" r ■ >'■ : : . ^-.uu"* , j *,.. ,'iiu,' ' .- ; * - »*i ,g^L^^A^v . ^H*M swv^ ylliiTlTliU jBlflPpl p. - ™ ill iS , fUki. , w ■v i f *~ v* : ^ ~ * i ,WIWW»UwYv A JU AjVk. w-^W W*K*wMAty "Juffi wjvyv\ ■«jfe-*,'*i.<«.' , »-"*>-"» , > "*■■*-"*■' ' ILIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 5 sks^ ^.// * &6 ~"k { UNITED STATES OE AMERICA. * J v ^^^^0iMw:mm sum - • • < i ssssBEi y^Vw^y, J9« ;,y^*--. of y ^W^i 3um3? J^A , v . L/,* J\s\ ; W J^W^vJ*w % " ^*W: ^M W$W*U*Aic ^TiK^ wm*mm re^V.Mw ■■'■ iVy »' v-W-cw- i^jsJ^K^ ^ft$ta>W m 1 1 , u , w&mj r|itf^ SW£M«W I Tenth Edition— Revised and corrected, with an Appendix, ^ ANCIENT .HER MONUMENTS HISTORY AND AND OTHER SUBJECTS HIEROGLYPHICAL BY GEORGE R. GLIDDON, NEW- YORK : WM. TAYLOR &, CO., No. 2, ASTOR HOUSE. London: WILEY & PUTNAM. SINGLE COPIES *£ M EGYPT. HIEROGLYPHICS, ARCHEOLOGY, CONNECTED WITH LITERATURE LATE U. 8. CONSUL AT CAIRO. BALTIMORE: WM. TAYLOR 1 I 1 * uonii i i in YEAR 1843 MONTH 3 DAY 15. RICHARD K. HAIGHT, Esq.: NEW YORK. In dedicating to you, my dear Sir, the first Chapters on Hierology, that have ever issued from an American Press, I acquit myself of a gratifying duty toward a gentleman who, by the deep interest he ta-kes in Egyptian subjects, has been induced to render manifold and indispensable assistance to the Author. When we parted at Cairo, in the spring of 1836, we little ex- pected that circumstances would allow me the pleasure of sojourning in your vicinity ; still less did we contemplate, that I should turn my almost exclusive attention to Nilotic paleography. Some of the causes are hereinafter explained; with the others you are acquainted. At the time of your travels in the East, our " Egyptian Society " had just been founded at Cairo ; and the encouragement afforded by Mr. Randolph and yourself, to our then embryo institution, is there on record. Since that period, our Society has become in Egypt, the central point of researches into all that concerns its most interesting regions ; but, it was not till 1839, that the larger works of the new Archaeological School were in our library ; or that it was in my power to become one of Champollion's disciples. In fact, it was not till about 1839, that the brilliant results of the recent, and still progressing discoveries were accessible in Egypt ; while, at the present day, the knowledge of these results is confined to a compa- ratively limited circle in Europe. A mass of erudite works, put forth by eminent Savans, chiefly at the expense of enlightened gov- ernments, have teemed of late years from the European press, and the most important of these (Rosellini and others) now embellish your Library. It is to the effective aid, and fostering counsel of our mutual friend, Richard Randolph, Esq., of Philadelphia, and yourself, that the public in this country are indebted, for whatever of value and novel interest may be found in this unpretending essay ; and, through these marks of consideration is the Author enabled, to present to the American people, some of the more salient points of recent Hiero. glyphical discoveries, in a form corresponding to his free-trade principles. Our united object is to popularize information, that may tend to a better appreciation of these abstruse subjects, than has hitherto been deemed feasible ; as well as to induce abler hands to supply defi- ciencies. These Chapters will, it is believed, serve the Theologian, Ethno- logist, Historian, and general reader, as a Key to the successful la- bors of the Champollionists ; while their publication and general diffusion, through the elaborate machinery of the " New World " press, will enable the lecturer to spare his future audiences the oral infliction of much preliminary, though indispensable matter, by re- moving the prevalent doubts — "if Hieroglyphics be translated." The instruction and kind assistance I have received from the learned ethnographer, Samuel George Morton, Esq., M. D., of Philadelphia, and from the profound philologist, the Hon Jjhn Pickering, of Boston, have been severally acknowledged. To Pro- fessor Charles Anthon, of Columbia College, I am under great obligations, for much classical information, and for free access to his valuable Library. As the matter, spread over the following pages, was originally prepared for delivery in oral Lectures, it has required some labor to change it into its present form ; and for suggestions on this point, as well as for many literary essentials, I owe my best thanks to my friend, E. S. Gould, Esq., of this city. In their pristine shape of Lectures, they were, during December and January last, listened to with much indulgence, by an intel- lectual and cultivated audience, in Boston, and spoken of with favor by the Press of that city. • For the advantages accruing from this successful "debut," I shall ever preserve a grateful remembrance toward Joseph W. Ingraham, Esq., the well informed Topographer of Palestine ; whose disin. terested cooperation was of material assistance to me. With renewed protestations of sincere attachment, I remain, dear Sir, Your obliged and obedient Servant, GEORGE R. GLIDDON. " Globe Hotel," (New York,) March 15, 1843. NOTE TO THE PRESENT EDITION. Baltimore, 15th March, 1S45. .The seven " Chapters," herein contained, originally formed part of a series of thirteen oral Lectures on " Early Egyptian History," &c, delivered by the Author at Boston, from December 184?, to February 1843. They were subsequently presented to the American Public, through the medium of the "New World" press in New York, and have since passed through many editions of several thousand each. The objects of the Author, in the publication of the Pamphlet, being set forth In the dedicatory preface, it seems merely necessary to observe, that he has no pecuniary interest in its past or future circulation. Messrs. W«. Taylor & Co. having become proprietors of the Stereotype Plates by purchase from the "New World," publish the present edition, wherein many typographical corrections have been made ; while pages 45 and 46 have been recast, in order to embody the matured results of Dr. S. G. Morton's " Crania iEgyptrca," published at Philadelphia in March, 1844. G. R. G. ANCIENT EGYPT. A SERES OF CHAPTERS ON EARLY EGYPTIAN HISTORY, &C. &.C. &c. CHAPTER FIRST. INTRODUCTORY. " Amicus Socrates, Amicus Plato, sed magis Arnica Veritas." The great Expedition, that, in 1798, left the shores of France for Egypt, seemed, under the guidance of the mighty genius of Napoleon, destined to create an Oriental Empire, wherein the children of the Frank and Gaul would have sustained a supremacy over the North- western provinces of Asia and Africa, equal to that which has been established in the Eastern Hemisphere, by the Anglo-Saxon race. This enterprise was, however, fated to encounter obstacles, that, in 1800-1, turned the energies of Buonaparte into an European channel. How comprehensive, nay unbounded, were the projects of the Commander-in-chief for Asiatic and African conquest, is now a mat- ter of History ; although, after the lapse of forty years, it can scarcely yet be said, that we are acquainted with the limit of his matured schemes in regard to Oriental subjugation, nor have we completely Bounded the depths of his penetration into Eastern political futurities. By the hand of inscrutable Providence, the sword of another Euro- pean nation was thrown into the opposite scale ; and the French Expedition to Egypt lives but in the memories of its few surviving actors — its military objects unaccomplished — its territorial aggrand- izements unattained — though the moral effect, consequent on these events, and now implanted in the minds of Eastern Nations, can never be obliterated. In the quiet of his cabinet, as in the turmoil of political conflict, Napoleon never forgot the cause of Science, or the patronage and ad- vancement of Literature and the Arts ; and, amid the roar of his artillery, or the martial music of his camps, his mandate prompted, and his eye controlled the savans of France, while his finger directed their laborious efforts to the scrutiny of Egypt and her Monuments. The grave has closed over the Conqueror — the events of his period are gradually receding from the memory of man, to survive on the page of the chronicler ; but an impetus was given to Egyptian re- search by Napoleon — an impress was stamped by him on Hiero- glyphical studies, for which time will award him commensurate honor. We are now only beginning to derive a portion of the advantages accruing, from these events, to our inquiries into Early History. Ages yet slumbering in the womb of time, and generations yet un- born will perhaps enjoy the full effulgence of that light, of which, in our day, but the first gleams have reached the world. The circumambient darkness, that for two thousand years not only baffled every inquiry into primeval history, but rendered Egypt, her time-worn edifices, her ancient inhabitants, their religion, arts, sci- ences, institutions, learning, language, history, conquests and domin- ion, almost incomprehensible mysteries, has now been broken ; and the translation of the sacred Legends, sculptured on monumental ves- tiges of Pharaonic glory, enables us now to define and to explain, with tolerable accuracy, these once-recondite annals, that were to the Romans " a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness." It is the object of the present essay to give a summary of the re- sults of Hicroglyphical researches, after a brief explanation of the process by which these results have been achieved. Prior to the year 1800, the published notices of the few travellers, who had ventured to approach the ancient ruins of Egypt, were so confused in description, so ambiguous in detail, so erroneous in at- tempts at explaining their origin and design, that the fact, that these monuments merited more than ordinary investigation, was the only point on which European savans were able to coincide. Paul Lucas, Shaw, Volney, Savary, Norden, Sonnini, Pococke, Clarke, Maillet, Bruce and others, whose names are precious to the lovers of adven- ture, of research and general science, had explored as much as their respective circumstances permitted ; and great are the merits of their works : but the accumulation of knowledge, gained in the lapse of half a century, has so thoroughly revolutionized opinion, that it is scarcely possible to refer to the majority of these authors without a smile. That victim of ignorance and slander, the enthusiastic Bruce, is perhaps the most prominent exception to the above rule ; although only now receiving the mournful tribute of respect and gratitude, with which a later generation hallows his memory, while it repro- bates his detractors. The works of travellers, before the year 1800, had done little be- yond establishing the existence of immense vestiges of antiquity in that country, without affording much else of value in regard to them. Egypt, under the turbulent government of the Memlooks, was unsafe to strangers; while Muslim arrogance and intolerancy, with the then-unsubdued pride of Turkish fanaticism, presented barriers to European explorers, which it required unusual skill and intrepidity to encounter. Egypt was then " a sealed book," whose pages could not be opened, until Napoleon's thunderbolts had riven the clasps asunder ; and until the chivalrous cavalry of the " Ghuz "* had been scattered, like chaff before the wind, by the concentrated volleys of a French hollow square — their hitherto victorious sabres shivering on contact with the European bayonet. While however, in spite of these manifold obstacles, the travelling enthusiast, or the scientific explorer, collected in the talley of the Nile the information, which afforded to the scholar in Europe some crude and uncertain materials wherewith to prosecute his researches; the occasional transmission to European cabinets of some relics of Egyptian civilization, furnished evidences of the immense progress,, which, at an ancient, but then undefined, period, had been made in all arts and sciences by the Egyptians. With the aid of such cor- roborations of the misshapen mass of classical knowledge, expended, from the days of Homer, in an attempted explanation of Egyptian Archaeology, the attention of the most learned of all nations was di. rected to the Antiquities of Egypt; and, although in Europe these particular inquiries recommenced probably about three hundred years ago ; yet the 18th century was fruitful, beyond all preceding periods, in ponderous tomes, purporting more or less to cast some light on the important, but conflicting traditions of that country. The Greek, the Hebrew, the Roman, the Armenian, the Indian, and the Coptic authorities were consulted. Passages, in themselves irreconcileable, were with more ingenuity than success collated, ana- lyzed, and mutually adjusted : but rather to the personal satisfaction of the compiler, than to the correct elucidation of any one given idea on Ancient Egypt, transmitted to us by these classical writers. Still, the spirit of inquiry was awakened ; the lamp of investigation was partially lighted ; the learned world became gradually more and more familiarized with the subject; and, at the present hour, if we laugh at the conclusions at which some of these students arrived, we must still render to them full credit for the profundity of their futile investigations, and admire the patient perseverance and resolution with which they grappled with mysteries, the solution whereof was to them as hopeless in expectation, as abortive in success. Vain would it be, without ransacking the libraries of every civi- lized country, and selecting from their dusty shelves the vast accu- mulation of works, published by the learned and the unlearned during the last three centuries, to attempt a detailed specification of the ex- traordinary aberrations of human intellect ; those manifold and incomprehensible misconceptions on Ancient Egypt ; that, at the present hour, excite our surprise and our regret. The mere mechan- ical labor of such an undertaking would be more tedious than any literary enterprise we can well conceive ; while its result would be unprofitable, beyond the moral it would teach. In the present Chap- ters, a very few of such sapient illusions are enumerated ; affording, however, but a faint idea of their huge amount : and it may be laid down as a rule, without exception prior to the year 1790, that no ori- ginal light is to be obtained from European authors of the last gener- ation, whose works are merely repetitions of the few truths and the many fallacies transmitted to us by Greco-Roman antiquity. The following paragraphs will give a general view of the case. In the year 1636, a learned Jesuit, the celebrated Father Kircher,t published a mighty work, in six ponderous folios, entitled " CEdipus iEgyptiacus," wherein imagination took the place of common sense, and fantastic conjecture was substituted for fact. Kircher explained every Egyptian Hieroglyphic by the application of a sublimity of mysticism, from which to the ridiculous the transition is immediate. Dark and impenetrable as had been the " Isiac Veil," before Kir- cher directed his gigantic efforts to its removal, we do him but justice in declaring, that he succeeded in enveloping Egyptian studies with an increased density of gloom, it has taken nearly two hundred years to dissipate ! Kircher had his disciples, his followers and his ad- mirers — he founded a school of mysticism, in which the students out- vied their master in love of the incomprehensible; and, abandoning the simplest elements of reason and sound criticism, they all pre- tended to discover, or to have the hope of finding, in the Papyri, Obelisks, Idols, Mummy Cases, Weapons, household utensils, &c. of the Ancient Egyptians, all the recondite combinations of cabalistic science, and the monstrous reveries "of a demonomania the most refined." As an instance : The Pamphilian Obelisk, reerected, in 1651, in the Piazza Navona at Rome by Pope Innocent the 10th, was brought to Europe by the Roman Emperors. It contains, among other subjects, the following oval. -REDTJCTION- U T o K (Phonetic ~~> m tfijuf «^~ ~^ Hiero- glyphics.) (Latin pro- R A T O K nunciation.) (English meaning.) This Cartouche, according to Kircher's interpretation expressed emblematically, " the author of fecundity and of all vegetation, is Osiris, of which the generative faculty is drawn from heaven into '■ /.rabice— Memlooks. t See Champ. Precis, and Spineto's Lectures. ANCIENT EGYPT. his kingdom, by the Saint Moptha." And who is this Saint Mop- I ™ , ,. , . «, , . , „ tha ? An Egyptian genius invented by Kircher himself! The same obehsk c °ntams the following oval also— viz. -REDUCTION- -TM-V— JMfc K AiSaRoS ToMTTiANoSSeBaS ToS CESAR DOMITIAN AUGUSTUS. Kircher translates it—" The beneficent Being, who presides over generation, who enjoys heavenly dominion, and fourfold power, com- mits the atmosphere, by means of Moptha, the beneficent (principle of?) atmospheric humidity unto Amnion, most powerful over the lower parts (of the world,) who, by means of an image and appro- priate ceremonies, is drawn to the exercising of his power." (!) The Pamphilian obelisk contains in its legends " Son of the Sun, Lord of the Diadems (i. e. Ruler of Rulers) Autocrator Caesar Domi- tian Augustus" — besides the usual titles found on Egyptian Obelisks. These monuments are granite monoliths, cut by order of the kings of Egypt ; and were placed, always in pairs, before the entrances of temples or palaces, to record that such kings had built, increased in extent, repaired, or otherwise embellished these edifices. This was, however, cut at Syene, in Roman times, in honor of Domitian. According even to a more recent authority, quoted in the Precis, of the year 1821 (!) " Genoa-Arch ipiscopal press," this identical obelisk " preserves the record of the triumph over the Impious, ob- tained by the adorers of the most Holy Trinity, and of the Eternal Word, under the government of the 6th and 7th kings of Egypt, in the 6th century after the deluge." This obelisk was cut in Egypt about eighty years after Christ. By the above interpretation, the doctrines of Christianity must have existed some 2500 years before its founder. And one of the pious adorers and good Christians, who must thus have ruled in Egypt, was, in later times, (about 970 B. C.) Shishak — or Siieshonk, who, according to hieroglyphical legends at Karnac, conquered the " king- dom of Judah ;" and, according to 2nd Chron. XII, 1st to 10th ver- ses, and 1st Kings, XIV. 25th, deposed Rehoboam, plundered Jerusa- lem, desecrated the Temple, and removed the golden bucklers from the sanctuary with the treasures of the house of David ! Again, in 1812, the learned mystagogue, Chevalier de Palin, boldly undertook the deciphering of all Egyptian hieroglyphics, and asserts to the effect, that we have only to translate the Psalms of Da- vid into Chinese, and transpose them into the ancient characters of that language, to reproduce the Egyptian papyri ! that Hebrew translations of some Egyptian records are to be found in the Bible (!) and, while the portico of the temple of Dendera contains, among various subjects, dedications of the Roman Emperors, Tiberius, Cali- gula, Claudius and Nero (dating between the years 14 and 60 after Christ,) another theorist, Count Caylus, combining what he terms the " Symbols of Nations" in Africa, Asia, Europe, and America, ap- plied his results to this unfortunate temple ; asserting, that the hiero- glyphics thereon contain merely a " translation of the 100th Psalm of David, composed to invite the people to enter into the temple of God." Others have maintained, that the hieroglyphic legends, sculptured and painted on every temple of Egypt, in all the tombs of her people, and on almost every article that now embellishes the museums of Europe, are nothing more or less than Hebrew — that the pyramids were built by Moses and Aaron ;* while another scholar, the Abbe" Tandeau, in 1762, maintained, that hieroglyphics were mere arbi. trary signs, only employed to serve as ornaments to the edifices on which they are engraved, and that they were never invented to pic- ture ideas. Yet these illusions were not unproductive of some advantages. Some faint glimmers were thrown on certain points of history ; and Kircher's voluminous collection of passages regarding Egypt from Greek and Roman authors, with the attention excited, through his researches into the Coptic tongue (of which language numbors of manuscripts have since been drawn from obscurity,) has led to most important results. The vast erudition of Jablonsky came in aid of the same object ; and his " Pantheon JEgyptiorum" has spared many of his successors a great deal of trouble. It may, however, be maintained, that the first real step made into hieroglyphical arcana, is to be dated from 1797, when the learned Dane, George Zoega, published at Rome his folio, " De Origine et Usu Obeliscorum," explanatory of the Egyptian obelisks. It was tlie first time, that learning and practical common sense had been united in Egyptian researches ; and likewise the first time, that an *3ee Calmct's Dictionary, I. c. attempt had been made to give facsimile copies of hieroglyphica texts. George Zoega was the first who suggested, that the elliptical ovals (now termed " Cartouches,") containing groups of then-un- known characters, were probably proper names; although he wa. not aware, that (with the exception of a few instances, wherein they contain the names of Deities) they exclusively inclose the titles oi. names of Pharaohs. A similar idea was maintained, I believe, bj the Abbe" Barthelemy ; but a quarter of a century elapsed, before this fundamental principle of hieroglyphic writing was determined. To George Zoega also belongs the merit of employing the terra phonetic (from the Greek <&ovti meaning " expressive of sound ;") and the conjecture, that some of the figures of animals, &c, found in the legends of Egypt, must represent sounds, and were possibly letters. By such, and similar extremely partial results, so wearied had the learned become with speculations devoid of probability, and theoret- ical systems unsupported by reason, that Egyptian studies were, by the mass, considered as unsatisfactory as astrology — the hope of ever unravelling the legends of the Nilotic Valley, was looked upon to bo as illusory as the expectations of the alchemist. The real progress in Egyptian studies dates from the appearance of the great French work, better known as the " Description de l'Egypte ;" compiled at the expense of the French government, after the return to France of Napoleon's expedition, by the enthusi astic and laborious savans who had accompanied it. This truly great work presented, for the first time, faithful architectural copies of the monuments of Egypt to the student : and if experience has since shown that the French artists, of that day, were not scrupu- lously exact in delineating the hieroglyphical legends sculptured on the edifices, of which they gave measurements and descriptions in other respects correct, still a mass of facsimiles was thus furnished to the decipherer, and an immense step was effected in general Egyp- tian knowledge. The museums of Europe, in the mean time, were continually re- ceiving additions of antiquarian relics from the shores of the Nile. The " jEgyptiaca" of the learned Hamilton threw, with the prece- ding antiquities, a flood of light upon the " darkness" of Egypt, as known to Europeans in the first years of the 19 th century : while the return of the victors at Abookeer and Alexandria, spread through- out Europe, a clearer conception of Egypt, as a country, than had previously been entertained. Other works, like that of Denon, kept up the revived interest ; until Belzoni's discoveries of entrances to divers pyramids at Mem- phis, and of the tomb celebrated by his name at Thebes (now known as that of " Osirei-Menephtha,"B. C. 1580 ;) and Cailleaud's account of the pyramids, &c. in Ethiopia, joined to the continued transfer to European cabinets of vast collections of Egyptian Antiquities, fur- nished to scholars the materials whereon to prosecute their investi- gations. In 1808, the learned work of Quatremerc, Recherches, &c, demonstrated, that " the Coptic tongue was identical with the Egyp- tian" language, handed down from mouth to mouth, and graphically in Greek characters, with the addition of seven signs taken, as sub- sequently shown, from the enchorial writings. The Coptic, as known to us, came into use with Christianity, and ceased to be orally preserved about a hundred years ago ; though, as a dead language, it is still used in the Coptic Christian liturgies in Egypt. The mul- titude of Greek and Latin inscriptions, existing in edifices along the Nile, with Greek, and a few bilinguar fragments and papyri, col- lected in various countries, enabled the classical Greek antiquary, Mons. Letronne, to bring before the world his invaluable "Researches to aid the History of Egypt," and thus elucidate many curious points of Roman and Ptolemaic periods ; while Champollion's " Egypt under the Pharaohs," in 1814, announced the appearance of another com- petitor on the stage of Egyptian archaeology, whom Proviiicncc seems to have created the especial instrument for resuscitating the long lost annals of Egypt. With these laborers may be classed (although their travels took place, and their works appeared some years after) the ingenious Gou, who explored Lower Nubia, and the Baron 1\I;- nutoli, who visited Egypt, and the templed sanctuary of Jupitel Anion, in the Oasis of Scewah. ANCIENT EGYPT. Such was the extent of modern inquiry into early Egyptian his- tory, about the year 1820, as known to the general reader : but for- tuitous circumstances, consequent upon the French expedition, had combined to supply not only the key to all the hitherto impenetrable mysteries of Egypt, but the mind to comprehend, the soul to master, and the hand to execute more, in ten short years, than all mankind had even dreamed of, much less been able in twenty centuries to achieve. I allude, of course, to CitAMroLLioN LE Jeune. By the 16th article of the capitulation of Alexandria, all the objects collected by the French Institute of Egypt, and other members of the expedition, were to be delivered up to the British. After some discussion, Lord Hutchinson gave up all claim to objects of Natural History, but insisted on the complete fulfilment of the 16th article, as to all other things. A vast amount of precious sculptures thus became the prize of the conquerors, and was conveyed in due course to the British Museum in London; and among others the celebrated Rosetta Stone. I am indebted for the facsimile copy of this invaluable monu- ment, in my possession, to the kindness of the Hon. John Pickering, of Boston, whose profound philological researches are justly cele- brated, while they have induced him to keep pace with Champol- hon's discoveries in ancient Egyptian literature. My friend, Dr. T. H. Webb, likewise of Boston, possesses a beautiful plaster cast ot the original stone ; and as I am on this point, I would observe, that the best critical examination of the hieroglyphic portion of the Rosetta Stone, published up to 1841, may be seen in Salvolini's "Analysis of various Hieroglyphical Texts," issued at Paris, some six years ago. Professor Rosellini hints that his analysis of this Text will be a consequence of his work. To give an idea of the Rosetta Stone, I annex the following diagram : The dotted line at the top shows what was probably its original tabular form, when it was placed in the temple. Thi3 inestimable fragment (the Rosetta Stone) consists in a block of black basalt, which was discovered by a French officer of engi- neers, Mons. Bouchard, in August 1799, when digging the founda- tions of Fort St. Julien, erected on the western bank of the Nile, between Rosetta and the sea, not far from the mouth of the river. It was placed by the British commander-in-chief, on board the frigate " Egyptienne," captured in the harbor of Alexandria, and arrived at Portsmouth in February, 1802, whence it was deposited in the Brit- ish Museum. In its present state it is much mutilated, chiefly on the top, and at lit side. Its extreme length is about three feet, measured on ii flat surface, which contains the writing; its breadth, which in parts is entire is about two feet five inches. The under part of the stone, which is not sculptured, is left rough. In thickness, it varies from ten to twelve inches. It bears three inscriptions, and is bilinguar — two of them being in the Egyptian language, though in separate and distinct characters, the third is in Ancient Greek. The first or uppermost inscription is in hieroglyphics, and much muti- lated — several lines being impaired or wanting — the second is the character, styled in the Greek translation enchorial, " writing of the people," or otherwise it is termed demotic, to designate its ordinary and popular use — the third is in Greek, and purports to be a transla- tion of the hieroglyphic and of the demotic texts. The English translations of the Rosetta stone, contained in the works enumerated in my first chapter, not being at present accessible to me, I render into English the French of Champollion Figeac. It is curtailed, in some measure, from the original Greek inscription ; wherein there is a long exordium in honor of Ptolemy Epiphanes, to be seen in " Amcilhon's Eclaircissements," published by the French Institute in 1803. The general reader will find much interesting in- formation on this and other subjects, in " Sharpe's Inscriptions" " British Museum ;" as likewise in the varied hierological and clas- sical works of this distinguished gentleman. The event recorded in the Rosetta Stone, the coronation of Epiphanes, took place at Mem- phis, in the month of March, 196 years B. C., or 2039 years ago. TRANSLATION. " The year IX, (of the reign of the "Son of the Sun, Ptolemy, ever living, beloved of Pthah") the tenth of the month of Mechir, the pontiffs and the prophets, those who enter into ihe sanctuary to clothe the gods, the ptero- phores, the hierogrammates, and all die other priests, who from all the tem- ples situated in the country, have come to Memphis, near the King, for the solemnity of the taking possession of that crown, which Ptolemy, ever living, the well beloved of Pthah, god Epiphanes most gracious prince, has inher- ited from his father, being assembled in the temple of Memphis, have pro- nounced, this same day, the following decree : " Considering, that the King Ptolemy, ever living, the well beloved of Pthah, god Epiphanes, most gracious, son of the King Ptolemy, and of the Queen Arsinoe, godsphilopatores (father-loving) has done all kinds of good, both to the temples, and to those who therein make their habitation; and, in general, to all those who are under his dominion ; that being (himself) a god, born of a god and a goddess, like Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris, the avenger of Osiris his father; and ambitious of signalizing generously his zeal for the things which concern the gods, he has consecrated to the service of the temples, great revenues, as well of money as of wheat, and has been at great expenses to restore tranquillity in Egypt, and to raise temples. " That he has not neglected any of the means that were within his power, to perform acts of humanity; that in order that in his kingdom the people, and in general all the citizens, should be in prosperity, he has suppressed altogether some of the taxes and imposts established in Egypt, and has diminished the onus of the others ; that, moreover, he has remitted all that was due to him on the royal rents, as much by his subjects, inhabitants of Egypt, as by those of his other kingdoms; although these rents were very considerable in their amount; that he has liberated by amnesty, those who were imprisoned, and under sentence from a long time ; "That he has ordained, that the revenues of the temples, and the rents payable to them every year, as much in wheat as in money, as also those perquisitions reserved to the gods on the vineyards, the orchards, and on the other things, to which they were entitled from the time of his father, should continue to be collected in the country. " That he has dispensed those, who belong to the sacerdotal orders, from making every year a voyage by water to Alexandria. " That he has ordered, that the citizens who had laid down their rebellious arms, and those whose sentiments had been, in the times of trouble, opposed to the government, and who had returned to their duly, should be maintained in possession of their property. " That having entered Memphis, as the avenger of his father, and of his own rightful crown, he has punished, as they deserved, the chiefs of those who had revolted against his father, and devastated the country, and de- spoiled the temples. '' That he has made many gifts to Apis, to Mnevis, and to the other sacred animals of Egypt. " That he has caused tobe made magnificent works to the temple of Apis, and has furnished, for these labors, a large quantity of gold, and silver, and precious stones ; that he has raised temples, and chapels, and altars ; and that be has made the necessary repairs to those which required them, hav- ing the zeal of a beneficent god for all that concerns the divinity ; that, having informed himself of the state in which were found the most precious things inclosed in the temples, he has renewed thern in his empire, as much as it was necessary — in recompense for which, the gods have given him health, victory, and other goods ; . . . .the crown having to remain to him, as well as to his children, down to the most remote posterity. "It has therefore pleased the oriests of all the temples of the land to de- cree, that all the honors belonging to the King Ptolemy, ever living, the well- beloved of Pthah, god Epiphanes, most gracious, as well as thosewhich are due to his father and mother, the gods philopatores ; and those which are due to his ancestors, should be considerably augmented ; that the statue of King Ptolemy, ever living, he erected in each temple, and placed in the most conspicuous spot, which shall be called the Statue of Ptolemy, avenger of Egypt; near this statue shall be placed the principal god of the temple, who will present him with the arms of victory ; and everything shall be disposed in the manner most appropriate. That the priests shall perform, three times a day,'religious service to these statues; that they shall adorn them with »a- cred ornaments; and that they shall have care to render them, in the great solemnities, all the honors which, according to usage, ought to be paid to the other deities ; that there be consecrated to King Ptolemy a statue, and a chapel, gilded, in the most holy of the temples; that this chapel be placed in the sanctuary, with all the others ; and that, in die great solemnities, wherein it is customary to bring out the chapels from the sanctuaries, there shall be brought out that of the god Epiphanes, most gracious ; and that this chapel may be better distinguished from the others, now and in the lapse of time hereafter, there shall he placed above it the ten golden crowns of the king, which shall bear on their anterior part an asp, in imitation of tjiose crowns of aspic form, which are in the other chapels; and in the middle of these ANCIENT EGYPT. crowns, shall be placed the royal ornament termed pshent, that one which the king wore when he entered the Memphis, in the temple, in order to ob- serve the legal ceremonies prescribed for the coronation ; that there be at- tached to the tetragon (the cornice? or perhaps cover?) encircling the ten crowns affixed to the chapel above named, phylacleres of gold (similar to the Hebrew " taphilim" — amulets) with this inscription : " This is the chapel of the King; of that king'who has rendered illustrious the upper and the lower region ;" that there be celebrated a festival : arid a great assembly (pane- gyrie) be held in honor of the ever living, of the well beloved of Pthah, of the King Ptolemy, god Epiphancs most gracious, every year; this festival shall take place in all the provinces, as well in Upper, as in Lower Egypt ; and shall last for five days, to commence on the first day of the month of Tholh ; during which, those who make the sacrifices, the libations, and all the other customary ceremonies, shall wear crowns; ihey shall be called the priests of the god Epiphanes — Eucliaristos (most gracious) and they shall add this name to the others, that they borrow from the deities to the service of whom they are already consecrated. "And in order that it may be known why, in Egypt, he is glorified and honored, as is just, the god Epiphanes, most gracious sovereign, the present decree shall be engraved on a stela of hard stone, in sacred characters, (i. e. in hieroglyphics) in writing or the country (i. e. in enchorial, or demo- tic) and in Greek letters : and this stela shall be placed in ^ach of the temples of the first, second, and third class existing in all the kingdom." Note — The Rosetta stone is the only one of these numerous tablets, that hasyet been found ; but it is by no means impossible, that another copy be discovered among the excavations that will be made in the temples of Egypt. The importance of this stone and its inscriptions, indicating the probability of its supplying a Key to the deciphering of the long lost meanings of Egyptian hieroglyphics, was immediately per- ceived. The French general, Dugua, brought from Egypt to Paris, a cast and two impressions of the stone, made at Cairo ; and in 1803, an analysis of the Greek inscription, made by citizen Ameil- hon, was published by order of the Institute. Copies of the stone were subsequently given in the " Description de 1' Egypte." The Royal Antiquarian Society of London, on receipt of the original, caused copies to be engraved, and disseminated throughout Europe. The Rosetta Stone excited the liveliest interest in all those who had devoted themselves to Egyptian Archaeology ; and the attention of the greatest scholars of the age was directed to its critical invest- igation. The Greek inscription engaged the scrutiny of Professor Porson, in London ; and of Dr. Heyne,in Germany. By their critical labors, and those of the French Institute, the blanks occasioned by frac- tures in the stone were supplied, and the purport of the whole was completely and satisfactorily ascertained. With equal zeal, and in the end, with astonishing success, the Continental scholars were examining the meaning of the other two inscriptions. They demonstrated that the Greek was really a trans- lation ; and consequently, that the opinion of the ancients, no less than that of the moderns, was erroneous, in supposing that the hie- roglyphic and other Egyptian characters had ceased to be em- ployed, and their interpretation lost, since the Persian conquest of that country by Cambyses, in 525 B.C. ; while Quatremere, by other processes, had established the present Coptic language to be the ancient Egyptian itself. The attention, however, of these learned inquirers, seems to have been mainly directed to the study of the second, or intermedial inscription — roi? tc upon, nai cy^oipton, a. t By James Halliburton, Esq. ; out of print. X By Sir J. G. Wilkinson; do. § See my "Appeal to the Antiquaries of Europe, on the Destruction of the Monu- ments of Egypt." 1341. London, Madden & Co. New York, Sartlett tWelford. ANCIENT EGYPT. as unnecessary. National jealousy was excited ; and, to preserve her position as the patroness of Egyptian literature, France deter. mined not to be anticipated. In 1828, the French government sent a commission, consisting of Champollion le Jeunc, and four French artists, well supplied with every necessary outfit, to Egypt, in order that the master might, for his own and his country's honor, and at her expense, reap the harvest for which his hand had sown the seed. A similar design having suggested itself to another patron of arts and sciences, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the celebrated archaeologist and oriental scholar, Professor Ippolito Rosellini, of the University of Pisa, and four Ital- ian artists under his direction, were appointed a commission to pro. ceed to Egypt, with the same intent as the French mission. It was amicably arranged by the respective governments, and between the chiefs of each expedition, that their labors should be united ; and, in consequence, the French and Tuscan missions were blended into one, and both reached Alexandria in the same vessel, and prosecuted their labors hand in hand from Memphis to the second Cataract. They returned in 1829. We are now approaching a period, when, for all local Egyptian annals, my own personal recollection will supply the place of books ; and I am able to speak as a spectator, and a little later as a very hum- ble actor, in some of the scenes, of which I shall incidentally give sketches. These may be thought curious by my readers, and I can assure them, that they are known to very few, and have never been published. I have said, that from 1829 my local recollection serves ; but, to avoid misapprehension, I will mention, that my sojourn in Egypt dates from 1818, and with intervals of absence has been pro- longed during 23 years, to 1841 ; and consequently, I presume to entertain opinions of my own, on any affairs to which I am a party. I mention these circumstances, with an apology for alluding to my- self, only to satisfy my readers, that I am not a stranger in the land of Egypt, and may be allowed to speak from personal knowledge and Jong experience, without reference to the works or opinions of gen- tlemen, who, however greatly they surpass me in acquirements and talents, remained but a few weeks, months, or years, in the valley of the Nile ; and whose Egyptian sojournings, in point of duration, can rarely be spoken of in the same breath with my own. In fact, I feel myself to be a foreigner in every other country ; and if, on ancient Egyptian matters, I am proud to consider myself the humblest fol- lower in the footsteps of the hieroglyphical masters, or if, on scientific subjects, I make no claim to anything beyond the merest superficial acquaintance, it is not presumption in me to declare, that, on modern and on local Egyptian topics, I need acknowledge few superiors in or out of that country. Those who have been at Cairo, in my time, among whom I have much pleasure in enumerating a host of Amer- ican travellers, will allow, that in this personal digression, I do not arrogate to myself more than their own experience will in fairness concede to me. The arrival in Egypt of the French and Tuscan expeditions, added new fuel to the flame of antiquarian jealousy, which, for thirty years, had characterized the archaeological devotees of England and France in that country : but, in this later strife, the actors, by their pure love of science and national spirit of emulation, were divested of those sordid motives which disgraced their predecessors, and perhaps some of their successors. Up to 1825, the competition between the representatives of Britain and France, Mr. Consul General Salt, and Monsieur le Consul General Drovetti, had not been, as to which of them should immortalize his labors by the most useful examinations in ancient Egyptian lore ; but, in the immense works and excava- tions each of these gentlemen undertook, sordid acquisitiveness was the moving principle. They did not squabble with each other, lest the one should verify before his antagonist, on a mouldering temple, some interesting point of history. One did not strive to surpass the other in expounding the mysterious hieroglyphical legends. They quarrelled over a granite Sphinx, not as to which Pharaoh it had be- longed, but as to what price its sale would bring in Europe. Anti- quities were valuable in their eyes, simply according to their estimate of what they would sell for, when transferred from the ruins to the competition of European virtuosi.* * Mohammed A! i, and his astute minister Boghos, fanned these jealousies, which were fo many pledges, that Salt and Drovetti, while absorbed in intrigues, schemes and maneu- vres to cicumvent each other in the abstraction of a saleable relic, would, in common with their subordinate officers, (who at the same time were fattening on cotton, beans, &c.,) naturally close their eyes to barefaced infractions of every commercial treaty be- tween Europe and the Sublime Forle, of every lav/ of the Ottoman Empire, and of the free-trade principles of the Koran itself. The Pisha promoted this rivalry, by giving extra facilities to each, thereby rendering Ihctndc in antiquities a consular monopoly of France, Great Britain, and Sweden ; well knowing, that by tilling the pockets of the representatives of the first two, and using the other, Signer D'Anastasy, as a sort of cloak to their proceedings, he should place them under such lasting obligations to him- self, that they would follow the wheels of his chariot, without daring to remonstrate against his ruinous commercial system. It was not until 1840, that the British government believed the often disregarded com- plaints of her merchants, snw through the mystifications of'the Pasha, and peremptorily stopped the proceedings of H. M. consuls-general, by a radical change of the " person- nel." Feeling that I have had a hand in some of these changes, it is to me a legitimate cause of triumph ; and when Hook back at the dirhculties overcome, I indulge in pleas- ing anticipations of the future. Salt however, it must in justice be added, was a gentleman and a scholar, possessed of many estimable qualities; and, if he sold the tablet that he had succeeded in with- holding from the corsair-c latches of Drovetti, he certainly did his best to embellish his invoices with antiquarian annotations. He died in 1S27, leaving a large fortune made The enthusiastic English travellers, above referred to, having labored with great success on the virgin soil of local studies in hie- roglyphics, felt persuaded, as they had not at that period published the entire results of their researches, that if they came into personal contact with the arch-Egyptologist himself, amid the ruins along the Nile, it would be said, on their return to Europe, and on the publica. tion of their own discoveries, that they had derived all their inform, ation from Champollion. They consequently took such steps, as precluded the possibility of a rencontre in Egypt. On the other side, Champollion looked upon them as interlopers and trespassers on that field, which, with more vehemence than propriety, he considered his own exclusive prerogative — the expounding of hieroglyphics on the ruins of Egypt. Many laughable incidents were the conse- quences of this mutual diffidence, and the following anecdote will give an idea of the whole. The works of Arabian authors, Abd-el-Latoef, Makrisi, Murtady, Jellal-ed-deen-El-Assyootee, and others, contain, among many re- markable passages, some details on the spoliations of Memphis and Heliopolis, effected by the Saracenic Caliphate, since the conquest of Egypt by Aamer-ebn-el-As (in Anno Domini, 638, Hejira, 16 ;) for the construction of the various edifices of Saracenic magnificence at Cairo. A vast number of curious relics, and fragments of Phara- onic periods have been discovered, and many more lie embedded in the buildings of this Mahommedan city, which time will bring to light. One of these English explorers especially devoted himself, for a long period, to the examination of all such places as he thought might contain ruins of earlier epochs ; and he discovered a slab of basalt, forming the lintel of a doorway, in an unfrequented and dilap. idated mosque, whereon was engraved a trilinguar, or rather a tri- grammatic inscription. Having consulted with his fellow travellers, application was made, through the British consul general, to Mohammed Ali at Alexan- dria, for permission to remove this block, with an offer to repair the mosque, as a compensation for the favor. In Egypt, whatever may be the case elsewhere, it is impossible to keep a secret from the fer- ret-like propensities of courtiers ; and whether instigated by Dro- vetti or not, the Pasha refused, on the ground of sacrilege, desecration, and other canting phrases: the Viceroy, (who has destroyed more ancient remains than any individual in the world, and whose sacri- legious hand spared not the edifices of Islam itself) being wonder- fully happy in this, as in all other cases, in seizing on dexterous excuses and shuffling expedients. Mohammed Ali declined, how- ever, giving it to the French mission, lest he should offend the Eng- lish after their prior application. Champollion, on the good faith of a friend, was, in an evil hour, taken by an English traveller to see the block, as it stood in the mosque at Cairo. He instantly perceived its possible value. Dro- vetti was sent for from Alexandria ; and a plot was laid by him with the skill of one of the most finished conspirators of modern times. In Egypt, Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Mohammed Ali, can do what- ever he pleases ; and as he was quite unaware of his father's refusal, Drovetti applied to him, for permission to take the stone, which he granted ; but, to avoid giving offence to the natives, which might have been the case if Europeans had done the work, he said he would cause it to be executed for himself, and gave orders for its re- moval the next day. Timely information reached the English trav- ellers ; who, provoked beyond measure at the duplicity of the opposite parties, went in the night, removed the block, and carried it to the English consulate, where it was carefully deposited. The indigna- tion of the French party, when it was known that the stone had been abstracted, may be conceived; Ibrahim Pasha himself was not a little annoyed. A tremendous row ensued. Mohammed Ali went off to Cairo, followed by the British consul general. Ibrahim's influence was all-powerful ; and knowing that " his beard had been laughed at," he persuaded his father to insist on the restitution of the stone to the Egyptian government. In the mean time, the Englishmen having had abundance of leisure to take facsimile copies, impressions, and plaster-casts, of the stone ; and having thereby ascertained that, from its very mutilated condi- tion, the inscriptions were of trivial value, sent the block to the pa- lace, with an intimation that it was not worth keeping, and forwarded their copies instantly to Europe. The stone was transferred to the Frenchmen by the gift of the Pasha; and is now in the museum at Paris. I was an amused eye-witness of the rabid indignation of Drovetti, when the stone first arrived at the French consulate in Alexandria. There are some biting sentences in the last " Letters" by collections of antiquities ; lamented as an amiable kind-hearted man, even by those who had suffered most from his indifference to commercial interests. After his demise, Aesop's fable of the frogs, who once petitioned Jove for a king, was realized by the mer cantile community in Egypt. King Log, Mr. ******, not pleasing the marshy tribe was succeeded by king Crane, Col. ********, who continued extremely friendly to Mohammed Ali, although his speculations in antiquities were not remarkably profitable in results, or splendid in conception. The farce continued, however, till 1840; when, by the expenditure of treasure and torrents of human blood, the spell was broken : and twenty years of mystification about Mohammed Ali's philanthropic utilities, and civili zing tendencies, began to be doubled in Europe. Gradually the Pasha's system ol monopoly is filling before the remonstrances of British official characters ; who are nei- therto be frightened by Boghos, or fascinated by Mohammed Ali : neither to be turned aside by antiquities, or to be crammed with lands, cotton, beans, and other tokens of ras highuess's partiality ANCIENT EGYPT. of Champollion from Egypt, to which this anecdote may serve as a running commentary. This fact, with others of similar nature, will serve to explain the mode in which " affairs are managed" at the Pasha's court; and also the early jealousies and bickerings among hieroglyphical savans. To those who may have read the works that during the last twelve years have issued from the European press in the new school of archaeol- ogy, this explanation will be found useful ; serving them as a clue, whereby to comprehend incongruities that must frequently strike the impartial reader, by indicating the relative positions of some of the authors in Egypt, no less than the causes, why one makes sometimes so little allusion to the labors of another, who is studying the same subjects, treating on the same topics, and often arriving, independ- ently more or less of any other, at the same results. The truth is, the pursuit is so intensely interesting, the merit of a discovery so honorable to each pioneer in hieroglyphical literature, that we cannot be altogether surprised at, though we may deplore, the sometimes puerile exclusiveness of the writer. A better feeling is now becom- ing universal and it would be easy to point out instances of honorable amendment. After this digression, let us return to the chronological narrative. » During the residence of the French and Tuscan expeditions in Egypt, Champollion transmitted occasional letters to Paris, to keep aiive the interest with which his movements were watched. These letters were afterwards collected into a volume, and published under the title of " Letters written from Egypt and Nubia, in 1828-29." They are productions worthy of so great a man, possessing intrinsic merit and utility ; but, as Champollion wrote them in haste, before a thorough examination had enabled him to form positive conclusions, there are frequent errors in the views he entertained at that time, which he himself, and others have since corrected. One of the most extraordinary faculties possessed by Champollion was a power of comprehending, at a glance, that which others could only arrive at, if at all, by long and arduous study. With a felicitous intuitiveness of conception he could define the meaning of an obscure legend, or irreconcileable tradition, which it took him months to ex- plain in writing, to the comprehension of others less gifted than himself. It was in consequence of this singular ability, that he often hazarded an opinion, which was either rejected by the learned, or considered problematical, until time enabled him to demonstrate its accuracy, and it became almost an axiom. In fact, this gifted Frenchman lived so much in advance of his age with regard to Egyptian subjects, that many startling propositions, put forth by him, and which death prevented his substantiating, although looked upon at first as chimeri- cal, have been confirmed by the subsequent researches of his dis- ciples ; and, even now, there are some points unexplained, that Champollion sustained fifteen years ago, which those who can judge believe will hereafter be amply confirmed. Like other men, he was not infallible, though considering die abstruse nature of his studies, he was less liable to err than his fellows : for example : On leaving France, in 1828, he saw, at Aix, a hieratic scroll, celebrated as the Sallier papyrus ; wherein he declared was con. tained an an ancient Egyptian epic poem, referring to the conquests of Ramses 3rd. — Sesostris — over the Sheto (a Scythian nation) — events of the sixteenth century, B. C. — and geographically located toward Bactriana or Cappadocia. Years transpired — Champollion passed away — the very existence of the papyrus was denied — its production challenged — and it was even insinuated that it might be a forgery ! The publication of a translation of this identical papyrus, by Salvolini, under the title of " Campagne de Rhamses," within the last six years, has silenced the cavillers. Again, he was the first to insist, that the faces of the Pharaohs of Egypt, sculptured on the temples, were likenesses of the persons represented ; thus carrying back the full use of portrait-sculpture and painting to 2000 B. C, and its origin into the night of time. After fifteen years of critical, and even hostile research, no doubt is now entertained of the truth of his assertion ; and, in my lecture room the fact will be elucidated by abundant illustrations, &c. It is likewise due to the memory of this illustrious man to men. tion, that, in his " Precis," he had identified and produced the name of Sheshonk, the Shishak of Scripture, (who, in 2nd Chron. xii. 1 — 10 — 1st Kings, xiv. 25 — deposed Rehoboam,) in the following hiero- glyphical oval, drawn in a plate of the great French work, as found at Kamac. TiTiT TrTtT^^lfc Mai SH e SH oN Beloved of Amon, Sheshonk. j: AftVM Four years elapsed, before he could verify this fact on the temple itself, during which interval, the name of Sheshonk, and his captive nations, had been examined times out of number by other hiero- glyphists, and the names of all the prisoners had been copied by them, and published, without any one of them having noticed the extraordinary biblical corroboration thence to be deduced. On his passage toward Nubia, Champollion landed for an hour or two, about sunset, to snatch a hasty view of the vast halls of Kar- nac ; and he at once pointed out in the third line of the row of sixty.three prisoners (each typical of a nation, city, or tribe,) presented by the god Amunra to Sheshonk, the following figure : -REDUCTION- HV^ra JUDaH M E LeK Kah King of the Country of Judah flOTE. — The turreted oval inclosing the name, designates a "walled city." The face of ihe prisoner is not, as has been erroneously and hastily con- jectured, a portrait of Rehoboam, but is typical of an Asiatic, The eye of the master being able to seize, at a glance, that which his emulous disciples, or competitors, had not made out in four years, after the index was given to them ! Laden with the richest archaeological spoils that ever left Egypt, Champollion with his party returned to France in 1829, and Roscllini with his associates to Tuscany. They had labored all together ; and each monumental subject had been faithfully delineated in two copies — the one by the French, and the other by the Italian artists. Both had been collated with each other on the spot, and compared with the originals on the monuments, by the great masters ; and in per- fect harmony the expeditions had fulfilled their mission. It was amicably arranged, between Champollion and Roscllini, that they were to combine their labors in the works that were to be issued ; each, however, taking separate branches— Champollion un- dertaking the illustration of the " Historical Monuments," and the grammar of the hieroglyphic language of Egypt— to Roselhni was assigned the task of elucidating, by the " Civil Monuments," the manners and customs of this ancient people, and the formation of a hieroglyphical dictionary. Each set to work by 1830 ; but Cham- pollion, finding his end approaching, hastened the completion of his grammar. Intense application had prostrated the fragile frame, which enveloped one of the most gifted mental capacities ever vouchsafed to man. The French government gave him, in the Royal Academy, a professor's chair, created for him alone ; and his address to his pupils, at the first and only occasion accorded to him 10 ANCIENT EGYPT. by Providence, is a masterpiece of eloquence, sublimity of thought, and classical diction. He finished his grammar on his death-bed, and summoning his friends around him, he delivered the autograph into their custody, with the injunction " to preserve it carefully, for, I hope, it will be my visiting card to posterity." A few weeks after, in Dec. 1832, Champollion le Jeune was followed to the grave by the noblest men of France ; and the wreath of " Immortelles " hung over his sepul- chre, symbolized the imperishable fame of the resuscitator of the earliest records mankind has hitherto possessed. His posthumous works were put to press at the expense of the nation. The third and last part of his grammar of hieroglyphics appeared in 1841 ; while the great work, styled " Les Monuments de l'Egypte et de la Nubic," with 400 plates, is in progress of distri- bution, if not already completed.* His autograph dictionary is ei'.her published, or nearly so ; and since his demise has precluded the possibility of giving to the public exact translations of the plates, According to the master's close interpretation, his learned brother, Champollion Figeac, erudite in ancient literature, and conservator of the Royal Library at Paris, has condensed into a volume, that appeared in 18 10, under the title of " Ancient Egypt," a history, whose only fault is its brevity. On the demise of the illustrious Frenchman, the task that devolved on his Italian c.lleague was herculean ; and the eyes of the learned turned, with some anxiety, upon the only surviving representative of Champollion, the erudite Tuscan, Professor Ippolito Rosellini, of Pisa, whose classical acquirements, though justly celebrated, might not perhaps have been sufficient to supply the vacuum created in hiero. glyphical archaeology. In 1832, the Italian scholar produced the first volume of hi3 " Monuments of Egypt and Nubia," announcing at the same time, that he should undertake, in ten volumes of text, and four hundred plates, to furnish complete the civil, military, reli- gious, and monumental history of early Egypt. Faithfully and tri- umphantly has Professor Rosellini fulfilled the task allotted to him ; nor, if we regret that Champollion did not live to reap the full meas- ure of the harvest, can we refrain from acknowledging, that his place has been filled by a man, who, with the qualities and attributes of a gentleman, combines the profound erudition of a universal scholar. For the last ten years, Professor Rosellini has been periodically issuing the text and plates of the noblest work, which the researches of an individual and the liberality of a government have ever produced ; nor must the world, in awarding the laurel wreath to the professor, forget, that he owes his honorable position, as we do the astonishing results themselves, to the patronage of Leopold, grand duke of Tuscany. It was in 1832, that the greatest expiring effort was made to stem the hieroglyphical success of Champollion, when the immortal paleo- grapher was already enveloped in his winding sheet ; and Klaproth has the unenviable merit of recording his own learned perverseness in the paths of error. He published a " critical examination of the labors of the late Monsieur Champollion, upon hieroglyphics ; " whereby he fancied, as did some of his readers, that by ingenious antitheses, and not a few mistatements, he had rendered all these researches in the new school of interpretation abortive. Those, who are acquainted with his work alone, may perhaps give it a weight it does not deserve. There have been a few other insignificant attempts, in England and elsewhere, to substitute untenable absurdities, and among them are to be included those endeavors to translate hieroglyphics by Hebrew alone, in the room of Champollion's system ; but their exis- tence was ephemeral. And, while the Hierologist, in 1843, looks down from his tower of strength on the last fugitives of the once tremendous hostile phalanx, he cheerfully accords to the Russian mystagogue (who, of course, has never been in Egypt,) Monsieur de Goulianoff, (upon the strength of his ponderous tomes on " L'Ar- chaeologie Egyptienne," which appeared in 1839,) the exclusive honor of being, save in his undeniable profundity of research, a century be- hind the age. We can scarcely suppose, that any future scholar will peril his reputation by opposition to the general principles of Champollion's science ; and may therefore conclude that no true savan will imitate Boabdil, when, with weeping eyes and aching heart, he cast his last lingering look on the receding Alhambra, and with him utter " l'ultimo sospiro del Moro" — the last sigh of the Moor. But there were some learned men who, fully conceding to Cham- pollion's system the merit of translation, were led, by their knowledge of the Coptic tongue, to doubt the correctness of a theory which main- tained, " that a hieroglyphical text is the Coptic language written in (symbolic, figurative and -phonetic) hieroglyphics, instead of in the ordinary Coptic letters; or otherwise in the Greek character, with the addition of half a dozen signs taken from the enchorial or de- motic texts." On the publication of the first part of the " Grammaire Egyptienne," it was demonstrated, that, although the translation of a hieroglyphical text into French may be perfectly correct ; yet, that the prior reduction, or transposition, of each hieroglyphic sign into a corresponding Coptic letter, or word, did not therefore constitute the Coptic, as known to us by the translations of the Bible, homilies, and liturgies, which in that language have been preserved to us. * 1 have seen all but the 40th, or final number. This view was sustained, with great force of argument, by the learned Dujardin in 1835, and by others on the Continent, as by Dr. Henry Tattam in England. It became very important to extend the limited knowledge hitherto possessed of that dead language in Europe, and Mons. Dujardin was sent, by the enlightened French government, to Egypt ; where he died, before he had completed his researches and his collection of manuscripts, but not before he had fully acknow- ledged, that, in his criticisms on Champollion, he had been somewhat premature. In 1838, Dr. Henry Tattam visited Egypt, with similar views, and obtained a great accession of Coptic MSS. ; and, what was infinitely more valuable, the transcript of a great Coptic and Arabic lexicon, belonging to the Copt patriarch, at Cairo ; by means of these aids this profound scholar has extended his Coptic dictionary by several thousand words. Professor Peyron issued, in due course, a most useful Coptic dictionary, more peculiarly destined to facilitate "hieroglyphical interpretations than any previous lexicographer had attempted. Other learned Coptic students, Rosellini, Leipsius, Birch, &c, have given important developments to the deciphering of Egyp- tian legends, of which the hieroglyphic and hieratic forms may now be said to be almost entirely recovered ; but owing mainly to the paucity of documents, the progress in the demotic text, has not yet been as complete. Dr. Leipsius' "Letter on the hieroglyphic alpha- bet," 1836, is a wonderful analysis of this complex system ; and when the French and Italian hieroglyphical dictionaries, and the thorough critical translation of the mighty papyrus, at Turin, the "Ritual of the Dead,"* which we may look for within a couple of years, shall have been published, it will then be in the power of any one, whose acquirements in modern and ancient classics are mode- rately extensive, to verify after more or less study, the translations afforded by hierological professors. While the governments of France and Tuscany, with such wisdom and liberality, have fostered the new school of Egyptian literature ; and while, it must be allowed, the Continental colleges have furnished the masters of the still incipient hieroglyphical science, there are some private individuals hi England, who not only have kept pace with Continental progress, but, each in his sphere of action, has con- tributed wonderfully to unveil to us the glories of Pharaonic epochs, and is entitled to the warmest tribute of applause. First on the catalogue stands Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, whose universality of erudition, and thorough acquaintance with ancient and modern Egypt, are recognized by all who knew his former labors, and are attested by his " Topography of Thebes;" London, 1835 — and by the " Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians ;" first and second series-; London, 1837, and 1841. Sir J. G.Wilkinson spent last winter again in Egypt ; and is preparing other evidences of his zeal in hieroglyphical researches. And, while the name of Burton is prominent in the still circumscribed but very learned array of English hieroglyphical laborers, that of Birch promises to take rank with Champollion, Rosellini, Leipsius and Wilkinson, in Egyp- tian literature. In 1835, Hoskins published his valuable " Travels in Ethiopia." He corrected many of the inadvertencies of Cailleaud ; and by the production of a volume of undeniable facts, has enabled us to draw conclusions on ancient Meroe, different, as will be shown, from some of those deduced by the author himself. The splendid folios of Colonel Howard Vyse record his munificent promotion of scientific researches; and his costly labors at the pyramids have opened to our astounded contemplation views of an unquestionable antiquity, sur- passing, as I shall explain, all previous expectation. Other works are issuing from the Continental and English press, which will add infi- nitely to our knowledge, and to the fame of their authors. In short, the little spring of pure water which first bubbled from the Rosetta Stone, has, in 23 years, now swoln into a mighty flood; overwhelming all opposition ; sweeping aside or carrying in its surges, those whose inclination would induce. them to stem its force ; and, at the present hour, we know more of positive Egyptian history and of the ancient inhabitants of Egypt, ages previous to the patriarch Abraham, than on many subjects we can assert of our acquaintance with England before Alfred the Great, or with France before Char- lemagne ! In addition to all these investigations, prosecuted in France, in Italy, and in England ; Prussia has granted her generous aid in favor of the good cause, by decreeing that a large sum should be placed at the disposal of Dr. Leipsius, who, with seven scientific gentlemen, is now in Egypt, there to retrace the steps of his predecessors, over the sacred ground hallowed by countless generations of antiquity. At Leyden, Dr. Leemans ; and some scholars in Holland ; at Turin, Berlin, Rome, and Vienna, other consumers of the midnight oil are emulating the students of Paris, Florence, and London. In Cairo, our " Egyptian Society" boasts (among its members) of cooperators in the reconstruction of the venerable edifice, whose works will, ere long, establish their claims to a front rank : and it is owing to the advantages afforded to me by an institution, of which I stand second on the list of founders, that I am enabled to present here in a succinct, but, I believe, a correct view of the actual position of Egyptian hie- *Since this was written, I have received from this enthusiastic German Egyptologist, who is now in Egypt, a catalogue of his various works, and find that he translated the Ritual into German, in 1841 ! It is probable, that this papyrus will form the fma. portion of Roselini's work. ANCIENT EGYPT. 11 roglyphical archaeology, no less than some insight into the not gene- rally known results of these glorious researches. Having now given a sketch of the labors of European students in hieroglyphical literature, and of the personal account of the Egypto- logists of the Champollion school, I will hazard the observation, that the narrative is new to most of those who read it in America ; and if I can convince them of the reality of the positions advanced, their conviction will be accompanied by a feeling of surprise, that they have hitherto heard so little on these subjects. I do not presume to speculate much upon the causes, that have deprived America of the light (I speak generally) which, emanating from mouldering Egypt, is pouring like a flood over Europe. One of the main causes seems to me to be, that, as most of the best works are published in foreign languages, and many at large cost, and that as their appearance "en masse," dates back not much further than 1836, sufficient interval has not yet elapsed, for the adequate promulgation of the new science in this country, beyond what may be gleaned from the learned works of Sir J. G. Wilkinson ; whose last production made its appearance in 1841. Another cause may be in the associations connected with the very name of Egypt — a land of mystery — for 2000 years covered with a veil of darkness ; and, were I not half an Egyptian myself, it would seem presumption in me to assert (what, by the way, is very easily sustained,) that till lately, common sense has had very little to do with the discussions of the literati of the Continent, of England, and of the United States, upon subjects connected with that mystified country — and this as much upon its modern, as upon its ancient state. Meanwhile, I need only refer to the works published in all countries, save by the genuine hierological school on ancient, and by Mr. Lane on modern Egypt, for a series of conflicting statements, that baffle the most conscientious and laborious inquirers after truth. This is the first time that, in any country, a series of popular lec- tures and essays has been projected, for the familiar elucidation of topics hitherto discussed only by the learned ; though far be it from me to pretend to the latter character. The very term hieroglyphics is a common bye-word in our tongue, to designate anything incom- prehensible ! and, if I venture to show, that the apprehended unin- telligibility of Egyptian hieroglyphics is, in 1843, an illusion, I trust that the truth, and the undeniable importance of the subjects handled, will not be doubted, in consequence of the insufficiency of my ex- planations ; nor the unintentional errors of the writer be a reason for withholding from the labors of the Champollion school the atten- tion they so imperiously demand. Yet, if America has hitherto been quiescent, and tardy in further- ing the progress of Egyptian developments, it will be satisfactory to her people to be assured, that there is one American savan who, at a bound, will carry a very important branch of these sciences to unan- ticipated and glorious results. The name of Dr. Samuel George Morton, vice-president of the " Academy of Natural Sciences" at Philadelphia, is already associated with profound researches into the primeval history of man on this continent ; and no student of anthro- pology but has been enlightened by his " Crania Americana." For- tuitous circumstances, consequent on his own instigation, have enabled me to place before Dr. Morton a mass of crude materials, which form the basis of the work, now preparing for the press, under the title of " Crania jEgyptiaca." When, in the course of these chap- ters, I approach the subject of ancient ethnology, as deducible from the monuments of Egypt, it will be seen what an immense light is, for the first time, thrown on the origin of the ancient Egyptian race by Dr. Morton's researches; and, in the interim, I seize this opportunity to express my acknowledgments for the varied instruction I have de- rived from our intercourse, no less than my gratitude for the manifold kindnesses received at his hands. In treating on Egyptian subjects, it behoves me, as it is likewise due to my valued friend, Mr. F. Catherwood, to state, that I am aware of his having preceded me. Having had the pleasure of forming, years ago, at Cairo, those friendly relations with him that continue to the present hour, there are none more able than myself to appre- ciate his intimate acquaintance with that ancient country ; and, in various branches of study I am happy to acknowledge his superior attainments. Mr. Catherwood's lectures embraced a much wider field of observation than my own dissertations, as he could add his researches in other Eastern countries — particularly in Palestine — to those he prosecuted for several years in Egypt. My illustrations of antiquity are confined to the Valley of the Nile. At the time when Mr. Catherwood lectured on Egypt, the bulk of the works from which I have culled the matters whereon I intend to descant, had not issued from the press; and none, I may say, had reached this country. Any difference, therefore, in our respective Egyptian views, is attributable to these circumstances, rather than to any deficiency on Mr. Cather- wood's part at the time of his lectures. Since those days, Mr. Cather- wood's attention has been turned to a distinct, and still more arduous field of antiquarian investigation ; and the long-buried and almost incredible monumental remains in Central America, exhumed with unlooked-for and extraordinary success by Mr. John L. Stephens, have given to Mr. Catherwood such opportunities for distinguishing nimself, that, in treating on ancient Egypt, I have his assurances that I am not trenching upon his interests or pursuits. I was in this country at the time of Mr. Buckingham's arrival, and am acquainted with his literary works. Not having attended ins lectures, I know them only from hearsay, through the periodical press, or from some of his own publications. No comparison can consist- ently be instituted between things wherein there exists no parity ; and, as I am particularly desirous that my subjects, opinions, acquire- ments, intentions, lectures, and principles, should be considered totally distinct from those of Mr. Buckingham, it would be unbe- coming, as well as unnecessary, to say more on this head. It has been already casually stated, that I have been a sojourner in the land of Egypt, for the greater part of twenty-three years. Congenial tastes have, since my boyhood, induced me, as often as opportunities occurred, to keep pace with the writings of eminent travellers ; while, with most of those who have visited Egypt, and especially with those who followed out the new discoveries, I have been on terms of social intimacy, and with many I am in correspond- ence. A chequered, and not an idle life, enables me to speak on many subjects from personal experience and long-practiced know, ledge — and for topographical acquaintance with that country, I can say, that there is little space on either side of the Nile, from the sea beach to the second Cataract, with which my sporting habits have not rendered me familiar. In 1839, having resolved to absent myself for an indefinite period, from the land of my adoption, I took advan tage of nearly two years' leisure to ascertain the amount of informa- tion gleaned, by the Champollion school, on early Egyptian history I indulged my migrating propensities by a visit to Upper Egypt and Nubia, as well as by various dromedary excursions into the eastern and western deserts adjacent to Cairo. My sedentary hours were occupied in studying the works whence I derive such antiquarian information as I possess, or in discussing relative questions with the many talented men and erudite scholars who adorned our Egypto European community. I pretend to no discoveries of my own. I have availed myself of the productions of the learned in Egyptian archaeology, that are, ot have been, within my reach. I have adopted all of them in different, proportions, I frequently use the language of some ; have taken ideas from all ; and after this avowal, trust that I shall escape the charge of plagiarism ; for who, in 1843, can treat of a country which, for two thousand three hundred years, has occupied the pens and the more or less critical examinations of the learned of every ancient and modern nation, without availing himself of the information con tained in the published labors of his predecessors ? The only power to which I venture to lay claim, is that of dis^ crimination in the choice of my authorities ; and, it will be found, that, while making use of the same facts to be met with in the works of the Champollions, Rosellini, Wilkinson, &c, I sometimes attempt to assign reasons differing from theirs, or for more extensive con elusions. During a stay of some months in the year 1841, in England, I thought that if I returned to America, I should be able to occupy an interval of time, profitably to myself, and perhaps advantageously to others, as a lecturer on early Egyptian subjects. A long sea voyage threw me out of the season ; and when I sought in American libra- ries for some of the great works of the New School, I found, to my extreme regret, that the most important were wanting. I had therefore valid grounds for supposing that, to the majority of those I might address, the manner of elucidating hieroglyphical arcana, no less than many of the practical results themselves, would at least present the charm of novelty ; but, in the absence of indis- . putable facsimiles of Egyptian legends and monumental subjects, it was impossible to prepare any satisfactory pictorial illustrations. It is with sincere pleasure, that I now express my acknowledge- ments to my valued friend, R. K. Haight, Esq., of New- York, whose friendship I acquired some years ago in Egypt, for supplying, independently of his other varied kindnesses, these deficiencies of books, by procuring from Europe " I Monumenti dell 'Egitto e dello. Nubia," of Professor Rosellini. This invaluable -work, the first and the only copy (complete as far as it has hitherto appeared) exist- ing in the United States, has been lent to me by Mr. H., and is now in my possession. From this work, with occasional extracts from others, the illustrations that embellish my oral lectures have been copied, with scrupulous fidelity, by Philadelphian artists. The only de- viation from the originals lies in the requisite enlargement of the copies ; but beyond this, in my pictorial representations, no departure in color, or in anything else, has been made from the original plates. Finally : if my readers will kindly take into consideration, that my life has been spent, and my exertions, till I landed in New- York in January, 1842, have been actively directed in multifarious pur- suits, totally distinct in nature from the position I now occupy before them, I trust they will look with indulgence on the attempt made to acquit myself of the agreeable, but arduous task before me, rather than at the deficiencies proceeding from my own want of ability. CHAPTER SECOND. The origin of the Art of Writing loses itself among the nebulou' periods of man's primeval history. With the original ethnographic varieties of the human species, the primitive geographical distribu- tion of mankind, the patriarchal fountains of a once pure religion, 12 ANCIENT EGYPT. and the earliest sources of the diversity of language, must be asso- ciated the first developments of that art, which, from the remotest periods, has enabled man to record his history, and to overcome space and time in the transmission of his thoughts. And it must be allowed, that on all these subjects, however success, iully the efforts of antiquaries, in the last quarter of a century, have enlightened us with unexpected and almost unhoped-for glimpses of the truth ; yet, beyond a certain epoch, of which the antiquity is scarcely definable, their lights fail us ; and the origin of letters, with a thousand accompanying questions, is lost in the night of time ; wherein, to use the beautiful words of Bryant, " These subjects as- sume the fantastic forms of an evening cloud ; we seem to descry castles, and mountains, and gigantic appearances, but, while we gaze, the forms die away, and are soon lost in gloom and uncertainty." All the progress that modern researches have, as yet, achieved, is to carry back the positive epoch of the absolute existence of writing, rather than to have lifted the veil, which conceals its primeval origin. The lamp of modern inquiry has illumined our pathway, and ex- tended our knowledge a few hundred years beyond the point reached by our forefathers. Here and there, its projectile ray is through the gloom reflected, by some diamond imbedded in the distant rock ; but the shadows of the cavern flit before our eyes, and the fire-damp warns us of the danger of advance. Whether the art of writing was a consequence of the necessities of human sooiety, the result of a progress from the rude savage to the civilized man, can be looked upon now-a-days only as a curious speculation. Nor when we shall take into consideration, in a sub- sequent chapter, the subject of Chronology, can this hypothesis be consistently sustained, without overthrowing the entire fabric of Scriptural history ; because, I trust, that I shall be able to demon- strate, from the positive records of Egypt, that if to the already almost biblically-irreconcileable antiquity, imperiously required for the monuments still erect in that country, we add the countless ages that would be required, before the theoretical primitive Savage could conceive, much less execute, such an eternal edifice as one pyramid, we must fall back upon geological, and cease to define his progress by chronological periods. Far less inconsistent with the refinement in arts and sciences, that we encounter at the remotest epoch of Egyptian history, and infinitely more in accordance is it with the Sacred Word, to class the art of writing among those primeval, if not antediluvian, revelations to man, of which we possess much col- lateral evidence ; although of the act we have no positive record, and of the era we are utterly uncertain. Until the discoveries of Champollion enabled us to produce " writ, ings," " sculptured letters," and " painted alphabetic signs," coeval with generations, that in the days of the Patriarch Abraham had long ceased to exist, not only has writing been traced to the Hebrews, Chinese, Phoenicians, Chaldeans, Hindoos, or Egyptians, according to the respective theories of the scholar, his prejudices and partiali- ties ; but, it was maintained by some of the learned, that we owe the art of writing to Moses, the Hebrew Lawgiver ; and that the Tablets of stone, in the wilderness of Sinai, are the first authentic evidence we possess of early alphabetic writing ; whence the conclusion would inevitably follow, that this inestimable blessing had been denied to man, until the 15th century before the Christian era ! That such an hypothesis is fallacious, may be shown by Scripture itself; even were we deprived of the unanswerable proofs to be gleaned from Gentile records. In Gen. v. 1st — " This is the book of the generations of Adam" — reference is made to the book of gene- alogy; whence it irresistibly follows, that writing must have been in use among the antediluvian patriarchs ; and, under the view that writing was a divine revelation, the same Almighty power that, ac- cording to the preceding proposition, instructed Moses, could have equally vouchsafed a similar inspiration to any patriarch from Adam to Noah ; nor does it seem consistent with the merciful dispensation which preserved" Noah's family through the grand cataclysm, and had condescended, according to the biblical record, to teach him those multitudinous arts indispensably requisite to the construction of a vessel destined to pass uninjured through the tempests of the deluge, that the Almighty, by withholding the art of writing, should have left the account of antediluvian events to the vicissitudes of oral tradition, or denied to Noah's holy family the practice of that art, which, it is maintained, was conceded first to Moses. But there are other arguments, that confirm the existence of the art of writing in antediluvian epochs (whether by symbols or by alphabetic signs,) to be gathered from a critical examination of the Pentateuch ; and, while I would casually observe, that " Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians" — Acts vii. 22 I will point out some of the reasons for this assertion. The five books of Moses* carry with them internal evidence, not of one sole, connected, and original composition, but of a compila- tion, by an inspired writer, from earlier annals. " The genealogical tables and family records of various tribes, that are found embodied in the Pentateuch, bear the appearance of documents copied from ivritten archives. They display no trait which might lead us to * Vide Prichard's Egyptian Mythology-Wiseman's Lectures-and " Hebrew Cha meters ueriveC from Hieroglyphics." by John Lamb. I). D.. Master of Corpus C. Col- lege, Cambridge-London, 1835. References will therein be found to the works, chiefly of German Hebraical students, on which the above assertions are grounded. ascribe their production to the dictates of immediate revelation, nor are we anywhere informed that such in reality was their origin. We are aware that similar documents were constructed by the inspired writers of the Gospels, from national archives or family memorials.' The obvious presumption is, that Moses obtained records of a like description from similar sources, unless it can be shown that no such means were in existence at the time. We have the authority of Genesis v., 1, for asserting the existence of a book of genealogies in the time of Noah ; and a city, mentioned by Joshua, was named in Hebrew, " Kirjath Sefer" — the City of Letters. It is impossible to prove that letters were unknown before Moses ; and the Hebrews of his day appear even to have had two distinct modes of writing; the characters of which, in one case, were alphabetic, and in the other symbolic. The inscription on the Ephod itself is said — Exodus xxviii., 36 — to have been written in characters " like the engravings of a signet;" and the original type of the sacred Urim and Thuk- mim was, as will hereafter be shown, derived from an earlier combi- nation of emblems, possibly Egyptian. We have, therefore, many reasons to believe that the use of letters, and the practice of preserving chronicles and genealogies, were known to the Hebrews long before Moses : while, in any case, if an attempt were made, in violation of all legitimate inferences, to draw attestation from Holy Writ, and it were proved that, until the time of Moses, the Jews were unable to preserve their national annals save by oral tradition, it would, in the present advanced state of positive knowledge in the history of contem- porary Gentile nations (who, ages anterior to Moses, had authentic and written chronicles,) show that the Israelites were, till the 15th cen- tury before Christ, more ignorant than any great people of antiquity — a position which, I presume, would be as detrimental to Scrip- tural authenticity, as, in truth, it would be contrary to reason and to fact. But it has been demonstrated, by a succession of eminent scholars, since the year 1753, that a critical examination of the Hebrew text of Genesis establishes the truth of the assertion, that this book con- tains several original records; each bearing on its face the strongest marks of authenticity, and of long anterior antiquity, which have been brought together by the hand of Moses. Genesis contains repetitions and double narratives of the same events — distinguished by different characteristics of style, distinctly marked. Two histo- ries are clearly defined in the Hebrew text : in one, the Deity is styled Elohim ; and in the other, Jehovah ; besides an infinitude of differences in relative style, that leave no doubt, on the mind of the scholastic investigator, in regard to the diversity of the records which chronicle the same event. Again, the Book of Job is, by learned theologians, said not to be a Hebrew production ; though accepted, and authenticated, by the lawgiver of Israel. Job lived in the land of Uz — Aramanea — of which Edom was a district, and Arabia our modern designation Job was not a Hebrew of the Hebrews, but an Arabian ; probably of Joktan's race : and, according to Hales, his probable epoch was about 2337 B. C. ; that is, from 600 to 800 years before Moses. This chronological view is further corroborated by the following facts with regard to Eliphaz, the Temanite, one of Job's friends. In Ge- nesis xxxvi., 4, 10, and in I. Chronicles i., 35, we learn that Eliphaz was Esau's eldest son. Now, if this Eliphaz be identified with the Eliphaz in Job, it is manifest that Job, being contemporary with Eli- phaz, must have preceded Moses by some centuries : and that he is thus identified is fairly inferrible; first, from the fact that the name of Eliphaz occurs nowhere in the Biblo but in the Book ot Job and in the chapters above cited ; and second, from Eliphaz being called the Temanite, since we learn from Jeremiah xlix., 7, 20, that Teman was a province or portion of Edom, the country of Esau. Job (in xix., 23) exclaims, " Oh that my words were written .' Oh that they were printed in a book." I presume the Hebrew word, rendered printed in our version, does not, in its original language, convey strictly this meaning. Again — Job, xxxi., 35 — " Oh that one would hear me ! Behold, my desire is that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book." It therefore follows, that in Job's day (whenever that was) books were not un- known. His affecting and pious narrative, while it combines with abun- dance of other evidence, to prove that the pure belief in One God was not limited to the Jewish patriarch Abraham, after the first cor- ruption of our forefathers, assures us, that written chronicles, and even the sublimest poetry, were in use long before Moses. We are likewise thus made aware, that this inspired writer, when he com- piled the Pentateuch, did not disdain the records of Gentile nations, in the case of Job, to console the Israelites during their forty years of tribulation in the wilderness; nor did his descendants consider them unworthy of incorporation into their sacred books. We may also gather some confirmative inferences, that compilation was not re- jected by other inspired writers, from the fact, that the collection of sacred poems, received under the names of David's Psalms, were composed, at different and distant intervals, some by David, and many of them after the Babylonish captivity ; and were subsequently collected together in the Hebrew archives, and attributed exclusively, though erroneously, to David, by the Jews, as by ourselves. 1 pass over the various other instances to be found in the Pentateuch, all corroborative of the correctness of trie assertion, that, in Moses' time, ANCIENT EGYPT. 13 books were familiar to the Hebrews ; who were instructed to believe that their sins were recorded in the Almighty's book — Exodus xxxii., 32,33 — which was no new doctrine in the days of Moses ; and I extract from Dr. Lamb's invaluable work, the succeeding paragraph, as well as other evidences. "Every attentive reader of the Bible must have observed, that the book of Genesis is divided into two perfectly separate and dis- tinct histories. The first part is an account of the Creation, and the general history of mankind up to the building of the Tower of Babel. The second part is the history of Abraham, and his de- scendants ; from the call of the patriarch in the land of Ur of the Chaldees, to the death of Joseph, after the settlement of the children of Israel in Goshen, in the land of Egypt. The first part contains the history of above two thousand years ; and is contained in the ten first chapters of Genesis, and nine verses of the eleventh. The second part comprises a period of about two hundred and fifty years, and occupies the remaining thirty-nine chapters. This history, which commences at the beginning of the twelfth chapter, is preceded by a genealogical table, tracing Abraham's pedigree up to the patriarch Shem. Between the event (Babel) recorded in the ninth verse of the eleventh chapter, and the next verse (viz : the call of Abraham,) there intervenes a period of nearly four hundred years, during which we know nothing of the history of the human race from the sacred Scriptures." Thus, then, the Israelites, before the Exodus, would have pos- sessed two sacred books. One, " Genesis," properly so called ; and the other, " The History of Abraham." There is no reason for supposing that other contemporary nations did net possess, in those early times, similar records ; nor is there any reason why other contemporary nations should not have chroni- cled all great events, and handed down, perhaps as far as ourselves, some of the annals of those events, that took place upon the earth, on which the Bible, during an interval of " above four hundred years," is strictly silent. It will be seen that the Egyptians have. " We know that, in addition to these (books,) the Hebrews had another book, entitled li Milchamoth Jehovah" — the " Wars of Jeho- vah" — (vague traditions, concerning which mythes abound in Gen- tile records, as the wars of the gods with Titan, the Indian primeval annals, &c.) " from which a quotation is given in Numbers xxi.,14." Learned Hebraists also consider that the Jews, anterior to the age of Moses, had a collection of national ballads, in a book, entitled " Sepher-Hajashur" — see Joshua x., 13 — " Is not this written in the Book of Jasher ? " The frequent use of the words, " and he sang," axe deemed to allude to the first sentence of some more ancient song ; whence the title of a book was derived — Judges v., 1 — Debo- rah's song is an instance. It is finally sustained, by great church theologians, that Moses, when, under the inspiration of God, he indited the books of the law, prefixed to them a history of Abraham and his posterity, as pre- served by Israel's family; and at the same time rendered their sacred records of the Creation and history of man up to the dispersion at Babel (which are presumed to have been written in a different char- acter — probably symbolic writing — from that now known to us as the Hebrew letters,) into the Hebrew language, as current in Moses' day. I am thus particular in demonstrating, by biblical evidence, that the art of writing did not originate with Moses, lest the position now indisputably established, of the prior antiquity of this art among Gentile nations, of the earliest periods, should appear to militate against the authenticity of the Mosaic record ; and it will be con- ceded, that when once, by arguments grounded on the Bible itself, the use of books among the Hebrews is carried back to antediluvian periods, not only is the charge of heresy in these matters rendered nugatory, but the inference in favor of a primary divine revelation considerably strengthened. The Jews were not the only people who preserved written me- morials of the deluge, for among all nations we find vague traditions of the event itself; and in many we may trace the former existence of written chronicles. If, at the present day, we cannot produce voluminous annals, coeval with early postdiluvian eras, in support of this assertion, we can adduce abundance of historical reasons, to account for the absence of these primeval documents in our day, in the fearful destruction of ancient libraries by the barbarous fanaticism of numerous nations, and of all creeds ; no less than by accidents, and casualties, to which, from their inflammable nature, or perishable materials, all literary productions are liable. Without recapitulating the various instances of the annihilation of ancient archives in Asia Minor, Greece, and Syria, let us remember, that in the defence of the arsenal against the furious attacks of an enraged Alexandrian populace, Julius Ceesar could not save the Ptolemaic library from conflagration ; while the subsequent insensate decree of the ruthless Omar, enforced the obliteration of the second mightiest collection of ancient chronicles, it had taken 6U0 years to accumulate in the Christian Bibliothccal repository at Alexandria. In China, the Tartar conquerors devoted to the flames the precious annals of ante- rior history ; while, with the same fiendish zeal, their brethren devas- tated many of the Indian and Central Asiatic libraries. The Saracenic torrent that overthrew the dynasty of Chosroes — " KhuzrufF" — sa- tiated its unrelenting destructiveness on the volumes which for ages nad accumulated in Persian archives. And if, in some partial degree, the intelligence of the Abbaside Caliphate of Bagdad, the transitory encouragement of letters by the various Arab houses, that alternately ruled over Egypt, cr the liberal patronage afforded to science and literature by the Saracenic dynasties of Morocco and Granada, serve to mitigate the anathemas, which we are justified in heaping on the entire race of "Amaweeyeh" Saracens, let no interposing hand save from execration the descendants of the Seljook, or Turcoman, with those of the untameable and desecrating Mogul. At this very hour, the Scythian horde, encamped amid the ashes of once populous and civilized communities, is the same irredeemable aggregation of mis- creants, from Constantinople to Egypt, as in former days; and if we are now alive to deplore the historical losses we owe to Turk- ish barbarism, it is solely to the Christian lances of our own chival- rous ancestry, and, at the present hour, to the dreaded length of our bayonets, that, under Providence, we are indebted. Mohammed Ali, the idol of a false philanthropy, the praise-bespattered mocker of European civilization, has destroyed, in Egypt, more monuments of antiquity, than the Hyk>hos, than Cambyses, than Artaxerxes Ochus than Lathyrus ; and, while mystified Europe chants " Io paeans " for his great intentions, he has permitted, as I have elsewhere shown, the annihilation of more historical legends in 40 years, than had been compassed by 18 centuries of Roman, Byzantian, Arab, or Ottoman misrule. Did not the Tyrian annals perish with the fleets and fortresses of Phoenicia, on the overthrow of the mistress of the deep by Alexander? Had Marius no hand in the obliteration of Punic chronicles at Car- thage ? and is not Titus amenable for the sacrilegous annihilation of Hebrew archives on the fall of Hierosolima ? Did not Brennus, the Gaul, destroy the seven-hilled city herself, with all her public registers, in 390 B. C? Wherever we turn in the history of nations, we are met by indis- putable evidence of the former existence of ancient chronicles through, out the world, accumulated during countless centuries, while we are harrowed by the event, which has deprived us of their possession. Impartiality cannot forget, that misdirected zeal, and monkish fanaticism, have marked every Christian country with a similar dis- regard for the preservation of early annals ; nor can we spare even our ancestors from the charge of cancelling, in order to insert the reveries of a superstitious recluse, those invaluable pages known to us as Palimpsesti. Where is the history of Hecataeus of Miletus ? where the annals of Manetho, Berosus, or Eratosthenes ? a few mutilated fragments, are all we possess of their compendious volumes ! And where are the still earlier records, whence they compiled their information ? Eternally lost — save such as Champollion has pointed out on the monuments and papyri of Egypt ! But, if we are deprived of the original records of the Gentiles, we must not forget, that the deified Thoth — the first Hermes (erroneously confounded with Hermes Tris- megistus) wrote, and perhaps too, in antediluvian periods, in sacred language, and, possibly, in purely symbolic characters, the wisdom and philosophy of his times. Again, we must not omit that, after the deluge, Thoth the 2nd — or Trismegistus, mystically defined as an incarnation of his antediluvian prototype — had written forty-two volumes, preserved with religious care, according to Clement, of Alexandria, A. D. 194, in which were contained all the rules, pre- cepts, and documents, relating to religion, to dogma, to government, cosmogony, to astronomy, to geography, to medicine, and to all those arts and sciences, whose perfection is attested by the still standing works, and the still existing remains of the ancient Egyptians. Authorities, contemporary with the decline of Pharaonic glory, enumerated, after the Persian conquest, B.C. 525, above twenty thousand volumes, in constant, universal, and popular use among the inhabitants of Egypt; the productions of a Suphis, Athothis, Necho, and Petosiris — all Egyptian Pharaohs ; no less than of priests and other philosophers, who lived, nearly all of them, ages before Moses ; and how could the Jewish historian have been " learned in all the wis- dom of the Egyptians." — Acts vii., 22 — if, in the course of his sacer- dotal education at Heliopolis, or Memphis, he was not initiated in the mysteries, as well as "proficient in hieroglyphic writing ? and if. he had not enjoyed free access to the Egyptian primeval records ? All history testifies to the existence of books, on every subject, in early Egypt. We know the names of many of the authors ; some, times the title of the work ; often the subject of their literary labors. Poems, and, above all others, epic poems were common in Egypt; and were publicly chanted to the praises of deites, or to perpetuate the glorious actions of heroes. Homer, it is said, visited Egypt about the 9th century B. C; and the poet Naucratis charges him with gleaning from Egyptian bards, the ideas which, with such sublimity of thought and diction, he perpetuated in his Iliad and Odyssey. Of the existence of such poems, no doubt can now be sustained, after reading Salvolinis' translation of the hieratic papyrus (known as Sallier's) at Paris, recording the conquests of Ramses the Great, about B. C. 1530. And, of the early existence of royal and national libraries, contemporary with, if not prior to the epoch of Moses, we are made certain by the following fact. That magnificent ruin at Thebes, miscalled the Memnonium, is, I think without doubt, the palace of Osymandias, described by Dicdorus, as seen by Hecata:us in the 59th Olympiad. It then contained a library of sacred books; 14 ANCIENT EGYPT over the entrance-gateway of which was inscribed, " the remedy for the soul." This palace is the Ramsessium, a temple-palace of Ramses 3rd, (Sesostris) and over the mouldering doorway, which once led from the hall to the now-destroyed bibliothecal repository, Champollion was the first to read in hieroglyphics over the heads of " Thoth " and " Saf k" — the male and female deities of arts, sciences, and letters — the remarkably appropriate titles " Lady of Letters " — and "President of the Library!" The door of the library, at the Ramsessium, might be cavilled at, on the ground of its erection about the times of Moses. We will go back 200 years, to the sanctuary of the temple of Luqsor — of the day of Amunoph the 3rd — whom the Greeks and Romans degraded into the fabulous Memnon! and whose statue became vocal, for- sooth ! Here an inscription over " Thoth " begins, " discourse of the Lord of the divine writings " — and another over " Safk, Lady of Letters.'" The enumeration of all the literary works of the Ancient Egyp- tians, of which we have mementos, requires little beyond extracts from Champollion Figeac ; but, as the detail does not possess suf- ficient interest to general readers, I limit myself to the main features of the theme. The discoveries of the ardent investigators of the new school have authenticated as Egyptian in origin, however their mythology was misconstrued by the authors, or their copyists, the ancient writings of Apuleius, Pcemander, Horus-Apollo, Hermapion ; as well as those fragments, known to classical archaeologists as the Hermetic books- From the latter, I have taken the prophetic motto, that heads in my lecture-room the illustrative transparency — as given by Wilkinson : " O jEgypte, jEgypte .... sola? supererunt fabulse, et aeque in- credibiles posteris .... sola supererunt verba lapidibus incisa." And I render, from the French of Champollion Figeac, the touching lament the whole paragraph contains: " O Egypt, Egypt ! a time shall come, when, in lieu of a pure reli- gion, and of a pure belief, thou wilt possess nought but ridiculous fables, incredible to posterity ; and nothing will remain to thee, but words engraven on stones — the only monuments that will attest thy piety." — {Books of Hermes.) The pure resilitions of Egyptian philosophical doctrines start, in spite of their Grecian chrysalis, from all the pages we possess of Orpheus, Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle ; and evince, that in philo- sophy, as in everything else, the Greeks borrowed from the Egyp- tians ; who are not, however, amenable for errors, that originate in the vanity, volatility, and misapprehension of the Hellenes ; and which invest the profound and practical wisdom of the teachers, with the puerilities of the pupils. The touchstone of hieroglyphical analysis now enables us to cull the Nilotic pearls from the mound, and return them with honor to their proprietors ; leaving the remain- der to the Greeks as their exclusive copyright. I have been thus prolix, to show that history sacred and profane, which, however doubtful before Champollion's discoveries, is now supported by hieroglyphical evidence, would alone suffice to over- throw the fallacy, that attributes to Moses the invention of letters, or. to the Hebrews the exclusive transmission of early annals, descrip- tive of some antediluvian, and many postdiluvian events. The very Scriptures derive confirmation from the fact, that many early nations preserved written legends, as well as oral traditions, of those primeval days ; and I have endeavored to account, in the destruction of well-authenticated libraries, for the reason, why the Jewish Chronicles were, till lately, all that the lapse of ages has preserved to us. There are remarkable connections between fragments of profane historians, and several parts of Genesis ; and the practice of preserving every species of written chronicle, being far more ancient than Moses, recedes into the mists of remote antiquity, among nations distinct from the Hebrews, ethnographically and geographically, and in era anterior to, as in modes of writing, and attributes of speech, removed from Jewish assimilation or connection. Berosus, who wrote B. C. 268, gives a Chaldean history of the ten antediluvian geneiations, that differs but in names from the Hebrew account. He expressly affirms, that Xisuthrus (whom we term Noah) com- piled memoirs of the previous history of mankind before the flood, from which all existing accounts were said to have been derived. Allowing them to be a Semitic, and therefore, to the Hebrews, a cognate tribe, we cannot deny to the Chaldeans a full knowledge of the art of writing, at the earliest period, for they must have been familiar with some method of writing, before they could construct tables with astronomical observations. These tables are allowed by theologian, as likewise by astronomical criticism, to date as far back as B. c! 2234, or 700 years before Moses ! And yet Diodoms distinctly avers, that the Babylonians learned astronomy from the Egyptians, " being themselves an Egyptian colony." We know, monumentally, that Mesopotamia — " Naharina"— -was a subdued country, tributary to Egypt, at 1600 B. C. ; and know not during how many centuries previously it had been such. Fragments of Sanconiathon lead us to inferences confirmatory of Berosus, Amid these various records, it would seem, as if the Jews pre- served one or more copies of primeval legends, which by Moses were compiled into one account ; collating portions of them, perhaps, with similar documents, existing in the hieroglyphic character, luring his education in Egyptian colleges,* I say '' similar docu- ments," because we have the authority of Plato, (see Wilkinson, 4lh vol. p. 169,) that when Solon visited Egypt, about 549 B. C, the Egyptian priests, with whom he was conversing about " the be- ginning of all things," said to him — " You mention one deluge only, whereas many happened." I leave it to geologists to define the true meaning of the priests, and to concede the correctness of the Egyp- tian record. The Egyptian priests told Solon many things, that must have humbled his Athenian pride of superior knowledge ; but one fact that they told him, on geography, is so curious, in regard to the " far West," that it is worthy of mention. We know the maritime abilities of the Phoenicians, and we can adduce tangible reasons to show, that, by orders of Pharaoh Necho, Africa had been circumnavigated, and the Cape of Good Hope, about 600 B. C, actually doubled, before it was in the year 1497 of our era, discovered by Diaz and Vasco dc Gama. The Egyptians had intercourse with Hindostan, the Spice Islands, and China, long before that period ; and in maritime skill equalled, as in geographical knowledge they surpassed all early nations. Now, when Solon was receiving that instruction in the Egyptian sacerdotal colleges, which rendered him the " wisest of mankind," (among the Athenians,) besides gleaning an insight into primeval history, and geology, that subsequently induced him to compose a great poem, wherein he treated on Attica, before the Ogygian flood, and on the vast Island, which had sunk into the Atlantic Ocean ; he was informed by " Sonchis, one of the priests, of the existence of the At- lantic Isles ; which, Sonchis said, were larger than Africa and Asia united." See Wilkinson — " Thebes " — p. 254, extract from Plato. In the course of these essays and lectures, I shall incidentally advert to sundry curious facts of the same kind ; but, as the present chapter and the following, are to be devoted to the writings of the ancient Egyptians, I proceed to other branches of my subject, with this prefatory remark, that is requisite to do away with any seeming discrepancy between my assertions, and those views of Holy writ, which, in common with many others, I was taught at school. It is this: That to suppose Hebrew to be the most ancient language, and the one spoken by Adam and Noah, is a matter of opinion ; contrary to evidence ; immaterial in itself, as regards Christian belief; and non- essential to any view of the case ; but to suppose, that, within a comparatively few years after Noah, the Jewish annals were the only written Chronicles, and that Hebrew was the only language, in which histories of antediluvian events were, by the immediate descendants of Noah — those whose movements were affected by the Dispersion — preserved, is, at the present hour, an untenable fallacy. " L'on est revenu de tout 9a." That to suppose Moses to be the inventor of letters is an illusion j though he may have modified the Hebrew alphabet ; and there are some inferences, to be drawn from similarity of alphabetic charac. ters, that he may have adopted some Egyptian phonetic improve- ments on the primitive Hebrew method of symbolic writings — " like the engravings of a signet " — inasmuch, as the Egyptians, for more than a thousand years before his time, had used the same symbolic, figurative, and phonetic signs, that were in popular use in his day ; for, according to Acts vii. 22, " Moses was learned in all the wis- dom of the Egyptians." It has been clearly shown, by the Rev. Dr. John Lamb, of Cam- bridge University, that the Hebrew alphabet may be traced, letter for letter, to a primitive hieroglyphic. The greater part of these hieroglyphical parents of the present Hebrew alphabet are unques- tionably Egyptian ; but while, in principle, I entirely coincide with his lucid arrangement, it is necessary for a hierologist to state, that some of the symbols are not strictly Egyptian, although it is possible other homophones would supply the vacancies. In his opinion, as in that of many other English and Continental hebraists, the original, and perhaps antediluvian, mode of writing was picture writing, or idiographic ; whence all alphabets were subsequently derived ; each taking that form consistent with the genius of each language, as spoken and written by the earliest families of the human race. In speculating, however, upon these hitherto insoluble problems, it seems to me orthodox, as well as reasonable, knowing as we do from Scripture that books existed long before Moses, and probably long before Noah, to reflect upon the following crude supposition, which I advance hypothetically, with deference to superior judgment. When mankind, either on the primitive peaceful separation of the children of Noah, in the days of Peleg (whose name in Hebrew means " to divide," and " to separate,") or, on the subsequent vio- lent and miraculous dispersion at Babel, in the plains of Shinar, sought in varied clinies, and under infinitely-diversified circum- stances, to obey the Creator's fiat, " Go forth, be fruitful and multi- ply," each distinct family of man, proceeding " in sorrow," " to eat bread," by " the sweat of his face, till he return unto the ground," carried with the physical diversities, and craniological, osteological, capillary, and cuticular varieties of his peculiar race, the differences of language. Each distinct family of man, (or perhaps only the higher Caucasian castes,) may have possessed a transcript of that original, primeval * Confr. Faber— Origin of Pagan ldolatry-pp. 202-3 ANCIENT EGYPT. U chronicle, that contained memorials of the flood, and of anterior events. To the intervention of time, and vast geographical distances, the changes of method, and the alteration of alphabetic signs, may pos- sibly be traced, and probably attributed. Some nations, in the lapse of ages, may have forgotten the primi- tive art of writing ; but have preserved oral traditions of the former existence of that art ; and these nations may have set about the re- discovery of the mode of transmitting their thoughts, in writing, to posterity. And while, under this view, I proceed to show what might possibly have been the process, by which this lost art could have been recovered, I would observe, that a strong analogy in tra- cing writing to primeval Revelation may be found, in ascending to the divine origin of the belief in the unity of the Godhead, and of his ineffable attributes in the Trinity, (Monotheism, mystically developed in triads,) the existence of which pure primeval creed among the Gentiles, is shown by the mythological systems of the Hindoos, the Pelasgic Greeks, the Orphic philosophers, the Tyrians, the Sidoni- ans, the Syrians, the Edessenes, the Chaldeans, the Peruvians, (?) the Chinese, and Ultra-Gangetic nations, of the remotest antiquity, to have been the same, as, thoroughly demonstrable by hieroglyphical discoveries, it is now proved to have been the faith of those initiated in the hierophantic mysteries of the traduced, and misunderstood, Ancient Egyptians.* The narrow limits of this hurried treatise preclude the develop- ment I could wish to give to this portion of my subject. In attribu- ting the art of writing to primary Revelation, there arises a difficulty from the query, how, if the art were known to mankind at the Dis- persion, does it happen that each early nation should have used a different alphabet ? This might be met, if not answered, by a pa- rallel question ; how is it, that each family of man spoke a different language after Babel ? We must recognize the will of Divine Providence in both cases. I cannot reconcile with Scriptural chronology, however extended, the lapse of time adequate for the rude uninstructed savage to ac- quire, among the myriads of progressive steps toward civilization, the art of writing, whether by symbolic, or alphabetic signs. Writ, ing may be for ever unnecessary to vast tribes of human beings, who are far above the savage in the scale of civilization ; and would, assuredly, not have been the art which, for many generations, a sav- age community would strive to acquire, or to which their first efforts would be directed. Centuries would elapse, before the hypothet- ical savage could reach that wonderful process, attested by Egyptian monuments, still erect onNilotic shores, whose construction precedes Abraham by unnumbered generations. But, if we cannot reconcile, with any view of biblical chronology, the intervening and undcfinable measure of time, when we start with an uninspired savage, and gradually mould him into a civilized man ; we have abundance of evidence to bring forward, when, in accord, ance with the Pentateuch, we suppose a primeval, and heaven- descended state of civilization, from which, after paganism, or feteechism, strictly so called, had supplanted the pure primitive creed in some nations, (as in the case of Terah, progenitor of the "father of the faithful") mankind subsequently fell off. So soon as lapse of time, and great geographical distances, had separated some families of the human race from all relations with, or approximation to the habits of, the others, it is quite rational to con- jecture that, in the same manner as the remoter tribes receded from the worship of the true Deity, they lost the arts and civilization of their primitive origin, and among them the art of writing, or the primeval alphabet. Man is prone to deterioration ; and I think it could be tol- erably well sustained, though the argument is herein irrelevant, that none, but the Caucasian families, possess the vital rudiments for con- tinual and progressive moral, physical, and intellectual improvement. Yet, oral tradition, handed down from father to son, it may well be conceived, would, for an indefinite series of generations, prolong the memory of the vague fact, that, at one time, their ancestors pos- sessed a mode of expressing, ideographically by symbols, or by any other species of mnemonics, their ideas to each other, independ- ently of time or space. As society advanced, and the necessities of man were, by experience, supplied, some one of those gifted intel- lects, that arise in every community, turned his thoughts and efforts to rediscover that process, which oral tradition assured him was once known to his forefathers ; and, with more or less success, he and his descendants perfected a system, which, in some nations, as for instance, the Jatethic, is perfect and purely alphabetic. In Mexican tribes (so far as, at this day, is known about them in Europe) they never appear to have gone much bcyondpictorial representations of the scenes, and symbolical expressions of the ideas they strove to perpetuate. Among the children of Shem, we may suppose there was retained a nearer approximation to the original alphabet, or primitive pictorial method of writing. In China, among the Mongolian families, the Alphabetic system was never successfully reached ; and when they wish to write an * Consult the hierologicul authorities; and Cory's "Mythological Inquiry :" Mushet "on the Trinity of the Ancients," London, 1837 ; Maurice, " Oriental Trinities ;" Co- 17. "Ancient Fragments ;" Portal, "Couleurs Symboliques ;" "Symboles des £gyptiens," Paris, 1840. Faber " Origin of Pagan Idolatry ;" as well us Frichard, and Bryant. European name, the characters employed represent the entire sylla. hie, or colloquial sound of that syllable, which these characters ex. press in ordinary use. In that country (civilized and stationary in arts and sciences though it be,) the primary institution of writing by pictorial representation of figures, (adopted by the Chinese prior to B C. 2269,) was soon changed into arbitrary marks, not for a letter. but for the whole word, or idea, though it has never been reduced into the simple phonetic forms of our alphabets. The arrow-headed, or cuneiform character, (a specimen of which is produced further on) used by the ancient Persians down to the period of Cambyses and Darius-Nothus, is an anomaly in the order ol alphabets, that I have not yet seen satisfactorily explained. In Egypt, among the children of Ham, the art of writing was a combination of alphabetic, or phonetic signs, (to express a letter;) of figurative signs; and of symbolic signs ; with some curious and useful abridgements from the hieroglyphic (which comprises th« whole of the above three classes) to the hieratic character, and, in comparatively modern times, to the demotic or enchorial ; until the Greek alphabet, augmented by seven letters taken from the demotic texts, was introduced with Christianity, during the Roman dominion, and formed those letters known to us as the Coptic. How immensely the knowledge, or conviction, that, at some pre- vious period, the progenitors of one of these supposititious rediscov- erers, rather than inventors, of the art of writing, had the power of expressing and perpetuating their thoughts, independently of time or space, must have fortified the soul of him who labored to recover the lost secret, may well be conceived. He worked upon a certainty , as does the child, who endeavors to put together the scattered com. ponent parts of a dissected map. The child, being so told, knows that it can be done. He derives encouragement from this conviction, and, with redoubled energy, bends his intelligence to the task. How hopeless must have been the labor of that man, who, without any information regarding the possibility of such an achievement, essayed to discover, or to invent, a means oi recording his thoughts ! I confess, I look upon it as almost impracticable ; and fall back on primary revelation. If Columbus, (although, till the Society of north, em antiquaries at Copenhagen enlightened us, we used to believa the contrary,) had not learned, in his previous visit to Iceland, of the existence of a western Continent and of the early voyages of the dauntless " Eric the Red," can we well suppose, that, with such confidence, he would boldly have steered across the Atlantic from Spain to the West Indies? In the same manner, the knowledge that there had been a mode of writing in existence formerly, must have materially facilitated the rediscovery of letters, by those nations that had lost the primeval art. One or more families of man in early antiquity, may have redis. covered this lost art for themselves, independently of contemporary nations. We can trace the affinities of all known alphabets, by his- tory and by analytical processes, to a very few parental stocks ; but this we do know, that the origin of writing in Egypt is unknown, though it is autocthon, or indigenous ; that, at the very earliest time of which we can find relics, it was the same system as at any subse- quent Pharaonic period, and a perfect system ; that the antiquity of the art in Egypt surpasses the record of any mtion on earth, save in respect to the first chapters of Genesis ; that, if the Egyptians did not invent the alphabet, they rediscovered its equivalent for themselves ; and finally, it would be far more easy to derive all phonetic charac- ters, not excepting the Hebrew (as shown by the researches of Lamb) from the Egyptians, than to maintain that the Egyptians derived their art of writing from any other source but the common primeval reve- lation, or its remembrance, if they were not the inventors of writing! The remote antiquity of hieroglyphical writing, may be inferred from the fact, that it must have existed before the use of the solar month in Egypt ; which astronomical observations, on Egyptian re- cords, prove to have been in use at an epoch close up to the Septua- gint era of the Flood. From Egyptian annals we may glean some faint confirmation of the view, that they either possessed the primeval alphabet, or else that they rediscovered its equivalent, from the mystic functions and attributes of the two " Thoths " — the first and second Hermes — both Egyptian mythological personages, deified as attributes of the God head. To " Thoth," Mercury, or the first Hermes, the Egyptians ascribed the invention of letters ; and there is seeming reason to consider him the type of that antediluvian revelation to man, of which the Bible gives us indications. He belongs, in Manctho's history, and in the " Old Chronicle," to that shadowy period designated as " the rule of the gods," to veil under a fable (probably explained by the hiero- phants to the initiated) the record of antediluvian periods. But, among the deities of Egypt — known, in hieroglyphics, as " Thoth, Lord of Pautnouphis " — who, under the Greek appellative of Hermes Trismegistus (the thrice-great Hermes,) or "Thoth" the second, was an emanation of the first Hermes, there is another " Thoth, lord of the divine writings," who was likewise a patron of arts and sciences. I cannot but speculate, that this second " Thoth " was, in postdilu- vian times, the rediscoverer of an art of writing, attributed by the Egyptians to the invention, in antediluvian periods, of his namesake and prototype, (?) 16 ANCIENT EGYPT. Under Dr. Lamb's view, that Hebrew characters may have been the nearest approach to the primeval "picture writing," this redis- covery by the second Thoth (who was doubtless a priest and philoso- pher,) of the art of writing in Egypt, will account for any diversities or analogies between the Egyptian compound hieroglyphic system, and the phonetic method adopted by the Hebrews at the Mosaic era, no lees than in regard to other purely alphabetic systems. The process by which Thoth the second arrived at hieroglyphic writing, may have been as follows : The first attempts were probably limited to the figurative ox picto- rial method of expressing the image of the thing, for the thing itself; as the dvawing of a hand, to denote a hand, and so forth. In Dgypt, as has been clearly elucidated by the profound Rosellini, the arts of design and writing were invariably associated ; and neither the Egyptians nor any other nation ever adopted the art of drawing, 6efore they felt the necessity of writing ; and drawing was produced in the endeavor to discover some mode of expressing ideas ; so that the people who invented painting and sculpture, were impelled toward the exercise of these arts by the desire of writing ; and the means taken to write were the causes and producing motives of the art of drawing. Drawing was therefore the most natural medium, and, in those early days, the most effective, to satisfy those cravings, inherent in intellectual man, which had in view the creation of a power to com- municate with persons removed from the draughtsman by time and space, rather than to imitate the various works of nature. The study of representing things pictorially, had, in those primitive times, no other object than to effect that which was completely achieved by the introduction of signs for sounds. Of the introduction of these letters, we have the fact before us in every Egyptian legend, from the earliest postdiluvian epoch admis- sible, down to the extinction of hieroglyphical writing in the third century of the Christian era, a period of at least 3000 years ; but we cannot name the introducer, except in the legendary Thoth; nor state positively how this discovery was made in Egypt. The arts of writing, drawing, painting, and sculpture, in ancient Egypt, were emblematized by one symbol ; and, in hieroglyphics, were expressed thus : corresponding phonetically) nwt- C£kJ Skhai. This symbol expressed, in the sacred character, the signifi- cation and the sound of the words " to paint," " the painter," " to write," and " the writer ;" as also " writings " — ypamiara. The symbol itself is compounded of three things, all connected with its meaning ; as " the reed," k used in writing, at the present day, by the Arabs, and termed *F " qalam ;" " the vase," ^T or ink-bot- tle ; and the " scribes' pal I ette," his red and black inks, fil M ling t tre. 1 whereon ^5 he poured he little hollows in its cen- In precisely the same manner, in ancient Greek, the words " to describe," " to draw," " to engrave," and " to write," were all com- prised in the same verb — ypafyuv. By analogical reasoning, then, we may infer, that the progressive steps toward the development of hieroglyphical writing, may have been in the following order : 1st. That material objects struck their view, and to transmit them to posterity, or to preserve the idea of one of these objects, they painted the figure of the thing itself; and this would be figurative writing. 2nd. That the insufficiency of this plan in application was imme diately felt. In painting the figure of a man, they could not express what man ; and to define him, they added a tropical sign or symbol of another thing in some way associated with this particular man. This would be symbolic writing. 3rd. That then certain arbitrary, and in due course, conventional signs were added, to express the idea of an immaterial object ; as a hatchet for a god, an urjeus (asp) for royalty, &c. 4th. They finally contrived to introduce divers representatives of sound, taking, to denote each letter, those objects the names of which, in their language, began with the initial sound of that designation ; that is, when they wanted to denote the articulation L, they drew a Lion, and so on. This would be phonetic writing ; and is the prin- ciple that originated many Semitic alphabets, as the Hebrew, the Samaritan, the Phoenician, &c. as well as those of some other nations. In Egyptian hieroglyphics, as may be seen in part by the alphabet, there are, in some instances, as many as twenty-five different charac- ters used to represent one letter, and these are termed "homophones" of that letter. One immense advantage accrued in monumental legends from this variety, for the artist was thus enabled to employ those figures which, while representing the articulated sound of the letter, had by their form a relation to the idea these signs were to express. The writer could thus, by the judicious selection of his letters from the variety of his homophones, convey a meaning of admiration, praise, dignity, beauty, strength, &c, or he could denote disgust, hatred, insignifi- cance, or other depreciatory opinions. I will endeavor to render this apparent by an example. Suppose we wished to adopt the same system in our language and write the word "America " in hieroglyphics. I use pure Egyptian hieroglyphics as letters, adapting them to English values : A — We might select one out of many more or less apropriate sym- bols ; as an asp, apple, altar, amaranth, anchor, archer, arrow, antelope, axe. I choose the asp, ^ symbolic of " sove- reignty." W M — We have a mace, mast, mastiff, moon, mouse, mummy, musket, indicative of " military do- maize. I select the mace, minion." E- I -An ear, egg, eagle, elk, eye. The eagle edly the most appropriate, being the arms of the Union," and means " cour is undoubt- " national age." R — A rabbit, ram, racoon, ring, rock, rope. I take the ram, «»^ f - by synecdoche, placing a part for the whole, emblem- Wmb atic of " frontal power " — intellect — and sacred to ▼ Amun. I — An insect, Indian, infant, ivy. An infant iM will typify " the juvenile age " and still undeveloped Ijft strength of this great country. «/3« C — A cake, caldron, cat, clam, carman, constellation, curlew, cone, crescent. The crescent would indicate the rising power of the United States ; the constellation of stars would emblem- atize the States, and is borne aloft in the American banner ; but I choose the cake — /^\ the consecrated bread — typical of a " civilized region.' ® A — An anchor, or any of the above words beginning with A, would answer : the anchor would symbolize " maritime greatness," associated with " safety " and "stability"; but not being an Egyptian emblem, I take the " sacred Tau," q the symbol of " eternal life," which in the alphabet is *-T* an A. To designate that by this combination of symbols we mean a country, I add the sign ^^^^£, in Coptic "Kali," meaning a country, and determinative of geographical appellatives. We thus obtain phonetically — A M E R I C A country : while symbolically, the characters chosen imply " sovereignty, mili- tary dominion, courage, intelligence, juvenility, civilization, and eternal durability." This example, however, gives but a faint idea of the beauty, and often exquisite propriety, of Egyptian composition, or of the com- plexity of the hieroglyphic art of writing. It will be allowed, that, even this anglicized illustration of the word America does not render its perspicuity very apparent ; and, with a full acquaintance of the language, it would be a puzzle to a decipherer. How much more so, when the vowels may be omitted, as they generally are, and only the consonants written ; as, " MRC, country " ! Let the reader figure to himself the fashion introduced in this coun. try, of following the graphical system of the barly Egyptians ; and that the Capitol at Washington were covered with sculptured and painted legends, recording the annals of the United States ! Suppose these legends were written with the general suppression of some vowels, or the transmutability of others. Then imagine the Ameri. can hieroglyphics, in the lapse of ages, to become entirely forgotten ; the people who wrote the legends — those who could speak or read English — entirely obliterated from the face of the earth ; their Ian- guage dead ; the Capitol a shapeless pile of ruins ! Suppose, that another and a distinct race of men, from another hemisphere, after two thousand years, while possessing mere vague traditions of ancient American glory — uncertain as to the epoch of these mutilated sculptures — mystified as to the very language in which they were written — amid the general hue and cry that " hiero- glyphics are all nonsense " — endeavored to unravel their mysterious subjects ! Grant that the task would be in nature herculean — that its even- tual success would appear chimerical. Yet even this would not be so difficult, as to decipher a crumbling fragment of an Act of Con- gress written in a tachygraphic, or abridged form of these identical ANCIENT EGYPT. IT American hieroglyphics, on a fragile papyrus, exhumed from the ruins of the once-towering Capitol ! You can scarcely conceive such a contingency possible as a trans- lation of all these things ? and yet, such was precisely the position of Egyptian hieroglyphics in 1802, when the " Rosetta Stone " arrived in Europe ! such was the state of hierology when Young, in 1819, struck the first sparks from the flinty basalt, whereon were engraven two unknown inscriptions ! such was the " darkness of Egypt," when Champollion's meteoric flashes illumined the archaeological hemi- sphere ! When we, in 1843, calmly reflect on the intellects and the souls it has required, to face and to overcome these obstacles, till every Egyptian legend can be understood, its purport defined, and the main sense of the most intricate papyrus clearly expounded, let us allow, that to the modern hierologists we are indebted for these glorious achievements. I again refer those interested in the early labors of the hieroglyphi- cal students, to Dr. Young's Article in the Encyclopedia Britan- nica, and to Champollion's " Precis des Hieroglyphes," for proofs of the discovery ; and to the " Grammaire Egyptienne," as an in- controvertible monument of unqualified success. My part is simply to give the summary of the language as it is now understood. Complicated as, owing to our ignorance, the hieroglyphical writing of Egypt now appears to us, it was (together with the Hieratic char- acter, and, in later times, the Demotic,) in constant, general, and popular use, among all classes, all persons, in the Valley of the Nile ; and the illusion under which we have labored for ages, excited by the mysterious appearance and still-rumored unintelligibility of the writings themselves, and misled by the puerile misinformation of Greek writers, that the arts of reading and writing were withheld by the priests from the lower classes, is dispelled by a glance at the monuments. The fact is, as the Greek and Roman writers did not understand either the Egyptian tongue, or the Egyptian writings, they represented those subjects which they were too volatile, or self-defi- cient to inquire about themselves, to be impenetrable mysteries. We, however, have indisputable evidences, that reading and writing were in Ancient Egypt (in days coeval with the Pyramids) as pub- licly known, and in as popular use, without respect to caste, to wealth, or poverty, as in many Christian and not-uncivilized coun- tries, at the present day. Its graphical signs were termed, by the Greeks, hieroglyphics, meaning literally " Sacred sculptured char- acters." Plato and Plutarch both affirm, that the writing invented by the 1st. Thoth, whom we have called the antediluvian Hermes, differed from that, which, according to my view, was rediscovered by Thoth the 2nd., whom we have termed the postdiluvian Hermes. It is the writing of this second Thoth, which, under the name of hieroglyphics, has come down to our day, on Nilotic monuments, from the remotest period since the colonization of Egypt by the sons of Mizraim ; and which was in current use, in ages coeval with the Pyramids, even among the stone-masons, and the farmers .' We now know, that the idea entertained till lately, even by some of the most eminent Egyptologists, " that no hieroglyphics are to be found in, or were known in the days of, the Pyramids," is an illusion, over- thrown by Col. Vyse's discoveries. This tradition of the difference existing between the writings of the two Thoths, comes in very appropriately, when we suppose, that the primitive method of writ- ing revealed to man prior to the Flood, had been lost by some nations, after the Dispersion ; and the rediscovery of the art in Egypt will account for some of the differences between the Nilotic system, and those primitive alphabets, or other forms of expressing ideas in use among early nations. After the rough draught of the foregoing ideas had been formed at Philadelphia, I had a gratifying opportunity of submitting them to a distinguished American philologist — H. Hale, Esq., late of the exploring Expedition ; and I was exceedingly proud to find, that, in the course of his varied inquiries into the causes of the diversity of human languages, and his comparisons of graphical systems, he had been led, by a different process of reasoning, to results, upon the probability of the rediscovery of a conjecturally lost alphabet, iden- tical with those, to which I was impelled by Egyptian facts and chronological limitations. My humble edifice acquires so much stability, from the opinions of a gentleman so laborious in philological pursuits, that, at my solicitation, he has favored me with the follow- ing letter : Philadelphia, 1st Nov. 1842. My Dear Sir : When you did me the favor, a few days ago, to read to me your very interesting lecture on the origin and language of the Egyptians, I expressed to you my gratification at finding that your views on the subject of the invention of writing, harmonized with some that had shortly hefore occur- red to myself. As we have arrived at the same result, by different roads, you have suggested that a statement by each, of the grounds on which this common result of our reasonings is based, might be of advantage in the way of mutual confirmation. Although, I conceive lhat your arguments as stated in your lecture, hardly stand in need of support, I readily comply with your suggestion, so far as relates to a summary of the philological facts, which seem to me to favor the views that you have taken. Three great nations, differing widely in language, physical characteristics and institution', appear almost at the same time, on the theatre of the world. Those who have made the most profound researches on these subjects, as- Btire us, dial the Mstories which may be called authentic, of the Chinese, the Hindoos, and the Egyptians, can be traced back, each on its separate ground, to within a few centuries of the period at which the best chronologisls fix the date of the Flood. Now, it is remarkable, that, at the very commencement of their annals we find each of these nations in possession of a system of writing so far perfected, that we do not hear of any improvement made by either in after ages. From their very nature it is indubitable, that they are of domestic and therefore independent origin ; and the question arises as to the probability, that each of them should have been the fruit of pure and un- assisted invention. We have, on our own continent, the example of two na- tions, which had reached, without the aid of extraneous influences, a slate of civilization fully equal to lhat, in which the first dawn of history finds any of the great Asiatic nations. Now, of these two nations, the one farthest advanced in the arts, the Piruvian, had no system of writing whatever; the other, the Mexican, possessed a kind of mnemonics, in the shape of pictures, which served to remind those, who had been previously instructed in their meaning, of the events and facts, which they were designed to commemorate. These examples would not lead us to suppose, that the invention of written characters, representing all the words or elementary sounds of a language, was a necessary or even a likely accompaniment of a nation's advance in civilization. In reading, not long ago, Mr. Rockwell's account of his voyage in the Medi- terranean and to Liberia, I was struck with his remark, that an intelligent man, of the Greybo tribe of Africans, near the colony, had invented a com- plete syllabic alphabet of his own language, in consequence of hearing, that foreign nations possessed some such means of imprinting their words on pa- per. Mr. R. also observes, that it was a similar suggestion, which led the famous Cherokee Cadmus, Sequoyah, to the invention of his alphabet. From these facts, the influence may be fairly deduced, that though the idea of written characters is not likely to occur of itself, to an uninstructed mind ; yet, when once suggested, it may easily be followed out to the completion of a system, perfectly adequate to the wants of a language, and unsusceptible of future improvement. To apply these inferences to the cases in question ; let us suppose (as we have reason to believe) that the Antediluvians possessed some mode of pre- serving facts and occurrences by written symbols. It may have been a kind of picture writing, like the Mexican, of mere human invention ; or, it may have been, as many have thought, a divinely revealed alphabetic writing. In the dispersion of families, and diversion of tongues, which must, on any amy every hypothesis, have taken place soon after the deluge, the written char acter was probably lost ; or, ifretained by any, it would only be in that family with the genius of whose language it happened to agree : all the rest would b» as unenlightened on this point, as were the Aztec tribes when they first spread themselves on the plains of Mexico; with the exception, that they would, in all probability, have preserved the tradition of the former existence of written characters ; and this tradition it would be, which, acting as a sug- gestion and an incitement on the mind of some man of superior intelligence, among a people sufficiently advanced to feel the need of such an art, would lead, first to the idea, and then to the construction of a system of writing. And this system, as thus constructed, would, of necessity, be one exactly adapted to the character of the language for which it was formed. Such i« said to be the syllabic alphabets of the Greybo and Cherokee sages. Such, it is well known, are the lerigraphic system of the Chinese (so termed by Mr. Duponceau, from the fact that each word in the language is represented by a distinct character) and the alphabetic system of the Sanscrit, which bears some tokens of having been originally formed on a syllabic basis. Able scholars have doubted, whether, with all the lights of experience and comparison, which we, in modern times, enjoy, any written characters could be proposed, by which the peculiar methods which these two languages have employed fir ages, might with advantage be replaced. How far this assertion will apply to the ancient Egyptians ; and whether that language really gained, by the substitution of the Coptic alphabet for ihe old hieroglyphics, you are yourself the best judge. And, in considering this question, we might partic- ularly refer to the remarkable power, inherent in the ancient system, of ex- pressing by one set of characters, all the various dialects spoken in the Nilotic valley. I shall be happy, if these few and hasty suggestions shall be esteemed by you of any value, in confirming the views to which you have been previously led by the study of the ancient monuments of that most interesting region. Believe me, my dear sir, with much respect, Very sincerely yours, Geo. R. Gliddon, Esq. H. HALE. Greek and Roman writers (according to Champollion Figeac, Plato, Tacitus, Pliny, Plutarch, Diodorus and Varro, with others,) ascribe to Egypt the honor of inventing alphabetical writing — an honor, which earlier writers, whose works are no longer extant, and the voice of oral tradition, had consecrated from time immemorial hefore them. Modern criticism has recognized, by the study of the Monuments, that, so far as the relative antiquity of the art in Egypt, compared with any other nations is concerned, this attribution to Egypt is correct and indisputable ; while there are not a few alpha- bets, that may be traced in origin to early intercourse with the Valley of the Nile, the priority in civilization of whose inhabitants is now irrevocably determined. Early Grecian tradition ascribed to Cadmus, son of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, the introduction of alphabetic letters into the Pelopon- nesus. Cadmus appears to have lived in the seventh generation be. fore the Trojan war; which event belongs to the twelfth century before Christ, and consequently the epoch of Cadmus dates about 1500 B. C, which, in Egyptian annals, is comparatively a modern date, being contemporary with the middle of the 18th dynasty. This Cadmus introduced into Greece 16 primitive letters — a phonetic alphabet, consisting of the first sixteen primitive vocal articulations — KvpioXoyiKri 6ta to>v rpoiroiv rToix t ' iav — translated by Letronne, " Kyrio- logic, according to the first alphabetic or phonetic letters" — or "serv. ing perfectly to denote objects by alphabetic signs." These first alphabetic signs were then attributed to Hermes, who is our Egyptian Thoth the second ! and were called, by the Greeks, "Phoenician letters." To the primitive sixteen letters, Pahunedes added four ; and subsequently four others were supplied by Simoni. des; thus completing the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet. The 16 Cadmean letters were, A, B, V, A, E, F, I, K, A, M, N, O, II, P, S, 18 ANCIENT EGYPT. T, some of which singularly correspond in names to those of the Semitic families of Hebrew, Samaritan, and other, to the parental Phoenician, cognate tribes ; thus evincing, that the origin of the Cad- mean alphabet is not Grecian, but Eastern : and, inasmuch as its affinities are all Asiatic it may be termed " Phoenico-Grecian." If, therefore, we show, that its parental source derives its origin from an Egyptian hieroglyphic, as has been demonstrated by Dr. Lamb, in respect to the Hebrew letters, it will prove how much Greece is in- debted to Egypt for the learning of her worthies. It is a law of phonetic hieroglyphics, that the picture of a physical object shall give the sign of the sound, with which its name begins in the Egyptian tongue. Thus, a lion, whose Egyptian name was " Labo," stood for the letter L, in hieroglyphics ; as it might stand, in our language, to represent the initial letter of the designatory title of that animal, whose name with us is lion. Now, the same prin- ciple is distinctly discernible in the Hebrew, Arabic, Samaritan, Phoenician, and other Semitic tongues ! The ancient Hebrew letter Li — or L — was the initial letter of their name for lion — " Labi ;" while, in shape, it is only an abbreviation of the figure of a recum- bent lion, a pure Egyptian hieroglyph. The B, in Hebrew, is the initial letter of the word <; Beth," meaning " a house" — which is its name ; and there is even a resemblance to be traced between the form of the letter " Beth," and the outline of an oriental house with a flat roof ! I will exemplify this fact by the name of the letter — AD — in the ancient Hebrew — which, besides being probably the first articulate sound uttered by Adam, signifies " a Man," as also " red earth," out of which man was moulded by the divine "Potter" — see Isaiah, lxiv., 8. The transitions are herein made clear. a c e ^ a "m a *" Sffi M s < < J3 — >• a '&%M-riM The letter A in Hebrew, meaning man, is thus traced to its Egyp- tian parent. The same holds good with the entire Hebrew alphabet, but is peculiarly evident in their letters G, N, P, R and T ; all can be respectively traced to the initial letters of objects, whose names in sound corresponded to the initial value of the letters, as the form of the letters still preserves a resemblance to the pictorial hiero- glyphic of the objects whence they are derived. Nor does it seem improbable that Moses, who was "learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," should have introduced into the Hebrew writings some of those forms and ideas, he had necessarily contracted in regard to this, and other subjects, during his education at Heliopolis. It is likewise a curious chronological coincidence, that the 15th century B. C, witnessed the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, and their organization into an orderly community by Moses — the in- troduction of the present Hebrew alphabet, in lieu of the previous character, whatever that was — the importation of the primitive alphabet from Phoenicia (at that period a province tributary to the Pharaohs, and overrun by their armies) into Greece, by Cadmus, and the foundation of Boeotian Thebes, with its oriental mysteries and oracles — the emigration of Danaus, who was perhaps the brother of our Ramses 4th : (Sefhos-iEgyptus,) and who founded the kingdom of the Danai, at Argos, where colossal ruins of the Egypto-Pelasgic period again point to their Nilotic sources — and, with less historical cer- tainty, but with some probability, may we also trace the foundation of Athens itself to an Egyptian colony, led by Cecrops from Sais, within half a century of the preceding events, that so strongly mark the period of the 15th century B. C. ; the Augustan age of Pharaonic renown. Palamedes, king of Euboea, gave to the Greeks 4 additional letters, 0, S, $, X, to supply deficiencies in the Cadmean alphabet ; and Simonides subsequently furnished the 4 other signs, Z, H, '"P, £2, which completed the 24 letters of the ancient Greek alphabet. Now, the distinct articulations of phonetic hieroglyphics may be resolved into 16 sounds, represented by 16 Egyptian letters (with their homophones) which are identical, in value, with the 16 primi- tive Cadmean characters! and these 16 primitive signs represent the 16 distinct simple or elementary sounds of the human voice ; because, all the other alphabetic sounds are more or less compound, and are reducible into their respective primitive elements ! Thus the fact, that the Greek and Phoenician alphabets contained, at first, only 16 distinct letters, is not only established by analogy and historical testimony, but is comformable to nature itself. The Greeks and other nations, completed the powers of their alphabets, by adding other letters to represent compound sounds. The Egyptians, without extending their phonetic system, in number of letters, appear to have arrived at the same result, by giving to each original sign a double or a triple power, as for instance : Arabic. I in hieroglyphics stands in Arabic and in Coptic, ^ ___ T» Khei — our Kh ' G -X ffiHmI Shei — our Sh 3 distinct sounds. J the first of which we have not the power of expressing, but conven. tionally, in our letters ; nor can many Europeans pronounce it dis- tinctly. It exists in Arabic — as in " Khtiss " lettuce — or " Khitm " a seal ; distinct from H, as in " Haris," a guard — or " Halee," my soul. And when, in Roman times, the hieroglyphic, hieratic and de. motic forms of writing were abolished ; it was found necessary to add to the 24 Greek letters, 7 others, purely Egyptian, to enable the denizens of Egypt to represent in writing the sounds of their tongue, and thus the present Coptic alphabet of 31 letters was formed. The seven Egyptian letters of the Coptic alphabet, are taken from the demotic texts ; viz. w — Shei — equivalent to our Sh — Fei Ph r* —Khti a it Kh O —Hori tt tt H /\ — Sjansja tt tt Sj O — Sseema tt tt Ss J? —Dei " " T I regret, that my limits do not permit my going further into the interesting subject of the ancient use and modes of writing. Enough, has been said to show, that early analogies point to the valley of the Nile, as the cradle, if not the birthplace, of this, no less than of all other arts. A small, though excellent work,* published in 1841 in London, (from which I have gleaned several points of the present discourse, and in the next chapter have extracted some ancient texts,) seems to infer, that alphabetic signs were exclusively preserved by the descend, ants of Shem, among other advantages accruing to them from Noah's prophetic blessing ; and then expatiates upon the " unhappy sons f Mizraim, the son of Ham," who lost their primitive language, ana with it the alphabet.' This may be a mode of speaking, but it is inconsistent with the Bible, and is utterly overthrown by history ; for, if these unhappy descendants of -Ham were under a curse, how was it, if Ham be the parent of the Egyptians, that these unfortunate people were the most civilized of antiquity ? how was it, that this accursed race enjoyed, for 2500 years, the fairest portion of the earth ? how came it that these unhappy people held the descendants of Shem in bondage, or in tribute, during 1000 years before Cambyse3, B. C. 525 ? This is another popular fallacy. The curse was not on Ham. It passed over him, and fell upon Canaan. But, as I shall hereinafter demonstrate, there was no ban on the Mizraimites, or Egyptians, till after times. CHAPTER THIRD. The reader will not forget, that Oriental languages of ancient days, in sound, as well as in character, are not far removed from the mod. em ; although, to an uninitiated ear, their intonations and articula- tions may appear extravagant or harsh. We have all of us seen vocabularies, wherein, by means of our alphabetic letters, the words of eastern languages are presented to our eye, but never to our ear. No dependence can be placed on the accuracy of any one of them, however, unless we are previously assured of the knowledge of the European writer ; who in most cases is lamentably deficient. " Guide Books," for travellers to the Levant, are for sale everywhere ; yet, it is curious to test the accu- racy of the so-called Arabic vocabularies attached to some of them. "Usborne's Guide to Egypt," London, 1840; price 9 shillings ster- ling ; among its other absurdities, contains one of these puerile and valueless " word-books." But, for " true Corinthian brass," com. * The "Antiquities of Egypt," 1 vol. 8vo. London, 1841, published by the Religious Tract Society " This, as well as the " Illustrations of the Bible from the Monument* or Egypt," by the Rev. Dr. W. C. Taylor, Londra 1S38-1 vol. 12ino., I warmly recom mend to the reader's perusal. ANCIENT EGVPT. 19 mend me to that pompous "English and Arabic (?) vocabulary," obtainable at the enormous price of 12 shillings, in a quarto, styled " Hand-book to India and Egypt," London, 1841 ; wherein, not only are all the exploded errors, regarding Egyptian subjects, perpetuated with marvellous fidelity; but, under the name of Arabic, is palmed off an aggregation of trash, one third of which is obsolete Arabic, incorrectly spelled ; another third may be Hindostanee, Bengalee, or other Indian idiom ; and the remainder is literally gibberish. The only " Arabic and English" vocabulary, that can be scrupu- lously relied on, is the one appended to Sir J. G. Wilkinson's " Topo- graphy of Thebes," 1835 ; an invaluable work, now out of print. Unless we know, by ear, the foreign sounds expressed by our con- ventional combinations of letters, it is vain to think of tracing correct philological affinities. A most amusing catalogue could be made, in selections from modern European literature, of the ludicrous fail- ures of travellers in Arabic alone. Errors are perfectly excusable in those who make no pretensions ; but, for a man to have the puerile vanity to write in English the words of an Eastern language, when, by so doing, he proves that he knows nothing about it, is suicidal to say the least, while his folly misleads his successors ; whence, to- gether with carelessness of observation, in great measure, is deri- ved that general misinformation about Egypt, ancient and modern, which prevails everywhere at the present day. In our alphabet, we have not the power to express a • " Kh," or a * "Gh," still less an "Ain," nor can many Eur^^" opeans eve ^ r acquire their true pronunciation. \^_) ^"■ii - Lane, the most eminent Arabic savan of the day, and the estimable author of the " Modern Egyptians" (the most learned and accurate of all works on the present inhabitants of Cairo and of Egypt in general) has been the first to establish a system whereby Arabic can be written in our letters ; but, unless the reader hears the sound, he can never acquire its phonetic value. Our alphabet will not express all the Oriental intonations ; nor can their alphabets express all of ours. It is much the same in music. We cannot approach Arabian intonations, whether in instrumental, or vocal melody ; and, be it observed, unless a man has an ear for music, he can no more learn, or duly perceive the niceties of foreign, and particularly of Eastern languages, than he could sing correctly without a voice. I have said, that we cannot express in our letters many Oriental articulations, without a conventional system ; as kh for " Khey ;" and gh for " Ghain ;" the sound to be conveyed by mouth. No combination of ours can express the " ll" of that extraordinary lan- guage, discovered as still extant in Hadramaut, by the profound Orientalist, Mons. F. Fresnel, French Consul at Djedda ; which, while it somewhat resembles the " ll" of the Welsh, can be articu- lated only on the right side of the mouth — being something between " llw ;" a whistle, and a sriT ! I will endeavor to illustrate, how impossible it is for Orientals to express our European intonations by their letters. An English friend of mine, in the Levant, who is a profound Turk- ish scholar, had two native Ottoman secretaries. Being desirous of testing the capabilities of the Turkish character, for the rendering of an English phrase, he sent one of them out of his bureau one morn- ing ; and dictating to the other the following line, desired him to write it in his national letters, so as to produce the English sound, as correctly as possible. The sentence was, " Drag the swindling scoundrel to the pump.' This digression will serve to show how difficult it is, in European or Eastern alphabets, to express each other's respective languages ; and to preface the remark, that we know not the precise articulations of the ancient Coptic, or Egyptian tongue, as we are ignorant of the sound; for the speakers, with the language, perished in by-gone ages. I now proceed to the general principles of the Ancient Egyptian Language, as determined by the best hicroglyphical authorities up to the close of 1841. I shall pass rapidly over the subjects, explaining each " with as much brevity as is consistent with perspicuity." It would be tedious, as before stated, to go back to the doubts and disputes of 1825 ; and my object is to give a generally-correct, rather than a detailed view of Egyptian studies at the present day. The difficulty of the task assumed lies in the appropriate condensation ; and if this particular chapter be found less amusing to the general reader than the others, it will not be the less instructive ; while its insertion is absolutely indispensable to the clear apprehension of the sequel. In the words of Champollion — " the subject banishes all ornament : in the absence of this advantage, which would doubtless contribute to sustain your attention, I would invoke the high im. portance of our inquiries," no less than the reader's indulgent pa- tience. The Language of the ancient Egyptians is the ancient Coptic, prior to the introduction of foreign engraftments ; which may have been imported in part, as early as Psameticus the 1st, about B. C. 650. Before that time, it was an autocthon, or indigenous tongue ; and the same idioms were orally in use from the unnumbered ages anterior to the pyramids, down to the above-named monarch of the 26th Saitic dynasty. It ceased to be orally preserved among the Copts, the present mongrel descendants of a high-caste ancestry, about a hundred years ago. They still read it, with Arabic trans, lations in the context, in the churches of the Coptic community in Egypt. In construction, it is monosyllabic in all its primitive words. Its polysyllabic words are compounded of one or more linguistical roots ; and these can generally be resolved into distinct monosyllables. Its syntax is in the logical order of the French language. It contains a certain number of Semitic words, due to early intercourse with Arabian nations, as well as to its primitive Asiatic origin.* Dr. Leipsius, in his "Paleographia," 1834, established very curious relations between Sanscrit and Hebrew, such as to leave no doubt of the existence of a common though undeveloped germ in both. But still more valuable were the results of this erudite German eth. nologist in Coptic ; for, in his letter to the Chevr. Baron Bunsen, Jan. 1835, he established, that the ancient Coptic is no longer placed in linguistical solitude ; but that it enters into the vast circumference of Semitic and Indo-Germanic languages ; and that it is linked with each by points of actual contact, grounded on the essential structure and most necessary forms of all three. He considers that, in the numerals especially, so strong a similarity exists between the Indo- Germanic and Semitic languages with the more ancient Egyptian system, that he deems the numeral figures of the Egyptians to have been originally transported from Egypt to India, and thence, being carried into Arabia by early commercial intercourse, were by the Arabs transmitted to us, and as such are by us termed Arabic ; al. though, by the Arabs this system of numeration is still called Hindee, Indian. &&^biA &£>»}&)£* o Like all primitive tongues, the Egyptian proceeded by imitation ; or by giving a sound in imitation of the ob- ject, or idea, intended. Thus, the name of an The man wrote it and having heard the sound, read it correctly in English. He was then sent out of the room ; and the other secretary who had not heard the sound, was summoned, and desired to read it. This he did freely, " DlREK ZEE ASEVINEDELINK AsEKONEDEREL TEV ZEE PoMEP !" and this was the nearest approximation to the English that the Turkish alphabet would admit of. " In sober sadness," I can assure the reader, that it is precisely as ludicrous to an Eastern ear, to hear a foreigner read what is called Arabic, from an " English and Arabic vocabulary" written with our alphabet. Some curious exemplifications of the real mode of sounding some ancient Greek articulations, may be afforded by hieroglyphical com- parisons, which would show that, in sound, the modern language as spoken at this day has not varied much from the ancient. And, what can be more uncouth to hellenic auricular nerves, than to hear an English Demosthenes begin his oration, with " Oi andres Athc- naioi!" Yemen of Athens'. Ortohear poor Homer's hexameter twisted into the sentence, (so often quoted to exemplify the propriety of Greek linguistical adaptations!) " Polu floisboio thaldsces.'' Equally absurd is the English mode of reading Latin ; and equally unnatural to an Italian ear are our intonations of this language, when in lieu of the open, manly, and sonorous cadences of " Pater noster, qui cs in ccclo," we shut our teeth, and pronounce it," " Payta nosta qui eez in seelo ." was Ass Lion Cow Frog Cat Pig Hoopoo Serpent" Yd, from his bray ; Mooee, from his roar; E'he, from her low ; Croor, from his croak; Chaoo, from her mew ; Eurr, from his grunt ; Petepep, from its peculiar cry ; Arabice, " Hed- hed," (like our Whip-poor-Will;) Hoff, from its hiss. Mr." Lane's exquisite translation of the "Thousand and one Nights," gives some beautiful instances, in Arabic, of the words attributed to the cries of birds. As, the " Umree Heg&zee," or ^ Ara- bian turtle dove, in its sweet coo, repeats " Yii kerecm, yh Allah," O most merciful God ! . . In ancient Coptic, the same echoing principle is recognizable in verbs; thus, Sensen, to sound ; THornTHEPii, to spit ; Owodjwedj, to masticate ; * While delivering my first course of Lectures at Boston, a circumstance occurred in regard to the dispersion of Languages, which I deem worth mentioning, as it may serve for a clue in philological connections. 1 was explaining the picto. la taiownasthatof ti,e " Jrfcftmate*," and mentioned that the hiero I pi A ' fethc Coptic toli, preserved in Egypt, by the Arabs, in then- name m>y Shei Sh ci Cj Fei F *J> Khei Kh a a Hori h & K Sjansja Sj (T^ Ssima Ss ± + Dei T A, E, I, O, U, - T, Th, D L, R M.A.^-ry. f .».+. \S * ■•MimmaLZ UnElSBUl "V p* ^MHB • • • ^^* • •^•' '-t;i •/*•'*> : j 1 .J .% ,gp . tf.^. J ^Ws- ^.•g.ar./;^ .si.js *C«^ .<^ .€_**. * ^ • Of the hieratic and demotic I have made no study, but the sue- I British Museum, commemorating the campaigns of Ramses 3d — ceeding inscriptions will indicate their appearance. It is the first line Sesostris — and his victories over several Asiatic nations, far remote of a poem in the hieratic character, Irom a papyrus now in the | from Egypt. Its date may be about 1550 B. C. 23 ANCIENT EGYPT. HIERATIC. TRANSLATION. "The wicked raoe of the country of Scythia * ** * with many king- doms * * * * the soldiers of the country of Iketo, of the country of Maono, of the country of Tom, of the country of Keshkosh, &c. It proceeds with the names of countries, the geography of which is unknown. DEMOTIC or ENCHORIAL. This is from a papyrus in the Museum of Turin. TRANSLATION. " In the 36th year, on the 18th of the month of Atliyr, of the reign of the sovereigns Ptolemy and Cleopatra his sister; the children of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, gods Epiphanes." This papyrus is a civil contract for the sale of the profits of the offerings in certain tombs. Even in Ptolemaic times, Egyptian law did not recognize as legal any documents not written in the native characters and language. It is of the last year of Philometor, about B. C. 146. Hieroglyphics, or monumental writing, are the primitive and sacred style ; the most ancient monuments and papyri being in this character. It is divided into two classes — the pure and the linear — the latter being s as is explained by the following instances, a reduc- tion of the former. Pure. Linear. A reed, phonetically, A. A jackal, symbolically, a Priest A goose, phonetically, S., Figuratively the bird goose — symbolically offspring. The pure class was always sculptured or painted, and, in general, both sculptured and painted were employed on public edifices. The linear was preferred in ordinary life and literature of the earlier periods. The figures of things chosen as hieroglyphics are ranged into the following sixteen categories. A — Celestial objects — as sun, moon, srars,&c. B — Man, of all ages, sexes and ranks, in all positions of the body. C — Parts of the human body — as an eye, hand, &c. D — Quadrupeds — domestic and savage — as a bull, giraffe, mon- key, &c. E — Birds of divers species — as a vulture, hawk, duck, ibis, owl, &c. F — Reptiles of various kinds — as a crocodile, frog, snake, &c. G — Fish, of a few varieties. H — Insects — as a beetle, scorpion, wasp, &c. I — Plants, flowers, and fruits. J — Articles of dress or costume — as helmets, collars, shoes, &c. K — Furniture, arms, and ensigns — as thrones, bows, sceptres, &c. L — Household utensils — as vases, bowls, knives, &c. M — Instruments relating to arts and trades — as a saw, , hatchet, blowpipe, &c. N — Edifices and buildings — as temples, obelisks, houses, boats, &c. — Various geometrical forms — as squares, ovals, angles, circles, segments, &c. P — Monstrous orfabulous Images — as a Hawk with a human head. Sphinx — a lion's body with a man's, a ram's, or hawk's head — men, with the heads of animals — and other unnatural combinations ; all conveying however, some metaphorical, allegorical, or mystical signification. The exact number of the hieroglyphical figures not being yet ascertained, the complete amount of varieties used by the Egyptians cannot be positively defined. Approximately, their number may be set down at 900, and time will develop a very few more. Sculptured hieroglyphics were executed in "Intaglio," in "Rilievo," or in " Intaglio rilevato." They were frequently painted, in minor structures, without being sculptured ; but were rarely sculptured on public monuments (save perhaps on obelisks) without being also painted. In writing they were sometimes colored or illuminated, but usually only in black or red. The colors given to each symbol were not arbitrary on the part of the artist, but were applied according to sys f ematic rules, more or less consistent with the nature of the object — thus, the Heavens were painted blue — the Earth red — Man as follows ; Egyptian males in red as the most honorable color — meaning symbolically, the " heat of fire," and the " male principle" — Egyptian females, in yel- low, symbolizing the " light of fire," and the "female principle" — Other nations were depicted as nearly as the artist could approach their true color — as Asiatics in various shades of flesh color ; Berbers in brown of divers hues — Negros in black. Quadrupeds, birds, insects, fishes, plants, in the colors most appropriate to their natural aspect. Woods, in yellow — cop- per, in green — edifices, in blue — and so on. To these rules there are some exceptions, not however, produced by caprice. Disposal of the hieroglyphics — in vertical column from top to bottom in horizontal lines. Read from left to right, or from right to left ; beginning from that direction toward which the heads of the animals are pointed. There are exceptions, I admit, but this is the general order. Different species of signs and symbols — in the hieroglyphic char- acter are thus classed : Mimic — or figurative. Tropic — or symbolic. Phonetic — or " signs of sound " — i. e. alphabetic. Each of these expressed ideas by diffent methods. Figuratively — viz: Kvpto\oyiK>i koto. Mtpigirii' — method explain- ing itself by imitation. These expressed precisely the object of which, with more or less fidelity of design, they presented the image to the eye — as a disk, for the sun ; a crescent, for the moon ; a crocodile, for that reptile. Symbolically — Subdivided into four principal methods, under the following rhetorical rules, viz : 1st. By Synecdoche — the part placed for the whole — as the head of an ox, to designate an ox — the head of a goose, to represent a goose. 2nd. By Metonymy — the cause for the effect ; the effect for the cause ; the instrument for the labor produced — as " a month" by a crescent, with its horns turned downward, to designate the end of a lunation : fire, by a column of smoke from a stove : writing, by the combination of emblems given in the preceding chapter. 3rd. By Metaphor — as a mother, by a vulture, because this bird was said to nourish its young with its own blood : a king, by a bee, as this insect is subject to a monarchial government : a priest, by a jackal, to indicate his watchfulness over sacred things : a physician, by a species of duck, the name of which was cein, while the pho. netic name of a doctor was ceini — as, even in our day, a duck is an excellent hieroglyphic for medical empiricism, because its phonetic cry is " quack, quack." 4th. By Enigma — thus, an ibis stood for the god Thoth Hermes, owino- to a supposed mystical connection between the bird and the deityl a branch of lotus, or other parts of this flower, indicated the Upper Region, or Upper Egypt — while a tuft of papyrus, symbolized the Lower Region, or Lower Egypt : a sphinx, (always male in Egypt) with a lion's body and a man's head, represented royalty — or intellectual power combined with physical strength. These ideographic signs abound in Egyptian legends ; but can be, and often are, expressed by alphabetic "homonymia" and syno- nymes. Phonetically — (from the Greek tyovri, sound.) These signs are let. ters expressive, not of ideas, but of sounds, like our A, B, C, 1). The'y are, by far, the most numerous emblems in hieroglyphic writing ; and are alphabetic, and not syllabic. The fundamental principle of the phonetic system consists, in rep. resenting a sound by the pictorial image of a physical object, of ANCIENT EGYPT. 23 which the name, in the colloquial idiom of the Egyptians, had for ■initial articulation, or beginning letter, the sound which this sign, or image, was intended to express — thus : I ■jflL an Eagle, ftU a Field, ^ a Cap, the tuft of a Reed, called Ake, stood for A. " Akhom, " A, « Koi, " K. « Klapht, " K. « Moolddj, " M. an Owl, a Mouth, " Ed, <•) a Beetle — scarabseus, an Egg, a Hand, a Lion, Water-tank, - Thore, Soohe, Tot, Ldbo, Sheei, R. TH. S. T. L. SH. In teaching little children our own alphabet, we often adopt a system precisely similar ; as, " A, was an Archer, B, was a Butcher, ■ C, was a Crier, D, was a Doctor, or otherwise, " A, was an Apple-pie ; B, bit it ; C, cried for it ; D, danced for it ; E, eyed it." The copiousness of this principle, in the variety of words com- mencing with the same initial, permitted to the scribe a choice of "homophones," or " similars in sound," to express the same letter ; thus, the letter R could be expressed by a mouth, ro ; or by a pome- granate flower, romdn ; or by a tear, rime : T by a hand, tot; by a wing, tenh ; or by a hoopoo, tepeep : S by an egg, soohe ; or by a goose, sar; and so on; as I have exemplified in the word America. The number of homophones allowed to each letter was, after all, not very considerable ; nor was their choice, in the Pharaonic period, dependent on individual caprice. In later times, the degradation of art in Egypt, by the Ptolemies and Romans, corrupted the simplicity of pristine orthography, by the addition of signs unknown before ; and the scribe sought, by the profusion of his fantastic homophones, to disguise his ignorance and his inability to equal his glorious pre- cedents. Yet, in the wise laws which regulated his primeval art, the scribe of ancient days had an abundant selection at his disposal, not only cf varied phonetic signs, symbolically expressive of meanings corres- ponding- to the dignity of his theme, but adapted to horizontal or rerfr'caZinscriptions. Forinstance ; the Coptic word CSL&G' sems > could be written as follows : In vertical columns. — »»— r s -*- M S In horizontal lines. MS \ S MS S SMS SMS or r£r 1 s m SM As in the Hebrew, Phoenician, Arabic, and other Semitic lan- guages, the vowels in ancient Coptic were vague, and habitually omitted. The consonants indicated the word ; as, at the present day, is customary in writing short-hand. In this manner, Domitia- nos became Dmtns ; Berenice is written BrnJc ; Philifpos is some- times Pheeolecoupos, and, in some cases, Pips. One great advantage accrued from this power of vocalic suppres- sion, and the admissible traasmutation of L for R ; because thereby the differences of dialects in speech disappeared from the graphical texts. There were three colloquial idioms of the same language among the denizens of the Nile in Coptic times ; and we may infer that it was the same in ancient days ; especially now, that Dr. Mor- ton's triple classification of Ancient Egyptian Crania, indicates the primitive existence of three varieties of the Caucasian in Egypt. Among the Fellahs of the present day, three idioms of Arabic are, to a practised ear, discernible ; the Saeedee, or Upper Egyptian pro. vincialisms ; the Ghdrbee, or Western ; and the Sherkdwee, or East, em, referrible to the lower provinces. It was anciently somewhat the same ; for, in Lower Egypt, the people spoke the Memphitic, 1 " Bashmuric, > dialects. Middle Upper Sahidic, J But, by the suppression of the vowels, and the transmutability of cer- tain consonants, the same combination of hieroglyphics could be vocally enunciated, by each provincial reader, according to his own peculiar idiom. The verb ^flflftjjy ^ Kel, to fold; might be read kal, kel, kol, or kul ; or ka r, ker, kor, or kur. It must be observed, lli »' CL ~^ when the introduction of Christianity caused the hieroglyphic, hieratic and demotic charac- ters to be abandoned, (as savoring too much of heathenism for the delicate fingers of those, in whose eyes every legend was an inven. tion of the foul fiend, simply because they were too stultified to com. prehend, too fanatical to inquire) the Greco-Coptic alphabet was substituted in lieu of the ancient system ; but the language, beyond a few hellenic engraftments, and a few idioms introduced by Jews, Romans and Arabs, remained nearly the same, till the invasion of Aamer-ebn-el-As, and the establishment of the Saracenic Caliphate in A. D. 540. Arabic gradually superseded it ; and I was told, that the last speaker of Coptic died some seventy years ago. The process adopted by modern hierologists, in translating ancient Egyptian legends, is to transpose the hieroglyphics, according to their corresponding values in Coptic letters ; the roots are then in general traceable in Coptic lexicons ; but it requires vast erudition, intense study, and long practice, to become a translator. In ancient days, a hieroglyphical text could be read as currently, as, in our day, a page can be read in the Chinese language, or a treatise on Algebra in any of our tongues ; both of which, like an Egyptian legend, offer a continual intermixture of phonetic and ideographical signs. The three component principles of the sacred writing — that is to say ; the figurative, by imitation ; the symbolic, by assimilation ; and the phonetic, by alphabetical arrangement; were applied to all the parts of speech. A noun could be often written in each method alone, or expressed by the union of two ; and, not unfrequently, by an intermixture of all three, in the same word. It became necessary to indicate to the reader, through which of these principles he should understand a given combination of symbols. To effect this deside. ratum, the Egyptians introduced certain arbitrary signs, as determin- atives. For example : two eyes, drawn in an inscription, might mean A A ; or represent simply two eyes ; or imply the act of vision. In the first case, the writer merely drew two eyes ; in the second, he would add. one arbitrary sign ; and in the third, he used another arbitrary sign, to denote that he meant a verb, or the act of seeing. With these rules, and their application, the only way to gain an adequate acquaintance with the subject, is to consult Champollion'a grammar. I merely attempt to give a superficial view of its won- derful results. The following will explain some of these determin- atives of nouns. soten an ox, harir a serpent, an ox, a pig; CD 3 an anima .'s hide, a king, lafl a king, perfumes, r -a CP '§ ajar a flower, a> a flower, a serpent, and so on ; each determinative being appropriate to the nature of the object determined : the names of deities by the image of the pecu. liar god intended ; the proper names of men and women by the figure of a male or a female, as Pet-Hor-Phre — " he who belongs to . Horus and to Phre " (the sun) being the ^hieroglyphical mode of spelling Potiphar, 01 u maiu ui a icwti from a papyrus of Lord Mountnorris. 24 ANCIENT EGYPT. Names of Egyptian localities were determined by the sign " consecrated bread," betokening civilization, 111 MAi ffl No. 1. Toph or Noph — the abode of Amun " Amunei. • Thebes. or by a square inclosure, meaning an edifice. Foreign countries were indicated by the sign B*ilt *W " Kah country; generally, however, with the addition of the barbarian mace, (termed " Lissan " and "Aboo-selem " and in use in Nubia to this day) above it, as \ For example, \ BARBARIAN COUNTRY. ^<£*"5s. > " the moon inverted," (Horus- Apollo) symbolic of lunar I . ^ motion. Day was /^\ , 7^ symbolic of the sun's diurnal course. And thus the \^s 15th of March, 1843, in hieroglyphics would be, n >H S I 9999 r\e\(\r\ 9999 1 1 I iionu i i in a s /wvv\ to © KAH, Country © KAH, Country, be fired at by their own infantry, who were anxious to have the benefit of their horse3 ! The most daring of the Turkish troopers are called Delhi (madmen,) from their recklessness of human life. Their motto is, to conquer or die ; and, as Baron de Tott remarks, " ils ne font ni l'un, ni l'autre." The ancient Egyptians understood decimals and fractions ; and, in short, the papyri, existing in va- rious museums of Europe, containing long inven- tories and accounts, show that the priests were 1 masters of arithmetical book-keeping also ; a sci- /VWV\ ence developed 3000 years later by the Italian merchants. In their notation of time (besides the astronom- ical cycles, and perpetual calendar,) the Egyptians regulated their ordinary dates by the reign of each Pharaoh ; reckoning from the date of his acces- sion to the throne to the day of his death. As in England, the 5th year of Victoria, or in France, the 12th of Louis Philippe ; so in Egypt, an act was chronicled, " In the fourth year of the Pharaoh, Sheshonk, the 10th day of the month Paopi." This chronological system has been of immense advantage to the modern hierologists, by enabling them to ascertain the length of each king's individual reign, and also by assisting them in other computa- tions of relative eras for events ; while, from the multitude of tablets bearing dates, and still existing, we can correct and confirm history. I give further on, in a note, some facts relating to Persian monarchs, and will add two other instances. Manetho tells us, that Sesostris (who is our Ramses 3rd — B. C. 1565) reigned 66 years, 2 months. A few years ago it was pretended (even with the example of George III. before our eyes,) that such a reign was extremely improbable. We now have Stelfe bearing dates, of the 3rd, 4th, 8th, 9th, 14th, 30th, 34th, 35th, 37th, 38th, 40th, 44th, and 62nd years of his reign. Nor need longevity be claimed for the ancient Egyptians ; because, while the Almighty vouchsafed to the Hebrew patriarchs an especial duration of life, we have positive evi- dences that, in Egypt and among Egyptians, the average life of man, in ages before Abraham, was precisely what it is at present. Again, Thotmes the 4th (Mceris) is said, by historians, to have reigned only 12 years 9 months. When, in 1839, my much-honored friend, A. C. Harris, Esq., of Alexandria, and myself, wandered one day in quest of " hieroglyph- ical adventures," along the craggy ledges, caverns, tombs and quar- ries of the hills behind Zebayda (middle Egypt,) we stumbled on a tablet apparently of the forty-second year of this king, which seemed to record that, in this year of his reign, stone had been quarried at this place for the temple of Thoth at Hermapolis Magna — Aishmoo- neyn — on the opposite side of the Nile. If this should prove authen- tic, we should be enabled to correct history from a hiero- glyphical date. Sir J. G. Wilkinson had already found dates of the 27th (see Materia Hieroglyphica ;) and this fact de- mands a more critical investigation of the tablet alluded to, than in our hurried ramble we were able to compass ; as it would amend Rosellini's and Champollion Figeac's arrange- V/jrw rrfi^ A. I 0. mentof the later reigns of the 18th dynasty. The vast relics An p" left by Mceris, seem to demand an extension of his reign be. yond 12 years and 9 months. From the summit of the hill, I directed my telescope with vain regrets toward the mounds of Aishmooneyn ; where, up to 1825, a noble portico, (added by Ptolemy-Lagus, in the name of Philip Arridaeus, about B. C. 320, to the temple, which had then existed for 1600 years,) had stood, in majesty, and in safety, at which time Mohammed Ali caused at to be destroyed, to supply building ma- terials for his regenerating and civilizing rum-distillery at Mellawee. I will now proceed to the analysis of one hieroglyphical text, and the production of a few others ; by which the reader will be con. vinced, that these things are no longer, thanks to the Champollionists, " unintelligible mysteries." " Grammaire Egyptienne," p. 398 — and Champollion Figeac, p. 225. Read from right to left. L\. i %. -A> SHE-lHr KHONS. EIT1, to go, Khons, I accord /ww\ & B S H T N, AN , AN. SI-T, NOHEM, Bashtan, of. Chief, of, the daughter, to rescue. No. 1 — is composed of two signs, the figure of the god Khons, re- cognizable by his emblems — he is the subject of the proposition, and signifies, " I the god Khons ;" the other sign above him is phonetic, and is the root of the verb eiti — to give, or accord. No. 2 — is phonetic — it reads she-m, and signifies, to go. No. 3 — the pronoun is phonetic — the figure that of a king — the group reads pephhont, his majesty. No. 4 — is L, the preposition to. No. 5 — the first four signs are phonetic — Bashtan — the other two, one figurative of a country, the other symbolic of civilization — meaning a civilized country. No. 6 — is L, the preposition to. 7 — is phonetic — reading nohem, to rescue, deliver. 8 — is phonetic and symbolic — si-t, daughter. 9 — is phonetic — N, the preposition of. 10 — is figurative of the idea, chief. 11— is N, of. 12 — as above, No. 5. The current translation is, " I, the god Khons, consent that his majesty (the king of Egypt) should go to the civilized country of Bashtan, to rescue (probably to marry) the daughter of the chief of the country of Bashtan." This extract is from the 15th line of an historical tablet, existing in the ruins, southeast of Karnac, Thebes. Epoch uncertain. No. No. No. No. No. No. The following are facsimile texts, culled from Champollion's grammar, to illustrate the method introduced by that immortal scholar, for translating hieroglyphical legends into Coptic, and thence into French A— Page 409. A A I — V. /W I deux obelisques, /NA/VVVN rfd.i-eipe ?' j'a; fait (eriger 4 £fi.OYf> la gauche, I & " On the left hand, (or western bank of the Nile,) I have caused two obelisks to be erected." Speech ot Amonoph the 3rd. — on a stela dedicatory of his palace, the Amunophium, Thebes — B. C. 1690. 99 ANCIENT EGYPT. B— Page 408. fci*y * /vw\ r W . r v /vwv\ Amon. TTd£TCJ mon pere. /VWV\ rr i 1 l «i tfr nG^cou rrdr-elbe p ! de Ie-> ordre3 " I have executed the orders of my father, Araun." C— Page 184. J'executai /WWv rrr b ^^2^^ A Q ff ft w* 335 III f^. in i\?V in «#» y Tnir w* TeriJiero ua,-er ©ipw &p^t£UT rudT rrerup cet, edifice, contemplez, venez. Deny, qui resiHez, grands, dans " O great gods, who reside in Derry, come and contemplate this edifice !" O dieux' Dedications of the temple of Amada, in. Nubia, epoch about 1700, B. C. At this very day, there is an adjacent town named Derr while its ancient name was The-Ee, the abode of Rha, the Sun — a Heliopolis, in Nubia ! D— Page 405-6. Egrpte ! AWV\ fi mu7Af*s ncovTir uu roi O \ — CfT'KT diaent. 1'Ethiopie, 75 I if*.- de = G> ni^di&rr des peuples etrangers m UUHpI les chefe, (uj)npH O soleil ** The chiefs of Kush-countries (i. e. Negro countries, lying above lat. 15.) say, King of Egypt ! Sun of foreign nations I" From the tomb of an African prince, at Thebes. E— page 500. f^-^] /WWA n^ = ^ /VW\A C=*=»< -** /VM /n^x -<££- ^'^ mil TTK&g rr nrrHi. tf jt-&4. Hump J n erne er entiere, la terre, /VSAAA ^tfOJCl ffj& avec lui. entiere, de, seigneur, de la terr* du, grand. f — S3 ies contrees, chef, du, etant, la venue. _ M etc KHue p fcCu&oa voici, l'Egypte, ver^ Camby»e, U *' On the coming of the great chief, lord of the whole earth, Cambyses, to Egypt, behold ! all the nations marched with him" — alluding W the vast army of the Persians. From an inscription on the statue of the priest, "Outohem Pisoten," in the Vatican Museum, Rome F— page 500-1. £f t vivant, toujours, ^? AA//v\ ■?~£ T S TPOYULI TTCTrr rr TJurfT OX&& L rrif Darius, roi du, la majeste, u moi, ordonna. dTUD ANCIENT EGYPT. 27 fvt vKptVi. r — i © f J £UL eeiurfTOT&dii gjc Khug p Arma-pays, dam. sa majesty. Es?pte, £4 'fie j quej'allasse "And his majesty, King Darius, ever living, ordered me to go to Egypt, while his majesty was in Aram;" i. e. Assyria — now called Roum, the root of Armenia. Same statue — epoch between B. C. 525 and 485— Idem — page 183. The subjoined example will afford a good idea of the transition from the linear hieroglyphical character into the hieratic. It ia from the grand " Ritual for the Dead." (3 cSJtJl) nft 3 $i* n /V\AAA T 1 mi His hand is fiim AWA lie on his 6 chariot like tt i Monthou, Mars, Lord To of the land of purity and justice— Egypt. Conquests of Ramses 2nd— defeat of African nations, at BeyUel. Walee—B. C. 1570. K. A Threshing Song. U j\ Tread ye out III A/Wv\ for yourselves vwv\ III (5>\\ twice (i. e. bis, meaning, this sentence to be sung twice) X^\ oxen i ijr Tread ye out ~-^n of solar dominion and benevolence ; the king of Egypt was symbolized, in the sacred character, by the " solar * By the way, the name of Moses \t/ f\ r\MSS, or Mcs, was strictly Egyptian. In signification, it means rebegotten, fy\ II II regenerated, initiated in the myste- ries. It is recognizable in other com III I * Ipound proper names, as Thotmcs, or Thothmoses, begotten of the god. III ' ' Thoth ; or in Ramescs, begotten of the god, Ra. The first sign of the three symbols above, M. is figurative of the dew and symbolic ofbaptism, in hieroglyphics : as the word Moses signifies in the Hebrew roots, MSCHE meaning saved, and MSCHHE anointed. Baptism, by fire and water, was one of the ceremonies that initiated the neophyte into the Egyptian mysteries. The Hebrew of Exodus ii. 10, means " saved by water," as well "saved from water." Artapanus, in his work concerning the Jews, says, that a queen of Egypt, having no children, adopted and '■ brought up a child of the Jews, and named it Mouses." Ma- netho, according to Josephus. speaking of the Exodus of the Israelites, states, "that the priest, who ordained their polity and laws, was of Heliopolis by birth, and his name was Osarsiph, from Osiris the god of Heliopolis : but that when he went over to these people, his name was changed, and he was called Mouses." Chajremon records, that the leaders of the Jews, when, (according to his statement) they were expelled from Egypt, "were two scribes called Mouses and Josephus, the latter of whom was a sacred scribe"— alluding probably to Aaron. Diodorus, Lysimachus, and I'olkmon confirm the name and the deeds of Mouses. 1 1 have compiled this portion of my essay, chiefly from Sir J. G. Wilkinson's " Man- ners and Customs;" Portal " Symholesdes Egyptiens;" and " CouleursSymboliques; Dr. Lamb "on tlio Hebrew alphabet;" Cory's "Horus-opollo ;" and "Ancient Fragments." 33 ANCIENT EGYPT. orb." In the Bible, this name of the kings of Egypt is, in the orig- inal Hebrew letters, spelt Phrdh ; rendered Pharaoh in our version, and corrupted into the sound of Fdyray-o. So strangely has this appropriate title of the monarch of Egypt deviated from its natural sound, and simple application, that at the present day, in Arabic, when one man calls another " Ya Pharaoon, ebn-Pharaoon," "thou Pharaoh, son of a Pharaoh," he fancies that he has heaped upon his head the ne-plus-ultra of opprobrium ! Every Pharaoh was the sun of Egypt ; and over his name bore • " Son of the Sun ;" and as the sun was Phrd, so each king was called Phrd in common parlance, as we say king. G^^^|Each monarch by law inherited his father's throne in lineal ^^^; succession ; so that the incumbent was Phrd, son of Phrd, -* J literally " Sun, son of the Sun ;" as in the East, at present, the Ottoman Emperor is termed by the Arabs, Sooltdn, ebn Soolldn, emperor, son of an emperor. It is essential to observe, that the sun, or god Phrd, or Phre', was also more frequently written Re, or Ed. And, as Wilkinson re- marks, Phre is merely Re, with the article Pi prefixed, pronounced Pire, the Sun, in the Theban dialect, and Phre in the Memphitic. To the root Rd, Sun (the designatory title of a Pharaoh,) we may readily trace Ouro — royalty ; typified by the asp with his tail coiled under him. This symbol was, by the Greeks, termed Ouraios — OipaToa — /3a, de. noting obscurity and darkness, in reference to the color of Egyptian alluvium (as in Scripture, " the darkness of Egypt") has not been found in hieroglyphics ; but I think it derivable from the roots of Ra, Ouro, Aur; explained in the previous chapter, as referring to Phre, the sun, the solar deity of Egypt. Much of the above, in regard to the original geographical distri- bution of the sons of Mizraim, is problematical. I should not have alluded to the children of Mizram, were it not essential to prove by negatives (when the absolute silence of Scripture leaves no better argument,) that there is nothing in the Bible, which compels us to carry the first settlers in Egypt very far up the Nile : but, on the con- trary, that in the opinion of the best biblical commentators, only one son of Mizraim (head of the Pathrusim) is supposed to have ascended the river as far as the Thebaid ; while all the other brethren set- tled in Lower Egypt, Lower Lybia, the Delta, and the land of Go. shen toward Palestine. There is then no biblical ground for supposing that Ham's imme- diate family ascended the banks of the Nile, even as far as the first Cataract ; and this is but reasonable, when we reflect, that the mid- dle.andthe lower provinces offered inducements to agricultural tribes, incomparably superior to any that could be found above the The- baid, in Nubia, or in Ethiopia, as far as Nigritia in the 15th parallel of latitude. There is every scriptural reason to suppose Lower Egypt the territory first colonized by the family of Ham, on their pri- meval migration from Assyria to the Nilotic valley, which will be found in strict accordance with monumental evidence. It has been shown, that there was no curse on Ham, or on Miz- raim. We know, that the curse on Canaan affected him morally, and not physically. We have seen, that Shem, Ham and Japheth, were of one blood as brothers. We have learned that Shem and Ham were twin brothers. We know, that Shem, the parent of Sem- itic nations, and Japheth, the parent of Circassian tribes, were Caucasians. It follows therefore, that Ham was a Caucasian also, and so were all his children, and Mizraim in particular, when he entered Egypt. It is our part now to prove, that not time, nor circumstance, nor climate, effected any palpable change, or physical alteration, in their progeny ; and that Ham's lineal descendants, the Egyptians, were all pure blooded Caucasians, from the earliest to the latest Pharaonic epoch — modified in the Upper Nilotic provinces by the admixture of exotic Austro-Egyptian (that is, as Dr. Morton explains, by com- pound Semitico-Hindoo and equally Caucasian) blood ; and this was strictly the fact, except in incidental and individual intermixture with the African races of Berbers and Negroes in those provinces to Ethi- opia adjacent. This latter commingling, however, appears to have but partially affected the gross of Egyptian population of Asiatic ori gin ; and to have been no more visible, (probably still less so) among the Pharaonic Egypto-Caucasian family, than it is now discern, ible among the Fellahs, of the lower and middle provinces of the present day. On the dubious authority of the Greeks, and their pupils the Ro- mans, it has been and is still asserted, that at the early, period of which we are treating — that of primeval migrations — Lower Egypt was an " uninhabitable marsh ;" and, therefore, that Upper Egypt must have been settled first. Nay, Herodotus and Diodorus main- tain, that Ethiopia, above the cataracts, was the cradle of the ancient Egyptians. Bryant, who, by the way, frequently breathes " the word of promise to the ear, and breaks it to the hope," has judiciously remarked, that " among many learned men, who have betaken themselves to these researches, I have hardly met with one that has duly considered the situation, distance, and natural history of the places about which they treat :" and, on applying his observation to the points at issue, it will be found wonderfully pertinent. From the poetic era of Homer, down to the sentimentalism of the present age, it has been fashionable, to take much for granted on Egyptian subjects, of which a sober and practical investigation of the facts would at once have exposed the fallacy. These chapters and my future lectures are specially directed to the removal of the more prominent instances of ancient or modern misconception. My opin- ions are the result of some study, and comparison of the most distin- guished authorities. I have had opportunities of which I have gladly availed myself, for hearing many of these questions canvassed in Egypt, by some of the most critical observers of the day, often standing on the very spots under discussion. Much have I verified in personal trav. els, and through favorite occupations, during a sojourn prolonged in that country "for the greater part of twenty-three years. When, therefore, I make a confident assertion, it isnotdone rashly, nor with some acquaintance with the matter, nor without abundance of evi- dence in reserve for its support. Among the illusions consecrated by the halo of ages, there is none so singular, and that strikes any one who has traversed the Nomes or Provinces of Egypt, in their length and breadth, as more unac countable and inconceivable with the array of natural facts presented to him, than the statement, that the Delta of Egypt is of recent date ; or otherwise, that its formation has taken place within any period, to which even tradition may carry us. To adopt the language of Sir J. G. Wilkinson, whose critical investigation of every subject and ANCIENT EGYPT. 43 locality of that country during some twelve yaars of actual sojourn, has led him to the most accurate conclusions, " we are led to the necessity of allowing an immeasurable time for the total formation of that space, which to judge from the very little accumulation of its soil, and the small distance it has encroached on the sea, since the erection of the ancient cities within it, would require ages, and throw back its origin far beyond the deluge, or even the Mosaic era of the Creation." * So thoroughly, indeed, has Sir J. G. Wilkinson demonstrated this fact, that, were it desirable to enter into details, the most convincing method would be to extract from pages 5 to 11 of his first, and from pages 105 to 121 of his fourth volume, of "Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians." But, since the curious can readily peruse this eminent work for themselves, I perform an agreeable duty in referring to his statement, adding at the same time an expression of my admiration of its accuracy. The following axioms will then be arrived at : 1st. That the Delta is as old as the flood, and was as inhabitable when Ham's children entered Egypt, as it is in those parts which are peopled at the present hour. In fact, owing to the constant rise of the bed of the river being more rapid than that of the soil on its banks, the Delta and Lower Egypt are probably more marshy now, than at any previous period. 2nd. That, to the south of the Delta, the perpendicular rise of the bed of the Nile extends the inundation and alluvial deposit much farther, in a horizontal and lateral direction, East and West, at the present day, than was the case at any anterior period — that this pro- cess has always been in operation — and that there is now a wider extent of superficies overflowed and irrigated by the inundation than at any former time. 3d. That the exaggerated and ridiculous stories, about the encroach- ment of sand on the arable soil of Egypt, deserve no attention; for, on the contrary, whatever injurythe sand mayhave here and there effected (that is, at Rosetta, Beni-saliime, the pyramids, Behnesa, and Aboo- simbel) the number of square miles of inundated alluvium has always been, and will ever be, on the increase,so long as similar causes operate to produce similar effects. 4th. That the celebrated Oases, to the westward of Egypt, are not " fertile spots in the midst of a sandy plain ;" but depressions in the lofty table-land of Africa, where, in the absence of the superincum- bent limestone strata, the water has the power of rising to the surface. 5th. That the desert is not a dreary plain of sand, which has over- whelmed a once fertile country, whose only vestiges are the " iso- lated gardens of the Oases," but a high table-land of limestone, sand- stone, granite and other rocks, according to locality; broken and in- terrupted by alternate elevations and depressions : where, when not on the top of the table-rock itself, you travel in ravines, defiles, and spaces, on hard gravel, upon which your tread often leaves no trail ; and where frequently you are truly delighted, as the shades of even- ing warn you to search for a bivouack, if you can find as much sand as will make under your carpet aB^dawee's mattress. The Isthmus of Suez, and those already-named places, which the casual Anglo- Indian hurries over in his explorative transit, are exceptions to the above rule, for very simple reasons. The fanciful accounts of caravans' being overwhelmed by sands in the desert, would be too puerile to deserve attention, did not those paragons of observers, Herodotus and Strabo, Paul Lucas and Mr. St, John (who confine their knowledge to the half-mile strip of sand between the cultivated soil and the desert, or "Higar," stone) per- petuate the delusion. Strabo, like some later travellers, must have braved great dangers during his voyage ! and, even now, we read about wonderful escapes and miraculous preservations frqm a Si- moom ! The army of Cambyses is said to have been swallowed up by waves of sand. It would be a phenomenon in physics to see one of such waves. Others, besides the writer, who are still alive to tell the tale, have been out in the wilderness during the worst Si- mooms that ever blew, and found them disagreeable enough ; but, having abundance of water at hand, they sat down under the lee of anything they could find — (camels kneeling down afford as much shelter as is necessary) and, without a shadow of apprehension, suf- fered the blast to blow over with its cloud, not of sand, but of hot, impalpable, though penetrating dust. No aerial force having the power of raising waves of sand, there never was, during a Simoom or Khdmeseen, the slightest danger from any motion oi the sands of the desert. If a man, during these hot winds, be remote from pools or springs, and the skins which con- tain water for his beverage break, or are dried up, then he will per- ish from thirst, his drought being aggravated by the parching heat of a lurid atmosphere. Consequently, where caravans have perished in the desert, from causes not originating in man himself, they have died, after losing their way, from hunger and thirst; as did the army of Cambyses, after encountering the arrows of the " nine bows" of Lybia. As the animals fall, the light particles of dust or fine sand- drift accumulate with the obstruction, and may sometimes bury the carcass ; but this is so rare, that, when occasionally in journeying over the desert, you pass the skeleton of a camel, you often regret, that there was not sand enough to screen the unpleasing relic from your view. The desert, the sand, the Simoom, the Khameaeen, with all their fabulous horrors, alarm not the Arab who has plenty of water; and to a hale European, are infinitely more appalling in a book of travels, than when encountering the acme of their disagreeables m the Sahara itself. To those who love clear skies, pure air, often beau- tiful, ever romantic scenery, there is a charm in desert- life, that can be felt, but not described. Finally, there is no danger in the desert at any time, (save now and then, from man, who, even there is much belied) provided the wayfarer has food and water (without which he could not exist in Eden,) and, as for the dangers of a Simoom, in comparison with those of a snow-storm in the Highlands of Scotland, among the Alpine crags of Switzerland, or on the northwestern prairies of America, they are not to be mentioned in the same breath. These subjects afford ample room for prolixity, but being at present irrelevant, I apologize for the digression. Let us return to Lower Egypt, the pristine seat of Ham's descendants. Positive levels demonstrate to us, that when the Delta was an "arm of the sea," or even " an uninhabitable marsh," Asia and Africa were separate Continents, and the Red Sea flowed into the Mediterranean. In those days the Mokattam hills behind Cairo, and the opposite Ly- bian chain, whereon now stand the eternal pyramids, (if those hills were then in existence) stood out, into the sea, bold capes and prom- ontories. The nearest points of either Continent would have been Gebel Attaka on the African, to Gcbel Ein Moosa on the Asiatic side, at the present apex of the Red Sea, distant from each other about thirty miles. While, on each Continent, sterile rocks were all, that for hundreds of miles, were out of the water. The same geological transitions that caused the recession of the waters, and upheaved the narrow slip which now connects Africa with Asia, burst asunder the basaltic barriers of Wadee Haifa, rifted the granite portals of Syene, opened the sandstone gateways of Had- jar Silsilis, separated the limestone ranges of the eastern and western hills, and by forming the Valley of the Nile, allowed the " sacred river" to pour along the narrow channel its ever fertilizing stream. Then was the alluvial soil of Upper Egypt begun, and eventually formed, simultaneously with the Delta — one did not exist without the other : and until the alluvial deposite had been made, there was no soil throughout the land of Egypt, or in Ethiopian latitudes, but all was hard rock, unfit for man's abode. The periods of these events are geological, their latest epoch is diluvian; but the alluvium had to be formed, before man could inhabit the " land of the Sycamore." The geology of the Isthmus of Suez and of the adjacent deserts, with their oyster beds, and petrified forests ; their vitrified rocks of sandstone upon limestone, and their porphyry upheavings; their erratic blocks, and argillaceous strata ; presents a mass of conflicting irregu- larities, from the dilemmas of which it would require the analyzing hand of a Lyell to extricate us ; but, amid the chaos, one point is certain, which is, that when Ham's children came from Asia into Egypt, their journey was by land from Assyria through Palestine, and across the Suez desert — that they found Lower Egypf, and the Delta as inhabitable then, and as suited to agriculture, in proportion to the alluvium then existing in the upper country, as they are now — that if the Delta had little soil, there was then still less above — and that all scriptural commentators agree in distributing the sons of Mizraim over this lower tract ; whence, as population increased, their progeny spread themselves in suitable directions, according to circumstances by us unknown, but actuated by motives probably to them expedient. " Dato il caso, e non concesso;" let us for a moment suppose, that Lower Egypt, on the immigration of Mizraim, was a marsh. Let us concede, that there was a macadamized road from Palestine to the Mokattam at Cairo : and let it be, for a moment allowed, that Miz- raim, his wife and children ascended at once to the first Cataract. Where shall we place them ? where shall we find alluvial soil and vegetation, in a land in which these primary principles were entirely wanting ? that is ; for all pastoral, and still more for agricultural pur- poses ? For when the Delta was a marsh, there was not six feet breadth of soil above Hadjar Silsilis ; but all was barren rock. However, we will suppose that onward they plod their weary way, (as did those Cushites ! who, by some are said to have come from Babel, through Asia, across Behring's Straits, into North America, as far as Mexico, and onward to Peru,) taking their provisions with them. Mizraim had to bring from Palestine to the Mokattam, a dis- tance of at least 300 miles, sufficient for his family and his flocks, and thence to convey his commissariat 610 miles farther to Syene. It being useless to remain amid granite rocks, they are hence carried onward into Nubia. Now, in Lower Nubia, even at the present day, there is not soil enough to support its sparse and frugal population of " Barabera." Yet, their provisions being abundant (probably her- metically sealed,) after a march of 220 miles more to the second Cata ract, and not discouraged in the least, by the howling wilderness they "go ahead;" and after a couple of hundred miles, they find wha' are now the plains of Dongola, but which were then rather mor« rocky than alluvial. " Rebus angustis animosus" &c, Mizraim, nothing daunted, after a march of 200 miles (for he had to follow the river to obtain water) finally reaches the far-famed " Isle of Meroe in Ethiopia." We will suppose this spot to have been a terrestrial para, dise at that time, whatever it be now, and it is about as fertile as Lower Nubia. Here, after a weary tramp from Palestine of above 1500 44 ANCIENT EGYPT. miles (performed with as much rapidity as the children and flocks allowed,) Mizraim and his family settle and here they multiply. As Mizraim and his children were all Caucasians at first start, in order to change their skins from white to black, their hair to wool, and to alter their osteology, " through the effects of climate," time at least must be allowed. Who will define the necessary period for these radical changes ? Never mind — we grant every facility. Let countless generations transpire. Let them become Negroes, or Ber- bers, in race. Let thorn reach the acme of civilization. Let them surpass Dahomey ; outrival Ashantee ; become as intellectual as Hottentots — as philanthropical as Tuaricks — as constructive as Tib- boos. Let them build the pyramids of Meroe, Gebel Birkal, and Noori — which done, let them come down the Nile again, to build the pyramids of Memphis and cover Egypt with stupendous struc- tures ; a perfect, and essentially a civilized community ; to confirm Herodotus, and his Egyptian applications, of ^tXayxfwej irai oi\6 rpix'S " black in complexion, and wooly-haired"* to be called also MsA> 9 » 245 " 3703 » Uncertain 13th. Theban, 60 — g.a » 453 " 3417 )> Idem 14th. Xoite, 76 laJS » 484 " 3004 >> Idem 15th. Theban, — Hg.2 J B d » 250 " 2520 " [lis. Idem 16th. Theban, 5 5 » 190 '• 2272 Obelisk of Heliopo- Tablet of Abydoa 17th. ^ Theban, J i 6 " 260 " 2082 Karnac. Abraham's visit ( Hykshos, Temples, Tombs, HebrewT., B.C. 18th. Theban, 17 18 " 348 " 1822 Palaces, Tablets, [1920 Moses B.C. 1491 19th. Theban, 6 6 » 194 " 1473 Papyri, Relics, 20th. Theban, 12 9 " 178 " 1279 &c. &c. &c. 21st. Tanite, 7 ? » 130 " 1101 all over 22nd. Bubastite, 9 9 » 120 " 971 Egypt and Rehoboam 23rd. Tanite, 4 ? " 89 " 851 Nubia. B. C. 971 24th. Saitic, 1 ? 44 " 762 25th. Ethiopian, 3 3 44 718 26th. Saitic, 9 6 " 150 674 27th. Persian, 8 ' 4 " 120 524 28th. Saitic, 1 1 " 6 404 29th Mendesian, 5 4 21 398 30 th. Sebennitic, 3 1 38 377 31st. Persian, 3 ? 8 339 31 dynasties 378 kings. • End, B.C. 331 i B. C. 332. Luqsor. B. C. 304. PhihE. B.C. 30. Ombos, Edfoo. Conquest of Egypt by Alexander, Accession of Ptolemy Soter, Fall of the Lagidi, The upper table is a reduction of the " Old Egyptian Chronicle," preserved to us by Syncellus. This appears to be a succinct compi- lation, made in Egypt about the reign of Nashtenebf, of the 30th dynasty, say B. C. 359. I have already explained, that the " reign of the gods" refers possibly to our antediluvian period, when those heresies, termed by the fathers of the church, barbarismus, seem to have been first introduced. This heterodoxy they explained, as evinced by the fact, " that then men had no rulers ;" and that their im- piety and insubordination, brought down upon them the vengeance of the Most High, and the obliteration of all mankind save Noah's fam- ily. It is conjectured, that the first two reigns refer to those events anteceding the creation of man, which enter into the category of geological periods, of which it seems the Hierophants had some knowledge ; in confirmation of which, the names of the gods them- selves lend some feeble glimmer; for Cronus is "time immeasura- ble;" and Vulcan, who is our Pthah, typifies " the creative power" of the Almighty. When Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, discoursed with the Egyptian sages about those events which had happened to the Pelasgic Greeks, such as the traditions concerning the first Pho- roneus, and Niobe, and the deluge of Deucalion and Pyrrha, one of the most venerable of the sacerdotal ancients exclaimed, " O Solon, Solon ! you Greeks are always children; nor is there such a thing as an aged Grecian among you. All your souls are juvenile ; neither containing any ancient opinion derived from remote tradition, nor any discipline hoary from its existence in former periods of time. You mention one Deluge only ; whereas many happened !" The Roman Dominion in Egypt, B. C. 30. Last monumental hieroglyphical date, A. D. 215. Dendera. Esne. remaining 12 divinities relate, probably, to the line from Adam to Noah. The " reign of the demigods" 'is probably the period from Noah to the accession of Menes ; including the primitive colonization of Egypt, and the theocraticalgovernment, termed by the fathers, Scythis r mus, in reference to the apostacy of man, the confusion of Babel, &c The " reign of Men" begins with Menes, and the Pharaonic mo- narchy — termed also by the fathers, hellenismus, on account of the spread of idolatrous paganism, in which Terah, the father of Abraham, seems to have participated with the rest. Yet, if excep. tions to such idolatry existed in those primeval days, they will be found in " the order of Melchisedek," and among the initiated in Egyptian mysteries. Then follows Manetho's list. Those ciphers preceding the acces- sion of the 16th dynasty are doubtful, and the chronology is reduci- ble upon the arrangement of Syncellus into 443 years. The monu- mental parallels are positive in point of relative position, without requiring anything like Manetho's intervening internals of time be- tween the pyramids and the obelisk of Heliopolis. I have added a list of the hieroglyphical names already identified, which in 1841 was deemed to be correct. Taking the era of the Deluge, according to the Septuagint (after the rejection of the 2nd Cainan) at B. C, 3154, we obtain some cu- rious coincidences to strengthen our belief in the correctness of the record; vhile, at the same time, they indicate the possible epoch of Menes. 50 ANCIENT EGYPT. In the first place, by the Old Chronicle : From the birth of Christ, to the 2nd king of 30th dynasty, there intervened From 30th dyn., to 15th From 15th to 1st — or the accession of Menes Years 359 1881 443 From 1st dyn., back to commencement of the demigods (or possibly only to Mizraim's arrival) Postdiluvian interval Years 2683 217 2900 254 Septuagint era of Flood, B. C. 3154 This would give us 254 years between Noah and Mizraim's arri- val in Egypt — not an unreasonable interval. Then 217 more from Mizraim, during the theocratic period to Menes, who would thus have ascended the throne about B. C, 268S or 471 years after the Deluge. In the second place, by Manetho : Years. From the birth of Christ, to Alexander's conquest, 332 From the 31st dynasty back to the 16th dyn., Years 2272 Less the interval from Alexander to our Saviour, 332 Gives us for interval, between Alexander and the 16th dyn., 1940 From 16th dynasty back to 1st, 443 Accession of Menes, B. C, 2715 Interval between Menes and the Flood, 439 Deluge, B. C, 3154 We thus obtain the accession of Menes, by Ma- netho, at B. C, 2715 By the Old Chronicle at 2683 Difference only— years 32 between the two records, after Manetho has been reduced on the system of Syncellus ; which, in subjects so remote, is of no import- ance ; and, in either case, leaves us an interval of about 400 years between Menes and the Flood. Of course, this view is purely hy- pothetical ; but it will serve to show, that there is nothing appalling in the chronological extension here contended for. This will satisfy the reader, that Egyptian hierology can be reconciled, in chrono- logical matters, with an orthodox biblical record, no less than, as I have shown, with other scriptural subjects. But there are other coincidences, equally confirmatory. Syncel- lus has recorded, that, in the Old Chronicle, this number of years, 36,5:25, divided by 1461, gives exactly 25 sothic periods ; this period being composed of 1461 vague or civil years of 365 days. The singularity of this coincidence may, at first sight, appear to invali- date the record ; but on examination we may derive from it some precious chronological indications — to explain which, I must digress. There is no point ascertained with more precision, than the almost inconceivable remoteness of astronomical calculations and observa- tions among the earliest Egyptians, who appear to have perfected iheir calendar, for all practical purposes, at a period so distant, that even the Deluge epoch of the Septuagint appears irreconcilable with jue deductions thereon consequent. Indeed Champollion declares, what tha great mafhenr/.tician Biot confirms, that the astronomical dates, procured from the tombs of the kings at Thebes, would carry back the use of a national calendar in Egypt to the year 3285 B. C, Wfl>,h is 39 years beyond the Septuagint flood; even without the de- it'i'.tion of the interpolated Cainan ! I do not pretend to be compe- tent or- this point to form any opinion ; and the fact is merely ad- duced, in proof of the priority of astronomical knowledge among the children of Ham ; who, as I said before, must have brought into Egypt all the learning of antediluvian generations as an inherit- ance from Noah. It would seem, that the primitive division of the year, in Egypt, was into 12 lunar months — i. e., that the time occupied by the moon's revolution round the earth, gave origin to the month of 28 Jays. The first change in the Egyptian year, was the substitution of Solar for Lunar months ; and then the year consisted of 12 months of 30 days each, or 360 days ; but, it being very soon perceived that the seasons were disturbed, and that they no longer corresponded to the same month ; five additional days were added to the end of the last Egyptian month, Mesore, to remedy the defect in the cal- endar, and to insure the return of the seasons at fixed periods. To those accustomed to ourpresant calendar, and to the division of the seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, it maybe worth ob- serving, that in Egypt, from the most ancient days to the present hour, the agriculturalist recognizes c-nly three seasons in the year. The Arab of the present day, who, in his chronological division of time, adopts the Mahommedan system of Lunar months in all his other pursuits ; follows for a/'ricultuMl purposes, the Coptic months, which are simply the ancient Egyptian ; while both Copts and Arabs call these months by their ancient names to this day. Each third' part of their year consists of 4 months, and is regulated in perfect accordance with the seasons in Egypt, and the periodical overflow ot the Nile. Thus, the first season in Egypt begins about a month before the end of our autumn. It is called by the Arabs " es-Shitteh," or winter. It is the season of sowing and vegetation — and anciently was termed the season of the " water plants." It lasts 4 months, beginning about November, and ending with the close of February : duration ISO days. The second season begins about the end of our winter : the Arabs call it " es-Seyf," or summer. It is the sea- son of harvest and reaping, and was anciently styled the " season of ploughing," for then, as at present, they prepared their lands for the summer crops: it lasts 4 months, or 120 days. The third season com- mences about July, and is called by the Arabs "el-Hareef," or autumn, or more usually " Neel," as the period of the inundation of the Nile. It is the time, when the river overflows its banks, and saturates all the alluvial with its fertilizing moisture, either by inundation or by filtration. Anciently, it bore the appropriate name of " the season of the waters." Its duration is 120 days. I would remark, that this adaptation of the three Egyptian seasons to our months will be found most correct, as leaving the Delta, you approach the Thebaid ; because on the line of the Mediterranean, at Alexandria for instance, the seasons, like almost everything else, are more European in their appearance ; nor is it fair to judge of Middle or Upper Egypt by the sea-coast. The intercalation of the 5 complementary days, at the end of the year of 12 solar months, brought the calendar to practical utility. It was then termed the vague or civil year, consisting of 365 days ; and the Pharaohs were obliged to swear, that they would preserve it in tact from any intercalation. This was the only year known to Hero dotus, to Plato and to Eudoxus ! This vague, or civil year of 365 days, was soon discovered to be actually shorter than the duration of the true solar year, by about a quarter of a day, say six hours — for each day of the civil year retro- graded from the true solar revolution about one day in every four years ; about one month in every 120 years ; and about one year of 365 days in 1460 years. By preserving, however, in ordinary uses, the civil year of 365 days ; there were many advantages accruing to the religious system of the ancient Egyptians. The name of each month bore the name of one of twelve divinities, and was under its especial protection ; while each day was under the blessing of a deity, as by the Roman Catholics, it is now under the protection of a saint. There is but little " new beneath the sun ;" and wherever we turn, we find that we are only perpetuating the notions and systems of our forefathers, whom we stigmatize as Pagans, while we adopt many of their customs. Thus, the Mahommedans, at present in Egypt, who go piously to pray in the mosque, on a day, supposed by them, to be the birth-day of a Muslim saint, whose tomb lies in the sanctuary ; or who assemble at the periodical festivals and fairs of a " Seyd-el-Bedawee," and a " Seyd Braheem-ed-Deso6qee," are little aware, that they are only doing that which was done on the same spots, at the same seasons, 3000 years before the Muslim saint, or even Mohammed himself existed ! yet, nevertheless it is a fact, and the Mahommedan clergy are prudent enough to regulate the annual return of some of these festivals — not by the Mahommedan, but by the Coptic calendar — not by the lunar, but by the solar months. Bysadhering, therefore, to the civil year of 365 da3's, the priests were enabled, in consequence of its annual recession, to carry the periodical festivals through all the different seasons of the year, within a known period ; that is, the same festivals would sometimes occur in summer, sometimes in winter, in regular undeviating succession. The same custom has been adopted by the Mahommedans, for their fast of the Ramadan ; which, within my recollection, has passed from midsummer, through spring and winter, and is now in autumn The Egyptian astronomers, while they thought it expedient to keep the practical and popular calendar to the civil year of 365 days ; were, however, perfectly aware of the necessity of a further interca- lation, to equalize the annual rotation. They therefore created a period, well known to astronomers and chronologists, as the Sothic period, from Sirius, the dog-star, termed Sothis by the Egyptians. This period was styled by the Greeks, the Cynic Cycle, from Cynos, a dog. When, therefore, we use the terms Sothic period, or Cynic Cycle, we mean one and the same thing — and when we say the Sothic year, the Sidereal year, the Cynic year, the Canjcular year, we refer to the year whose commencement was regulated by the pe- riodical and heliacal rising of the dog-star, or Sirius, called Sothis — the star of Isis, and Isis-Thoth ; or perhaps Thoth-Isis, (?) which, by transmutation into Greek, has become Sothis. This year con- sisted of 365| days, whereas the;civil year remained 365. It is certain, that the first morning apparition of the dog-star, be- fore sunrise, was religiously associated in Egypt, with the 1st day of the month of Thoih, called by the Arabs and Copts, " Toot " And thus, the 1st day of Thoth was the first day of the first month of each year. But there was another and a local cause, that connected the heliacal rising of the dog-star with the rising of the " sacred river ;" the grandest natural phenomenon in the valley of the Nile ; and one, as intimately hallowed by the vast utility of its benefits, as mythically interwoven with the religious doctrines of the Egyptians, and sacred to the memories of Osiris and Isis. ANCIENT EGYPT. 51 In Egypt, the dog-star — Sirius or Sothis — for about 3000 years B. C, and for some centuries after, rose on the same fixed day (mean parallel,) a little before the sun (heliacal rising ;) and this day was once the 20th day of July, Julian calendar. This star in the course of each year ceased to be visible on the horizon in Egypt for about a month and a half, because it rose and set during the day-time : soon after, it began to be perceived in the eastern sky, a little before sunrise ; and on the following days it showed itself more and more above the horizon, before the end of night. The first appearance of the star of Isis occurred some days after the summer solstice, and corre- sponded exactly to the first rising of the waters of the Nile. It was, therefore, all important to observe its movements ; and these obser- vations soon proved, that the rise of the dog-star, which occurred on the first day of the month of Thoth on one year, was not visible four years subsequently till the second day of the same month ; and four years later, not till the third, and so on ; till, after 120 years, this same rising of the dog-star would not be visible till the first of the second month of the year, or Paopi. The cause of this change was immediately explained, so soon as the priests remarked, that the civil year contained only 365 days ; whereas, the heliacal rising of the dog-star took place after an in- terval of 365 days and a quarter. The priests, therefore, created an astronomical or fixed year, by the addition of one quarter of a day, or six hours, to the original civil year ; which fixed year, being regu- lated by the dog-star, was termed the sothic year of 365 J days, which modern astronomers consider may have been the true length of the year in that latitude. • It was thus ascertained that, as the vague or civil year of 365 days was a moveable year, and as the sothic year of 365i days was a fixed year; that, if at any time these two years began on the same day, 1461 civil years, or 1460 sothic years must transpire before the same circumstance could occur again ; thus, 365 X4 gave the civil year every 1460 sothic years 365^X4 " sothic " " 1461 civil " being a difference of one entire year between the sum of years de- pendent on the solar months with five days' intercalation, and the sum of years dependent on the annual heliacal rising of the dog-star, in 1460 sothic years. The heliacal rising of Sirius being, then, the initial point of the true year, the priests designated as the sothic period the series of 1460 fixed years, and of 1461 vague years, by which these two should recommence on the same instant ; because 1460 years of 365-J days, inclose exactly the same number of days that are contained in the 1461 years of 365 days ; there being 533,265 days in each of these series. Such was the calendar of the ancient Egyptians. It is probable, that to the generality of readers this explanation is supererogatory, because it is so familiar. However, at the risk of tedium, I have inserted it ; and now proceed to draw some deductions from the facts laid down. The coincidence, on the same day, of the two initial days of these respective periods — that is, when the first day of the fixed year was the first day of the vague year — a coincidence which could only occur every 1461 vague years, was in Egyptian chronology a memorable epoch. We are told by Censorinus, who wrote in the third century after Christ, that the last time the coincidence occurred, was on the 20th July, 139 years after Christ; by which we know, that it oc- curred 1322 B. C, and again in the year 2782 B. C. : whence the knowledge we possess of the learning of the Egyptian hierarchy, legitimately allows our inferring, that it was by them observed. The Greek astronomers of early times appear to have been quite unaware of the introduction, by the Egyptians, of one year in 1461 vague years, or of six hours at the end of each year. We have the authority of Strabo, that the intercalation was unknown to Plato and to Eudoxus, although they are said to have studied at Heliopolis ; while Herodotus's ignorance on this matter is fully proved, by his speaking of the Egyptian year of 365 days having the effect of keep- ing the seasons in their proper places ; although, in another passage, he gives the most conclusive proof of the existence of the intercalary quarter of a day in his time. He says, the priests reckoned from Menes, 341 kings, or genera- tions ; whence Herodotus calculates an interval of 11,340 years : yet he adds, " During this time, they (the priests) said the sun had four times risen out of his customary places ; that, both where he now sets he had twice there risen ; and where he now rises, he had there twice set."* By explaining this passage in relation to the sothic period, modern astronomers see that, under an apparent fable, the priests mystically told him the truth, although he did not understand it. For, in the interval of at least 2250 years between Menes and Herodotus, embracing as it does much more than one sothic period, the sun rose twice and set twice (at least) in the same degree of the ecliptic. The allegory was beautiful. It follows therefore, that the later Greek astronomers, such as Hip- parchus and Eratosthenes (although they do not acknowledge the souices of their Learning,) derived most of their astronomical know- ledge from the calculations of ancient Egyptians. * I have borrowed this explanation of Herodotus, as well as some chronological data :n n previous chapter, from the "American Quarterly Review," for December, 1KT7; which is from the pen of Professor Renwick of Columbia College. 1 have not met else- where with so luminous an explanation of the subject. The well known fable of the Phcenix seems to be mystically con- nected with the astronomical revolution of the sothic period — although it would seem that the story of its rising from its ashes w-as unknown in the time of Herodotus, but was invented in after times, and was adopted by the early Christian fathers. There is great con, fusion in the intervals between each Phcenix ; some reducing them to 340 years, others extending them to 1461 years. It seems, however, to have symbolized, in whole or in part, the Sothic Period, or great astronomical year of the Egyptians ; being found on Egyptian monu- ments, dating as far back as the commencement of the 18th Dyn., or B. C. 1800. In the Coptic Phcneh, meaning age or period, we trace the root of Phoenix, and its cadendrical utilities. According to Horus-Apollo, the Phcenix symbolized the soul of man — an expiring cycle of time — and also, the inundation of the Nile. We have the authority of Chreremon and Porphyry for the antiquity of the word almanack in Greek, long prior to the Saracens ; and for the statement that almanacs are mentioned in the Books of Hirmes. Some English and Arabic vocabulists assert, that almanac is an Arabic word !" I concede the article " al," or rather el, to be an Arabian prefix. But I should be edified to learn, to what Arabic root they trace the word manac. It is probably of ancient Coptic origin ; and if ever used by Arab historians (for it is unknown in the Darig,) it is a compound, like the word almagcst — the Arabic, el — the, and the Greek, megistos — greatest; used by Ptolemy in astronomy, and by the Grenada Moors in alchemy. Now, by the authority of Syncellus, In the table of the Old Chron- icle, the first dynasties embrace 443 years of the sothic period; whence it follows, that the first king of the 1st Dyn., Menes, ascended the throne about the year 2782 Julian B. C. ; and it may be inferred, that he was the first Pharaoh who pledged himself not to alter the calendar. The 36,525 years of time, which the Old Chronicle gives for the entire reign of gods, demigods, and Egyptians, divided by 1461, gives us exactly 25 sothic periods ; and instead of being taken by us literally, and therefore rejected by us as fabulous, must be regarded as a vast astronomical cycle, by which the Hierophants regulated their calendar; and their astronomical skill is nowhere more appa- rent than in their cycle of 25 years, for adjusting the lunar with tlie solar motions ; whereby they possessed a system more rigorously correct than the Julian method in similar reductions. The whole of this digression is merely to precede a few deductions, to enlighten us on the probable epoch of the accession of Menes ; a fundamental point in all subsequent Egyptian history ; and without deeming it absolutely necessary to continue in prefatory explanations, I present the several results. 1st — By the astronomical reduction of Herodotus, according to Professor Renwick, we obtain the accession of Me- nes about B. C. 2890 2nd — By Syncellus — Manetho agrees with general — (or Septuagint) chronology, if we cut off 656 years before the flood, and 534 afterwards — the true period of Egyptian history, according to him, would place the accession of Menes — Renwick's calculation, B. C. 2712 3rd — By Rosellini's reduction of Syncellus, page 15, vol. 1st, Menes would fall about B. C. 2776 4th — By Champollion Figeac, page 267, the epoch of Menes would be — Freret's calculation, B. C. 2782 5th— By Doct. Hales' calculation, " 2412 6th— By my reduction of the " Old Chronicle," " 2683 7th— By my reduction of " Manetho,'" " 2715 I have before stated, that we could not define with precision the epoch of Menes within 500 years — but all differences considered, between the extreme of 2890 B. C. for remoteness, and 2412 B. C. for proximity, which added to Rosellini's and Champollion's esti- mates of the accession of the 16th dynasty - B. C. 2272 Addition, 478 Would place Menes about the year - 2750 B. C; which I am inclined to adopt, as within a hundred year's approxima- tion of the truth : thus affording abundance of interval, between the Flood and Menes on the one hand ; and possibly sufficient for the erection of the works now existing at Memphis — the pyramids — be. tween Menes and the accession of the 16th Dyn., on the other. Perfectly aware of the extreme uncertainty of these calculations, I would observe, as an excuse for the digression, that the epoch of Menes is all-important in history — that I have endeavored to rccon cile it with the Septuagint as nearly as possible within reason and probability — and that I lean rather in favor of an extension of the interval between Menes and our Saviour; for which I could easily bring forward a mass of arguments and explanations, founded on facts; among which are the vast number of "unplaced kings" we possess, who mu.-t have lived between Menes and the 16th Dyn. I repeat, however, to the best of my present belief, the epoch of Menes taken at B. C. 2750, will reconcile monumental evidences with tho Scriptural chronology of the Septuagint version. It i*, however, necessary for me to explain, why I have pn 'limed to difler in chronology with so learned a hierologist as Sir J. G 52 ANCIENT EGYPT, Wilkinson ; because, as his works are most familiar to my readers, Borne might be struck with the discrepancy. In his " Topography of Thebes" (London, 1835, page 506,) after preferring the list of Eratosthenes to that of Manetho, for his earlier series of kings, Sir J. G. W. says : " I am aware, the era of Mcnes might be carried back to a much more remote period than the date I have assigned it ; but as we have as yet no authority further than the uncertain accounts of Manetho's copyist, to enable us to fix the time and the number of reigns inter- vening between his accession and that of Apappus, I have not placed him earlier, for fear of interfering with the date of the deluge of Noah, which is 2348 B. C." The lis* of Eratosthenes bedug now of less authority than Mane- tho, and it being impossible >o cramp and crowd Egyptian annals into Archbishop Usher's limit of 2348 years, I would remark, that at the time of the construction of Sir J. G. W.'s table, I was at Cairo in gratifying relations with him, and therefore know that this table dates about 1832-33. The works from which I derive the basis of my discourse, have mostly been published in France and in Italy since 1832 : and Sir J. G. W.'s table is now behind the age, and the progress since made in Egyptian developments ; while Col. Vyse's researches at the pyramids have made the 4th Dyn. of Manetho loom tike a meteor in the night of time. The chronology of Wilkinson is inconsistent with itself. He takes the Deluge according to Usher, at - - - - B. C. 2348 and he is compelled to place Menes at least - - - " 2201 as the lowest limit — leaving between the Flood and Me- nes an interval of years 147 at which time it is extremely doubtful, if the Caucasian children of Noah, had around them a sufficiency of population to impel them to quit Asia, and to colonize Egypt. But, on referring to page 41, 1st Vol. of his invaluable later work, on the " Manners and Customs of the ancient Egyptians," London, 1837, (uncontradicted in his second series of 1841 ) it will be seen that the learned author, on the author- ity of Josephus, (who says " Menes lived upward of 1300 years be- fore Solomon," which last king ascended the throne of Israel, B. C. 1015 ;) extends the date of Menes from 2201 B. C. of his former table to 2320 B. C, without any intimation that he, Sir J. G. W., re- cognizes a correspondent precession of the era of the Flood, which he still leaves at B. C. 2348. If, as before stated, 147 years are totally insufficient, as an interval between Noah and Menes, how much more so must be twenty-eight years ? These 28 years are altogether absurd, for Egyptian local events alone between the Flood and Menes ; still more so, when we reflect on the geographical distance from Mount Ararat to Lower Egypt, and on the necessary prior multiplication of the human race on the plains of Shinar. That one so erudite and critical as Sir J. G. Wilkinson, should have committed any inadvertency in such arrangement, is an impos- sibility. On the contrary, it displays a design ; which may perhaps be explained, by supposing, that amid the conflictions of 300 systems of chronology, on the epoch of the Deluge, the learned author may have deemed one view about as well founded as any other ; while, by placing so obvious an anachronism on the " head and front" of his tables, he desired to show the absurdity of attempting to recon- cile Egyptian monumental annals with Archbishop Usher's Deluge ; and I feel extremely obliged for the argument I am thus enabled to draw, in favor of my more extended hypothesis. Finally, whether we confine Egyptian history to the contracted limits of Usher's chronology, and the Hebrew verity ; or take "in ex- tenso" the widest range legitimately admissible on the authority of the Septuagint version, it will be found, that the time-honored chron- icles of Egypt carry us back to the remotest era of early periods ; and even then display to us the wonderful and almost inconceivable evidences, of a government organized under the rule of one monarch ; of a mighty and numerous people skilled in the arts of war and peace ; in multifarious abstract and practical sciences ; with well framed laws, and the social habits of highly civilized life, wherein the female sex was free, educated and honored ; of a priesthood possessing a religion, in which the Unity of the Godhead and his attributes in trinities or triads, with a belief in the immortality of the soul, a certainty of ultimate judgment, and a hope of a resurrec- tion, are discoverable ; concealed though they be by the mysticisms of a wise but despotic hierarchy, and loaded by the vulgar castes and the uninitiated, with the impurities of the grossest superstition. It will then be seen, that, apart from those changes of style and fashion, which the conservative principles of the priesthood could not altogether prevent in the lapse of so many ages, the Caucasian inhabitants of the Nilotic valley were in possession of hieroglyphical writing, at the farthest point of time we can descry. And we shall find the Egyptian children of Ham, the Asiatic, as great and as learned, if not much more virtuous in those primeval days, as they were at the invasion of the Persians, in the year 525 B. C, when their monarchy had existed from 1500 to 2000 years. Of what nation, obliterated from the face of the earth at the pres- ent hour, or providentially surviving to defend its pretensions to prior existence, can the contemporary annals boast a similar antiquity ? To whom, but to the Egyptians, are we indebted for the origin of many of oui most important arts, and sciences, and institutions? And why should prejudices and preconceived notions, gathered in our infancy we can scarcely tell how, and maintained by narrow- mindedness and ignorance, still prevent our recognizing in the pure- blooded Caucasian inhabitants of early Egypt, the sources of many of those benefits, that we, who recognize in Noah a common ancestor, at present enjoy ? There remains still one final point, upon which it is necessary for me to dwell, before commencing the monarchical history of Egypt ; and this refers to the long-prevailing, but erroneous opinion, that the kings or dynasties of Egypt were contemporaneous ; that is, that one king may have ruled over the Upper, while another may have 'reigned over the Lower country at the same moment ; than which, (however it may be deemed expedient thereby to reconcile the anti quity of Egypt with the short chronology) there is no more untenable doctrine, or one more unanimously rejected by the Champollions, by Rosellini, by Wilkinson, and by all who, as hieroglyphists, have examined the monuments and the country itself. The arguments that would remove all doubts, would probably be too long to com- mand attention ; but I crave indulgence while I define and establish my own position, lest I should be found hereafter behind the age. It is herein, therefore, maintained, that, with very few and con- jectural exceptions, (on which the arguments for, or against, are in each instance either equally balanced, or destructive of the contem- porary application,) the result of hieroglyphical researches during the whole period of history from Menes downward, overthrows such an hypothesis, as contempor0neousness. The only contemporary dynasty, by the best authorities recognized, is the rule of the Hyk- shos, or Scythian Shepherd-kings in Lower Egypt, during a period, probably of 260 years; while the 17th Theban dynasty, of native Egyptian Pharaohs, reigned over Upper Egypt, till these last suc- ceeded in expelling the alien race. To this solitary instance of two contemporary dynasties, ruling in different part3 of Egypt at the same moment, may be added that period of anarchy, which preceded Psamettichus of the 26th Saitic Dyn. ; wherein Herodotus places the rule of the Dodecarchia, or rule of 12 kings ; but this last case is extremely doubtful, and has derived no confirmation from the hieroglyphics. As we proceed, we shall touch in their places on points that confirm the above view, while we can confidently assert, that there were no contemporary Egyptian Pharaohs. The only correct view of the classification, by Manetho, of dynas- ties named Thinite, Tanite, Memphite, Elephantinite, Heliopolite, Diospolite, Xoite, Bubastite, Saitic, Mendesian, and Sebennite, is to consider them not territorial, but family distinctions ; not separate governments, but the localities, cities, or provinces, whence the reigning Pharaoh, or his ancestors were derived by birth, or were in name associated through some other unknown bond of connection. The monuments, and sacred and profane history, will be found to confirm and justify this straight-forward view of an often " vexata quaestio." We can afford to smile at the creation of an independent state and contemporaneous monarchy, on a miserable little rocky island, not more than twice the size of the New York Battery, and not so large as the Common at Boston, and allow Elephantine and its independ- ent and contemporary sovereignty to sleep with the fabled and fabu- lous Memnon — the vocal Statue — the negro features of the Sphinx — Cleopatra's Needle — Pompey's Pillar — the antiquity of the Zodiacs of Dendera and Esne — the African or Ethiopian origin of the ancient Egyptians, and other odd fancies of an expiring age. CHAPTER SIXTH. In the previous portion of this discourse, I gave the calculations and arguments, whereby the accession to the throne of Menes, was considered by me, to have taken place within a century of the year 2750., B. C. To give an idea of the process adopted by the hieroglyphical school in re-constructing Egyptian history, no less than to establish the fact that the ancient Egyptians were Caucasian in race, and Asia- tic in origin, I will dwell rather longer on this monarch, his deeds and times, than at first sight may appear necessary, or has been generally thought requisite by my predecessors of the Champollion school. The fragments of Manetho give, as the 1st king of the 1st dynasty " Menes, the Thinite ; who earned the arms of Egypt into foreign countries, and rendered his name illustrious. He died of a wound received from a hippopotamus, about the 62nd year of his reign." Besides the authority of Manetho, we possess the testimony of other ancient authors, Herodotus, Eratosthenes, Diodorus, Josephus, the old Egyptian Chronicle of Castor, the Canon of Syncellus, all agreeing that Menes was the first of the kings of Egypt ; which is corrobo- rated by our finding his royal oval, in hieroglyphics, as the earliest an- cestor of Ramses 3rd— Sesostris — in the procession sculpturedon the walls of the Theban Palace, now known as the " Ramsessium," but formerly, and erroneously called, the Memnonium. Sec tablet, in my lecture room- This Succession was cut in the ANCIENT EGYPT. 53 reign of Ramses — Sesosrris, between the years 1565, B. C, and 1490, B C: and as Menes M N or '■' Menei," is here the first ancestor of Sesostris we find the sculptures at once confirming history. Eratosthenes says, his name "Menes," means "Dio- nios," rendered " Jovialis," of or belonging to Jove. IE Jove is the Egyptian God, " Amun,"and in Cop- Utic, •' Menei" is an abreviation of " Amun-ei," sig. J^ £ f nifying, " who walks with Amun." Josephus tells us, that Menes ruled " more than 1300 years before Solomon," who was born in 1032, B. C, To the above-mentioned genealogical procession may be added the celebrated chronological canon of the dynasties of Egypt, written on papyrus, in the hieratic character, composed in the 15th century, B. C and now existing in the Museum of Turin. This venerable relic in in such a deplorable state of dilapidation, that but little can bemade out, beyond a few simple facts, that excite at once curiosity and un. availing regrets. But the first page opens with these words : " The king, Menei, exercised royal attributions years—" By some ancient writers, Menes is stated to have been a Theban ; by others it is said that he was born at the city of This, near Aby. dos, whence his dynasty is termed Thinite. We are told he founded Thebes, which is likewise attributed to a later king, Busiris ; but the concurrent testimony of Herodotus and Josephus ascribes to the first king, Menes, the glory of founding Memphis ; which achievement i3 by Diodorus likewise attributed to another very early monarch, (though subsequent to Menes) Ucho. reus. There seems to be no reason why Menes should not have founded, or perhaps only extended, (?) either or both of these cities ; but it is particularly to be remarked, 1st. That Manetho speaks of Athothis, son of Menes, building a palace at Memphis, whence we may legitimately infer, that the city was already in existence, and therefore was probably founded by his father : 2nd. That, as Josephus had access to copies of Manetho's original history, of which we possess only fragments, and seeing that by his numerous quotations therefrom in his defence of the Jews against Apion, Josephus shows that he, and the world in his day, placed implicit confidence in the then indisputable authority of the learned Priest of Sebennitus ; we may infer, that when Josephus assigns to Menes the foundation of Memphis, upward " of 1300 years before Solomon," and " many years prior to Abraham," the Hebrew chron icier was not at variance with Manetho's record of Egypto-anti- quarian lore ; while the view of relative chronology taken by Jose- phus could not have been contrary to the Jewish historical archives, such as they were in his time, previously to the corruption of the Hebrew Biblical text. Herodotus, likewise, in attributing to Menes the building of Mem- phis, adds, also, that Menes founded therein a " Temple to Vulcan." Now the Vulcan, or Hephrestus of the Greek mythology, who was degraded by them into a limping blacksmith, is only a Greek mis- conception and perversion of that beautiful Egyptian mythical idea, whereby Vulcan or " Pthah" of the Egyptians, was but a form of or emanation from the Godhead, symbolizing the " creative power" of the Almighty. We know that Memphis was the city of "Pthah," who, from time immemoria 1 was here peculiarly worshipped. Memphis is Biblically " Noph." A r c"" ,! " "Ullage on its site is termed Memf, or Menoph, thus confirming history, sacred and profane. In hiero- glyphics Memphis is known by several titles. 1 '< The Abode of Good, land of the Pyramid." Menofke. A/VNAA (+) Pthah-ei. 'The habitation of Pthah. One form of the god Pthah was termed Pthah-Sokar-Osiris, and was peculiarly venerated at Memphis. This deity was often called only Sokaris, or rather " Sokar," whence the present name 'of the village, which lies on the Necropolis of Memphis, has been inge- niously traced, being now called " Zaccara." Pthah, or Vulcan, we know was worshipped in a magnificent tem- ple at Memphis, until Christianity destroyed the doctrine, and Ma- bommedanism obliterated the edifice, save a few scattered blocks that still mark its site amid the date groves of Mctraheni. The frequent hieroglyphical references to this temple, existing in the time of Herodotus, though not in its ancient splendor, (as it had then been plundered by Cambyses,) sheds a confirmatory glimmer of light on the accuracy of the Greek historian in this instance ; because a hieroglyphical tablet in the quarries of" Toora," opposite Memphis, of the time of Amosis-Thetmoses, vanquisher of the Hykshos, and last of the 17th Dynasty, B. C. 1822, records that, he, " Aahmes took good materials from these quarries to repair ? restore ? or build ? the temple of Pthah, at Memphis" — a proof that the temple of Pthah .•xisted at Memphis, prior to B. C. 1822, or the reign of Amoeis. Whence, even if we had no other evidence to bring forward, we may already draw satisfactory inferences that Herodotus was correct in his account of early Memphis — that Memphis was a city when Athothis, or Menes his father, founded therein a- temple to Pthah— and that this temple of Pthah existed before the end of the 17th Dynasty, B. C. 1822. Again, Herodotus speaks of the "turning off of the Nile into a new channel by Menes," who raised a dike to prevent its overflow from flooding the city — a work corroborated by the topographical nature of the localities, and by the present aspect of the Nile, near the spot where the river was diked-off, about fourteen miles above the mounds of Metraheni, the site of Memphis : and a precaution still retained by the Fellahs of that district, to preserve their villages from inundation, as well as to control the irrigating utilities of the " Sacred River." This diking-off of the Ni'e is a process, which (as there is every reason to suppose it was performed by Menes) is a strong argument to show, that, in his day, the children of Ham had already arrived, not only at abundant population, which rendered necessary the found- ation of a metropolis, and the economical preservation of the allu- vial soil above Memphis (the finest tract of land in all Egypt,) but, that they had also arrived at considerable knowledge in hydraulics, as well as other branches of science. Moreover, as these were works not likely to be attempted without necessity, or without long previous experience of the habits of the river, it must be allowed they imply a long prior residence in Lower Egypt. History thus enables us to carry back the foundation of Memphis to the accession of the first king Menes ; and it is in her Necropolis or burial-ground, we find those monuments, which, in size, as in an- tiquity, exceed all others in the world, viz., the pyramids of Ghee- zeh, Abooseer, Zaccara, and Dashoor, with some tombs, coeval with, if not antecedent to, the erection of the earliest! We are therefore enabled to establish, 1st. Historically, and monumentally, that Menes or Menei, was the first king of Egypt. 2nd. Historically and monumentally, that, being founded by Menes, Memphis is the oldest city. 3rd. Geographically, that Memphis is in Lower Egypt ; and thus, that the children of Ham, coming from Asia and spreading over the Nilotic valley, considered Lower Egypt the most eligible point (as it unquestionably is) for a metropolis — for great works — and mado it the chief seat of primitive monarchial government. Upon the authority of Josephus, whose chronology is in accord- ance with the Septuagint, and not with the corrupted Hebrew ver- sion (independently of the absolute necessity for placing the acces- sion of Menes as far back as possible, to make room for the kings who reigned after him,) we establish the foundation of Memphis by Me ■ nes, and its existence as a Templed city ; protected by great artificial water-defences, at some period anterior to 1300 years before Solo- mon, or prior to 2320 years, B.C. ; and we can therefore with pro- priety contend, that the view herein taken of chronology, based on the Septuagint version of the Bible, is neither extravagant, nor merely hypothetical ; because the interval of 28 years between the founda- tion of Memphis by Menes, and the Deluge, according to Archbishop Usher's chronology, B. C. 2348, is wholly insufficient for the num- berless preparatory events that must have employed the human race, between the multiplication and progress of Noah's family down tho Euphrates, till they separated atShinor, and the foundation of Mem- phis, in Egypt, by a Caucasian colony. By allowing, on the chro- nology of the Septuagint, an interval of about 400 to 500 years before we seat Menes on the throne of Egypt — somewhere about the year 2750, B. C. — we are not subjected to such absurd anachronisms and physical impossibilities. Menes, chief of the military caste, happily accomplished the revo- lution which substituted a civil government for the theocracy. He was the first invested with the title of Pharaoh (in Hebrew, Phrah) or king ; and, from this new order of things was created a royal he- reditary government. It would appear, that Menes was occupied with foreign wars, though upon what nation we have no information. It may be presumed, that these military movements were chiefly di- rected to the protection of the frontiers of Egypt from the incursions of adjacent nomadic and barbarous tribes, by which Egypt was, and is still surrounded in every direction. To the south, there were the Berber and Negro races; to the west, the Lybians, along the whole length of the river from Nubia to the sea ; to the east, lay the Eastern Desert, probably occupied, as at present, by mixed races ol Arabs and Berbers ; while the Isthmus of Suez required particular a ten- tion, as this line of frontier was exposed to constant incursions of Asiatic tribes, eager to obtain their share of the "flesh pots of Egypt." Of these defences we have abundant vestiges to this day, although we cannot say by what king, or at what time, they were erected. I have already spoken of Egypt, as a valley, between two high chains of hills — the Lybian and the Eastern ranges. The face? of these, especially along the eastern bank, are often quite perpendicu- lar ; so that they act as walls to keep the nomad from the cultivated around ; but, at various distances, these are intersected by deep ra- vines, along which journeys arc performed, and intercourse is main- tained botween the Nile and the Red Sea. Now, there is not one of these ravines, but at its mouth, nearest the river, there are re. 54 ANCIENT EGYPT. mains of walls, that once blocked up the passage ; and, from the ru- ins in the vicinity of some, we may conjecture these were forts, gates and military stations. Wherever, as you ascend the river, you find the inclination of the hills, on the eastern side, such as would admit of communication between the cultivated soil and the desert, you will find traces thereon, more or less apparent, of a long brick wall, stretching from north to south, and terminating only where na- tural impediments render this wall unnecessary — taken up again a few miles beyond ; and so on, all the way to Nubia. This wall is termed by the Arabs, Gisr-el-Ag66s, or the "Old Man's Dike," in memory of its antiquity. The subject of the relations of the desert-tribes with Egypt, from the earliest times to the present day, is one that has much interested me, and might be extended to long and curious exposition, that would remove many erroneous impressions concerning the " B6dawees" in the deserts adjacent to the Nile. It cannot be supposed that, by the construction of this wall, the Egyptians intended to cut off all intercourse with the desert ; on the contrary, this intercourse was to both parties essential ; for the nomad would starve if he could not obtain grain from the farmer ; while the latter, with the manufacturer, requires the camel's hair, the long reeds for matting, and a number of productions, whose attainment requires the skill of the son of the desert, as much as grain that of the far- mer, or as useful manufactures that of the craftsman. The object of the walls was to bring the nomad under the control of a well-regulated police ; V> prevent him from pasturing his flocks, without paying for the permission of the proprietor of the soil ; or from stealing the grain and forage he was thus compelled to purchase ; with an infinitude of other wise and excellent regulations, conducive to social good order, and agricultural economy ; but by no means de- structive of friendly intercourse between the Ishmaelite and the peasant. Indeed, the Almighty's hand is nowhere more apparent in adapting man to the nature of the soil on which he is to reside, than in peopling the deserts around Egypt with a hardy race, as use- ful in their vocation as the citizen, the farmer and the sailor. Euro, pean civilization will work no material changes in the habits of the " Bedawee." But, though employed in wars, Menes distinguished his era by the arts of peace. He founded Memphis : it is said he built Thebes. He commenced, on a large scale, the diking and " canalization," so essential to the prosperity of Egypt. He founded the great temple of Pthah ; and introduced into social life those comforts and luxuries of civilization, which, notwithstanding the curse of Tnephachthus, conduce to the terrestrial happiness of man ; while by his protection of religion and the priesthood, he insured the education of the peo- ple, and the preservation of a religious system, that Christianity alone after a lapse of nearly 3000 years could overthrow. We cannot wonder, therefore, that the memory of so great a man should have been dear to his successors, or that the monuments should attest the veneration of a name handed down to us by all early writers. These chapters being confined to the exemplification of Egyptian history by the hieroglyphics, I refer to Manetho for the names of the kings of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd dynasties, who followed Menes on the Pharaonic throne ; because, as yet, it has been impossible to identify the names of any one of these in the hieroglyphics ; owing rather to uncouth changes, made through ignorance of transcribers, of the names left by Manetho, than to the absence of royal ovals, as I shall soon explain. We glean from Manetho, that during these three dynasties, pala- ces were built, pyramids were erected ; that Egypt was visited twice by the plague, whence the antiquity of this disease in Egypt may be inferred. In fact, it is an illusion to suppose that the same natural causes should not operate, in early times, to produce the same effects as at present : and it has been demonstrated by Clot Bey, that the plague is indigenoss, not only to Egypt, but to the East in general, along the northern coast of Asia and Africa ; that its causes are un- known, but that its developments are spontaneous ; that it is an error to suppose that mummification (begun in primeval epochs and con- tinued above 3000 years down to the days of St. Augustine,) was adopted as a preventive (!) because, during the periods of mummifi- cation, we have abundance of sacred and profane history to prove the occasional desolating effects of the Oriental pestilence ; and finally, as these two occurrences of the plague are antecedent to Abraham, the pestilence with which the Almighty visited the Egyptians in the time of Moses, was not the first instance of the plague in Egypt, as we are well assured it was not by many hundreds the iast. We also learn, that women were, in the second dynasty, permitted to hold the impe- rial government; an institution that continued intact till the extinction of the Ptolemies in the far-famed Cleopatra ; as is attested all through this long line of centuries by hieroglyphical evidence. The Lybians, at that day, were tributary to Egypt; and we are in- formed, that an eclipse of the moon was observed. Works on anat- omy and medicine were written by two kings of these dynasties. It may be inferred, that the use of the saw in cutting large stones, was discovered in this period — while all the arts and sciences of the ancients appear to have been in full development and use — but oth- erwise, these kings gained no celebrity ; whence we may infer, that Egypt was peaceful, happy, and prosperous, during the dominion of unambitious kings. A long, but undefinable interval, from Menes to tue end of the 3rd Memphite dynasty, brings us to the 4th, and (to us) the most im- portant of all ; because recent discoveries have enabled us to verify history by extraordinary monumental confirmations. We are all well acquainted with the wonders of the world — the eternal pyramids, whose existence astounds our credence — whose anti- quity has been a dream — whose epoch is a mystery. What monu- ments on earth have given rise to more fables, speculations, errors, illusions and misconceptions ? The subject of the pyramids is so vast, as not to-be condensible into this series of lectures ; but those who feel curious to know the pos- itive height, length, breadth, areas, cubic contents, &c. &c. of each of these lofty monuments, are referred to the great work of Col. H. Vyse, who expended during the years 1837-38, many thousands of pounds, in excavations and other labors in these edifices. It is my intention to construct a table, which, at one view, shall give all re- quisite details ; and then it will afford me pleasure to devote a special lecture to the pyramids ; but I am prevented, at present, from so doing, by the absence of the most important vol. of Col. Vyse's work — the 3rd, which has not yet reached this country ; and although I am generally acquainted with the substance of its contents, hav- ing seen many of the calculations in manuscript, and witnessed the labors of Mr. Perring, on the spot, in 1839, it would be contrary to the principles I have laid down, (of not hazarding statistical asser- tions, without being able to produce competent authority,) were I now to enter into details. It will be conceded, that a person who, like myself, has resided for years in constant sight of these Mausolea ; who has spent at different intervals, many months in exploring them, and their vicinities — who has ascended the great pyramid a score of times, and entered fre- quently into all the chambers, passages, &c., of the others ; has at least had an opportunity of gleaning some knowledge about them. Since therefore, with all these advantages, I postpone lecturing on the pyramids, till I possess the most important work ever published on the subject ; my readers will appreciate the difficulty of the appre hended task, when even I, who know all that has been done, fear to mislead others by premature expositions. On every subject touched in these chapters or lectures, the latest and best information will be produced ; and I would rather encounter the charge of ignorance on the pyramids, than that of abusing the confidence with which my communications are so indulgently listened to.* But, if I abstain from statistical details on this head, there are some generalities, proceeding from recent discoveries of hieroglyphical names &c, in the pyramids, that are invaluable to history ; and these I will now consider. It is sufficient to sweep one's eye along the map, suspended above me (a rough outline of which I present in this treatise) from Mem- phis to Meroe — a distance of 1500 miles — to perceive that there was a time (and that prolonged for unnumbered ages, during a remote period,) when pyramidal constructions were in vogue in the valley of the Nile ; and that in Egypt, the Memphite pyramids were the sepulchres of kings, does not any longer admit of a doubt. At Memphis, on a line extending about 25 miles from the most northern to the most southern pyramid, we have scattered in clus- ters, near the villages Aboo-rooa.sh, Gheezeh, AboOseer, Zaccaxa, and Dasho6r, about 25 pyramids, or pyramidal tombs of various con- struction, elevation and dimensions ; of which, some 18 may be termed large, and the rest small. They are all surrounded with count- less tombs, pits, excavations, passages, subterranean works and superficial structures — all exclusively dedicated to the dead — and, if millions of mummies have, in the last 1500 years, been removed and destroyed, there are millions still unmolested in that burial ground, to attest the vast population of ancient Memphis. Along this line is the Necropolis of a city, that ceased to exist after flourishing for 3000 years. The pyramids of Gheezeh are of all sizes, from the largest to the smallest. The largest, that of Shoopho, is Feet— height. Sq. ft.— base. Cubic ft.— masonry. Tons— weight 450-9 746 89,028,000 (5,848,000 of good limestone ; cut into blocks, varying from 2 to 5 ft. square — from which estimate of limestone, however, must be deducted a large mass of granite blocks, used in lining the interior — while the amount of space occupied inside by chambers and passages, is only 56,000 cubic feet, or T ^ of the whole mass. The smallest of the 9 at Gheezeh, is some 70 feet high, by a square base of about 102 feet. The remaining pyramids at the southward, those of Aboose6r, Zaccara and Dashobr, may be roughly estimated — the smallest about 150, and the largest, about 350 feet high — two are of crude brick. There are pyramids at other places in Egypt. Two small ones at Lisht, about 20 miles beyond Dashoor ; and, about 20 miles further on, that of Meymoon — called " the false pyramid" — two of crude brick, and the vestiges of two more of stone, on the site of Lake Mceris in the Fayobm — and one at El-Qenan, above Esne. The latter are all small. * Even since this lecture was delivered at Boston, letters from Egypt inform me that the Prussian scientific mission, under the enthusiastic Leipsius, had, in December, made several valuable discoveries umon; these stupendous ruins ; all confirmatory of the views herein set forth. As soon as the details arrive, my oral lectures will contain all relative information. ANCIENT EGYPT. 55 In Ethiopia there are 80 pyramids at " Meroe" — sandstone, 42 do. at " Noori," " 17 do. at Gebel-Birkal, " 139 Pyramids above the Nile at lat. 18. [square base.] Maximum. Minimum. 60 feet. 20 feet. 100 " 20 " 88 " 23 " The arch, both round and pointed, is coeval with the era of these last pyramids. For all that is hitherto known of the .pyramids of Meroe, I refer .o that valuable work, " Travels in Ethiopia, by Hoskins — London, 1835." The facts of the author are indisputable ; but some of his deductions from those facts are often erroneous, especially those whereby he would prove the priority of Meroe. Without a special argument on the subject, it would be impossible to establish the fal- lacy of these deductions — but as the work of a gentleman, a hierolo. gist and a scholar, Mr. Hoskins's book is full of merit. I shall touch on some of the deductions I draw from the same data, anon. It would be vain to detail all the nonsense, that, from time immemorial, has been written on the pyramids of Memphis, which, by some, have been considered antediluvian ; although two of the most ancient being built of sunburnt brick, could not have endured the waves of- the Deluge for a single month. Others have ascribed their erection to giants or genii : they were said to inclose the impenetrable secrets of mystic demonomania, or to have been built for the mysteries of initiation. Again, they were supposed to have been erected for as- tronomical purposes. Then, it has been mathematically demonstrated, that they were built to " square the circle :" they are said to have stood over reservoirs to purify the muddy waters of the inundation ; to have served as the sepulchres of entire royal families, or for masses of population. In short, each speculation has exceeded its predecessor in absurdity, excepting when confined to the objects of astronomy and sepulture. With respect to their having served astro- nomical purposes, (though no harm can proceed from such an hypo- thesis,) it is refuted, 1st. By their extraordinary variety and number ; and 2nd, in Ethiopia, by their fronts facing all points of the compass, from N.E. to S.E. 3rd. In Egypt, from the measurements made in 1839, by Mr. Perring, which demonstrate that the inclinations of the passages, as well as the relative position of each pyramid, vary so as to destroy all conformity to mathematical or astronomical purposes. These proofs against their astronomical utility, are independent of the voluminous evidences to be gleaned from history, and from a glance at the monuments themselves — their localities, and associations, which declare their sepulchral design. If, as Sir John Herschell observes, the inclined passage into the largest pyramid of Ghee'zeh, (which could never, at the time of its building, have been pointed at the Polar star, that is, at a Ursae Minoris) was made at an angle to correspond to a Draconis ; this pyramid must have been built about the year B. C. 2123, which alone would suffice to upset Usher's epoch of the Deluge, 2348 B. C. — because, 225 years would be too brief a period for the Caucasian children of Ham, to migrate from Asia into Egypt, there to acquire arts, sciences, and writing ; to erect first several pyramids, and then build the one which is now the largest. Their knowledge of astronomy must have been great in- deed, and the study of the heavens & primary object in life, to have caused them to conceive, and then to execute works (one of which consumed 6,848,000 tons of cut stone, brought 15 miles from the quarry,) the object of which would have been to point a passage 63 feet long, to such an insignificant little star as a draconis. And, why did they build some 25 pyramids ? or erect at least two after the construction of the largest? The greatest astronomer of the age, Sir John Herschell, after in- specting the tables, (accurately determined for the first time by Col. Vyse, and his cooperalors in 1838) declares — Vyse, 2nd — 108: "No other astronomical relation can be drawn from the tables containing the angles and dimensions of the passages ; for although they all point within 5 degrees of the pole of the heavens, they differ too much and too irregularly to admit of any conclusions." " The exterior angles of the buildings are remarkably uniform ; but the angle 52° is not connected with any astronomical fact, and was probably adopted for architectural reasons." The opinion of their astronomical utility may be set down as now exploded in Europe ; while, in Egypt, the idea causes a senile of surprise, that any one should have taken the trouble seriously to in- quire into the subject. I am very far from questioning the antiquity of astronomy, or doubting the knowledge of that science in Egypt : for Diodorus, i., 28, expressly saye : " It is indeed supposed, that the Chaldeans of Babylon, being an Egyptian colony, arrived at their celebrity in astrology, in consequence of what they derived from the priests of Egypt." The Babylonish method of dividing the year was the same as the Egyptian, and can be traced positively back to B. C. 720 — but, although we know from Chron., ii., 31, 32, and Kings, ii., 20, 12, that, about the year 700 B. C, Babylonian astronomers visited Jerusalem ; yet, it is allowed by the best mathematicians, that the epoch of the Chaldean tables ascends to the year 2234, wnich is only 114 years after Usher's Deluge! If the Chaldeans derived astronomy from Egypt, the fact would prove that this science was known at the time of Menes, if not befoie, and confirm all I have said of the antiquity of the sothic period. Astronomy was, without question, an advanced science to the people, who could erect pyramids on the scale of those at Mem. phis ; but it does seem ridiculous and supererogatory, after the usea we know the Egyptians made of these edifices, to speculate upon the relations these kingly tombs may have had to the stars. They are all tombs, and nothing else. Kings were buried in them, and perhaps queens. In some (the pyramid of five steps, at Zaccara, for instance) other persons have also been buried besides the monarch ; probably members of the royal family, or of the royal household. If much labor has been wasted in guessing at the objects of the pyramids, still more has been thrown away in crude fancies as to their epoch, or their builders. Poor Herodotus, and his copyist Dio- dorus, themselves misunderstanding the accounts received from the priests, have been the cause of the greatest misconception on the part of their successors. The Greeks, who were correct in the names, lost themselves completely in anachronisms, when they pretended to define the epoch. While, although the learned Calmet and other Hebraists and travellers, have traced their origin to Moses and Aaron, and have wept over the supposed aggravation of the labors of the Jews, employed as forced laborers in erecting some of these pyra- mids ; it is satisfactory to be able to deduce from the unerring hiero- glyphics, that every Memphite pyramid was erected at least four centuries before Abraham, and that the Hebrews had nothing to do with them, except to look at them from the opposite shore of the Nile. The erection of the pyramids at Memphis alone, would take a longer time than the entire sojourn of the Jews in Egypt ; and even supposing it were proved that the Hebrews had assisted in the erection of some of those at Memphis, how did the Egyptians dispense with their services, or whom did they employ, in erecting those "in the Fayoom ? or in Upper Egypt? or those one hundred and thirty-nine pyramids 1500 miles up the Nile, on the plains of Meroe, in Ethiopia 1 The Jewish theory in connection with the pyramids is also ex ploded, and we now proceed to show that, as the whole of those of Memphis were built between Menes and the accession of the 16th dyn., in B. C. 2272, these monuments antedate the era of Moses by at least 800 to 1000 years. Our text-book, Manetho, informs us that Venephes, the third king from Menes (whom we may conjecture occupied the throne withia a hundred years from that monarch,) erected the pyramids near Co- chome, or Choe, or Cochoma. This shows, historically, the antiquity of pyramidal constructions. I would casually remark, that the Great Sphinx, -whose mutilated features have given rise to so many discussions, although situated amid the pyramids of Gheezeh, has nothing to do with the epoch of the pyramids ; for, as I shall show hereafter, that great work belongs to a much later period — to the ] 8th Theban dynasty, not earlier than B. C. 1800, or several centuries after the cessation of pyramidal con structions. In due course, we shall arrive at this subject. We pass over the 2nd and 3rd dynasties, and begin with the 4th Memphite dynasty of 8, or according to another reading, of 17 kings. MANETHO'S FOURTH DYNASTY of eight (or seventeen) Memphite kings of a different race. 1 — Soris reigned 29 years. 2 — Suphis reigned 63 years. He built the largest pyramid, which Herodotus says was constructed by Cheops. He was arrogant* toward the gods, and wrote the sacred book, which is regarded by the Egyptians as a work of great importance. 3 — Suphis reigned 66 years. 4 — Mencheres " 63 " 5 — Rhatoeses " 25 " 6— Bicheris " 22 " 7 — Sebercheres " 7 " 8— Thampthis " 9 " Altogether, 284 years. The first king of this 4th dynasty is termed by Manetho, Soris. In one of the innumerable ancient tombs that are in the Necropolis of Memphis (fragments of which are now in the British Museum,) the following name occurs ; the first of a succession of four kings, whose names, it will be seen in the sequel, correspond to the his- torical lists. This name reads, as it stands, Re-sh-o. By meta- thesis, we are allowed to transpose the disk of the sun from the top, where it was placed out of respect to the , ™ 4 "H sh deity, to the bottom, and then it reads Sh-o-ke. The Greeks could not, by any combination of their alpha. "&. bet, express the articulation sh; so they were obliged J^ ° to write the name with an S, while the termination S ^sTzL^ is a Greek addition to euphonize those Eastern names they were pleased to term barbarian : so that Sows in Greek, was Shore in Egyptian, designating one and the same person. * The obvious inconsistency in this passage, proceeds probablv from snn v Shoopho, whom the Greeks called Suphis the 1st. © ~ }Sh Eratosthenes gives as 15th Theban king, Saophis 1st. f^ He translates Saophis by comatus, meaning " many- ^ .^r oo haired." Now, in Coptic, Shoo means many, and *"• " ph pho, hair. It was conjectured, fourteen years ago, ■ ^ that this cartouche must represent the name of the ^^ oo builder of the great pyramid ; having been found in . — *• J so many places, and most numerously in the ancient ■^ """^ tombs about the Memphite pyramids at Gheezeh, &c. We had the authority of Manetho, that his king, Suphis 1st, was the same as the Cheops of Herodotus, who built the great pyramid ; and, philologically, in meaning and in sound, we identified this car- touche with the Saophis of Eratosthenes ; but it is curious to see the beautiful chain of connection that reconciles all differences, and it will give a distinct idea of the analectical process by which hier- ologists demonstrate their theorems, to expound it. The sign j«SH*k in hieroglyphics, may be read in two ways — 1st, it is equiva»|Pa lent to the Coptic letter |tt — Shci — which is our SH ; ^8»r 2nd. it is equivalent to the ££? Coptic letter Khei, — which, is our KH., hard and guttur al. The hiero glyphical letter is therefore either Sh, or Kh. The Greeks had not in their alphabet of 24 letters, the power of expressing the Sh of foreign languages, and were therefore obliged to transmute the sound as nearly, as to the ear of the writer this arti- culation could be conveyed — that is, sometimes by — a S — Xi — as in Scp^a — Xerxes, whose name in the arrowhead, or cuneiform (ancient Persian) character, as well as in hieroglyphics, was"KHSHEERSH.» Or by a S — Sigma — as in Manetho's HovQio Supltis. Or by a X — Chi — as in Herodotus' XtoTroo-, pronounced in Greek Hheeopos, but by us — Cheops. We are thus enabled etymologically to reduce, Suphis, Saophis, Cheops, to one and the same name, spelt differently, and thus recon- cile Manetho, Eratosthenes, and Herodotus. We now cut off the Greek termination of S, or is, with which they endeavored to soften down to a Grecian ear the rigidities of foreign names ; "Like oui harsh northern, whistling, grunting, guttural. Which we're obliged to hiss and spit and sputter all." The result of our reduction is to obtain in Greek, in Coptic, and in hieroglyphics, the name of Sooph, Shooph, or Khooph, as the name of the king who built the great pyramid — corroborated by Murtady, an Arab author — who says that in his day, tradition in Egypt still ascribed the erection of that pyramid to "Soyoof." Thus much was known up to 1837 — but the anti-Champollionists looked with disdain upon a science, which could not produce from the pyramid itself, confirmation of its unerring value ; and confidently declaring, that there were " no hieroglyphics in the pyramids," (al- though all antiquity asserts the contrary,) they vauntingly challenged the hierologists to prove, that hieroglyphical writing was known at the date of the pyramids — these gentlemen, forsooth, having already decreed, that " hieroglyphic writing was a subsequent invention," and that letters were derived from the Hebrews, or from the Greeks, or, at least, from the Phoenicians. But some things were written before Moses wrote ; and some heroes lived before Agamemnon : Vixere fortes ante Agamemnon.— Horace. In the year 1837, the munificent Col. Howard Vyse set all doubts at rest, by finding Shoopho (and his variation) in the quarrier's marks, in the new chamber of the great pyramid, scored in red ochre in hieroglyphics on the rough stones ; and thus, by confirming history and the sculptures, he has immortalized his own labors, and silenced the cavillers. It will now be seen that my diffidence, when declining to enter copiously into so vast a subject as the pyramids, without possessing the 3rd vol. of Vyse's work, is not uncalled for; suffice it at present to observe, that with the era of the great pyramid, (whenever that re- mote epoch was,) long before the year 2272, B.C. — long before Usher's date of the Deluge 2348 B. C. — ages previous to Abraham — centu- ries prior to the Jews — and many generations anterior to the Hyk- shos ; every hieroglyphical legend, or genealogical table, as well as all Egyptian local circumstances will be found to correspond, and harmonize — and yet, in that day, Egypt was not a new country, or its inhabitants a new people A papyrus now in Europe, -of the date of Shoopho, establishes the early use of written documents, and the antiquity of paper, made of the byblus. The tombs around the pyramids afford us abundance of sculptural and pictorial illustraf^on of manners and customs, and attest the height to which Civilization had attained in his day. While, in one of them, a hieroglyphical legend* tells us, that this is " the sepulchre of Eimei — great priest of the habitations of King Shoopho." This is probably that of the architect, according to whose plans and direc- tions, the mighty edifice — near the foot of which he once reposed — the largest, best constructed, most ancient, and most durable of Mausolea in the world, was built ; and which, from 4000 to 5000 years after his decease, still stands an imperishable record of his skill. Shoopho's name is also found in the Thebaid, as the date of a tomb at Chenoboscion. In the peninsula of Mount Sinai, his name and tablets show, that the copper mines of that Arabian district were worked for him. Above his name the titles " pure King and sacred Priest" are in strict accordance with Asiatic institutions, wherein the chief generally combines in his own person the attributes of temporal and spiritual dominion. His royal golden signet has been discovered since I left Egypt, and is now in the collection of my friend Doct. Abbott, of Cairo. The sculptures of the Memphite Necropolis inform us, that Memphis once held a palace called "the abode of Shoopho." If these facts be not sufficient — if it be still maintained, that Shoo- pho, who employed 100,000 men for 20 years, in erecting a monu- ment, for which 10 preceding years were requisite merely to prepare the materials, and the causeway whereon the stone was to be carried — a pyramid of limestone blocks, quarried on the eastern side of the Nile, while the edifice was raised some 20 miles off, on the western side of the river — the former base of which was once 764 feet each face — the original height 480 feet — containing 89,028,000 cubic feet of solid masonry, and 6,848,000 tons of stone — if Shoopho performed all these works, is it in common sense, I ask, to doubt his power, or that he ruled all over Egypt ? But if, rejecting all these evidences, and the testimony of Eratos- thenes that he was likewise a Theban king — the impracticability of his being contemporary with any other Egyptian king be not suffi- ciently proven ; and that Shoopho was merely a petty king of Mem- phis be still asserted, let me propound the following query : How is it, that the great pyramid is lined with the most beautiful and massive blocks of syenite — of red granite, not one particle of which exists 25 miles below the 1st Cataract of the Nile at Aswan, distant 640 miles up the river from the pyramid ? that blocks of this syenite are found in this pyramid's chambers and passages of such dimensions and built into such portions of the masonry, that they must evidently have been placed there, before the upper limestone masonry was laid above the granite ? and, that the name of Shoopho, in hieroglyphics, is found in that central interior, written on the super- jacent limestone blocks ; where the latter layers must, in the order of building, have been placed after the granite had been covered up below ? There not being in its native state a speck of granite to be found in Egypt, 25 miles below the 1st Cataract, its existence in the pyramid distant 640 miles from the quarries, is a final proof, that Shoopho ruled from Memphis to Aswan — from " Migdol to the tower of Syene." For my own part, I see no plausible doubts why his dominion may not have been, like that of his successors, much more extensive than over Egypt proper — especially toward Lybia and Nigritia. The 3rd King of the 4th Dynasty is — Suphis 2rd— 3d King of the 4th Memphite Dynasty — Manetho. Saophis 2nd, or Sensaophist-16th King of Thebes— Eratosthenes ; correspanding to the Chephren, brother of Cheops, who, according to Herodotus and Diodorus, built a pyramid ; which, we may infer, was the second pyramid of Gheezeh, seeing that we know histori- cally and monumentally the builders of the first and third. We also know he was king both of Thebes and Memphis. Of this king Che- phren, nothing has yet been gleaned from the pyramid attributed to him — but, philological analogies can reduce all these names into one. I will not detain the reader with some doubts arising from hierogly- phical variations in one or two ca'rtouches of these times ; although they are curious, and I can explain them, at least to my own satis- faction ; but pass on to say, that in the absence of positive pyramidal data, I feel inclined to adopt the following oval, as probably contain- ing the name of Chephren : * See L'Hotes letters— Paris, 1839. ) t Sen-saopnis is an error in Goal's Syncelius. ANCIENT EGYPT. 57 ^w^ u Ka j Re Re Reshaph — Reshef— Reshoof or Rekhooph, or sh Shafre — Shephre — Shoophre or Khephre, ph now Shephre — corresponds to Chephre-n, Khephre " Kefpri-p. Besides being found in the Necropolis of Memphis and in a genea- logical series, that places him as a Memphite king of the same epoch as Shoopho this oval is always accompanied by titles, that contain, among other signs, that of a pyramid. ■ But no doubt hangs around the name of the following monarch, and nothino- can any longer render his identity with the builder of the 3rd pyramid, a subject of controversy : Manetho— 4th King of " Memphite Dynasty"— Mencheres, Eratosthenes — 17th King of Thebes — " Heliodotus" — Moscheres, Diodorus — as commencer of a " third pyramid"— Mykerincs, Herodotus — as erector of a " smaller pyramid" — Mykerinus. The fragment of the royal Mummy-Case (now in the British mu. seum) which the Arabs, on forcing a passage into the 3rd pyramid, (at the time of the Caliphate, 600 Hegira, or about 650 years ago, according to Edrisi,) had thrown aside on a heap of rubbish, after destroying the mummy : presented to the researches of Col. Vyse, in 1837, the following oval as the glorious reward of his labors : ^___ MENKARE ; Re "j men ^nd t hus again is history authenticated by I the monuments even in the meaning of Era- BQSS men | Ka tosthenes, who translates Mencheres by Helio- v| pvi V 1 dotus — for the oval of Menkare will bear the U U if n '| R. fi acceptation of " offerings beloved by or dedi- cated to the sun." The same arguments, even to the granite, will apply to Menkare that have established Shoopho's dominion all over Egypt. This oval is well known at the copper mines of Wadee-Magara, and has been found in other places in the vicinity of Memphis. Out of eight kings, of the fourth Memphite Dynasty, whose names have been preserved by Manetho, and corroborated by other histo- rians (three Pharaohs, who were connected with the building of the three' largest pyramids of Gheezeh, being among them) the hiero- glyphics enable us to indicate four with precision, and two with in- controvertible evidence, viz : Shore — Sons. Shoopho — Cheops, or Suphis lst,found in the pyramid. Shephre — Chephren. ^ Menkare — Mencheres. ' Who, twenty-five years ago, could have expected such wonderful confirmations of the unerring application of Champollion's discove. ries ? Who will now assert, that hieroglyphic writing was not known in the time of the pyramids ? Here for the present may rest our verification of ancient history, and our application of hieroglyphical tests in connection with the pyramids. There are many ovals of kings, (whom we term " un- placed," because we do not know where exactly to insert them in our chronological list) who belong to the time of Shoopho, as his predecessors °or successors— some found at the Necropolis of Mem- phis others elsewhere ; and, although we cannot identify them with historical names, or say which pyramid is the tomb of any of them, yet there seems every probability, arguing from that which has been' done already, what may be eventually accomplished, that much new light will be thrown on them to add more confirmatory facts to the view herein taken. Those who have made a study of hieroglyphics, are perfectly certain that future discoveries can but confirm the past, and extend the present boundaries of our knowledge. In chronological order, and in number of kings, these " unplaced Pharaohs," go = wonderfully to confirm Manetho. Besides finding the names of the builders of the pyramids of Gheezeh, it must be considered that there are, between large and small, some twenty-five pyramids and pyramidal tombs in the cemetery of Memphis. Sup- pose each of them to have contained the sepulchre of one monarch, (and all proofs confirm this view) the number of kings' tombs, when we make allowance for some monarchs who may not have thought it incumbent on themselves to erect such a mausoleum, strangely corroborates the number of sovereigns comprised in the early Mem- phite dynasties of Manetho ; for he gives about thirty-two kings, and here we find some twenty-five pyramidal resting places for them. It is recorded, that it took 30 years to build the largest — the tomb of Shoopho ; which is not at all an exaggerated view of the necessary time. There are about 10 others, none of which could well have been built in less than 20 years. The remainder may have ocenpied from 3 to 10 years each. Then . 1 X 30 - - - 30 10 X 20 - - 200 » . - 13 X say average 5 years, 65 295, or about 300 years, supposing they were built consecutively (and such must have been the method, since they are the sepulchres or consecutive kings,) for the actual time required merely for their erection. Now, suppos- ing that of Manetho's 32 Memphite monarchs, only 20 erected pyramids, and allow the average of 22J years as the mean length of reigns, or kingly generations, we obtain at once 450 years ; when, if we consider, that a few years may have intervened before each individual king decided on building a pyramid ; and that, in some cases, the tomb may have been finished before the monarch's demise — for, in Egypt, people built their sepulchres during their own life- time — we shall find that between Menes and the 16th dynasty, 443 years are not too much time to allow for edifices, the mere building of which must have occupied some 300 years. Now, all these works had been completed, and pyramidal con- structions had ceased to be fashionable, in Egypt, long prior to the accession of the 16th dynasty, or B. C. 2272 ; and yet they were all built after Menes. When, therefore, we allow only 443 years' in- terval for all the events between Menes and the 16th dynasty, it will be conceded that we are within the mark, possibly by several cen- turies ; but, in the absence of positive data, I prefer not to disturb the view of chronology herein taken — which places Menes about equidistant between the Flood on the Septuagint version, and the accession of the 16th dynasty. Yet, I will confess my inability to adopt this arrangement as a permanent one ; for if any adequate authority were to add 1000 years to the Septuagint, there are ma- terials to fill the space. As for reduction of my system to a narrower limit, it cannot be done, without abandoning facts, reason, logical deduction, and truth itself. To bring the case home : how many years has it taken to construct the " Monument at Bunker Hill," Boston; the " Merchants' Exchange," or the " Custom-House," at New York ? It may be objected, that unforeseen impediments re- tarded the progress of the work, in one or all of these instances. It may well be supposed, therefore, that similar delays took place in the construction of the 25 Memphite pyramids, which will equalize the comparison. In point of perfection of masonry, these American edifices are not superior to the work in the pyramids — while, in point of cubic feet of stone, if the materials of all these were put together, ,they would not construct the least of the largest ten pyramids in the Necropolis of Memphis ! We can thus form an estimate of the time it must have taken to erect them ; and may be prepared for the assertion that a period of 300 years is within the mark for the pyramidal works existing, at the present day, to attest the antiquity of Memphis ; the territorial dominion, and consequent power — and uncontemporaneotjsness — of her early Pharaohs ; and the wealth, the population and the wonderful progress, at that remote era, already made in all arts and sciences by the Egypto-Caucasians ; as well as the imperious necessity for a more extended chronology than the Hebrew version. It may be remarked, that some pyramids at Memphis — those of Aboorooash, Abooseer, Zaccara, and Dashoor — appear to be much older than even the Great Pyramid of Shoopho. This circumstance corroborates Manetho, wherein he says, that Venephes, 4th king of 1st dynasty, " raised pyramids at Cochome ;" whereby we learn from history that pyramidal constructions were in use many generations before Suphis-Cheops, or Shoopho. Nor does it seem probable, that Shoopho would have erected such an enormous pile as the largest, if he had not wished to outdo all his predecessors. We know, that two pyramids — the second and third — were con- structed after that of Shoopho ; and if they did not equal his in gigantic dimensions, both of them had peculiar merits of their own, to equalize the apparent difference, in the grandeur of the concep- tion, and the relative labor of execution — one having been coated with stucco, the other cased with granite brought from Syene. Memphis is, therefore, historically and monumentally, the oldest city, and it lies in Lower Egypt. I will hereafter explain, why Thebes is historically coeval with, perhaps anterior to Memphis, though, monumentally speaking, it is inferior in antiquity. It would be tedious to proffer a special argument, whereby we can prove that, All cities of Lower Egypt, are historically as ancient as Memphis; and that the Delta was studded with towns at the earliest epoch, prob- Tanis — the " Tzohan " of Scripture, Pelusium, Tahapenes, Bubastis — " Pibeseth" of Scripture, Heliopoljs — "Beth-Shemmim" and "On," Buto, Taposiris, Sais, &c. &c, ably long prior to the foundation of a metropolis like that of Memphis. I do not know whether the observation has ever been made by others, but it has often struck me, in my reflections on Egyptian history, as a singular fact; that, although Eratosthenes makes all his early kings Thebans, other authors, especially Manetho, invariably keep us in the lower country, and about Memphis, in the classifica- tion of early monarchs. The superior antiquity of the names of placed and unplaced kings found in the loicer country, and the un- controvertable priorit) of the monuments existing at Memphis, bear witness to the truth of the record.* Moreover, the only royal names we can perfectly identify in the respective catalogues of Manetho and Eratosthenes, after Menes — are Soris or liauosis, Suphis or * It is a striking fact, that the more ancient monuments of Egypt, instead of being found high up the river, actually lie North— the primitive edifices being the pyramids of Lower Egypt— the most ancient tombs and excavutions being at Memphis at Wadee- Magara, and, generally speaking, about the Heplanomide. Iowe this remark to Samuel Birch, Esq., of the British Museum. 56 ANCIENT EGYPT. Saophis,\st and 2nd, together with Mencheres or Moscheres, (all names of Pharaohs, which I have produced in hieroglyphics,) and these are every one of them placed by Manetho in his '1th Memphite dynasty, and by Eratosthenes in his Theban list, not later than the 17th monarch from Menes. Now, if the kings recognized in the copy of the archives of the Diospolitan priests as Theban sovereigns, are the same persons as those we find attributed by Manetho to Memphite families ; may we not draw a reasonable inference, that these, at least, ruled, like Me- nes, all over Egypt ? holding, as each of them evidently did, supreme power in both of the great cities of the Nilotic valley. Cities, sepa- rated by a distance of 480 miles ; and when to embrace Egypt, throughout its entire length, and narrow breadth, under one undivided sway, it was necessary only to subjugate the 120 miles between Memphis and the sea, and the 138 miles between Thebes and the 1st Cataract of Syene. If they held, as monumentally and historic- ally we prove they did, Thebes and Memphis, what could prevent their holding the remainder ? Indeed, setting aside indisputable monumental facts and limiting our regard to history alone, sacred history will permit us to infer, and profane history will allow us to assert, that the sceptre of Menes was held by each of his successors, alone and indivisible, down to the-anvasion of the Hykshos, several centuries after the days of the pyramids, to which we are confining our present inquiries : while, from Manetho, from the old Chronicle, and from Herodotus, we learn that the families, or monarchs, who successively held that sceptre, either were from Lower Egypt, or were, in some mode or other, therewith connected by buildings, or great works, though their sway stretched from the Mediterranean at least as far as the 1st Cataract. On reference to the subjoined table of Manetho's dynasties, it will be seen that the first Dyn. was Thinite, or of This, near Abydos, whence sprung Menes, or Menei, and he built Memphis, the oldest city and the first metropolis of Egypt. The 2nd was Tanite. The 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th, are all Memphite. I do not omit the introduction of the family from Elephantine, or the absurdity of lim- iting their suppositious sway to that ridiculous little rock, not so, large or fertile as Governor's Island, in the harbor of New York. If they were kings at all, they ruled over all Egypt ; and were termed Elephantinite, merely, perhaps, because the first of this family hap- pened to be born there ; or from some other equally insignificant reason. The 9th and 10th are Heliopolite ; while it cannot escape attention, that of the few early events noted by Manetho, and (with exceptions, proceeding mainly from their erroneous classification of monarchs) by Herodotus, and Diodorus, the greater number of events make Lower and Middle Egypt the scene of their occurrence ! The importance of confining history to its legitimate place — to Lower Egypt, is evident : 1st. Because it was in Lower Egypt that the Caucasian children of Ham must have first settled, on their arrival from Asia. 2nd. Because the advocates of the theory, which would assert the African origin of the Egyptians, say they rely chiefly on history for their African, or Ethiopian predilections. 3rd. Because the same theorists* assume, that we must begin *I have already stated, that Sir. J. Gardner Wilkinson's critical observations, during his long residence in Egypt ; and his comparisons between the present Egyptians and the ancient race, as depicted on the monuments, have led him to assert the Jlsiatic ori- gin of the early inhabitants of the Nilotic valley. The learned hierologist, Samuel Birch, Esq., of the British museum, informed me in London that he had arrived at the same conclusions ; while to his suggestion am I indebted for the first idea, " that the most ancient Egyptian monuments lie Nortk." The great naturalists, Blumenbach and Cuvier, declared that all the mummies they had opportunities of examining, pre- sented the Caucasian type. Monsieur Jomard, the eminent hydrographerand profound Orientalist, in a paper on Egyptian ethnology, appended to the 3rd volume of " Men- gins Histoirede PEgypte," Paris, 1839, sustains the Arabian (and consequently Jisiatic and Caucasian) origin of the early Egyptians; and his opinions are the more valuable, as he draws his conclusions independently of hieroglyphical discoveries. On the other hand, Professor Rosellini, throughout his " Monumenti" accepts and continues the doctrine, of the descent of civilization from Ethiopia, and the African origin of the Egyptians. Champollion Figeac, in his "Egypte Aucienne," Paris, 1840, p. 28, 34, 417, supports the same theory, which his illustrious brother set forth in the sketch of Egyp- tian history presented by him to Mohammed Ali, in 1829, (published in his letters from Egypt and Nubia,) wherein, he derives the ancient Egyptians, according to the Grecian authorities, from Ethiopia ; and considers them to belong to " la Race Barabra ;" the Berbers or Nubians. Deeming the original Barabra to have been an African race, ingrafted at the present day with Caucasian as well as Negro blood, I reject their simili- tude to: the monumental Egyptians in toto; and am fain to believe, that Champollion le Jeune himself had either modified his previous hastily-formed opinion, or, at any rate, had not taken a decided stand on this important point, from the following extract of his eloquent address from the academic chair, delivered 10th May, 1831. " Grammaire Egyptienne, p. xix.— C'est par 1'analyse raisonnee de la langue des Pharaons, que rethnographie decidera silavieille population egyptienne futd'origine A8IA.tiq.tje, ou bien siclle descendit, avec le fleuve divinise, des plateaux de 1'AfiTque centrale. On decidera en meme temps si les Egyptiens n'appartenaient point a une race d : stincte; car.il faut le declarer ici, (in which I entirely agree with him)contre 1'opinion commune, les Coptks de I'Egypte moderne, regardes comme les derniers lejetons des anciens Egyptienes, n'ont ofTert a mes yeux ni la couleur ni aucun des traits caracteristiques, dans les lineaments du visage ou dans les formes du corps, qui put. con- stater une aussi noble descendance." It may be added, that the linguistic desideratum looked for by Champollion, has, since his demise, been fully supplied by the profound paleographer, Dr. Leipsius, of Berlin, who has established the Asiatic affinities of the Coptic tonge, while the prospective' journey of the Prussian Scientific Mission to Meroe, in the ensuing winter, will probably set all Ethiopic questions at rest. The "Crania iEgyptiaca," erected on a foundation hitherto unanticipated by any ethnological inquirer, and combining every view of the subject/will create a new era in the history of man, as honorable to its author, as important to the savan, and eminently ■^vantageons to the scientific reputation of his country. with Africans at the top of the Nile, and come downward with civilization, instead of commencing with Asiatics and white men at the bottom, and carrying it up. I have not as yet touched on ethnography ; the effects of climate , and the antiquity of the different races of the human family ; but I shall come to those subjects, after establishing a chronological stand- ard, by defining the history of Egypt according to the hieroglyphics. At present, I intend merely to sketch the events connected with the Caucasian children of Ham, the Asiatic, on the first establishment of their Egyptian monarchy, and the foundation of their first and greatest metropolis in Lower Egypt. The African theories are based upon no critical examination of early history ; are founded on no Scriptural authority for early migra- tions ; are supported by no monumental evidence, or hieroglyphical data ; and cannot be borne out, or admitted, by practical common sense. For civilization, that never came northward out of benighted Africa, (but from the Deluge to the present moment has been carried but partially into it ; to sink into utter oblivion among the barbarous races whom Providence created to inhabit the Ethiopian and Nigri- tian territories of that vast continent) could not spring from Negroes, or from Berbers, and never did. So far then, as the record, scriptural, historical and monumental, will afford us an insight into the early progress of the human race in Egypt, (the most ancient of all civilized countries) we may safely assert, that history when analyzed by common sense ; when scruti. nized by the application of the experience bequeathed to us by our forefathers ; when subjected to a strictly impartial examination into, and comparison of the physical and mental capabilities of nations ; when distilled in the alembic of chronology ; and submitted to the touchstone of hieroglyphical tests, will not support that superan- nuated, but untenable doctrine, that civilization originated in Ethi- ■ opia, and consequently among an African people, and was by them brought down the Nile to enlighten the less-polished, and therefore inferior, Caucasian children of Noah — the white Asiatics ; or that we, who trace back to Egypt the origin of every art and science known in antiquity, have to thank the sable Negro, or the dusky Berber, for the first gleams of knowledge and invention. We may therefore conclude with the observation, that if civiliza- tion, instead of going from North to South, came — contrary, as shown before, to the annals of the earliest historians, and all monu- mental facts — down the " Sacred Nile" to illumine our darkness ; and if, the Ethiopic origin of arts and sciences, with social, moral, and religious institutions, were in other respects possible ; these Afri- can theoretic conclusions would form a most astounding exception to the ordinations of Providence, and the organic laws of nature, otherwise so undeviating throughout all the generations of man's history since the Flood. Having indicated the lowest boundary of our chronological limit for the pyramids of Memphis ; and shown that they could not well have been built at a later date than Usher's era of the Deluge, B. C, 2348; I proceed to a few generalities on those 139 pyramids found at Gebel-Birkel, Noori, and Merawe, in Ethiopia. The largest of all these has a base of only 100 feet square, and the smallest not more than 20 ; so that in dimensions, they are inferior to the smallest of the Memphite pyramids. According to the opinion of Mr. Hoskins, they are all more ancient than those of Memphis ; but the reasons he adduces, are not by any means conclusive. I have examined the subject with a good deal of attention, and am of opinion that they may be coeval with those of Memphis, but probably in many instan- ces, are posterior. Many of these pyramids contain hieroglyphical tablets, and sculp- tures that are indisputably Egyptian in form, style, coloring, and sub- jects, whence we may derive two conclusions. One, that hierogly. phical writing was known and practised, at whatever period these pyramids were erected ; the other, that they were built by the same Caucasian race of men who erected those mightier edifices at Mem- phis. We are also assured, that in purpose they were identical with the sepulchral uses of those of Egypt, and contained, like these last, the tombs of monarchs or royal families. With regard to the epoch of the construction of the Ethiopian pyramids, we have as yet no data beyond the evidences of remote, though indefinable antiquity ; but that they were built by the same race of men,* who founded those at Memphis, is established beyond dispute, by Mr. Hoskins. This accurate draughtsman and faithful narrator has, with strict impartiality, furnished facts whence he would deduce — 1st. The priority of the Meroe" pyramids over those of Memphis — and secondly, that being built by the same people in both cases, he would establish the origin of civilization in Ethiopia, and its descent (down the Nile) into Egypt, where the descendants of these builders of Ethiopian pyramids erected all the monuments of every age, now existing below the first Cataract. With precisely the same facts, and grounding all my arguments on * Dr. Morton, in his craniological observations, has declared " that the Austral- Egyptian, or Meroite communities, were in great measure derived from the Indo- Arabian stock ; thus pointing to a triple-Caucasian source for the origin of the Egyptians, when regarded as one people extending from Meroe to the Delta." The arguments for this opinion, which is by me implicitly adopted, will be found in the "Crania ^Egyptiaca," and I need only at present mention, that this Indo-Arabian intermixture with the chil- dren of Ham, can be readily accounted for. ANCIENT EGYPT. 59 the plates and descriptions of Mr. Hoskins, I arrive at results dia- metrically opposite. It is indeed sufficient to glance one's eye at the plates of the sculp, tures from the Ethiopian pyramids, to sec that there is nothing Afri- can in the character of the human faces ; and that, be they who they may, these people were not, and did not desrre to be considered Afri- cans, whether of the Berber or the Negro branches. Whence, already we begin to infer, that the builders of these Ethiopian pyramids were not aborigines of that country, but of a race foreign to Africa, and generally speaking, at that remote period unmixed with African blood. Unless born in Ethiopia, they must have come originally from some other region. Who can they be ? Now it is but reasonable to claim, that if in arts, sciences, customs, religion, color and physiological conformation, these people of Meroe are the same people as the Egyptians, and we prove the Egyptians to have been Asiatic in origin — Caucasian in race, and white men in color : the people of Meroe must have been Asiatics, Caucasians and white men also. This was precisely the case, and for the Egyptian eide of the question, I need not recapitulate the account of Mizraim's migration into the valley of the Nile, but refer to Morton's "Crania jEgyptiaca" for incontrovertible evidence. The question, in regard to the priority of erection between the pyra- mids of Meroe, and those of Memphis, merges into the still more interesting fact of their having been built by the same race of men, who were not Africans, but Caucasians. This will a* once explain the cause of the superiority of the inhab- itants of Meroe, over all African aborigines, and the reason why the Egyptians looked upon them as brethren and friends — never stigma- tizing them by the contemptuous title of " Gentiles," or " impure foreigners," as they designated Asiatic and European nations ; and never applying to the people of Meroe, the reproach of belonging to the "perverse race of Rush," (not Cush, the son of Ham) by which name the Egyptians exclusively designated the Negro and the Berber races in hieroglyphics. We shall come to these facts in due course. This view can be sustained by the whole chain of monumental and other history. It will account for all the conflicting traditionary legends, that would make Meroe the parent of Egyptian civilization, or Ethiopia the cradle of the Egyptian people — will explain the inti- macy and alliance subsisting at every period between Egypt and Me- roe ; the parity in religion ; identity in usages and institutions ; similarity in language, writing, buildings, &c. I would therefore offer, as an improved hypothesis, that the chil- dren of Ham, on leaving Asia and settling in the valley of the Nile, colonized first Lower Egypt, and then all the alluvial soil from the Delta, to the confines of Nigritia, wherein they did not penetrate for permanent establishment, for the identical reason, that white men cannot do so at the present time — the climate; which, in Central Africa, is mortiferous to the Caucasian. It does not change his skin, hair, facial angle, or his osteology; it kills him outright, if he crosses a cer- tain latitude. Of course, here and there, an exception may be instanced where white men have crossed the (to their race) deadly miasmata of Central Africa ; but these exceptions are so rare, that they fortify the rule. Witness the late Niger expedition ; witness the grave-yard that Afric% has been to the most enterprising travellers ; witness the fruitless attempts of Mohammed Ali to send expeditions, but a few hundred miles beyond Khartoom. The Caucasian children of Ham proceeded up the Nile in a nat- ural course of migration and settlement, from Lower Egypt as far as Meroe — and probably there (although it would seem likely in later times) met Indo-Arabian Caucasians, with whom they mixed, and formed one people. All we can say of this epoch is, that these circumstances must have occurred before Menes ; before the pyramids of Memphis rose in Egypt ; before the pyramids of Meroe could have been built in Ethiopia. That civilization advanced northward from the Thebaid (which appears to have been the parental seat of the theocratic government) before Menei, is not improbable. That the Caucasians who settled at Meroe may have somewhat preceded in civilization their brethren in Egypt, is possible ; though, from monumental and other reasons, I deem it unlikely. But it does seem unnecessary, that the children of Ham, (the Caucasian,) the highest caste of that triple Caucasian stock, should have come from Asia into Egypt, and have directly ascended the Nile, leaving the most eligible provinces and heavenly climate behind them, and have proceeded 1600 miles to an almost barren spot, to Meroe, between the tropics, for the objects of study and improvement, and then have returned into Egypt to colonize that country, or in other words to civilize their own relations. How much more reasonable is it to attribute the rise of civilization to the people, occupying the best land under the pure skies of Egypt, or to suppose that its development was simultaneous among the same people, along the whole alluvial line from Lower Egypt to Meroe ? There are no positive data by which the antiquity of the pyramids of Meroe is shown to be more remote than that of Memphis ; and I am inclined to regard both as dating about the same period, when pyramidal constructions were preferred to all others, for the last habitation of the royal dignitaries of Egypt and Meroe. It may be conjectured, that if in Ethiopia these are tombs of individual kings, they continued there to erect pyramids long after this species of sepulchre was abandoned in Egypt ; because this would in some degree explain their number. They were all built, and were ancient, in the days of Tirhaka, B. C. 700. 139 pyramids, at 22£ years for a kingly generation, would be 3027J years ; which is incompatible with all scriptural chronology. I am, therefore, inclined to consider the pyramids of Meroe to be tombs of kings, queens and princes. We have no sure basis for calculating their antiquity, excepting that they belong to a period more ancient than 700 B. C. ; but we know, that whenever they were erected, it was by the same race which built those of Memphis, the children of Ham — the Caucasian settlers in the Nilotic valley, and not by African aborigines of any race, or of any period. The most critical examination establishes for the pyramids of Egypt, and for Shoopho, builder of the largest, an anti. quity that cannot certainly be later than B.C. 2348 — though probably dating some centuries earlier ; but that they were erected by Cauca- sians is indisputable. That the pyramids of Meroe belong to the same epoch is probable, ancf that they were likewise built by Cauca. sians is positive. If the pyramids of Meroe are older than those of Memphis, their epoch must necessarily surpass the Septuagint era of the Flood, if not that of the Creation. If, from a rigid examination of their present appearance, the priority of those at Meroe is proved, (as Mr. Hoskins considers,) and this aged appearance cannot be explained by the effects of tropical rains and solar heat, acting with the hand of the spoiler on a friable mate, rial like a soft sandstone ; when we reflect how little, in an Egyptian climate, time affects the appearance of monuments ; and then, (though erroneously,) recognize in Ethiopia a better climate than that of Egypt — if, I say, we consider that notwithstanding so long a period, (above 4000 years,) as we know the Memphite pyramids to have stood — time has had such a trifling effect on their massive structures; and we are to allow a still slighter effect to be produced by time on those edifices at Meroe — why, we must carry the pyramids of Meroe beyond all chronological, and measure their antiquity by geological periods ; 1st, as regards the epoch of the building of these Meroe pyramids ; which is one fact ; and 2nd, as concerns the national traits of the builders, who were not Africans, but Asiatics, the utter destruction of all biblical chronology by this process would ba another. Now, " things which are equal to the same are equal to one another." If they are anterior to Shoopho's pyramid in Egypt, then Meroe must have been occupied in the earliest ages — many centuries before B. C. 2348 — by Caucasians, who must have migrated up the valley of the Nile, and have been settled many ages at Meroe before they erected one pyramid. If posterior to Shoopho's pyramid, Meroe was a colony of Egypto-Caucasians, at any intervening period prior to the 16th dynasty, B.C. 2272 — for we know from positive con. quests of Egyptian Pharaohs in Nigritia and Ethiopia, that Meroe was an Egyptian province from about that time, down to a few years prior to B. C. 700 — say for a thousand years. But, if each of these pyramids of Ethiopia, like those of Memphis, be the sepulchre of a king, and if all of these Meroe edifices, (ac- cording to Mr. Hoskins) were erected before Shoophos' time, as there are 139 pyramids in Ethiopia, we should have 139 generations of Caucasian kings at Meroe before the pyramids of Memphis were thought of. Lastly, if the advocates of the African origin of the Egyptians cling to the superior antiquity of the pyramids at Meroe, as a proof of the origin of civilization in Ethiopia, and its consequent descent into Egypt, they are easily placed in a series of dilemmas. If they deny all Caucasian introduction at Meroe, in the hope of vindicating the ancient mental and physioal capabilities of Negro or Berber races ; as I have proved the immense and almost biblically-irrecon- cilable antiquity of the Memphite pyramids, the advocates of the African origin of civilization must reject Scripture altogether, both for chronology and primitive migrations. If, on the other hand, they al'ow, that, according to the Bible, Ham was the parent of the Egyp- tians, as we prove these Egyptians to have been pure-blooded while men, they must allow that civilization, proceeding from the Cauca- sians, took its rise in Egypt; and that Ethiopian civilization is a con- sequence; while, in no case, can they make it appear that, the African races above Egypt were one iota more civilized in ancient times than at the present day, for the civilization of Meroe originated with the Caucasians, and expired on the extinction, or on the deteriorating amalgamation, of their high-caste race. Such are the results of my reflections on the subject of the pyra- mids. They are not rashly advanced ; nor devoid of infinite corro- boration. They might be greatly extended, and a variety of inte. resting comparisons might be instituted between the pyramids of Ethiopia and Egypt, and those found on the Euphrates by Cokmet Chesney, that one supposed to be the ruins of the tower of Babel, and those in Central America. My province, however, is solely Egyptian history ; and I will con- fidently assert, that any one who will read and study the works of the hieroglyphical school — the volumes of the Champollions, of Ro- sellini, and of Wilkinson — who will weigh the demonstrations in Morton's "Crania ./Egyptiaca," and who, to remove the last atoms of scepticism, will pay a visit to Egypt's time-honored monuments, and verify for himself the truth of the descriptions given by the hiero- bO ANCIENT EGYPT. logists — any one.. I repeat, who will do all this, (which I have done) and then deny these evidences, would, I really believe, dispute the truth of Euclid's axiom, and maintain that " a straight line is not the shortest distance from one given point to another." Let me recapitulate, in a summary mode, what these results are : let. Geologically — that the Delta is as ancient as any portion of the alluvial soil of the Nile, and that it was inhabited at the earliest postdiluvian period. 2nd. Geographically — that Lower Egypt was by climate, soil, and every circumstance, most favorable to early settlement ; and as the most contiguous to Asia, was the region best adapted to primitive colonization, and the earliest civilization. 3rd. Scriplurally — that the children of Ham came from the banks of the Euphrates into Egypt, through Syria, Palestine, and the Isth. mus of Suez — that they inhabited the lower provinces of the Nilotic valley in the first instance, whence they eventually spread them- selves over the alluvial soil of that valley, in a natural order of mi- gration and settlement. 4th. Physiologically — which, for the first time is clearly demon- strated by Morton's "Crania jEgyptiaca," the keystone of the sys- tem : that the ancient inhabitants of Egypt were Asiatic in origin, and Caucasian in race, from the earliest period to the extinction of Pharaonic dominion, which is in perfect accordance with Scriptural migrations, and their Caucasian origin as descendants of Noah. 5th. Ethnographically — according to Dr. Leipsius, that, as the affinities of the Indo-Germanic and Semitic languages with the Cop- tic, establish the Asiatic and common primeval origin of all three, the remaining link of language is supplied to show the Caucasian attributes of the Egyptian tongue. 6th. Historically — from the collation of the most ancient records with each other, corrected by the application of hieroglyphical tes- timony, coeval with the earliest events of which history has left us the annals — 7th, and Monumentally — from the edifices still erect in Lower Egypt, which are more ancient than any others in the world, and from the vestiges in Lower Egypt of early cities, which history at- tests were equal to any others in antiquity — We aro fully justified in concluding that civilization, springing from Asia, introduced by Caucasians into Lower Egypt, obtained its earliest known developments in the lower provinces, and therefore accompanied a white race up the Nile, from north to south, as these people, the primitive Egyptians, must have ascended, and not de- scended that river. Let us now return to the chain of history. We have brought the children of Ham from Asia into Egypt; we have settled their des- cendants along the whole Nilotic valley ; we have watched the rise of civilization, and the formation of a general theocratic govern- ment ; we have seen a military chieftain seize the sceptre, andfound a powerful dynasty of hereditary sovereigns ; we have seen his suc- cessors improve cities for their residences, build pyramids for their tombs ; and where are we in chronological epochs ? still in very re- mote periods. We are only at the close of Manetho's 4th Memphite Dynasty, so far as hieroglyphical confirmations enable us to deduce plausible conjectures. We have now reached a point of darkness so dense, that a few observations will suffice to explain the difficulties of our position : on the one hand stands Scriptural chronology, limiting us to a given period, between the Flood and Abraham ; on the other, we have the very doubtful number of Manetho's kings and reigns. A few years ago no one pretended to consider Manetho's first fifteen dynasties as worthy of notice ; and even at the present day, there is no reason for accepting the number of his kings ; or the length of their reigns, such as have been transmitted to us by his copyists. Therefore, Manetho's period, from the fourth to the end of the fifteenth dynasty, is considered improbable by me, although on the Continent there are some hierologists who accept the whole of Manetho as he stands in the table already presented, by which the accession of Menes would have occurred, B. C. 5867. It is singular, that the monuments confirm Manetho, as will be seen, in a most extraordinary manner up to the 16th dynasty ; that the pyramida confirm his 4th dynasty ; and that the 1st king of the 1st dynasty, Menei, is now confirmed by tablets and papyri. In fact, it may be contended, that, dating back from the 31st dynasty, as Manetho has been corroborated by the hieroglyphics on the monu- ments of Egypt up to the 16th dynasty ; say B. C, 2272 — his autho- rity must not be altogether rejected upon preceding epochs ; espe- cially now, that his 4th Memphite dynasty stands forth a brilliant constellation in the firmament of historical gloom. But unhappily the tomes of the high priest of On — the far-famed Heliopolis — have reached us in scattered fragments, which bear in- ternal evidence of having been mutilated by his copyists, to suit their own peculiar systems of cosmogony ; and while we may refuse our belief to the immeasurable, as well as inconsistent periods, and ex- traordinary number of kings for his first 15 dynasties ; yet, not ha- ving, in the fragments bequeathed us by Manetho's transcribers, the names of the kings who figured in the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th dynasties, we are not able to identify with Ma- netho's list, the long hieroglyphical catalogue called "Unplaced Kings," most of whom however, are attended with circumstancial evidence proving their appertaining to some period before the 16th dynasty ; say prior to B. C, 2272 — and between that period and the accession of Menes. By " unplaced kings" are meant the great number of royal ovals or cartouches, containing the names of Pharaohs, the greater part of whom lived before the 16th dynasty ; because, from the 16th dynasty downward, we can adjust the monuments with Manetho's histo- ry, and therefore these unplaced kings must have lived before that period ; independently of a variety of circumstances which send each of them back to a previous epoch. We know that each of these unplaced kings "lived, moved, and had a being ;" and from historical and hieroglyphic testimony we can prove, that so many of them ruled over all Egypt, as to de- stroy the supposition of their being coetaneous. For instance, let us take the following. Remeran — Sun — beloved name. He is a most an- cient king. He is found in Karnac ; at Chenoboscion, on the Cosseir road — and as his titles are " Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt," he ruled over the whole country. Let us take another. Pharaoh — or, Lord of an obedient people. Remai — " The beloved of Phre." His titles are also " Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt" — but, as his name is found at Eilethyas, at Silsilis, on the Cosseir road, at Chenoboscion, at Karnac, and at the copper mines of Mount Sinai, he must have ruled over all Egypt. These Unplaced Kings may amount in number at present (for one or more new kings are yearly discovered,) to about 180 car- touches as an approximative extreme. But, making due allowance for possible repetition of the same kings' names in variations of car- touches, or otherwise ; and rejecting, as doubtful cases, many others, we have in hieroglyphics more than sixty unplaced kings, who must have lived and reigned between Menes and the 16th dynasty, or between Mizraim and Abraham, wherewith to fill up some por- tion of the blanks of history. Others will be discovered — circum stances will add to our knowledge of many of them ; but it is scarcely possible to be hoped, by the most sanguine, that we shall ever be able to possess the hieroglyphical names of all " the children of the sun," who swayed the sceptre of Menes, owing to the destruction of monuments in Egypt by the Hykshos, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Christians, the Saracens, the Turks, and the Herod of all destroyers, the present Mohammed Ali. An adequate number of Egyptian royal ovals has been found, however, to satisfy the impartial, that the number of 350 kings, who, according to profane authors, ruled over Egypt from Menes to the 31st dynasty, B. C, 332 — is far from being a mere fable, without some foundation in fact; and that it is positively not an exaggeration in toto. I can, from my own notes and compilations, produce all that to the best of my belief were known up to 1842. There is every reasonable conjecture that the effaced 29 kings, of the tablet of Abydos, would, if we possessed all Manetho, be found to correspond to his loth dynasty ; of which kings, neither the num- ber, nor the names are extant in the fragments of the sacerdotal chronicler. The mutilated condition of the tablet itself adds to our difficulties. I merely note the circumstance, while the uncertainty compels us to throw these 29 kings among the unplaced Pharaohs preceding the 16th dynasty. We are therefore compelled to drop the veil over the Egyytian history from the pyramids, during an uncertain, but a long period, to the 16th dynasty, B. C, 2272. In this interval, temples were built, as we possess their remains ; tombs were prepared for millions of departed; quarries were worked; mines were opened and ex- plored ; all the arts and sciences were practiced ; religion was fos- tered. Egypt would seem to have been peaceful, prosperous, civil- ized, and happy, under a long chain of unambitious monarchs ; but more than this we do not know — perhaps never may. Yet the dis- covery of a single tablet of kings — a genealogical papyrus — a copy of Manetho — or the same wonderful chain of successful labors and extraordinary coincidences, that have hitherto attended the Cham- pollion school, may enable some fortunate explorer to find, and to open the sealed, the lest books of Hermes. CHAPTER SEVENTH. The first of my two preceding discourses was intended as a sketch of the conjectural and probable commencement of Egyptian colo- nization by the Caucasian children of Ham, the Asiatic — their pro- gress up the Nile, the rise of the theocracy or hierarchical government, down to its modification on the accession of Menei, the 1st Pharaoh of Egypt. ANCIENT EGYPT. 61 The object of the second discourse was to define the possible pe. nod of Menes's foundation of the Pharaonic monarchy, taking the year 2750 B. C, as within a few generations approximative of the truth. We then descended through the pyramidal period of Egyptian monuments. We touched on the difficulties of classing our " un. placed kings ;" and, while we allewed the doubts and conflicting statements of profane history, we endeavored, at the same time, to vindicate Manetho's claims upon our notice. We have seen, that some events of this period are positive, as we possess monuments to attest them, no less than the greatness of Egypt in those days : nor can we any longer tolerate the objection, that all is fable in history before Abraham's birth. We have proved, that, in the wilderness of antiquity, before the birth of Abraham, there are many oases, such as the pyramids of Egypt and Ethiopia, with other Pharaonic remains ; and, if we can- not trace in every case the connection between these verdant spots, we have established, that they are all embraced within a chronolo- gical circle, the lower circumference of which strikes the 16th Dy- nasty, while the upper rim of its imaginary orbit recedes from our view into the gloom of primeval epochs. Who, 30 years ago, could have foreseen that we should be enabled to do a thousandth part as much ? and who can now doubt, that every future year will present some new planet in the historical firmament? On turning to the table of dynasties, it will be observed that Ma- netho is met by the tablet of Abydos, at the lGth dynasty. Reserving the more copious elucidation of this monument to my future oral lectures, in the course of which I shall exhibit a large copy of the tablet, it is necessary at present to explain that this is a hieroglyphical genealogical record, wherein Ramses the 3rd — Sesos- tris — about B. C. 1550, has chronicled fifty-one Pharaohs, who pre- ceded him on the throne of Egypt. The original of this precious sculpture is now in the British Museum, but in a very mutilated condition, compared with its state 25 years ago, when it stood in the temple at Abydos. The 16th Theban dynasty of five kings is recorded in this tablet ; and from this dynasty downward, Egyptian history is now clearly defined. I would next solicit attention to the reduction of the " Old Chron- icle ;" whereby the first fifteen dynasties are comprised in the first 443 years of a Sothic, or canicular period or cynic cycle : (I explained this subject in a former chapter.) Now, it is tolerably well established by the calculations of Champollion Figeac, that this cycle began in the Julian year 2782 B. C; whence, if the 16th dynasty began in the year 444th of this cycle, its accession would correspond to the year 2339 B. C. Again, as Champollion Figeac remarks, "if we add to the year 443 of this cycle, which was the last year of the 15th dynasty — 1st, 190 years for the duration of the reigns of the 16th dynasty ; and 2nd, the 178 years that, with the 6 years of the 28th dynasty, are wanting in the numerical details of the Old Chronicle (see Cory's Ancient Fragments,) to reach the sum total of 36,525 years, which the Chron- icle gives as the amount of years reigned, we shall attain, at an approximation of eleven years, the same results" that our author draws from other documents, to fix the invasion of the Hykslws with the commencement of the 17th dynasty, at the year B. C. 2082 ; and to establish the commencement of the 18th dynasty, at 1822 B. C. Considering the remoteness of the epoch, such a trifling difference as eleven years " needs neither defence nor attack." It is probable that the accession of Menes — the annual rising of the sacred Nile — and the astronomical relation of the Sothic Cycle to the same — are three events of coetaneous occurrence about the year 2782 B. C. ; for this I refer particularly to the masterly calcula- tions of Champollion Figeac. The method by which the rise of the 16th dynasty is determined by Rosellini and by Champollion, is based however on a more simple calculation. Their several estimates for this event differ but two years from each other. At the end of each of Manetho's dynasties we have — as in the ta- ble — fhe sum total of the years reigned. Two eras, upon which chronologists coincide, are selected. One, the conquest of Egypt by Cambyses, in the year 525 B. C. : the other, the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, B. C. 332. With each of these well known dates, the sum total of the years reigned by the last 16 dynasties, preceding and down to the Macedonian, must agree — that is, in the year 525 B. C, the 26th Saitic dynasty must end ; and in the year 332 the rule of the Persians must cease. If then, we count the years given by Manetho — as corrected by the monuments — for those who reigned from the beginning of the 16th dynasty, to the end of the 31st dynasty, Years, we obtain, 1940 To which add the years between Alexander's con- quest and the birth of Christ, Years, we obtain 1747 To which add the years between Cambyses and our Saviour, 525 We obtain, again, for the 16th dynasty, B. C. 2272 332 The 16th dynasty began B.C. 2272 Or, counting the years from the beginning of the 16th dynasty, to the end of the 26th dynasty, when Cambyses conquered Egypt, It will be seen, as we proceed, how admirably the monuments and history corroborate this date : and how perfectly it dove-tails with the chronology of the Bible, from Abraham downward, when we take up the Hebrew chronology for times succeeding Moses. And not to expose myself to the charge of inconsistency, I would beg leave to remark, that for the time between Moses and the Deluge, I follow the Septuagint version, as the only scale reconcilable with Egyptian history ; because it was in the lives and generations prior to Abra- ham, that the Hebrew texts of Scripture were altered, corrupted and curtailed by the Jews, after the advent of Christianity : whereas, for the period subsequent to Moses, the Hebrew text would seem to be more accurate than for anterior times ; and from Moses downward, Archbishop Usher's system of chronology will probably be found best adapted to Jewish history. On the other hand, I am not treating on Jewish, but on Egyptian history ; and the Egyptian chronological edifice from the 16th dynasty downward, in general principles, is built upon a rock. The monuments are silent about the Hebrews ; and it is highly satisfactory to be able to show, that this silence does not affect the authority of Scripture. It has been seen that, although the Bible is silent on Egypt in the times before Abraham, we have positive au- tocthon monumental history in that country to fill up much of the vacuum, and to confirm the Septuagint era of the Flood. It will by- and-by become evident, that, although the Egyptian records are alto- gether silent about the Jewish sojourn in Egypt, circumstances will enable us to account for this silence ; while we meet with some ex. traordinary coincidences confirmatory of Biblical chronology and history after the times of Moses, and corroborative of the computations of the Hebrew version from him downward. The reader will indulgently observe that, owing mainly to the na- ture of our education in America and in England, we cannot divest ourselves of certain associations, whenever the word Egypt is used. We instantly connect Egypt with Scripture and with the Hebrews ; and no foreign country certainly is, to the inspired writers, of such vast consequence as Egypt, from the time of Abraham to the fall of Jerusalem. But, if any of my readers had resided in Egypt as long as I have, they would readily perceive, that although some may not choose to disconnect the Jews from the Egyptians, we can certainly detach the Egyptians from the Jews. Egyptian local and internal history is as independent of Jewish history, prior to the days of Solo- mon — except so far as it may concern the Hebrew Exode — as is the history of China. America has her annals independently of England. Assyria rose and fell from causes known to, and predicted by, but inde- pendently of the Hebrew prophets ; and, in the same manner, Egypt has her own chronicles, her own events and her own annalists, inde- pendently of all connection with the Jews, whom she preceded in antiquity by at least ten centuries. As an Egyptian annalist, therefore, I shall, in my future oral lec- tures, unfold Egyptian history from the hieroglyphics. I shall touch on every event and on every nation, that concern my subject, but I shall treat of the Jews, as I do of any other nation with whom the Egyptians were brought into contact ; without twisting confirmations from data where none exist ; or withholding the smallest of those that confirm or elucidate an historical text of Scripture. We begin then with the 16th Theban dynasty, at B.C. 2272, on positive monumental data, and historical evidences ; leaving out all those observations which have been so often promulgated, though in the year 1843 they do not bear upon Egyptian history at this point. It has been accurately observed by Champollion Figeac, that his (and Rosellini's) computation of the 16th dynasty, at B. C. 2272, is rather more conclusive, than the feeble strictures of Syncellus upon Mane tho, or the explanations of Eusebius,in regard to the number of years — 36,525 — of the " old chronicle," which concern neither the Deluge, nor Abraham, nor history, nor positive chronology, since they are the arbitrary product of purely mythological or astronomical speculations. We shall find ourselves constantly bringing the dates on Egyptian monuments to correct or to aid history in the number of years reigned, by the kings of Egypt ; for, as I remarked in a former chapter, it was customary in all documents to date the current year from the king's accession to the throne. With respect to the number of kings who ruled from the 1st mo- narch of the 16th dynasty, B. C. 2272, to the close of the 31st Per sian dynasty, B. C. 332 — I instituted a comparison between the several historical lists, and find that the, Old Chronicle for this period, Manetho, according to Eusebius, do do Africanus, Canon of Syncellus, adjusted by Hales, and extended by myself, " " 91 The mean between these records furnishes about 97 kings. On applying this to Rosellini's and Champollion's era of the 16th dynasty, we again obtain satisfactory results; for gives Kings 95 (I ll 94 << II 100 62 ANCIENT EGYPT The 16th dynasty is given by them at B.C. 2272 Take away the years between the 31st dynasty and our Saviour's birth, 332 there remain 1940 which divided by 97, gives us 20 years for the average reign of each king; an average less by 2 J years, than by Doctor Hales and other eminent mathematicians is taken for the mean length of a kingly generation. By another comparative reduction I made of the " Old Chronicle," Manetho, Eratosthenes, and Syncellus's Canon, I obtained the accession of the 16th dynasty, at a mean within 54 years of Ro- sellini's calculation — so that in following the learned French or Ita- lian authorities, I am not only in accordance with the mass of hie. rologists, but acting also upon my own conviction of their accuracy, derived from actual investigation. Of these ninety-seven kings, the monuments will enable us to pro- duce about seventy-five in hieroglyphics ; while, for the absence of the rest, we have to accuse the spoiler ; and each unfound king will in his place be readily accounted for. Their non-appearance in hie- roglyphics, however, does not in the least affect the mode or the accu- racy of these computations for the 10th dynasty. It is scarcely necessary, after my former remarks on Herodotus and Diodorus, to repeat, that in matters of Egyptian chronology, it is but lost time to consult them. Their details of an individual king's acts are sometimes correct and often useful, but their lists are tissues of anachronisms irreconcilable with the monuments, with other chronicles, or with themselves. Most of the confusion in Egyptian history has arisen from the misconceptions and misrepresentations of these two Greeks, who wrote on subjects they neither did nor could know much about. THE 16th DYNASTY OF THEBANS, Consisting of five Pharaohs, who reigned together 190 years, com- menced B. C. 2272, and ended B. C. 2082. See tablet of Abydos, in my lecture room, Nos. 30, 31, 32, 33, 34. It will be observed that these ovals are in the tablet obliterated, but Nos. 33 and 34 are supplied by the genealogical succession of Beni- hassan. In a former chapter I explained, that each Pharaoh, after those of the earlier dynasties, had two ovals or cartouches inclosing his names ; one of which, called the prenomen, contained his distinguishing title, and is generally symbolic — the other, called his nomen, contained his proper name, which in most cases is altogether phonetic. It is by his prenomen that the Pharaoh is generally determined on a tablet. When once the position of a prenomen in relation to other pre- nomina, is established by a genealogical tablet, it is generally easy to find oi i some other monument a hieroglyphical legend, wherein the preno-nen is connected with its nomen or proper name. For instance, we find No. 33 in the tablet of Abydos effaced ; but still, the former existence of an owner for it, is indisputable ; and we count him for a Pharaoh, even without knowing his names. The genealogical succession of Beni-hassan (which is another record) gives us Sun offered to the world. as the title or prenomen of a king — but we are still ignorant of this king's proper name. Let us seek for a monumant, whereon we can find this prenomen associated with its corresponding nomen. We take the granite obelisk (vide obelisk in chapter third,) that still marks the site of Heliopolis. Here we find this prenomen (No. 33 of tablets Abydos and Beni-hassan) coupled with this nomen, Son of the Sun. OSoRTaSeN. Sun offered to the world — Osortasen — and he is our Osortasen the 1st — 4th king , of 16th dynasty. He was, up to 1837, the earliest king identified on the tablet of Abydos; but an accident happily acquainted us with his predecessor, No. 32, who is also an obliterated Pharaoh. A broken statue of a tilting human figure of dark red granite, was in the possession of a gentleman at Rome. Of this statue, the lower portion, consisting only of the legs and the chair, was preserved. It was known to be Egyptian, but was not considered of any importance by its proprietor Chance brought the learned hierologists, Dr. Lepsius and Chevalier Baron Bunsen, in the. way of this block; and on a hieroglyphical legend down its side, they read " The King, Sun offered to the World (the %rrenomen oval of Osortasen 1st) giver of eternal life, has made a durable construction for his father, Pharaoh, Sun of Guardianship ; has made a statue in red granite to him, who rendered him vivifier for ever." On the other side of the statue, a legend the same in substance is repeated ; but in this legend the nomen oval is given ; and thus we know that the father of (No. 33 of tablet of Abydos, or Osortasen 1st,) was "the sun of guardianship," Aian or Oan. One might be tempted to consider him a Johannes, a Hanna, or a John, so nearly does the phonetic value approach the eastern sound of this familiar name. Thus, then, we have gone back one king more, and have only two blanks to fill in the 16th dynasty ; for No. 34, though obliterated on the tablet of Abydos, is supplied from Beni-hassan ; prenomen, Sun perfect in justice ; and nomen Amenemhe ; whom we call Amenemhe 1st. I have thought it would be satisfactory to the reader, to expound the curious but practical process by which Egyptian hieroglyphics are read, and the chronology determined. Henceforward we shall find the successions regular through the tablets, and where they end, we can, in most cases, produce other equally positive proofs from other sources. Of the first Osortasen we possess many very interesting records, enlightening us on events unknown to, and unchronicled by any ancient writers ; and it is the pride of modern hierology of the last fifteen years, to have brought to light some annals of a monarch, whose existence and name were omitted by all historians ; and yet, whose deeds place him among the greatest of kings. It is from le- gends coeval with him that we glean this information ; and when we reflect that, inhis day, B.C. 2088, Abraham, by the Hebrew ver- sion, was not born ; it will be seen how intensely interesting are these resuscitations. The monuments of Osortasen first begin in Nubia, near the se. cond Cataract, where he erected a temple ; and a tablet, exhumed from this spot by the French and Tuscan commissions, and now at Florence, records his victories over the Lybians, and over ten Afr* can nations, some of whom must be sought for toward the now-my*' terious sources of the Nile. Another edifice was left by him at Hi eraconpolis above Eilethyas, the last stone of which was carried oft for lime about 1836. He built the sanctuary of the temple at Kar- nac, where an enormous statue once stood representing this king, cut out of crystallized sulphate of lime ! One of his generals lay buriod in a tomb at Beni-hassan. An obelisk in the Fayoom, and the well known obelisk still erect at Heliopolis, record his name and titles. Scattered fragments bearing his legend are found in the win- dow-sills of mosques and thresholds of doors at Cairo, which Ma. hommedan desecration has taken from Memphis and Heliopolis. Excavations at Memphis and Abydos have brought to light Stelse with his names ; and in the museums of Europe there are many relics of Osortasen. We possess monuments which bear the several dates of the 9th, 13th, 17th, 25th, 42nd, 43rd, and 44th years of his reign. The summary of deductions to be drawn from these facts is, that Osortasen was a great and wise monarch, who ruled the land of Egypt with much regard to the welfare of his subjects ; by whom Ms memory was revered in all after times. His dominion extended into Ethiopia and Nigritia. He repressed the nomads of the Lybian desert. It may be presumed that, toward the eastward, his Asiatic frontier was limited to the Suez Isthmus, and Mount Sinai peninsula. In his reign religion was carefully protected ; and the arts of paint- ing and sculpture reached a bold purity of style, unsurpassed in exe- cution even by the more florid characteristics of later times. Every art and every science known to the Egyptians were fully developed in his day. The style of architecture was grand and chaste ; while the columns now termed Doric, and attributed to the Greeks, were in common use in this reign, which precedes the Dorians by a thousand years. The arch, both round and pointed, with its perfect keystone, in brick and in stone, was well known to the Egyptians long before this period ; so that the untenable assertion, that the most ancient arch is that of the Cloaca Magna at Rome, falls to the ground. In architecture, as in everything else, the Greeks and the Romans obtained their knowledge from their original sources in Egypt, where still existing ruins attest priority of invention 1000 years before Greece, and 1500 years before Rome. These topics are now beyond dispute, and may be found in the pages of the Champollion school. Until the last few years they were utterly unknown in history. It seems possible, however, that the habits of good order, agricul- tural welfare, civilization, and social refinement, had rendered the then peaceful inhabitants of the valley of the Nile unambitious of foreign extension. It would appear, as if content with repressing tho inroads of the southern and western nations, they thought more of preserving and improving the goods accruing to them from peaceful institutions, than of increasing their wealth by military prowess or territorial extension. This is to be inferred from the fierce visitation, which Providence had then in store for Egypt, that befel in the next reign. ANCIENT EGYPT. 63 Although, of course, nothhe slightest record of the event is to be found in the hieroglyphics, modern chronologists consider the visit of Abraham to have taken place in this or the preceding reign. All seem to agree that the patriarch sought refuge from the famine, at that time in Canaan, amid the well-stored granaries of Egypt, during the 16th dynasty. I confess, that there are many objections to this view arising from an infinitude of circumstances. The main difficulties proceed from the diversity of computation of Scriptural chronology ; and the doubt as to the epoch of Abraham within 500 years. For Egyptian chronology, we have so many land-marks, that now-a-days the hierologist can err but little in his date for the 16th dynasty ; and therefore we are compelled to adapt the Biblical chronology to the monuments. This can be done satisfactorily, when we select those Biblical authorities that best accord with hieroglyphic history. My oral lectures will touch on the several computations of Cham- pollion, Rosellini and Wilkinson. In any case, if Abraham visited Egypt during this dynasty, he was received with hospitality and kindness ; although he made use of a subterfuge, that, to say the least, was reprehensible. The Pharaoh of Egypt behaved to hiin with manly generosity, and dismissed him and all his people " rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold." This says volumes for the land styled the "region of purity and just- ice" in those most remote periods. Not only did Abraham.retain all his wealth, but he was allowed to take it, and to go his way across the desert toward Mamre near Hebron, unmolested, and enriched with presents. We may infer that Egypt was great and wealthy, when cattle, silver, and gold did not tempt the inhabitants to violate the rights of hospitality. Nor can Egyptian forbearance be attri- buted to any other feeling than that of justice to the stranger ; as Abraham's armed force [his " trained servants"] many years after, did not exceed 318 men ; whereas, the Egyptians possessed regular armies, vast cities ; and some centuries previously, had devoted 100,000 men solely to erect one pyramidal tomb. Abraham doubtless increased his stock in Egypt, and likewise hired Egyptian attendants ; for his handmaid Hagar was an Egyptian female : their son Ishmael,* was therefore half Egyptian in blood ; and to evince his attachment to his maternal origin, this son also espoused an Egyptian, when he settled in the wilderness of Paran. These circumstances, though in themselves trifling, go far in sup- port of the Asiatic origin and Caucasian race of the early Egyptians; who, while they do not appear to have looked upon Abraham as a Gentile, were by him considered worthy of his family. This would probably not have been the case, had the Egyptians been Africans. There is in fact, every Scriptural reason to believe, that the early Egyptians and Abraham's family were on the most friendly footing. The relation between Abraham and the Pharaoh of Egypt, was such as between a Be'dawee Sheykh and Mahommed Ali of the present times. The obligation was exclusively on the side of the Hebrew patriarch ; who, apart from his personal merits, as a vene- rable and pious man — a distinguished guest of the Egyptians — must, in other points of comparison to the monarch, whose sway extended 1500 miles along the Nile, have been quite insignificant. It is on these grounds, that the silence of Egyptian Annals in re- spect to Abraham is readily explained. To proceed with Egyptian history — the successor to Osortasen the 1st, was Amenemhe 1st ; but few of his remains have come down to us, owing to the catastrophe that put an end to his life and reign ; no less than to the happiness of Egypt for a period of 260 years. Let us take up Manetho preserved to us by the Jewish historian Jose- phus, after observing that " Amenemhe 1st," agrees chronologically with Timaus — Choncharis. Fragments of Manetho's history ; preserved by Josephus in his defence of the Jews against Apion, (extracted from Cory's " Ancient Fragments.") MANETHO. OF THE SHEPHERD KINGS. We had formerly a king whose name was Timaus. In his time it came to pass, I know not how, that God was displeased with us : and there came up from the East in a strange manner men of an ignoble race, who had the confidence to invade our country, and easily subdued it by their power with- out a battle. And when they had our rulers in their hands, they burnt our cities, and demolished the temples of the gods, and inflicted every kind of barbarity upon the inhabitants, slaying some, and reducing the wives and children of others to a state of slavery. At length they made one of them- selves king, whose name was Salatis : he lived at Memphis, and rendered both the upper and lower regions of Egypt tributary, and stationed garrisons in places which were best adapted for that purpose. Cut he directed his attention principally to the security of the eastern frontier; for he regarded with suspicion the increasing power of the Assyrians, who he foresaw would one day undertake an invasion of the kingdom. And observing in the Saite nome, upon the east of the Bubastite channel, a city which from some an- cient theological reference was called Avaris : and finding it admirably adapted to his purpose, he rebuilt it, and strongly fbrtified it with walls, and garrisoned it with a force of two hundred and fifty thousand men completely armed. To this city Salalis repaired in summer time, to collect his tribute, and pay his troops, and to exercise his soldiers in order to strike terror into foreigners. * Ishmael is undoubtedly the father of a large proportion of the Arabs; but the Arabian peninsgla must have been numerously inhabited even in bis day, by Hie de scencants of Joktan &c. Every circumstance confirms the intimate relations that in the remotest times exisW between Egypt and Arabia. And Salatis died after a reign of nineteen years : after him reigned another king, who was called Beon,* forty-four yeais: and he was succeeded by Apachnas who reigne I thirly-six years ar.d seven months : after him reigned Apophis sixty-one years, and Ianias fifty years and one nSiith. After all these reigned Assis forty-nine years and two months. These six were the first rulers among them, and during the whole period of their dynasty, they made war upon the Egyptians with thehope of exterminating the whole race. All this nation was styled Hycsos, that is the Shepherd Kings ; for the first syllable, Hyc, in the sacred dialect, denotes a king, and Sos signifies a shepherd, but this only according to the vulgar tongue ; and of these is com- pounded the term Hycsos : some say they were Arabians. This people who were thus denominated Shepherd Kings, and their descendants retained possession of Egypt during the period of five hundred and eleven years. After these things he relates that the kings of Thebais and of the other pro vinces of Egypt, made an insurrection against the Shepherds, and that a long and mighty war was carried on between them, till the Shepherds were overcome by a king whose name, was Alisphragmuthosis, and they were by him driven out of the other parts of Egypt, and hemmed up in a place con- taining about ten thousand acres, which was called Avaris. All this tract (says Manetho) the Shepherds surrounded with a vast and strong wall, that they might retain all their property and their prey within a hold of strength. And Thummosis, the son of Alisphragmuthosis, endeavored to force them by a siege, and beleagured the place with a body of four hundred and eighty thousand men ; but at the moment he despaired of reducing them by siege, they agreed to a capitulation, that they would leave Egypt, and should be permitted to go out without molestation wheresoever they pleased. And, according to this stipulation, they departed from Egypt with all their fami- lies and effects, in number not less than two hundred and forty thousand, and bent their way through the desert toward Syria. But as they stood in fear of the Assyrians, who had then dominion over Asia, they built a city in that country which is now called Judaea, of sufficient size to contain this multi- tude of men, and named it Jerusalem. (In another book of the Egyptian histories Manetho says) That this people, who are here called Shepherds, in their sacred books were also styled Captives, t After the departure of this nation of Shepherds to Jerusalem, Tcthmosis, the king of Egypt who drove them out, reigned twenty-five years ana four months, and then died : after him his son Chebron took the government into his hands for thirteen years ; after him reigned Amenophis for twenty years and seven months: then his sister Amesses twenty-one years and nine months : she was succeeded by Menhres, who reigned twelve years and nine months: after him Mephramuthosis twenty-five years and ten months : then Thmosis reigned nine years and eight months; after whom Amenophis thirty years and ten months; then Orus thirty-six years and five months : then his daughter Acenchres twelve years and one month ; afterwards her brother Rathotis nine ; then Acencheres twelve years and five months ; another Acencheres twelve years and three months ; after him Armais four years and one month ; after him reigned Ramesses one year and four monihs ; then Armesses the son of Miammous sixty- six years and two months ; after him Amenophis nineteen years and six months ; and he was succeeded by Sethosis and Ramesses. he maintained an army of cavalry and a naval force. This king (Sethosk-) appointed his brother Armais his viceroy over Egypt : he also invested him with all the authority of a king, with only three restrictions; that he should Dot wear the diadem, nor interfere with the queen, the mother of his children, nor abuse the royal concubines. Sethosis then made an expedition against Cyprus and Phoenicia, and waged war with the Assyrians ind Medes ; and he subdued them all, some by force of arms, and others without a battle, by the mere terror of his power. And being elated with his success, he advanced still more confidently, and overthrew the cities, and subdued the countries of the East. But Armais, who was left in Egypt, took advantage of the opperlunit}', and fearlessly perpetrated all those acts which his brother had enjoined him not to commit : he violated the queen, and continued an unrestrained intercourse with the concubines ; and at the persuasion of his friends he assumed the diadem, and openly opposed his brother. But the ruler over the priests of Egypt by letters sent an account to Sethosis, and informed him of what had happened, and how his brother had set himself up in opposition to his power. Upon this Sethosis immediately returned to Pelusium, and recovered his kingdom. The country of Egypt took ils name from Sethosis, who was called also iEgyplus, as was his brother Armais known by the name of Danaus. — Joseph, contr. App, lib. I, c. 14, 15. OF THE ISRAELITES. This king (Amenophis) was desirous of beholding the gods, as Orus, one of his predecessors in the kingdom, had seen them. And he communicated his desire to a priest of the same name with himself, Amenophis, the son of Papis, who seemed to partake of the divine nature, both in his wisdom and knowledge of futurity ; and Amenophis returned him answer, that it was in his power to behold the gods, if he would cleanse the whole couulry of the lepers and other unclean persons that abounded in it. Well pleased with this information, the king gathered together out of Egypt all that labored under any defect in body, to the amount of eighty thousand, and sent them to the quarries, which are situated on the east side of the Nile, that they might work in them and be separated firm the rest of the Egyptians. And (he says) there were among them some learned priests who were affected with leprosy. And Amenophis the wise man and prophet, fearful least the vengeance of the gods should fall both on himself and on the king, if it should appear that violence had been offered them, added this also in a prophetic spirit — that certain people would come to the assistance of these unclean persons, and would subdue Egypt, and hold it in possession for thirteen years. These tidings however he dared not to communicate to the king, but left in writing what should come to pass, and destroyed himself, at which the king was fearfully distressed. (After which he writes thus, word for word :) When those that were sent to work in the quarries had continued for some time in that miserable state, the king was petitioned to set apart for their habitation and prelection the city * Bryant— vol. iv., p. 4G1— gives a curious note about tin's Bern ; which rending, he says, is a blunder of ancient transcription. There was a second king after Salatis; but, as the chroniclers could not make out his name, they wroto him down as B. arou — " the second king is anonymous !" t The names of the Ifvkslios kings have not been found in hicroglyuhio There are two or three ovals, among I lie " unplaced kings,' 1 which present ?o'Vi: . imi'v itier ; Mich ns Asis, AsBA, which hnvc leen taken for Jtsttk— Pan Un JJpo^fUi ; 'mi, 1 .-«Jbt the resemblance. Ohampollion Figenc mentions n hieratic jiapi/rus. of the Sesor«^9 period, which he considers to contain the name oiJlpophis. b4 ANCIENT EGYPT. of Avaris, which had been left vacant by the Shepherds; and he granted them their desire: now this city, according to the theology above, is a Typhonian city. But when they had taken possession of the city, and found it well adapted for a revolt, they appointed for themselves a ruler from among the priests of Heliopolis, one whose name was Osarsiph, and they bound themselves by oath that they would be obedient. Osarsiph then, in the first place enacted t law, that they should neither worship the gods, nor abstain from any of those sacred animals which the Egyptians hold in veneration, but sacrifice and slay them all ; and that they should connect themselves with none but such as were of that confederacy. When he had made such laws as these, and many others of a tendency directly in opposition to the customs of the Egyptians, he gave orders that they should employ the multitude of hands in rebuilding the walls about the city, and hold themselves in readiness for war with Amenophis the king. He then took into his counsels some others of the priests and unclean persons : and sent embassadors to the city called Jerusalem, to those Shepherds who had been expelled by Tethmosis ; and he informed them of the position of their affairs, and requested them to come up unanimously to his assistance in this war with Egypt. He also promised in the first place to reinstate them in their ancient city and country Avaris, and provide a plentiful maintenance for their host, and fight for them as occasion might require ; and assured them that he would easily reduce the country under their dominion. The Shepherds received this message with the greatest joy, and quickly mustered to the number of two hundred thousand men, and came up to Avaris. Now Amenophis the king of Egypt, when he was informed of their inva- sion, was in great" consternation, remembering the prophecy of Amenophis, the son of Psipis. And he assembled the armies of the Egyptians, and hav- ing consulted with the leaders, he commanded the sacred animals to be brought to him, especially those which were held in more particular venera- tion in the temples, and he forthwith charged the priests to conceal the images of their gods with the utmost care. Moreover he placed his son Sethos, who was also called Ramesses from his father Rampses, being then but five years old, under the protection of a faithful adherent; and marched with the rest of the Egyptians being three hundred thousand warriors, against the enemy, who advanced to meet him ; but he did not attack them, thinking it would be to wage war against the gods, but returned, and came again to Memphis, where he took Apis and the other sacred animals he had sent for, and re- treated immediately into Ethiopia together with all his army, and all the multitude of the Egyptians; for the king of Ethiopia was under obligations to him. He wss therefore kindly received by the king, who took care of all the multitud >. that was with him, while the country supplied what was ne- cessary for their subsistence. He also allotted to him cities and villages during his exile, which was to continue from its beginning during the pre- destined thirteen years. Moreover he pitched a camp for an Ethiopian army upon the borders of Egypt, as a protection to king Amenophis. In the meantime, while such was the state of things in Ethiopia, the people of Jerusalem, who had come down with the unclean of the Egyptians, treated the inhabitants with sucl barbarity, that those who witnessed their impieties believed that their joint sway was more execrable than that which the Shepherds had formerly exercised alone. For they not only set fire to the cities and villages, but committed every kind of sacrilege, and destreyed the images of the gods, and roasted and fed upon those sacred animals that were worshipped ; and having compelled the priests and prophets to kill and sacrifice them, they cast them naked out of the country. It is said also that the priest, who ordained their polity and laws, was by birth of Heliopolis, and his name Osarsiph, from Osiris the god of Heliopolis ; but that when he went over to these people his name was changed, and he was called Moyses. — Joseph, contr. App. lib. I. c. 26. OF THE SHEPHERDS AND ISRAELITES. (Manetho again says:) After this Amenophis returned from Ethiopia with a great force, and Rampses also, his son, with other forces, and en- countering the Shepherds and the unclean people, they defeated them and slew multitudes of them, and pursued them to the bounds of Syria. — Joseph, contr. App. lib. I. c. 27. Having now laid before the reader all the preliminary matter, ne- cessary to the clear comprehension of Egyptian paleography, from the remotest times to the accession of the 16th dynasty of Diospolitans, I have reached the boundary proposed in the publication of the pre- sent chapters. In my future oral Lectures all remaining subjects, that experience may prove to be interesting to the public, will be progressively de- veloped : and to render the chronological portion intelligible, I subjoin a GENERAL TABLE OF THE LAST SIXTEEN DYNASTIES OF THE KINGS OF EGYPT, ACCORDING TO THE HIEROGLYPHICS : Being an Abstract of Professor Roskllini's Chronology, with some later emenda- tions of Dr. Leem ans , and others. XVI. DYNASTY OF FIVE THEBAN KINGS. S-Si 6£ 140 2272 2 TT 3 III. AlAN. 2132 4 IV. OSORTASEN I. Amesses, Amosis. 44 2186 b V. Amenemhe I. Timaus, Concharis. 6 2082 The entire Dynasty reigned — years 190 XVII. DYNASTY OF SIX SHEPHERD KINGS, Or Hykshos in Lower Egypt. I. II. III. IV. V. VI. Salatis. B. Anon ? Apachnas. Apophis. Ianias. Aseth. 19 44 36M7 61 50 1 49 2 B.C. The entire Dynasty reigned — years 259 " 10 LEGITIMATE XVII. DYNASTY OF SIX THEBAN KINGS, Who ruled over the Upper Provinces of Egypt, contemporarily with the Hykshos, who possessed the Lower. 1 2 3 4 5 B.C. 6 1. Amenemhe II.* 28 2082 7 II. Osortasen II. 8 III. OSORTASEN III. 14 9 IV. Amenemhe III. 44 10 V. " Sol vocatus in justi- tia." 11 VI.' Aaiimes, Thothmosis. Misphragmuthosis. 22 1822 The entire Dynasty reigned — years 260 THE XVIIIth DYNASTY OF 17 THEBAN KINGS, Occupied the Pharaonic throne during the most brilliant and impoi tant period of Egyptian history. The reestablishment of supreme power on the expulsion of the Hykshos ; the. erection of the most magnificent edifices ; the conquests in Africa far into Nigritia, in Asia Minor to Cholcis on the Euxine, and through Central Asia into Hindostan ; with the sojourn and Exodus of the Israelites, combine to render this portion of the page of Nilotic history teeming with interest. Four parallel hieroglyphical lists exist to confirm and cor- rect the fragments of Manetho, viz. : the Tablet of Abydos, the Pro. cession of the Bamsessium, the Procession of Medeenet-Hdboo, and the Tomb of Gurnah. 1 2 3 4 5 B. C. 12 I. Amunoph I. Amosis, Thetmosis. 26M4 1822 13 II. Thothmes I. Chebron. 13 1796 14 III. Thothmes II. Amenophis. 20 1783 15 IV. Amense, queen, Amenses. ") 16 17 Thothmes III. Amenemhe IV. 1 successive hus- ( > bands of queen j S Amense. J 21 9 1762 18 V. Thothmes IV.t Mephres, Mccris. 12 9 1740 19 VI. Amunoph II. Mephrathutmosis. -25 10 1727 20 VIT. Thothmes V. Tmosis. 9 8 1702 21 VIII. Amunoph III. Amenophis, Memnon 30 10 1692 22 IX. H&R, Horus. 36 5 1661 23 X. Tmauhot, queen, Achenkeres. 12 1 1625 24 XI. Ramses I. Rathotis, Athoris. 9 1613 25 XTI. Menephtha I. two Akencheres. :24 8 1604 26 XIII. Ramses II. Armais, Armesses. C Ramses, Sesos- 1 14 1579 27 XIV. Ramses III. •? tris, Sesoosis, } I Osymandias. ' 66 2 1565 28 XV. Menephtha II. Armessis, Miammun. 3 1499 29 XVI. Menephtha III. Amenophis. i Siphthah and > 19 U 1496 30 Taosra. ) 31 XVII. Remerri, Uerri. 2 5 1476 The entire Dynasty reigned — years 348 XIX. DYNASTY OF SIX THEBAN KINGS. 1 2 32 I. 33 II. 34 III. 35 IV. 36 V. 37 VI. Ramses IV. Ramses V. Ramses VI. Ramses VII. Ramses VIII. Ramses IX. Sethos- iEgyptus. Rapsaches, Rampses. Ammenephthes. Rameses. Ammenemes. [teus. Thuoris, Polibius, Pro- 55 B.C. 1474 1280 The entire Dynasty reigned — years 194 * The objection to Roskllini's and Champollion Figeac's arrangement of the Shepherd Kings, propounded by the erudite Sir J. G. Wilkinson (in "Manners and Customs," vol. 1st, page 45) which is based on the " Tablet of Victories" of this king, brought by Mr. Burton from Wadee Gasobs, does not appear to be conclusive : for apart from the reading of the name of Fount, as the territorial designation of this con- quered nation, in which I cannot agree ; there is not only no absolute necessity to con- sider these Fount to be a tribe at that moment inhabiting Asia : but, associated as they are in Sir J. G. Wilkinson's copy of the procession of nations tributary to Thotmes4th, ( W— vol.1, pi. 62. fig. 5, and pi. IV., 1st line) no less than in Mr. Hoskins's colored cojv. of the same subject, with tribes and productions exclusively African, they are evident./ a Caucasian family settled in some part of northeastern Africa. They may be Uppet Lybians especially if their name will bear the reading of FotiK-t-Kah (?) Nor do Ro- sellini orChompollion reler to the objection ; perhaps, however, inconsequence ofth« absence of this entire subject in the French and Tuscan works. t In a preceding chapter, I explained, that this arrangement is liable to modification, if the tablet referred to be of the 42nd year of Thothmes 4th— Moeris. . ANCIENT EGYPT. 65 XX. DYNASTY OF TWELVE THEBAN KINGS. 1 2 3 4 5 B. C. 38 39 40 41 42 43 I. II. III. IV. V. VI. X. XL XII. Ramses X. Ramses XL Ramses XII. Amenemes Ramses XIII. Ramses XIV. at least, at least. 4 33 1280 44 45 46 Ramses XV. Amensi-Hrai-Hor. Phisham. .,..,. 1102 The entire Dynasty reigned — years 178 XXI. DYNASTY OF SEVEN TANITE KINGS. 1 2 3 4 5 B. C. 47 48 I. II. Manduftep ? Aasen ?* Smendis. Psusennes I. Nophercheres. Amenophthis. Osorchor. Psinaches. Psusennes II. 26 46 • 4 9 6 9 30 1102 1076 1030 1026 1017 VI 1011 1002 The entire Dynasty reigned — years 130 XXII. DYNASTY OF NINE BUBASTITE KINGS. 1 2 49 I. 50 II. 51 III. 52 IV. 53 V. 54 VI. 55 VII. 56 VIII. 57 IX. Sheshonk I. OSORKON I. Sheshonk II. OSORKON II Sheshonk III. Takelloth I. OSORKON III. Takelloth II. OSORKON IV. Shishak, Sesonchis Osoroth, Osorthon. Takellothis. 21 15 29 25 B.C. 972 951 936 The entire Dynasty reigned — years 120 XXIII. DYNASTY OF FOUR TANITE KINGS. I II III IV Petubastes. Osorcho. Psammus. Zet. 5 B.C. 40 852 8 812 10 804 31 794 The entire Dynasty reigned — years 89 XXIV. DYNASTY OF ONE SAITIC KING. B.C. Bonchoris, Bocchoris,| 44 | 763 XXV. DYNASTY OF THREE ETHIOPIAN KINGS. 57 58 59 I.I Shjtbak. II.I Shabatok III. I Tahraka. Sabbacon, Sabaco. | 12 Sevechus, Sethon, Sua\ 12 Tarakus, Tarhaka. 20 B.C. 719 707 695 The entire Dynasty reigned — years 44 XXVI. DYNASTY OF NINE SAITIC KINGS. The entire Dynasty reigned — years, 150 6 XXVII. DYNASTY OF EIGHT PERSIAN KINGS. I. II, III, IV, V, VI VII VIII Kambeth. Ntariush. Khsheersha. Artksheersha. Cambyses. The Magians. Darius, Hytaspea Xerxes, I. Artaxerxes, manus. Xerxes, II. Sogdianus. Darius-Nothus. Longi. 3 M. 7 36 21 40 19 B. C. 525 522 485 464 424 The entire Dynasty reigned — years 120 4 XXVIII. DYNASTY OF ONE SAITIC KING. 1 2 | 3 4 5 B.C. I. Stephinatea. Nerepsus. Nechao, 1 Psammetichus. Necho. Psammuthis, Psan- mus. Vaphrea, Apnea, Ho- phra. Amosia, Amasis. Psammenitua. 7 6 8 45 6 15 19 44 M. 6 675 II. 668 III. 662 60 61 62 63 64 65 IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. X. Psametik I. Neko II. Psametik II. Hophra Bemesto. Aahmeb. Psametik III. 654 609 603 588 569 1 70 I. Hor,-nasht-Hbai. Amyirtheua. I B.C. 6 404 XXIX. DYNASTY OF FIVE MENDESIAN KINGS. 71 72 73 74 I. II. III. IV. V. Nophrophth. Hakor. Psimaut. Naifnot ? Nepherites. Achoris. Psammuthis. Anapherites. Muthis. 6 13 1 M.4 1 B.C. 398 392 379 378 The entire Dynasty reigned — years 21 4 XXX. DYNASTY OF THREE SEBENNITIC KINGS. 75 I II III Nashtanebf. Nectanebo I. Theos Tachoe. Nectanebo II. The entire Dynasty reigned, years, 5 B.C. 18 377 2 359 18 3-57 38 XXXI. DYNASTY OF THREE PERSIAN KINGS. I. II. Ill, Artaxerxes, Ochus. j2 Arses, Arsos. 3 ? Darius III.Codomanus|3? The entire Dynasty reigned — years 8 ? |!L£ 339 337 332 Conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great. B. C. 332. List of the Ptolemaic Kings of Egypt, successors to Alexander the Great, whose names have been inscribed in Hieroglyphics on Egyptian monuments. No. NAMES OF PTOLEMIES. * I consider Mahduftkp. andAxssN to be "unplaced kinei", belonging to Droaatien prior fo the l6tb. II, III. IV. VI VII. VIII IX XL XII. Philip Arrid^us, brother of Alexander, Alexander, son of Alexander, Ptolemy, son of Lagus, Soter, Berenice, his 4th wife, reckoned in Ptolemy's reign, Ptolemy Philadelphia, his son, Arsinoe, daughter of Lysimachus, Arsinoe, widow of Lysimachus 1 , Ptolemy-Evergetes I. Berenice, of Cyrene, Ptolemy-Philopator, Arsinoe, his sister, Ptolemy-Epiphanes, Cleopatra, of Syria, Ptolemy-Philometor, Cleopatra, his sister, Ptolemy-Evergetes II. Physcon, Cach- ergetes. Cleopatra, widow of Philometor, Cleopatra, Cocce, Ptolemy Soter II, Lathyrus, Ptolemy Alexander I, Parisactus, Berenice or Cleopatra, his daughter Ptolemy Alexander II., Ptolemy — New Dionisius, Auletes, Berenice, his daughter, again PTOLEMY-AuZetes, Cleopatra, daughter of Auletes, Cleopatra, and her son Cjesarion, The House of Lagus reigned years .... Years of each Reign. Years before Christ. 7 12 20 39 38 25 17 24 35 29 18 18 8 16 2 3 8 14 323 316 304 284 246 221 204 180 140 117 81 73 57 55 49 44 294 And the Ptolemaic dynasty ceased — years B. C. 30, when Egyp- became a province of the Roman Empire. 66 ANCIENT EGYPT. Names of Roman Emperoks found in hieroglyphics on the ments of Egypt. I. Emperor Cesar Augustus, B. C. 27. II. " Tiberius Cesar, III. " Caius— Caligula— IV. " Tiberius Claudius Cesar Augustus Germanicus, V. " Nero Claudius Cesar Augustus Germanicus, VI. " Marcus Otho Cesar Augustus, VII. " Cesar Vespasian Augustus, VIII. " Titus Cesar Vespasian Augustus, IX. " Cesar Domitian Augustus, X. " Cesar Nerva Trajan Augustus, XI. " Cesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus, XII. " Cesar Titus Elius Adrian Antoninus Augustus Pius, XIII. " Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, XIV. " Lucius Verus Cesar, XV. " Commodus, XVI. " Cesar Severus Augustus, XVII. " Cesar Geta Augustus, XVIII. " CjEsar Antoninus Augustus, (Caracalla,) A.D. 14 36 40 54 68 78 81 97 116 137 161 180 194 211 Note. Of the Roman Emperors, who ruled between Augustus and Cara- calla, the only names unfound in hieroglyphics, are Galba, Vitellius and Nerva. Thus from an indefinite period, prior to the year B. C. 2272, down to about 215 years after the Christian era, the hieroglyphical char- acter is proved to have been in use ; while, from the year 2272, B. C, modern hierology has determined the chronological series of Egyptian monarchs, by the translation of hieroglyphical annals. The Romans held Egypt from the 27th year B. C. till 395 A. D. ; when the sons of Theodosius the Great divided the empire ; and Egypt lingered under the sovereignty of the Eastern Emperors ; till, conquered by Aa.mer-ebn-el.As, the Valley of the Nile became a province of Omar's Saracenic Caliphate, in A. D. 540. In the year A. D. 1517 — Hegira 923 — Egypt was overrun by the Ottoman hordes of Sooltan Seleem, and has ever since been the spoil of the Turk : but, in the prophetic " Books of Hermes" it is written, " Et inhabitabit ^gyptum Scythus, aut Indus, aut aliquis tali»." END OP ANCIENT EGYPT. Page 28. 2nd Column, 14 " 30. 1st. " 18 « 30. 1st. 4 ' 31. 2nd. « 15 « 42. 2nd. " 11 « 43. 1st. " 38 ERRATA. 2nd Column, 14 lines from top, for to the above, read with the above. a « « oj-jjjg- to this hole, read bring it to this hole. " bottom for, steamboats, under, read steamboats, that under. " " " as well, read as well as " " " with, read without. " top " it, read they. A gentleman, erudite in Hebrew and other Oriental languages, has kindly suggested the following emendations to the Author. Note, page 31 — that the name of Moses — Mosheh — being derived from the Hebrew root " to draw out," has no reference to the root " to anoint." Page 32 — that the Hebrew root Aur does not mean the Sun, but light, and Ur, or Oor, signifies flame, splendor; that Urim and Thummim, are not duals but plurals, and should be rendered " splendors and perfections." Page 42 — that the name of the Thebaid — Pathros — is not derivable from the root Pathar, to interpret; but probably represents the Coptic Pethouris, Terra Australis, the Southern land. Page 43 — that the word Matz-za, unleavened bread, is derived from the root to squeeze, to compress. Not to enter into an argument, I refer the critical reader to Portai,, " Les Symboles des Egyptiens compare's a ceux des Hebreux.' Paris 1840 — and Dr. Lamb on the Hebrew Alphabet. London, 1835. ANCIENT EGYPT. 67 COPIES OF TESTIMONIALS, AND EXTRACTS OF CORRESPONDENCE. To George R. Gliddon, Esq. Boston, February, 4, 1843. Sir .^Having attended your course of thirteen Lectures (some of us the whole, and others, parts of the course,) delivered in this city, on " Early Egyptian History, Archaeology, and other sub- jects CONNECTED WITH HlEROGLYPHICAL LITERATURE," We take this occasion to express the high satisfaction we have experienced — in common with your other auditors — in following you through the interesting developments made of your noble and inexhaustible sub- ject. It need not be remarked, that, until the present age, the extraor- dinary history and antiquities of that ever memorable country, in its earliest periods, have been, comparatively speaking, a tissue of fa- bles ; and, almost literally, enveloped in that impenetrable darkness, which has long been associated with the name of that people in a familiar proverb ; for, although the Egyptians from the earliest ages, like other nations, had recorded their great public events on their public monuments, which are still extant, yet all knowledge of the language of those monuments — the Hieroglyphical Language of Egypt — had long been lost to the world, and has but recently been recovered by the profound researches, which were instituted in Eng- land by Young — alike eminent in Science and Literature — and, in France, successfully prosecuted to their full development by Cham- pollion ; a result, which will shed a lustre upon the literary fame of the present age, of no less brilliancy than the most celebrated dis- coveries made in any of the fields of science. We cannot, therefore, permit the present occasion to pass, without testifying our gratification at having had this opportunity of hearing the first course of Lectwes, delivered in this country, upon the re- sults of those profound and interesting researches. These results shed new light upon the early history of man, by unfolding to our view, in addition to the knowledge we before possessed from the Scriptures, the authentic records of a great nation, and of a more remote epoch, than the earliest records of any people which the learned have hitherto made a subject of thorough and exact investi- gation. The impulse now given to these studies, will, we have no doubt, stimulate many of our intelligent and persevering scholars, to emulate their illustrious European predecessors in this department of knowledge ; and, while they extend their own fame, to add to the reputation of their country. With our cordial wishes for your success in making known, in other parts of the United States, the valuable and interesting results of Egyptian researches, and with the assurances of our personal regard, We are, Sir, Your obedient servants, Jno. Pickering, John Davis, Wm. Jenks, Charles P. Curtis, S. K. Lothrop, Asa Eaton, Jas. Savage, I. P. Davis, Charles Sumner, F. C. Gray, Jos. W. Ingraham, Alex. Young, G. S. Hillard, Geo. Hayward, Charles Lowell. Philadelphia, March 20th, 1844. To George R. Gliddon, Esq. Dear Sir, — As members of your recent class in this city, we can- not deny ourselves the gratification of returning you our warmest thanks for the pleasure and profit derived from your discourses. We presume, however, that a just appreciation of the importance of your theme, will prove far more agreeable to your feelings, than even the richly-merited acknowledgment due to the unvarying urbanity and kindness of manner, which distinguished your personal intercourse with your hearers. Permit us, then, to thank you most sincerely — rather as citizens of an extensive community than as mere individuals — for the efforts you have made to arouse the attention of the American public to the deeply interesting subject of Egyptian Archozology. To paraphrase a familiar Eastern ejaculation, " There is no Truth but Truth," — and it is equally true, that scepticism is deprived of all its weapons when truth appears, divested of the errors, with which it has been veiled through honest misconceptions. As Christians, we feel that the public is deeply indebted to you, for assuming the critical post of a pioneer, in the task of rendering popular the constantly accumulating facts by which Egyptian hiero- glyphic history corroborates the record of the sacred writers, and casts bright sunshine upon ages, institutions, men and motives, hith- erto but vaguely traced in the dim, deceptive moonlight of Grecian and Roman philosophy. As men, we have listened with high interest to your expose of the state of learning and the arts, among a people antedating all other exfcmt history, and the pure, though seemingly enigmatical moral- ity^which vindicates the dignity of human nature, even in its in- ftney. We will not pause to make a single comment upon the thousand interesting questions in statesmanship and public polity in the in- fluence of governmental systems upon the destiny of nations which start up in the minds of your hearers, as you proceed, apparently without effort or intention of your own, and render every lecture the subject of enduring thought. These things are far too grand and vast for mere epistolary no- tice; and we will, therefore, close with the assurance, that public considerations, not less than private gratification, induce us most heartily to wish you a prosperous career elsewhere, and a speedy re- turn to Philadelphia, wheie we trust the intelligence and virtue of the community will ever be ready to welcome you. We are, very respectfully, James Mease, Henry W. Ducachet, Peter Vanpelt, C. G. Childs, David S. Brown, J. Fisher Learning, A. D. Chaloner, A. D. Gillette, Joseph Montgomery, Charles Ryan, Thomas Ryan, John S. Miller, B. Henry, Josiah Randal], Samuel Jackson, S. F. Smith, R. D. Wood, Lawrence Lewis, Richard C. Taylor, John J. Smith, Jr., Isaiah Hacker, William Peter, Jolin G. Watmough, Thomas Gilpin, A. M. Prevost, Thomas Firth, William Morrison, J. S. Phillips, George W. Aspinwall, G . Emerson, Gavin Watson, Robert Kilvington, James Arrott, Colin Arrott, Joseph Lea, Jr., B. H. Coates, R. M. Lewis, Judah Dobson, W. J. Walter, H. B. Wallace, Thomas T. Lea, Thomas Sergeant, M. D. Lewis, S. W. Roberts, William Ashbridge, William S. Vaux, Richard Randolph, Samuel George Morton, Charles F. Becke, George Zantzinger, Edward King, William Zantzinger, W. A. Dobbyn, Joseph S. Lyon, Leonard R. Koecker, J. H. Markland, John T. Sharpless, Reynell Coates. EXTRACTS OF CORRESPONDENCE. - London, 1st Sept., 1843. Perring, — " Some few days ago, on the table of H. E. the Chevalier Bun- sen, I met with your Lectures, and confess with some little surprise at your new vocation. I immediately sent down to Wiley & Put- nam's, and was fortunate enough to obtain a copy, which I have gone over ; and as it contains your address, I cannot withhold my humble tribute of applause. It is the first attempt, that I am aware of, to popularize the subject of hieroglyphical literature and history in all its details and branches ; and the thoroughly masterly manner in which you have executed your task, (con amore) will be appre- ciated by all, and yet more especially by those who have labored in the same field. — for the mass of valuable information brought to- gether from a thousand discordant sources, is truly astonishing." " I have recommended your work to several friends, who wish to know a little truth on Ancient Egypt and its Archasology ; and shall advise all who visit that country to make it their study on the voyage," &c. — London, 10th Nov., 1843. Madden,* - "I am very much pleased with the work, (Ancient Egypt,) for it conveys in a simple and eloquent style, information which is not to be procured in any other way. It gave me great pleasure to find that the American public appreciated your exertions," &c. — Alexandria, 25th Nov., 1843. Harris, - " Our friend Mr. A. Tod,f presented me with your ' Ancient Egypt; her Monuments, Hieroglyphics, &c.,' and I thought you would not be displeased to receive my congratulations on the fruit of your industry and application, which must have been very great to have produced a work of so much merit. I have no doubt you will make yourself a name, if you pursue the path you have marked out for yourself. I sincerely wish you success," &c. Bonomi, ■ ■ Pyramids of Gheezeh, 17th Jan'ry., 1844. " We are all very much pleased with the efforts you have been making in the cause. It is, indeed, highly creditable to you to nave produced such a complete and highly interesting volume on the sub- ject. I do not know any treatise on the subject that is likely to ad- vance the study of Egypt so much as yours. You have shown the process by which what knowledge we have has been acquired ; and on what clear and solid foundation it rests. You have carried your * Madden & Co. — Oriental Publishers, f Consul for the U. S. in Egypt. €8 ANCIENT EGYPT. reader to the very margin of our knowledge ; having shown him in the course several alleys and branches of the great Labyrinth that are still unexplored, and stimulated him to pursue the study by pi- quant suggestions. In short, your book has done more to render the •ubject popular, than any work in existence," &c. Lbpsius, Karioum, le 29 Mars, 1844. (Junction of the White and Blue Nile.) "Monsieur et Collegue, ''' Je me hate de vous accuser reception du bulletin* de la Soci£t6 des Sciences Naturelles de Philadelphie, que vous avez bien voulu m' envoyer par l'entremise de Monsieur votre pere. Je vois par cela que cette Honorable Societe m' a fait l'honneur de mettre mon nom parmi ses membres correspondants. Bien sensible a cette distinction, que je ne saurais expliquer que par l'interet bien vif que vous pren- nez aux memes Etudes auxquelles je me suis livre de preference, et dont vous etes le representant aussi zele que savant dans le nouveau Monde, je vous prie de vouloir presenter mes humbles remerciemens a l'honorable Societe, et d' agreer en meme temps l'expression de ma reconnaisance envers vous meme, qui avez bien voulu transferer l'interet pour les etudes Egyptiennes sur celui qui voudrait les faire avancer autant qu'il est en son pouvoir." "J'ai vu par la meme feuille que vous avez fait un rapport a la Society sur notre Expedition scientifique. Je vous remercie pour l'interet quo vous y portez," &c. Lepsius, ■ Island of Phila, 15th Sept., 1844. " J'ai lu avec le plus grand interet les sept, premiers chapitres de votre cours sur l'ancienne Egypte, et je suis convaincu que vous avez gagne un applause general et merite de tous ceux qui ont eu l'avan- tage de pouvoir suivre votre cours. J'espere vivement que vous trouverez le temps pour continuer vos utiles recherches dans ce genre d'etudes ; qui, malgre la riche moisson qu' elles promettent, ont pourtant trouve jusqu' a present beaucoup plus d'amateurs que de travailleurs serieux, faute, il est vrai, en grande partie, de la difficulte a remonter aux vraies sources de cette science," &c. Walsh,* • Paris, May 7th, 1844. " Monsieur Jomard, of the Royal Library, the highest authority on Egyptian topics" — " rejoices in the recovery of Mr. Gliddon's work, which he accidentally left in Italy in the autumn, and means %r> read attentively without delay." — National Intelligencer. Wash- ington, 20th June, 1844. *Vide Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, July and August, 1843. *U. S. Consul, Paris. Birch, • British Museum, London, 12th May, 1844. " I have read with much pleasure your interesting Lectures o* Egyptian Antiquities, in the United States, which ought to have the effect of awakening the public attention there to the researches go- ing on in the Old World. They have been very popular here, as I dare say your publishers (Madden & Co.) can inform you ; and de- servedly so, since they place the matter in a clear and distinct point of view in all its bearings," &c. Lane, Cairo, 15th July, 1844. " I congratulate you most sincerely on the success which has at- tended you in America, and join with many others in thanking you for much very valuable information," &c. - Juddah, (Jlrabia,) 4th Aug., 1844. Fresnel,* - " I am indebted to your " Ancient Egypt" for the little positive knowledge I now possess on the subject which you have treated with so much perspicuity, " verve," and " disinvoltura." .... " I must now acknowledge, that you have given me a real treat in my desert, and have inspired me with a lively interest for a branch of science, which I had neglected for no other reason, than that it was not my own branch, my own department ; and " qu' a moins d'etre de fer, (which, you know, is not my case,) on ne peut pas suffire a tout " Go on, my dear Sir, and " agreez mes sinceres felicitations," &c. Extracts from the Correspondence of my Father, the late John Gliddon, U. S. Consul for Egypt. " Cairo, 12th October, 1843. — "The book is characterized here as learned, modest, and most useful." 18th November. — " Among the Elite of Cairo you have passed the ordeal. Your work is con- sidered a most opportune compendium, and a most acceptable vade- mecum.' 1 '' 14th February, 1844. — " Soon afterwards I exchanged visits with Sir J. G. Wilkinson, and you will be gratified to hear, that he confirmed all that had reached mc from Judge Jay and Mr. Harris concerning your labors ; and when I took leave, he expressly charged me with his congratulations and kind regards." . . . . . . " Messrs. Wilkinson, Briggs, Walne, Bonomi, Lane, Traill, Lieder, &c, indicate your work to all travellers in search of hieroglyphical information, and the consequence is, that your ' Chapters' 1 are taken off the table of the ' Egyptian Society,' as it were, by the dozen," &c. Baltimore, 15th March, 1845. George R. Gliddon. "French Consul at Juddah — Red Sea. APPENDIX. — ~~+^*"~' — NEW SERIES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL LECTURES ON ANCIENT EGYPT, ILLUSTRATED BY COPIOUS AND SPLENDID PICTORIAL DIAGRAMS, AND GENUINE ANTIQUITIES, COMPRISING THE LATEST HIEttOGLYPHICAL, AND COGNATE MONUMENTAL DISCOVERIES, BY GEORGE R. GLIDDON, Member of the " Egyptian Society" of Cairo — Corresponding Member of the " United States Naval Lyceum," Brooklyn, New York — Correspondent of the " Academy of Natural Sciences," Phila- delphia — Corresponding Member of the " National Institute," Washington — Member of the "American Oriental Society," Boston — Honorary Member of the "His- torical Society of Pennsylvania" — Correspo'nding Member of the " Syro- Egyptian Society" of London — Corresponding Member of the "Societe Orientale de France" — Corresponding Mem- ber of the "Institute of ArchjEological Correspondence of Rome," AUTHOR OF "A Memoir on the Cotton of Egypt" — "An Appeal to the Antiquaries of Europe on the destruction of the Monuments of Egypt," London, 1841 — "A Series of Chapters on Early Egyptian History, Archaeology, and other subjects connected with hleroglyphical literature," new york, 1843, AND FORMERLY UNITED STATES CONSUL FOR CAIRO, IN EGYPT. : Plurimas terras peragravi, disjunctissima quceque lustrans; cceli solique genera plurima vidi, eruditos homines permultos audivi; jffigyptiorum, qui Harpedonaptje (a^ttthovantai. — Clem. Alex. Strom. I. =j?nan — |1K — T£nn = HRPD— AUK— HPTE=" Colui che largisce la verita della luce;'" i. e. the Illumi- nati — Michelangelo Land, Paris, 1846.) nominantur, apud hos autem postremo multos per annos pere- grinatus sum." Democriti Abderit.e Operum fragmenta — p. 228. Ed. Mullachius, Berlin, 1843. Philadelphia, October, 1846. In announcing his return to Philadelphia, after a twelvemonth's sojourn in Europe, with the intention of resuming his Lectureship throughout the United States, Mr. Gliddon begs leave to preface his new Courses witfi the following remarks : Four winters have elapsed since the writer, whose twenty-three year's residence in the Valley of the Nile naturally led him to take interest in the progress of local researches, commenced (at Boston, 1842-3,) in the novel form of illustrated and popular Lectures, the exposition of those discoveries in hieroglyphical literature, consequent upon the memorable French and English Expeditions to Egypt in 1798 — 1802, which, impressed by Napoleon's genius, and fore- shadowed in the noble folios " Description de 1'Egypte," have called forth in this second quarter of the XlXth century the lavish expen- ditures of enlightened Governments, Societies, and individuals, the enthusiastic investigation of the most illustrious Savans of the age, and the intellectual admiration of all civilized communities. The experiment attempted by the writer, that of popularizing, through direct and oral address, independently of the patronage or aid of Governments or Academies, to the comprehension of the edu- cated masses, themes so fraught with interest to the past history and future development of humanity, does not appear to have been tried, in any country, since the Olympic era of the Halicarnassian. To this day the oral exposition of hierogrammatical science is confined in Europe to regal collegiate precincts ; and it is at Paris, Florence, and Berlin alone where the student or general hearer has hitherto gathered Egyptian instruction from the incomparable discourses of a Cham- POLLIOX IE JeUN'E, a RoSEI.LIMr,aLETHOXNi;, aRAOUL-PiOCHETTE, or a Rjchahd Lepsius. In England, to this very hour, there are no public lectures whatever on Egyptian Archaeology : and the fact that many thousands of America's citizens have spontaneously attended Discourses upon Hieroglyphics, in some European circles is yet un- believed, in others it is a topic of mingled wonder and applause.* It was upon the diffusion of education among the people of the United States and their thirst for knowledge, fostered by Institutional freedom in this vast Republic, that the writer, stimulated by the advice and the effective aid of a few personal friends, among whom the name of Richard K. Haight,! of New York, must always stand preeminent, grounded his hopes and calculations ; nor, whilst he merely claimed to be the popular expositor of the profound researches of others, without the slightest pretension to aught but as much fidelity of narrative as lay within the compass of his reach or abili- ties, has he ever doubted, that the inquiring intelligence of the New World would be found fully equal to the appreciation of discoveries that for half a century have constituted the unceasing study, the in- creasing attention, and the herculean labors of the greatest men and nations of the Old. Such was the writer's conception when he landed in America in January, 1842. Three successive winters, 1842-3, 1843-4, 1844-5, of practical experience have demonstrated, that, so far as the broad principle of American intellectual cultivation be concerned, he has not in his anticipations been mistaken. His Lectures upon Egyptian Hierology have been consecutively listened to by audiences embracing many thousands of the population, from Portsmouth, N. H., to Sa- vannah, Geo., including repeatedly the larger Atlantic Cities, Boston, New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Rich- mond and Charleston; while, at Boston, his course of 12 Lectures on Egyptian Archaeology, repeated, before the " Lowell Institute" in 1843-4, was attended by above five thousand persons. The sale, in less than three years, of 18,000 copies of the Chapters, presented gratuitously by the Author to the American Public, and the una- bated demand for new impressions of this Introduction to the study of Hieroglyphics,! are sterling facts in proof of the popular desire manifested by the public of the United States, to become familiar with those splendid results and triumphant discoveries that insure immortality to the School founded by Champollion. Taking our departure from the •' Precis du Systeme Hierogly- phique des Anciens Egyptiens," put forth by Champollioit le Jeune, at Paris in 1824, we can now realize, after the toils of twenty- two years, the resuscitation, from the tomb of fifteen centuries, of the language of the long-buried denizens of Egypt, and witness in the year 1846 the facile translation, by living French, English, German, and Italian Hierologists, of any and all monumental legends, Paint- ings, Sculptures and Papyri, scattered along the " Sacred River," from the shores of the Mediterranean to the confluence of the White and Blue Niles beyond the far-famed, if modem Meroe, on the torrid confines of Nigritia. And beholding, as we now do with our own eyes, the progressive reconstruction of the time-honored edifice of Pharaonic antiquity, from autochthonous records with the events themselves coetaneous, our minds have awakened to the comprehen- sion of the reason why the advancement of a given country in Egyptian learning has become, as it were, the standard measure of its literary reputation in archaeological and cognate sciences. Spurred to emulation, under the penalty of being distanced in the' race, by the glorious example of France, the Governments of Tus- cany, Prussia and England, and many of the less affluent states of Italy and Germany, have latterly been sending Commission after Commission to explore and re-explore the venerable Ruins of " Mitzraim," or are collecting and depositing under the aegis of Euro- pean security, in gigantic national Museums, the hoary vestiges of primeval Nilotic civilization. Lepsius and the Prussians have but just returned from Egypt and Ethiopia, laden with treasur.es gathered du- ring three years of unequalled and most successful laboriousness — and yet, Phisse, chief of a new Scientific Mission, is on the point of re- turning from Paris to the same inexhaustible regions, in order that French science may still maintain its preeminence in the march of hicroglyphical discovery. Paris, London, Berlin, St. Petersburgh, Ley den, Amsterdam, Stock- holm, Copenhagen, Munich, Vienna, Turin, Milan, Florence, Rome, and Naples, independently of minor cities and of countless private cabinets in Europe and Egypt, boast at the present day of Egyptian antiquarian possessions, to obtain and to preserve some of which mil- lions of dollars have been expended, and each city rejoices in the noble rivalry of its respective hieroglyphical students to decipher and expound fragments, whose no-longer recondite meaning serves to illumine every department of human knowledge. "As regards those eminent men who have won a brilliant place in the career of Egyptian studies, it is out of the question here to analyze their books ; it suffices that it should be known that all have marched boldly along the road opened by Champollion, and that the science which owed its first illustration to Young, to the Cbampollions, to the Humboldts, to Salvolini, to Rosellini, to Nestor L'hote, and of which the reality has been proclaimed without reservation by Sylvestre de Sacy and by Arago, counts at this day as adepts fervent and convinced men* such as Messrs. Letronne, Ampere, Biot, Merimee, Prisse, E. Burnouf, Lepsius, Bunsen, Peyron, Gazzera,Barucchi, ****** Leemans," Pauthier, Lanci, Birch, Wilkinson, Harris, Cullimore,' Sharpe, Hincks, Osburn, Bonomi, &c, &c. " The friends and the enemies of Champollion's system are now well known."j " Tant pis pour qui ne se rangera pas avec ces hommes celebres du coje de 1'evidence et de la justice."* The specification of the works, national and individual, published and forthcoming from the press of Europe on Hierological Literature, Chronology, History, Arts, Sciences, and Philosophy, would alone swell a quarto volume, as may be inferred from the subjoined list of Authors, whose researches have been consulted in the preparation of Mr. Gliddon's Lectures, and whose works are to be found, on this side of the water, in the private library of Mr. Haight at New York, to the munificence and friendship of whom the writer owes the advantage of access to this unique archaeological collection. And yet, withal, if in transatlantic America, space, time, and the nature of things, have hitherto precluded similar pecuniary efforts to keep pace with the antiquarian ambition of European communities, it is a fact, as remarkable in itself as easy of demonstration, that there is a more widely-diffused and general knowledge of the progress of Egyp- tian discovery, and a more popular desire manifested to possess correct ideas upon the results of Egyptological inquiry, than in many parts of Europe, where the public mind still lies torpid in the very midst of the discoveries and the discoverers: and it was to qualify him- self for the better development of these subjects, in the endeavor to do justice to this growing desire, that the writer, suspending his Lectures during the last winter, proceeded to Europe to collect, by personal application at the fountain sources of Paris and London, the most authentic materials, and the latest hieroglyphical discoveries. During five month's residence at the French metropolis with Mr. Haight, whose intimacy with many of the most distinguished Savans and Societies of France afforded to the writer an infinitude of plea- surable advantages ; availing himself of the influential kindness of his accomplished friend Mr. Robert Walsh, U. States Consul, to whom he is indebted for manifold facilities ; and happy in the auspicious rencontre with his old Cairo-colleagues and Eastern fellow-travel- lers, Prisse,§ the rescuer (from otherwise inevitable perdition had it remained at Thebes) of the "Ancestral Hall of Karnac," Fresnel ,|| the decipherer of the Himyaritic Inscriptions of Southern Arabia, and Botta,1 the resuscitator of time-interred Nineveh, who took pleasure in explaining their several discoveries, and in introducing him to their respective scientific friends, the writer has enjoyed from the liberal and frank complaisance of the Savans of France so many favours, that in his present inability to express to each his grateful obligations, he must content himself by italicizing among the following authorities quoted in his lectures, the names of those to whose personal kindness he is most indebted, as well in London as at Paris. Abeken, Ampere, Barucchi, Biot, Birch, Bockh, Bonomi, Botta, Boudin, Bunsen, Burton, Cahen, Cailleaud, Champollion- Figeac, Cherubini, Cottrell, Cullimore, D'Avezac, D'Eichthal, De Saulcy, Felix, Flandin, Fresnel, Gazzera, Goury, Hamilton, Harris, Hengstenberg, Henry, Hincks, Hodgson, Horeau, Hoskins, Jomard, Jones, Lanci, Lane, Leemans, Lenormant, Lepsius, Lesueur, Letroitne, L'Hote, Linant, Matter, Migliarini, Morton, Munke, Osburn, Parthey, Pauthier, Perring, Pettigrew, Peyron, Portal, Prichard, Prisse, Prudhoe, Quatremere, Raoul-Rochette, Rosellini, Salt, Salvolini, Schwarze, Sharpe, Tattam, Taylor, Ungarelli, Vcnel, Vyse, Wilkinson, Young, &c. &c. &c. A constant attendant during the winter at the invaluable " Cours d'ArcheoIogie Egyptienne" of Letronne at the College de France, and of Raoul-Rochette at the Bibliotheque Royale, and a frequent ♦Vide— Revue ilea Deux mondes, June 15, 1846; De Saulcy, " De l'Etude des Hieroglyphes— and August 1, ISMS, Ampere, " Rtcherches en Egypte et en Nubie." Cunferre likewise, Southern Literary Messenger, Richmond, Virginia, July, 1845, — " A Sketch of the progress of Archaeological Science in America;" and the Reports aud Notices of Mr. Gliddon's Lectures in the Ame- rican Press for the last four years, particularly in the Boston 'transcript, Phi- ladelphia Ledger, and Baltimme Sun. t See De Saitlcy's article above quoted— page 989. Gliddon's Chapters, New York, 1843; Morton'6 Crania JEgyptiaca, Philadelphia, 1844; and Jar- vis' Introduction to the History of the Church, New York, 1845. JThe present Proprietors of" Ancient Egypt, her Monuments, Hierogly- phics, History and Archixology," are Taylor & Co., No. 2, Astor House, New York— Price 25ctB, ♦Aside from heartfelt gratitude for kindnesses innumerable with which, du- ring the last four years, this amiable and erudite gentleman honored the Wri- ter, justice to the illustrious depar'ed demands, that the revered name of an American Suvau, the late John Pickering of Boston, should not be omitted in designating the earliest and most qualified appreciators of the deeds of Toung and Champollion. See, besides many anterior papers, "Journal of the American Oriental Society"— No. 1, Boston, 1843. Nor, among living occidental students who are successfully applying hieroglyphical discoveries In the enlargement of science, must we forget Messrs. Samuel George Morton of Philadelphia, ConEN and McCulloh of Baltimore, Hodgson of Savannah, Charles Picker- ing of Boston, and Nott of Mobile. t De Saulcy, the decipherer of the Phcenician Monument of Thugga, and of the Egyptian Demotic Texts — Revue des deux mondes, June, 1846- p. 983. t Ampere — ut supra — p. 392. $ Conferre Revue Archtologique — Paris, Avril, 1845: || " Journal Jsiatiquc — Paris, 1846. fl '• Lettres de M. Botta sur ses Decouvertes a Khorsabad, pres de Ninive— Paris, 1845. M. Botta i* the son of the celebrated Italian author of J "Storia dell' Independenza dell' America." visiter of the several Museums and Libraries that adorn the "World's centre of science," the writer has received instruction on subjects that heretofore lay beyond his attainment, and which he will endeavour to embody in his future American discourses. The summer of his absence was spent in studies in London,where, guided by the generous and inestimable counsel of Birch, the English hierologist "par excellence," the writer prepared those essays with which he pro- poses to commence his present Courses in this country; whilst the encouraging countenance of H. E. Chev. Bunsen, who graciously permitted his perusal of the English MS. translation of the "^Egyp- tens stelle in der Weltgeschichte," forthcoming from the accomplished pen of Mn. Cottrell ; and more than all, the personal rencontre with Dr. Lepsius, fresh from the regions of his stupendous Nilotic discove- ries, are episodes in the writer's wanderings as grateful to his indivi- dual feelings, as of durable value to the accuracy of the scientific facts that will be promulgated through his public lectures. To sum up in a few words. He has had free access in London and Paris to MSS., documents, books and portfolios, and has received verbal and epistolary communication of various archaeological mate- rials, many far in advance of European publication, and of some that will not be forthcoming *br years. He has brought with him the most recent works, plates, &c, bearing upon Egyptology — more than half of which have not before been introduced into the United States. He has established relations with London, Paris and Berlin, that will insure him the most rapid intimation of all future Egyptian " Nouveautes Archeologiques," while by correspon- dence with the several students of hierology throughout Egypt and Europe, he is promised permanent support and prompt communi- cation of the freshest intelligence. Through the considerate friend- ship of the learned hierologist, Mr. A. C. Harris, of Alexandria, he already possesses the nucleus of such a collection of Egyptian Antiquities as will serve to illustrate his oral Lectures with genuine specimens of Ancient Art. Part of this collection, bearing chiefly upon the mummification and funereal ceremonies of Egypt, has already arrived, and the remainder is in process of collection and shipment to the United States. These curious relics will lend a more popular interest to the discourses which he contemplates deliver- ing in the larger cities of the United States, and the following sum- mary catalogue will afford an idea of the. number, variety, and cost- liness of the Pictorial Illustrations that will embellish the writer's Lecture-rooms, and elucidate each question as it occurs — nit it iff sip ie a ip n©w§ BRILLIANTLY COLORED, AND COVERING MANY THOUSAND SQUARE FEET OF SURFACE. Hieroglyphical, Hieratic, Enchorial, Greek and Roman Texts, Tablets, Steles, Inscriptions, &c, from the Sculptures, Paintings and Papyri, including the Rosetta Stone, the Funereal Ritual, the Turin Genealogical Papyrus, the Tablet of Abydos, the Ancestral Chamber of Karnac, the Zodiac of Dendera, and all important historical documents of the Egyptians from the earliest times to the Christian era. A complete series of all the Pyramids, aud pyramidal monuments of Memphis, &c. Panoramic views of the Temples, Palaces, and remarkable Tombs, in Egypt and Nubia — Tableaux embracing the entire series of documents and paintings illustrating the arts, sciences, manners, customs and civilization of the Ancient Egyptians — Plates illustrative of the art of embalmment, human and animal, Sarcophagi, Mummies, funeral cerements, ornaments, and doctrinal features of Nilotic Sepulture— besides genuine specimens of a great variety of the Antiquarian Relics themselves — Fac-simile copies of the most splendid Tableaux found in the Temples and Tombs along the Nile — Portraits of the Pharaohs in their chariots, and royal robes — Queens of Egypt in their varied and elegant costumes— Likenesses of 48 Sovereigns of Egypt, from Amunoph the 1st, about B. C. 1800, down to the Ptolemies, and ending with Cleopatra, B. C. 29, taken from the Sculptures — Priests and Priestesses offering to all the Deities of Egyptian Mythology— Battle scenes on the Monuments of every epoch— Egyptian, Asiatic and African Ethnology, elucidating the conquests, maritime and caravan intercourse, commerce and political relations of the Egyptians with Nigritia, Abyssinia, Libya, Canaan, Palestine, Phoenicia, Syria, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Persia, Central Asia, &c. &c. — Crania iEgyptiaca Negros and other African families, of every epoch — Scenes supposed to relate to the Hebrew captivity, &c. — Processions of Foreign Nations tributary to the Pharaohs — Plans, geographical maps, topographical charts and paintings, exhibiting the Country and the Architecture of Egypt. In short, Diagrams of every kind, illustrating every variety of Egyptian subjects, during a period of human history far exceeding 3000 years, and terminating with the Romans in the Hid century A. D. — To these will be added each and every newly-discovered subject of interest as it presents itself in future explorations; together with all the most valuable hierogrammatical Books which are or may be published in elucidation of the philology, &c. &c, of Egypt, so that in no department of Egyptian science will the critical or cursory attendant on Mr. Gliddon's Lectures find any desideratum wanting. For the subjects chosen as the themes of the writer's future discourses, and for relative specifications of time, place, terms, &c. reference is made to the Daily Papers, no less than to the Programmes, which will announce with all details, in each city, the several Courses of Egyptian archsfological lectures Mr. Gliddon is preparing to deliver in due order and season. And finally, Mr. Gliddon must ever refer the curious who desire more critical information on Egyptian literature than can be embo- died in desultory and popular lectures, to the little pamphlet, " An- cient Egypt," (with the sale of which the author, having presented it to the public, never had any pecuniary connexion,) wherein, for the insignificant cost of 25 cents, the general reader can glean the history of hieroglyphical studies, together with the works to be con- sulted, up to the close of 1842. Since that year, as Mr. Gliddon will explain in his oral lectures, discovery has been proceeding with giant strides. During the last four years the aspect of primeval his- tory, owing mainly to Lepsius, has undergone great changes. The advance made in monumental Chronology, has superseded much, and has greatly extended portions of those views of antiquity here- tofore followed by the Champollion-School, based upon the arrange- ment of Rosellini for dates prior to the commencement of the 18th Dyn. of Diospolitans, taken by modern hierologists at the 16th to 18th centuries before our Christian era. These points have formed the critical study of the writer, and their consideration will not be omitted in his contemplated lectures, which will be found to keep pace with the continual development of hieroglyphical researches. The era of Menes, the first Pharaoh of Egypt, that in Mr. Gliddon's Chapters of 1842, was estimated approximately at B. C. 2750, a date which the writer's subsequent lectures on the Pyramids showed to be no longer tenable, has receded into the gloom of primordial time : nor until Lepsius publishes at Berlin in the ensuing winter the results of his discoveries fin Das Buch der iEgyptischcn Konige, eine chronologische Zusammenstellung aller Namen der ^Egyptischen Konige und ihrer Verwandtschaft, von der Gotterdynastie und Menes an bis Caracalla,) is it possible to do more than treat in gene- ral terms of the remote epochs of the first XII Dynasties of Manetho (See Table of Dynasties, Chapters, p. 49. ) This important question of the Manethonian Dynasties was made the subject of a Concours by the " Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres."* Monsieur Lesueur in the present summer has had the distinguished honor ot winning the prize, but as his work had not appeared last August, the writer is enabled only to mention that M. L. informed him ver- bally that his results for the era of Menes reach tfie 58th cen- tury B. C. Similar erudite opinions on the involved question of the first Egyptian Pharaoh have long been familiar to the readers of Cham- pollion-Fioeac, Lenormant, and other continental hierologists. The following new works of the day point out the pending state of hierological inquiry into the primeval ages of humanity, viz : Bockh — Berlin, 1845," — Manetho und die Hundssternperiode," Henry — Paris, 1846, — L'Egypte Pharaonique," Barucchi, — Turin, 1845, — "Discorsi critici sopra la Chronologia Egizia," Bunsen, — Hamburg, 1845,—" iEgyptens Stelle in der Weltgeschichte," Date of Menes. Years B. C. 5702 « " 5303 " " 4890 " " 3643 * " Faire 1' examen critique de la succession des'dynastiet egyptlennes, d' aprts les textes historiques et lei monument natlonaux."— Paris, 1844 4 The discussion of the relative nature and claims of the above and other works is reserved for the proposed Lectures, with the sole re- mark, that while he will adopt for common chronological purposes the minimum system of Chev. Bunsen, the writer is aware, owing to the hints generously supplied him by Dr. Lepsius, that the extra- ordinary facts and unexpected discoveries resulting from the recent Prussian explorations around the Pyramids of Memphis (effected by Dr. Lepsius since Chev. Bunsen's "Egypt's place in the World's History," went to press,) will carry the age of Menks some centuries beyond B. C. 3643, backed by the incontrovertible testimony of the Pyramidal monuments. Awaiting, in common with the universal public, the forthcoming historical revelations of the Prussian Scientific Mission, the critical investigations of Mr. Birch in England, and the future discoveries of M. Prissf. in Egypt, the writer takes this opportunity to an- nounce for publication, next year, the following work, wherein the whole of these Egyptian data, being the most authentic and ancient portion of the history of Thirty-Three Nations, from China to Iceland inclusive, will receive embodiment : CHEONOS. OUTLINE OF ' A GRAND CHRONOLOGICAL ATLAS, PRESENTING THE PARALLEL HISTORIES OF THE EAST AND THE WEST, OR A SYNOPTICAL AND SYNCHRONOUS TABULATION OF ORIENTAL and OCCIDENTAL EYENTS, PROI THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE DEATH OP NAPOLEON. (Based upon the latest Geological, Geographical, Ethnological, Archaeological, Monumental, Biblical, and other researches, and covering above 400 Pages, folio. OFFERED TO THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BY HENRY VENEL, (CITIZEN OF SWITZERLAND,) AS A TRIBUTE OF ADMIRATION AND RESPECT. Translated from the Author's original and unpublished French Manuscript, and Edited, with annotations, by GE0RGE»R, GLIDDON, •~+f*+*0O0O00O0 WW*" Ky Prospectuses with all explanatory details will be issued as soon as the arrangements for publication are adequately matured. P PROSPECTUS OF A NEW VOLUME. NEW-YORK ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE (JHf f iterator* ana 2lrt, EDITED BY LAWRENCE LABREE, AND PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM TAYLOR, NO. 2 ASTOR HOUSE. NEW-YORK, AND TAYLOR, WILDE & CO., JARVIS" BUILDINGS, BALTIMORE, Md. AND WASHINGTON, D. C. The SECOND VOLUME of the "ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE" will be commenced with the May number, and will be published about the fifteenth of April, and the success which has so far attended our enterprize has determined us to spare nothing that will insure an increased patronage. The large edition printed on the first volume was exhausted on the publication of the fourth number. Our new volume will be commenced with a much larger edition, to secure for subscribers complete sets, and will possess Great improvements will be made in our Engravings, giving four sPMjEjrnm steel fejites'. in each number, and a variety of finely executed ILLUSTRATIONS ON WOOD! The letter-press will be of a high and refined order, original and selected, consisting of Romance, Historical Sketches, Poetry, Essays, Reviews, Biography, &c, &c. Our selections will be mostly from sources beyond the reach or means of the general reader, and no pains or expense will be spared to make it worthy the attention of every one. The Magazine will be handsomely printed on Butler's superfine paper, with bold beautiful type, and each number will contain SIXTY-FOUR LARGE OCTAVO PAGES! making two elegant volumes a year of 768 pages, (384 each,) illustrated with FORTY-EIGHT ENGRAVINGS ON STEEL! independent of the numerous illustrations on wood. As a Lady's zxd. Gentleman's Magazine, it may be welcomed by, and prove an agreeable companion to, the^nost fastidious. Arrangements have been made to procure original translations from some of the most popular French authors. The press in all parts of the country have been lavish in their praises of the " Illustrated Magazine," as will be seen by the following : — The Journal of Commerce says : " The literary contents are of the most interesting character." The Rambler says : " It is destined to be the Magazine of the country." It is got up in very elegant style, type, paper, engravings — all good. * * It will prove a pow- erful rival among its lighter competitors. — JSf. Y. Evening Mirror. Each number contains four gems of the old or new masters, besides some half a score of wood- cut illustrations of the literary contents. — Phil. Sat. Courier. It will be a favorite for all those who look for choice pictorials. — N. Y Sunday Atla* Of its literary contents we need not speak, unless to say that they are " increasing ricn. [ Crystal Fount. One of the largest and handsomest magazines now published. — Keesville, (iV. Y.) Repub. Decidedly one of the best periodicals of the day. — Dover, (N. H.) Gazette. The embellishments are uncommonly elegant, both in design and execution. — N. Y. True Sun. It is a work which ought to have a great circulation. — Noah's Weekly Mess. Light, graceful, pleasant reading, of a pure moral tone and mostly novel, accompanied with no less than four steel and four wood engravings, which elegantly embellish as well as illustrate the work.— Park Benjamin's Western Continent. Those who wish a first-rate table companion, must obtain the New-York Illustrated Magazine. . [Barre, (Mass.) Patriot. It contains four [steel] enp^vlngs, and a large number of wood cuts, besides sixty-four pages of excellent reading matt^ . — Phila. Chronicle. One of the pleasante: . periodicals of light literature published in this country. [Portland Bulletin. Numerous other compliments might be cited, had we room. fee^ Agents, and persons wishing to commence with the new volume, are requested to send in their orders as soon as possible, to secure complete sets. Terms. — Yearly subscription, $3 , two copies, $>5 ; or five copies (to one address) $10. All letters of subscription, and orders, addressed to Wm. Taylor, 2 Astor House. W« will exchange with such Editors as copy the above, and notice. ZssQ&m umm !rt^ w jt/W mm> Mww*wv^ v y . : -J. ■ . ^^ t %m% J- 1 i vw < ' ' . v v " ■ v. v - ■M^^M^m ^-w^ J ^%v^5 w^ wy^m^^ - V^^ * -~-V.''j =M mmsh &«f^ :'-r-o^- tSigS 535SE^^W%^^Sffi gw*"UWgt> WW wpSs^iWjfa w *WW- :-.^^^^^^ ^^888^3?^?^ TiiiiT y,v'»wy 1 wi o wi ^^ w ^y^Q^ ^Mj&k^M M^y^im ^^SSill^S 'VwvVgVi mM tfTOM »io,- V .'w. ,^;v^^^ ^mmmm .VS^XV'-vi'v ^^8S§#«^^C^^ w&$ft WV vvyv^' j&c ^ y ; ^y^y^y^ ^ ^ SVVWVa/^uw mmwm #pp»^^ m^m^mz: N'.yj V . 'nil.! ;:U Ju, .. , .■ V .Uv. . Vv >u 1 , - L , 1 . T m^j^u^. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS III 029 964 423 6