records of the Egyptian priests. This work is now unfortunately lost, nothing remaining except a few fragments, and perhaps it was destroyed at the burning of the Alexandrian Library, either in the accidental conflagration in the time of Julius Cæsar, or in the intentional one by the Caliph Amrou; but it was evidently well known to Josephus, who quotes largely from it, as do also Eusebius and Syncellus, whose united authority is of the highest historical value and importance. The next writer is Eratosthenes, who was keeper of the Alexandrian Library in the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes, the successor of Ptolemy Philadelphus, of whose work a few fragments exist, transmitted by the Greek historians. Diodorus Siculus, who lived during the reigns of Cæsar and Augustus, is the next important authority respecting Egypt and its institutions. Besides his own observations and researches in the country, this most acute and accurate historian refers frequently to the works of the old Greek writers, particularly Hecatæus of Miletus, whose description he follows of the ancient kingdom of Thebes, and he gives a most accurate and faithful account of the monuments of that ancient and illustrious city. Strabo, the celebrated geographer, visited Egypt in the suite of Elius Gallus, about the commencement of the Christian era, and besides narrating what came under his own notice, he refers frequently to the earlier writers. Lastly, Plutarch, in many of his biographies; Philostratus of Lemnos (or Athens), who died A. D. 244; Porphyry of Tyre, who died A. D. 304; Jamblichus of Chalcis in Syria, a disciple of Porphyry, who is supposed to have died in A.D. 333; Horapollo, a grammarian of Egypt, who taught first at Alexandria, and afterwards at Constantinople, in the reign of the Emperor Theodosius, and other writers of the early Christian and Middle Ages, have preserved various numerous, valuable, and interesting particulars respecting the early antiquities, the customs, the history, and the religion of Egypt, which amply illus trate the meaning of the phrase as personally applied to the inspired writer of the Pentateuch, that he was "learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians." Besides the works of those distinguished authorities, there is an anonymous Egyptian chronicle, copied by Africanus, and from him by Syncellus, which however appears to be principally a compilation from Manetho, having a reference to the contemporary events of the Bible chronology. The record is printed in a very valuable volume published in 1832, by Isaac Preston Cory, Esq. Fellow of Caius College, Cambridge, entitled "Ancient Fragments of the Phoenician, Chaldean, Egyptian, Tyrian, Carthaginian, Indian, Persian, and other writers." In remote times Egypt and Ethiopia (Abyssinia) were mentioned as synonymous, and the inhabitants of the two countries were thought to be the same people. The earliest Egyptian legends are associated with the Ethiopians, and ascribe to them a reputation for wisdom, knowledge, and religion, which infers their priority in civilization. Meroë was said to be a city and territory beyond Egypt in Abyssinia, and, according to Malte Brun, it is the modern kingdom of Sennaar; but M. Cailloux, a recent French traveller, has discovered it to be a large tract of country peninsulated by the Nile or one of its tributaries. The journey round it is described as occupying one week, while at the neck the distance across is only a journey of one day. This country is alleged in the traditions both of the Egyptians and Ethiopians to have been the origin of most of the cities of Upper Egypt, and particularly of Thebes; it is described by ancient writers as the cradle of the religious and political institutions of Egypt; it contains at the present time. numerous vestiges of ancient cultivation; and it is at least generally admitted that it was inhabited by a people as far advanced in refinement as the Egyptians, whose style of architecture bore a close resemblance to that of the latter. When the citizens of Thebes founded Ammon in the Desert, for the purpose of extending their commercial interests, they attached themselves to Meroë as the ancient metropolis; and the similarity of institutions, languages, and mode of writing which existed between those three cities, far distant from each other, denotes their primitive connection. It thus appears that the arts, the sciences, and the civilization of Egypt, progressed down the Nile, from the borders of Ethiopia eastward at the third cataract of the river, near Assooan, or Syene, and were first introduced into Upper Egypt, when the lower section of the country, including the Delta, was a vast morass or gulf of the sea; the population, descending with the river, carried with them agriculture and the accompaniments of civilized life at a period so remote that it cannot be accurately ascertained. Middle Egypt was then colonized; its ancient inhabitants were Nomades, like the Bedouin Arabs and other wandering tribes, having no fixed dwellings, and were subdued more by the benefits conferred upon them than by the exercise of force, for the Copts of Egypt possess few characteristics of the first settlers, and must be viewed rather as the descendants of those nations who successively conquered and ruled over Egypt, than as the representatives of the ancient and civilized Mizraim. Small villages gradually increased, and some became large cities; the labour of man made Lower Egypt habitable; and the Delta, lying between the Canopic and Pelusiac branches of the Nile, and formed by the accumulation of mud, soil, and slime, washed down the Nile from the upper parts of Egypt at the period of the annual inundations, at length abounded with cities, became distinguished for fertility, and Egypt acquired an imperishable name in the annals of philosophy and civilisation. The Mizraim are said to have been ruled by priests, the chief of whom in every district pretended to act in the name and by the authority of the Supreme Deity; and Herodotus informs us that every high priest placed during his life a "wooden figure of himself in the temples. The priests," he observes, "enumerated them before me, and proved, as they ascended from the last to the first, that the son followed the father in regular succession." This mode of government was alleged to have been derived from the supreme deities who first reigned over the country, to whom succeeded those of the second class, after them the inferior deities, then the demi-gods, and, last of all, men. It is here necessary to apprise the reader, that it is not intended in this article to attempt any thing like a regular history of Egypt. This would not only be digressing from the plan of the present work, but would far exceed the limits assigned to it; and such an undertaking would be unnecessary, as various histories of Egypt are numerous and accessible to every reader, especially a work which, for elegance of composition, conciseness of expression, and minute research, is excelled by none of its class and extent, "A View of Ancient and Modern Egypt," by the Rev. Dr Russell, of Leith, in the "Edinburgh Cabinet Library." Egypt is a country on which so much has been written, and so much remains to be told; on which so much can be written, and yet one half is not yet narrated, that it would require volumes to contain all that could be collected of its past history, its natural productions, its illustrious and stupendous monuments of antiquity, and its state from its conquest by the Saracens to the present time. The chief object of this article is to investigate the history, the manners, the customs, the productions, and the curiosities of Egypt, as far as these are connected with the Sacred Scriptures, and that history may be said to commence with the story of Joseph and his brethren. Yet other matters, as the reader will perceive, are not forgotten, and if the subsequent narrative is long, the subjects described are not without interest. But before entering on that important, and perhaps the most authentic, part of the history of Egypt connected with the Israelites, we here take a summary glance at the old Egyptian chronicles. Beginning with the pretended era of the gods, which contains thirty dynasties, or one hundred and thirteen descents, during the long period of 36,525 years, Hephaestus is assigned no time, as he is apparent both by night and day. Helius his son reigned three myriads of years; then Cronus, and the other twelve divinities, reigned 3984 years. Next in order are the demi-gods, who reigned 217 years; and after them are enumerated fifteen generations of the Cynic circle, which extend to 443 years. Then follows an enumeration of the dynasties, unnecessary to be particularized, in all thirty, making the above number of 36,525 years, and this number, resolved and divided into its component parts, namely, twenty-five times 1461 years, shows that it relates to the fabled periodical revolution of the zodiac among the Egyptians and Greeks. An ancient writer, translated by Mr Cory, named Castor, assigns the reigns of the gods to have amounted to 1550 years; those of the demi-gods to 2100 years; then succeeded Menes, and seven of his descendants, who reigned 253 years, after whom was a succession to the seventeenth dynasty, which contains a period of 1520 years. Eusebius also gives an enumeration of this age of fable. The first man, he says, according to the Egyptians, was Hephaestus, the inventor of fire. From him succeeded the Sun, after whom Agathodæmon, Cronus, Osiris, Typhon, the brother, and Orus, the son, of Osiris; these were the first Egyptian kings. After them the kingdom descended by a long succession to Betes, through a lapse of 13,900 years, reckoned in lunar years of thirty days to each, for even now they call the month a year. After the gods, a race of demi-gods reigned 1255 years; other kings, 1817 years: after them, thirty Memphite kings, 1790 years; then ten Thinite kings, 350 years; then came the kingdom of the Manes and Demigods, 5813 years. The number of years altogether, continues the venerable his torian, amounts to 11,000, which are also lunar years or months. All the lunar years which the Egyptians allow to the reigns of the gods, the demi-gods, and the Manes, are 24,900. It is unnecessary to insert Manetho's enumeration of the demi-gods; his Egyptian dynasties are of more importance. Following this ancient writer, whose account corresponds with the one commonly received, the first human king of Egypt was Menes, who began the dynasties of Thebes, Thin, and Memphis, who completed the work of the gods by bringing the arts of life to perfection, and unfolding to men those laws which he had received from Heaven. Divesting it of fiction, it appears that the sacerdotal government of the priests, resembling probably the Arabian theocracy of the first caliphs, became grossly tyrannical and corrupt; and a revolution was the consequence, headed by a military chief named Menes, who fouuded the kingdom, and established the regal government. A considerable difference of opinion has prevailed among chronologers respecting the precise period when Menes commenced his reign-Dr Hales stating it B.C. 2412; the old Egyptian chronicle, B.C. 2231; Eusebius, B.C. 2258; Africanus, B.C. 2218, or 2262, all cited by Dr Hales; Dr Prichard, in his Egyptian Antiquities, B.C. 2214; and Eratosthenes, cited by Dr Prichard, B.C. 2220. The mean of these different calculations is B.C. 2256. Josephus informs us that Menes began to reign many years before the time of Abraham, and that he governed Egypt 1300 years before Solo popotamus, the emblem of his evil genius. But whosoever he may have been, or whatever his qualities, both Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus agree in making Menes reign in Egypt immediately after the gods and the heroes. The former historian informs us that when he assumed the regal government, he found the whole of Egypt, except the province of Thebes, an extensive marsh, the people sunk in ignorance, and destitute of religion. He drained the ground on which the famous city of Memphis stood, and he is said to have built that city (Diodorus Siculus says the founder was Uchoreus), for a long period the capital of Egypt, renowned and proverbial for its "hundred gates," the actual site of which has occasioned considerable discussion among the learned; and, as Dr Pococke and M. Savary well remark, "it is indeed astonishing that the site of the ancient metropolis of Egypt, a city nearly seven leagues in circumference, containing magnificent temples and edifices, which art laboured to render eternal, should at present be a subject of dispute." Menes also constructed a lake, at the distance of one hundred stadia from Memphis, to divert the course of the Nile, which had formerly washed the base of the sandy ridge near the borders of the Libyan desert, and thus protected Memphis from the periodical inundations of the river. He is moreover said to have erected a mound twelve miles south from the city, and to have turned the course of the stream towards the Delta, conducting it to the sea at an equal distance from the elevated ground by which that district is bounded. All these facts Herodotus tells us were related to him by the Egyptian priests themselves, adding that Menes also sunk a lake north and west of the city, "communicating with the river, which, from the situation of the Nile, it was not possible to effect towards the east; he moreover erected on the same spot a magnificent temple to Vulcan." Improvements such as these would readily be responded to by a grateful people, and posterity, who felt their benefits, would VOL. I. naturally ascribe honours to the prince who devised and accomplished them. Such perhaps was the origin of all deified kings and benefactors of mankind. Following the Egyptian dynasties as recorded by Manetho, Menes was succeeded by Thoth or Athothis, who reigned fifty-seven years. He built the palaces at Memphis, and "left the anatomical books, for he was a physician." Six of his lineal descendants succeeded him, whose united reigns amounted to one hundred and forty-four years, making the whole number of years during which the first dynasty reigned over Egypt two hundred and fifty-three. The second dynasty consisted of nine Thinite kings. Boethus, the first of this dynasty, reigned thirty-eight years, and during his time the earth opened near Bubastus, and many persons perished. He was succeeded by Caechos, who reigned thirty-nine years, and under him the bulls Apis in Memphis, Mnevis in Heliopolis, and the Mendesian goat, were appointed to be regarded as deities. Binothris was his successor, in whose time it was determined that women might hold the imperial government. Nothing remarkable is recorded of the other six, except that in the reign of one of them the Nile was alleged to have flowed with honey during eleven days, and another one named Sesochris was five cubits in height and three in breadth. This dynasty continued three hundred and two years. The third dynasty consisted of nine Memphite kings. The first, named Necherophes, reigned twentyeight years. In his time the Libyans revolted, but on account of a sudden and unexpected increase of the moon, they submitted through fear. He was succeeded by Tosorthus, who reigned twentynine years, and was called Esculapius by the Egyptians for his medical knowledge. Nothing is recorded of the other seven except their names; and the united reigns of this dynasty amounted to two hundred and fourteen years. The fourth dynasty, which continued two hundred and eighty-four years, consisted of eight Memphite kings of a 2 F different race. The second of these, Suphis, reigned sixty-three years, and he built the largest pyramid, which, however, Herodotus says was constructed by Cheops. He was arrogant (superbus) towards the gods, and wrote a sacred book, which is regarded as a work of great importance by the Egyptians. The fifth dynasty consisted of nine Elephantine kings, and continued two hundred and forty-eight years. Six Memphite sovereigns composed the sixth dynasty, whose united reigns amounted to two hundred and three years. Of these one was the queen Nitocris, who is said to have been the most beautiful woman of her time, and who built the third pyramid. Herodotus relates a story which the Egyptian priests told him when they were showing him from a book the names of the three hundred and thirty-seven sovereigns, the successors of Menes, of whom eighteen were Ethiopians, which proves that the throne was not always hereditary in Egypt, and one a female native of the country. "The female," he says, was called Nitocris, which was also the name of the Babylonian princess. They affirm that the Egyptians, having slain her brother, who was their sovereign, she was appointed his successor, and that afterwards, to avenge his death, she destroyed by artifice a great number of Egyptians. By her orders a large subterraneous apartment was constructed, professedly for festivals, but in reality for a different purpose. She invited to this place a great number of those Egyptians whom she knew to be the principal instruments of her brother's death, and then by a private canal introduced the river upon them. They added, that to avoid the indignation of the people, she suffocated herself in an apartment filled with ashes." The seventh dynasty consisted of seventy Memphite kings, who are recorded to have reigned each one day! The eighth dynasty contained twenty-seven Memphite kings, who reigned one hundred and forty-six years. Nineteen Heracleopolite kings composed the ninth dynasty, who reigned four hundred and nine years. One of them, Achthoes, is described as having been a great tyrant, and doing much injury to the Egyptians. Being seized with madness, he was killed by a crocodile. The tenth dynasty consisted also of nineteen of the same kings, who reigned one hundred and eighty-five years. The eleventh dynasty was composed of sixteeen Diospolite kings, who reigned forty-three years. Seven Diospolite kings constituted the twelfth dynasty, the third in succession being the celebrated Sesostris, of whom more hereafter. This dynasty continued one hundred and sixty years. The thirteenth dynasty consisted also of Diospolite kings, to the number of sixty, who reigned four hundred and fifty-three years. The fourteenth dynasty contained seventy-six Xoite kings, who reigned one hundred and eighty-four years. The Shepherd Kings commenced the fifteenth dynasty, whom Manetho designates "six foreign Phoenician princes, who took Memphis." Their united reigns amounted to two hundred and eighty-four years. The sixteenth dynasty consisted of thirtytwo Hellenic Shepherd Kings, who reigned five hundred and eighteen years. Shepherd Kings and Theban Diospolites, fortythree of each, composed the seventeenth dynasty, who reigned altogether one hundred and fifty-one years. Sixteen Diospolite kings constituted the eighteenth dynasty, in the reign of the first of whom, Amos, "Moses," says Manetho, "went out of Egypt, as we shall demonstrate; and in the reign of the sixth happened the deluge of Deucalion." This dynasty continued two hundred and sixty-three years. The nineteenth dynasty consisted of seven Diospolite kings, who reigned two hundred and nine years. The twentieth dynasty consisted also of twelve Diospolite kings, who reigned one hundred and fifty-three years. Seven Tanite kings composed the twenty-first, who reigned one hundred and thirty years. The twenty-second dynasty contained nine Bubastite kings, who reigned one bun |