22 PAST AGES OF CONQUEST

or excavating temples, notable amongst which is

that marvellous work, the temple of Abu Simbel,

north of Wady Haifa, where, it is worthy of notice, may be seen representations of the swarthy inhabi-

tants of the south.

Josephus, it is interesting to note (" Ant.," ii. 10),

states that INIoses, before initiating the enterprise

so familiarly associated with his name, while a

youthful and handsome man, headed an expedition

against the kingdom of Meroe, and was received

with open arms by the Sudanese Princess or Queen,

Tharbis, who, falling a victim to beauty rather

than to prowess, opened the gates of her capital

to the brilliant young man, and won a moral victory

by marrying him.

The expedition is confirmed by tradition quoted by the Arab historians Abu Salih and Selim-el- Aswam, who speak of his success against Tafa,

forty miles above Assuan, and his marriage

inferentially is testified to by Miriam and Aaron (Num. xi. 1), who were apparently jealous of him

and objected to his influence, for had he not

stooped to marry an Ethiopian woman ? The only argument approaching solidity against

the story of Josephus is that his wife, Zipporah,

married when he fled from Egypt, and a Midianite

of the Sinaitic peninsula, descendant of Shem,

might generically on a basis improbably correct,

and sarcastically as a term of reproach, have been

styled " Ethiopian," even as Lord Salisbury is said

to have called the white-skiimed Mr. Dadabhai