the Greeks as Sesostris, one of the greatest of the Egyptian monarchs. Among his most important expeditions was one directed against the tribes of Palestine' and Syria, where, at the battle of Kadesh, east of the Lebanon Mountains, he encountered the Hittites. The en counter ended practically in a drawn battle, after which a treaty of peace was made. But the whole state of things revealed by this campaign and subsequent events shows that Palestine was in substantially the same condition of affairs which was found by the children of Israel when they occupied it shortly after, thus confirming the Scripture account.
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