Egyptians, and in which he exceeds even their magicians and priests.  The fame of his rare gifts, the most prized in Egypt, reaches at last the ears of Pharaoh, who is troubled by a singular dream which no one of his learned men can interpret.  The Hebrew slave interprets it, and is magnificently rewarded, becoming the prime minister of an absolute monarch.  The King gives him his signet ring, emblem of power, and a collar or chain of gold, the emblem of the highest rank; clothes him in a vestment of fine linen, makes him ride in his second chariot, and appoints him ruler over the land, second only to the King in power and rank.  And, further, he gives to him in marriage the daughter of the High Priest of On, by which he becomes connected with the priesthood.

Joseph deserves all the honor and influence he receives, for he saves the kingdom from a great calamity.  He predicts seven years of plenty and seven years of famine, and points out the remedy.  According to tradition, the monarch whom he served was Apepi, the last Shepherd King, during whose reign slaves were very numerous.  The King himself had a vast number, as well as the nobles.  Foreign slaves were preferred to native ones, and wars were carried on for the chief purpose of capturing and selling captives.

The sacred narrative says but little of the government of Egypt by a Hebrew slave, or of his abilities as a ruler,—­virtually supreme in the land, since Pharaoh delegates to him his own authority, persuaded both of his fidelity and his abilities.  It is difficult to understand how Joseph arose at a single bound to such dignity and power, under a proud and despotic king, and in the face of all the prejudices of the Egyptian priesthood and nobility, except through the custom of all Oriental despots to gratify the whim of the moment,—­like the one who made his horse prime minister.  But nothing short of transcendent talents and transcendent services can account for his retention of office and his marked success.  Joseph was then thirty years of age, having served Potiphar ten years, and spent two or three years in prison.

This all took place, as some now suppose, shortly after 1700 B.C., under the dynasty of the Hyksos or Shepherd Kings, who had conquered the kingdom about three hundred years before.  Their capital was Memphis, near the pyramids, which had been erected several centuries earlier by the older and native dynasties.  Rawlinson supposes that Tanis on the delta was the seat of their court.  Conquered by the Hyksos, the old kings retreated to their other capital, Thebes, and were probably made tributary to the conquerors.  It was by the earlier and later dynasties that the magnificent temples and palaces were built, whose ruins have so long been the wonder of travellers.  The Shepherd Kings were warlike, and led their armies from Scythia,—­that land of roving and emigrant warriors,—­or, as Ewald thinks, from the land of Canaan:  Aramaean chieftains, who sought the spoil of the richest monarchy