scurity. The circumstance I allude to, relates to the story of Potiphar's wife and Joseph, in which it is mentioned, that when she could not prevail upon him to comply with her desires, "she caught him by the garment, and said, 'Lie with me!' and he left his garment in her hand and fled, and got him out;" and when she accused Joseph to her husband, she produced the garment as an evidence of his guilt, saying, "The Hebrew servant which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me: and it came to pass as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me and fled out," and immediately on hearing these words "Potiphar's wrath was kindled," and Joseph was consigned to a prison. Now, it appears, upon reading this without explanation, that Potiphar, who seems to have been a good man, acted on this occasion, with extreme injustice, as he does not seem to have made any enquiry into Joseph's guilt, but at once, on the assertion of his wife, commits him to a prison. On the contrary, if the same custom as the one which is now general in Abyssinia, at that time prevailed in Egypt, it will be seen that Potiphar acted justly, according to the established rule of the country, it being always considered as a sure proof of guilt, which requires no further evidence to be adduced, if a man, after being once laid hold of, runs away and leaves his garment behind.[1]
The troublesome behaviour of the inhabitants above mentioned, (which we found to be in a great measure owing to the absence of the Nebrit or ruler of the district,) made our stay at Axum so unpleasant, that I determined to lose no time in examining the Greek inscription, and thence to return with the least possible delay to Adowa. With this view I proceeded, accompanied by a rude crowd of the inhabitants, to the stone bearing the inscription, which I found exactly in the same state as when I previously visited Axum. I immediately re-copied very carefully every letter, and in going over it, I
- ↑ It has been observed to me, that the testimony of the wife alone might have been sufficient to justify Potiphar's conduct; but if the reader will look over the story carefully, as it is delivered in the 39th chapter of Genesis, he will find, (if I am not mistaken,) that a very particular stress is laid upon "leaving the garment in her hands," especially in verse 13. At all events I hope to be excused for offering the conjecture.
