credible narrations, as if he would have the Egyptian multitude, that had the leprofy and other distempers, to have been mixed with us, as he fays they were, and that they were condemned to fly out of Egypt together; for he mentions Amenophis, a fictitious king's name, though on that account he durft not fet down the number of years of his reign, which yet be had accurately done as to the other kings he mentions: He then afcribes certain fabulous ftories to this king, as having in a manner forgotten how he had already related, that the departure of the thepherds for Jerufalem had been five hundred and eighteen years before; for Tethmofis was king when they went away. Now from his days, the reigns of the intermedi ate kings, according to Manetho, amounted to three hundred ninety-three years, as he fays himfelf, 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 alfo fays, that Sethos caft the other out of Egypt, and reigned fifty-nine years, as did his eldeft fon Rhampfes reign after him fixty-fix years. When Manetho therefore had acknowledged, that our forefathers were gone out of Egypt fo many years ago, he introduces his fictitious king Amenophis, and fays thus: "This king was defirous to become a spectator of the gods, as had Orus, one of his predeceffors in that kingdom, defired the fame before him; he allo communicated that his defire to his namefake Amenophis who was the fon of Papis, and one that feemed to partake of a divine nature, both as to wifdom and the knowledge of fu turities." Manetho adds, "how this namefake of his told him, that he might fee the gods, if he would clear the whole country of the lepers and of the other impure people: That the king was pleafed with this injunction, and got together all that had any defect in their bodies out of Egypt, and that their number was eighty thousand; whom he fent to thofe quarries which were on the eaft fide of the Nile, that they might work in them, and might be feparated from the rest of the Egyp tians." He fays farther, That there were fome of the learned priefts that were polluted with the leprofy; but that fill this Amenophis, the wife man and the prophet, was afraid that the gods would be angry at him and at the king, if there fhould appear to have been violence offered them; who allo added this farther, [out of his fagacity about futurities,] that certain people would come to the affiftance of thefe polluted wretches, and would conquer Egypt, and keep it in their poffeflion thirteen years; that, however, he durft not tell the king of these things, but that he left a writing behind him about all thofe matters, and then flew himfelt, which made the king difconfolate." After which he writes thus verbatim: “Atter thofe that were fent to work in the quarries had continued in that miferable flate for a long while, the king was defired that ne would fet apart the city Avans, which was then left defo

late of the fhepherds, for their habitation and protection; which defire 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 themselves a ruler out of the priests of Heliopolis, whofe name was Ofarfiph, 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 fhould neither worship the Egyptian gods, nor should abstain from any one of thofe facred animals which they have in the highest esteem, but kill and deftroy them all; that they fhould join themselves to no body but to thole that were of this confederacy. When he had made fuch laws as thefe, and many more fuch as were mainly oppofite to the cuftoms of the Egyptians*, he gave order, that they fhould ufe 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 friend bip the other priefts and thofe that were polluted with them, and fend ambaffadors to thofe thepherds who had been driven out of the land by Tethmofis to the city called Jerufalem; whereby he informed them of his own affairs, and of the ftate of thofe others that had been treated after such an ignominious manner, and defired that they would come with one conlent to his affiftance in this war against Egypt. He alfo 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 prote&t them and fight for them as occafion fhould require, and would eafily reduce the country under their dominion Thefe [hepherds were all very glad of this meffage, and came away with alacrity all together, being in number two hundred thoufand men; and in a little time they came to Avaris. And now A. menophis the king of Egypt, upon his being informed of their invafion, was in great confufion, as calling to mind what Amenophis the fon of Papis had foretold him; and, in the first place, he affembled the multitude of the Egyptians, and took counsel with their leaders, and fent for their facred animals to him, efpecially for thofe that were principally worshipped in their temples, and gave a particular charge to the priests diftinctly, that they fhould hide the images of their gods with the utmost care. He alfo fent his fon Sethos, who was allo named Ramelles, from his father Rhampfes, being but five years old, to a friend of his. He then paffed on with the reft 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,

This is a very valuable teftimony of Manctho, that the laws of Ofariph or Mofes were not made in compliance with, but in opposition to the cultoms of the Egyptians. See the note on Antiq. B. III. ch. viii, lec. 9. Vol, L.

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where he took Apis and the other facred animals which he had fent for to him, and prefently marched into Ethiopia, together with his whole army and multitude of Egyptians; for the king of Ethiopia was under an obligation to him, on which account he received him, and took care of all the multitude that was with him, while the country fupplied all that was neceffary for the food of the men. He alfo allotted cities and vil lages for this exile, that was to be from its beginning during thofe 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 ftate of things in Ethiopia. But for the people of Jerufalem, when they came down together with the polluted Egyptians, they treated the men in fuch a barbarous manner, that those who faw how they fubdued the forementioned country, and the horrid wickednefs they were guilty of, thought it a moft dreadful thing; for they did not only fet the cities and villages on fire, but were not fatisfied till they had been guilty of facrilege, and deftroyed the images of the gods, and ufed them in roafting thofe facred animals that used to be worshipped, and forced the priests and prophets to be the executioners and murderers of thofe animals, and then ejected them naked out of the country. It was alfo reported, that the priest, who ordained their polity and their laws, was by birth of Heliopolis, and his name Ofurfiph from Oly ris who was the god of Heliopolis; but that, when he was gone over to thefe people, his name was changed and he was called Mofes."

27. This is what the Egyptians relate about the Jews, with much more, which I omit for the fake of brevity. But ftill Manetho goes on, that after this Amerophis returned back from Ethiopia with a great army, as did his fon Rhamples with another army alfo, and that both of them joined battle with the fhepherds and the polluted people, and beat them, and flew a great many of them, and purfued them to the bounds of Syria. Thefe and the like accounts are written by Manetho. But I will demonftrate that he trifles, and tells arrant lies, after I have made a distinction which will relate to what I am going to lay about him: For this Manetho had granted and confeffed that this nation was not originally Egyptian, but that they had come from another country, and fubdued Egypt, and then went away again out of it. But that thofe Egyptians who were thus difeafed in their bodies were not mingled with us afterward, and that Mofes who brought the people out was not one of that company, but lived many generations earlier, I fhall endeavour to demonftrate from Manetho's own accounts themselves.

28. Now, for the firft occafion of this fiction. Manetho fuppoles what is no better than a ridiculous thing; for he fays, that "king Amenophis defired to fee the gods." What gods 1 pray did he defire to fee? If he meant the gods whom their

laws ordained to be worshipped, the ox, the goat, the crocodile, and the baboon, he faw them already; but for the heavenly gods, how could he fee them, and what thould occafion this his defire? To be fure, it was because another king before him had already feen them. He had then been informed what fort of gods they were, and after what manner they had. been seen, infomuch that he did not ftand in need of any new artifice for obtaining this fight. However, the prophet by whose means the king thought to compafs his defign was a wife man. If fo, how came he not to know that fuch his defire was impoffible to be accomplished? for the event did not fucceed. And what pretence could there be to suppose that the gods would not be feen by reafon of the people's maims in their bodies or leprofy? for the gods are not angry at the imperfection of bodies, but at wicked practices: And as to eighty thousand lepers, and thofe in an ill ftate alfo, how is it poffible to have them gathered together in one day? nay, how came the king not to comply with the prophet? for his injunction was, that thofe that were maimed fhould be expelled out of Egypt, while the king only fent them to work in the quarries, as if he were rather in want of labourers, than intended to purge his country. He fays farther, that "this prophet flew himself, as foreseeing the anger of the gods, and thofe events which were to come upon Egypt afterward; and that he left this prediction for the king in writing." Befides, how came it to pafs, that this prophet did not foreknow his own death at the first ? nay, how came he not to contradi& the king in his defire to fee the gods immediately? how came. that unreasonable dread upon him of judgments that were not to happen in his life time? or what worle thing could he futfer, out of the fear of which he made hafte to kill himfelt ? But now let us fee the fillieft thing of all: The king, although he had been informed of thefe things, and terrified with the fear of what was to come, yet did not he even then eject these maimed people out of his country, when it had been foretold him that he was to clear Egypt of them; but, as Manetho fays, "He then, upon their requeft, gave them that city to inhabit, which had formerly belonged to the fhepherds, and was called Avaris; whither when they were gone in crowds," he fays, "they chofe one that had formerly been prieft of Heliopolis; and that this prieft firft ordained, that they fhould neither worthip the gods, nor abftain from thofe animals that were worfhipped by the Egyptians, but fhould kill and eat them all, and fhould affociate with nobody but thofe that had confpired with them; and that he bound the multitude by oaths to be fure to continue in thofe laws; and that when he had built a wall about Avaris, he made war against the king." Manetho adds. allo, that this prieft fent to Jerufalem to invite that people to come to his affiftance, and promifed to give them Avaris ;

* Gr. By Jupiter.

He

for that it had belonged to the forefathers of those that were coming from Jerufalem, and that when they were come, they made a war immediately against the king, and got poffeffion of all Egypt." He fays allo, 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 again the gods ran away prefently into Ethiopia, and committed Apis and certain other of their facred animals to the priests, and commanded them to take care of preferving them." fays farther that "the people of Jerufalem came accordingly upon the Egyptians, and overthrew their cities, and burnt their temples, and flew their horfemen, and in fhort abstaine! from no fort of wickednefs nor barbarity: And for that priet who fettled their polity and their laws," he fays, "he was by birth of Heliopolis, and his name was Ofarfiph from Olyris the god of Heliopolis, but that he changed his name, and called himfelt Mofes." He then fays, that "on the thirteenth year afterward, Amenophis, according to the fatal time of the du ration of his misfortunes, came upon them out of Ethiopia with a great army, and joining battle with the fhepherds and with the polluted people, overcame them in battle, and flew a great many of them, and purfued them as far as the bounds of Syria."

29. Now Manetho does not reflect upon the probability of his lie: For the leprous people, and the multitude that was with them, although they might formerly have been angry at the king, and at thofe that had treated them fo 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 himfelf, but would hardly have made war againft all the Egyp tians; I mean this on the account of the great kindred they who were fo numerous must have had among them. Nay fill, it they had refolved 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 thofe 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 tranfgreffion upon thofe that came from Jerufalem, but fays that the Egyptians themselves were the moft guilty, and that they were their priefts that contrived these things, and made the multitude take their oaths for fo doing. But ftill, how abfurd is it to fuppofe, that none of these people's own relations or friends fhould be prevailed with to revolt, nor to undergo the hazards of war with them ? while thefe polluted people were forced to fend to Jerufalem, and bring their auxiliaries from thence. What friendship, I pray, or what relation was there formerly