ship they severally pay to them. And certainly men they are entirely of vain and foolish minds, who have thus accustomed themselves from the beginning to have such bad notions concerning their gods, and could not think of imitating that decent form of divine worship which we made use of, though, when they saw our institutions approved of by many others, they could not but envy us on that account; for some of them have proceeded to that degree of folly and mean. ness in their conduct, as not to scruple to contradict their own ancient records, nay to contradict themselves also in their writings, and yet were so blinded by their passions as not to discern it.

26. And now I will turn my discourse to one of their principal writers, whom I have a little before made use of as a witness to our antiquity; I mean Manetho.* He promised to interpret the Egyptian history out of their sacred writings, and premised this, that "our people had come into Egypt many ten thousands in number, and subdued its inhabitants;" and when he had farther confessed, that "we went out of that country afterward, and settled in that country which is now called Judea, and there built Jerusalem and its temple." Now thus far he fol lowed his ancient records; but after this he permits himself, in order to appear to have written what rumours and reports passed abroad about the Jews, and introduces incredible narrations, as if he would have the Egyptian multitude that had the leprosy and other distempers to have been mixed with us, as he says they were; and that they were condemned to fly out of Egypt together; for he men. tions Amenophis, a fictitious king's name, though on that account he durst not set down the number of years of his reign, which yet he had accurately done as to the other kings he mentions: he then ascribes certain fabulous stories to this king, as having in a manner forgotten how he had already related that the departure of the shepherds for Jerusalem had been five hundred and eighteen years before; for Tethmosis was king when they went away. Now, from his days the reigns of the intermediate kings, according to Manetho, amounted to three hundred and ninety-three years, as he says himself, till the two brothers Sethos and Hermeus; the one of which, Sethos, was called by that other name of Egyptus, and the other, Hermeus, by that of Danaus. He also says, that Sethos cast the other out of Egypt, and reigned fifty-nine years, as did his eldest son Rhampses reign after him sixty-six years. When Manetho, therefore, had acknowledged that our forefathers were gone out of Egypt so many years ago, he introduces his fictitious king Amenophis, and says thus:- "This king was desirous to be. come a spectator of the gods, as had Orus, one of his predecessors in that king. dom, desired the same before him; he also communicated that his desire to his namesake Amenophis, who was the son of Papis, and one that seemed to partake of a divine nature, both as to wisdom and the knowledge of futurities." Manetho adds, "how this namesake of his told him, that he might see the gods if he would clear the whole country of the lepers and of the other impure people: that the king was pleased with this injunction, and got together all that had any defects in their bodies out of Egypt, and that their number was eighty thousand; whom he sent to those quarries which are on the east side of the Nile, that they might work in them, and might be separated from the rest of the Egyptians." He says farther, that "there were some of the learned priests that were pol. Inted with the leprosy; but that still this Amenophis, the wise man and the prophet, was afraid that the gods would be angry at him and at the king, if there should appear to have been violence offered them; who also added this farther

In reading this, and the remaining sections of this book, and some parts of the next, one may easily perceive that our usually cool and candid author Josephus was too highly offended with the impudent calumnies of Manetho, and the other bitter enemies of the Jews, with whom he had now to deal, and was thereby betrayed into a greater heat and passion than ordinary, and that by consequence he does not here reason with his usual fairness and impartiality: he seems to depart sometimes from the brevity and sincerity of a faithful historian, which is his grand character, and indulges the prolixity and colours of a pleader and a disputant: accordingly, I confess I always read these sections with less pleasure than I do the rest of his writings, though I fully believe the reproaches cast on the Jews, which he here endes voure Lo confute and expose, were wholly groundless and unreasonable

[out of his sagacity about futurities,] that certain people would come to the assistance of these polluted wretches, and would conquer Egypt, and keep it in their possession thirteen years: that, however, he durst not tell the king of these things; but that he left a writing behind him about all those matters, and then slew himself, which made the king disconsolate." After which he writes thus verbatim:-" After those that were sent to work in the quarries had continued in that miserable state for a long while, the king was desired that he would set apart the city of Avaris, which was then left desolate of the shep. herds, for their habitation and protection; which desire he granted them. Now this city, according to the ancient theology, was Typho's city. But when these men were gotten into it, and found the place fit for a revolt, they appointed them. selves a ruler out of the priests of Heliopolis, whose name was Ösarsiph, and they took their oaths that they would be obedient to him in all things. He then, in the first place, made this law for them, that they should neither worship the Egyptian gods, nor should abstain from any one of those sacred animals which they have in the highest esteem, but kill and destroy them all: that they should join them. selves to nobody but to those that were of this confederacy. When he had made such laws as these, and many more such as were mainly opposite to the customs of the Egyptians,* he gave order that they should use the multitude of the hands they had in building walls about their city, and make themselves ready for a war with king Amenophis, while he did himself take into his friendship the other priests, and those that were polluted with them, and send ambassadors to those shepherds who had been driven out of the land by Tethmosis to the city called Jerusalem; whereby he informed them of his own affairs, and of the state of those others that had been treated after such an ignominious manner, and desired that they would come with one consent to his assistance in this war against Egypt. He also promised that he would, in the first place, bring them back to their ancient city and country Avaris, and provide a plentiful maintenance for their multitude; that he would protect them and fight for them as occasion should require, and would easily reduce the country under their dominion. These shepherds were all very glad of this message, and came away with alacrity altogether, being in number two hundred thousand men; and in a little time they came to Avaris. And now Amenophis, the king of Egypt, upon his being informed of their inva. sion, was in great confusion, as calling to mind what Amenophis, the son of Papis, had foretold him; and, in the first place, he assembled the multitude of the Egyp tians, and took counsel with their leaders, and sent for their sacred animals to him, especially for those that were principally worshiped in their temples, and gave a particular charge to the priests distinctly, that they should hide the images of their gods with the utmost care. He also sent his son Sethos, who was also named Ramesses, from his father Rhampses, being but five years old, to a friend of his. He then passed on with the rest of the Egyptians, being three hundred thousand of the most warlike of them, against the enemy, who met them. Yet did he not join battle with them; but thinking that would be to fight against the gods, he returned back, and came to Memphis, where he took Apis and the other sacred animals which he had sent for to him, and presently marched into Ethiopia, together with his whole army and multitude of Egyptians; for the king of Ethiopia was under an obligation to him; on whic': account he received him, and took care of ali tne multitude that was with him, while the country supplied all that was necessary for the food of the mer He also allotted cities and villages for this exile, that was to be from its beginning during those fatally determined thirteen years. Moreover, he pitched a camp for his Ethiopian army, as a guard to King Amenophis, upon the borders of Egypt. And this was the state of things in Ethiopia. But for the people of Jerusalem, when they came down together with

*This is a very valuable testimony of Manetho, that the laws of Osarsiph or Moses were not made in compliance with, but in opposition to the customs of the Egyptians. See the note on Antiq. B. iii. ch. vii sect. 9

the polluted Egyptians, they treated the men in such a barbarous manner, that those who saw how they subdued the forementioned country, and the horrid wick. edness they were guilty of, thought it a most dreadful thing; for they did not only set the cities and villages on fire, but were not satisfied till they had been guilty of sacrilege, and destroyed the images of the gods, and used them in roasting of those sacred animals that used to be worshiped, and forced the priests and prophets to be the executioners and murderers of those animals, and then ejected them naked out of the country. It was also reported, that the priest who ordained their polity and their laws was by birth of Heliopolis, and his name Osarsiph, from Osyris, who was the god of Heliopolis; but that, when he was gone over to these people, his name was changed, and he was called Moses."

27. This is what the Egyptians relate about the Jews, with much more, which I omit for the sake of brevity.-But still Manetho goes on, that "after this Ame. nophis returned back from Ethiopia with a great army, as did his son Rhampses with another army also; and that both of them joined battle with the shepherds and the polluted people, and beat them, and slew a great many of them, and pursued them to the bounds of Syria." These and the like accounts are written by Manetho. But I will demonstrate that he trifles, and tells arrant lies, after I have made a distinction which will relate to what I am going to say about him: for this Manetho had granted and confessed that this nation was not originally Egyp tian, but that they had come from another country, and subded Egypt, and then went away again out of it. But that those Egyptians who were thus diseased in their bodies were not mingled with us afterward, and that Moses who brought the people out was not one of that company, but lived many generations earlier, I shall endeavour to demonstrate from Manetho's own accounts themselves.

28. Now for the first occasion of this fiction, Manetho supposes what is no better than a ridiculous thing; for he says, that " King Amenophis desired to see the gods." What gods, I pray, did he desire to see? If he meant the gods whom their laws ordained to be worshiped, the ox, the goat, the crocodile, and the baboon, he saw them already; but for the heavenly gods, how could he see them, and what should occasion this his desire? To be sure,* it was because another king before him had already seen them. He had then been informed what sort of gods were, and after what manner they had been seen, insomuch that he did not stand in need of any new artifice for obtaining this sight. However, the prophet by whose means the king thought to compass his design was a wise man. If so, how came he not to know that such his desire was impossible to be accomplished? for the event did not succeed. And what pretence could there be to suppose, that the gods would not be seen by reason of the people's maims in their bodies, or ieprosy? for the gods are not angry at the imperfection of bodies, but at wicked practices and as to eighty thousand lepers, and those in an ill state also, how is it possible to have them gathered together in one day? nay, how came the king not to comply with the prophet? for his injunction was, that those who were maimed should be expelled out of Egypt, while the king only sent them to work in the quarries, as if he were rather in want of labourers than intended to purge his country. He says farther, that "this prophet slew himself, as foreseeing the anger of the gods, and those events which were to come upon Egypt afterward; and that he left this prediction for the king in writing." Besides, how came it to pass that this prophet did not foreknow his own death at the first? nay, how came he not to contradict the king in his desire to see the gods immediately? how came that unreasonable dread upon him of judgments that were not to happen in his lifetime? or what worse thing could he suffer, out of the fear of which he made haste to kill himself? But now let us see the silliest thing of all.—The king, although he had been informed of these things, and terrified with the fear of what was to come, yet did not he even then eject these maimed people out of his coun try, when it had been foretold him that he was to clear Egypt of them; but as

• Gr. By Jupiter.

Manetho says, "He then, upon their request, gave them that city to inhabit which had formerly belonged to the shepherds, and was called Avaris; whither when they were gone in crowds," he says, "they chose one that had formerly been priest of Heliopolis; and that this priest first ordained, that they should netther worship the gods nor abstain from those animals that were worshiped by the Egyptians, but should kill and eat them all, and should associate with nobody but those that had conspired with them; and that he bound the multitude by oaths to be sure to continue in those laws; and that when he had built a wall about Ava ris, he made war against the king." Manetho adds also, that "this priest sent to Jerusalem to invite that people to come to his assistance, and promised to give them Avaris; for that it had belonged to the forefathers of those that were coming from Jerusalem; and that when they were come, they made a war immediately against the king, and got possession of all Egypt." He says also, that "the Egyptians came with an army of two hundred thousand men; and that Amenophis, the king of Egypt, not thinking that he ought to fight against the gods, ran away presently into Ethiopia, and committed Apis and certain other of their sacred animals to the priests, and commanded them to take care of preserving them.” He says farther, that "the people of Jerusalem came accordingly upon the Egyptians and overthrew their cities, and burnt their temples, and slew their horsemen, and in short abstained from no sort of wickedness nor barbarity: and for that priest whe settled their polity and their laws," he says, "he was by birth of Heliopolis, and his name was Osarsiph, from Osyris the god of Heliopolis; but that he changed his name, and called himself Moses." He then says, that "on the thirteenth year afterward, Amenophis, according to the fatal time of the duration of his misfortunes, came upon them out of Ethiopia with a great army, and joining battle with the shepherds and with the polluted people, overcame them in battle, and slew a great many of them, and "pursued them as far as the bounds of Syria.”

29. Now Manetho does not reflect upon the improbability of his lie: for the leprous people, and the multitude that was with them, although they might for. inerly have been angry at the king, and at those that had treated them so coarsely, and this according to the prediction of the prophet; yet certainly, when they were come out of the mines, and had received of the king a city and a country, they would have grown milder towards him. However, had they ever so much hated him in particular, they might have laid a private plot against himself, but would hardly have made war against all the Egyptians; I mean this on the ac. count of the great kindred they, who were so numerous, must have had among them. Nay, still, if they had resolved to fight with the men, they would not have had impudence enough to fight with their gods; nor would they have ordained laws quite contrary to those of their own country, and to those in which they had been bred up themselves. Yet are we beholden to Manetho, that he does not lay the principal charge of this horrid transgression upon those that came from Jeru salem, but says that the Egyptians themselves were the most guilty, and that they were their priests that contrived these things, and made the multitude take their oaths for doing so. But still, how absurd is it to suppose, that none of these peo ple's own relations or friends should be prevailed with to revolt, nor to underge the hazards of war with them? while these polluted people were forced to send to Jerusalem, and bring their auxiliaries from thence. What friendship, I pray, or what relation was there formerly between them that required this assistance? On the contrary, these people were enemies, and greatly differed from them in their customs. He says, indeed, that they complied immediately, upon their promising them that they should conquer Egypt; as if they did not themselves very well know that country out of which they had been driven by force. Now, had these men been in want, or lived miserably, perhaps they might have undertaken so hazardous an enterprise; but as they dwelt in a happy city, and had a large country, and one better than Egypt itself, how came it about that for the sake of those that had of old been their enemies, of those that were maimed in the

Dodies, and of those whom none of their own relations wou. endure, they should run such hazards in assisting them? For they could not foresee that the king would run away from them; on the contrary he saith himself, that " Amenophis's son had three hundred thousand men with him, and met them at Pelusium." Now, to be sure, those that came could not be ignorant of this; but for the king's repentance and flight, how could they possibly guess at it? He then says, that "those who came from Jerusalem, and made this invasion, got the granaries of Egypt into their possession, and perpetrated many of the most horrid actions there." And thence he reproaches them, as though he had not himself introduced them as enemies, or as though he might accuse such as were invited from another place for so doing, when the natural Egyptians themselves had done the same things before their coming, and had taken oaths so to do. However, "Amenophis sometime afterward came upon them, and conquered them in battle, and slew his enemies, and drove them before him as far as Syria." As if Egypt were so easily taken by people that come from any place whatsoever; and as if those that had conquered it by war, when they were informed that Amenophis was alive, did neither fortify the avenues out of Ethiopia into it, although they had great advan. tages for doing it, nor did get their other forces ready for their defence; but that "he followed them over the sandy desert, and slew them as far as Syria;" while yet it is not an easy thing for an army to pass over that country, even without fighting.

30. Our nation, therefore, according to Manetho, was not derived from Egypt, nor were any of the Egyptians mingled with us. For it is to be supposed that many of the leprous and distempered people were dead in the mines, since they had been there a long time, and in so ill a condition; many others must be dead in the battles that happened afterward, and more still in the last battle and flight after it.

31. It now remains that I debate with Manetho about Moses. Now the Egyp tians acknowledge him to have been a wonderful and a divine person; nay, they would willingly lay claim to him themselves, though after a most abusive and incredible manner, and pretend that he was of Heliopolis, and one of the priests of that place, and was ejected out of it among the rest, on account of his leprosy; al though it had been demonstrated out of their records, that he lived five hun dred and eighteen years earlier, and then brought our forefathers out of Egypt into the country that is now inhabited by us. But now that he was not subject in his body to any such calamity, is evident from what he himself tells us: for he forbade those that had the leprosy either to continue in a city, or to inhabit in a village, but commanded that they should go about by themselves with their clothes rent; and declares that such as either touch them, or live under the same roof with them, should be esteemed unclean; nay more, if any one of their disease be healed, and he recover his natural constitution again, he appointed them cer. tain purifications, and washings with spring water, and the shaving off all their hair; and enjoins that they shall offer many sacrifices, and those of several kinds, and then at length to be admitted into the holy city; although it were to be expected that, on the contrary, if he had been under the same calamity, he should have taken care of such persons beforehand, and have had them treated after a kinder manner, as affected with a concern for those that were to be under the like misfortunes with himself. Nor was it only those leprous people for whose sake ne made these laws, but also for such as should be maimed in the smallest part of their body, who yet are not permitted by him to officiate as priests: nay, although any priest already initiated, should have such a calamity fall upon him afterward, ne ordered him to be deprived of his honour of officiating. How can it, then, be supposed that Moses should ordain such laws against himself, to his own reproach and damage who so ordained them? Nor, indeed, is that other notion of Mane. tho's at all probable, wherein he relates the change of his name, and says, that 'he was formerly called Osarsiph ;" and this a name no way agreeable to the