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g^ T. B. PETERSON, ^ 

No. 98 Chesnut Street, Fhiladolphia, 

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ANCIENT EGYPT 

Twelfth Edilioa, Revised and Correcfed, wilh an Appendtxt 

T. B. PETERSON, Publisher. 

No. 98 CHESNBT STREET, ONE DOOR ABOVE THIRD, PHILADELPHIA. 



iTBDionini EDmon. 



Jaanary, 1846. 



AJ^CIENT EaYPT. 

A SERIES OF CHAPTERS ON 

EARLY EGYPTIAN HISTOBY, 

ARCHEOLOGY, 

AND OTHER SUBJECTS 



HIEROGLYPHICAL LITERATURE. 

DT GEORGE R. GLIDDON, 




UNITED STATES CONSUL FOR CAIRO. 



n 



»9?? Ill ^^i- I 1 III 



K 1843 — Moimi 3 — nr 15. 



RICHARD K. HAIGHT. Ei<i.; 

L» dadicating to you, mj' deiir Sir, Uic Bnl Ciufteis on HnutotosT, 
Am han) avei JHUed from »n Amoricsn Frew, I acquit myieir of A 
fratifying duly loword « gcnllomsn wbo, by the dwp intercil hn 
Uiaa in Kgjftiaa tubjecu, hai been induced to remlot HMuiifuld 
sod indlapeimble anialsncB lo the Author. 

When we piried nl Cairo, in tbs "pring of 183G. we liltle ei. 
pect*d that eircutintnncpa would silow roe ihc plcaiuta of scijourning 
inyuui Ticinily ; atillleaa did we con lem plate, that I should lum my 
almost eiclnilTe niiention to Nilotic paleography. Some of the 
oiiiMs are Weinaftet eiplaioed; with the oihera you are acquaiaicd. 



At the timo of jour trBTela in the Eut, our " Egyptian Society " 
had just been founded at Coiro i and tlie ciscounieement eflorded b]r 
Mr. Randolph tind younclf, lo our then embryo ioetltution, ii tlicr* 
on record. Since that pfiiod, tnir Society liaa beconii) in Egypt. lb« 
esniral point a( tvacarche* into all that coneemi it* mwl Inlcreatini 
roeions : but, it was not till 1639, that the laiKcr works of the new 
ArcbEological School wcr* in otir libnuy; or that it wu in mf 
power to biiconio one of CiLtHWLLloii'i diaciplsa. In (acl. il wo* 
not till about 1819, that tlie brilUani nwulia i^ iha recent, and still 
prngreasing ditcoveiiea were Bcueaiiblo in Eitypt; while, at llw 
present day, the knowledge of theas results is ronlincd to a oomptu 
ratively liinitcd cinio in Europe. A maas of erudita works, put 
fottli by eminent Savins, chiefly al the eupctiM of enliehicntd go*. 
crnuients, have tcomcd of Into yean from the European presr, ami 
the moat itniiuttant of these (RoselUui and oihots) now DfuhcllM 
your Library. 

It is to tho eUcclive aid, and foaiering counsel of our mutual 
friend, RlcHinn Randolfh, Ek)., of Phiiadelphie, and yourself, that 
the public in this country are indebted, for wlinuvor of value and 
novol interest may be found in this unpretending essay ; and, throush 
theae miuki of coniidentloii is the Author cnahled, to preacni to 
American people, some of the morn salient points of recent Hiero. 
glypbicol di>cuveiio% in a fonn correapondiiix to hia IHe.mde 
principles. 

Our united object ia to popiilariie Infonnalion, that may lend to ■ 
better oppreciatian of these alielruse aubjecLi, than has hitherto t«rn 
deemed leaaible; aa well aatoliuluce abler hands to supply deS. 



These Cbuteis will, it is believed, serve the Theologian, Ethno- 
logist, Historian, and general render, as a Ket to the suecesaful la- 
bora of the Cbunpollioniala ; while their publication and Goneral 
dilTusioii, through the elaborato machinery of the "New World" 
pir«, will enable the lecturer to apaie hia future nudienres (he oral 
infliction of much preliminnry, though indiepenanble mailer, by re- 
moving Iha prevalent doubts — " if Hieroglyphics be tranalated-" 

The iiuiruciion end kind aasisiaace I have rceelvBd from the 
learned oibnographer, SAHto. GtoiMB Morton, Esq., Si. D., of 
PliiUdclpbia, and from tlio profound philologist, the Iion J iliH 
PicXEHino, of Boston, hnve been leTerally ecknowtedged. To Pro. 
fcesor CniRLEa Antbon, of Columbia College, I am under great 
obligations, for much claasicol infonnalion, and tbr free acccas la 
his valuable Library. 

As the matter, spread ovpr the fotlQwing pages, wna originolly 
prepared for delivery in oral Lectures, it baa required some labor to 
change il into its present form ; and for auggefiions on this point, 
ns Weil ns for many literary essentials, I owe my best thanks to my 
friend, E. S. Gouu), Esq., of ihia city. 

In their pristine shape of Lecmres, they were, during December 
and January last, listened to with mach indulgence, by an intel. 
iecluil and cultivated audience, in Boston, and spoken of with favor 
by the Proia of that city. 

For the adveniagcs accroing from this aoccewful "d^blli," Ishall 
ever preserve a grateful rcmembranee toward Josepb W. IicomiUK, 
Eiq., the well informed Tupogispher of Palestine ; whose diskn- 
tcrasted cooperation was of material oasistanee to me. 

With renewed protesiations of sincere atlacbmenl, 
I remain, dear Sir. 

Your obliged and obedient Servant. 

GEORGE R, GLIDDON. 

■' Globe Hotel.-' (New York,) Match 15, 1843. 



NOTE TO THE PRESENT EDITION. 
* AiJorsTi, OionoiA. nih Damler. iS-lV 

Tlw tntii "Clupten," herein ecntained, originally farmed put of a aeries nrtkirfcnl arm] I.«ctaruon "Karty &rrptian History " ke. 
Miverttt by the Author at Botton, from December 1843, to February 1843. They were Kibeoquently pruiiif.d to tha Amkhic^x Pitslic, 
Uitaugli the medium of the ■■ Now World" press in Now York, and have since passed tlirougli many odilious of aevcnil il.ousond oaoh. 
The obJQcts of the Author, in Iha publication of the Pamphlet, being set Ibttli In Uia dojicatory pri^LOe, it leoms merely noocmir lo 
observe, that he has no pecuniary inlerosl in ile past or future cireulalion. Mr. T. 11, PETEH*'UN, having becomo proprietor ol the 
Rmotjpe Plates by purchase from the "New World," publish the presanl edition, wherein man/ Ivpoerophiwl CortooliDO* have b " 
—" '-; while paitttb oud 46 hav* been recast, ia ordsK to embody tha matured losulla of Ut. S. Q. Hdutdii'i "Cniiiaf 
-"-Tl U Philadelphia m March, 1844. v.nu-^ 



oTKa. 



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'^l\'^^ 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



A SERIES OF CHAFTEBS ON EABLT EGYPTIAN HISTORY. 



^C. ^C. &c. 



CHAPTER FIRST. 



INTRODUCTORY. 

** Amieui Soeratflt. Anucu Plato, wd maffii Aniea Vwitas.** 

Thx great Expedition, that, in 1798, left the shores of France for 
Egypt, seemed, under tlie 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 
ldOO-1, turned the energies of Buonaparte into an European channel. 

How comprehensive, ncy unbounded, were the projects of the 
Commander-in-chief for Asiatic and African conquest, is now a mat. 
ter of History ; although, after the Inpse of forty years, it can scarcely 
yet be said, that we are acquainted w^iih the limit of his matured 
schemes in regard to Oriental subjugation, nor have we completely 
sounded 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 £^pt 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 die patronage and ad. 
vancemcnt 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 
tlieir laborious efforts to the scrutiny of E^gypt and her Monuments. 

The grave lias closed over the Conqueror — the events of his period 
are gradual' y 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 arc 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 fint gleams have reached the world. 

The circumambient darkness, that for two thousand yean not only 
baffled every inquiry into primeval history, but rendered Egypt, her 
time-worn edifices, her ancient inhabitantts, 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 onccrccondite annals, that were to the 
Romans " a stumbiing.block, and unto the Greeks foolishnese." 

It is the object of the present essay to give a summary of the se- 
SX7LTS of Hieroglyphical researches, after a brief explanation of the 
process by which these results have been achieved. 



Prior to the year 180D, the published notices of the few travellers, 
who had ventured to approach the ancient ruins of £!gypt, 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 othere, whose names are precious to the ]^en of advon. 
ture, of research and general science, had explored M 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 po^ble to refer to the majority of these authora without a 
smile. Thai 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 gratimde, 
with which a later generation hallows his memory, while it repro. 
bates his detractora. 

The works of travellere, 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 
Co strangen; while Muslim arrogance and intolerancy, with the 
then.unsubdued pride of Turkish fanaticism, presented barrien to 
European exploren, which it required unusual skill and intrepidity 
€o encounter. Egypt was then ** a sealed book,** whose pages could 
.QoC be opened, until Napoleon's thunderbolts had riven t^ clasps 



asunder ; and until the chivalrous cavalry of the ** Ghuz "* had bees 
scattered, like chaff before the wind, by the concentrated volleys of 
a French hollow square — their hitherto victorious sabres shivering on 
contact with the Europesn bayonet. 

While however, in spite of these manifold obstacles, the travelling 
enthusiast, or the scientific explorer, collected in the valley of the 
Nile the information, which afforded to the scholar in Europe soum 
cmdo and uncertain materials wherewith to proeecuto hisresesrches; 
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 f^ptians. Witli the aid of such cor- 
roborations of the misshapen mass of classical knowledge, expended, 
from the days of Homer, in an attempted explanation of B^'ptian 
Arehnology, 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 yean 
ago ; yet the 18th century was fruitful, beyond all preceding periods, 
in ponderous tomes, purporting more or less to cost some light <m 
the important, but conflicting traditions of that country. 

The Greek, the Hebrew, tlie Roman, the Armenian, the Indian, 
and the Coptic autliorities were consulted. Passages, in themselves 
irreconcileable, werewitli more ingenuity than success coUsted, ana. 
lyzed, and mutually a4justed : but rather to the personal satisfaction 
of the compiler, than to the correct elucidation of any one given 
idea on Ancient f^ypt, transmitted to us by these classical writera. 
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 vsst 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 ; thot, at the 
present hour, excite our surprise and our regret The mere mechan. 
ical labor of such an undertaking would be more tedious thsn any 
literary enterprise we can well conceive ; while its result would be 
unprofitable, beyond the moral it would teach. In tlie present Chnp. 
ten, 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 authora of the last gener- 
ation, whose works are merely repetitions of the few truths and the 
many fallacies transmitted to us by Grcco-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 worit, in six ponderous folios, entitled ** CEdipue 
.£gyptiacus," wherein imagination took the place of common sense, 
and fantastic conjecture was substituted for fact. Kirchcr explained 
every £2gyptian Hieroglyphic by the application of a sublimity of 
mjrstidsm, 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 yemn 
to dissipate ! Kircher had his disciples, his followera and his ad. 
mirers—^ie 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 moet 
refined." As an instance : 

The Pamphilian Obelisk, rfierected, in 1651, in the Piazza Navona 
at Rome by Pope Innocent the 10th, was brought to Europe by the 
Roman Emperon. It contains, among other subjects, the following 
oval. 



r^^^ 




-SEDUCTION- 



A UToK RaTo 



XMFCROK. 



rrhoMtis 

> lliero- 

fljrpllkk} 

_ (Lannpro- 
K nuQciatioaO 

(Enslnh 
aieaniaff.) 



This Cartouche, according to Kircher's interpretation cxpreiised 
tmhUmatieaU^, " the author of fecundity and of all vegetation, ie 
Osiris, of which the generative faculty is drawn from heaven into 



♦ ArsWes— JIfaatoti tg . 



fStt Champ. Pradi. and Bpiaslo** liSeturM. 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



2:^"tr^l' ^^^^ttk b/sfflirJS^i^' "^1 ^^'^n.^^c^^a. t^i., ^ i*.-^ 




•sBiyucnoih 



A I S A R o S 
CiESAR 



ToM I TiANoS Sb Ba S ToS 

DOMITIAN AUGUSTUS. 



\ 



Kircher trantlateM it— "The beneficent Being, who pretides over 
feneration, who enjoys heavenly dominion, and fourfold power, com- 
mita'the atmosphere, by means of Moptha, the beneficent (principle 
of?) atmospheric humidity unto Ammon, 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, 
Lonl of the Diadems (L e. Ruler of Rulers) Autoerator GBsar Domi. 
tian Augustus"— besides the uraal titles found on Egyptian Obelisks. 
These monuments are granite monoliths, cut hj 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 
•stent, 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 audiority, quoted in the PrecU, 
of the year 1831 (!) " Genoa-Archipiseopal press,*' this identical 
obelisk *' preserves the record of the triumph over the Impious, ob. 
tained by the adoren 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 Ae deluge." ^ 

This obelisk was cut in Egypt about eighty yean after Christ 
By the above tfUefTretofum, the doctrines H Christianity must have 
existed some 2500 years before its founder. And one of the pious 
adorers and good Chruiuuu^ who roust thus hare ruled in Egypt, 
was, in later times, (about 970 B. C.) Shishak— or Sheshohx, who, 
according to hieroglyphical legends at Kamac, conquered the <* king. 
' dom of Judah;" and, acconUng to 3nd Chron. XII, 1st to 10th ver. 
MS, and 1st Kings, XIV. 35th, deposed Rehoboam, plundered Jerusa. 
lem, desecrated the Temple, and removed the golden bncklen from the 
■anctuary 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 
Mserts to the effect, that we have only to translate the realms of Da. 
vid into Ckinete, and transpose them into the ancient characterB of 
that language, to reproduce the Egffptwn papyri! that Hebrew 
tran^aiiont of some Egyptian records are to be found in the Bible (!) 
and, while the portico of the temple of Denden contains, among 
various subjects, dedications of the Roman Emperors, Tiberius, Call, 
gulo, 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 hi8 results to this unfortunate temple ; asserting, that the hiaro- 
glyphics thereon contain merely a ** translation of ^e 100th Psakn 
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 Elgypt, in all the tombs of her people, 
and on almost every article that now embellishes the mnseums of 
Europe, are nothing more or leas than Hebrew — that the pyramids 
were built by Mo»e» and Aaron;* while another scholar, the Abb^ 
Tandeau, in 1762, mointaincd, that hieroglyphics were meare arbi. 
trary signs, only employed to serve as omamente 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 glimmen were thrown on certain points of history ; and 
Kireher's voluminous collection of passages regarding Elgypt from 
Greek and Roman authors, with the attention excited, through his 
reseorehes into the CSoptie tongue (of which language numbers of 
manuscripts have since been dirawn from obscurity,) has led to most 
• important results. The vast erudition of Jablonsky came in aid of 
the same object; and his ''Pantheon ^gyptiorum" has spared 
many of his successora a great deal of trouble. 

It may, however, be maintained, that the /hret 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 
the first time, that learning and practical common sense had been 
iHiited in Egyptian researchos ; and likewise the firrt time, that an 

•Sm OilBNt*s Diotioiisi7f I e. 



attempt had been made to give faeeimile copies of hieroglypliica 
texts. George Zoega was the first who suggested, thot the elliptic^ 
ovals (now termed " Cartouches,") containing groups of thcn.cn 
known charactere, were probably proper names ; although he ^-a. 
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, b> 
the Abb^ Barthelemy ; but a quarter of a century elapsed, before 
this fundamental principle of hieroglyphic writing wax determined. 
To George Zoega also belongs the merit of emplo3ring tlie term 
phonetic (from the Greek 4ovf meaning " expressive of sound ;") 
and the conjecture, that some of the figures of animals, &.c., found 
in the legends of Egypt^ must represent sournds^ and were possibly 
letters. 

By such, and similar extremely partial results, so wearied had th« 
learned beeoiiM with speculations devoid of probability, and theofpt. 
ical syatami imMpporied by reason, that Egyptian studies were, by 
the mass, eonddntd m mnatisfaetory as sstrology — the hope of ever 
unreveUhig the l^gvndt of tiie Nilotic Valley, was looked upon to bo 
as illusory as the •xpeetatkms of tiie alchemist. 

The real jwiflirsifs in Egvptian stadias dates from the appearance 
of die great Fk«nch work, better known m the ** Description v^ 
de I'Egypte ;" compiled at the expense of the French government, 
after me return to Franco of Napoleon's expedition, by the entliusi 
astic and laborious savans who had accompanied it. This truly 
great work presented, for the first time, faidifiil arehiteetwral copies 
of die monuments of Egypt to the student : and if experience haa 
since shown that the French artists, of that day, were not scrupu* 
lously exact in delineating the hieroglyphical legends sculptured on 
the edifices, of wiiiah they gave meanueniants and descriptions in 
other req>ects correct, still a mass of facsimiles was thus furnished to 
the decipherer, and an immense step wss effected in generid 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 '* .£g3rptiaca" of the learned Hamilton direw, with the prece. 
ding antiquities, a flood of light upon the " darkness" of Egypt, as 
known to Europeans in the first yean of the 19th century : while the 
return of the victon at Abookeer and Alexandria, spread through- 
out Europe, a clearer conception of Egypt, as a country, than had 
previoualy been entertained. 

Other works, like thst of Denon, kept up the revived interest ; 
until Belzoni's discoveries of entrances to diven pyramids at Mem- 
phis, and of the tomb celebrated by his name at Thebes (now known 
as that of « Oeirei.Menephtha," B. C. 1580 ;) and Cailleaud*s account 
of the P3rramids, ^c. in Ethiopia, joined to the continued transfer to 
European cabinetB of vast collections of Egyptian Antiquities, fur- 
nished to scholara the materials whereon to prosecute their invest!, 
gations. In 1808, the learned work of Quatremdre, 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. 
sequendy shown, from the enchorial writings. The Coptic, ss 
known to us, came into use with Christianity, and ceased to be orally 
preserved about a hundred yean 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 antiqunxy, 
Mons. Letronne, to bring before the world his invaluable "Researehel * 
to aid the History of Egypt," and thus elucidate many curious points 
of Roman and Ptolemaic periods ; while Charapollion's "Egypt under 
the Phsraohs," in 1814, announced the appearance of another com- 
petitor on the stsge of EJgjrptian archeology, whom Provitlence seems 
to have created the especial instrument for resuscitatir^ the long 
lost annals of Egypt. With these laborere may be class^i (although 
their travels took place, and their works appeared some years after) 
the ingenious Gau, who explored Lower Nubia, and tho Baron Mi. 
nutoli, who visited Egypt, snd ths templed sanctuary ol Jupitet 
Amoiu in the Oasis of Snwith. 



ANCIENT EGYPT, 



Such was tlir eiWnt ul' madeni ioqui.-y inlo early Egyiiiian hi*. 
loty, nl>aul llie year Itf^U, ns knuwa lu the e^i'rul reader i buL fi>r- 
iutfiu9 FircuiiiaiunccB, eaiiscqueiil upon ihe Freuch eipcdition, had 
CDmbiiird to «up)i1y nut only ttic kev xa oU ilie hilhrrlu iinpenrliabtu 
aiyiitnea [TEgypi, but the mind lu comprehend, tlie aaul [o iiiasicri 
■ad ihe hand to uieuuie more, in lan ■hurt yean, tlun nil mankind 
hod even dnnmed or, much lew bam able in twenty ceniunu lo 
■ehievB, I allude, of course, lo Chaxfolmok u Jeuxe. 

By (he 16lh anicle of the CBplluUtion of AleiiuidtiD,nil ibe objecB 
eollcMed by the French losliiuie of Egypt, and other metnbefs of 
the eipedilJon, were to be delivered up to (he British. AJtor some 
diseuHlon, laord Hulchinsoti gave up all claim to objects of JVd' urn I 
MMoq/, hut iiinated on the cumplele TuliihuDat of the IGlli tirticle, 
W bi nil other Ihinga. A vast amount of precious scutplurEi thus 
bMime the prize of the conquerors, and was conveyed induecuurse 
U) the Btiliib Museum in Loudon; and among others iho celEbroled 
KOSCTT* Stonk. 

I am iadebleJ for ihe facrimiU capf of this invaluable monu- 
mcnn in my possession, tu the kindness of the Hon. John PicKcntiiQ, 
of Biaton, whose profound philological raBearcliea are justly cele. 
bniioil, whilo Ihey have induced bun lo keep pace with Champul- 
lion's discoveries in ancient Egyptian lilcmture. My friend. Dr. 
T. H. Webb, likewise of Boston, puuetaci a beautiful plaster cast 
ol the ori^inml tlem ; and as I am on ibis poini, I would observe, 
that llie bcjt criucal examination of the kierogtsphic portJOD of ihu 
Roectta Slnnc, publiahLd up lo l&jl, may be sgeu in Salvollni's 
"Analysis of various Hieroglyphical Ti:>ta," issued at Paris, soiiie 
" '' jr Roeellini liinuthotliis analysis of iliia Text 

annex lUc fuUowing 



will be ! 
To e 



«quenceufhis wurk. 
1 idea of the Jloscita 




1 probably its onginat 



The dolled line ni the inp iihoH 
tabular form, when it was placed in Ihe teniph 

This inealimable fragment (the Kosella Sionc) eon^i^ts in a block 
of black baaolt, which was discovered by ■ French oflicer of engi. 
neers, Mnns. Bouchard, in August 1799, when digging the founda- 
tions of Pott SuJulien, erected on the western banX of the Nile, 
between Rosctla and the sea, not far from the moulh of the river. 
It was placed by ihe Briti^ eotnmander-in-chier, on board the frigate 
*■ Egyplienne," captured in the harbor of Alexandria, and arrived at 
Pornmouth in February, 1809, whence it was dcpoailed in the Brit- 
ish Museum. 

Ir. its present stale it is much mutilated, chiefly on the lop, and at 
■the right Bide. Its extreme lenglh is about ihree feel, measured on 
the flal surface, which contains the writing; its breadth, which in 
pumo parts is entire is about two feet five inches. The under pail 




of the iiiHK, which ts not scuiplured, i* lefl rough, 1b ihickiiMa^ tl 
Tines from tun lo iw'eWe inches. It h«an lliroe IniK-riplioii)^ and Im 
bilinguar — two ot' them being in tlie Egj/filmH laugusijr, (liough In 
separnic and distinct chamctem. the third is in Ancient Grtek. Th« 
(in'l or uppeimosl Inscription le in hiaragljiphUt, and much mull. 
laled— several lines being impaired or wanting — the second is th« 
eharacier. Styled in the Greek Imn^tion ttuiuritll, "writing of the 
people," or otlietwise it is termed Jntu/ie, to designate ih ordinary 
and popular use — the third Is in Grett, and purporla tu be ■ traacis. 
lion of Ihe hieroglyphic md of the demotic tviiii. 

The English traoBlations of llie RoselUi alone, conlnSned in the 
works cnumeraled in my linl chapter, not being at pracnl Bcceaeible 
lo me, I render inlo Engliali Ihe French^ of Chanipollion Flgeac. It 
a curtailed, in some measure, from the~(iriginal Gtttk inscriplirn ; 
wherein lliere is a long exordium in honor ufPloltuny Epiiilimirs. to 
be seen in " Ameilhon's Bdairciasemonu," publitrind by tlio Frendi 
Institule in 16U3. The general reader will find much iniriciUng in- 
formation on ibis and other subjects, in " Sharpe's InMiripliunB" 
" Briliiih Museum :" ■■ likewise in llie varied hierologicnl and etas, 
sical works of this distinguished gendcinan. The e\eni recorded ia 
Ihe Roeeiia Stone, the curonaljon of Epipbanes, Took place at Mem- 
phis, in the monih of March, 19G years B. C, or 9U39 yean ago, 



TRANSLATION. 



"The jearIX,<of IhereiinoflhB "Smin/ (^' v.... I'-.i _.-,,„„_ 

fttJovd « nJM''j Ida loDlb of ih* nnnlh uC An . ,..,„. 

piuphgu, ihnea who rater iota ih« sanosar; < ,i>i._ 

phijrH, Ihe hiergfrsMntaui, and all iho oiln'i , , i , ni- 

pies siluuad in u>ecouoti)',lisve CQine tu ni< II . . iiia 

SDlFmnily of Ihe takiai posseHion of That crDun^ ' - iivmi, 

Iho welllwlDVEil efPihah, Rod Epiphants inu>i pr^cKiuE |i>uir.., Im^ in^nw 
ii«d from hii rather, being asacaitilnl ia ihe icaiiila ul Mcnphii, taaia pi» 
nouueed, ibis same cfay, tiw loUowing decree : 

" Consiouiiiia, ihai ihn hjof Ploleuiy, evtr U'iaj, Oie well bclnved of 
Pthab, lud Eplpbanei, moat giaiioue, hid of the Kui( Piattny, and of iha 
Queen Aninva, |mb philopaium (ratfaer-lntbg) husdgOB all liiads <f fend, 
boih lo Ihs innplee, and lo ihose who iherrin nake (Itair hsbilauua ; ondi 
in leneral, loail dwse who are undrr his daninon ; Ifaal being (humeln *- 
god. born of a lod and a loddna, like Hotus, iha sen of lak aod Oaitja, 
ibu avenger ofOsirii hii laiherj and ambiiiDui of ■ignaliiiaf fcnrniiiatr hfa 
■»1 for Ihe ihiDgs irhich ooncemthe iads,ba has conwcrainTui ThP aartlS 
ufibe icniples, greil raianuu, as well of aKSwy ssor wheal, and haabMl 
aiirFit npensn to resiere vaBqaiiliiy in£|Tpt,aBd to raiae Irnplea, 

" That hohasBM neglieicd an; of the noos thai wera wiihia nia powesL 
lo pttiirm aalB dT hinaanilj ; [bat la onlai dial ia his kJBfiiaai iho pcepli 

und in gnnsnt all Ihs ciliieni, (hould ba in pi -— ■-- ■■ 

atiofcdier sone of the Uxss aod imposts est _ 

diiDiniihed the onus oT Ihe other* ; that, nureover, he haa rmillcd all Ihni 
was dee to him on Ihe royal rents, a* naeh by h» >uh)ecls, inhaMiaaia ol 
Efrpi, as by ihoM of his alher kingdoiBs; allhough theae rents ivere to* 
Eoniidersble in iheir aoiounl; Uwlhe hoa llbetaled by anncMy, those «hi| 
weteimpiijonoil, and under lenience rrum a lonj time i 

" That he has ordaiaEd, thai the nvenuri ol ilio temples, and the real* 
payable lo them every year, as much in nheat as in 
periiuiaiiiDns reserved Id Ihe godi m ihs viaeyarda, th 
niher ihings, la wludi titcj wars cDinled Ireai ihe tin 
CDniinue lo be cdltcied in tlie cout.iry. 

" Thai ha haa diipeaaL.d Ihoae, who beliBK lo the sacerdotal orders, fn 
losking every year a vovaee by water loAlrxandria. 

"Thai hehssorderediiliBI Ihe eilisHiB who had Iiid down Uieir rehtUic 



a people. 






in iHurenioo of Iheir property. 

" Thai having eniemd Memphis, as ihe avciiger of his ruber, and af hie 
own riihiful crown, be has punisiii'd, as ihry Jitervcd, iho chiels oT ihua 
i>ho had revolted igainal his failicr, and devaiialeil the couniry, aiod d«- 
«lioiled Ihs lomplrs. 

" Thai hn hai made masy gills lo Apia, lo Mneris, and to ihe other locr*! 

"Thai he has caused lobe mode mtjnificonl works lo the icmnle of Apifc 
and has ruiniihed, for Ihrae labors, a large quiniiiy of gold, and sllter, aol' 

thai he has made liie necessary rrptirs is ihose which required tb*m,'ha*--^ 
lag the aeal of ■ bearScenl god ibr all that eoncenu Ihe diviaiir ; ihM* 
having infofBed himself of iho alale in which were Riuul the must preeioiw 
things inclosed in Ihe lenples, he haa reonwed Ihtio in his enipirr, as much 

icessan—in recompenie for which, Ihe guds bai 

ty, and olber fr--*- ■ ■■■ ■- 



heahh, viciory.andolbergaoda; . . . 
as well as lo his children, down ts Ihs 

" II has Iherefof pleased Uv eriiisl ,.. 

cHEE.ihat all ihe boDon bolongihj to LbcKing PioUmy, 

belnved of Plhah, god Eplpbana, moal f racioui, aswi _,,_ 

due in his faihsr and moLher, ihe gods philopaiore i ; and ihote whidi on 
due Is bis ancc>iDrs,shosld be considerably augmenled ; thai Ihe slalw rf 
KingPtolemy, overliving, be arwledia each laDple, and pieced In IbanagC 
coniplcugiia spoi, which shall ba called ihe 8;aiue of PtoleaiT, aanor tf 
Egvpn near Ihia slaloa shall he placed the priocipd god of die la«uls,wbB 
"ill present him wuh llie arms of victory : and erciylhini shall he ditpQSl4 
manner moti ajipropriale. Thai the prieals shall perloim, Ihree ilmca 
, religious service lo iheaa sralues ; ihal ibey shad adorn them wllh aS- 
irnamenis; and that IhpjFhail liavs care to reader them, in the freM 
niiin, all the honors whieli, according la usage, ougbl to bepaidtalha 
oiher deiues i that there bo eonspcratnd lo King Piolem a siauir, airf a^ 
chapel, gilded, in ihe moil holy of the icmples ; thai ibif ciiapd be placrd in 
'''- --BeluaTy.wiihallihoolhers; and ihai.in ihs groalrolnnniiiei, wherein 
,. „ .usiomaiy to bring oui ihe etiapoli from ihe sanctuaries, there shall ba 
brooghi oui thai uf Iho god Epipbanes, mosi gracioiis ; aad that Ibis chapel 
may he boiler dwiinguished from iho oihere, now and in Ihe lapse of ijnt* 
lor. ihort shsll bs placed above ii ihe len foMon croons of ihs king, 
shall bear on their amerior part an alp, in unilalion of iWo crn«M 
lie form, which aia in Iho other ohapels; aad ih the middls of Ihaa* 



~iploa of ihe land lo vm- 
~ living, the welt 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



wowni. (liKll tw plawd iha rwal orUDWBl lumsd nnm, Uul ma which 
Hm km "OH *><(n ha •nincd lb* MmitiiJiia, u (h* !■ BpUi, in atder (a ub- 
Hirns UiD Jrgft[ imrciDODIt) prncfil<«il lur Ihs cutrattion ; Ihil Dirn b* m- 
•ehxd lu Ihc Islncon (<>» ronuct! at Bcrhspa esutr;] wciidinn ih< Ira 
inioiu tfiKcd to iIk chtftt than DannKfihyliieiBieii flffoiij (tiiullarlo iLs 
labn>« " lapblliB''— ■niulirti) wilh tbii iaierlpiiuo ; " Thb u ihe chipel 



Brl() b> b*U i> huior oTlbv r 
int Ploliuri foi EpifiliuBi 
Uka iiU« ici nil llx ptoviaca 
•hill lui fur Bti? day*, to cuiaK 



■Mt, of ibn *cU b.ta*>daliHb^,Vihe 

UM (luiuui, mty jtvj ibi> r«ll**l ihall 

u K«il hi Uplicr, u ID Luwiir EifBl : ainJ 

IKS on lb* bil dt* oTihi utoelh St Thulli ; 

i6c(*i ih« Ifbaitmu, tpd til iha uihn 

m \ ib*7 ahtU be cattrd iba prisua 

,^ jai ««:hmi) and iboyahiUtiU Ihil 

Mna tu lbs olbcn, ibat llmf bunsw from lbs dnlie* la lbs Mrnca sf whuu 
tt(j UB already CDDicCtalra. 

** And in order ihal 11 nwy be known why, in EnT'i h* <■ sloriGsd and 
bonurad, ai isjoH. Ihe t°d EjilpliRnii. mu*i (raeimu fDVcrviiu, ills prii - ■ 
*fln« Ukaff it lUi-aiMd m a iMa <{/' Avd (Mil, in >uKii cHjjunm. ( I 
In hUrcutlypbictT in naiTins or tiu csuHTkv (■■ t.in simIimuI, ordur 
lie) and in GaiEK (cnuu : and ihia itcta thall bo pltccd in -acfa nf 
Umplu of Uia fiiti, icciHid, and iHiid elm etiiititi( in all Ihg kincduin." 



Norn — Tht Roaetl* iion* ii tho vnly or 
bts yei been fwind ^ but ji u by no meaaii 



ha lample* arji4ypi. 

Tbe importance of lliia Mono and iu inacriptiaiiB, indicBling tbe 
probabiliiy of ils supplying a liET (o the dccipberiog of Ibe lung 
Uiit meaning* of E||)'pliiLa hicrogtyphica, was iioinedislely pc. 
ceiTed. The French genonl, Dugun, bruught from Figypi [o Poiu, 
«ctH and iwo Inipreuiiina of tbe itooe, mode ■[ Cauo; and in 
1803, an analyaia nf Iho Greek inacriptioa, made by ciliica Ancll. 
faon, waa published by order of the Iivlilute. Copiet of the itone 
Hfero wibecqucnlly given in the " Description de 1' Egyple." Tiic 
Eofal Antiquarian Society af London, on receipt of tbe originol, 
etuaed GOpicB lo be engTavedi and ditiaeminnled Ibroughout Europe. 

The Soaetla Stotie excitBd the liveliest iiilcieal in all thoae who 
fcad devoted thenuclvcB lo Egyptian Arcbatulogy ; and (he oltention 
of the greatest bcIwIoib of the age woe directed to ill Clilical invest. 
igalion. 

Th« Greek iruaiplion engaged Ibe scrutiny of Professor Poraon, 
Id London ; and of Dr. Ileyne, in Germany. By their critical labon, 
and thoH of the Fieucb InsIiluLc, the blanks occaiioneil hy frac 
turee in the Btone were supplied, and tlie |iiirport of tbe whole waa 
•KUnpletoly and aatidactorily ascortuinnd. 

With equal saal, and in llie end, with Bstomdung laeeeaa, the 
fJoatinenUl scholars were euuujning llie meaning of the other two 
iiwcriptioiis. They deinonalrBted thai the Greek waa really o Irani. 
latlon ; and consequently, tliat the opinion of the ancients, no less 
Iban liiDl of tho niodoms, was erroneous, in srippneing timt the hie. 
leglypbic and other Egyptiaa eharaclen had ceHeed to be etn- 
yloyud, and their interpreuiion lost, since the Pcraian conquest of 
that country by Camliyaai, in 525 B.C.; while Quatremflre, by 
other proceacs, had ealaldiahed ihe preoenl Cff/iic language to be 
Aa ancient Egyptian itself. The Btlenlion, however, of Ihesv 
feamed inquirers, seems lo havn been mainly directed to the study 
of Ihe socond, or inlermeduil inscription — mt n up«<(, at ryj^uiMt, 
an iUsnnu yfa^paxi' — called in tlio Greek text, " enrianol, or, 
writing of th<] peoplu ', " also, as above slated, termed demotic ; for 
iha aimple reason, that while it was tbe best preserved, at fiiu sight 
ll appearod to be the coaieM lo decipher. Time, however, baa shown 
It lr> he the most difficull. 

The grealast Otientalial of the day. and most proficieol European 
Arabic scholar, iha lamented gilvealre de Sacy, wss, in 1602, the 
Aim to discover in Ibe dtmalie lezi, the gronpa which represent dif- 
f«rant]irofier Rsmri,' such as FtoUnit, Artiwie, Alexander, snd AUx. 
madria — aa well as to iadicalo thai Ihe eigna in ibeae groups ars 
UtUrt. 

A Swedish gentleman resident at Rome, AkcrUlad, extended ibe 
Toaearchca of De Sacy. He gave a akelclon alphabet of the dc- 
Inolia laxl ; but, iniianinch ns ho oniiiled to observe Ihe euppresaion 
of llm vmttla, (as customsry in Hebrew, Arabic, and other oriental 
iHigilBge*,) be fattod in apylying ihis alphabet to llie greater purtiuii 
«{ tha damMio inscription. Yel a great progreaa had hecn made ; 
Mid lo Akerbhid belonga tbe merit of indicating a passage In the 
hicrottsp^'i eliaraeter, -which subsequent discoveries have con- 
firmed. The Ksv lo Egyptian monuniental legends seemed, how- 
ever, lo be as fugacious aa ever; and yean were spent in the dis- 
ooveiy of a single additional letter, nolwilhslaiuUng tbe intensity of 
the interest, and the laborious lealousness of the students^ 

Under the tills of " Analysis of ihe kienglypiic Inscription ol 
the Roeelia Stone ;'■ there appeared at Dresden, in 1804, a pretended 
tfinalation of the mutilated hieroglyphics, wherein the author, te. 

Ctiog the myatiGcatiooB of Kircher, recognized in the fourleen 
s adll eaielinK of the bieroglyphicDl characters, (being scarcely 
iha half of the primitive inscription, before the alone was broken,) 
tha enlira and perfect eiprcssian of its purport, contained in the 
fiftjr-four lines of the Greek T»il To oulherod Herod in pre- 
MUqilion, the Dresden author reprinted his wnrk at Florence, afttr 
Chaaipallian'a discoveries, as a sort of formal prattl against the 
B«w dir«<uan given ID Egyptian sludiea '. 

An inMTtal sccarred, after Akerblid's dlicaveriet, hefors any 



ostenaibl* advancement hsb mads in the drcjphcriiig uf these : 
ecriplions, when tbe cslcbralpd Dr. Tholaas YounK, fomed fiT I 
univemalily uf bis scquircmcnls, published In 1614. m the " 
logia " an iinprovcmeni on the alphabet of Aheihlod. He added ■ 
translation nf the demotic inscription, placed by the side of tha 
Greek, bui distinguishing the cuntenis uf the diflereut lines, with w 
much precisian as he could then echi>ive. In May, loI4, Dr. Youu 
■published in the sixth No. of the " Museum Ciiiicuni," die rosullcf 
his laboiH on the enchoriat text. In 1618, be cummunicsted t6 
the lesrucd of Europe, a Memoir specifying his diacovcries in IiMl I 
roglyphict, republished in the year 1019, in the Encyclopedia lUb. T 
tannioa — of which anon. Dr. Young's interesting labors on ttt^jf 
demotic text, &,c., may be coniulled In Dr. H. Taltain^ ^'•V^A 
Grammnr. \ 

In 1816, tho learned German, Tychsen, of Goilingen, following i| J 
different nieibod of reasoning, was enabled to prove dial the IU|» ' 
rolie chsrucler {not included in the Roaella Slone) was but a simpM '| 
lachygrapbf, or abridgud mode of writing, a ahorl-hand in fact, of IH J 
hii-niglyphica! Inscrlplions. An ojiinion eutenained likewise byDrt ^ 
Young. It would spprnr ihst, in 1819, Champollion held the aana ; 
belief ; allhoogh, at that time, he drew from Che fact conclusions ditT ' 
mctricnlly at variance wilh those sustained in his Memoir, read, U 
1891, to the Royal Academy of Bellea Lcllrea at Paris. 

Amid all tho above interesting researches, the areret of Ihe it 
prelnliun of hierc^yphics, chough nearly reached, or vaguely guesL. 
at, from the times of Warburlon, Zoega, and Prof. Vater, scem*d (j 
elude Ihe grasp of lbs most comprehensive minds, and tho purauil of 
Ihe DiDal untiring examiners. Many had staled their conviction, that • 
hieroglyphics constituted a real wrilttn langttage, applicable lo all f 
the pUTsuiU of eemman, ta well as of public and scientific life i sua. I 
ceptibic of iranslation, and capable of being analyied into an alpha. I 
Ser, consisting of liltle more than 30 Itttrr: The number of slgna I 
ised by the Copis in expressing their language, consisis of the Grecjc \ 
ilphabeC of ftl si^M, with the addition of T cliaracten taken binm 
he demotic Egyptian alphabel. to eipresa arliculatione, or soondi^ 
for which Ihe Grttk alphabet is insufficienL But. o! the msay | 
' ijuirers, none had at this time succctafully demonsIrBted Ibe fact. | 

While these Ubota were prosecuted in Europe, there were two 
English gentlemen in Egypt, whose studies of the monumcnu iliem. 
selves bad led Ibem lo the ihreshold of Irnlh; and ilisduo lo Meean. 
J. W. fiankea and Consul-go neral Sail to record, thsl, in 1618. tlief 
had idenlilied the name of " Cltopatra." in a hieroglyphjcal oval on 
tho obellak of Philn (subscquoniiy removed lo England for Mr, 
by BelEoni,) u> wliich conclusion they wei« led by ■ Gntk 
iiucrtption, on the satnc obelisk, confirmed by a variety of cnriniu 
coincidences. About the same time, I8S0, some very extrtordinsrf 
comparisons were afforded, by (bo discover? of some Greek papyri — 
'which is justly renowned as the property of George F. Gny, 
. . anolber, containing tbe "SizfA AwJI: of Homrr," was found 
in Nubia by that most enterprising of Egyptisn mvellets, Montiinir 
A. Linani, now chief civil engineer in the service o( Mohammad 
" to be regrelied, that ihe lamenled Henry Salt sbouM haVB 
delayed annonncinglo the world bis own further discoveries ia tmtl 
because, while there seems every likelihood thai he hsd identified the 
>f various other kings on the monuments of Egypt, itfare hs 
ire of Cbsmpotlion's discoveries ; yel, it most he allowed, Ihal 
priority of publication is, by two or three yoani, in favorof the latcnri 
no lees than that, lo the laiier exclusively belongs the merit of pulling 
forth his system st once, and complete beyond all previous antiript, 
ion, applicable lo every epoch, and to eveiy legend in Egj-piiaft 

The stipplemeni to the 4lh and 5lh editions of ihe Eneyelopedi* 

Briton nicB— Edinburgh, 1819 — under the article "Egypt," cnsi the 

fret beam o/ (me ligAf on Ihe method adi^ted by Ihe Egyptians, in 

their peculiar an of writing ; and the renown of Da. Yovno spread 

far and wide as ihc ingenious author r^ this interesting essay. To 

mgs iho merit of positively indicating in the hieroglyphieil 

groups on ihe Rosecta Slono, tlie names of " Plalttng" and " Bet*. 

'ce;" snd the probable values of each of the letter; soncoined itt 

ese two royal ovals; although subsequent ifiveecigalioos reduced 

number of Dr. Young's positive demonstrations, to Ihe phaneUe 

:lue ofj!i»dtRtinclcharactcni,cotresponding lo our I.N, P, T, and 

Dr. Young's eloborau srticle explained the ingenious and curi 

IS mechanical process, by which he had arrived at nis conctusiona. 

He likewise pointed out tbe probable inesniDg of some ftea hyndrei 

« of hieroglyphic charscien; many of which inirrpreiBtions 

been confirmed by later experience. He demonilrated, that 

'u unknown inacripiions on the Roeetla Stone (the hietoglyphie 

lemolic) were, as to the mode of expreainng ideas, identical; 

ic being, in good measure, a corruption, abridgnienl, or running 

form of the other. He moreover ascertsined ihemadeornuinenitioaa 

used by the Egyptians in hieroglyphic writings. 

'" led, however, into many errors, by his supposilion of tha 

if a ifUahie and a dUti/llahie principle in the compositiAn 
of ph«ntiie hieroglyphics ; whereas Champollion demonstrated, that 
each phonetic hieroglyphic wu a simple emxanonC, a csieii, or a 
diphtioBg. 

Dr. Yuunj, however, was unoble to oarry Ibe application of Mf 
principles of iiitcrpcctalion much beyond lb* nsmeavfa "Plslmlt 



ANCIENT BOYPT. 



f 



I 



1 



« '* Bertmee,** and a ** Cleopatra." He bad found the uy, but in 
hie handa, it failad fa open th» door ; and after allowing acme three 
yean to elapee, he deliberately stated his conviction (in hia '* Ac 
count of Bome recent diacoveries in hieroglyphic literature and 
I^grptian antiquitiea," London, 1893 ;) ** that thie ancient Egyptians 
did not make use of an alpkahei to represent the sounds and articu. 
lations of certain words, before the domination of the Greeks and the 
Romans." In short, it must in fairness be allowed, that between 
ChampoUion and Dr. Young there ia little parity in achievements ; 
as the system of the latter could, beyond its first origin, apply itself 
to nothing ; while the system of the former applies itself to every. 
THnro Egyptian. Sir Wm. Gell and Mr. Wilkinson, in 18S1, had 
already turned their attention to these subjects. 

I am aware of the extreme jealousy with which the claim o( priority 
in hieroglyphical interpretation, between Dr. Young and ChampoU 
lion le Jeune has been debated ; and that a notional rivalry has been 
excited, between England and France on this subject, which, if in 
many of its incidents is by the impartial to be deplored, yet haa led 
to an emulation, that has wonderfully promoted the advancement of 
science. I confess, that my own tendencies are in favor of the Con. 
linental side of the question, and that I recognize in Champollion the 
mooter spirit Without wishing to detract an iota from Dr. Young's 
right to the honor of discovering the Key, I believe, that without a 
Champollion, but little progress would at this day have been made in 
Egyptian archeology. My readers would probably not be interested 
" in th» details of the controversy, and those who feel curious on the 
question, may readily verify the view I take by consulting the authors 
themselves. It is for the same reason, and the fear of being tedious, 
that I purposely abstain from giving illustrations on the hieroglfph. 
ieal points in dispute ; because my object is to give the reouUo of 
these discoveries, as achieved in 1842, rather than the doubts and 
errors of 1820. It will be seen, in the course of the present essays 
(and future lectures) that I omit nothing, that to the 9. nerol reader 
can elucidate the theme. My part, as an annalist, is sii iply to give 
this succinct sketch, in clux>nological order, by way of preface to the 
developments at the present hour absolutely accomplished, and 
incontrovertibly established. 

It appears probable that, in 1812, and perhaps for 8 years after, 
£yChampollion lo Jeune did not believe, that the hieratic writing of 
jhhe ancient Egyptians was afyhabetic — that he considered the hie. 
ratio of the Greek authors to be a ** hieroglyphic tacbygrsphy,*' and 
consequently to be in construction identical with the hieroglyphic ; 
and as he deemed the hieratic to be signs of thingo, and not of 
ooundst it follows, that he did not recognize, in 1812, that alphabetic 
principle in the hieroglyphic legends, the existence of which, in 1822, 
he thoroughly demonstrated. 

The 27th Sept., 1822, was a memorable day to antiquarian laborers, 
and inquirers into the primeval history of man ; while, to the Egyp. 
tian student, it is an em equal to any in history. On that day, the 
illustrious Champollion le Jeune read to the Royal Academy of Belles 
Lettres at Paris, his " Memoir on phonetic hieroglyphics" — ^which, 
in October, was published under the tide of " Letters to Monsieur 
Dacier, perpetual Secretary of the / •'*ademy" — wherein, for the first 
\ime since the cessation of hieroglyphic writing (about the 3rd cen. 
tury after Christ) it was demonstrated, that *' the ancient Egyptians 
had made use of pure hieroglyphical signs, that is to say, of charac 
tars representing the image of material objects, to represent simply 
the ooundo of the nameo of Greek and Roman sovereigns, inscribed 
on the monuments of Dendera, Thebes, Esne, Edfoo, Ombos, and 
Phile.*' The great paleographer thoroughly establishbd his propo. 
aition, in the application of his phonetic system and alphabetical 
hieroglyphics to the epochs of the Romans and the Ptolemies. He 
refrained from expressing, at the time, what must naturally have been 
his own hope, if not conviction, that the same application would be 
found consistent with and analogous to hieroglyphic inscriptions of an 
earlier period : but time was required for the collection of further 
materials, before openly hszarding an opinion, in support of which it 
was, at that moment, out of his power to adduce sufficient evidence. 

The Savans of Europe were astounded at the success and method 
of Champollion. Every one waa struck with its truth : but envy was. 
more prominent in the mass, than a desire to cdoperate with the illus. 
trious Frenchman. There were many learned minds, feeling the 
force of the discovery, who exclaimed, os when Columbus made the 
egg stand on its end, that, " nothing wos easier,*' although they had 
none of them discovered it before ; and time has shown, that the ex. 
treme facility with which hieroglyphics were now to be deciphered, 
waa, for some years, limited to the presiding genius — to Champollion 
himself. Detruction was the weapon wielded with most facility 
by tlie critic; and, from 1822 to the present hour, it is infinitely more 
lacile to declare that, ** hieroglyphical interpretation is all nonsense,*' 
than to acquire, by study and patient research, a knowledge of the 
eubject, upon which it has been so fashionable to sneer and to cavil. 

In his "Egypt under the Pharaohs," Champollion, in 1814, had 
recorded his hope, *< that there would be at last rediscovered, upon 
those tablet?, whereon Egypt had painted but material objects, tlie 
ooundt of language, and the expressions of thought." Li 1822, he 
fully realized that hope : and if it mny be maintained, that the first 
imya of true light burst on him after Dr. Young's discoveries, it must, 
on the other iumd, be allowed, that the use he made of its then par- 



tial flickering haa immortalized his glorious labora, infinitely beyoMi 
those, not only of hia contemporaries, but of all his predecesaora. 
Like Archimedea, Galileo, Franklin, Sir Isaac Newton, Watt, Har 
vey, Fulton, and other meteors in the paths of science, he marked 
hio era to the honor of himself, to the glory of his country, and to the 
general benefit of mankind. Aa he himself declares, *< my hiero* 
glyphical alphabet waa in truth grounded upon so many facts, and 
positive applications, that I had to fear, less the controvertors, thui 
pretenders to a participation m my diacovery." 

In February, 1823, there appeared in the London Quarteriy RevieWt 
a journal aptly deaignated by Champollion aa ** eminently EngUoh^^ 
on article, wherein, although the truths of the results published by 
Champollion in his ** Letters to Monsieur Dacier," are acknowledged* 
the writer claimed for Dr. Young the priority of the discovery. Thia 
was followed by a small volume from the pen of Dr. Young himself; 
entitled "An Account of some Recent Discoveries in Hieroglyphical 
Literature, and Egyptian Antiquities, including the Author's original 
Alphabet, as extended by Monsieur Champollion. London,' lS{3.'* 

Impartiality cannot close its eyes to the evident tendency of the 
article in the London Quarterly, written in a spirit calculsted to 
arouse the national jealousy of French scientific men, and still mora 
the easily excitable anger of Champollion, one of the moat jealona 
savans in the world. Dr. Young's book was an ill.advised and fee- 
ble production ; and instead of raising its author above the elevated 
position his article in the Encyclopedia Britanica had secured for 
him in 1819, its efiect was injurious to his just claims of priority, aa 
well as suicidal to his less deserved hieroglyphical pretensions. The 
whole afiair was unfortunate, as it proved, that although Dr. Young 
had found the kit he could not make use of it ; and the tone oi 
csptiousness it exhibits was extremely prejudicial to his literary fame, 
long established on the secure bosis of his voat erudition and miiver* 
sality of genius. 

The ire of Champollion was fully aroused. He bent hia migfaly 
energies to the task ; and in the autumn and winter of 1823 be 
composed, and in 1824 he put forth his ** Precis du systeme hiero. 
glyphique des Anciens Egyptiens :" wherein, with the handa of a 
giant, he stripped Dr. Young even of the measure of merit he would 
have enjoyed unmolested, but for the Quarterly Review and hia owa 
**AccoYmt " above mentioned ; and at the same time, with singular 
felicity of analysis, reduced Dr. Young*s claim of priority to indi. 
eating the phonetic value of 5 letters, instead of nine, which Dr. 
Young had appropriated to himself exclosively. 

With the force of an earthquake the illustrious Frenchman over- 
threw the puny edifices of his predecessom ; and, from that hour, the 
Annals of Egypt, her time.honored chronicles, her papyri crumbling 
in the dust of ages, ceased to be mysteries! The "Veil of Isis"— 
" the curtain tlwt no mortal hand could raise ** — which, for 2000 
years, had baffled the attempts of Greeks and Romsns, with the stiH 
more vigorous efibrts of modem Egyptologists— was lifted by Cham- 
pollion Lx JEtmE : and the glories of Pharaonic epochs — the deeda 
of the noblest, the most learned, pious, warlike, and civilized race of 
ancient daya— whoso monarchy has exceeded by 1000 years the 
duration of any of our modem nstions — whose works surpass la 
msgnitudc, in boldness of conception, accuracy of execution, and 
splendor of achievement the mightiest labors of any other people— 
and whose lordly dominion over the nations of the earth at one period 
perhaps equalled the territorial extent of Muscovy, at tlie present day; 
have, through Champollion*s labors, and through those of hia coL 
leagues and disciples, become familiar to all whose inclination haa 
prompted them to read the works which, since 1824, have issued 
from the press of Europe. 

The immediate results of Champollion's labors in 1824, served to 
establish the fact, diat the greater portion of those signs or repie^ 
seittations of material objects, sculptured, painted, or delineated in 
all hieroglyphical texts and legends, were phonetic ; and thoroughly 
reducible, as in due time by him efiected, into an alphabet composed 
of 16 distinct articulations, for each of which there wss a numbei 
more or less great of homophones — i. e symbols, differing in fitforv, 
though identicol in «otini^---applicablo according to a welMenned 
-system, and never solely by graphical caprice. He proved, that the 
hieroglyphic mode of writing is a complex system — a system Jigurom 
five, oymbolical, and phonetic (I will explain these terms in due 
course,) always in the same tex^ sometimes in the same phrase, and 
often in the aame word. He proved the id^a to be illusory, (although 
so frequently put forth by hb predecessors, and reiterated by some 
of his contemporaries,) that no alphabet was in use in Egypt ; or that 
hierogl3rphical phonetic wridfng had been introduced into that coun- 
try after the Persian invasion in B. C. 525. He overthrew the doc; 
trine, that phonetic signs were first employed in £^pt, after Psam. 
metichus, B. C. 650, who first allowed the " Impure Foreigners,*^ 
tlie Greeks and others (to Egyptians, Gentile and barbarian natioAa)! 
to sojourn in and to become citizens of Egypt ; for, in his " Precis ** 
he demonstrated, that it was in unquestionable, constant, genera), 
and popular use at the period of the 18th Diospolitan dynasty, or 
back to the 19th century B. C. His subsequent researches, and the 
labors of his disciples, have established, that it waa equally eo 2900 
years 6. C. — that ages prior to this last epoch, at the time of the 
erection of the Pyramids, this mode of writing waa ^'«j< aoperfeei ae 
at any period after; while the commencement of the art, or even fhm 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



ipletil ile<re1n[iniGnt of hieroglyphic writing, inclui]ir>g the en . 

vent of the phaneltc nyiteai. Lea buried in ihoee couiitlen days 
fc/ere the I'yraniida, enveloped in uller obscurity, amid the priineT 
Wigin of notions, and infinitely beyond our pTeaent sltainiueDt, if n 
WIT comprebeneioD. 

A pause fallowed ChimpollicD'a Prrcia. The force of hia cnne!< 
■lone laid bore CDnacqaencca loa astounding to be ihoroaghly eai 
Inalcd, even by tlic moel leanted and the moat onlhuaisalic Egyptian 
•tadents. Like the alninaphnic BlillneaB thai follows the ihundcr- 
dnp, genius etumeJ pnrnlyxed by the porlenlouB arpect of ihe uvlh. 
On the one hand, the cissaicsl scholan, odherinR rigidly to the He. 
Ivew, Greek, and Latin authorities, weie not wilting (o cut aside 

I eiTora of their maslere ; and those, wIioeb aehoola had nailed 
their colon to the mast, were not prepared to tee Manetho eialied 
above Herodotus and iliodorua; lo find Hermapion conHnned, while 
Fliny was ivjecled ; to beh<dd in Plato but the tninBlalor,orinPythD- 

r-aa bill (he adopter, (^ Egyptian mytliological dortrinea; etill leaa 
caneider what amount of inalruction accned to Ihe Hebrew Law. 
Ijlter from hia education in Helioputitan eolleges ; for " Mosea was 
Mamed in all iho wisdom of the Kgyptiam." — Acta vii. 02. 

On (hs other bond, the aBtrononiera and mBlhematicianc, Ihe 

Dnpuis, the Bodea and Rhodes, Ihe Goerrea and Creuiors, the Four- 

I lien and Biols, who had claimed for the zodiacal planifphciea of 

. Dendera and Ean*t, an antiquity varying Irom 700 lo 17,000 /cam 

I B. C, were not porticularly charmed with a acienco which demon- 

Itialed, by hieroglyptiical inlcrprecution, wliat the learned Viscunii 

ll*d Bustained 20 yean before, amid iba eneen of hie eoumponriee, 

ihal these oslroloeical aubjects were Ilio moMt tnorfem prodaelioiU! 

of Eg'yplo.Roman art, and Egyplo-Hellenic ecionce, of the aee of 

Tibtrius, Nero, Claudius, Uodiian, or Anlorinus. 

ChriatiBn diTinca, apprehending the progress of infidelity, if no 
fBCorda of the Hebrews were lo be found in Egypt, no memento of 
Ae pBtriarelie, or of the Eaodus, in hieroglyphical legends, looked 
Mth diacoantenoDce on the new acience, and clung ID Ihe good old 
■mnEcUigibililiee of profane writers ; while other well-meaning per- 
Mtna snatched with aviditjr el suppusilitioue confirmaiioaf, in points 
I Wiiertin ihere ia no confirmation lo be found. It was extremely 

rokinf lo aome finished Hebrew, Gn:ck, or Xddn classic lo find, 
these pcrveiie old Egyplinns, besides resorting lo snoh "a fitetr 
■tode of writing," shouiti have actually used Capliefot their language, 
Mereby a hieroglyphic text required a double atndy, before it could 
b« rendered into any of our modern tongues. How much more 
■onvettient would ii not have been, if ilie living antecedent of (he 
mummy had inlked in Latin, or in Greek, or at least in Hebrew ; 
■nd if this self-willed individual mould use Coptic for his ordinary 
lUigOBge, why were not the dialects spoken at the rise of the IStii 
Tbeban dynnaly, about S3 centuries B. G., the aame na were spoken 
k Egypt about SOO yeara after our Saviour, when Ihe lilurgiea which 
m now possess in Ihe Coptic tongue be^n to be composed T In 
riunt, it moBl bo acknowledged, Champollion's discoveries wore to 
Ae mass of the lesmcd, in all eountriei, unpopolsr and unplooaing ; 
and a cold and snspicious reception was llie fint weloome with which 
tba " Precis " was received by the many, although the work met wilb 
■pplouse, and the oulhor found instant aolace in Iho admiration of 

After the pause, came in nalural process a reaction. On every 
ride, doubts, difEcultie*, dilemmaa, and obstacles were, with won- 
flerful ingenuity, and not a liille malignity, soegcsted. Efforts of all 
fchtils were made to stem the torrent of conviction, or lo direct it into 
■nunpropilious channel, ll may be remarked, that none were slower 
In adniilting the valne of Champollion's discoveries, than aome of Ihe 
(btn anrviving members of (he French " Inslilule of Egypi," whose 
Wofonnd erudition is displayed in ihe great French work : and lo 
Kia day, there is ■ eel of realty great men in Europe, who continue 
1» write largely on ancient Egypt, without alluding at all lo what tile 
•Id Egyptians record of l*eir aien history, and as if a single hiero. 

£n>hic hod not been deciphered ! Some, with the ostrich, bury their 
lads in the ssud, and with a eurioua self-coDiplacency fancy all 
wankind as blind na thettiselves. Others, reposing on Ihe well-earned 
Jaurels of former docda, or on liie sanction of eminent names, are 
kppy in knowing that thtf, al least, hod no hand in advancing the 
«ew diaeoveries; while, by the disciples of Champollioa, the works 
-iif these gentlemen, as they issue from the prese, are loid on the shelf, 

Bui, of course, Ihe severest shafts were those of fuceliousnees snd 
Miirc— ridicule being Ihe deadliest of weapona — the most difficult to 
parry — the most agreeable lo Iho public. However, Champoltion, 

Itferoglyphic nandard, kept steadily ai work. 

SowoiTofT, when Ihe siege of bmall had baffled Russia*! ablest 

rersla, need, in his shirt, to head the awkward aquads of his troops, 
I bayoi)el.charge againal slicks, pickeiled In the earth and sur- 
InonnWd with rag.lurbana, to accuslom his raw rccruiu lo face the 
I f'turbunod Turk," greaily lo the amuaemenl and derision of his 
ttalT. Like Sowwroff In his military exerciseB, so Cbaiupollion 
Ua bteroglyphical researches, punued s system 



The aucMeding three yeart were, by ChampoUion, amployad i 



Egyptian relEec , 
3uld consul! am 1 



sludying ond dedpbering all those monuments and Egyptian 
conlajned in Continenlal niiueiuna, of which he could cont _ 
originals, or ohiain facsimile cupii's. In two invaluable " Letter^ J 
addressed lo ilie Dnke uf Blacos (Due de Blacss,) he published ■ .t 
multitude of curious facts snd diacoveries, gleaned chiefly from iSk 1 
Fludy of the anliquiiies pruerred in the royal colt<>CQnDS si Tumb 1 
To these letters, bis learned brother, Champolljon Fieeac, added, b^ ] 
way uf appendix, a chronological diaterUtion, having for ita uialii I 
object to reconcile Manetho with the discrepancies of other aulhniK J 
Asecondandimprovedediiionof ihe "Precis" was isfuad by Chaat J 
polliun. on his relum to France from Turin, wherein he eorrecldl I 
msiiy of his former hasty conclusions, and modified aome of hta ' 
prior opinions. He likewise pul forth, in this interval, an " Egypliaa | 
Pandieon," by which much Itglil woa thrown on the mythology, phk 
loBophy, and religious doclrinea and rites of this ancient people. H 
corresponded on tlieae eubjecia with some of tlie moel eminent ai 
chnolotrisis of ihe age, and paved Ihe way for ihe lealixalion of U 
dearest wish, a visit lo Egypt, and the penicnal study of all the moni 
mcnie exteling in llie Nilolic Valley. 

In 1895, Charles Coquenil, a Pioieslanl clergyman at Amsterdim, : 
compared ihe chronologies of Scripture with ihe new discoveries , 
and pointed ont ihc advanlngea which the one derived from the otbtn* 
The erudite and libecsl Dr. Wieemao of Rome, in his " Hare Syifi 
acts," 1638, followed in liie same Geld ; adding a carious Syrioc mv> , 
menl, found in the Vatican, confimiatorv of the views of ChampoUioB i 
FigcDC. The Marquis Spineto, in 1839, in a course of lecturs^t 
published after Iheii delivery al Cambridge, in a very able manoM J 
unfolded the "elements of hieroglyphica," The Abbd Greppo uA ' 
the Rev. M. Bave^ in the eame year, lent their aid in Dstablishiu| I 
Bcri plural and monnmenlal eomparisoQS. On the opposite aide, Abba 
Count Robiano instimted sn ingenious analysis of hicrc^lyphic nnj | 

itic teils. He endeavored to establish forced Hebrew affinibesi 
but his work is valuable, as it goes to ahow ihe SanUie orioia of 
Coptic, and thence w-e may infer the Atialic origin of that languagSi ' 
which we shall And singulaHy conlirmed by the paleograpbic ifla i 
soarclivs of another hierolugical masler. Dr. Leipsiua of Beriin, in IA 
correspondence with Chevalier Baron Bunsen, as in his numeroM 
later works. From this dale, the increase of woiia all over Europa ' 
has been so rapid, on various branches of Elgyptian science, thatit 
would be tedious to give merely n dry catalogue ; nor do 1 ptctend 
lo have had an opportunity of consuliing ihcm all. 

Whiki wo have endeavored to keep pace with the progress of ll 
isler up lo the year 1837, it is peculiarly gratifying lo revert to ll 
laliore prosecuted in Egypt by some of his disciples. It is alwajl 1 
pleasing lo render juatice to the operationa of men of science *qi 1 
leanung; and the names of Burton, WllkinsoD, Felix, Frudhoe, and J 
Hay, are loo honorably associated with early Egyptian sludiea, ii 
'lonefte hieroglyphica, nol lo demand In this place especial menliaa 
With Dr. Young's key, and Champollion's alphabet contained Is < 
hia Idler lo M. Dacier, a group of acientific Englishmen commenced 
Egypt itself, abonl 1833, the scruliny and ciaminalioo of all tlM 
Monuments of antiquity existing, from ibeSes-beach Id Upper Nubli^ 
from the Ouecs lo the peninsula of Mount Sinai, end in every direa 
tion in the Eaalen and Western Deserts. Thcae gentlemen, named 
above, mutually aiding and coflpemting '/ilh each other, were ensblad 
to take in Blunt advantage of the true method of inlerprelalioa. Ggypl 
was then all virgin ground. Every temple, every lorob, containM 
something unknown befoni; and which these gentlemen were ihB 
'rii 10 dale, snd to describe with accurate details. A more intense^ 
ileresltng field never opened lo the explorer — every step being k 
discovery. Nobly did these learned and indefeligsble iravellec 
neer the way, and mighty have been the results of iheir arduous li 
They procnred lilliogrsphic preases from England ; and, al iheii 
vidual expense, for private circulation, Messrs. Felix, Burton 
Wilkinson prinled (at Cairo— 1636 lo 1839) and circulated a 
of bierogl)7hicsl tablets, legends, genealogical tablea, leils, mytbo* I 
logical, historical, and other aubjecis, which, under the modes 
of " Notes,"* "Eicetpl8."t and "Materia Hieroglyphica,"! 
disseminaled to learned societies in Europe. Lord Prudhoe's i 

-eions and correct memoranda rendered the coUeciions of anti* 
qnilies, with which he enriched England, cxlremely valuable ; and 
'lis labors were the more appreciated, as his lordstiip's liberal min^ 
ind generous p4tronsi[e of science were above any sordid nji "' 
if acquisitiveness. Mr. Hay's nwn accurate pencil, aided by vi 
talented arlisla whom hia princely fortune ensbloil him lo emplo)^ J 
BtnOBSedan amount of drawings, that render his pottfutios iho largest | 
the world. The researches of all these gcnilenien have been at . 
incttlculahle value to the cause. They have preserved accurate 
lubjecls,^ thai Ihe deairoying hand of Mohommed Ali has a: 
irrevocably obliterated ; and as ibey all puraaed science for itself, thej ' 
deserve and eqjoy a full meuure of reaped. The rumor of ihaif , 
succesHis raoched Europe; and Champollioa, with reason, sppM. , 
Iwnded, that if be delayed his visit to Egypt any longer, the indivL 
' labors of Engliah travellers would render that visit aaunproElabI* 



• Br Mgjw Fd/i : rmabltilHl. in iulbiB. al 



8 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



M Pimeeeiry. NttiocMl jealousy tnm excited ; und, to preaenre | The eathuaiaetic English travellera, abore referred to, baTii^ 
her poaition as the patrooeaa u Egyptian literature, France deter- ] labored with great socceas on the virgin aoil of local tif^i^w in lus. 
■dned not to be anticipafied. j rogiyphiea, felt peruiadcd, as they hiui not at that period pabtiihad 

In 1698, the French government sent a coranDsaion, cnasiitiiig of . the entire resnlli of their researchea, that if they came into penotial 
GfcampoUion le Jenne, and four French aniati, well supplied with contact with the arch-Egyptologist himself, amid the raina aloiy tfas 
•very Deccassry oatfit, to Egypt, in order that the aaaster might, for | Nile, it woald be said, on their retnm to £iirope,and on the pabliou 
Mb own and his coonvv's hocor, and a: her expense, reap the harrest J tion of lAetr ova ditcorehes, that- they had derived mil their infon^ 
iar which tea hand bad aowa cae tce^ A simi«ar design having | ation firora Champoliion. They consequently took such stepa^ ap 
aHj[i in li iaatii to aoAcer aaa^Dc oc zn§ sad acieocea, the Grand . precluded the possibility of a rencontre in £g>'pt. On the other sidsb 
DuJbe ^ TmesoT. ^ta ««-Je«a*sa scri»:^io^iM and oriental scholar, • Champoliion looked upon them ss interlopers and trcspsssara am 
I^pqtiss R.aKL-31, cc tx Vz±TrsssST i4 Faa, and four Itai. ^ that field, which, with more vehemence than propriety, he conaidend 
KTiam xodcr sm ctv Xm'jl. vert a^^rx^xd a cooBmiasioo to pro^ j his own exclusive prerogative — the expounding of hieroglyphica oa 
. aa £g7?c wjSL vsa waam xxvxs at lae Fr^aeh mueioo. It was | the ruins of EgjrpL Manv laughable incidents were the roiMW. A 
aiMy irrug"!*! r? 3m ■■ j ie <ia pt ^7T*r=aaA^smt aad between the I queneca of this mutual diffidence, and the following anecdote will 
m 'ji mia, gxys^ :a-.n, est tutsz .akSccft tavu^ sa aaiaed ; aad, in | give an idea of the whole. 

aryueoBK. tie I:^:xn aad Taataa sBssbi^s wtrt sr.caded into J The works of Ambian audiors, Abd-eULateef, Makrisi, Mnr1ad|yj 

1.XII Tnm. ^saraan Aj^rxbina jl tse taeaaa r*amt\f aad proaccaied I JeIl4l.ad-deen.EUAasyo6tee, and others, contain, among many ra. 

juvtn larit n xasti itiol JfciL^ani 19 me seo^od Cataract. . markable paasagea, aome details on the spoliations of Memphis and 

TJ:«>'T r-.nxruft 21 l^sSr. \ Ueliopolia, effected by the Saracenic Caliphate, since the conqneal 



{'JC 



n • of Egypt by Aknier.ebn^l.A8 (in Anno Domini, 636, H^)ira, 16 j^ 



<* « irt zn-a tz^r-jursjsir 1 perils. ^ _ 

A. ny :nn j^.r^-.fza^ T^jrjjtxiLtyt w,' ^-tf^F c^ piece cf oookj ; . for the construction of the vsrious edifices of Saracenic msgnificenca 

an Kiis V. K^rv£. m ^ avfrat^-r. a^: x -i'^ .tier sj a very hum- | st Cairo. A vast number of curious relics, and fragments of Fhara. ' 

nzr. ::! wsa :c 2u« kkt:^*. ti wu:^ i toi. c:<-lects^y give { onic perinda have been discovered, ijid many more lie embedded is 

cruoL. TiesK =31? i< •srjz.rxi cv»at ^7- rrr reac^rv, and I can j the buildings of this Mahonunedan city, which time will bring to 

TTt 'luaxu 'Haz ^uij vt MJZtrir^ IV v^rr f^w. ^ad have ccver been . ii^L One of these English explorers especially devoted himaeU^ 

I ia-r4 «rf£. ^la: :r^s IsSi ^j . >». reecLection serves ; I for a long period, to the examination of all such places as he thoughl 

•n xT.ut •"' ■" -tr-i^ -•'o^wT.-jt I wr^ ta^n'^ ;a. laat my fojoom in I migbt contain ruins of earlier epochs ; and be discovered a slab oC 

lasss ^Tixa Itl*. \r.ti v-.tii XAatnils a aoaeace has been pro. ■ bsaalt, forming the lintel of a doorway, in an unfrequented anddilap. 

23 jtat% ia l>li ; trji cjrst.f^iianiLj, I presume to idaied mosque, whereon waa engraved a tiilinguar, or rather a tru 




■V 



-iTUkoca ''A oxy 4W3, on any aAt^sm to wtucn I am a party. 
I wutcz^si riKse ' .L .lusita acga, with an a^foi'jgy for alLoding to my. 
wait. ooiT to sasaf? my readers, that I am s :t a strmmger in the land 
mi Eg7?% end may se suow^ u «pcak from penonal knowledge and 
loHif experueace. wiBioa: reference to the w.>rks or opioiona of gen. 
However grcacy they surpass me in acquirementi and 
liaad bat a few weeks, months, or years, in the valley of 
N..e ; and wiMae E<^yptian sojoommgs, in point of daration, can 
tlj ya spoken ci in the same breath with my own. In fact, I feel 
ejf tii be a fani^aer in every other country ; and if, on ajtcieal 
Kfypcian maners, I am prood to consider myself the humblest foU 
low^r Ir. the fooateps of the hierogiyphical masters, or if, on aeieati^c 
mahier^, I make no claim to anytiiiog beyond the mereflt superficial 
•e^pa.r.tance, it is not prc«imption in me to declare, that, on modem 
am Off! .<>»1 Cerrptian tr^picn, I need acknowledge few superiors in 
ar cr->t -A cha: coantry. Thoee who have been at Cairo, in my time, 
waant^ wznra I have mpoch pleasure in enumerating a boat of Amer. 
ieaa inrreuen, ml: si^w, that in this personal digression, I do not 
arrTgnvt :o myve-J Bk&re than titeir own experience will in linmcss 
taxyr^jut v» me. 

T:^ amvai in Et^ypt tX the French and Toscan ezpeditioDs, added 



graatmatie inscription. 

Having consulted with his fellow travellers, application 
through the British consul general, to Mohammed Ali at Alexsa- 
dris, for permisBion to remove this block, with an oStr to repair dm 
moaque, ss a compensation for the favor. In Egypt, whatever may 
be the case elsewhere, it is impossible to keep a secret from the for. 
rctJike propensities of courtiers ; and whether instigated by Dro^ 
vetci or not, the Pasha refuted, on the ground of sacrilege, deaecration^ 
and other canting phra&es: the Viceroy, (who haa destroyed moi« 
ancient remains than any individual in the world, and whoee sacri- 
legioua hand spared not the edifices of Islkm itselO being wondes> 
fully happy in thia, as in all other cases, in seixing on dexterooa 
excuses and ahnffling expedients. Mohammed Ali declined, how. 
ever, giving it to the French mission, lest he should ofiand the Ei^ 
lish after their pnor a)^lication. 

Champoliion, on the good faith of a friend, was, in an evil hour* 
taken by an EInglish traveller to see the block, ss it stood in tba 
mosque at Cairo. He instantly parccivcd iia possible valae. Dv^ 
vetti was sent for from Alexandria ; and a plot waa laid by him with 
the skill of one of the moat finished conspirators of modem timca* 
In Egypt, Ibrahim Fssha, the son of Mohammed Ali, can do what» 
: :*. fc> t^ flan* oc antiqaarian jealo-ny, whjch, (or thirty years, ' ever he pleasea ; and as he was quite unaware of his father^ rafttMl» 

Drovetti applied to Atai, for permission to take the stone, which k« 
granted ; but, to avoid giving ofience to the natives, which might 
have been the case if Earapeana had done the work, he aaid ha 
would cause it to be executed for himself, and gave orders for its ra. 
moval the next day. Timely information reached the English trav. 
pt9r«4«^£.ttarr«s ^ Brnun and France, Mr. Connui fienerai Salt, and } ellers ; who, provoked beyond measure at the duplicity of the oppoaila 
JC'Aur.'^Tr ^ f>xaf». fi^^tarik DrrreiXL, had not been, ss to which of • partiea, went in the night, removed the block, and cairied it to dm 
Aem *s/nji irzjcrjria.aa hiii Ui>o«a by £-.« moat aaefai examinations English consnUie, where it was carefully deposited. The indigna. 
fta %r^:*rJL Egy;<.ad ^'>?e ; ba% in the munenae works and excava. ; tion of the Fiencb party, when it was known that the stone had 
iftMbt •^,t, *A v.««e jptas^^rmen arkierbx/*, v^rdid aeqniitiveneaB waa been absftactod, Biay be conceived ; Ibrahim Pasha himself waa not 
^m. £u'.*rA^ '^.T^.y/t. Tmj an iua «|'»btle wiih earn other, lest a litde annoyed. A tremendous row ensued. Mohammed AH west 
^m f/-^. ntxj>:j: ver^'y \^'^*. lui s«fiigoc:»t, en a ssocldering 9nn^^^ \ off to Cairo, followed by the British consul general. Ibrahim^ 
mmtft ,\''JsT*!9g^i ^ASA '4 iuitriry. On« <ijn ru>t tarive to surpass the > influence was all-^towerful ; and knowing thst ** his beard had bean 
«8WT .'. ^y^^Jacs x:^, K:rH^.r^na c.^rogtyphiral leg^nda. They laughed at," he persuaded his father to inaist on the restitutioo of 
^fMbT^ AK'/tvra igrii^^. .S^iax, A«vt aa ic wr^ch Fksrar^ it had be. the stooe to the Egyptian government 

kytk^yi. v-.s w V, atLat pauM »u atMt w',>3:d bnAg m E irope. Anti- ■ In the mean time, the Englishmen having bad abundance of leison 
A4 w*r^ Ta..-3ea.v>. ir. tr^.^r cy^, naiy r so^/rfJiog to ti-^ir evtimste to take fiicaimile copies, impressioiis, and plaster^casts, of the stone ; 



r. -..tracaeriaed toe vzhMrAfipeai devotees of Eogkitd and France 
la tSAi trjacVTf : '^;i, in thn laa^r tthfV;, the acton, by their pure 
love rji icwc^e and tmA^MaX spirit of emnlationv were divested of 
lIvMe vjrxA mr^'na wiuuth ^agpafx^ ih» ir predecessors, and periiaps 
'/ ic^:r awree'vsrict. Up b) V&^i t.'Uf Cfita^ttttion between the 



af 'wT'^f. 'jucy ar'A,A aeU /or, arz^tu trsAikferred iron t£.e ruins to the snd having thereby sscertuned that, from its very mutilated coikdi. 



^yanr^.'jfj^ '/ #>-r.^«si3 r.rtwjn.* 



vi 



ft€h 




. tion, the inscriptions were of trivial value, sent the block to the pa* 

I iace, with an intimation that itwss notVorth keeping, and forwarded 

tneir copies instantly to Europe. The stone waa transferred to tfia 

] Frenchmen by the gift of the Pasha ; and is now in the museum at 

«. Paris. I waa an amused eyewitness of the rabid indignation of 



Uf »w*v »-wi.*< f A.MV :-0t v^4M9i ^ km cutnrJL, 
Ir! »ttf wvr tiiru 2M>r, '^t.' 'ji^ 9>*.aai 

^.*» r«eM« Orti' ; •*•* tnA t •«iid m ••*»« i/t*- «r rH»<.if«i, ir ii Vb ne • ^9smmim 

iHMM vl mwmtn . i>u( ip't«m I 4M« M^a •:: ua CL^jWiiM 1 ntfuww. I f\iad^ 

totatwi arirti i«rt<asiiiM stisiii fw Ba4Mmm:, 



• Hv>citmiM *.i,i.uc iw •tf'^Aft ninoTAr ftwr.vji. fi.'^nw; V-jhtj 
M 'M^i'; ><«HC<pi* ■ '.mT Ck^ uiJi r^>i4n. wrui* «aar^<A< a rA-vwi 
#«» %v •ivjnm't-nr «bai ^nMr n ^m t-van^-^wk Ut x •tU»aU mbn, w^H. m 
«Mh. 'ji^v •u*«vKjiiiir* v!S<i4» wuv ic %Mr •u«* •yrn Tftm fT"rfciic w _ 

^' '•'^'J^tjt^J'JZ ''»»n ^^ "^^ first arrived at the French consukte te 

l^^v^ v*ro*i. ^ -»• ICv*' MT Ti« r ^M v^omvM tMm r..\^. w r »«< ! A-«M»<*«- Tb«w ■« «»• biSng sentences m the laat ** Lettera* 

4^ t-«.iiijt <^iMr hrtxm., CMC }^•««ni : ««l t-uwn f . t.«K kr Ml>« am ^^Aammliat \ 

.../..«« ^/^ 'J* «•« iv«.cv& w>:vr '^ 4ri«v. }S«»^ irAMK-A.,,M«Mrt W V«inwfim»4/anc»inrin: hjacntrimauawiaMekiad-hcartedBaiwcmibr 
.^ .V Ji-^K >-«wf ii<j. ut I. «Utf J**?* rMB wAcr .u-i isAttf v^««aiMv V. Mr.- I vte ta4 nfcvl MMt foro ha mdUlbrence to eomroercml inUmatM. Attrn Im i 

/Rm^ fcUt fifth* Ihsv^ wtwonoe petiiRmeil Jovv fera kiBf. w«> rnfaed ^ tke Bcr 

Emc Loc. Mr. ••»••*, MA pteaaiBv tka 

br kiBK CfBiw. CoL •«••*•••. who eontaiMd «uUi— i 

M/^.«j7inMrS A;i. afehoarli hit ■p«e«latk>» in antiquitiai wera aoCTeinarkablr pRi6calils 

ji rwtAs, IT tpi w iM m g n ne g p*«im. Thefiim eontinocd, howwcr. til 00: wban. If 

nm 0wfmmiamm »4 ammam m4 sw i — f of howan Mood, the apgi 

<««Hiy raas of avyiuieuna abost MohaanMri All*! 1 ~ 

/w./ vir.ftiHviM. .i«pin to ho 40mhUd io Earop*. GmdoaRj tka ftahala 

m/vw.^^T M Si.iine i<oiwt the w M wornt x anrci of BritMi olSciaJ chaneten ; wbo ara naa- 

w '.* finghunorf by Beskna, or fbrimtad br Moh amm ad! Ali : neichar U» ha tomad 

wf uamata*m^mfa\m€aummtiwiA\ 

'•I 




ANCIENT EGYPT. 



tt ChanitHiUian from Egypi, to irbicb thii ■necdolo mir wrve w ■ 
riuuiing GoninienlBi7 

This fnci, Willi Dlben af nnilar nniare. will mm to eiplsin (he 
mods in wliich " nfiiira sic managed" ■! the Fubn*! Court ; and alao 
ibB early jealauiies and bickeringa among hieroglypbical saTsiu. To 
thoie who may bive read the wotks [hat during ihe lael (» ' 
have Inued from the European prose in the new Khool cr 
og7, Ibis explanation will be found uaerul; serving them 
whereby la comprehend incongruities that mdBI frequently atrilie die 
iiDpnrtia] reader, by indicoting Iho relaliTB poeitiona of some of tbe 
■Dihon in E!gypt, no len than (he caoace, whf one makes aometimeB 
wo little illusion to the labois of another, who Is studying the same 
subjects, treating on tbe eame topics, and oftea arriving, independ- 
ently more oi less of any other, at the same results. The truth is, 
■be punuit ia so intensely inlereedng, the merit of a discaver]' so 
konorsble 10 oncb pioneer in hieroglyphicn] liicnture, (hat we cannet 
bs altogether surprised at, though we may deplore, the somelinies 
puerile exclusiieneaa of the writer. A belter feeling ia now becom- 
ing univecwil and it would be easy (o point aul InstaDcea of boDorable 
amendment. 

After this digresaion, let us retam to the chronological narrative. 

During the iBsldonco of the French and Tuscan cipcdilionB In 
Egypt, Champollion iransnijtlcd occasional letten lo Paria, to keep 
siiva the intereatwilh which his movements were watched. Tbeae 
letters were nfterwarda collected into a volume, and published andet 
tbe title of " Letters written from Egypt and Nubia, in 1828-39." 
They are productions worthy of so great 
meril and "" 
Ihorough 

there are frequent errors in the views he entertained 
which he himself, and atheis have since corrected. 

One of the most extraordinary faculties poeacased by Chsrapollion 
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 
(nmitiveness of conception he could define the meaning of an obscure 
legend, or irreconcileable tradilion, which it tuok hitn months to ex- 
plain in writing, to the coniprshenaion of others less gifted than himself. 
Il waa in consequence of this singular ability, that he often haiarded 
■n opinion, which was either rejected by the learned, or considered 
vrublematical, until time enabled him to demonstrate its accumcy, 
and il became alrooel an aiiom. In fact, this gifted Frenchman 
lived so much in advance of bia age with regard to Egyptian euhjecn, 
thai many atartling propositions, put forth by him, and which death 
prevented Ms substantia ling, although looked upon at (irst as chimeri- 
cal, have been confirmed by tlie subsequent reaearcheB of his dis. 
eiptea ; and, even now, there are some points unexplained, that 
Champollion suslaiued fiiiecn yeatn ngo, which those who can judge 
believe will hereafter bs amply confirmed. Like other men, he was 




e of his sltidleai 



not infallible, though cankering the ibstnija n 
he woe less liable to en ihan his fellows ; for eii 

On leaving France, in 1838, be saw, at Aii, a hieratic acrall, 
celebrated as the Sallier papyrus; wherein he declared was con- 
tained an an ancinit Egyptian tpicpetm, referring lo the conqueal* 
of Ramses 3td. — Sesoelris — over the Sbeto (a Bcythiin nation) — 
events of the siiteenth century, B. C. — end gengnphicnlly located 
I toward Bectrinna or Cnppadacia. Years tiaiiepired — Champollion 
passed away — the vety existence of the pspyraa wa* denied — its 
production challenged — end it waa even insinuated that il might be 
a forgery ! The publication of a Iranalaiion of lliis identical papyrus, 
by Salvolini, under the title of " Csmpagne ds Rhanues,'' within 
the last six years, has silenced the cavilieis. 

Agnin, he was the first to insist, that Ihe ficea of the Fhamoha of ' 
E^pt, sculptured On the temples, were liieatMtt of the persona 
represented ; thus carrying back the full use of portniit-scutplnn: and 
painiiog to 3000 B. C, and its origin into the night of dmc. After 
fifUen years of criticsl, and even hosu'lo research, no doubt is now 
ontertuinod of tlio truth uf liis assertion ; and, in my lecture mum 
the fact will be elucidaled by abundant illustrations, 6lc. 

It is likewise due to the memory of lliis illustrious man To men- 
tion, that, in his " Precis," lie had ideniitied and produced the name 
of SaESROHE, the Shishak of Scripture, (who, in itnd Chron. lii. 1— 
10 — 1st Kings, liv. 35 — deposed ReboWsm,) in the following htero. 
glyphicat oval, drawn in a plele of Ihe greil French work, as found 
at Kamac. 



^IiLIiM^ — ^w 



k-i^ 



Beloved of Amon, SaEsBDKK. 



•.an elapsed, before ho could verify this fact on the tempi* 
itself, during which interval, the name of Sbeshonk, and his capuve 
nations, had been examined times out of number by other hiero. 
glyphisls, and the names of all the prisoners had been copied hy 
(hem, and published, withoul eny one of them hating noticed th^ 
extraordinary biblical corroboralion thence to be deduced. 

On his passage toward Nubia, Champollion landed for an hour o( 
two, about sunset, to anatch a hasty view of iha vast balls of Kar. 
nac; and he at once pointed out in the third line of the row of 
n.zfy.lAr(eprisoneTa(each typical of anation, city, or tribe,) preseniad 
by llie god Amunra lo Sheshonk, the following figure : 




MV*-ru. 



H M E L 

Kixa of the Country of Jud 



The face of the prisoner in nni, si hu bren errDnnously and basllly cw- 
jedorwl, a parlmil of RcUaboaa, but ia lypiul of an .Jsofie. 

The eye of the master being able lo seiie, al a glance, ihal which Ma 
■mulous disciples, or eompctiton, hod not made out in four years, 
■fler the index was given to them I 

Laden with Ihe richest archicological spoils that ever left Egypt, 
CkampoUlon with bis party returned to France in 1SI9, and Roseltini 
wllh his sssociates to Tuscany. They had labored all together ; and 
each monumental subjecl had been failhrully delineated in two copies 
—(he one by the French, and the other by the Italian artists. Both 
had been collated witli each other on the spot, and compared with 
th« originals on Ihe monumenls, by the great moslois ; and in per- 
fect harmony tbe expeditions had fulfilled ibeir mission. 



Il WM amicably arranged, between Champollion and Rosellini, 
that they were (o combine their labors in Ihe wurka that were to b« 
issued ! each, however, taking separate branches — Champollion un. 
dertayng the illustnilion of the "HUlorical Monuments," and the 
grammar of the hieroglyphic langusgE of Egypt— to Rosellini was 
assigned the (ask of elucidating, by the "Civil MotiumeniB," the 
manncis and cuslome of this ancient people, and iho formation of a 
hieroglyphical dictionary. Each set to work by 1830; but Cham, 
pollion, finding his end approaching, hastened Iho completion of liia 
grammar. InlenM! application had prostrated Ihe fragile frame, 
which enveloped one of the moat gifted mental capacliios ever 
vonchsofed to man. The French government gave him, in the 
Royal Acodemy, e professor's chair, created for him alon 
address to his pupils, at tbe fiiil and 01 ' -—> — 



n tceorded to hi 



ANCIENT EGYPT* 



hf Ptoridence, is a lUMW l pl ee a of eloquence, sublimity of ihouglil, 
and cluBicd dicuun. 

He fiaiBbgd hii giDmmsr □□ hU deatb-beil, aad nimmaning bis 
friDDdii iround him, be delivered the autwnph intu (heir cualody, 
wirh Iho injuDCdan " Id preserve il carefully, for, I hop«, it will bo 
my vuifine card to poaurily." A few week* after, in Dec. 1833, 
ChampulUon le Jeuoe wiu fulluwed to ihe grave by tbe nobleal mea 
of France ; and the wteath of " Imuiorlellea " hung over his sepul- 
chre, RymbolHcd the impcriiliable fame of (he resuaciialot of the 
caiiteet recorda mtokiiid haa hilherta pouessed. 

Uia poBthumoua works were put to preas al the expenae of the 
nattou. The third ind laat part of hia grammnr of hicruglypbica 
appeared in 1B41 ; white tbe great work, alyled " Lea Monunienta 
de I'£gypta el de la Nubie," with 400 plates, ii in progress of distri- 
bution, if not already cotnpleluj.* His autograph dictionary ia 
■ijier piihliahed, ur nearly bo; and ainco hia dtiutse hna precluded 
Iha possibility of giving lo the public exact inmslations of the plates, 
lecording to tbe muter'a close inlerpretation, his learned brother, 
Chalnpollion Figeac, erudite in aooient literature, and conservator 
of ihc Royal Library st Paris, has conderuod into a volume, that 
appeared in 1610, under tbe tide of " Ancient Egypt," a history, 
whose only fault is its brevity. 

On the demise of the illustrious Fronchmsn, the task thai devolved 
OD his Ilaliin colleague was berculeoni and the eyes of the learned 
turoed, with aome anxiety, upon the oiily surviviog roproseniative 
of Charapollion, tbe erudile Tuscan. Frofosaor Ippoiiio Boieltini, of 
Piaa, whose classical acquiremcna, though justly celebralcd, migbl not 
perbaps have been sullicianl to supply the mcuum created in hicro. 
glyphical archnology. In 1S32, iJie Italian scholar produced Ihe 
first volume of his " Monuments of Egypt and Nubia," aimooDcing 
at the same time, that he should undertake, in ten volumes of (ejtt, 
and four hundred plates, to furnish comptelo the civil, military, reli- 
eious, and monumental liistory of early Egypt. Faithfully and tri. 
umphantly has Professor Roseilini fulfilled the taak allotted to bim ; 
nur, if we regret that Chiunpollion did nut live to reap tbe full meas- 
ure of the barvesl, can we rofmin from acknowledgine, that his place 
haa been filled by a man, who, with tbe qualities and altribules of s 
gentleman, combines the profound erudition of s universal scholar. 
For tlielut ten years, Prufcasor Kosellini has been periodically issuing 
ihe tell and ptales of the noblest work, which the researches of an 
individual and the libersliiy of a government have ever produced i 
nor muat the world, in awarding die laurel wreath to tbe professor, 
forget, thai he owes hia bonorahle position, as we do the asloniahing 
tnsulia themselves, la Ihe patronage of Leopold, grand duke of 
Tuscany. 

It was in 1633, thai the greatest expiring efibrt was made lo itom 
the hicroglyphical success of Champollion, when the immortal pa leo. 
gmpher was already enveloped in his winding shsel ; and Ktapraih 
has tbe unenviable merit of recording his own learned perveraeness 
in ihe patba of error. He published a " cridcal eisminsdon of the 
labors of the late Monsieur Champollion. upon hieroglyphics ; " 
whereby he fancied, as did some of his readers, that by ingenious 
anlitheHta, and not a few mistatoments, he had rendered all these 
researches in the new school of interpretation abortive. Those, who 
sra acquainted with his work alone, may perhaps give it a weight it 
does not deserve. 

There bavs been a few olW insignificant attempla, in England 
■nd elsewhere, to eubsdiute unlsnable absurdmes, and among them 
are lo be included those endcavots to (ranilnlo hieroglyphics by 
IlebreiB aloBt, in (he room of ChampoUion's system ) but (heir exis- 
tence was ephemeral. And, while (he Hierologi-'l, in 1S43, looks 
dawn from his tower of strength on the last fugitives of Iho once 
Ireniendous hosdle phalanx, he cheerfully accords lo the Russian 
mysUgOKue (who, of course, haa ne»er ieea i» Egifpl,) Monsieur de 
Goulianotr, (upon the strength of his ponderous tomes on " L'Ar- 
chatologie i^ypderme," which appeared in 1839,] die eiclusive honor 
of being, save in bia undeniable profundity of research, a century be- 
hind (he age. We can scarcely suppose, that any future leliiiUr 
will peril his reputation by oppoailion to the general principles of 
Cbampollion's science ; and may therefore conclude thai no true 
savin will imitate Boabdil, when, with weeping eyes and acliing 
heart, ho east his last lingering look on the receding Alhsmbn. and 
wiUi bim utter "I'ulumo sospiro del MoTo" — the hist sigb of the 

But diere were some learned men who, fully conceding to Cham. 
pMltion>s system themeritof translation. Were led, by (heir knowledge 
of tbe Clitic tongue, to doubt the correctness of a Iheoiy which main- 
tained, " that a hieroglyphical leit is the Coptic language written in 
(symbolic, figurative andpAaaelic) bieroglypbics, instead of in (he 
Onllnary Coptic letteia; or otherwise in the Greek chsracter, with 
the addition of half a doien signs taken from the enchorial or do. 
motic texts." On thepublicationof (hoGnlpartof the"Grammaire 
Egypdenne," it was demonslrated, that, although the translation of 

■ hier-)glyp1iieal text into French may be perfectly correct ; yci, that 
the piior reduction, or tmnsposidon, of oach hieroglyphic sign into 

■ Mrrsapoiuling Coptic letter, or word, did not tbercf'ire cooslilule 
the Capiici as known to us by the (rsnslaiion* of tbe Bible, honillioB, 
•ad Utur^eSi wUeh in that language hnvs been prcsrrvod to us. 



This view wsa atistainod, with great force ofsrgnmenlr "? '"<lBomoJ ' 
Dujardin tn 1835, ond by otiicra on die Conlinenl, as by Dr. Henry ' 
Tattaru in KngUnJ. Il became very important lo extend die hniiiod 
knowledge hitherto possessed of that dead language in Europe, and 
Mons. Dujardin was sent, by tbe enlightened French government, to 
Egypt; where he died, before he had completed his researches and 
his coUccdon uf manuscripts, but not before he had fully acknow. 
Icdged, thai, in bis criucisms on Chsmpoilion, he had been auniewhat 
premature. In 1838, Dr. Henry Taltam visited Egypt, with similar 
views, and obtained a great secession of Coptic H8S.; and, what 
was infinitely more valuable, the transcripl of a great Coptic atii) 
Arabic lexicon, belonging to Ihe Copt patriarch, at Cairo ; by mean* 
of these aids thisprofoundscbiilsr has extended hiaCoplic dicdonaiy 
by several thousand words. Professor Feyron issued, in due course, 
a most useful Copuc dicdonaty, more peculiarly deadned to fscilitata 
iiieroelgphical interpreladons than any previous lexicographer had 
attempted. Oihcr learned Copdc studenis, Roeellini, Leipsius, Birch, 
&.C., have given imporlant developments to the deciphering of Egyp- 
tian legcniU, of which the hieroglyphic and hieradc forms may now 
be said to be almost entirely recovered; but owing mainly lo the 
paucity of documents, the progress in the demode text, boa nol yet 
been as complete. Dr. Leipsius' " Leller on tbe hieroglyphic alpha- 
bet," 183l>, is 8 wonderful analysis of this complex system ; and 
when the French and Italian hieroglypbical dictionaries, and tbe 
thorough critical translsdon of the mighty pnpyrus, at Turin, Ibe 
" Ritual of the Dead,"* which we may look for within a couple of 
yentB, abill have been published, it will diea be in the power of any 
one, whose acquirements in modem and ancient clBuics ate nidde- 
latcly extensive, to verify afler more or less study, the translalions 
alTiirded by hierological prufessora. 

While the governnienls of France and Tuscany, wiih such wisdom 
ind liberality, have fostered the new school of Egypdan literature ; 
and while, it must be allowed, the ConlinenUl colleges have furnished 
nnstera of the still incipienl hieroglypbical science, ibere are 
private indivlduola in England, who not only have kept poce , 
with Continenlsl progtese, but, each in his sphere of acdon, has con. 
Uibutsd wonderfully to unveil to ub the glories of Phanonic epochs, 
ind is endlled to the warmeal iribule of applause. 

First on the catalogue standa Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, whose 
miversality of erudition, and iboruugh aciiuaintance with ancient 
ind modern Egypt, are recognized by all who knew hia former lohora, 
ind arc atlcsled by his " Topography of Thebes;" London, I83S — 
ind by the " Manneis and Customs of (be Ancient Egypdans ;" firat 
and second series ; London, 1837, and 1841. Sir J. G. Wilkinson 
. Inst winter again in Egypt; and is preparing oUier evidences 
I xeol in hieroglypbical researches. And, while the nome of 
BvKTON is prominent in the adll circumscribed but very leomed grroy . 
of English hieroglyphical laborers, diat ot' BlBca promises to take 
tik with Champollion, Rosellini, Leipsius and Wilkinson, in Egyp. 
n literature. 

In 1S35, Hoskins published his valuable " Travels in Ethiopia." 

! corrected many of tbe insdverienciaa of Cailleand ; and by the 

oduclion of a volume of undeniable facts, haa enabled us to dravr 

nclusions on ancient Meroe, difTerenl, aa will be shown, from some 

of diose deduced by Ibe author himself- The splendid folios of 

Colonel Howard Vyse record his muniticenl promotion of sciendfic 

researches ; and his costly labors at the pyramids have opened to our 

astounded rontemplation view* of aa nnquesiionablo antiquity, sur- 

ng, OS I shall explain, all previous eipectatian. Ulberworxa are 

issuing from the Conlinental and English press, which will add inS- 

nilsly to our knowledge, and (o the fame of their aathoia. 

short, Ihe iitllo spring of pure water which fin! bubbled from 
:aHtt)i Sione, has, in 33 yeara, now swoln into a mighly flood i 
vhelming all opponidon ; sweeping aaide or carrying in its surges, 
those whose inclination would induce them to stem its force ; and, 
! present hour, wo know more of positive Egyptian history and 
of tbe ancieni inhabilanu of Egypt, ages previona to the patriarch 
Abraham, than on many subjects we can assert of oar acquainlance 
wiih England before Alfred the Great, or with France before Char- 
In nddidon to all these invesligalions, prosecuted in France, in 
Italy, and in England; Pruasia has granted her generous aid in fsvor 
of die good cause, by decreeing that a large aum should be placed at 
ibe dispoi).-i1 of Dr. Lciptiiui, who, with seven sciendfic gemlemen, 
is now in Egypt, theio to retrace the steps of his predecessors, over 
(ho sacred ground hallowed by countless generations of andquity- 
Al Leydon, Dr. Lecmans ; and aomo scbolats in Holland ; al Turin, 
Berlin, Rome, and Vienna, odier consumers of the midnight oil ars 
cmulsdng diD studenu of Paris, Florence, and London. In Cairo, 
our " Egypdan Society" bossis (among its members) of coOperalora 
in the ic construe lion of die vcneroble edifice, whose works will, eta 
long, establiah tlieir claims (o a front ruikt and it is owing 10 die 
advantages afTordod to ran by an institution, of which I stand second 
on (he list of founders, that I am enabled to present here in a sncclnct, 
but, I believe, a correct view of (he actual posiuon of Egyptian hie- 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



nwlf phicnl archeology, no lew tliiin some insight into the not gene- 
(mfiy known reaulls ordiese Rloriou* reicarches. 

Having now given a sketch of the labure of European itudcnta in 
hJeroElyphlcBl lileratiirB, and of the peraonel Bceoum ol" the Egyplo. 
jogiali or the Chsmpollion school, 1 will hazard the obsetvatian, that 
the narTBlive is ntie to most of thou who read it in Amcticn ; and 
if I can convinee ihpm of ihe reaUtu of the poaitiona adTsnced, iheir 
conticlJDn will be accompanied by a foeling of lurprise, that ibey 
have bitherta beard lo llille on tbeae eubjecu. 

I do not presume to epeculaCe much upon the enuaes, that have 
deprived Ainerica of the light (I epeak generally) which, emanating 
from mouldering Egypt, n pouring like a flood over Europe. One 
of the main caiucs aeenu lo me lo be, that, aa moat of the beat worka 
are published in foreign language*, and many at large coat, and thai 
ai their appearance "en masse," dales back not much further 
thnn 1836, aufficieni inlervsl has not yet elapsed, for the adequate 
promnlgalion of the new science in this counny, beyond what may be 
gleaned from ihe learned worka of Sir J. G. Wilkinaon ; whose last 
production made ita appeaisnce in 1841. Another ceiue may be in 
the asBOciationB connected with the very name of Eg>'pl — a !and of 
inyilery — for SiOIKI yearn covered with a veil of darkness ; ttnd, were 
I not half an Egypliaa myaelT, i( would aecm presumption in me lo 
aa»rl {what, by the way, is very easily sustained,) thai till laicly, 
common sense has had very lillle to do with the discussions of Ihe 
literati of the Coniinenl, of England, and of the United Slates, upon 
anbjeeta connected with that myalilied counliy — and this as much 
upon ita modem, aa upon its ancient stale. Meanwhile, 1 need only 
Iffer Id the works publiabed in all countries, save by the genuine 
hierological school on ancieni, and by Mr. Lane on modem Egypt, 
fore series of conflicting BlatoniflnD, ihst baffle ihemoalconscienlioua 
and laburioUB inquirers after iruih. 

This is Iho firil lintc thai, in any counlry, a aeries of papular lee. 
lures and esiniys has been projected, for the familiar elueidslion of 
topics hilherto discussed only by the leBrocd; though far be il from 
me to pretend lo the latter character. The very lerai HiBEOotvrHica 
ia a common hye-word in our tongue, to designate anything incom- 
prehensible 1 and, if I venture to show, ihni the apprehended unin. 
telligihility of EgTo"""' hiarogiyphiM is, in 1843, on illusion, I trust 
that the truth, and the undeniable importuice of the subteclB handled, 
will not be doubled, in consequence of the inBuOiciency of tia/ ex. 
planalions; nor the uninlenlionol errors of ihe writer be o renaon 
for withholding from iho leboia of the ChampoUion school the atten- 
tion they ao imperiously demand. 

Yet, if America has hillierto been quie>cenl| and tardy In further- 
ing ih; prrigrcBs of Egyptian developments, it will be satisfactory to 
)usr people to be aaaured, thai (here is one American aavan who, at a 
bound, will cany a very important branch of these sciences to nnan- 
licipoled and glorioui rcsulls. The name of Dr. Samuel Gcoksk 
MoHTOir, vice-president of the " Academy of Natural Sciencei" at 
Philadelphia, is already associated with profound roiearches into the 
primeval blatory of man on this continent; and no student of anlhro. 
pology but has been enlightened by his " Crania Americana." For. 
tniloua cireumatanees, coiiBequenl on bis own instigation, have 
enabled mo to place before Dr. Morion a mass of crude materials, 
which form the baiii of the work, now preparing for the presa, under 
the tide of "Crania ^pypliaca." When, in iho coutae ofthoBechap. 
teni, I approach Ihe subject of ancient ethnology, as deducible from 
the monuments of Egypt, it will be seen what an immenee light is, far 
the first lime, thrown on the OEiois of ihe ancient Egypli"" '•ce by 
Dr. Morton's rescarchea; and, in the interim, 1 seiie this opportunity 
to eipieis my acknowledgmenia for the varied inalruction 1 have de- 
rived from OUT interrouree, no less than my gtalitude for Ihe manilbld 
kindnesses received at his bonds. 

In treating on Egyptian snbjecls, it behoves mo, aa it is likewise 
due to my valaed friend. Mr. F. Catherwood, to stale, thai I am aware 
of his hsving pmcedcd rr>e. Having had the pleasure of forming. 
fenn sgo, at Cairo, those friendly relntiona with him that conilnue 
to Ihe present hour, there are none more able than myaelf lo appre- 
ciate his intimate acquaintance with thai ancient country) and, in 
vsriouB branches of study I am happy to acknowledge his superior 
atminmenu. Mr. Calhcrwood's lectures embtoced a much wider 
field of obsetralion than my own disserlationii, as ho could add hia 
researches in olher Eastern counlriea — particularly in Palestine — lo 
tfaoee he prosecuted for severel years in Egypl. My illustrBtions of 
nntiquily are confined to ihe Valley of the Nile. At the lime when 
Mr. Catfierwood leefnted on Egypt, the bnlk of ihe worka from which 
I have eulled the maltera whereon 1 intend to descant, had not iiBued 
from ihe press; and none, I may aay, had reached this country. Any 
dilTerence, ibetttVn, in our respective Egyptian views, ia Bttribulable 
lo these circumstsncea, rathrr than lo any deficiency mi Mr. Cothcr. 
wood's part at Ihe time of hi*lBclures. Hince those days, Mr. Csther- 
wood'a ultention has been turned tn a distinct, and alill more arduous 
field of antiquarian invesligation ; and the long.buried and almost 
Incredible monumental remaine in Ccnlral America, exhumed with 
nnlooked-for and extraordinary tuceess by Mr. John L. Slephena, 
have given lo Mr. Cnlherwood such opporlumlies fur diilinguishing 
nlmBelf, dint, in treating on ancieni Egypt, I have hia osaursncea 
ihat I am not trenching upon hia inleresis or pursuits. 

1 was in this country al the time of Mr. Buckingham's arrival, and 




am acquainted with Ida litarary worka. Not having attended n 
Icalures, I know them only from hearsay, through ihe periodical prei 
or from aome of his own publications. No comparison 
enlty be izutituled between things wherein ibcre eiisls 
and. as I am particularly desirous ihal my subjecls, opinii 
menD, inlentions, lectnree, and principle*, should be considered 
lolaliy distinci from those of Mr. Buckingham, it would be nnbe 
comiag, as well as nnnecessary, lo suy more on this head. 

It has been already casually stated, that I have been a aojoumer 
in Iho land of Egypt, for the greater pari of twenty-three yeara. 
Congenial taatei have, since my boyh™!, induced me, as often as 
opportunities occurred, to keep psce with the wiilinga of eminent 
itavetlera ; while, with mosl of those who have visited Egypt, and 
especially with those who followed out the new discoveries, I havs 
been on tenns of social intimacy, and with many I am in correspond- 
ence. A chequered, and noi an idle life, enables me to speek on 
many subjects from peraonal experience and long-pracliced know 
ledge — and for topogtaphical acquaintance with that eouniry, 1 can 
say, that there is little space on either side of tlie Nile, from ihe ara 
beach to the second Cataract, with which my spotting hsbita hava 
not rendered me familiar. In 1839, having reaoived lo absent myself 
for an indcfiniu? period, from the land of my adoption, 1 took advun 
lage of nearly two years' leisuru to ascertain the amount of infomia. 
lion gleaned, by the Chaiqpollinn school, on eariy Egyptian history 
I indulged my migrating propensilioa by a viail to Upper Egypt and 
Nubia, aa well ea by various dromedary excursions into Ihe eoalem 
and western deserts adjoccnl to Cairo. My sedentary boun wera 
occupied in studying the works whence 1 derive such aniiquariaa 
information as I possess, or in discussing relauve queations with ihi 
many Ulenied men and crudile scholaia who adorned our £gypla 
European eommunily. 

I pretend to no discoveriea of my own. I have availed myself ot 
the productions of the learned in Egyptian archwology, thol are, ol 
have been, within my reach. I have adopted all uf ihem in dill'ercnl 
proportions. I frequenllf use the language of aome ; have taken 
idoaa from all ; and after ihia avowal, trust thai I ehall escape Iha 
charge of plagiarism ; for who, in 1843, caa Iresi of a counlry which. 
for two ihouaand three hundied yesre, has occupied ihe pens and the 
mora or loaa critical examinationa of the learned of eveiy andeiil 
and modem nation, without availing himself of the information con 
lained in the published lobon of his predecessors? 

The only power to which 1 venture lo lay claim, ia thai of di» 
crimination in the choice of my autborilies: and, il will be found, 
Ihal, while making use of the same facts lo be met with in iho works 
of the Chompollions, Rosellini, Wilkinson, Slc, I s( 
to BSBign roosoiu difiering from iheiis, or fur 
elusions. 

Duriug a stny of some months in ihe year 1641, in England, I 
thought that if 1 iclurned lo America,! should be able to c 
interval of time, proGlabty lo myself, and perhaps advantsg 
olheta, as a lecturer on early E^piian aubjecls. A long sc 
threw me out of the season ; and when I sought in American Jibra- 
riea for some of the great worka of the New School, I found, to my 
extreme regret, that Ihe mosl important were wanting. 

I had therefore valid grounds for supposing that, to ihe majority 
if those I mighi address, the manner ol' elucidating hieroglyphical 

arcana, no less than many of the pmclical results ihemseives, would 
at least present the charm of mmelif i hut, in die absence of indis- 
putable facBimiloB of Egyptian legends and monumeoial subjecls, il 
was impossible to prepare any satisfactory pictorial illueirslions. 

II is with sincere pleasure, ihal I now express my acknowledgr- 
menn to my valued friend, R. K. lUvntT, Esq., of New-York, 
whose friendship I acquired some yesra ago in Egypt, for supplying. 
independently of his other varied hindnessea, these deticiencies uf 
beakt, by procuring from Europe " I Monumeoli dell 'Egilio e della 
"ubia," of Frofoseor Rosellini. This invaluable work, the firtl 

id (he only copy (complete aa far as it ha* hillierto appeared) exist- 
g in the United Slates, has been lent to me by Mr. 11., and is now 
my poEsesBion. From this work, with occasional eilmcts from 
others, tlie illusltalions that embellish my oral lectures have been 
ropied,wid) scnipuloua fidelity, by Philadelphian arlisls. Thoonlyde. 
islionfromllie originals lies in the requisite enlargement of ihe copii-ai 
lul beyond this, in my pictorial representations, no depsiluie in color, 
>r in anything else, has been made from the original pistes. 

Finally ; if my readers will kindly take into consideration, that 
my life has been ipeni, and my exertions, till I landed in New- York 
'anuary, I64S, have been acdvrly directed in muliifarious pur- 
s, totally difltinct in nslure from the position I now occupy before 
n, 1 iniBl iliey will look with indulgence on the attempt made to 
,Liil myself uf the agreeable, hut arduous task befota me, lalhor 
than at the delicioncieB proceeding from my own wont of abdjly. 



CHAPTER SECOND. 

ThB origin of iho Ast of WxrTiNO loses ilself among the nebuloV . 

periods of man's primeval history. Wilh the original elhnograpMa 

ariciies of llic human species, the primitive geographical di?trjb£ 

ion of mankind, ihu pnlriatcha] founloins of a once pure tcllgio^ 



IS 



ANCIENT EGYPTJ^__- 



and ths cirtioti muMce at the divtnii|t of tuigui^, miul b« Usu- 
einted ihe fini dcvclopiaenis of ih*l on. which, from llie rcmoiul 
peiimta. hu enaliled man locucuri! big hislory, loiI lo overeoms apace 
uid time in ibe innsiniHiion of Ilia thoughla. 

And it mutt beBllnwed, Ihaton all theaa aubjBc(a,hiiweTeraiiccea. 
fully Ihe eflhria of antiqiuriea, in Ebo laat qosner of ■ century, have 
enlighirned lu with uaeipecwd and alinosl unhopedfor glimpaea of 
the truth ; yet, beyond a cerlam epoch, of which the aatiquily i* 
eeareely deSuablc, ihrir liglila fail us ; and Ihe origin of lulleis, with 
a thoiuaiid accompanying quealiona, ia lost in the night of Iusbi 
wherein, id uae (he boaulifal words of Btyant, " Theao aubjecla ah 
aume the fanlaatic forma of an evening cloud ; we seem to descry 
casttee, and mounlaiiu, and gigantic appearaneee, but, while we 
giie, the forms die away, and are eoon loal in gloom and uncertainty." 
All (he progreiB that modem reBearchoa have, aa yet, nchievcd, ia to 
carry back the pwitive epoch of the abaolnle exittence of wriiine, 
rather than to have lifled the veil, whicb conccala ila primeval origin. 
The lamp of modern inquiry hu itlamined our pathway, and ex- 
tended our knowledge a few hundred years beyond the point readied 
by our forefatbers. Hetn and there, its projectile ny ia through the 
gloom reflected, by aome diamond imbedded in the diatanl rock ; 
but the ahadowa of the cavem flii before oai cyea, and the fire-damp 
wanu US of Ihe danger of advance. 

Whether the art of writing woa a caaaaquence of the neceaailiea 
of human society, the reaull of ■ progress from the rude savage la 
U1S civiliied man, can be looked upon now.a.doyB only at n curioua 
■peculation. Nor when we shall lake inlo consideration, in a auh- 
eequent chapter, the anhject of Chronology, can ihia bypotheais be 
consisionily sustained, without overthrowing the entire fabric of 
Scriplursl histoiy ; because, I trust, that I ahajl be able to demon- 
Btttile, from the poailive records of Egypt, that if to the already 
■Imoal hih[icDlly.irreconcilesblesntiqnity,iniperious1y required for the 
monumenla still erect in that country, we add Ihe counllen ages that 
would be required, before Ihe ibeoretical primitive Savage could 
conceive, much lees execute, such an eternal edifice as one pyramid, 
we must fall back upon geological, and cease to define hia progrew 
by chronological periods. Far loss inconsistent with the refinement 
in arts and aciencea, that we encounter at the remoirat epoch of 
Egyptian history, and infinitely more in aecurdnnce is il with the 
Sacred Word, lo claas ihe art of writing among those primei-al, if 
not antediluvian, reeeliitian* to man. of which we possess much col- 
lateral evidence ; although of Iho eel we have no ponlive record, 
and of the era we are utterly uncertain. 

Until the discoveries of Champollion enabled ua to produce " writ- 
ings," "sculplured letters," and "painted alphabetic aigna," coeval 
with generations, that in ihe days of the Patriarch Abnlism had long 
ceased to eiist, not only has writing been traced to the Hebrews, 
Chinese, Fhcenicians, Chaldeans, Hindoos, or Egyptians, according 
to [ha respective theories of the scholar, hii prejudices and parliali- 
tlea ; but, it was mninlnlned by some of the learned, that we owe the 
art of writing to MosBs, ihe Hebrew Lawgiveri and that the Table la 
of stone, in the wildcroeaa of Sinai, are the first authentic evidence 
we poaseaa of early alphabetic writing ; whaace the conclusion 
would inevitably follow, that this inestimable btesaing had been denied 
10 man, until the ISlh century before the Christian era ! 

1'hat such an hypothesis is fallscious, may be shown by Seriplutt 
itself; even were we deprived of the unanswerable proofs tu be 
gleaned from Gentile records. In Gen. v. Isi— " This ia Ihe book of 
the generaliona of Adam" — reference ia made to the beok of gtnt. 
■lafy ,- whence it irreaistibly follows, that writing must have been in 
uae among the antediluvian patriarchs; and, undor the view ihal 
writing was a divine revelation, lite same Almighty power thai, ac. 
eordiog lo the preceding proposition, inslructed Moeei, could have 
equally vouchsafed B similar inspiration lu any patriarch from Adam 
10 Nouh; nor does il seem constslenl with the merciful diapensalion 
whiiih preserved Noah's family through the grand cataclysm, and 
had condesoonded, according lo the biblical record, to teach him 
ihoae mulliludinoua aria indispensably requisite to the conslniction 
of a vessel destined lo pass uninjured through the lempesis of the 
deluge, Ihal the Almighty, by withholding the art of writing, ahonld 
have lei) the accouni of antediluvian events lo the viciasiludes of 
oral tradition, or denied lo Noah's holy family the ptuctiGe of that 
art, which, Il is mninlained, was conceded first to Muaea. 

But there ere other arguments, Ihal confirm tho eiialenco of the 
art of wtiliog in antediluvian epoeha (whether by aymbols or by 
alphabetic signs,) tu be gathered from a critical exninination of the 
PentaTeueh ; and, while 1 would casually observe, that " Moaea was 
learned in all the wisdom of Ihe Egyplinna"— Acts vii. 93—1 will 
point out Bomo of the reasons for this assertion. 

The five books ol Moses* carry with tiiem internal evidence, not 
of one solo, connecled, and original compoaition, but of a compila- 
tinn, by an inspired writer, from tarlitr annals. " The genealogical 
tables and fumily records of various tribes, that arc found embodied 
in the Pentateuch, bear Ihe appeinoce of diicumcnts copied from 
wrilfrn arcliivea. They display no trait which miglil lead us lo 

• VlrtePlKhanl-iEcmtlsa MiUnlai] 



aacriLc ihoir produetlon to Ihe dictatea oTimmsiliBH revfUUon, noff^ \ 
ore we anywhere iiifomied that such in reality waa ihcir ongin, Wa 
are aware that aimilar documenls were construcMd by ihe inapirvd 
writeis of the Gospels, from national archivca or family meniariala.' 
Tho obvious presumption is, that Moses obtained records of ■ 
tike description from siiuitar sources, tmleas it can he shown thai no 
such means were in existence at ihe lime. We have ihc aulliority 
of Geneaia v^ 1, for asacrling the eiiitence of a haak of gencalugiea 
in the lime of Noah; and a ciiy, mentioned by Joshua, was named 
in Hebrew, " Kiijath Sefer" — the City of Lelter: It is impossible 
lu prove that Isltera were unknown before Moses ; and die Hebrswa 
of his day appear even lu Lave had tiee ditlTnci modca of wjiGng; 
the choracicn of wlijeb, in one eaae. were alphaLitie, and in the 
other siiin^Iie. The inscription on the Ephod itself is said — Exodus 
ixvlii., 36 — to have been wrillcn in cbaraclera "like the eiigiiivinga 
of a tifneti" and ihe oiiginol typo of the sacred Uijb and Thuk. 
Min was, SB wili hereafter be ahown, derived from sui csiCu combi- 
nation of emblema, poaaihiy K^ptian. We have, therefore, many 
reasoni lo believe ihat the use o] lellBis,and ihe pnciice of preserving 
chronicles and genealogies, were known to the Hebrews long before 
Moses : while, in any case, if an attempt were mode, in violation of 
utl legitimate inferencea, lo draw allestation from Holy Wril, and )t 
were jiroeeJ t'lMt, until the lime of Moses, tlie Jcwm were unable to 
preserve iheir national snnals Bare by oral tradition, il would, in the 
prosenl advanced stale of positive knowledge in theliiatoty of contem- 
porary Gentile nations (who, ages anterior lo Moeaa, had auiheutic 
and icriUin chronicles,} show Uisl Ihe Israelites were, till the I Stli cen- 
tury before Christ, more ignoranl than any great people of antiquity 
— ■ position which, I presume, would bo as detrimental to Scrip- 
tural authenticity, as, in truth, il would be contrary lo reason and 

Bill il has been demonstrated, by a succession of eminent scholsrs, 
siore ibeyear 1753, that a chlical eiaminalioo of the Hebrew teat 
of Genesis establisliBii the iruib of the asaenion, that this book con- 
laiiiB nereral original records; each bearing on its face the sinjngest 
marks of authenticity, and of long anterior antiquity, which hive 
been brought togetlier by ihe hsnd of Mosca. Geneaia contiina 
repetitions and double narrauvea of the aame events — di^li ngui»hed 
by different clisracteristica of alyle, distinctly marked. Two hisU- 
riea are clearly defined in the Hebrew text: in one, i)ie Deny ia 
styled Elobus ; and in the other, Jehovau ; besides an infinitude of 
diiferences in relative alyle, Ihal lesve no doubt, on the miud of the 
scholastic inveetigstor,in regard tu the diversity of the records which 
chronicle the same event. 

Again, tho Book of Job is, by learned theolc^ans, asid not lo La 
a Hebrew production; though accepted, and authenticated, by the 
lawgiver of Israel. Job lived in (be land of Vz — Araniancn — of 
which Eiiom was a district, and Arista our modern deeignatioa 
Job was not a Hebrew of ihe Hebrews, but an Arabian ; probably 
of Joktsn's rsce : and, according lo Hslea, his probable epoch w|a 
Bbout3337 B.C.; lliai is.fromiiOO to 800 yeBisie/ors Moics. Thia 
clironological view is further corroborated by ilie following facts 
with regard to Eliphax, the Tcmanile, one of Job's friends. In Ge. 
nests Eiivi., 4, 10, and in I. Chronicles i.. K, we lesrn that Elipkat 
was Etm't eldest son. Now, if this Eliphaz bo idenlified with the 
Eliphu in Joli, it is manifest Ihat Job, being cnnlemporary wiih Eli> 
phai, must have preceded Hoses by some centuries : and thai he i* 
IhUB identified ia fairly inferrible; first, from the fact that the name at 
Eliphax occuTs nowhere in the Bibln but in the Book ol Jon and iq 
the chapter! above ciled ; and second, from EUphai being called lira 
TeiRBnite, aince we learn from Jeremiah xlii., 7, 90, tlist Ttnvm 
was a province or portion of Edrni, Ihe couniry of Esau. Job (in 
lix.. 23) exclaims, " Oh ihai my words were loriJIen .' Oh that tboy 
were prinlrd in a book." I presume the Hebrew word, rendered 
iniiiled in our veiaion, does not, in ils original language, convey 
strictly Ibis meaning. Again-Job, ixii., 35—" Ob thai sue would 
bear mel Behold, my desire is lliat the Almighly would nnswet 
me, and that mine adversary hod written a book." It Ihererora 
follows, that in Joi't day (whenever tliat was] booi:4 were iiul un. 

His affecting and |hous narrative, while il combines with abun- 
dance of other evidence, to prove ibai the pure belief in 0;(X Gos 
was not limited to iba Jewish pslriarcb Abraham, after the first cor- 
ruption of our forefalhers, assures us, lliat ttritltn ehronicltt, and 
even the sublimesl intlry, were in use hiitg before Moses. We ars 
Idiewise Ihus made aware, that tliis inspired writer, when he com* 
piled the Penlaleucb, did not disdain die records of Gtatilc nations, 
in the case of Job, to conaolo Ibe Israelites during tJieir forty years of 
tribulation in the wildeniess; nor did Ills desccndsnls consider ihem 
unworthy of incorporation into Iheir sacred books. We may also 
gather solne confinnative inferences, that cemiRjatiDB was not re- 
jected by other inspired writei*, from the fact, that the coilectioa of 
sacred poems, receivod under tlie names of David's Psalms, wera 
composed, at diiTorent and disMnt intervals, some by David, and 
many of ihem after the Babylonish captivity ; and were subsequently 
collected together in ibe Hebt«w archives, and attributed cidusivclyi 
diciugh erroneously, lo David, by (he Jaws, as by ouisclves. 1 poM 
over Ihe various olhar inetancca lo be found in the Pentateuch, all 
ceiToberaiive of the correeineti iif Ilia tuscrlion, ihat, in Moses' time. 



ANCIENT KGYPT. 



iookt were famlUu to the Hebrews ; who were innraetect to believe 

thm iheir ein« were recorded in ihe Almighly'e book — EiO(ln*ii»ii., 
39,39 — whicb wu no new doctrine in the daye or Mok* ; and 1 
cilieci Irom Dr. Lnmb'a invsluoblo walk, tbe lucceeding paragraph, 
ai well M olher evideneea. 

" Every alWnliTe reider of die Bible mtul haie obicrved, dial 
ihe book of GaneHB is divided into lao perfecdr separate and ilis- 
tincl liitlonea. Thejirtt part ia an account of the Cheitfck, and 
the general tauMiy of tnankind up lo the building of the Tower of 
Babel. The iteond pari is the faiiioiy oT Abraham, and hia de- 
rceci'lanls; froni the coll of the patriarch in the land of Ur of ihe 
Chnldeea, lo the death of J6>rph, afler Iho aetllement of ihe childi 
of lampl in Goahen, In the land of Egypt. The first part coota! 
Ihe hlrlorr of d^etw liMi thfiuand ^ear* ; ind i* contained in the i 
fiiatehapIenolGeneais, and nine Tenesof the ritwnlk. Theaefonif 
pari comptiKa a period of about tK-o hundred and fifty ycara, and 
occupiea the reniaininB Ihirly-nine chaptera. Thia history, w ' ' ' 
eummencea at the beginning of ibe tuelfth chapter, ia preceded b; 
a ^nealogjcal table, tracing Abraham's pedigree Dp to the pair' 
Shcm. BctwFBn the event (Babel) recorded in the ninth vci 
the eleventh chapter, and the neitvcise (vii: the call of Abrafaam,) 
ihore inlarvenea n period of nearly /dot hmtdrtd yeart, during which 
we know volMing of the hiatoiy of the humaJi rac« from tkt tacrtd 

Thit», tben, the laraelilea, before Iho Eiodiia. would have poa- 
aesaed two ancred hooka. One, " Geneaia," properly ao called ; mid 
the nlhor, " The History of Abraham." 

There ia no reason foraupposittg that other contemporary nalloni 
did net poHeas, in thoiw early times, Fimilar records ; nor is there 
any renaon why other contemporary nations ahould not have chroni. 
cled all great events, and handed down, pcrhspa oa far as ourselves, 
aomc of the nnnala of those events, that took place upon the earth, 
on which (he Bible, during an interval of " above four hundretl 
years," is sbictly silent It will be seen thot Ihe Egypliaru hate. 

"We know that, in addition to these (books,) the Hebrews had 
another book, entided " AfitcAaniDlA Jthonai" — the " Wara of Jcho.. 
yah" — (vagiiD (rndidana, concerning which mythes abound in Gen- 
tile racords, as the were of the gods with Titan, the Indian primeval 
annola. tic.) " from which a quotation is given In Nnnibera iiii.,H." 

Learned Hebraials also consider thai the Jowa, sntprior to the age 
of Moees. had a eollectian of national ballads, in a book, entitled 
"Sophcr.HDJashur" — see Joahua i., 13 — "la not Ihia teriMen in the 
Seek of Jaehcr T " The freqoeni use of the words, " and he sang," 



:o allnd 



the liral 



I* derived — Judges v., 1 — De 



song; whcttco the title of a imk 
rab'a song ia an insisnce. 

ll is finally aoslained. by great church theoloiriana, that Moses, 
whan, under the inapiralion of God, he indited the boaka of lit laa, 
prettied to them a hiftoi7 of Abraham and his poaterily, aa pra- 
•crrcd by laraci'sfomily; and at the aame time rendered theiraacred 
Tceoids of the CrealUm and hiatory of man «p to Ihe diiperiion at 
Baiel (which are presumed to have b«en written in a iifftrcnt ekar- 
acltr — probubly jjrni&o(ie writing — From that now known (a us aa 
tiie Heirev ietlers,] into the Hebrew langusge, aa current iji Moaes' 

I am thus partSealor in demonstrating, hy biblical evidence, that 
■he art of leriting Aid not originate with Moses, lest the position 
now indisputably established, of the prior antiquity of ihti art amony 
Oenlile nations, of the carliccl pcriuds, ahould appear lo militate 
■jgainst the nuthenticily of Ihe Momic record ; and il will be eon- 
ceded, that fvhen onoc, by argumenu gronndec! on the Bible itself, 
Ihe uae of ^Dits among the Hebrews is csrried back to snlediluvisn 
periods, not only is the charge of heresy in these maltem rendered 
nugatory, but Ihe inference in favor of a primuy diiine receiafwn 
cniuiidernlily strengthened. 

The Jews were not the only people who preserved mritteH me. 
tnnrials of the deluge, for among nil nalianEwe find vcgne tradiliont 
of the event itself; and in many we may trace the former existence 
of written chroniclea. If, at the present day, we cannot produce 
vuluminoua annals, coeval with early postdiluvian eras, in support 
of this assertion, wc can adduce abundance of historical reasons, to 
account for the abacneo of these primeval documenia in our day, in 
Ihe fearfnl dosimction of ancient libraries by the borhorous fDnaticisin 
of numerous nations, snd of sU creeds; no leti than hy accidents, 
and casualties, to which, from their inflammable nature, or porlahahle 
materials, all literary prod uctiona are liable. Wilhonl reenpitulating 
the various instances of the snnihilation of ancicjit archives in Asia 
Minor, Greece, and Syria, let us remember, that In the defence of 
the arsenal Dgslnst the furjnus attacks of an enraged Alexandrian 
populace, Juliits Cicsar coidd not save Ihe Flolemsic library from 
cenRagtatiou ; while the subaequent insensate decree of ihe nithlesa 
Omar, enforced the obliteration of the second mightiest collection of 
nncienl chronicles. It had Mken GUO years to' accuinulsle in the 
CliKRTTJN Bihliotbecal repsaltoiy at Alexandria. In China, the 
Tartar conquerors devoted to Ihe flntncs the precious annals of ante. 
riur history ; while, with the some Bendishienl. their brethren devas. 
taled many ofthe Indian and Central Aainiiclihnirica. The Saracenic 
torrant thai overthrew the dynasty of Chosraos — " Khuiru if "—sa- 
tiated in unrelenting destrucliveneas an ilia volumes which for ages 



nad accumulated in Persian archives. And if, in some partial degree, 
the intelligence of the Abbaside Catiphoie of Bagdad, the tnnsitoij 
encouragement of letters by the various Arab houses, thai alternately 
ruled over Egypt, er the liberal patronage afforded to science and 
literature by the Saracenic dynasties of Morocco and Granada, aerva 
lo mitigate the anathemaa, which we are justified in heaping on the 
entire race of "Amawe«yeb" Saracens, let no interposing hand save 
from eiccrstion the descendanta of the Seljook, or Turcoman, with 
those of the nntameablc and desecrating Mogul. At this vei; hour, 
ihe Scythian horde, encamped amid tlie lahea of once populous and 
civilized communities, ia the same irredeeinable aggregation of mis. 
ereaniB, from Conatantinople to Egypt, as in former days; and if 
ise are now alive to deplore the historical leases we owe to Turk. 
iah barbarism, it is solely to the Christian Uncr* ef our own chival. 
roUB ancestry, and, at the present hour, lo the dreaded length of our 
bayonets, thot, under Providence, we are iiidcbicii. Holianimod 
AU, iho idol of n false philanthropy, the proisc-hef pattered mocker of 
European civiltiation, has deelroyed, in Egypt, mure nionumenta of 
antiquity, than the Hykahoa, than Csmbyaes, thiwi Attnxeriea Ochus 
than Lothyrua; nnd, while myi^lified Europe •.hania " lo peons" 
for his great fntenfioas, he has permitted, as I have elsewhere shown, 
the annihilation of mora hiatorical legcnda in 40 ysais, than had 
been compassed by 18 cenluriea of Roman, Byiaiitiao, Arab, or 
Ottoman misrule. ' , 

l>id not the Tyrian annals perish with the fleets and fortresses of 
Phdtnicla, on the overthrow of the m in tress of the deep by Alexander t 
Had Marios no hand in the obllieniiion of Panic chronicles at Car. 
thage 7 and ia not Titus amenable for the sacrilegaua annihilation 
of Hebrew archives on the fall of Hieronolima T Did not Brennua, 
the Gaol, destroy the seven-hilled city hcraelf, with all her public 
regiitera, in 390 B. C? 

Wherever wo turn in the history of notions, we are met by indls. 
piilsble evidence of the former existence of ancient chronicles through. 
lul the worid, Bccumuloted during counllesa centuries, whilo wa are 
harrowed by the event, which hos deprived ua of their possession. 

Impartiahty cannot forget, that misdirected leal, and monkish 

laiTcisni, have marked every Christian country with a similar dia. 

regard for the preservation of eariy annals ; nor can wo spare even 

anCGBlora from the charge of cancelling, in order to insert the 

iriea of a auperatitioua recluse, those invaluable pages known to 

IS Pj,I.l»rSESTT. 

Vlicre ia the history of Heestnus of Miletus T where the annala 
of Manelho, Beroeus, or Ereloeihenes} a few mutilated Oagmenta, 
of their compendiouB volumes! And whore are 
the still earliir records, whence they compiled their information 1 
Elemnlly lost — save such aa CnaHml-LioN has pointed out on the 
mments and papyri of Eovft 1 But, if we are deprived of Ihe 
jinal records of the Gtntiitt, wo must not forget, ihst the deiSed 
Tiiora — iho first Hermes (erroneously confounded with Hcrmoa Tria. 
mef^tos) wrote, and perhaps too, in antediluvian periods, in Mcrad 
language, and, possibly, in purely iifmiolic ekaraclert, the wisdom 
and philosophy of his times. Again, we must not omit that, after 
the delage, Thoth the 3nd — or Trismegislus, mystically defined as 
of his antediluvian prutbtype— htui wrillea forty.lwo 

, preserved with religiouB care, according to Clement, 

ndria. A, D. 194, in which were contained all the rules, pre- 
cepts, and docnmenis, relating to religion, to dogma, to govemmeni, 
cosmogony, to astronomy, to geography, to medicine, and to all those 
whose perfection ia attested by the still atanding 
woi^ and the still existing remains of the anclenl Egyptians. 

Authariiiet, contemporary with the decline of Pharaonic glory, 

enamerated, after die Per^an conquest, B. C. S35, above Itcenlf 

lAflUsnn^ eolnmes, in constant, univeraal, and popular use among the 

inhsbiltinis of Egypt; tiie proilitclions i^a Suphit, Atkothit, JVecAs, 

and J'efastn's — all Egyptian Pharaohs; no less dian of priests and 

other phlloaophera, who lived, neoriy all of Ihcm, agea before Moses ; 

and how could the Jewish historian have been "learned in all the wis. 

dom of the Egyptians." — Acts vii., 93 — if, in Ihe course of his sacer. 

dotal education al Heliopolis, or Memphis, he was not initialed in 

Ihe myaleries, aa well aa proflclent in hieroglyphie writing 1 snd if 

he had not etijoyed free access to the Egyplion primeval recorda 1 

All history testifies lo Ihe eiislence of bookt, on every subject, in 

riy Egypt. We know iho names of msny of the authois; some. 

nes the tide nf the work; often the subject of their litcmry labon. 

Pucme, and, above all othare, cpie poenu were common in Egypt ; 

d were publicly chanted lo the praises of dciles, or to perpcluote 

e trlorious actions of heroes. Homer, il is said, vislied Egypt about 

the 9th century B. C; and the poet Nsucratis charges him with 

gleaning from Egyptian Sards, tlie ideas which, with tuch aublimily 

' thought and dicilon, he per|ieluBte<l in hb Iliad and Odyssey. 

Of the existence of such poems, no doubt can now be aUFtained, 

after tending Salvolinis' translation of the hieratic papyrua (known 

as Ssllier's) at Paris, recording the conqursiB of Rsinses tha Gi^t, 

B. C. 1530. And, of the eariy existence of roysl and n<itioiial 

lilrortes, contemporary with, if not prior in llie epoch of Moses, we 

sin by the iblluwing fact. Thai mnguifieeni ram at 

Thebes, tniscalled the Metnnemvm, i', I think without duuht, die 

lace of l!>eymandlas, described by Diudonii, as teen by HecelaEua 

the 59th Olympiad, It then contained a lUrerf of sacred hooka ; 



llBCIENT EGYPT 



^^•rer tbe mtnince-giilewl]' of which Wat iructibed, " Ihe remeil 
"' loul." This pulnce is the Samteitiam, b lemple-palac 
109 3rd, (Seiosfris) onU over tho mouldering doorw»s', v 
led fiom lbs hsil to tbe now-de«traycd bibliolhecil repwiiory, 

• CnAxroi.t.ton wu the iini Id rend in liii-roglypbics over llic henda i ' 

• "Tholli" and "Sofk" — ilio mile and remnle deities of arts, n-ience 

• and UlUn — the remnrkablr appropriiite dllea " liaiy or LttUri "- 
I ftod "Pmidedlof Ihe LibrttTf!" 

The door of ibe libntry, at (ho RBnueaiuir, might be cavilled n, 

I ' on the ground of its erectiaa nboul (he tiinea of Moaee. We wilt go 

tiack 200 yeara, to tho sanctuiiry of the temple of I-uqaor — of tht 

' day of Amutiaph the 3rd — whom Ihe Greeks und Ronianv degraded 

bio Ibe fabnlouB Memitoa: and whose slalue became coital, for. 

aoolh! Here an Inscriplion over "Thuth" Ijeginn, "diacounte of 

k dia Lord of the divine larilingt " — und naothec ovor " Ssfk, Lady 

Tbe enumeration of all tho lilerary works of ihe Aneienl Egyp. 
■■ tians, of which wa have mBraentos, rcquirea little beyond eitracta 

• .from ChampullioD Figcac ; but, aa ihe dolnil does not puassts auf- 
■ ficienl interest Ui general readen, I Umil myself to tbe moia fcalurea 

of Ihe theme. The diaeoveriea of the atdenl invetiigDlon of tlie 

• Dcw school have Huthenlieated as Egyptian in origin, however iheir 
ft— mythology was miaconsinicd by the nmhon, or their copyists, llie 

nt wrilingB ofApuleius, Fcsmaniei, Ilorus-Apollo, Hermapion ; 
ill BB liiase frsgmenu, known lo dawiGal archuologists as the 

• Birmttie books- From the lallcr, 1 hnve taken tlie proiihetie motto, 
ei heads in my lecture-room Ihe illustrative transpareucy — db given 

by Wilkinson : 

" O .Sgypte, JEgypUs .... sola snp^rorunl fabulie, et nque ia- 
- tredMttt posleris .... sola supereruni verba lapidiliiii incisa." 
' And I render, from Ihe French of Chanipollion Figeac, the touching 
tainenl (he whole paragraph cantnins: 

" Egypt, Egypt 1 B time shall come, when, in lien of a pure tsli- 

£'on, and of a pure belief, thou will possess nought but ridiculous 
blcs, incredible (o poewrity ; and nothing will remain to thee, but 
. awrdf enfraaen on ilonM^tlie only monuments thai will attest thy 
■plEly." — {Book* of Ilemtt.) 

The pure resiliiions of Egyptian philosophical doctrines start, in 

.4t>ite of their Grecian chrysalis from all the pages we poasesa of 

lOrpheua, Pythagoru, Plato, and Arisiodc ; and evince, that in phUa. 

tap/iy, OS in everything else, the Greeks borrowed from Ibe Egyp. 

^^■Uns; who ore not, however, amenable for errors, thai originata in 

■^Ae vanity, Tolatilily, and miaapprehenaion of ihe Hellonea; and 

P«lrMch inxest Ihe profound aod pnicfical wisdom of iho ttachtri, 

he puerilities of ihe pupils. The louchstons of hierogtyphicul 

r ..Knalysts nr>w enables us (o cull Ihe Nilotic pearls from tho mound, 

.■nd return them with honorlo their proprietors ; leaving ihe remain- 

der lo the Greeks as their exclusive copyright. 

I have been thus prolix, lo show thai history aacred and profane, 
I * which, however doubtful befum Champoliion's discoveries, is now 
ifupporled by hieroglyphicol evidence, would alone suffice lo over, 
ibtow the fsllaey, thai altrtbutes to Mosea the inemlinn of Ultert, or 
t lo (he Hebrews Iho exelutiet transmission of early annals, descrip- 
. liva of some onlediluvion, and many postdiluvian events. The 

• very Scriptures derivo coniirroalion from the fact, thai many early 
utions preserved leritttn legends, as well aa oral tradiiiona, of those 

. ' primeval days ; and I have endeavored lo account, in the doatniclion 
< «r well-aulhenticsted libmries, fur the reason, why Ihe Jewish 
p ^.Chronicles were, till lately, all that ihe lapae of ogea hu preserved 
lo ua. There are remarkable connections between frsgrnenta of 
{trofaae historians, and several parts of Genesis ; and the piaclice of 
.preserving every species of wriilen chronicle, being fur more anciom 
- iban MoBoa, recedes inio the miais of remote antiquity, among nations 
. tUsiincI from the Hebrewa, elhnogrsphically and geographically, and 
'. lb era anierior to, as in modes of writing, ajid allribules of speech, 
I (amoved from Jewish Bssimilation or connection. Beroaua, who 
' nrrole B. C. 358, gives a Chaldsan history of the ten antediluvian 
. 'nneiatiODa, that diflers but in names from the Hebrew account. 
tBa expressly affirms, thsl Xl$i;TKRti (whom we term Noak) com. 
'..piled mcmoin of ihe previou* history of mankind before tbe fluud.frum 
wbichall existing accounts were said to have been derived. Allowing 
, Ihom Do be a Semitic, and thsrefore, to the Hebrews, a cognate Iribc, 
. w« cannot deny to Ihe Cbiuieahs a full knowledge of ibe art of 
. Mrtling, at the eatUest period, for they innil have been fsmitisr with 
, ■omo method of writing, before they could conalmct tables with 
iHlronomical observations. Tl»se tables are allowed by iheolofiian, 

• as likewise by astronomical criticism, lo date as for back as 1). C. 
^ S931, or 700 ytari before Mosca ! And yel Diodorus dislinclly 

wets, that ihe Babyloniana learned ailrunomy from tlis EgyptiaoB, 
-iein* lAemac/res on Egt/ptian caLmy." We know, moniimentally, 
ibat Mesopotamia — " Nibiwm*" — woa a subdued country, tribntsry 
4 to Egypt, SI IGOO B. C; and know not during how many cenluriea 

Kvionsly it hnd been such. Frngmsnu of Sanconiaihoa lead us lo 
srenCEs confimialury of Beroaua. 

Amid these various recorda, it would seem, ns if the Jewa pre- 
served one or molv copies of primeval legends, which by Moses 
were comiiiled into one account; collnting portions of Ihem, pcr^np^ 
with similar documents, eiisling in iho hieroglyphic character, 
luring his education in Egyptian colleges.* Isay "aimilaf docu- 



insntB," because we have the aolhoiity of Plato, (tM WllMoson, Hk 
vol. p. im,) ihst when Solon visited Egypt, about 5« B. C, iha 
Egyptian prieits, with whom he waa conversing Bbout "the ba. 
ginning of all things," said lo him — " You mention one deluge only, 
whereaa many hoppened." I leave it lo geologisis lo define the irM 
meaning of the priests, and to concede the corrcctneta of the Egyp. 

The Egyptian priests tuld Solon many things, thai must hsvs 
humbled his Aiheuian pride of superior knowledge ; but one fact 
that thoy told him, on geography, is so curious, in regard to the " far 
West," (hat il is worthy of mention. 

We know the maritime abilities of the Phmnicions, and we can 
adduce tangible reasons lo show, ihol, by orders of Pharaoh Necho, 
Africa had been circumnavigated, and Ihe Cape of Good Hope, 
about 600 B. C, BCluslly doubled, before it was in the year 1497 of 
our era, discovered by I>iai and Vaaco do Gama. 

The Egyptiana had iolercourae with Hindoatsn, llie Spice Islands, . 
and China, long before iluit period ; end in maritime skill equallodg 
as in geographical knowledge thoy surpassed ail early naliona. Now, 
when Solon was receiving that Inatrucliou in the Egyptian aacenlotal 
colleges, which rendered liim the " wisosl of mankind." (among dia 
Athenians:,) besides gleaning an insight into primeval history, and 
gBology, ibal subsequently induced him to compose a gmol poem, ' 
' cin he treated on Attica, iefort tSe OoYaiAH fiood, and on (ha 
IsLAXD, which hod sank inlo Ihe Allantic Ocean; he waa 
informed by "Sonchis, one of the prieels, of Ihe existence of the At- 
LiNTtc Isles ; which, Sonchis said, were largct lliaii Afhica ahd 
AaiiDinTED." See Wilkinson-." Thebes "—p. 354, eitrBcl froiq 
PIslo. 

In the course of these easiiys and lectures, I shall incidcnlatly 
advert to sundry curious facts of the same kind ; but, as the present 
chapter and Ibe following, are lo be devoted lo the wbitinos of tlia 
ancient Egyptians, I proceed to other brBucbes of my subjecl, with 
this prefatory remark, that is requisite to do away with any seeming 
diacrepancy between my aesenious, and those views of Holy wriV 
which, in common with many olheta, 1 was inught at school, ll la 

Thai to suppose Hebrew lo be the moel ancient tangusge, and (ha 
one spoken by Adam and Noah, is s matter of opinion ; contrary U 
evidence ; immnterial in itself, as regards Chrialiaii belief; and noa> 
eaacnlial lo any view of (he case ; but to suppose, that, witliin a 
comparatively few yeoia after Noah, the Jewish annala were tfaa 
only lerillen Chronicles, and thai Hebrew was the only language, in 
which hislories of antediluvian events were, by (he immedisia 
deacendanis of Noah — those whose movements were oflecled by iba 
Dispersion — preserved, is, at the present hour, an untenable fallsuy. 

That to suppose Moses to be tho inventor of Ultert is an illusion 1 
though hs may have modified Ibe Hebrew alphsbcl ; and there ara 
aomo inferences, lo be drawn from simiTiiriry of alphabelic cAarae. 
(era, that he may hare adopted some Egyptian phonetic improvo. 
menla on ihe primitive Hebrew method of ijnnialu writings — " lika 
the engravings of a ngnel " — inosnwich, as Ihe Egyptiana, for mora 
(ban a Uiuusand yean before his (ime, had used the same tr/mhoUe, 
Jigumfiee, and pionelic signs, thai were in popular use in bis day t 
for, according to Acts vii. 23, " Mosca waa learned in all the wis. 
dom of the Egyptians." 

Il has been clearly shown, by (he Rev. Dr. John Lamb, of Csni* 
bridge University, Ihat Ihe Hebrew alphabet may bo traced, Utltr 
for leffer, (o a primilive niEROOLVFmc. Tho greater pari of iheso 
hiorogiyphicBl parenia of ihe present Hebrew alphabet are unques. 
lionebly Egyptian ; but while, in principle, I entirely coincide wiifa 
his lucid aIrangemon^ it is neceossry for a hivrulogisl lo stale, that 
oome of the rpnbola are nol slriclly £^-pIian, although it is posaibla 
other honuphonet would supply the vacancies. In hk opinion, ss in 
(hat of many other English and Continental hebraisls, the origtnai, 
md perhaps aatediluvian, mode of writing was ricruai WKirms, oi 
idiographic ; whence all atpkaliett were subsequently dcriced ; each 
taking that form conaislenl with the geniut of each language, aa 
spoken and mrillen by the earliest families of the human race. 

In speculating, however, upon these hilherio insoluble problema, 

seems to nie orUiodoi, aa well aa reasonable, knowing us we do 
from Scripture that books cusled long before Moses, and probably 
long before Noali, to rtdccl upon the following crude aupposilion, 
which 1 advance hypolhelically, with deference in superior judgmcuL 

When mankind, either on die primitive peaceful scpsntion of tha 
children of Nosh, in the days of Feleg (whose name in Hebrew 
s " to divide," sad " to aepaiate,") or, on ihe subsequent vio. 
and miraculous dicpoiaion at Bahcl, in the plains of Shinar, 
sought in varied climes, and under infinitely-divetwHed clrcuiD- 
ea, lo obey the Crcnlor'u fiat, "Go forth, be fruitful and mulll. 
. ., each diilinct family of mon, proceeding "in sorrow," "to 
eat bread," by '^tlio sweat of kit face, till ht return unto tha 
ground," carried with the physical diventitics, and craniulogicnl, 
osteologicel, capillary, and cuticulsr varieties of bis peculisr race, 
the dilTerences of language. 

Each distinct iamily of man, (or perhaps only the higher Caucasian 
isles,) may have pofaesaed a transcript of ibai oiiginal, piiintBol 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



'•iraiiicle, thot cootuined i 



noriala of tlie Doud, and of a 



* To [he Inlerventinn of lime, and vnat gcogntpliieel dialancet. (Ii 
'ctinnsei of method, and Iho allcntiaD o( alpAabtlic signs, may pot 
' libly be traced, nnd probably attrihuled. 

Some nationi, in Ihe tapao of agea, may hlTe forgotten iherrrimi. 
lire art of wriling ; bul have proerx'ed oral (radilioos of the former 
axiflDuce of (hat an ; and iheae nalioni may have sel sbaiil the he. 

- Diwxivcitr of ihe mode of traiumiliing tbeit Itioughia, in leriling, to 
posterity. And white, tinder this vicir, I proceed to ahow what 
might poasitily have been the proceea, by which Ihii Im( nrl could 

-'kave been recovered, I would obaerve, that a etrong analogy in tm- 
cing Kriting to primeval Ri,VKt.*Tios may be found, in ascending to 
Ihe divine origin of the belief in the unity of theUodbead, and of liii 
Ineflable altribuceB in the Trinity, (Monotheiim, m)'>tical]y developed 
in triads,) the exisleneo of n-hich pure primeval creed among the 
Gcniilea, ia ahown by liie inythologicn] ayalema of the Hindoos, Ihe 

* Velssgic GreclUi the Orpliic philosophen, the Tyriane, the Sidoni. 
Biu, the Syrians, the Edencnes, the Chvldeans, tlio Peruviana. (?) the 

(•Chinese, and Ultm-Gangcllc nations, of the remotatrt anuquiiy, to 

tre been the aame, aa, thoroughly demonilmblc by hieroglyphienl 
coveriea, it ia now proved to hove been the faith of thoeo inilinlcd 
luerophantic mysteries of the traduced, and misundcnloud. 
It Egyptiana.* 

narrow limits of Ihia harried treatise preclude the derelop- 

I could wish to give to this portion of my subject. In attribu- 

- ting the art of leriling to primary RevKLATtox, there arises a dllTicully 

lr,irom the query, how, if the orl were known lo mankind at the Dis- 

ft^neraion, does it linppen that each earty nation should have used a 

(TiUTerent alphabet 7 This might be met, if not answered, by e. pa. 

He] question ; how is it, that each fimiiy of man spoke a differeRt 

»iignagt after Babel I Ws must recsgoiie the wiij, of Divine 

>l reconcile with Scriptural chronology, however eiundcd, 
e lapse of time adequate for the rude unimlraettd Ravage to ac. 
. lite, among the myriads of progrcasive atrps toward civilization, 
llhe art of icriting, whether by lymioiir, or alphabetic eigne. Writ- 
rhg may be for ever unnee»sarir lo viei tribe* of human beings, who 
. tn far above the anvoge in the aeale of eiriliiation; and would, 
Muredly, not have been the art which, for many generations, a sav- 
^age community would strive to acquire, or lo which their first elTorts 
g would bo directed. Centuries would elapse, before the hypotliet. 
kal aairage could reach that wonderful process, attested by Egypllun 

■ in on omen la, etUl Bred on Nilotic shores, whoae conelruction precedoa 
Abraliim by unnumbered s^nerationa. 

But, if wc cannot reconcile, with any view of biblical chronology, 
he intervening and undelinable measure of time, when we start with 
in uninspired savnge, and gradually mould him into a eivilitrd man ; 
ro have abundance of evidence lo bring forward, whan, in accord. 
incB with the Pentateuch, we auppuso a primrval, and henven- 
Jescended auto of civiliwllon, from which, oficr paganitm, or 
. relvechiim, strictly so called, had supplanted the pure primitive creed 

> In soDH nadons, (as in the cata of Terah, progeoiim of the " fndier 
nf the bilhfitl") mankind >DbMqnani]y fell off. 

So (oon aa lapse of lime, and great geographieal distances, had 

ited some ramiliea of the homao race from all relations with, or 

iximalion lo the haMu of, the olheis, it is quite rational to con- 

e that, in (he same manner as the remoter Irihee receded from 

te worship of the true Deity, they loel the aits and eiviliution of Uieir 

origin, and among ihem the art of arilaig, or the primecal 

Man is prone lo deleriuralion ; and I think it could be lol. 

nibly well sualained, though ihe argument is herein ii^elevant, thai 

one, bul the Caucottan faniilies, poesess the vital rudiments for con- 

Inual and progressive morel, phyaical, and intellectual improvement. 

Yet, erai tradition, handed down from folher to aon, it may well 

'« conceived, would, for an indefinite aeries of generations, prolong 

'le memory of the vagae fact, that, at one time, their ancestors poa. 

med a mode of eipreaaing, idcographlcally by tynUMU, or hy any 

r other apecies of mnemonics, their ideas to each other, in de pen d- 

Ktntly of lime or apace. As aouiety edvancod, nnd Ihe necessities ef 

F'niaa were, by experience, supplied, aome one of those gifleil intcl- 

f kcts, thai ante In every community, turned his thongfala and eflbrts to 

rfidtKovtr that process, which oral tradition assured him was once 

■ known to his forefathers ; and, with more or leoa success, ho and his 
I' descendants perfected a system, which, in some nations, aa for 
^ Instance, ihe JareTHrrc, is perfect and purely alpkabttie. In Meiicsn 

► Wiboa (80 far oa, at this day, is known abojl them In Europe) ■ 
; ibey never oppoarto have gone much beyond picforial representations | 
P'«f the ecenea, and ajFrnielieitl eiprc>«ions of tlio ideas tliey strove to 
[perpetuato. Among ihe children of Siieh, wo may suppose Ihcro ' 

a retained a nearer approiimatlon lo the ori^tnnj alphabet, or 
-nlUve pietotial method of writing. [ 

n China, am-ing iha Mongolian famiUcs, the Alphabelic ayslem 
" T aucceaafully reached ; and when they wish lu write an ; 



European name, ihe chanctera employed represent the entire ayUa. 
He, or colloquial nund of that syllable, which iheso characlera ei. 
press In ordinary uae. In that country (civilized and suilioiiary ii 
arts and sciences though it be,) the primary insdiution of wriiing bf 
picfarial represcolalion of figures, (adopted by the Chinesa prior luQ 
C. 93G9,) was soon changed Into arbiliary markt, not fur a Ittttr. 
but for the whole leord, or idea, though ii has never been reduced 
into the aimplo phonetic forms of our alphabela. 

The arrow-headed, or runei/ariii character, (a specimen of whi 
is produced further on) ttaed by ihe ancient Peraiana down lo I 
period of Csmbyaoa and DariuKJIolhus, is an snomsly in the order 
alphabets, that I have not yet seen saiisfactorily explained. 

In Egypt, among tlie children of Hah, the art of wriiing was • y 
combination of alphabetic, or fieohetic signs, (to expreaa a lellerd I 
ncE signs; and of sviigoLiCBigns;' with some curious aM | 
useful abridgements from ihe hieroglyphic (which comprises 
whole of the above three classes) to the hieratic character, and 
comparatively modem times, lo the demotic or enchorial ; unlll 
Greek atpliabel, augmented by seven leltcra taken from ihe demi 
lexis, was introduced with Christianity, during the Roman doroini 
and formed those letters known lo ua as the Coptic. 

Bow immensely ihc knowledge, or conviction, that, at aome [ 
vioua period, the progenilora of one of these anppositilioua redisco*- 

ilher than iRcenfars, of the art of wriiing, had Ihe power «f ' 

expressing and perpetuating their thoughts, independently of IJIM 

~ space, must have fortified the soul of him who labored to reeoint 

! loat secret, may well be conceived. He worked upon a cer(aifif|l, 

does the child, who cndeavon to put logtlhcr ihe scattered conv 

ncnl parts of a diesecled map. The child, being so told, Jbiow* 

It iican be done. He derives encouragement from this conviclioa, 

d, with redoubled energy, bends his intelligence lo the task. How ' 

peteas must have bi-en the labor of that man, who, without tuj 

information regarding the psMiloIirv of such an achiavemenl, easaya) 

diseatwr, or to maenl, a meana ol recording his thoughts 1 

I confess,! look upon ilea almost Impracticable ; and fall back m 

primary reDelatioii. If Columbus, (although, till the Society of nor^ 

antiquariea at Copenhagen enlightened us, we used lo beliera 

:ontrRry,] had not learned, >n his previous visil to Iceland, o( 

9xislence of a western Continent and of the early voyogea of iha 

itlcsB " Eric the Red," can we well aupposc, thai, with toA 

eanfidtnct, he would boldly have ateered acrusa llie Atlantic froaa 

Spain to the West IndiesT In the same manner, iho knowiedg* 

that lliere had been a mode pf writing in existence formal, moM 

ileriolly fncitllated the Tediiceterf of letters, by those nilSODi 

that had lost the primeval art 

One or more familica of man in early antiquily, may have rtdU. 

cmtred this lost art for themselves, independently of contemporary 

itions. We can trace ihs afEnitiea ef all known alphabela, by hie. 

iry and by analylical processes, to a very few parental slocks ; bo* 

lis we do know, ihsi the origin of writing In Egypt is unknown, 

though il is autocihon, or indigenous ; ihat, at the very earliest lima 

of which we can find relics, it was the snme system ss at any subae. 

hornonic prriod, and ■ perfect system i ihol the aniiquily of 

n Egypt surpasnea the record of any notion on earth, Bav« is _ 

respect lo Ihe fitvt chopten of Genesis ; Ihat, if Ihe Eg}-piiDna did not ~ i 

imwnf the alphabet, they ndtKovered its equivalent for themseWeet 

and finally, it would be far more easy to derive all phonetic charae> 

ten, not excepting the Hebrew (as shown by the researches of Lamb) 

from tlie Egyptians, ihan to maintain that the Egyplinns derived their ' 

art of writing from any other Bonrce but Iho common primeval re 

Jalion, or ils remembrance. If they were nol the invrntors of wtitingl 

The remola antiquity of hieroglyphical wriiing, may be inferr ' 

from the fact, that il musi have exieted before the use of the aai 

onth in Egypi; which oflronomicol observe lions, on Egyptian re. 

>rds, prove to have been In use at an epoch close up to ihe Septus 

nl era uf the Flood. 

From Egyptian annala we may glean aome faint confirmation of 

a view, ihal tliey either posecssed [he primrcal olphtbet, or ola« 

a< they rediteorered i» equivalent, from tlie myalic functions and 

attributes of the two " Thoths "—the firal and second Hermes— both 

Bgyplian mythological peraunages, deified aa sllributes of the GikI 

To "Tliolh," Mercury, or the Jfr>( Hermes, the Egyptians ascribed 
the inoenfum of lettera ; and there is seeming reseon lo consider hiia 
the type of that antediluvian revelation lo man, t^ which the Bibla 
gives ua indicDtiana. He belonga, in Manctho'a history, and in tha 
" Old Chronicle," to thai shndowy period designated aa " the rule of 
the gods," to veil nnder a fable (probably ciplained by the hler^i 
phonls lo the initiafeff) the record of at ted 11 uv Ian periods. 

But, among the deiiies of Egypt — known, in hieroglyphics, aa 
" Tholl^ Lord of Paulooupbia " — who, under (he Greek appellotive 
of Hermes TtismegiEtus (ihe thrice-grasl Hermes,) or "Tholh" ihe 
otcond, was an emanation of (he Urtt Hermes, (here Is anodier '.'T1id(>i, 
lord of the divine writings," who was likewise a patron of arls and 






I, KiliH "OfiiFa of Patao I. 



t" llinhst I I cannot bul speculalc, thai IbisMCond "Thoth" wni, in postdiln. 
'"*^ 9|- ' vian limes, the reiliteovirtr of an art of writing, attributed by liia 
u Fi^Uu? ^eyp^ana to the inecnlioB, in autediluvian periods, of hia nameauke 
J and prclolype, (J) 



ANCIENT BOTff^: 



Uoder Dr. Iinnb'a viiw, ifaal IIe1»*w chincten nay b*ve h»e\ 
Ae nnuvBl Bppnxih lo Ihe prime™! "pictutr wnling," thia rtdit 
c*«en> br the Mcond Tbotii (who w« doubtlen ■ prieal uid philoaa. 
pber,) of [he in of wriling in Eetpi, will tccuunt foe »aj divcnriiiea 
r>t inalogin between Ibe Egypdan oompoand hieroglyphic ■yateai, 
■nd the phantUc method adopted by the Uebrewa al the HoaBic era, 
no lea Ihiin in reenrd lo other purely alphabeile ayatrma. 

The proceu by which T^ath the iscoud amveil al hirroglypbii: 

The 6t»1 lUempU were prohnbly limlud lo ihe Jigarative otpielo- 
rul meihrji of expnining ihe imaok uf (be thitiK, fur the thing itaelf ; 
u the i<.Bwine of a hand, to denote a hand, and *a forlh. 

Iq C^pl, u haa been cleaHy elucidated by the profound Roaellini, 
lbs 4ru aidttign and tcri'f ing were jiiTsnably uaocialcd; and neither 
l^a Egyptian! nor any other nation ever adopted the an of draaing, 
ttcfore they felt the neceauty of WBrrmii ; and drawing was produced 
in the endeavor lo diacover aome mode of eipresaing idiat; ao that 
the people who invented paialingandaculpiure, were impelled toward 
the exercbe of thex ana by the desire of vumia ; and the menna 
ttdien to wtiie ware the cauaea and producing moiivaa of tlie art of 

Drawing waa ihenfore Iha moat nalunil mediam, and, in thoae 
eaity daya, the nioal elTectire, to Mliofy ihoao craviitga, inherent in 
intellectual man, which bad in view Ihe creation of a power to com- 
mnnicDte with peraona removed from the drauj{blsmBn by time and 
■pace, nihrr than to imitate the various worka of nDtuis. The atudy 
ik tepreaenling Uhg* picioriall]', had, in thuae prioiitivc ninea, do 
other object than to eflecl thai which Waa complelelj' nchievod by 
tbo intniduelion ofaifiu for aocupa. 

Of the introduction of theae Utter; wa have the facl bofare ua in 
eveiy Egyptian legend, from the eartiael poeldiluvian epoch odmia. 
aibte, down to the extinction of hitraglypldeal wnkag in tlie third 
century of the Chrialian era, a period of at least 3Mh jean ; but we 
cannot name the introdacer, except in the legendary Tbotb.; tior 
■tale positively how this diacover; wii made in Egypt. 

The ana of writing, drawing, painting, and aoulptura, in ancient 
Bsrp'' *'ere tmblemaiiied by one •iiutu.: and, in hioroglypbioa, 
were oipmEed thuai 



[ — An inarrt, Indian, infant, iry. An ib/ub, 
juvenile ago ■' and atiU undovelop ' 
great country. 

C — A eaie, caldron, eat, ttam, eanmn, anutetUliim, rr 

m$cent. The creacent would indicate the ri»inc powpf of 
the United Statea ; the constellation of «(ara would enibtem- 
atiza the Statee, and ia borne aloft in the American banner; 
but I choooc the euie — /TN ^* CQiuecralcd littad — typical 



w 



eapondiog pboneticall] 



m^ 



Cjii./ 



Sku»i. 'J'hja eymtiot expreaaed, in the aacred chomctcr, the ngnifi. 
talion aiul the tou»d of the words ** to paint," " the painter," " to 
write," and "the writer;" aa alao " writinga " — yftf/nra. The 
aymls/ llaelf ia compounded of three things, all connected with its 
meaning i aa " Iho Tted," a uaod in writiiif;, at the present day, by 
(ha Araba, and termed ♦ "t|iilani;" "[bevoac," ^ or iiik.bou 
Ue J and the " acribee' pal J cite," | ^ | whereon V be poured 
hi* re J and t^ci iolta, &I 



nded of three things, all connected with i 
" a uaod in writing, at the present day, I 
d y "ijiila ni;" " thevnac."^ or iiik.bo 
il I cite," 1 I whereon V he pourc 
il 1 ling 1 1 O 1,0 little buUowi in in cei 



In precisely Ibe same manner, in ancient Greek, the words " to 
daacribo," " to draw," " to engrave," and " to write," wero all com- 
priaed in the samo verb — yfmfiir. 

By aDalogical reasoning, llion, we may infer, that the progreseive 
■leps toward the development of hieroglyphical writing, may have 
been in the fullowing order: 

laU Tliat material objects atraek their view, and to Irnnimlt them 
lo posterity, or to preserve the idea of one of these objects, they 
painted the Jigart of the thing Itaelf i and this Would bo rtGt;KATivi 
nrriting. 

Sad. That the intufTicicncy of this plan in application was imme 
dialelyfelt. Li painting the figure of a man, llicy could not olproaa 
tt>iU( man ; and to define him, they added a tropical tiga dr tymbet 
of another thing in some way aaaociated with this parliculat num. 
This would bo SYMBOLIC writing. 

3rd. That tlien certain arbitrary, and in duo couree, conventional 
aigns were sdded, to eipresa the idea of an immaleriol object; as a 
UTcnET for a gad, on mi.EDa (niip) for rojml/y. Sec. 

4th. They finally contrived lo iulroduca diveia rapresenta lives of 
•ooud, taking, to da lOte each letter, those objects the name* of which, 
la choir language, began with the initio/ nnnrf of that deilgnolion ; 
that is, when they wanted lo denote the Briiculolion L, they drew a 
tiBit, and so on. Thia would be raoniTic writing; and ia the priii. 
riple (hot originsled many Semitic alphtibets, as the Hebrew, the 
Samaritan, the Pbmnician, &c. as well aa thoae of aomo other naiiona. 

In Elgyptian hierogtyphics, s> mny be aeon in part by the alphabet, 
there are, in some instances, aa many as twenty-five difTurCnl charac 
teisoaed to le present one Utitr, and these are termed ■' homopbonea " 
of thai letter. 

One iinnienso advantage accrued in mmumental Icgnndafrom this 
vanely, for the artist waa ihua enabled lo employ ihoro figures which, 
while representing the aniculotad sounil of the letter, had by thcii 
form a rehilidn lo the idea these signa were to exptesn. The writer 
could thui, by the judieloua selection of his leilera from the variety 
«f his Aamtpliantt, convey a meaning of admiialion, praise, dignity, 






t., or he could denote disnusl, halndi in 

cance, or oilier flepreeislory opinions. 

I will endeavor to render this sppsreni by en eiatniile. SoppOM 

we wished to adopt the snme system in our language nnd WriU iha 

word "AaEHici " m hieroglyphics. I use pure ^ypuan liiBracljvluM 

■s leiteia, adspting them tu English values: 

A — We might »alccl one out of many more or less spinprinle sym- 
bols ; as on a^, apjTja, attm, oRwimilA, ancAor, arrirr, «rT«IS, 
antrlopt, an. I chiwae the aif, ^ eymbolio of "soTtt. 
roignty." ■ 

M — We hsve a mace, matt, maHif, mem, bwuh, munaijr, mmditU 

maitt. I select the 



indieslive of " tniliUly 4o> 
tutdtmbi- 



E— An «ar, egg, eagle, ett, eye. The eoglr 

ediy the most sppmprialc, ' 

anus of the Union," and nic 
R — A rabUt, ram, racoon, ring, roe i, ntpe. I tike ido ram, **« ^e" - 

by synecdoche, placing a part for the whole, emblem- d^ 



"frontal powor" — inlelleirt — and 



[»ke Itio 1 
ole.embi 
nd aacre 

fani »#"« 
pcd JJIX 



of a 



imliztd 






:.Q^ 



A.n dncW, or any of the above words beginning with_^j "'nulJ 
nnawer; the aneAor would symboliie " maritime gresineae," 
aaaociated with "safely " and "atnbility"; but not being an 
Egyptian emblem, I take the "sacred TaO," /j ths symbol 
of "eternal life," which in the alphabet is * ^ ^ an A. 



raO." Q th 
beliso^u 



To designate 


that by 


this 


comb inn 


onof «r 


,boU 


•unity. 


add 


tliB sign 


hd 


^^.in 


Coptic " 


Kab,' 


untry. 


ndde 




eol 


geogtapb 


osl appell 


livea 



Wc (huB obtain phottttiaiUs — 



if W^-i^ ©f 



while lyin&dicaUy, the chBrarlera chosen imply " eoveroignty, mili- 
tary dominion, courage, intelligence, juvenility, clviliiaUoOi JOd 
ilemal durability." 

This example, however, gives but a faint idea of the beauty, and 
often exquiiiite propriety, of Egyptian composition, or of the com- 
' ly of the hieroglyphic art of writing. It will be allowed, thai, 
thia anglicised itluBlmion of the word Jmerica do«9 not lender 
ila petapicuity ven apparent ; end, with a full acouninlDnce of Aa 
langaagf, il woutil be s puule to ■ decipherer. Ilow muiJi mora 
so, when the noieels may be omitted, aa they generally arc, and Otdf 
a coRSanm's written ; aa, " MRC, country "1 

Let the reader figure to liimxelf the fashion introduced in this eoon. 
/, of following the graphical syalem of the Uarly Egyptians; and 
that the Capitol at Washington wete covered with tcuiplureit ^id 
painied legtndt, recording the annals of tlic United States ! SuppoM 
these legends wore written with the general auppression of aoint 
vowels, or the trauamutsbility of others. Then imagine the Ameri- 
can hieroglyphics, in the lapse of sges, to become entirely forgonsn ; 
he people who wrote the legends — those who could speak or rasd 
English — entirely obliterated from the face of tlie earth ; their tmn. 
e dead ; the Capitol a ahapeless pile of niins ! 
ippose, that another and a distinct race of men, from uiotbar 
hemisphere, after two Ibonsand yean, while poeseaeing mere vague 
irndiLions ij ancient American glory — uncertain lu lo the epoch ttf 
these mutilated aculpturee — myslified as to the very language in 
which they were written — amid the general hue and cry that " hiere. 
glyphica are sit nonaeoae " — endeavored to imravcl their myalBiiooi 

" int that the task would be in nature herculean — that is even. 
ncccas would appear chimerical. Yet even tliia would not be 
so difficult, as to decipher a crumbling fragment of an Act or CoK. 
written in a lachygrapkie, or abridged form of these idcnlic^r 



XlTRIENT EGypT.— 



Ameilcin hieroglyphiei, on ■ ftagila {wpynu, eihumeil frum (h« 
ruins of ibe oneB-lowcring Cspilul ! 

Yaa Cfiri acurcely conceive such ■ canlingcncf p'Kaible u n trara- 
Utioa of ill those Uiinga T and yel, sucli wBfl preciacly [he position of 
Egyptian luDroglyp hies in 1803, when lbe"RaBetla Stone " Brrived in 
Europe 1 laoh was the slate of hierologr when YoOHa.in IBID, struck 
the lirat aptrka from the flinty baailt, whereon were engnven two 
unknown inscripiiuns '. auch wna the " dukneaa of Egypt," when 
CButPOi-uoN'a meiooric Ruhea illumined the onituDalogicBl hemi- 

When we, in 1813, calioir rsAecc on ttie intellecla a.nd the souls it 
has required, to face and (a overcoma these olwuclea, liil every 
Sgyplina legend CHn be undertUod, iu puijKirt d^ned, and the 
nam tente of the moai iniricato papyrus clearly raponaded. lei us 
■llow, that to (he mudera hikhoUoisTs we ore indebted fol these 
glorious nchievements. 

I again refer thoBC incerealed in the early libon of ihe hieroglyphi. 
eal Bludeala, to Dr. Young*! Article in the Eneyelopodia Britan- 
nics, and to Ctaampollion's " Precis dea Hierogtypbea," for proofs 
of the discovery ; and to the " Grammaire Egyptienne," as ui in. 
conirovemble taojinmenl of nnqunlified siicecss. My part is simply 
to give ihe aummary of ihe languoge na il is now nnderiiood. 

Complicated a«, a «ing toour ignorance, the hieroglyphical writing 
of Egypt DOW appeaia la us, it was (logolher wiih the Hieratic char- 
■cler, and, in later times, the Demotic,) in constant, general, and 
fMpulur use, among al! classes, nil peisons, in the Valley of the Nile ; 
and the iilasion under which we have labored for ages, ciciicd by 
the myalorioui appearance and still-rumored unintelligibility of Ihe 
writingB themselves, and tnialed by the puerita misiufaroialion of 
Greek wrilen, that Ihe arts of reading and writing were teilhheld by 
(he prieala from the tower clsasea, i> dispelled by ■ glance at Ihe 
moaumenti. The fact is, aa the Greek and Roman writcra did nol 
uadBratand either the Egyptian tongue, or the Egyptian writings, they 
represenied those subjecls which 5iey were loo volatile, or aelf-defi. 
cient to inquire about themselves, to be tH^ntlratU nytUriei. We. 
however, have indisputable evidences, thai reading and mriling 
were in Ancient Egypt (in days coeval with the Pyramids) as pub- 
licly know[L, and in as papular use, without respect to caste, lu 
wesllti, or poverty, as in many Christian and not-uncivilized eaun- 
tiies, ai Ihe present day. Ite graphical signs wero Icnned, by the 
Greeks, BiEBoaLvriiics, meaning literally " Sacied aculplured char- 

PUlo and Plnlarch both affirm, that the vmriling ineeiileiJ by the 
lit. TooTB, whom we have called the antediluvian Hermea, differed 
from that, which, acconlingf to toy view, was reditafrertd hy Thdtr 
iha 8nd., whom we have termed the postdiluvian Hermes. It 
is ihe wridng of this lecoad Tholh, which, under the name of 
hieroglypluca, has come down to our day, on Nilotic monuments, 
from the remotesl period since the oolotiiiation of Egypt by the aons 
of Miiraim ; and which was in eorront use, in ages cosTai with ihe 
Pyramids, oven among the sIonf-maHna, and the farmert .' We 
now know, thai the idea entennined till lately, even hy some of llie 
most eminent Bgyplal agists, " that no hieroglyphics are to be found 
in, or were known in the daya of, the Pyramida," is an illBsioo, over- 
thrown by Col. Vyse's discoveries. This tradition of Ihe diferenee 
existing between the writings of the two Tbothb, oomea in very 
appropriately, when we suppuae, that the primitive meiliod of writ- 
ing revealad lo man prior to the Flood, had been loal by same nations. 
■fler the Dispersion ; and the rtditamtry of the art in Egypt will 
aeconnt for aome of the differencea between the Nilotic syalcm. and 
Ihoae primitive alphabeCs, or other forms of expresong ideas in use 
among early nations. 

Afier the rough draught of the foregoing ideaa had been formed 
at Philadelphia, I had a gratifying opportunity of snbmitling Ihem 
lo a distinguished American philologist — H. Hale, Esq., late of the 
exploring Expedition; and I was exceedingly proud lo And, that, in 
Ihe course of his varied inquiries into the causes of Ihe diveraily of 
human languageti, and his comporbonsaf grsphicsl syeloms, he had 
been led, by a ditferenl process of reasoning, lo results, upon Ihe 
probability of the rtdinantery of a canjectnrnUy i,05Tiki.ri<ABCT, jden- 
lioal with (hose, to which I was impelled by Egfpliiai facis and 
chronological limilations. My humble edilice acqnireg so much 
stability, from the opinions of a gentleman so laborions in philutogical 
puiauita, Ihot, at my solicitation, ho hns favored me with the follow- 
inji letter: 

My Dear Sir: When yea did iiieth< 
your v(ry imereiiing Ifclure im iJie origin and Ian, 
riprened Id r«i my rratiScalim ai Bndlnj ihalyc 



the 






_.„ ijybelure .... 

.._ - -jyaelC A* we havs arrived al lbs lans ruuli, by diSiiient roads, 
you have suiarsird Uial a atauneni hj aadi, of tha irounds « whieK iliii 
coiBiBoa result of our reasoninfsis baaed, nii|hl be DTadvaniBie in Ihe way 
of BMiinal eoafirmitinn. AlUiouih, Icnacaive dial yeiir arfimrnu a< itatrd 
re, hardly aland ia Bend nf suppnrt. I nadily cDmply wiih lour 
of ina pbilological bcii, wbioh 



ayf tHtion, so Gtr aa rrlaiee la 



lai TOO have 

widely ia la 



Thne irsal nalions, diferinc wijely in lanfunf s. phytical ehaneUi . ... 
Thiaa who ban laade ibe mail iH-efimnd rasaarehEc ou ihaa ■ubjroiB. a*. 



leFlMd. Now, I 
of (hw aniiali »a find <>cii 

eiiher inafKraiea. Frvin 



SEsle Mftimbie a/p4aiWt uf I 
■reicn oalioas poaseaafld 



lien, perfeoily aitaquaK 
rura inproveiDBiii. 

1 applr Uiew ialbf ._ ,_ 

rsasoB lo believe) ihai ihe ADtedilvoians 
at (acts and oceiimocci ■" ' ' 



in iha plains of Mnico; wiih Ihe eieevlinn, that lhe| 
liliiy, bare pnKrvid Ihe irailrrisii of ili* lonner cxisienoe 
' -' ii iradilion it wiwU be, which, ariinf >• a >u^ 

the iniDdof M>ia* naaof supi 

iciiuiUy advanced lo fail ihc aaed of m 
ia,atidiheB la ibeeonitruetinB dT * ayiiern of oriUBfa' 
• ibua enoMmcied, would, of Mntsity, be mm fxaclh 
aelrr oflbe laninace Gir which il waa Kirmid. Siieh M 
■ I alpbabeta of ibe Gr. - — ■ 
the tuifropAw snlei 



a 




iar metliadt which, ihese Iwi lantrnfca have 

Ivanlafebe replaced. lfnwrafihba*atnkiB 

I Enpuana; andwhMhrr thai lan«maf really Rained, , 

le Coptic alphab- '-■•■--•■•'-■ i.-i-!— 

oTcharacten, all itae vartiHs dialec 

- jhall be happy, if lh«e few and hasly aungesinni ahati ba e 
yminrany valiK, iBeonfiiaiiiwliigviawalo wh ' 
Ird by the study oflhe ancieul monunlBlils uf It 
Believe mo, my dear sir, wY 

Geo. R. GiiDDOii, Btq. 

Greek and Roman writers (according lo CliampoHion Fiaeac, 
Ploto, Tacitus, Fliny. Plutarch, Diodorus and Varro, with olliera,) 
ssrribe to Egypt the honor of inventing alphaitlieal writing— an 
honor, which earlier writets, whose works are no longer extant, and 
' orsl Indilian. had consecmled from time immcmnrial 
Modem criticixm has recognixed, by ihe study of tha 
Monuments, that, so far as the relative antiquitj^ of ihe sn in Eeypl, 
compared with any olhrr nations ia concerned, this allribuliim lo 
Egypt ia correct and indisputable ; while there nre nol a few alpha, 
bels, thai may be traced in origin to early inlerconrso wiih the Valley 
of the Nile, Ihe priority in tivjiintion of whose inhabitants is now 
irrevocably detcirnlned. 

Early Grecian tradition ascribed lo Capucs, son of Agcnor, kiof 
of Phmnicia, ihe inlroduetion of alphabetie letters into the Prlnpon. 
ncsus. Cadmus appears to have lived in the scvrnlh grneradon be.' 
fore Ihe Trojan war; which event belongs to the twelfth century 
before ChHal, and coniwquenlly the epoch of Cadmus dates ebont 
ISM B. C, which, In EgypSan annals, is cum para lively a modem 
dnie, being conlemporary with the middle nf Ihe ]8lh dynasty. 
This CndmoB introduced into Greece IGprimiViiifleffcra— a pAone/io 
a^kalut, conrisling of the first sixteen primitive vocal articulaii'ins — 
iD^i<i*>yi<« iii Tur ifmntr rrmvilur — tmntlavd by Lelronne, " Kyrlo. 
logic, according to iho fiisi alphabetic or phonetic letlcra" — or "serv. 
ingnerfeclly lo denote objecis by alphabetic signs." 

TTiese fiist alphabetic signs were then attributed to Itermet, who 
is our Egyptian Tnom the second '. and were enH«d. by Uie Greek*, 
" PhiBnieian letters." To iho primitive sixteen leliers, Palnmedtr 
ndded four ; and subsequently four odieia were supplied by Simoni. 
dcs; thus completing the &4 lettrn of Ihn Greek alphabet. The IS 
Cadmean teiwts were. A , B, T, i, E. F, I, K, A, M, N. O, n, P, r, 



ts 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



T, aottiK of which nnfulartjr comnpond in natnM to ihoM of th« 
Slinilic Tainiliu uf Hebrew, Samiritan, uid other, to the pirental 
Pboiiician, cugnale iriba ; ihui e*inring, that the origin of (he Cud. 
Dwan alphabet ii not Grecian, but Eatltm : and, inaamuch ai itt 
■ffijii[iea are ill Aiiatic it maf be termed " PhonieoJGrecian." If, 
therefare, we ahow, tbal iH parpntal aourn deriTes ils otigin Awn aa 



1 nanl^ by gmns M 



X in hkni|lnihki ilaiida in ArMt and li 



dabled to tigrpi rot ihs Isaming of her wnnhiee. 

It IB a Ihw of phonetic hieroglrphiu, that the pictnr* of a phyaical 
objeel aholl gifa the aign of the teund, with which in name brglna 
In the Egyptian tongua. Thiu, a lion, whoae Egyptian name waa 
"LiBO," (lood fur the lelltr L, in hieroglyphica ; an il might »tand, 
in our laneuige, to reprcaenl the iniliat latter of tbo doignatory title 
of that animal, whuae name with ua i> lien. Now, ilia aama prin. 
cip'e ii di>.iinctly diccemiblc in Ihe Hebrew, Arabic, Samaritan, 
Phmnielan, and uther Semitic tonguea ! The andetil Hebrew Irttci' 
Li— Of L— waa the initial letter of iheit name for lion — "Labi;" 
while, in ahape, it n only m abbreviation of the figure d* a rsium. 
bent lion, s pure Egyptian hirroylypb. The B, in Hebrew, in lh« 
Initial letter of the w<ml " Beth," mPDning " a hotiae" — which la 
aane; nnd there i« even a reKMnblance to be traced between i 
/arm of the letter " Beth." and Ihc outline of an orienlsl houae with 
■ flat roof ! I will cxcinplify thia foct by the name of tho lilltr— 
AD — in the ancient Hebrew — which, betidea lieing probably the 
fitat inicuhte aound uttered by Adam, rignifiei "a Man," aa ahc 
*■ iwd eanh," out of which man waa moulded by the divine " Potter" 
-^e« laaiab, Ijtiv., 8. Thi aaoiltiona are herein made clear. 



II i ! i ii ii P 



The lettrr A in Hebrew, meanlnjt man, ii thus traced to tli Egyp. 
dan pircnt. The aame holda good with the entire Hebrew alphnbel, 
but La pecuiiurly evident in their leltcia G, ti, P, R and T ; all can 
b« reapeulivcly traced to the initial letlera trf" objecta, whoae naniea 
in muad corrcapunded to the initial value of the lettaia, as the/sm 
of the Iritcra still preacrvea a resemblance to the pictorial hiero- 
glyphic of the objects whence they are derived. Nor doea it aeem 
improbable that Moaea, who waa " learned in all the wiadom of the 
Sgyiiliant," should have introduced into the Hebrew writiogi eoma 
of those futtni and ideas, ha had neceaaarily contracted in r«sird to 
thia, and other aubjecta, during bii education at Heliopotis. 

It is likewise ■ curioua chronological coincidence, that the 15lh 
century !*• C., witneeaed the Ejodus of the Uraelilea from Egypt, 
and tlieir organization into an orderly communily by Moacs i the in- 
troduction 1^ the present Hebrew alphabet, in lieu of the previous 
character, whatever tbst was — the importation of the primilive 
alphabet from Fhonicia (at that period a province tributary to the 
rkaraala, and overrun by their armies) into Greece, by Cadmus, and 
the foundation of Bawtjan Thebes, with ita an'enfal royateries and 
oracles — the emigration of Danaiu, who was perhaps the brother of 
our Ramses 4th 1 (Sethos-^^ptus,) and who founded the kingdom of 
the Duiu, at Aigoa, where ctdoeaal ruins of the Egyplo-Pelasgic period 
again puint to their Nilotic source* — and, with less bistoricnl cer- 
tainty, but with aome probability, may wo alao trace the foundation 
of Atbehs ilBslf to an Egtytian colony, led by Cocrops from Sais, 
within naif a century of the preceding oveata, ihatao strongly mark 
the period of the 15th centiuy B. C. ; the Aogustan aga of Fhnra6tiic 

Pslamedce, king of Eubcea, gave to the Greeks 4 additional letlera, 
0,K, 4, X, to aupply deficiencies in the Cadmean alphabet; and 
Siinonides subsequently furnished the 4 other signs, Z, H, 4', □, 
which eomplMed the 34 letters of the ancient Greek alphabet. 

Now, the di^iinol articulations of phonetic hieroglyphics may be 
raaulved into 16 sounds, repreaonled by IG Egyptian letters (with 
their homophones) whieh ore identical, in value, with the 16 primi- 
tive Cadmean characlcrsl and these 16 primitive signs represent the 
16 distinct simple or elementary sounds of the human voice; because, 
•11 the other alphabetic sounds are more or less compound, and are 
reducible into their respective primitive element! ! 

Thus the fac^ that the Greek and Phcenician alphabeta contained, 
■t firel, only 16 distinct letters, is not only establiahed by analogy 
auid historical testimony, but is comformabte to nature itself. 

The Greeks and other nations, completed the powers of tlieir 
t^habots, by adding other letter* to represent compouiid aounda. 
The Egyptiwia, without -^—^ — "^ ._.... 



3 dlMliiet aonndi. 



the first of which we have not the power of expresaing, but conveiw 
tionally, in nit letters; nor cau many Europeana pnntimei It AiM- 
tinctly. It eiiati in Ar^c — oa in " Kbdaa " lettuce — or " KUtm ** 
aaeali distinct from //,a> in "HtriB,"*Buaid — Or " lUIee," my aonl. 
And when, in Roman times, the hieroglyphic, hieratic and da- 
motic fomu of writing were abeliabed ; it waa foqnd neceaauy to 
add to the 94 Greek lutteta, 7 othen, purely Egyptian, to enable iIm 
deniaena of Egypt to represent in irriting the mumi* d their tonnl^ 
and thus the present Coptic alphabet a[ 31 letter* wot formed- llw 
seven Egyptian lettcia of the Coptit alphabet, are taken from iba 
denwtic teiti 



yj 



— f Ao-^quiTalcn( to our Sk 



-shti 

-a>ri 
^S — $«Bva 

Cf- 



6 



I regret, that my limits do not panult my goiag further into A* 
teresllDg snbject of tbe anciant nae and moiies of tntinv. Eooo^ 
IB been aaid to diow, that early analogiea point to tbe valley of tba 
ilc, as tbe cradle, if tiot the birthplace, of this, no leaa than of all 

A small, though excellent work,* publiahed in 1641 in Londoa^ 

mm which I have gleaned aeveral point* of the preaent diacouiaa, 
and in the next chapter have exttacted soma ancient texts,) aeem* M 
infer, that ajpiabtlic sigtta were exclusively preaerved by the deacand- 
ants of Sium, among oilier advaotagea accruing to them from Noah^ 
ptDphetie Ueaaing ; and then expatiatee upon the " unhappy aoM -f 
Miireim, the una oC Hut," who loet their ptimitiva Ungoage, auu ' 
withiitbeajpAokl.' 

This may be a mode of speaking, but it is inconaisteot with tha 
Bible, and ia atterly overthrown by history ; lot, if tbeae miitfff 
descendanlB of Ham were under a ciirae, how waa it, if Ham be tha 
parent of the Egyptians, that these unfortimate people were the waaf 
dnlixed of antiquity ? how waa It, that this acciuMd race atvoyadi 
for 9500 yean, the faiieal portion of the earth 7 how casM it thai 
these unhappy people held the descendants of Shem in hi 
in tribute, during 1000 year* beCare Cambyses, B. C. 535 ? 

This ia another popular fallacy. The curse waa not on kiam. i% 
. issed over him, and fell upon Canaan. But, as I shall hereinaftar 
demooatnte, there waa no ban on the JlfiiraimilM, or Egyptians, till 
after times. 

CHAPTER THIRD. 
Tmi reeJerwill not forget, that Oriental languagea of ancient dayi, 
sound, as well aa in character, are not far removed from the rnotU 
n ; altbongli,-ti> an uninitiated ear, their uitiHiationB and artictilk 
dons may appear extrevagant or harsh- 

We hare all of ua seen vocabularlea, wbereln, by meam of oui 
alphabetic letters, the words of eastern languages sre presented t» 
our eye, but never to our ear. No dependence can be placed on tha 
tceutacy of any one of them, however, unleas we are previoualr 
ismred of the knowledge of tbe Eunptaii writer; who in moM 
caaea is lamentably deficient- " Guide Books," for travellers to tba 
Levant, are for sale everywhere ; yet, it ii corious to teat the ace^ 
racy of the so-called Arabic voedmliain attached to aome of them, 
"Uabome'e Guide to Egypt," London, 1640; price 9 shillings ater. 
ling ; among its other abeunlilies, contains one of these puerile and 
valoeleaa " word-book*." But, for " true Corinthian biaaa," con. 



•Ttia "AnibiiiHlw of Ur pt," 1 nL Sts. Ldedoa, ML paUirUiid It tb* " Raliaiaaa 
TiaelSHiMf." TkK as will as tl>s " PliKnlioei ef Uw Bilils ItsB da MoaaHMS 
■r Btn*.- br <!■ Isv. Dv. W. (X nLrtac. IdB<«« HM^ val. Itash I wBiBb iBHa 
■Bs« I* Ms tasted panasL 



MroiENT EG ypT. 



10 chet pompoiu "Eogiich aiiij Anbie (?) vocabuluy," 
oMiinsblo al the enormoua piioe of 12 tkilling*, in a quarto, alyleil 
"Hand.bocliiolndionnd Eeypi," London. 1841; wherein, n.-lonly 
an ell the exploded eirun, reganljng Egyptian aulyecte, perpelualed 
with marvpUoue fidelity ; but, nDder the nune of Arabic, it palmed 
offan tggngation of imh> one third of tvbich ii obioUlt Arabic, 
lacorrecily apellcd ; tinolKcr lliin! may be Hindoatanee, Bengalee, or 
Other Indian jdjoin ; and the teraaindei u literally gititntli. 

The only " Arabic and Engliih*' vocabulaty, that can ba aciupu- 
looaty relied on, i> the one appended to Sir J. G. Wilkioaan'e *■ I'opiK 
paphy of Tfaebei," ]S35 ; an invaluable work, now out of print. 

IJnlest we know, ty ear, Che foreiirn eoundi expressed by our con- 
ventioual combinsiiotis of leiiera, ii is vain to think of tracing coiroirt 
pbilotoK-icnl sMnitlc^. A most amusing catalogue could be made, 
in Beleetiona from modem Buropoiui literature, of the ludicroni fail- 
ures of tmvellera in .^roiic alone. Erron are perfectly eicuiable in 
ho make no pralenaiona; but, for a niaa to have the puerils 
Tanily to write in Engbsh the words of nn Eailem language, when, 
by ao doing, ho pruvea thai ho kauws naUiing about it, is Huiaittal to 
say the least, while hia folly iiiialcada hia eucceaiora ; whence, to- 
gether with euvleiiBneiB of obaervaliun, ,in great meaaiire, is deri- 
veti ihnt gsnorat tniainformatian about Egypt, ancient and uiadern, 
whieh preiaila everywIierB al the pceaenl day. 

In oiir alphabet, we have not the power to eipiesa a • " Ku," 
ora • "Gh," Bliil leaa an "AiB," nor can many Eur ^* opeaia 
eve ^ t acquire their true proauncinlion- \J 

M^^r. Lane, the mosl eminent Arabic aavanof die day, and the 
eitimable aiilhor of the " Modem Egyptians" (the moat learned and 
accurate of all works on the preaenl inhubilanta of Cairo and of 
Egypt in general) has been the lirBl to establiah a ayBtem whereby 
Arabic can be written in our letters; but, unless the reader A«ara 
the sound, he can never acquire its phonetic valae. Our alphabet 
will not eiprcaa all the Oriental intonatiuiui nor can their alpliabelB 
exprees all ofoun. 

It is much the same in miuie. Wa cannot approach Arabian 
inlonatione, whether in inatrumentali or vocal melody; and, be it 
obaerved, uuleaa a man has an ear for music, he can no more learn, 
or duly perceive the nicetiea of foreign, and particularly of Eaalern 
languages, than he could sing eorroclly without ■ voice. 

1 have said, that we cannot oitprei!! in our Ictten many Oriental 
arlieulaliona, without a conventional lyalem: as kh for"Kheyi" 
and en for"Ghain;" the sound to bo I^o^veyed by mmtlh. No 
combination of oura can expresa t)ie " ll" of that eitraordinary laa- 
gnage, discovered aa «lill ellanl in Hadramaut, by the pTofonnd 
Orianialist, Hon>. F. FVeittel, Fmah Coowl at Ojeddt ; which, 

while it somewhat reBombtes the " ll" of the Welsli.snt b« utieii. 
latedonly on the riRAf aide of the maiiih — beingBometbiog between 



An English friendof mine, in the Levant, who is a profound Turk- 
ish echolar, bad two native Ottoman HccreUirieB. Being deaifouB of 
testing the cppabilitieaof the Turkiali character, for the rendering of 
an English phrase, he aent one of them out of his bureau one morn. 
ing; and dictating to the other the following line, desired him to 
Write i'in his national leltera, so as to produce the £nfIitA sound, aa 
Gorreclly aa pomible. The senleace was, 

" Drag tho swindling acoundrel to the pump." 



srve Id show how diffidall it is, 
eiprcaa each otlier'a tcapectivi 
rk, tliul WB know not the precise 



n EuTDpean " 
langua(;es'; 

of the ancient Coptic, or Egyptian tongue, as we are ignotunl of tiki 
taund; for the apsskets, with the language, polished in by.gune ages. 
I now proceed to the general principles of tho Ajtciekt EoTmiif 
LujouiQii, isdctcrmined by the beat hicroglyphical aolhoritiea up i« 
the close of 1641. 1 shall pasa rapidly over ^e subjects, eiplaininf 
each "with ■■ ranch brevity as is consistent with perspicuity." 
It would be tedious, as before stated, to gn back to tlie doubts and 
disputes of 1635; and ray object is togivo agenerally.correcl, raihet 
than a detailed view of Egyptian studies ot ihe present day. The , 
riifliculiy of the task a»umed lies in the appropriate condenaation ; 
nnd if this particular chapter be found lesa amuaiog to the general 
reader than the others, il will not be the less inuruclive ; while it* 
iuscriion is absolutely indispensable to the clear apprehension of iba 
Be<|uel. In the words of Chanipolhon — '* Ihe subject hanUhea all 
ornament : in the absence of thin advantage, which would doublton 
contribute to sustain your attention, I would invoke the high its* 
parlance of out inquiries," no less than ll» reader's iudulgi^ot pa. 



The Language of the ancient Bgjiptiinu In '.he snciVnl Copa'e, ' 

ior to the introduction of foreign engraflments ; which may hava 1 
■en imported in pan, as eorly as PKUKTiam the 1st, about B.C. 
thSO. Before that time, il was an oulDclAon, or indigenoiia tongue ( '* j 
ho same idioms were orally in use from the unnumbered agea * | 
ior to the pyramidB, down lo tho obove. named monsrch of the I ' 
iJGih Sailio dynasty. It ceased to bo orally preserved among the 
Corrs, the present mongrel descendants of a higfa-casle ancestry, i 
about a hundred years ago. They still read II, with Arabic trans. • 
laiiona in the context, in the churches of the Coptic Eonmiuniiy ia 
Egypt. 

In construcUon, il is monosyllabic in all its primitive words. lU 
polysyllabio words sre ccanpounded of one ortoors lingnislical rooB : 
and theee can generally be resolved into dislincl monosyllablea. Ita ^ 
syntax is in the logical order of the French language. It containa a , 
certain number of Semitic words, due to early intercourse Willi i 
Arabian nationa, as well as to its primitive Aaia'ic origin.* 

Dr. Leipatua, in hia "P allograph ia," 1831, esublished very curioua i 
telatioas between Sanscrit and Hebrew, such as to leave no doubl . 
of the eiistence of a common though undeveloped germ in balli. • 
But still more vsliuble were the results of this erudite Gemiaa,etli< 
nologist in Coptic ; for, in hia letter lo the Chevr. Baron Bunaen, Jan- , 
1835, he established, thel the ancient Coptic is no longer placed in - 
lingaielical solitude ; but that it cnteninto the vaslcireuinTerence of 
'Semitic and Indo-Germanic languages ; and tliat it is linked with * 
rach by points of actual contact, grounded on the essential structure 
ind most necOBsary forms of all llare. He considers that, in the 
lumerala especially, so cCrong a similarity exists between the Indo. 
Germanic and Semitic languages with the more ancient Egyptian 
m. that he deems the numeral figures of the Egyptians to havo 
originally transported from Egypt to India, and thence, being 
carried into Arabia by early commercial inlereouree, were by llio 
Arabs tranemitled to us, and as such are by us termed Arabic; aL 
though, by the Arabs thisByaiem of numerotionis still called HiHrfec, 



Like all primiti 



) toagties. the Egyptian pi 
Thus, the name of oi 



The man wrote ji and baring heard the Bound, read it cr 
English. 

Ue was (hen Bent out of ibc 
had tMl hoard Ihe sound, was 
This he did freely, 

" DiBEE HE AsEVtREDELlKE AsEKI^NEDERF.L TET ZEE FoMEF 1" 

end this was Ihe ncareai epproiiraolion to the English that the 
Turkish alphabet would admit of. 

" In sober sadness," I can assure the reader, that it ia precisely as 
ludicrous to an Eastom ear, lo hear a foraigner read what la called 
Arabic, from an " English and Arabic vocabulary" written with our 
elpliabet. 

Some curious Ktemplificationa of the real mode of sounding some 
ancient Greek articulations, may be alTurdod by hieroglyphics] 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 bear 
an English Demosthenes begin his oration, with " Oi andret Atht. 
tuaoi!" Ye men of Athens; Or lo hear poor Homer's hexameter 
lo the sentence, (so often 'quoted to eiemplify the propriety 
of Greek iingulsticnl adsptatjons 1) " Felu flaiiboio thaldteet.'" 

Equally ateurd is the English mode of readiog Latin ; and equally 
unnatural lo an Italian ear are ourinlonationiof this language, when 
In lieu of the open, manly, and aonoroua cadeneoa of" Pater itoeteri 
(|ui ta in etslo," we shut our t^eih, and pronounce It, " Pafia noMa 




AiB was Yi, from his iroy ,- 

Lion " Mii6tt. from Ills roar; 

tW " £■**. from her laie ; 

Frog " Ooor, from his cnai i 

Cat " CAoog, from her ni*io; 

Fig " Jlarr, from his grun' ; 

Hoopoo " fflepep, from its peculiar cry ; Arabico, » Hed. 
had," (like out irA^p-poor-iriH;) 

Serpent" Hiif, from ita hit: 

Mr. Lane's exquisite translation of the ' Thousand and one 
Nights," gives some beautiful Insunces, in Arabic, of the words 
attributed lo ihe cries of birds. As, the " Umrae Hcgaiee." or Ara. 
bisii turtle dove, in its sweet coo, tapoals " Y* kertem, ya Allah." 
O must merciful God 1 

In ancient Coptic, the same echoing prineipio is recogmiabla in 



-'^'SCrGNT EGV* 



Tn-TE 



r fall drof fry diap. The 



0>i, 10 MtBaUaiB; *o tbM, in nra/IoTEnv, itl ndioru apeak Capf tc .' 
AIbo bf Dunmilalian, M 

B«IIM, ligklmng. 

T-" 'i In rrjom ; u in the Arab song of " Dons'-ya-bUrc." 
See Modem Egypliens, Vol. II. p. 83. 

AbstTBcI ideae wera expreMed afun by eompoiatdtd raalt; aa for 
•MmpW, ihe word " Het," lUart, boennie 

HcT-cnEM, liltlt hear/. i. e. timoroiia. 

Hib^i-Het. iloie ttarl, " pniient. 

^jket-Hrr. high heart, " prond. 

HiT.xtiDT, hard heart, " inclement. 

Oudh-Hkt. Haling one'* heart, " repenting. 

Tbot-Het, miiiae <""''* htarl, " pcrauaaive. 

MtH.Hrr.jtUtne one** Aenrt, " aadotiDe. 

Although poaseaaed af three coUoquiat diulecla, Ihe ttriting chosen 
to ciprexB the Isngusge (being Ddnpled lo all iheie verbal inllec. 
tloiu) is anolher evidence of the laborious intelligence ihal presided 
vni every Egyptian iiuiilulion. It was indeed a eounlty of wiAdum, 
Ib1«, and syBleniDtie order, wbcroiD nothing aai left to ehanee. 

The ayaloin of uriliat may be divided inlo primilive and (eceiid. 
•ni — the one being purely HOEOSLTrnicAL, with its two derivitivea, 
vllich waa the most ancient mcibod — ihe other Ihe modera, oi die 
Coptie. [l is only of ihe former wc are tronting. 

The learned LeipsiuB. in the " Annnle of ArchEologicil Coires. 
piNutence" — Komo, 1S37 : maintunB that the Egyptiana had Iwe 
•olluquial dialocla in lue, which were very distinct — 

lal — Ihe it^a yltLioira, or iifa tiB^umr, which ia Ihe eiattieal or 
tacerdotal — 

SJ the mri liatim*, which is die popuiar dislect. 

Tha anenif, or hierogh/phical writing, as well as the Ain-slie, of all 
t(M, presents lo our view ihe soccrdoiDl or clnaaicil dialect ; but the 
Mrmolie, or papular writing, u well u the Coptic literature, preienu 
tafnitar dialect. 

n why tlie modem CDptic, which preBerves 
(Ro ancieni popular niaiecl, will not always translaie words wrillen 
in the classical idiom, and in the anteiior hieroglyphic and hientic 
ehirieter. 

liiiK«d, St. Clement. of Alexnndria, A. D. 194, ia the only 

OM* of ihe early Greek writen, who deigned lo take notice lif 



Ihe pointlar di 

Thil -s the 1 



Huadolu* «nd Digdunv piaked ajt a I 



m atthe mode atwntinn. » 



" Thoea who, among tha K^tians, receive ioslTUCUon, leun fytL . 
that apecies irf Egyptian writing which is termed epiitologrtfki^^ - 
i.e. our demotjc,- tbey oeil learn the herafic, or ancerdutal; bdA ■ 
lastly, the hitrttglyphic, or aacred." 

So that an Egyptian, in Sl Clemenfa day, might hsvo been abia l» i 
read and wrile ihe itrnwfic, wilboui ita necewuily folloiving that IM 
efaould bo versed in the other two ; in the same manner, thai Oriental I 
maybe familiar with the Sidua or Reibtni charsclcra of the Tuikid^ i 
without being able lo wrile. or even read, a document written in tha 
Divani or Kyrma BiyleB. Thiaobservalian, however, will beilerappi^ ' 
to the Egyptian acribee, in the da^'a succeeding " ilapiiTe" — (" A^ , 
ries" — Phamuh ifepAra, of Jeremiah xxvii. to xliv.i Snd Kinga zx-r ' 
and 3tHl Chronicles uivi. : wboae nHBC, in hieroRtyphics, is al»» - 
"Rehisto"— lheaio>nuiaUei>Aarcuil)— B.C.5t>9: when the drtnatft ' 
writing may have heon firal inlt«diiced ; becauac, before that perio^ ■ 
the graphical alyles appear to have been limited to Ihe hieratic ^A 
Ihe hieraglpphic, until Ihe eiglileenth dynaiity. or B, C. 180l>— pr^ . 
vionsly lo which lime, it is uncertain if the hieratic eiiiled ; ao far «• , 
1, who am now far away irmn the vorlea of discovery, have bee* 
able lo leom. Monsieur E. Priaee, however, a learned liioniglypW* 
cal fdoneer, infoima me, in a recent private letter, thai he lias found 
■ Ueralie papyrus of a saw king of Ihe 1st. Memphile dynast]E^ i 
If the jttng cao be clearly identified, wiiicb 1 oonfesa my preoenk ■ 
inability lo comprehend, tbia fact will cany back Aierafic writing 
no leaa than chmnoloiy, unnumbered cenluriea before ilie Momphi)^ , 
Pyramids! Rumoia have since reached me that Dr. Leipeius' pis. . 
sent pyramidal teiearches will coafinn Mnneiho's early arrangeman^ 
and produce a vast acceaaioa of interesting historical facu, concenk 
ing llie regal builden of these mausolea, as wall as their bouak . 
holds. 

The ancient writing of ihe Egyptians was therefore divided in» , 
three distinct elanee — via: tha hieroglyphic or "sacred scuIpturaA 
characleiB," which was the original, and ia Iba monumental rnethad--n . 
the hieratic or "aocerdotol," which is an abbreviative melhod, um4 
by the aeribea and prieati in lilerory parauits, in current use prior t» , 
1500 B. C. ; and wbicb, written from right to left, is a tachygraph|r 
or ahorthand of tha preceding — and ^ licmoiic, styled in tha 
Greek trknolalias on ihs Boietn Stone mcWiai; uhich, com\af, 
probgbly inlo general naa after the PnaiaD conquest, B. C. 59$, ia Si 
still more azpadiliaaa a^b af writliig. li ia written from righi to 
left The moiem Coplia i^ however, traced from left lo tight, H 
the Christiaiiiaed EcrpliiBi fUtswad iba Greek* ia alpbahat WwL 
grafJiical spaaat. 



ANCIENT I^^^^^H 


Tlw fonowioe alphabet will fumiali a stnmi tdaa of the hiero. 


1 bol. I append la this toble a CopUc alpbabcl alsu. ^^^^^H 


COPTIC AUHABET. 




IIIEROGLVPHIC ALPHABET. 


^^^H 


^ £. Alpha A 
V r Giauna Oa 


A, E, I. 0, U, 


-«- w.i).«-.:i«.— .r.«-.x-. 




€ e « ■ 

« TUd* Ta 

^^^ I f Ia»i. I 


B 
K 

r, tb, d 


J>.-%-.-^.-V.lw..i>-. 


— .U.X.l..Vvjv\;ili.>H.* 


•*-.'^-'.^.-./\.t=. — . 

Vf.l.-.V.V.I-Hi- 


XJ[ rt Ni N 


■=>.A^>.A.^.-Y-'t"+- 


2 s -- ^ 

o 
Jl^ n p 

C C Sima S 
T T Dau D.T. 


H 

N 






'.x.-^i-i-r-'^- 


$ *t PU P« 


r,Tm.T, 




X X Chi u. 

W V Svri p. 


B 


UJ t« 

^f UJ Slid E> 
CI Cj F.i F 


S/.Bi 


.^.x.zs.m'./'i.'s^sc.s 


i^^.^.e-.ft.^ 


^ 2 H«i H 

2? X Sjanaia 8, 

(y Q BOnm a* 

* i* -f Dei T 


H«.H 


••1.-^ 


■^-.A-^.-T.-ml 


«^:"-.t;:i-^4;ft":'l 








or Ih* hientie sod damofio I bam mda 06 •mdy, but th< ■» 
•MdUg iiucriptiani wiil indieale iheir appoaraace. It a ilic Gnl lin 
tf ■ fofn la Iba btanHe «Knwicr. 'rm ■ ptfyna avw la tfa 


Brilish Mnwnin, cammcinoniting tlie campnigna of Ramsn U— ^^^^^^H 
gesastila— and hia vicloriea uvet mversl Aiiatic nal[oiu, far noiot* .^^^^^^H 


.^^ 






^»^g 




i^l 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 




HIEKATIC. 



V/ 
«% 











TRAJfSLATIOX. 

^^^ •! «fc» etoBfty ofScmuA**** with mtny king. 

• • • ib« 9atdhn of iJm ewtairy of Imkto, of th« country of Maomo, 
~ cTTon, of ib« eouairy of KstHKoiH, Ac 



ft pr«M«0df vitb the nuDMof eoantries, the geography of which 



li mkxitfwji 



DEMOTIC or ENCHORIAL. 



J— ArticlM of draM or cootuine— 4M htlnuU^ edUmrB^ rifcgfr, Ac ' 
K-— FamitmiB, araMymdfMigni %%ihrmna§thtm$t§ 

L — ^Household utennls— aa ocuet, ioiolt, ibitve«, &c. 

M — InatromeDta relating to arli and tradi 
fe hatchet^ hlowptptt £e. 

N — fidificea and buiidinga— os temples, ebeluks, hauee&g 

boots, &,c, 
O — ^Varioua geometrical forma— ta eqmares, etmls, amgUtt 

circles, segments, d&c. 

P — Monatroua orfabuloua Imagea — aa a Hawk with a kumsm 

head. Sphinz — a lion*s body with a ffMrn'a^ a ram*s, or 

hawk's head— men, with the beada of mimals and 

other unnatural combinationa ; all conveyiog howeyer, 

aome metaphorical, allegoricml, or myatical aignification. 

The exact number of the hieroglyphical figurea not being yet 

aacertained, the complete amount of varietiea uaed by the Egyptiana 

cannot be positively defined. Approximately, their number may be 

aet dovm at 900, and time will develop a very few more. 

Sculptured liieroglyphica were executed In "Intaglio,»»in "Rilicvo»** 

or in " Intaglio rilevato." They were frequently painted, in minor 

atructurea, without being aculptured ; but Were nrely aeulptnred on 

public monuments (save perbape on obelislLs) without being alao 

painted. In writing they wero apmetimea colored or Xluminated, 

but usually only in black qt red. * The colors given to each aymbol 

were not arbitrary on the part of th<; artist, but were applied 

according to sys'ematic nilea, more or leea conaistent with 

the nature of the object — thus, the Heavens wore p«intrd 

blue — the Earth red — Man aa followa ; Egyptian malea in red 

as the mopt honorable color — meaning symbolically, the ** heat 

of fire,*' and the ** male principle" — iCgyptian females, in yeL 

low, symbolizing the ** light of fire," and the ** female principle" 

— Other nations were depicted aa neariy as the artist could 

approach their true color — aa Asiatics in variouaahadea of fleah 

color ; Berbera in brown of divera hues — ^Negroa in black. 

^>M f^ / J Quadrupeds, birds, insects, fiahea, planta, in the colora moat 

^ki/XtA^ Af^X <U)/^^1o /^^*^ 1^^ "PP'^P"'*® ^ ^^^^^ ""^"^ "^P®*^'" Woods, in yellow— cop- 
J T^^/j ^"^v per, in green— edifices, in blue — and ao oo. To these rulea 

there are some exceptions, not however, produced by caprice. 

Disposal of the hieroglyphics— in vertical column ih)m top to 
bottom — In horizontal lines. Read from left to right, or from right 
to left ; beginning from that direction toward which tiia Iteada of the 
animals are pointed. There are ezceptiona, I a^ait, but thia ia the 
general order. 

Different species of signs and symbols — ^in the hieroglyphic char* 
acter are thus claaaed : 

Mmio— or figurative. 
TaoFio— or symbolic. 
Phonetio— or " aigna of sound " — i. e. alphabetic. 

Each of theae expressed ideas by diffent methods. 






Thia is (turn a pepynia in the Museum (A Turin. 

TRANSLATION. 
In «k« 9*h y«ar, tm th« llih of the month of Athyr, of tho roifn of the 



Tkie pepyma ia a civil contract for the aalo of the profita of the 
eibri/ifi in eeriain t#^rabe. Even hi Ptolemaic timea, Egyptian law 
did D//f rec/^rniie aa ^gal any documenta not written in the native 
dmrai-tera aud laoguag e. It ia of the last year of Philometor, about 
B«C. 140. 



Utui0ALrrmim, or moomiieiital wriUng, ate the primitife and 
■acred atyte ; the moat ancient monuments and papyri being in thia 
dmraeter. It It divided into two claaae»— the jisra and the IifMor— 
tm latter beings aa la eipUlaed by the following inatancea, a itjduc 
ttoaof the former. 



A rood, phonetically, A. 




Ajaekal, symbolically, a PaiisT 



A t^ose, phonetieally, S., Fignratively 
the Urcf gooae— aymboUeallyie^iprtfig. 

The fmrs riaaa waa alwarya aculptured or painted, and, in general, 
both aculptured and painted were employed on public edifieea. The 
imsar waa preferred in ordinary life and literatoie of the cariier 
periuda. 

The /gurea of thing! choeen aa hSsnglffphics are ranged into the 
fcUcwing aizteen eategoriea. 

A^— Celestial objeela— as avn, moon, siara.SLC. 

D— Man, of all agea, aexea and ranka, in all poaitioos of the body. 

C— >Par(a of tlie human body— aa an eye, hand, 6lc. 

D— Quadnipeda-^omeatic and aavago— aa a huUf gtnife, man- 

ksjf, dec. 
E— Birds of divers apeciea— aa a vulture, hamk,duek, ibis, owl. See, 
F— Reptilea of varioua kind*— aa a crocodile, /rof, «itaA;e, d&c. 
CU-Fiah, of a few varietiea. 
H — Inaecta— aa a heetle, sco rp io nf wnspp ice, 
X— Planta, flewen^ and fruits. 



FiouBATivELY — ^viz : ff«^i«X«yi«i^ ffari Mi/ia«ty-— method explain. 
ing itaeif by imitation, 

Theae expreased precisely the object of which, with more or I ^h w 
fidelity of design, they presented the image to the ojre— aa a diak, 
for the sun ; a crescent, for the moon ; a crocodile, for that reptile. 

Stmboi JCALLT — Subdivided into four principal metlioda, under the 
following rhetorical rulea, viz : 

1st By Synecdoche — the part placed for tlie whri e a t the head of 
an ox, to designate an ox— the head of a gooee, to repreaenta gooae. 

i2nd. By Metonymy — the cause for the eflfect ; the eflect for the 
cause ; the instrument for the labor produced — aa *' a month" by a 
rraseenf, witli its horns turned downward, to deaignate tiie end of a 
lunation : fire, by a column of smoke from a store : writing, by the 
combination of emblems given in the preceding chapter. 

3rd. By Metaphor — aa a mother, by a vuhure, becanae thia bird 
was said to nourish its young with ita own blood : a king, by a 6ee, 
aa thia inaect ia aubject to a monaiehial government : a prieat, by a 
jackal, to indicate hia watchfulness over sacred things : a phyaician, 
by a apeciea of duck, the name of which was eatfi, wlule the pho. 
netic name of a doctor was eetnu— nbs, even in oar day, a duck ia an 
excellent hieroglyphic for medical empiricism, becauae its phonetie 
-cry is " guack, quack." 

4th. By Enigma — ^thus, an ibis atood for the god Thoth Hekmbs, 
owing to a auppoaed myatical connection between the bird and the 
deity : a branch of lotua, or other parte of this flower, Indicated the 
Upper Region, or Upper Egypt — wliile a tuft of papyrus, aymbolized ' 
the Lower Region, or Lower Egypt : a sphinx, (always male in 
£Igypt) with a lion*s body and a man'a head, represented royalty— or 
intellectual power combined with physical strength. 

These ideographic signs abound in E^ptian legends ; but can be, 
and often are, expreased by alphabetic "homonymia" and ayno- 
nymee. 
PBoinRioALLT---(fi(om the Greek f«ni, eonnd.) Theae aigna are UU 

ters, expreaaive, not of ideaa, but of aounds, like our A, B, C, !>• 

They are, by far, the moat numeroua emblema in liieroglypliie 

writing ; and are alphabetie, and not ayUoMc* 

The fundamental principle of the phonetic system conaiate, in rep. 
raaenting a aoond by the pictoiial image of a phyaical* o^ecl^ of 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



which Ihe nunc, in the coUoquiil idiom of the Egyptiatu, had fur i nod, 
i»Ui<il nniculnliaii, ur beginning leiicr, lIis ■auiid whicii iliis tign, or the dilfiirr 
In^, wu tmendsd 



' the lufi oT ■ Heed, called Mt, etood for A. 

10 EbcUi " Aitom, " A. 

I Field, " Eol, - K. 

I Cip, " KiepXl, " K. 



m 

t 

^ enOw!. 

< — -. m Moulh, 

^^ • Beetle — gcuabBue, 



*.* vAf 



^SA' 






It klphibet, we oftcD kdopt i 



'here 



:b of (jiolHO i 



; colli 



intBtian of L ioi R ; bec»u» iliercLy 
speech di^oppeired from tlio ^rrtiphtral 
of tlie *unia |engnai( 



long Iho dcniiCBfl of tlie Nile 'in Coptic [imoai iwd «c ini^jli^r 
mal it was the aeme in anciont dn/a ; wpecisllf now, that Dr. Mor. 
lon'a triple climficilion of Annieni Egyptian Crania, IndJCBtcs the 
priiniti»fl eiistencB of throe Tarielics of the Otucatiun in Egypt. 
Among tlic FcUaha of the preaanl day, ihles idioni« of Araliio am, 
10 a practiced ear, diacernible ; tlie Satedtt, or Upper Elgyplian pre 
vincialiBins ; the GkdrUe, or Western ; and the S/urkdatt, or EaaU 
— 1, rofcirible to the lower provinces. It wu »ncieiill» aouiBwhai 



tlieu 



i for, 



" A, WM BD Apple.pje ; 

B, bit it ; 

C, cried for it ; 

D, danced for it I 

E, eyed lU" 

The copionmiess of thia principle, in the Tariety of worda 
kwncing with Ihe Mme initial, pomiitted to the acribe ■ choice of 
* bomophonei," or "cimilaTs ia Bound," to eipreaa the eaniB letter; 
ttna, the leltor R eonld be eipreued by a tnniith, re .' or by a pome. 
'panite flower, roiruin; or by a tear, nm* .■ T by a hand, tol .■ bye 
Ving, tenk ; or by a hoopoo, tepeep : S by an egg, aoeAs ; or by a 
aooae, lar; and ao on; an I Jiave exemplifled in tiie word Amtrica. 

The nomber of homophonee allowed to each letter waa, after all, 
VOt very conaideivble ; nor waa their choice, io the Pharaonic period, 
^•pendent on individual caprice. In later timea, the degndation of 
■n in Egypt, by the Ptolcmiea and Rotnani, corrupted the nimplicily 

Epriatine orthography, by the addition of aigna unknown before ; 
d the acribe sought, by the profusion of hia fantastic homophones, 
ID disguise hia igoaraticB and hia inabilily to equal hia ^orious prc- 
«edenla. 

Yet. in the wise lawa which regulated hia primeml ar^ die acribe 
_ if ancient days had an abundant Hslection at hia diapoaal, not only 

«r«ried phojutic aigoi, aymbolically eipreseivo of meanings coirea. 
idin^ to the dig^ty of bit theme, but adnplcd to Aortcmlof i 



^ rertical cobmne. 
*-'^- f S 
i ^i^ J M 



la liorizoniDl linei. 



-15 

" or 



=L,mj/?i 



SM 



» in the Hebrew, Phcenicinn, Arabic, and other Semitic lan- 

_ jea, the emsels in aneieat Copiio were vague, and habitually 

I wnilted. The conaananea indicated the word ; u, at Ihe present 

I ^tj, is cuatomary ia writing tkorUkand. In this manner, Domttu. 

«aa became DiRlni,- BEiLenicE ia written BrnA ; FBiurraa ia aame. 

Bmw Phtalteoupti, aud. in aome casta, Flpi. 

Ooa great adranta^ a«crueil from Oils power of rtaUie anppr«a- 



In tiawm.Btypt, the people apoke Ihe Mempkiiic, 1 

" Middle " " ■■ " iJaaAtBurie, JdimlBCt*. 

" Upper ■' " " •■ SaAiifie, S 

Bui, by the eiipptesBion of the vowels, nnd the ir»iinnu lability of ce^. 
>n of hicrogljphica could be 
1 reader, according to hie own 
^ iUi.to/Bld; Diighi be read 



vocally enunciated, by each pi 
peculiar idicitn. The verb ^ 

int. M, kol, or h-ii orio "_ 

It must be observed, ii..-^~" ~-^ when' the' introduction qI 
Christianity caused the hieroglyphic, hieratic and demotic cbnae. 
'■ to bp abandoned, {as savoring loo much of Aeadlenitm forlfca 
:aiF fingeiB of thoae, in whoro eyaa Mery legend was an la*^ 
of the foul fiend, simply becauB* they were loo Blullified uj com> 
prth*nd, too fanatical to inijuire) the GreroXoplic alphabetifM 
lubslituied in lieu of the ancient system ! hul ihe language, beyond a 
ew hellenic enerafimenls, and, a few idiom* in&Bduccd by Jowa, 
tomans and Arabs, remained nearly the same, lill ihe invnEiOn of 
ABmer-ebn-cl-As, and the cBtaljIiahmenl of the Sarsccnic Caliplul* 
in A. D. 540. Arabic gmdoally anperaeded it ; and I waa tolif, ihit 
the liei tpeaktr o{ Coptic died acme seventy years ago. 

The procesa adopted Ivy modem hierotogisls. in imnalatiiig anclsat 
Egyptian legcnda. Is to traiixpose the hieroglyphicB, according to 
their cotTBaponding values in Coptic letters ; dvs roow are Ihen-ia 
general traceable in Coptic lexicona ; but it requires vast erutDtiaa, 
iiiienae study, nnd long practice, to become a iroiislaior. In ancient 
daya, a hieroglyphical ten could be read aa cuircnily, os, in our day, 
he read in tlie Chinese Inneuago, or a treatise on AIgebt« 
tongues ; bolh of which, like an Egyplian legend, offer 
" ~l'"'"" Ill's""' "life of phonetic and ideographical signs. 

The three component principles of the sacred writing — that i> 
aay i tlie/gurarit>e,hyimitatioat ihe ■yintDlir,bf animliaiion; ai 
the phowlic, by alphabetical ■mmgementi were applied to all t 
parts of speech. A noun could he often wrtnen in each moth _ 
alone, or ei^iressed by the union of two ; and, n« unfrequently, ta 1 
anintermixlureofall three, in the same word. It becsine nccesMi^ I 
to indicate to the reader, through which of these principles ho thould I 
understand n given combination of symbols. To effcci this di 
fatum, the Egyptians introduced certain arbitrary signs, as dele. 
aliwt. For aiample; two eyes, drawn In en inscription, i 
mean A A J or represent eimplyfioa eyes; ot imply the act of viaion. I 
In the firft caw, the writer merely drew fioo efw ; in the second, ha ' 
would add one arbitrary aign ; and in tlie ihiirf, he used another 
orb llrery sign, to denote tlial he meant ■ vetl, or die acl ofaceins. 
With iheae rules, and thrir appticalion. tlia only way to gain an 
adequate acquaintance with the autuect, ia » consult Cfaampullion'a 
grommar. I merely attempt to give a aupeificial view of ili won. 
The following will ciplain some of iheae determiu. 












P 



hqff 



i of the 



. BO on ; each JeCemioiifite being ■ppropriale to the 

object dcterrnlned : Ihe names of doilieB by the image of the pccu. 
" god intended; the proper nameii of men and women by the ligura 

— ' female, aa 

PitJIoe.Phkk— " ho who belongs la 
HoiuB and to Phr4 " (the sun) being the 

'hieroglyphical mode of spcllinji Potiphar, 

ipyrus of Lord Mountnorria. 



%II:l 



6 thoDBuid, or 10,000 ind 3,000 ; w in tbt wcurd of 
enemies elain, tJUc a ballle bstween Rixses.Mxiamuii 
— B. C. 147(^— anii tlw Asiiiii: tiition of itfotAtiuA, 

<i^ 1 1 1 1 1 



inn' 



off. 



» their r 



la atill 

the fttBhion among the Turke K> cm off iho eart of the enemy* deai, 
•triDg them on BtUks in Kta of ■ hundred, pickLg them, and send 
tbem 10 Clonslanunoplo in proof of victory. DuriM the Greek revo. 
lulioa, it wu cvMUinxtiy, on hath sides, to resort to Iha same prlmilire 
uelhadofcountinethedeadi Ihougli, lo incnaae the number of nuch 
trophies, both Groeks nnd I'urks goaersily cut off the ears of (Aeir 
noodcad u well, to swell ^oiiiJJtliiwof irtaBipti, eltiined,of coium, 
by each party. In the last war with Russia, when the Turks fled 
(as (li«y invariabty wiil, on enooujuering (he European bayanel,] i( 
wan observed, that the cavalry always made off ftt«, lest they should 
befiredalhy theirowninfantry, wtiaiveresiuiiDaa f 
to liave the benefit of their horaos! The most 

ctuing of the Tnriusb Iroopcra ate called Dtlhi 

(modmiB,) from their reekletencas of human lire. ^"^"^ (T^ 
Their motto ia, to conquer or die ; and, an Baron >*7 

de Tott remarks, " ii. ne font ni I'un, ni I'autre." 

The ancieol Egypliansundenlooddecimalsuid . ' „,,, 

fiactiona -, and, in ahort, the papyri, existing: in n. j^ 
riouB muKums of Europe, concaining long innen. 
(one* and dfcounfa, show that iho priests were II 

maelen of anthmetieal book-kMping also ; a •d- /^^VNA 
ence developed 3000 yoaia later by the Iloliaa 



In hieroglyphics, the rign for yur waa 1 , figurallva of a palm 
branch, and lymMic of a year, because, L according to Horuk 
Apollo, "of aU others this Iree (the dalt. I paint) nlune, at eaeh 
renovation ofthemooDiproduceBoiMadditianal brin ch ,»o that in twelTB 
branches ibe year IB compte led." The pLiosible reason is, that, in Egyp^ 
the lower branches of thedate.palm are ant cioseu the trunk onceayear. 

MoRTB was ^^ . , "the moon mttrUd," (Uonia-AiinU^ 
symljoljc of lunar / ■ ' motion, 

Dii was f^, T\ symbolic of tha lun'* diomal oobim. 
And thus the v.!** ISth of March, 1B43, In hieroglyphics would be, 

I 






Sis 

I will now proceed (a the analysis of one hierogtyphical teil, and 
the production of a few othem ; by which the reader will be con- 
vinced, that iheRB Ounga ore no longer, thanks to Ibe ChampoLlionisls, 
" umnlelligihU myateries." 

" Granunairo E^yptiEnne," p. 39B— wd Champollici 
225. Read from right to left. 



/WvV\ 



n Figeac, ! 



O 



In (heir nolntion ofTiMi Cheaidea ihe astronom- 
ical tyclts, and perpetual cateniBr,) the Egyptians 
regulated their ordinary dales by the reign of each 
Pharaoh ; reckoning from the dale of hla aecea. 
sion to the throne to the day of bia death. Aa in 
England, Iho 5lh year of Victoria, or in Franoa, the 13lh of Louis 
Philippe i M in Egyp^ an act was chronicled, " In the fourth year of 
the Pharaoh, flatjBOire, the lOih day of A> month Faopi." 

This chronological system has been of immervsc advantage to ihi 
modem liierologiita, by enabling them to ascertain the length of eaci 
king's individual reign, and also by assisting them in other computa 
nons of relatiTe eraa for events ; while, from the multitude of tnbleia 
bearing data, end still eusting, we can correct and conlirm history. 
I give further on, in a note, some facts relating to Ptrtian monDrcha, 
■nd will add two other instances. 

Manetho telle us, that Sesoatria (who is our RtxsEa 3rd— ^. C. 
1565) reigned ES years, 3 months. A few years ago it was pretended 
(even with the eisinple of George III. before our eyes,) thai such a 
reign was eitremelyimprobable. We now have Btebe bearing dates, 
cf the 3rd, Mi, 8th, 9th, 14(h, 30th, 34fh, 35(h, 3Tih« 3ath, 40i£, J4th, 
and 62nd years of his reign, Kor need langrfil^ be claimed for the 
ancient E^yptiana; because, while the Almighty voiwbaafed to the 
H^rae patriarchs an especial duration of life, we hava posiliTe arU 
deuce* that, in Egypt and among Egyptians, the average life of man, in 
(gas before A-braham, was preeisely what it is at (weaent. 

Again, Tsorna the 4th (Mmtis) is said, by hislorians, to have 
rtigncd only 12 yean 9 months. 

When, in 1639, my much-honored friend. A, C. Harris, Esq., of 
Alexandria, and myself, wandered ouo day in queil of " hieroglyph, 
ical adventulea," along, the craggy ledges, caverns, tombs and quar. 
. riea of the lillla behind Zebayda (niidiUe Egypt,) wo stumbled on s 
(ailet apparently of the fartt/jfeand year of this king, which seemed 
to record that, in ibis year of his teign, Mone had been quarried at 
this place fur iho temple of Tnora ai Hermapolis Magna — Aishmoo- 
n«yn — on the opposite aide of the Nile. If [his Bhoold prove aulheo. 
tic, wo ahouid ho enabled lo correcl history from a hiero- 
Slyphical dale. Sir J, G. Wilkinson had already fbnnd data* 
of die 37ih (see Materia HieroglypUea ;} and d^ fact de. 
mands a more critical investigalion of the tablet alluded to, 
than in our hurried ramble we were able Id compass; as it 
would amend Roaellini's and ChampoUion Figeac'fl arrange. Vui 
meniof the later reigns of the 18lh dynasty. The vuat relics "''I 
loft by Mojria, seem to demand aa sxluuion of hia reign be- 
yond 19 yean and 9 months. •"• 

From the summil of the hdl, I ditrctcd mjr telescope with 
vsin regrets toward Ihe mounds of A»hmoonftyn; where, uptolS35, 
a noble portico, (added by Plolemy-Lagus, in the name of Pliilip 
Arridaua, about B. C. 330, to ihe teqiple, which had titen existed for 
1600 years,) had stood, in majesty, and in aafety, at which lime 
Mohammed Alt eaniwd it lo ha doalFoyod, lo supply building ma- 
terials forhii logeneratiog and civilizing mni.distillory al Mellawee. 




No. 1 — is composed of two signs, the figure of the god Khoks, re> 
cognizable by his emblems— -he is Ihe subject of Ibe proposition, 
and signilies, " I the god Khona ;" the other sign above him i* 
pAonitie, and is the root of the verb liti — to give, or accord. 

No. 2 — is pionelie — it reads tlu-in, and signifies, to go. 

Ho. 3 — the pronoun aplienelic — the figure that of a king — the group 
tetit pcphhont, his majesty. 

No. 4 — is L, the prepoaitian M. 

No. 5 — the first four signs are phonelie — Bathtatt — llie other two. 
one /gurafire of a country, the other tgndolie of cixilitBtimt— 
meaning a civilized country. 

No. 6 — is L, the preposilion le. 

No. 7 — is pionttie — reading nahtm, to rescue, deliver. 

No, B — is phonttic and synftod'c — si-f, daughter. 

No. 9 — Is plianetic — N, the prepoaitian e/. 

No. 10 — is JfguraCtrc of the idea, chief- 
No. II— is N, o/. 

No. IS— as above, No. 5. 

The cunenl translation is, " I, ihe god Khons, conseni that hi* 

m^esty (the king of Egypt) should go to Ihe civilized country of 

Boshlan, to rescue (probably to nurrf) ihe daughter of the chief of 

the country of Bashlan." 
This GitiBcl ia from the ISlh line of an hislorical lablel, eaislins 

in the ruins, souiheul of Kotnac, Thebes. Epoch uncertain. 

tiled from Cbampollion'a 
iihod introduced by ihat immuna] 
' o Coptic, and llience 



pin-oiir i 



hieroglyphiool 
A— Page 409. 

nii-ejpc 



? 



£,t0Tp gl 



n bank of the Nile,) I hove ci 



ANCIBKT EGYPT. 



408. 

AV\A\ 



^tfc Iff r -^I 

%jHL« ndfiTfl n neacui frd/-eipe 




4t 
I ksrt «s»eiit*d throfden of mj flMW, Aswu** 

C— Pac«184. 






^ O fiMt fodf, who retid* ia Deny, eome and eontempbta ddt edifioa !" 

r/te MMfU if . ligrfj, fa Nabkf raoeli about 1700, B. C. At thit veiy day, then la an adiaoant town namad Atfr 
neJU, tha abode of Rha, the San— « Hcifaiiatif, ia Nobia I 

405.6. 



li^ara^s ! ^^ 



o 

\ — 



iCMtte rt nconpTTf a» cfr*XT -Oo oyj if&.- lUHpi 



' ■< o *■!. muwH 






'^ktMttm X mk f owtil— (».<. JTmr. aoaiHiUt, lylae >b<>T> Irt. IS.) Mqr.OKinfof Biypt! O Son of fon||B Mtiaai !^ 

FiM» ih* M(k of an Afiiean ptiae*, at Tbebaa. 



^B^ h^ /WVW ^S^ yVVVV% CM»> ^M y^A/w> ..<». K'HL 




^iraKi irf£. irMTKS. ifeK^ etc KHue p 

a«wM« mMm, dtklm^ faeoalrtti, vvM. rEgjpl*, tm^ 




Da dia tonf ng of tha graat ddaf, bud of tba wbola aarth, CiVBTfis, to Egypt, bebold I aU the nationa marched with him**— albdiflif 
dba nM anaf of tba Peiaiaaa. Ran aa iaaoription on the atatue of the piiaat, **OiitobaBi Piaotan," ia the Vaticaa Mvaeum, Roaa 

F— page 600-1* 

/Eft i ^t- 'i'^ wi^ 



n(*^ bailaHb kaa. «rtMM. * « 



r/1 ± IP 






Jv.| 



pui gin eaam ori.{.L €ic Khug p 



Mut^ EfTJH* 



f4 

'J-Jei 



Idein — page 183, 
Tha iubjdned eiunple will alTord i good idM of ihe [noiiiioa from the Tiniar hitrBglyphicat chmelBi inU the kUratie. It b fiont 

tm grand '■ Riiuul for die Doui." 

ujipOK "i'oTog .liHTtiTenuooT gu ninttiTp u) 

nn Uih janliurii*, InlMxnn. it, I'hii. Juu cduL 4i*a. O, 

" O god, who NBideM in the lisbitttioa of walen, I haie trrived u ftr u ihu 1" 



^ 



Y V thynndab 



iOiI, the bacbuMa bud 



tliy sreap. 



l.,-»->^^ ' . 



"KoL, lbs barbarisa luid, ia beneath diraandalai KmH (Nigiilta] 
[ ||. within thf grup." 

Cooquesu of RamMi Sad ; depicted in the HeauBpeos of Betlt-eU 
W^t, Nubi»— B. C. 1570. 

KoL, or KoR, wsa an Auntie country. The pbiueology is identi. 
cal with Stmant ivi., 30—1 Coi. iv., 9S--f . The ume snology to 
iIm mcuuied phraaea or psrallelianu of tba Htirt« poalry is equilly 
diwsaniible in the eaceeading H and I ; sa well >a in moat Elgyptian 
■ i_ ... . .. , .. Jiiotie origin irf bolh 




2* 

,1 If I 



J^l Othou 

IT 

^^5 roler 
AVW\ "^ 

^^ Egypt. 

©• fihou) 



I © Sun 
^J>^ " JVi/awl"— Lybi»— <Iiler«llj, tha nin* bow^ 



^ 



shall DDt be (itand] 



- I the impure 
r^ befoMlhM - 



— — i§ 



"T" 



O ihou ruler of Egypt, thou aun of Lybia, (be impura d._ . .. . 

stand before thee." " ffifaiat" is the plural of phtt, Coptiea.a fei»| 

singularly associated with Phut, the son of Ham, whoH deactadanl* 

cotoDiied the " Bel»d-ed.djereod" — countries of the dnte-palnt— <« 

rbary. The bow reminda ns of the JAmlifiaa arehtn. 



*»Ci»K* ««TTT. 










^>-W Mm 






yifci *- 1- u». 




TKid ye Mil fiu younatra. 
Tread ye oul for younelvn 

For men, who are youT tniMM*, 



PiMovand by CbunpoUion U Itaat, te ISSS, is a l*fMd **y 

fsu«aU, picnired ia the set of thmbiiv com. I)*te prior to B. C 
SOO — probably ntucb more rvmole. 

The FeUaha of the prevent day sing in (U tbair •fiicnUual «eefc 
Miiaoa; and ihe worda of iheir aimple melodk* an oitoii tdcndoal 
In nature tu the aboio ; while I have no doabt, (bat the ait of Aa 
andent chant of " Msneraa " ia BtiS iwfanad ia *• fMatf** 
(thirdjninor) iioles of modem Egyp''''"' 

Many a time, in my long rambles in Lower Elgypt, have I p a ^wA 
to cBich iha wild, bui exquisiiely sweeiaon^af thapaa aa nt^ad Aa 
bfwiiBan— Mended with Ab incewaiit tiotaa «t the "Ciclade," tte 
ham of the wild bee, and the Bumatanoaa 4mw at tb« diatant tikim 

In Cgypi, the gnin ia ivpanted froia die italk by a bidlock-4Da> 
chine, tailed [bo narrg. There the "oi ia aaltaiunled aa ha traada 

tba grain," though iiiiin ia iDuuled by ]t 



L. 

lit Cuhimn— " The Omriatia — (i. e. talien unto CWiH 
meaninf, tile deicased) fBJJeaa, qneen Onxaa, 
tun Kilh a good itarl, the trntlkteller. The roTat 
daughter of Kiof PalMRls, (Paameticiia lat, B. 
C. 650.) Ihe truth- 1*1 lar." 

^uil Columti — "The Oairiana, (oddeM, qnean, Omu 
n««, *an teitk a good html, the trath-taller. Har 
mi>Iherwai the divine queen NrrociiT (Nilocd^ 
wife of Ihe above P 



From the Sarcophagua at qnean OaUAt, Iha M 



iTiBFkiible, thai Herodoloi aaja, that ba tomba of Ihia 
' ya >»/«, wan TioUMA by the inaana 
J, C. 5Si. 

I Hrcopbagai Wa* diMMand by iha 

:rB of the Luipar,(the v«Mal Mut to Thebaa 

e Obeliak. in 1831^ la a pif IM feet dMp, b*. 

.It waafcMd ireiaa fpaa. 




« ISmam. Al CiMwr, tm Vm 
wbMl aaSlittadinaa BMMhaia 
■r OiHt (Aa ma af ■■■} ia 



Bt^apoKar^wkaaliBatf* 
fi« dn BMrta) part af (MU« 
AtFateroT &MRi,im4#ir 
la^affllay^ Tb* dtrV 
placad OB die potter'ajwliMI^ 
wUcfa be tomi with hiafoo^ 
lADa be ftAlona it with Ua 
banda. k laa aubject faaa 



AiniilJbtM, or Napb, 
Kiiephi OnonidiiB, Nonl^— 
npnteBK iha "cieatite pow. 
er of Ailitax—thai ia, " tba 
ifkit 4t Ood"— the trtali 
of Uft pawad into our Doa. 
tilla. 




Tho term Obelisk is d«riTed from the I.iilin lAtOaeut, B dimi 
of the Grerk word oieloi, mBsning literally a tpit, lo indicnTe the p«. 
culiir form of this epeciea of monuineot ; on tiia same clniEicil prin. 
ciplp, that in our day, we faceiioualy designate Ihem nrcdlet. 

With more propriety, though with Bqaalfoundaoon, they have been 
termed " rmya of the ann ;" bat, ita Ihs ElgyptiuiiB had ■pparenllyno 
auch idea, whoa itiey placed tham before tlit'ir gignotic editicea, we 
lumd not pause la inquiie into tbereaaonof liie appeiiaiiDn. 

They are purely biatorical monolith!, generally of ayenilc, 
cut by order of s Pharaob, and placed originall)' in pnira, in front of 
large royal or religioul huUdingi, ta leoonl in (heir inscripliona, the 
name, title*, and dedicatory ofieringH of the monarch, wlime mnniii. 
eenco and piety had built, repaired, or otherwise cmhelliahcd the 
edifices which iheae obeliaka adorned. 

The obeliak, on the cover of this eaaay, ie a copy (with one ortwo 
alight loaccuraeleB) of the one adll erect at Heliopolia. It it tho moM an- 
rient, na well aa one of liie moat beautiful eitant, dating about 3070. 
B. C, in the reign o( Osortaaen the lat — of the 16ih Di.>:'i>otitan Oy- 

II ia the aole remaining one of a pair that alood It^ellier oti the 
■ame apol (perhaps the other ia there still, under the alluviiim.) about 
H7 years ago, in the lime of the Arab hislorian, Abd-el-Lniepf; 
and confimis the rumora handed down to ua Ly Herodotus and Pliny 
of the former exialonco of an obeliali there. 

Ita height is about rixly^ne foel, and its bni 
M a beautiful ahafi of ted grmntie from the quat] 
■ii hundred and forty miiea from it* preaoni i 
•oanycdby Oaortaten. 



J^ 



That ia, dedicated to Phrfi, tha god ai 
1^ eity, on tha ruina of which ihia obelisk now sla 
hiaroglyphiea, (he city of Fhrft; in Greek, Heliapol-. ' 
Sua ; in Hebrew, On and Betk-Skimmm, the " lioutB 

in Sancmic Arabic, Ain.**^! ' ~ "' ""■ "" 

Darif, or coUoquiol Arabic o 

Btai, from the purity of ita apiinp. 

Aa an instance of the miaconteptioD>, "till pt^failing all o' 



ANCIEKT EGYFT. 



wM 



(■« 

tomvl inrurmilioti Ixlnf now ucoaiuie lo ui ; ma u an sTiacnce 
ihif, III 1M3, ■ min who knowi nothing of ■ lubject, ihould it lean 
■baUJn rnim tarilimg ibout it ; I extnci ths foUowing pmgnpha 
ftoin "I'bfl Americu in Pvu," or Hcilti'i Ficturesquo AniiuBl Tot 
JW3 — by Monnuur Jula Juiio — paea* 23 uid 33 — on the obcliik 
af Liil*ur, now aunding in ihc Place de la Concorde, Paris. 

•• fiewn to rounelTa tingle block of alone tatntf^mr feet higli } 
IM culur a bsanlilul led. Yoa would aaf Ihi> eiqutaile ■una waa 
tnnaparcnl, it ki danlea yoa wiih iu beauty : il ia slender and deli- 
cate, and ia covend with a ihouund hiaroglyphical chnractrn, which 
will /ar s Jang Iinu, lonnenl tlw CiampaUUiu present and la tmmt. 
ntf were uUigcd t« tttk thia long alone in ihe-diaert ; lo lake it 



n ti',m 
bttlim U u mttm i f 



• It bad Blood ei 






- 1 >■ •* IM V IhS* Wa« nu - ka: nMalr 
Ifvf *jM vif.A f nnch author, or hia equallj ranlaHa Engltafa 
m-.^ivjc, •*««?. 1-* ;*»iii pa.fia u» inf ■)>« ;■■ Mr. Aldricn liaa done 
« u •*.•» .*-.t srwr fro™ Parin — i-iil* " New WwM" — aSih tVb. 
ftK-T. :*,*3!, -ff-if ttr-j wiiAa thB t'unrR, the pnKhaur of llcalh'a 
fV^...->w. .* A!.i.;\, ij.'A i.'H titfc nifreltrd a pOflioD uf liia eitrava- 
^tf v.-.i/. 

Kv** .• /».-..•.'• '^jirj of *i.,ijn miiat be 'atnngrly defecttve, 
■M «b.«'4iuv««iifr HUB a.Ufetbcr l'>r j>idiriiig of tbn kiitii and heighta 
«^«*frLnif .,■. ("t-j ; wMo •& 'A*:i-k, whiiaoaliaft meninirca ahova 
ttmmi ).im !•'.- f>./.i-., •Ii'f';;'! ■) ini'ttr. in hU vi(.-w t<i tietnlg.faur. 
A •"■vKwT vf...'; S.1VK Xii*!! t>i'(i '>''Uk( intuimalion at a glanee ; 
anr >v> A .-.-■ •'. 4!.-Af,«4 '^'/••r.'.in'.iil ha.i- akprsded tioa iiiiJJiaiia 
MlmtM, V> v*iM'A lr>ft •I'M.iik, u riii':d )>/ Mmmicui Janin,a nnitie 
y ^'ntytirt, f'r-'. V^. »n.^,» </t J. I'jW.r ai 'I1iebi-a ; which ilsnda 
W ^.r Iff vtr.f ■/ M^ *■,', tut '■!• th« fi-rtik Blliiviiun, tioundcil 
«• -jM* iiAn v( ,^f.t,.i U.i)»—* .v.f walk fpiW Moni-iour Janin-a 
«wr> 7 '.A ^WMtrjfK*) cr« ir.'l.'aicd Va Ompalra. II. C. 1157, 
M •>p"j;.'-/ c/i*., •/>( M M'AiW .r Jaiiin'a F'lpjrright. ^or ia the 

kk t-*nfJt - J }'«caiMla'<a«lr-''r4',"bi liiT qftakiH »f lli'av!, whoae 
■Mn'Xg* ^rf t-ifH •! Airifr4 tfaii .Mwffc^ur Jlnin'a acriiiint. 

H '**■ t>4 -K ■r*r*.>i'A t-vl wiuKht ■" •I'irracI bla iiriginal'a pn*. 
ti'-'-i'^. •* f.' ^•.' i-ti* t*i^(K4 til* ('filriwKig ciquiMtc draeriplion of 
«i« '-^ vv <Mt4i liv9nt,iiinn '(it Apinndii Ifitha WTitnit volnme 
</ 1w " K«'r;rAr, Aii*.'ii;i;ea,'' puMiahi^d undrr the Mi|K:ririlandeiice 
•d IL* h-f., -J tn tM Llfui'in 'A r.Vful Knawledgp, in ih* LJbrarr 
«f '•«**toi««g K>."w>4«4— f^'ind'jn 1D36— pag* 373. 

" h'^a tu, 'yj(t,ulii ar« in a utal" «f peifeet preacrralion ; the 
, IjV^ M a^'Al <: !«['>■)'•'""' f'^'"h ftet high, ud tho other about 
*»* iiiiriifl »ik) ttii(iy.ajl fett aAorter." 

M'fi.aAur Ju;*t Jarjin inf-inna the world in nnaral, that the inacrip. 
•VMM 'Wi tt.K fariaian olnlink will, "for along umc lormont the 
f^t-mirAiymt jKucnl and to come." He writaa thla at Puria, oa hit 
fr-rtt* 6i«„i„n. in the autumn of 1843. 

If Ik had aorn fit lo aik In any Parinan hookitora, he might have 
^»"d a nital pamphlet, entilli-d " Ijalvulini'a Tmnalntion," of tbia 
Uanfacil (.licliak, pHblnfaed in Frrnch, about 1837. Or he ml|;hl,at 
Miiy l>wik*etler'i, ur ill a decent libmry public or privair, have read 
In " L'Uniteii Pittunw|H", Ancioni Egypi, by Cbampollion Figeac, 
puUialicd in 1640, pagei 78 m 64, and thorerrom have elemnd a 
<Afnpli-ta ri;l\itiillon ufhia ailly ainertion. I will auppow ihnt Mon. 
■ieur Janin netai b»ari al Cham pull ion 1b Jeuna'a " Letlici ecritea 
6* I'Egypie (■! de la Niibie ;" publiahcd al Patia in 1830, hocaOMi il 
ia faabiinibia (ft iiinke uae of Cliampollioa'a naine, ntid to wrilo 
•bvM bia "inighir dianvTRrii'*," otnung auihon who have nut the 
li«M<M ilea af what (Imao dlaeoTi^riea really aio. 

If Monrif-ur Janin mh read ItaliaD, he might have ronrattrd, in 
■ny Pariaian library, Uun-llini'a "Monumunli dell* t^ciitoc della 
Vuhit," tol. 3rdi Monti Humci ; pan Siid; page 139, ei K-q.; 
puMiahi'din IMS; wlicrainhi! wouldhavpfonnda tnnalalion uf lliia 
Mwui ea l ukeliak wtrimtim tt Ktrralm. Or if ho can r^i.d Engliah, 
•■r withor, bafora be laatml hia " foduiwra," might have lonhcd into 
. Hir J. O. V/akimoii%'"torngr'piir of ThelitB,<'p>igcB 167-6; pub. 
liabrd in I.'infliw, 1633; or fiimlly, Honalrnr Joitln could havB re- 
nU'Ved hia duubt*, lind ho dernieil it eipcdiont to periimi the " Man- 
nan and CuatuiiiK cif the aacicnt Ggyptiana f Ijondon, firal acriea 
1637— «^r.>uil wriea 1641. 

Id mtii.'wt, pauiphlcU, periodicals travcla, ^., of alt datoa aincc 
1036, md ia all European lanKnaffea, M'liiirieu Janin cuuhl have 
bma edifittd (« ibe obcltak of Lnqaor. Nay, had he inquired uf a 
pnlieeman In Paria, the founuin Murco bf hlpTulngiral' acicne'e, ho 
Mighl haira cnlightenad himaeir on iMi tvcnr^./aar [ret obeliak in 
tfie " Place da la CoTMorda ;" the hieroglyphics I nanien on which, 
fur the Innt fii yoarv, have been iranaferr^d it the French govern, 
ment Mnaniboala, under Ae farailiar deal^naliona of "LeRham. 
tea," ■' I« Sewiatri'i," plough the wateta of the Mcditerrannn anii 
Archipelago ! 

Under Ihr IcttrrH,! hive given anextracfofih'' addrew lo Ram- 



heaven | thadiBallaiiif *r dapla 

In toul Wght ia, EVencb feet TO, inebaa 8, line* 5. _ . 
itj^ ia amiDaUd at '" 9SI0,596 kilogntnma^" equivaleat lo MS7 
luintala ; or, about 34G of our tona. 

It waa cut at the grmoile qaaniei of Sfene, at the let Cataract br 
order of Ramaea Sad, abont B. C. 1570, and Iranaported to Lnqaor, 
diaunt 136 milei ; whan ihe awdial inacriptjona on three of ila four 
acea, were engraven in honor of thia Photaoh. It waa erected, with 
II* fellow, on iho ndhhem front of the Palace of fhia Monarch i whoaa 
demiae occurring before the fourth central c 
waa campleled, hia brother and aucceaaor, Rai 
added Ai* oiea namea, titlea, and dadicationi, in the fonnh medial 
le and in two lateral columna on each face — about B. C 1550. 

And in aubatance, theae later inacripliona atteet, ihat "JUmch 

■uiwit. Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt, aon of tba mala and 
female deilica. Laid of the World, Sun Guanlian of Truth, approved 
of tho Sun, liaa made iheao works,* for hit father, Aniun-Rha,t and 
ecled tkn (vo grraf Okltaia tn Aard (tOM bafcn Oa 
of tho cily4 of Amun." 

on, every Egyptian obeliak, exia'ing in anf patt of tba 
woild, ia now welUknown ; and tho entire inaciipiiuna, an eaafa dim* 
ire (rsiialafed and pMiMhed. 

Thone now at Aleiandria were cut at Byena, by Tfaotmea 4tfa — 
Mairia— 730 milca from their preaent aile, aa for beck aa llflO B. C. 
He cauied iha canfrsJ loacriptiona on ibe four facaa to ba anlptarcd, 
and tranafemid ihem to Thcbea or Mempbia. Ramaea Std, about 
U. C, ISSO, added the lateral iaaeriplionai and, in later timaa, m. 
other Pharaoh engraved hia own naraea and litlea. bubaeqnantly to 
B. C. 300, the Ptolemiea, to entbrlliah their Greco-Em-ptian capita], 
tran^feriad tliem lo Aleiandria, where they were placed in &u]t irf 
■onie great public edifice (probably before the ava-ward gate of tha 
palace) and where ihey ere atill auppoacd, by ninFi3--niiio out of a 
hundred, to have oerved Cleopatra aa darning nrtdUt. 

The obeliak in the Hippodrome al Conatantinople, ia alao a work 
of Thotmei 4th. Thoae al Rome bear inacripliona of variODa Fha. 
raoha, and Roman Emperon. Of all the obeliaka, tha lai| 
moat beautiful is that of Kamae, at Thebea ; cul by Qaaen . 
about B. C, 1760 ; it ia a aingie ihaft of the putaat and roost ex. 
quialtely poliohed syenite, in height about 90 feet, and In weight 
about 400 tons. 

In elnetdating tha nnnterona pielorisl iltuatraUons et my mhaeqneDt 
leclurei, in addition to the vaiioua hieroglyphic a I tcita already aub. 
milted to the reader, I ahail have ocoaaion to apply all tbagranmab 
ieal rules and ayntaetical inflaetiaaa, which might have baan a^ 
pounded in tha course of tbia efaapur. I purpoaely abstain btm Iba 
dry eipsaition of the parts of apeecb i as few would reliah ibe tnb- 
jociof bieroglyphical atticles ; declaMianof sobatantivea; praMmm 
boLaled, afiiiod, prefixed, posseaaive, eonjuitetive, damOMtiatiTat «f 
va{>iie i verbs of evaiy variety, '" '' ' ' ' 

gationa, in persons, esaea, i 
gerunds; prepositions; adverba; a^jec 

jectiona. The curioua in theae msllata are refamd to that sabli 
menial achievement — Ciuiiroi.i.io;('8 Grammar of Egjrplian Hiattt. 
glyph iea—wheneo 1 have aelectcd the more prominent aubjects of 

I have ■ copy of this grammar; but a more recent and better 
digeated condeination of grammatieal hierolofty is " Dr. Leipaius^ 
letter to Piof, Roaelllnl"— Rome, 1836. 1 read il io Egypt ; and it 
ia one of more than a hundred volumes, published in F.UTojie within iha 
lost twenty yoats, wliicb, lo far as I have boon able to laam, are nut 
to be found in any public library in this country .|| 



la rWKt et Lnqm. Tta wonl /.ngnr 
Yh HpmM Ii«l ot KfllK- 




uT tlKm. liiteB 1 cniicd tin AUaaw, llMaara aianf «ab whiih I an I 

■' In /.a(ia-n> Tabuiii PjiauWiiu : B«iHal. Bnh, VB. In OcrsaB-PsJHansltf, 
uaiiMMofliaiulilial riairJhi. dcoiDi^nUJ ta tha E<anKril;B«lia,BTaM MB, 
■to. |^Mni»T-mrftlwM>a™rfBn>nlw,intbi_liiiMl«man(*.tlaniltl«,^^ 



pllini-iaKaypiViUiSi^Mii^ti^-^^^^^ ^^^ 
I'X^ilhBphl-il-'l^.W- Tl«'h«ia.lJliuui. 

*£iI^raV WIS. Ufa^iwi'ta ifci-AaaaU nf «« 
Romi : ISO u IBS. OasVl 




Ni*ir.n 






__ ___ HciiBiirou. Kniica aftto Bar 

iMtbnit, ia Iba "lluUHiinnrtbi AirlMiliisiml IHiui*^ 
■■SsRii^im. On a Buiw uTudi. On two EarvUM 
Uunn asisB> r UB, OB Iba OMkt oT nOn. i.i Bia 



SAHCIENT EGYPT. 



• Thil gTcnt work, Ciuiitolijon's Monumenu at Egypt and of 
. Nubii, eiieu only in the privnte libraries of Francii C. Graf, Esq., 

■nd tlie Hod. loha Ficlicring, of Boolun, besiiica > ponioa in laj 
■- own poueBsion. Prof, RoMlIini'n " Monumenli dell 'Egitlu e delta 
. Nubia," ia ta be found oiiljr in Ibo library of R. K. Haiglil, Ebi., of 
i ifaii city, although ten yaara have elapatd aiaee tbe lat volume of texl 

■nd the 1st livrKuaa of plalea appeared. 

I have heard, on undoubted authorily, thai about ni yoan ago, a 

copy of iheH first portions of RuMllinJ waa acnt to the United 

Stales, and ibown to many of [he leading pnbliahera and librarians 

from Boston to ^Va8lli^gIon ; but aa not even ilie Congressional Li. 
'' bmry deemed its acquisi lion worth Iha eipenae (1000 franca at Paris, 
; or less ibsti two hundred dollan,) it waa returned to Europe. I am 

nware, that from Buelon, and frum Fhilsdelphis orders for the tnort 
\ fmportant hierologieal woriu havB buen sinca sent to tite Continent 
» •nd to England. 
,' If, therefore, I have now tlM gralilii^Iion of layinSt before an 

American public, views upon E^ypt, as novel in nature as in reauits 

<' aurpriaing, (he advantagB doea not accrue to me from my own cnjia. 
city or atquiremenu, but from tlie fact, that in this country, tiM labors 
'^ «f the CtaampoUionuts have, by the mass, been diwegarded. 
J And yet, monthly, then inaue from tb« preaa of this eaanliy, ax in 
^ England, and e*en on the Continent, worltB oo every subject bearing 
upon Nilolie pnlr-ogmphy. I'raveU, liiblical commenlanua, historiee 
pi of primitive times. Encyclopediaa, lenmed and unlearned disquM- 
f lianB alfeciing ancient Elgyplian queetioiiB. Whenever they arc ni>1 
..- penned with a knowledge of what, in the last fifteen yeara, has been 

■ ■•ecompliahed by IhoChainpullion sdiaa^Asr ■!«, in 1EM3, valuelciH 
V •» Ancient Egypt. 

Are not, however, Egyptinn atudiMi «T>d the mytholc«r, phUoso. 

phy, and doctrines of that m if represented nee, interesting to ihi- 

divine who altesta the unity of the Godhead and the holy Trinity T 

Can the theologian dt rive no light from the pure priinevsl faith, that 

glimmcra from Egyptian hiernglypliicB, to illualiotc Iha immotioliiy 

>• of the soul and a final resurrection 1* Will not the Udorian deign 

t 10 notlM the prior origin of every art and scieni^e in SgSV- " t'lou- 

^Mnd yean before the Pelasgiana atndded the isles and oapea nf 'lie 

VAicitipelago with tlieirforlsandtempiesT long bcfora BiwatwnoiviU- 

iiion had smiled under Italian akiea 7 And sholl not the othnogra. 

.ber,verRed in Egyptian lore, proclaim the fact, that the physiolopcal, 

>' vraniulogical, capillary and cutieular dislinctioiis of the human race 

. ailaled, on (he tint disiribulion of mankind throughout the earthl 

■ PhilologiiU, aslronometa, cheniiiti. painters, architects, pfaysicjans, 
"^ must return to Egypt, to learn the Tirigin of language and writing — 

• ef the calendar and solar motion — of the art of cutting granite with a 

• Mpper chisel and of giving elasticity to a copper awoH — oT Intking 
•■ ^as with the voriegated hues of the rainbow — of moving Single 

■ blocks of polliihed tiyeitib'. 900 tons In weight, for any dinance, by 
1 hnd and wa'er — of building arehet, round and |i»iDled, wilb masonic 
•'- preeiiiion unsurpassed at the present day and antecedent, by QOOD 
-yean, to tlie " Clonea Magna" of Rome — of aculpluring iloric 
t-mlnma, 1000 yeais before the Dorians arc known in hiatoiy — ^f 

JriKo painting in impcrisliDble coIoib^— and of prociicat knowledge 
^ ^tn anatomy. 

Every etafttraan can behold, in Egyptian monuments, the progran 
' «f his art 4000 yean ago; and, whether it be a wheelwright building 

■ chariot — o shoemaker drawing hia twine — n leather.cutlor using 
- tita aelfjiame form of knife of old, as ia considered the beat form 
■ now— ~« weaver throwing the same handi^hnttlc — a wliileamith using 

that identical fonn of blowpipe, bnt lately recognised to be the most 

•fficienl — the scal.etigravor tuning, in hiaroglypbica, such names as 
• Saoomo's, above 4300 years ago — or even the poulterer removing 

iha fip from geesf — ail there, and many more astounding evidences 
--of Egyptian priority, now require but • glsnco at the plates of 
' Koaellinl. 



Can the enthuaiaam of ■ Kitrologiat be doubled T or is it lo~ b« 
anppceed that such lighta at* to continue under the shadows of 
indifference, or be extinguished by t)ie doubts of aeir-complacenlacep- 
liciam 7 thai the oil which feeds the paleographer's tatnp shall frceiB 
Id a gelid shade t thai the stupilied ban of heteredoty shall thwart 
an arcbuologisl's labon 1 It cannot be. It wilt not be. It t> but 
to place the fiteU before the American public, and we sliall hwo 
exclaim with Galileo, "ma pur si muove," iuti/ft it morei. 

A very few of these fiutt are herein submitted to the reader. 
Cheerfully do I ctmlribute my mite to advance the cause of lilenlura 
and science, hy furniahing ihe lEV lu the profound labors of othen. 
As of eiBl a free-trader in commerce, so now in tlie capacUy of a 
free-trader in lilerature, the writer tender* to the public through the 
cheapest mode of diffusion, such information as lie may poaseaa on 
ancient Egyptian subject) ; which he has derived from the works of 
ollirrs, aa they, in general, obtained llieir knowledge from the eon. 
irmplalion of antiquity throngh Ihe medium of their predeeesaota. 
We alt of OB are merely paning on, from hand to hand, the learning 
of our forefathers, fashioned according to tonventional modeh that 
we can rarely call our own. 

I am unwilling to close this dissertation on the language and wri- 
ting of the BncienI Egyptians, wilhout adverting to t*o points, upon 
which much intereiling investigation can be pursued. 

The linrt regards the numerous alTinilieB tmcenblc between the 
Hebrew on the on« hand, and the Nilotic taered, or ctaRStcal lan- 
gunge on ibe dbdT- Critical analysis and comparative chi^nologicol 
cotillions may serve to ealablivh, by logical deduction, t'he reltiltva 
antiquity of liolh tongues. My own irapression ia, that the reault 
woohl esiabiiah a common primeval origin for ckis, as in other ques. 
tions; or compel an acknowledgment of the piioriQr of the Egyptian 
tongue. We have now, however, indisputable evidence of tlie 
Asialie origin and Caucasian mceof the earliesii iJMiiirna of the Nile i 
anil can smile at Ihe Inng-eseerled deieenl of cifftiation from Etii. 
opia, (that unknown land of fable) or, at llie idKtiFlla origin aoumg 
any African tribe. This will be made clear liA» sequel ; and Ihis 
fact will remove a host of dilemmas, by tmciag BoUieira and Egyp- 
tians to a probably-simultuieoni deparlurc from their comniiin Asiaiic 
hive. 

In the firxt chapter, t maintained. lh*t it haa been 100 customary 
to seek in trifles for confinnations of acripiural authority, where none 
exiat ; and it baa often happened, that, while making parade of littia 
circumstances, which hava a very small bearing on Ihe truths of the 
Bible, the more importanl confiimationa are overlnoted. 

Modem hierology, however, begin* 10 throw light on the Penta. 
leuoh 1 and I will give the following emmple (one of many nmilar) . 
in conlinnBiiim of Acts vii. S3, that "Moaea* was learned in all 
the wisdom of the Egyptians ;" and in corroboration of the assurance 

of St. Clement C of AlBxnndria. A. D. 191.) that " Ihe qmlBlt 

of the Egyptinna are similor to those of the Hebrews." Strmmfe* V.t 

From the eariicst times, in agea long anterior to Abraham's visit, 
among the Egyptians, the atp ^K was nn emb'em of royaUg i *a 
its Greek name tatiliik implie ^ s. The aep waa typical of, snd 
sacred to, the god Neph, whic ^ h deity was an incantation of 
the ■' spirit of God." It had I ^^-ikowise other significations con. 
nected with mylholcey- Every Pburaob beats the ssp on bis crown. 
In the Egyptian language, a king was cidlod Oiiro, vi-hicb, with the 
article Pi prefiicd (Caplice ; " tiie") become* Pi-ouro " the king," 
to which has been traced the origin of the Word Pharaoh .- but I 
prefer the derivation indicated lirjt by WITklnaon and pcriecled by 
Ruselliui, whereby Pharaoh is derived from Plire, or Phra, the 
god Sun. This deity waa aymballied by \0i^')ic Ilawk-headcd 
god, Burraounted by Oie solar disc, and sac ^3\r('d osp, holding 
the ertiblem of eternal life. The iaick w^ ^is snored to, and 
typical of the god Sum, PHr* Was also »y PjTmWIiied by the 
image of the aun itaelf, as in the prtuaNien - * ' ovali of Egyplisn 
ruynl naniea,y''~*\tlia solar oth- Josephus lelU Us, thai the word 
Pliaraek inef • lani king j and oa the image of the Sun on oarlh ; 
anincarnatioN^^n of solar dominion and benevolence; the king 
of Egypt waa tymboliied, in the sacred chatacler, by the "aolu 



mmlStfn loJ Uieo •l^ 



TiMI la Hw Iwtinniiif " I 



ur dir>. tbs tiling " wlidMi 



ai TkUr 
U8CIIK1 



y>l«w«».il»iai»»(l>"«B«v|/ n nUse.urJ(«.<tu>UH^i)Eir»ila<>- 




BTBii twuidii'ilu jniirHilB.i«MBUi>C'>'<lM KidJih afllw bi 
ll.onBt.-b»M<lal«.lll«riHiltl»liHIISI --•"-" '^ -^ 

. Ortf-iUh. ftoirHWnilbf -'-"■-'" 




..'it." In Aa SfUa, this tium of the king* of Egypt ii, in iho orig. 

, liwl Hebrew IrlUn, Bpell Pirdh : Teadereil Fharmh in our vanion, 

■nit eamipled iula Ihe •ound of F6iTagJt, So ttrangely has (his 

■ppropiiile title of the moiiBrch of Egy-pt deviilod frum i» natunJ 

' mple tpplicalion, thai ml Che presenl day, in Arabic, 

nan csJls another " Y» PAaraion, abn-Pitaraocn,'' 

"ihou Pharaoh, sod of a Pharaoh," lie fancict ibsl h* baa beapod 

upon hia noid the no-pliujillra. of opprobrium '. 

"vcrit Fhanioli waa th« nui of Egypt; and orer hia nuna bore 

WM Phrd, Bon of P*ni, 
iwrally " Sun, aon of tha Sun ;" ■> in the Eaal, al prewint, 
Uic Ullamin Eniperor is icmied hy Iho AcabB, Sualtan, tin Saollaa, 
emperor, son of an emperor. 

ll ia euentiiil to Dbterre, thai the aun, or god Phr^, or Fhrd, waa 

^^io more frequently wrillen Ri, or Sd. And, na Wllkinion re. 

rilM rkB, Fhri u merely Ei, with iho article Pi pretilicd, pronounced 

l^nu, Ihe Sun, in the Theban dialect, and Fhri in the Mempbitic. 

Mt Sd, Sun (the deaignalury title of a Pharaoh,) we may 

a Ours — royalty ; typified by the ov with hit tail coiled 

.snder him. This tjrmbol wok, by ihe Grneks, Icrmed Ouraio* — 

Oiftran—SairMinm — royal; and is our Uneui. Thus Fa and 

, fiura are emhrued in the idea of the sun [the dcily of the wlsr oib) 

Mi, in Hebrew, tlie name of the sun waa 

■Dm the aanie original nwl of Sd, Oura, 



'7\^Am 




CIENT EGYPT. 



imparuality, the 
;r eyea cDVered — mns : 
riwe— holding in her hand "oiemal 
lifo ;" the feather of truth [an oalrirh 
feather,) suimaunta her cap ; bcr eyee 
aro camrtd by a apecic* oi" tiiuken, 

Ju« HB we copy Iho original Egyptian 
n we paiiil JualicG with her 
eyea handagtd. 

The judges in Egypt, wore goldrn 

phains around their iieckn, to which was 

figure of Thmt, oma- 

ted with jeweU; being Thmi in her 

double capacity of JiaiKe and TmlA. 

For, owing to the wise adminiatration of 

their lawa, Ihe deniicnaof the Nile could, 

ire land " the region of justice and 

irity and juBlicB," in conlradislinclion 

of ihe leea civtiiied and barharian 

European ma- 

ctintailiing the (igurea of (wo dciliea; 
^«,thvsuni andTAm^. Tbeae, herein, 
rtpr»*ent ihe Sa, or ihe sun in a double 
cnpBciiy ; phtti'al and inlrlleefHiif light, 
and Thrai, in a double capacity— ^iu( ice 
and Irulh. 

I have shown ibat. in Hebrew, the 
Iho eame language, trslA is Iho word 
A(;Bin. in Hebrew, the double capacity 
the dual number; thUB, the word 



,11— apeakingof 

Btonc, lilie Ihe engravin);)! oTa ngnet 

in alphabetic charsclera) shall tbon 

•m liviii. — " and they shall bind the 

jt (which, in tenee 33 and S4, are said to be 

■* wraatbcn ciiaitu of gold,"} thereof unto the linga of the ephod with 

• laceDfUve, that it may be above (he curious girdle of iheephod, and 

tfiat the btesBtplate be nol looaed from ihe ephod." Idem iiix. — Aaron 

tt high prleet, ia luwcar the " breastplate of Judgment upon bis 

tun"— in Ihe aarae manner aa ihc Eg>pti an judges, who wore all 

U«h prieaw, wore tlieir breaBtplalea— vcrw! 30— "andthou shaltpul 

In Ihe brcaslplnle of judgment iie Uain and the THDmnii ;" that is, 

IB the commenlauu oaplaiua in the margin, " the lighla and perft 



I ^rfections. 

I JL Are not ihe " symbols of tbc Egyptians similar to thoa* of the 

I ailkbrBws T" Did nol MoaeB. " learned in all the uiedom of Ihe 
Tgyptians," follow in tba Aurim and Tbmim of ihe Hebrew judicial 
^BBtplalea, the lymbolical method and long anterior types tiaed by 

[^*ifae Egypilan high piieaial Can we auppoaa this aimilarily to be 

Ihe effect of chance ? Muit wo nol attribute the idenlily lo a com- 

it primeval and iiacred aource. more remole than the eetahlieh. 

mem of either nation 7 In holli nation*, none but ihe Arch Judges, 

•odbteh priests, coidd wear ih* bnattplete of lighioand perfections. 



n of vM^ «.!«-, «• «"" ^ d^p,, ,„„ 
n«. nifl ro the aecond P"'"' *T iuy\jo^^ 4 



But, by the applica 
the analogy ; which hiings n 

Blue, as may be seen diroughout the nviii chapter of Eiodui!,'u_ 
a component principle in the mystical deeorations of the Ephod. 1 
Blue, in Hebrew, waa typified by a sapphire, a precious stone of ■ I 
blue color, called S P H I R . This word coniCB from 
Ihe root SPHR, which aignifies, ^ 
in Hebrew, to utiIc, to ipealt, I 
ceUbratK, as likewise a wcribe. 



IB word conicB iroru 



TboOldTenamentistenncdSEniEK.ihebaok.' . 
. the Muslim terms his Koran, the book, " EI.Keiab ;" 
say, the Scripmre, for holy writ.a 

Blue the color, aopplfre the atone, and all the varied meaning* of 
the root SPHR. combine in Ihc Book, aa the Word of God, tba ' 
wisdom of tlie Almighty, inclosed in the sacred Scphcr of the Jew^ 
the Old Teslament. < 

In Eeypi, Iho god Amun, called by the Greeks and Romans, Jon, ^ 
aa a deified derivative of the myslic Jehovah — is lord of iho gijds rf ] 
Egyptian mythology — and one of a Triad, (Amun, Iho male ; MoiUI^ .' 
the female, and Khonso, the offspring.) whoaa combinalion 
presscR, " demiurge intellect, mother, and created things " — a 
bulea of the true God. 

A M cr N , in his usual form. 
Egyptian Qionumenta Amun is alwajv ! 
painted (where in this ~ ' ' 
tented black) of ■ blue coior. iiia 
place in the scale of divine attribulea ia 
Ay>/<^Aindti'ated above. 

In Hebrew the word AMN 

\ idenlical w-iib iho hieroglyphical namOr 
K muaning truth, wisdom; and typified b> 
V ilicsnpphire, die blue jewel, is ibeWairi 
of Gud, inclosed in the Sepliet, tlie <M i 
Testament. 

The Egyptian hiorogram males ' 
on Iheir breasls a sapphire, a blue 8< 
on which was engraven symbolically, ' 
like " a aignel." the image of Thm« ia ^ 
her double character, symbolical af 1 
Justice and Truth, identical in sound i 
and meaning with Uio Hebiow « 
and truth. The high pi 




a Hebre 



n hU I 



iione, on which were eymbalieallf ' 
(hke "a signet") engraven words^ ' 
identical wllii the Egyptian in eignift- 
calion, called Thmim or Thunim* 



the Tii-0 Tnurns ! 



.„ _ .^ _..of the application of aymbolic colora to Aa 

alucidalion of early mythes. ll is proved beyond doubt, by Portal, 
that, from ilio remolcat times, oolora had a symbolical meaning; and 
that icmaikahle analogies ejist inregard to ihe mystical scceptaOaB 
of every color, among the Perainns, Indians, Chinese, Hebrew^ 
Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, prcacrved during the middle agea 
e£ 'Christianity— the last relica of which remain to our day in 
Hermldry. 

The otudy of primilivo arls and doctrines, whether in respect M 
the wigin of writing, or to the sources of the Unity in Trinlly, 
identicBl with the fountain springa of out Bublimesi conception^ 
leadB, by diffctenl rnads, invariably to tbc same pciint, the eo 
primeval origin of ell things ; and atteels Ihal ihe God of Iprai 
ihcGodoflheBrohmans; the God of iho Chaldeftns : 
lion's disoovariea enable us to hope, that, shrouded urn 
die sanctuary, be waa likowue the Deity of ihoae who 
in the inypterias of the early Egyptians, 



CHAPTER FOURTH. 
Tbe firal of my throe previous discounes contained a sketch of tba 
le and progress of hieroglyphica! diaeovery— wilh bibliogtaphical 
iticea, and liographieal digressions — whereby we have been able M 
rm an ideo of what has been published in Eeyptian archffiology up 
die close of IMl, The second waa a brief inquiry into the ori^n 
of the art of writing. The third eipUined the Donstniclioli of the an. 
language of diB Egyptiana — their mode of writing, end varied 



IIM, Aon tvWu. itHGlvll HBIB 




ANCIENT EGYPT. 



methoda of ezDrcHing ideas ; with tome iroiuUUant of bieroglrijlii. 
ol legends of'Bll!ige«,and>iwioiiii kinds, from Ihe lemole-al diBcemi. 
bla paet-diluvian period, down (o the third century of llio Clirialiut 

I could wish thnt this my 4lh discourse, should uesl al once on the 
History of Egypt »nd of in venerable monsrchs, ns the numerous 
lllualnitioni drawn from the monumenls would hive secured your 
•luntion ; whilo the ipplicBtitai of hieroglyphictl eiplsaatiou to 
events eouTal with, nntonori or aubsequeal lo Abraham, Joseph end 
Hoses, would have excited your curiosity and your interest. 

Bui reHeclian hsa convinced me, that before venturing 10 Bpoatc of 
times prior to tlie Pyramids, or coutempotary with them : before 
Isuoching into sges and occurrencca sttekted by monunienUl chron- 
idos, belonging to periods jwailiwly (though in remoteness scarce 
' ' ' nably) dating previously to (he year 3000, B. C, it is better la 
nine some chronological questions. It will be conceded, were 
such my course, (hat when I apeak with all die certainty of con. 
n of Egyptian events, dating, say between the 
' jFcari asOO and 3000, B. C, or above 40O0 years ngo, some of niy 
readers might rcnBonnbly imngine that I am thereby settiuK my fsc« 
I In direct opposition lo the authority of Scripture. They would be 
I Martled, perhaps ahocked, at my indiscretion ; aiid llie writer would 
[ h\l in public CHtimation, in proportiou as the novelly of the doctrines 
f •dvocsted miglil clash with the individual preconception of the reader. 
~ a would coDsuli the chronological dates, appended geneially lo 
version of the Bible ; and seeing it therein laid down, that the 
' Deluge look place hi the year 2346, B.C., they might, with appoceni 
nason, consider that my assertions wore false in basi^ subveiaivo of 
Uua belief, or injurions in tendency; were I not at the very outset of 
mj discouno to show to them, that tlie ehroaolaty of Scripture i» 
tfol a matter of indisputable accuracy, and particularly (hat the dates 
appended to our Bible, which are founded on the autliority of Arch- 
bishop Usher, do not demand our implicit credence. 

There is nothing in my essays or lectures which militaloswitli the 
most orthodox views of Holy Writ, and there is nothing further from 
my purpose than to give umbrage to any one, in free, bin temperate 
and deferenlinl inquiries. My otaiervations will lend, on the eonlraty, 
to con Grm Biblical suihorily; and, if at Gnlaight my still-apprenticed 
method of introducing a subject, causes s momentary apprehension 
that I am departing from legitimate views, I am desirous llial Ihe 
results should be found conclusive and aatirfactory. Consequently, 
if I do not take the Deluge at 234S, B. C, I am not differing from the 
Bible, but simply from Archbiahop UsuEa. These are the reasons 
which intlucB me to preface Egyplian History by a brief chronologi- 
cal inquiry. 

When, some years ago, I amused my vacant Iiours by reading the 

different works thot Irealed on Egyptian studies, I remember being 

NrDck with iho incomprehensible discrepancy existing between the 

tasult of some of the now discoveries, and those systems which I had 

' besataugbtnlachool. Believing at tliat lime, that :he dates appended 

' 10 our Bible were certainties immutable as Scripture itself, 1 could 

1 not but feel apprehensive, ibat the existence of the pyramids looming 

I like mountains in the distance from my window-soal, and the anli- 

I qnity insisted apon for them, might affect the trulli of the Bible, and 

'■ veneration with which I hsd been taught to regard iL In tlie 

. I was driven to exnmino and inquire for myself ; and groat was 

surprise lo find, tbat the date chosen by Usher for ihe Dt'luge, 

I t^, B.C., was only eiu among some 300 opinions, all varying frum 

oaeh other in biblical chronology; andil was highly satisfactory to 

]aain,thBt no point of Christian failli or doctrine would be prejudiced 

whether the creadon of the world be taken at B. C. 5586, [which is 

Ihe Seplnsginl computation/ or st B. C. 3G1G, which is that of tlie 

BLsbbi Lipmsn, upon the vulgar Jewish system. This fact to me 

being clear, I am desirona that those who may not have paid critical 

■llention Lo these subjects, abonld arrive at the same conclusion. I 

bava caused an abstract to be made of the ubie fumiahed by the 

learned Hslea ; while for conlirmation of what I am about lo stale. I 

refer to the erudite and conclusive work of thai eicellenl and piuua 

churchman. 

TABLE OF 
niVERSlTY OF CHRONOLOGICAL COMPUTATIONS. 

CREATION OP THE WORLD. 

before ChrieC, SoSS 
" " 5508 

" " 5270 

4437 
43Q5 
•■ " 41G1 

" " 4004 



5555 
54SI 
5403 
46Se 
5344 
4353 



1 Playlair, 
, , I Jackson, 

J UniverKd Histor? 



Seder OIsm Suths, 



Chinese Jews, 

Some Talmudista, 

Vulgsr Jewish com puts (ion, 

Seder Olam Rsbba, great cliri 

world, A. D. 130, 
Rabbi Llpman, 



Clemens Aleiandrimis, A. D. 
Hales, Rev. Dr. 

Origen, A.D. 230, 

Kennedy, Bedford, Ferguson, 
Usher, Lloyd, Cslrael, 
llelvelius, Msrabsm, 
Melanclhon, 

Scaliger, 

DE 

Sepluaginl veraion, 

Samaritan Text, 

English Bible, 

Hebrew text, 

Jofcphos, 

Vulgar Jewish com pp lotion, 

Halea, 



Joeephus, and Hales, 
Uslior, and English Bible, 

Vulgar Jewish chronolDgy, 



4DQP 
3<JG4 



Sf>4G 

sons 

234S 

22SS 
3146 

2104 



1G43 
1491 
14tt7 
1313 



Joiniofc with the Rev. Doctor in his lament on (he variety, di«|^ 
cordaiice and imperfection of chronological systems, I mwi nof j 
omit observing that the sbove ia but an abatrocl of 130 differeirt T 
opinions on the epoch of the Creation, dating backward from itM m 
birth of Christ, to be found in his first volume, poge 212. This tii|'1 
might be swelled to300 distinct opimona on the same era. BeiH'esH J 
(he highest epoch, B. C. G984 yean, (the Alphonaine tables.) and tha j 
loweEt,B. C 3G!G, (Rabbi Upman,} there ia a difference' 

For the epoch of Ihe Deluge, he cites IG opinions — Msximum a 
B. C. 3246— minimum B. C. 2104— difference years, 1142. ' 

Out of 15 aulhoritieB quoted for (be epoch of the Exodus of the ' 
Israelites from Egypt, (he highest in chronological length makes It 
B. C. 1G48— the lowest B. C. 1312— difference 33G years. 

Thus, for the Ihree most important events recorded in the Old Tes. ' 
lament, i. e. the Creation, the Deluge end Ihe Exodus, Ihe inquirer 
flflerCrutb ia lost in a chaoa of 3D0 diflereni, published human upin> 
ions an the eras of the same events ; opinions conflicting with each 
other 1 But so uncertain ia biblical chronology, thnt among 3G Cliri*. 
linn aolhorities, who have computed the epoch of the nativity of out 
Saviour, the year itself is a disputed point, and cannot be defined 
within 10 years; so thai, while all our present dales are dependentV 
upon Ihe birth of Christ for sccurvcy, we cannot ssy positively, wh«- T 
ther this year, which we term 1843, be 1837 or 1847. If the yiwrj 
be liable to donbl, how much more to must the day of the nativity t j 
Our present Christmas day was not determined till the yesr 325 aftwj 
our Saviour's birth, and then erroneously. Halra quotes Scaliger W^ 
the elliict, thai " to determine Iho day of Christ's birth belongs t^** 
God alone, not to man." All that can be positively averred is, that 
Christ was bom about Autumn ; sndmostprobably between T49and ' 
750 yeai« aflerihe building of Rome. Yet we are not much ben«- 
Htied by this definition ; for. 34 chronologiita assign six dates for the * 
building of the Imperial city— maximum B. C. 753, minimum B. C. 
627 — giving a difference of 12G years for an event, which is hcra 
dependent on ihe implied accuracy of a dale, ibal cannot itself be 
determined within 10 years. 

The date of the Jewish Exodas hss (o be computed bsckward 
from the building of Solomon's temple. If this were certain, many 
difficulties would be removed ; but, oul of 19 dales for Soloman't . 
temple, the longest is B. C. 741, the shortest B. C. 479 ; so 
cannot arrive st Ihe truth within 262 years. In conivqui . 

which enormous discrepancy, we cannot define the precise epoch o^J 
Moses; nor determine in Egyptian history under what parliculif*^ 
Phsnoii the Israelites entered the wilderness ; slthaugh. within thb * 
space of 2ffil yesrs, we know evtry Pharaoh who sat on the (hrona " 
of Egypt. Could we find, in hieroglyphics, a record of the Jews, ' 
should be able lo determine this poinl ! but, although every kuoi 
legend is at this day translated, no light has yet been gaintd on tl 
point, notwithstanding the moat rigid eiaminBlion. I shall take tip 
this question in its proper place. c 

The same discrepanciea are infinitely more conspicuous In profana . 
chronology. The epoch of Seaostris, the grcaleil king of Egyp^ JJ 
was a dilemma in history. We had light probable computation^ .■ 
B. C, 1555 to B.C.9C7.diffcricg 588 years; but the recent disco*. ' 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



erln in hieroglyphics have enabled us to define^ his epoch within a 
hundred years with certainty ; and, probably, within ten : of which, 
in due course. 

Siege of Troy : 26 dates— B. C. 1270 to B. C. 964— differing 
906 yeors ; besides some doubts, arising in part from other circum- 
tinncos, and in part from hieroglyphical facts, as to the occurrence 
of tlie e\ent, or, at any r^te, as to its historical importance. 

Nor for the ovcrtlirow of the mighty Nineveh, can we extricate our- 
selves from the confusion proceeding from 17 computations — B. C. 
896, and B. C. 596— a different t of 300 years. 

Finding it impossible to adjusf, on any former sjrstems of chrono- 
logy, the leading dates of sacred and profane history, the Rev. Dr. 
linles undertook the herculean labor of erecting a chronolog^^ edi. 
^e, built upon more solid and more liberal ground. Ho investigated 
the evidences for and ogainst the longer and shorter computations 
of the patriarchal generations from Adam to Abkaham, founded on 
Uie Masoreie Hebrew text, the Samaritan, the Septusgint, and on 
the Jewish chronicler Josephus ; and the result was, a conviction of 
the untenableness of the thortett jor Hebrew computation. 

He discovered, that this discrepancy between the ^Ider translation 
of the Bible — the Greek, made about B. C. 250— -and the Hebrew 
copy of the Old Testament, proceeded from a manifest corruption of 
the text, by the Jews ihcniselves, about the time of the Seder Olom 
Rnbbo, their great system of chronology in A. D. 13U. The Hebrew 
B«uio was corrupted by the Jews, to throw the early prophecies con. 
ceming the Messiah out of date. Yet it is the computation followed 
by Archbishop Ush^r, and has been attached to the English copy of 
the Scriptures by Act of Parliament. However, " Usher's date, at. 
tached to our English Bible, has been relinquished by the ablest 
chronologists of tlie present timd, from its irreconcileableness with 
the rise of the primitive empires; the Assyrian, Egyptian, Indian 
and Chinese, all suggesting earlier dates for the Deluge.*' And now 
tliat we can bring Egyptian positive anrnUe, derived from writings on 
existing monuments, the chronology of the Hebrew version of the 
Bible is, in the opinion of the learned, altogether exploded. 

All these subjects have formed my studies, but 1 limit myself at 
present to generalities. I now proceed with my own special depart- 
ment of history, requesting the reader to keep in view the chronolo. 
gical tabic just cited, as an evidence that tlie impartial inquirer after 
truth cannot justly be blamed for errors on subjects wherein the texts 
of Scripture and the opinions of the learned theologisti and pious 
Christian divines so widely differ. 



Till within the last few years, when, through the labors of the 
Hieroglyphists, we have been enabled to obtain not only faithful and 
authentic copies of most of Egypt's no longer mysterious legends, 
but translatimu of their import, we were left entirely dependent upon 
an incidental mention of Egypt in the Scriptures, or thrown upon 
facts, meagre in themstelves, or dubious from their ambiguity, handed 
down to us by profane authors. 

The ignorance, as concerns Egypt, of the Greek and Roman wri. 
lers, was exceeded only by their love of the marvellous, or their often 
wilful disregard of truth. 

Floundering in doubts and among uncertainties, we had frequent 
•asurance of their fallacies or misrepresentations, without, however, 
poMcsaing any criterion by which to test their accuracy, or to dis. 
prove their assertions ; and, in our speculations into the early pro. 
gress of mankind, so wrapped in fables or shadowed with absurdity, 
were the pale rays of light discernible, that we were then reluctandy 
inclined to subscribe to the doctrine — ** There is no evidence, but 
traditionary, of any fact whatever (the author probably means date) 
of profane history anterior to 600 years before the Christian era." 

On no country have so many pens been employed, as on Elgypt. 
All mankind agreed, from the most ancient to the latest times, that 
no nation's history equalled in imporUnce the Egyptian. And yet, 
so faint and partial was the amount of information to be collected 
from the records of ancient writers, and (until the promulgation of re- 
cent discoveries, since Champollion illumined the circumambient 
darkness) so unsatisfactory seemed the instruction derivable from at. 
tempte to lift the " veil of Isis ;" that Egypt was still a land of enig- 
mas, of impenetrable mysteries, where the lamp of inquiry shed no 
light to rescue her annals from accumulated gloom. 

My bibliographical sketch has shown, that on modem writers, with 
exceptions comparatively few, when we consider the ponderous tomes 
that fill the libraries of every nation of present times, we can pass 
but little encomium. Often servile copyists of errors perpetuated by 
time and repetition, without being thereby divested of orroneousness, 
we might apply to many of those learned investigators, who thought 
their labors had enlightened us, the verse that was once made upon 
the chaige of a celebrated judge to a jury in England : 

*' Chief Juitioe Parker, 
Ha made that darker. 
Which was dark eDoagh befbre !** 

The most authentic annals of Elgyptian history, and the only eer. 
tain accounts we had of early Egyptian manners and customs, in. 
sdtutions and S]rstcm3, were derived from tho Old Testament. But, 
excepting the period of the Exodus and the previous visit of Abraham, 
with the mteresting events transpiring during tiie interval, we cannot. 
In Uie Bible, expect to gather more than incidental and transitory lefsr. 



encos to subjects, oo which we seek for information ; bees use Ite 
Pentateuch is a history of the emrlf HebrewSf and tonches on thm 
Gentile nations, with whom they were brought into contact, onij 
incidentally. 

The events dwelt upon by thr IsraelitiBh historian, may have been 
sometimes exceedingly important to the interests and welfare of the 
Jews, without always thereby requiring that they should be of eqml 
consequence to the Egyptians. Nor roust prejudice, or preconceiTc4 
opinion continue to be flattered by deception, as to the relstions be. 
tween the early Hebrews and a mighty and powerful monarchy like 
that of Egypt— whose conquests, prisr to the Exodus as well as for 
many centuries subsequenUy to that period, had extended into Africe, 
further than a white man can jtsoetrate at the present dsy ; whose 
garrisons held Palestine, Sjrria, Arabia, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Aaim 
Minor and other remote Asiatic nations in tribute, or in bondage ; 
and whose powerful swsy had already been felt in Lybia and Barbery. 

From the Old Testament, as from Profane History, we could de* 
rive only a limited or partial view of the true greamess of the Pha- 
raohs ; and we had heard nothing from the Egyptians themaelTes, es 
events to them so momentous. 

But when, through the inestimable discoveries of hieroglyphical 
science we can read, translate, and understand the legends still 
sculptured, or delineated on Egypt's Vast monuments, and decipher • 
the written pages of her crumbling papyri, we are enabled to bring . 
forward her history, a speaking and irrefragable wimess of her glory. 

It is to vindicste the early fame of the Elgyptians— to attest tksir 
wisdom, their power, and their boundless superiority to any of their 
contemporaries, that I venture now to preccnt a brief, but, I believe, 
an approximatively.correct summary of Elgyptian resuscitated ^niuils. 

The records of Egypt, such as time and barbarism have spared, are 
of more positive antiquity, and of more positive authenticity, than * 
any uninspired histories with which we are acquainted ; because, 
they were chiselled, painted, or written, at the time of the events to < 
them contemporaneous. We can pow behold, and, if we choose to 
smdy we can read for ourselves, those pages of history, that to the 
Greeks and Romans were dead-letters and incomprehensible mys. 
teries. 

Apart from the lamentably imperfect state, in which the monu- 
mental legends of Egypt have come down to us (mutilated by ^lan, 
rather than Time,) the only doubts remaining in the minds of the 
hieroglyphical students, proceed rathe.* from incidental vacuums in 
their own translation. Hence, errors have been frequently, and for 
some time will bo committed ; but, as I shall explain, these, from 
their very nature, are of comparatively trifling moment. 

Already are we possessed of sufficient knowledge to ascertain with • 
exactitude (so far as the translation is concerned,) the more important 
facts, or meaning of hieroglyphical legends ; and already may the hierou 
glyphical student, like Alexander when the Indian Ocean presented an 
insurmountable barrier to his dreams of conquest, weep at the approach- 
ing want of materials, whereon to prosecute his researches, it is ft 
sad, but too.excruciatiiigly accurate conviction in the minds of Chsnu 
polUon's disciples, that, had all the hieroglyphic legenda of ancient 
Egjrpt been preserved to us, we should now possess a complete, un- 
broken and authentic series of annals back to the remotest periods of 
conceivable postdiluvian time ; when the ancestors of the Hebrews 
were mere nomads in Aramanea; when the Pelasgians were yet 
unborn ; the Greeks, the Persians, and perhaps tho Phcsnicisns, iiad 
not been dreamed of ; more than 15 centuries before Troy fell, and 
much " more than 1900 years before Solomon*' founded the Tempte 
of Jerusalem, till we should approach the early hour, when ™»pkinii 
dwelt together on the plains of Shinar. 

Even with the paucity of unimpaired records which have come 
down to tis, it is not too much to assert, that, at the present t»u H!y rn^ 
Elgyptian archsologists possess more positive knowledge of eventi 
and data, ages antecedent to Moses, than we can glean upon some 
mbst important questions, from histories of England, about circunu 
stances precedent to Alfred the Great or of fHnce before Charle- 
magne ! 

With such astounding results, achieved, as I explained in my first * 
chapter, through the Rosetta Stone ; a mutilated but invaluable ' 
triglyphic and bilinguar fragment in the British Museum ; when we 
recognize the thrilling interest that now invests the monuments df 
Egypt, and the enthusiastic ardor of Champollion's disciples, " our 
indignation must then be cast on those barbarian efforts, which convert 
the Monuments of Egypt, those sacred records of art and of antl. 
quity, into quarries, and destroy what they cannot equal. Day a^er 
day, plunder and mutilation are rooting up all that remains— another 
century, and what Egypt was will be a tale — wo to Egypt ! The 
"impure foreigner" (the descendant of the Seythian — ^the race termed 
on the monuments, the sore of Sheto,) whom she bound to her char- 
iots — trod beneath her sandals — and forced to excavate the temples 
of her gods — recklessly mocks and defaces the palaces of her kings 
and the tombs of her dead !" 

The monuments of £^pt, whereon are chiselled the glowing 
chapters of her history, presenting to us the records of events coeval 
with their erection, ore, apart from the reverence due to inspiration, 
and the undoubted collateral testimony that demands our belief in 
Holy Wri t, of interest next to the Bible in importance ; wliiie, in 
\mMihsnikitf of record (due allowance made for pbaeibla 






initj', widi llio evils of which evt i ■ hiilory, of 
•rer; age on tonh. ia mare ut Ifm pen'tded,) these Ict^nds *re lu 
•ntufnctory u llie Old Teilainenl iuelf: becgiue, ihs Pentateuch, 
though preserved by the hnnd of Providence, has noi reached us id 
■Re tinfU frigitial cop;, wriKca ot The itme of ihe events' occur- 
rance ; end Ihe (eit we make use of ii acknowledged lo be the teaull 
of varied ind Inborious compurisomi, mule and callsied by learned 
divines of sti nalions and ages, from the most perfect editions ob- 
tainable at the several periods of their respective eiami nations, of 
the MsSorele Hebrew, the Greek, Samaritan and other versions. 
The union in conDoll of the highest Chrininn prelates, since the days 
of Corutantine, ha* been at diver* intervals required, ii> place Uie 
•eal of conlirniBtory anihenticity upon ihe artruMJi, of which we 
poesesa only copiet or Iratalatimii. And that these last are noi free 
from jnterpolstions, tnificoiiAtnictioo, or doubts, proceeding from ani- 
bigujtiea, or difTerencua in their several onginsla, or from tlie erroia 
•nd opinions of tranilBtote and conmeniacors, cannot he denied. In 
fact, "sacred classics are no more exempt from vaiious readings than 
profane," .The difleiencei, on comparing the nusrefe and Sams, 
man Hebrew texts, willi that of the Scptungint, and the annals of 
Joaephua, amount, in the generations of the anlediluvian pairisrchs 
to600yeaTs,andinIhepoaIdiliiviBn to 700: ihnt ii. to a discrepancy 
of I3tll) years, solely between the era of the caeiTiON and the life 
of Abrakatn! These difierences, moreover, have not arisen from 
accident, but from premtdilated iJcng-n^nd it is a ntptnlUian to 
iupptwe, that the Almighty is continuity a miracie, to prevent inter- 
polations or miaconnlruclion in books, which, however sacred, are 
subject M the same csBUalties as others. These assertions are very 
easily supported ; and, In chronology, this is no mischievous ionova. 
lion ; for 1 can produce tho whole fabric of Church History in proof 
of tho disagreement, among those most qusliiied to judlge, Cliristisn 

divines of alt ages, from Clement of Aiexandiia, A. D. 194, 

down to Dr. Hales; nor am I, in chronology, inclined locry out with 
(he Jew, " we wi I not recede from the usage of our forefathers." 

The legends of Egypt are exposed to the same errors of transla. 
lioQ ; sjid, in their present mutilated condition, ar« more liable to 
the seme misinterprelstions than are Ihe Scriptures; but, with this 
difference, that we are enabled to verify the Egyptian records in 
the origiHai for ourselves, supposing wo choose to consult them in the 
valley of the Nile, or in European collections, and ihst we aequiic 
(hn necsssarf qua liRcB linns to forming a valid opinion. 

It is eiccedinglf difficult, if not impomible, to reconcile the mon. 
amenta! evidences of remote antiquity in Egypt — the pyramids fur 
Instance — with the chronolocy of Archhishop Usher— which is the 
one, genemlly received in Protestant eommunilles — and is based 
npon the Matarrlt Htbreie version of tho Old Testament; and all 
attempts (and their name is Legion) to conRne the chrunology of 
Egypt to this unnecessary and spurious limit, must end in failure. 

Tul Hiaiiw Old TEn'tHiliT— termed thaJMossrefe Tell from 
"Matora," tradition — or, in common porlance, the Heirtio verity — 
was verified by the Hebrew tsbbis, at some period between S40 and 
1030 after Christ. This copy is, by great theologians, maintained. 
not to be an eiacl transcript of the same original Law, from which the 
Septuoginl was trsnaUlsd, B. C. 9-10. Il is indisputable, that the 
Hebrew Seriplaret, from which our translation of the Bible wa* made; 
and, on the authority of which. Usher lixed the deluge at 3348 B.C. 
were altered curlsilcd, iiileipolaled and mutilaled by rho Jews tliem. 
selves, about the beginning of the 3nd century sfter Christ: because. 
tbey (AeD found "their own 9criplures"turned, by the Chriations, into 
arms against thnnLSelves; and were confounded bj the proofs, drawn 
from their aiea archives, that the Saviour's adveni at the exact lime 
he appeared, was prophesied from palrimeltai times in the ancient 
Hebrew texi. The Rsbbina cursed the day of Ihe Septuagini trans. 
lation, and compared it to thai " unhappy day for Israel," when the 
"Ooldcn Calf was made.'* That triple^apostste, Jfuilji, was prob. 
ably the instntment of the atrocious curruption of the sacred records, 
about A.C.iae, Thiseoniroverayis to be fuund in all Ihe Fathers! 
and by ali.save byOrigen and Jerome, who acted under Judaic influ- 
ence, tlie interpolations wer« denounced. Tho conipulation of ilie 
Hebrew text, thorcfore, was rejected by the early Christians al its 
outeet — revived, in the middle ages, by some Romsn Catholic author. 
Iti*— idopled hf Usher, and affixed to our Bihle by acl of Parlio. 
went — aiulyied end overthrown by Hales and other orthodox Pro. 
testanl churchmen, and now placed beyond further question, by the 
nnanswetable evidence of Egyptian hieroglypbical aiinals. 

Note I.-To ah. 




it E^la-a ihu Mei1.oBelih liv.<t GOO years afler ihis event. We ore aU 
uld Ihat Noah enterrrd the irk at the six hundredlh yrar i,rfai< aie. 
■■|lfvl>D«.s<h«i,ll»lw)ien Niiab enUnd Ihe »k. Mcthui^Hih tas sUK 

1^1 the dffend^n of tho ehrun^loo dT Ilia Hebrew Irxt exiaisie this e^ 
:uiruu»ce as HelT u they can. and neoneile II vtilh the acewnl wliieh , 
Mas« ihui lives in Genesis— Ma. huialah is thus rirawDed by acl of FkN 
liameni I I am awsre thai Ihii dilenuaa is iuptwsad In ba avoided by Mt ■■ 
Enqjcclursl decease ui ihefatlyrar balorB Lha Buod. 

)r*ei 



taihsHrbiewconpiiiiiiaii, "»e mnatadniii.llisl Abr*> 
he Fuibrul, who is deurribwj as dyinf," " in a toed wU 
n M) of ytmrs,' rtpjnid lliiriy-6» ytsrs btrun Sbea^ 



atly a hundtedymslwrm ihe ilEbigt, aad tuDCie 



belur«i|uMi>ni.rTer-... 

We lauM bnlisH Abrohiin cpnlemporary with Noah Tnr m 
CMilury, and with Shein diitioi hm ohele life. 

We .nu>t believe, Ihat liaac »as bom onlj forly-t wo year* slier Die death 
iirXaah.and'h>lhr''*'e,«iemporarywithShrniforlhepenudurtIUycBn; 

ham' and Ihose vaBerable patriarchs who aurvived Ihe dslufe (Noah, Bhew 

the human race.) we are breed In caaciuda Ihat AbnIisBV ibe (real tctsr- - 

their eiislencc, or re(srdlesB^U»ir auihoiiiyi" whil>i,asMilraiiii,lba>sa 
uf Han, had not aeeeanrily, or scripiurally, departed G'dib iKb nre priow 
nl reIi(ion oT his rather and grand ather, and as he enloaiapd £iypi> par- 
hap* silly (irnoi more) yeajiberoreiheeoi/uilan nf Babel, (oothe ptimiiiM 
duLribution of man il the days oT Pelei) m mual ceneede that die prinliini 

E(yiitiaBS,ciidd«n of Mt— ■■- 1:— s. ^ .. ^ . 

while Abraham'i hlher, 

When, howevFT, by the 



re than half a 



.1 1070 y. 






n.of'^iaiail!^- 



dt;luffe anct ihe tibiI of Abraham. 

The ro1lo*in» leiend of iho Hebrews, which I exiract fmn the •■ New 
World" of lldi of March, ISl3,will show Ihat Tenh'aidolBliyiareceaniied 
at Ihe pnseBtday by lua descendtata. It is ihs tnnsIaiiaaDf apaiafraph, 
iaa wuikjust paUisbedatParis, forlbeDseoTthe lsraBliuiihyaiilh,enlill*d 
" Les MaUoces du Samnli, " by G. Beo. Levi. The Iraduioa is eunsBI 
aiiHing Ihe Cairo Jews to this day. 

Abkaiuh im THK lDai.s.— At the prrind. ohen ihe & 

°"T'Bjah,'lhi''lkll'Kr"I('Ab™li™, ™' hiimelr Vllll^'i iMt^Zid neMP> 
die lees adored them, which was repUfnaal lolheloodseatenf hie son. (^ 
day, when Abraham was dlbonie alonr, bd old rannnmentrd bimsrlf in th* ' 
idal-HBrehouse of Terah, la hu^ one of inera. *' How oU are you T iuh«i 
Abrshsm, dI iheold man. " Eithty years." "How! what! you, who ai* 

yeaieidayl" The old man underslood him, and rented ashamed. 
A youDf woman suceerded hinl. SheeanK u> bring a dlah of Ticlnals as 

ani.lferlnitDtheidolearTerah. "They do not rat aionr, Ceaid Abraham 
la brr.) iry la make them lake this feod from your hands," and lha yount 

Then AhrahaiB bn4e all his raiher'B idoia, eicru one only, Oia latian, 
in Hhnao hand* he placed a hammer. When Trrah, on reluming, saw ihi* 
havoc, he Bew inlo a liuleot rage ; but hii Bon laid 10 hilH, " Il is ihr larg* 
idol ihalhasdoae Ibis; * (aad womsn hsving conH to bring your divtuliiaa 
lomolliing to eal, Ihey fell greedily uino Ihis oflering, wilbwH aakina leav* 
of ihe brgut and iiUeBt of iIifbi. Ue was angiy, aod haa avenged hiMselT 
by iraating Ibeia in ihis manner." 

'■ Vdu wish to deceive your faiher," replied Terah. full ofwraih ; " doy™ 

"Hit be so," cried Abraham, "why do you eaniiil»r them as gwli, and 

Bppodded'lo our English BiWe, 1 will refer to " Alrniinder'* Sl«trmy|« Edr 
lion" ofihe Old and New Tesiament. Fbitadelplua, 1B39. See Index of 
Ihat Bible, at the end, page 8. 

" In lb' beginning of the leign of Ariaterua (called ui prolane hisHry 
Camt^ses) Ihe SamBriians," &c. &r 



This. 






well knoKB IB hiiton, ia hwaeuiable. Cam> 
« B. C. baO. In lha - Shah Nanrb," ha ia 
in hlaraflyphics,iB*'Kaaibeth/' and we have 



probably "i^nrasp," aia nsmem nierafiypnit3,is lumuem, am we nave 
liernglyphkal tablets of the 6ih year ofliu reign. After Ihe Maglau, who 

uled 7 montba, Daiiui HyiasMB, ancnieded him land reigned M 

eara. of wliieh we havoitaiet of ihe S6th. This naaia. in h'teioalyphHV, is 
' Nunusli;" ta likeiviae in Iho omeifnrm eharecisr ; in iheShsh NSfMh, k« 
aGiiafasp, or Gushtsp. Then InllowsilXirlee, sooof Danua;in the airuw- 
leaded (aneieM Fawan) funa, thus wrluon: 

.\.lll^>-!3Ti!->r^-il> 



Kh Sh e e 



UJ 



• Khiheerih." 

He reigned 21 years — wo possets a d«ie, IZthyesr of his n:ign In Egypt, 
n Poiiian trsdilion, " larendia,r." Then came AiiMBrM« £aiu(iinantia ■ 

eigned 10 year 



have hieroglypbical daies ofieih ol bia roign. 
jf ibo nonacnse, that Cambysea ind Aitaieriei «[« 

, _. inafe (') ihey are icparsied hy a p.rlod if iiiHrehy, 

lerveninf nifaa i and. Iron the Wgianini of the rid* of Ik* lunaag 



a6 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



tn tb« end of the reico af tb« UlUr, the hMrologitU mccowkt 100 yisMn and 
7 moothif. 

I qiiute iU'm mrrelx M a proof ol Uie advanUfe that chrooolofiata naj do- 
me from Efyptian hiMorjr and hierogljrphicai aiudiea. 



The SiMAEiTAjr Pemtatkucb — is alao a corrupt text, in regard to 
the antediluvian generations ; and its firat mutilations majr have ej^ 
isteil before A. D. 230 : but, after that, it was subjected to greater cor. 
mption, for then, the post-diluvian generations were curtailed. It 
was undouiiiedly, at first, an exact 'ranscript of the original law — 
a copy of the archives having been furnished by the Jews to the Sa. 
Diaritans, shortly before the fall of Jerusalem, in A. D. 70, when it 
would nc ce&sarily have agreed with the Sepiuagint. Its manifest 
anachro:li^!l^^ were introduced sab«equently, from the same motives 
which prompted the Rabbies to alter the text of that volume, which 
was hypocritically tL-rmedso tacred, that ** crrry Utter was counted!" 
It was counted, however, after the iaterpoiatioos had been made. 

The Sefti'aci.xt, or translation by seventy learned men, who, 
in the rtign of Ptulemy Phi lade Iphui, B. C. 340, rendered the He- 
brew Scriptijrea (st the time not mutilated) into Greek, at the Isle 
of Pharo.^, Alexandria. 

It Ha.9 recognized m orthodox by the Jews, for 300 years ; and all 
its parts were publicly verified, and collated by Jews and Greeks. 
It was a faithful translati-in, of the copy of the Law, sent by the 
High Prie<>t of Israel tj Philadelphutt, at the lattcr'd solicitstion, in 
return f^r his lil>eration of 100,000 Jews from bondage. This He 
brew copy came from Jerusalem to Alexandria, written on parch, 
ment, in letters of gold. 

The Rabbies disputed its authority, about 100 years after the birth 
of Chri--t. " Wherefore," we may say with Syncellus, •* it is with 
reason, that, in our chronology, we follow the version of the Septua. 
gint, which was made, as it oppears, fromt an ancient and uncor- 
rupted Hebrew copy." The Septuagint is not free from interpolation 
being subject to tlie same casualties to which all books are liable ; 
and ti>e nuist rcmarkuble is that of the second Cainan, between Ar- 
phaxad and Salah, of 13t) ytara. This spurious perdonage was in. 
troduced into the Septuagint, about the time of Demetrius, 230, B. 
C, or 'ibout20 years after tlio first publication of the pure uncor. 
rupted Gnek translation of the Old Testament. 

Next in authority to the Septuagint, on chronological poinL*, ranks 
the JcwUh chronologist, Josephus ; and the one confirms the other. 

Let us rejoice, tlierefore, that the Septuagint version allows of 
more enlarged, liberal and equally orthodox constructions, confirmed 
by the authority of Josephus, and by the traditionary fragments of 
the Persians, Hindoos, Chinese and Phcsnicians, independent of the 
absolute necessity of receiving, iu addition to all these, tlie poaitive 
confirmations now elicited from Elgyptian legends. 

The chronology of the Bible, being a himian compatation, is not 
an article of indisipensable faith ; for it should be home in mind, that 
no two persons, who have entered upon a chronological inquiry, 
founded on an examination of the sacred Scriptures, agree in compu. 
tation, or (not unfrequently,) as to the meaning of the texts they con. 
suit ; whence endless discrepancies in their conclusions. The con- 
sequence of these controversies is made apparent, by the Table refer, 
red to ; and we must remember, that, by difierent chronologists, of all 
ages, religions and nations, and, among them, many of the most em* 
dite and pious divines, or Christian philosophers (such as Sir Isaac 
Newton,) there have been put forth some 300 sjrstems of chro- 
nology chiefly founded on biblical records, all dififering in the dates 
assigned to tlie Creation, the Deluge, the Exodus, and other events, of 
which the occurrence is indisputable ; though the period of the oc. 
currence of each may perhaps for ever remain an open question. 

If therefore, in arriving reluctantly at the inference, that the Holy 
Records themselves are, in chronology, deficient in precision and 
perspicuity, we are forced to select for ourselves, that view of the 
subject which best accords with our peculiar opinions : so long as 
we demand no extension that is not sanctioned by some high bib. 
Ucal authority, we are not obnoxious to the charge of heresy (though 
heresy may be obnoxious to us,) because, it is not with the Scr^. 
tares, but with the commentators on the Scriptures (men like our. 
selves, liable to err) that we differ. 

So far as the epoch of the Deluge is concerned, it is speculative, 
and not achievable by any process hitherto attempted, within 1300 
years. But, the most critical examination establishes for the pyra. 
mids of Egypt, and for " Shoopho," builder of tlie largest, an an- 
tiquity, totally incompatible with the short chronology of Usher, 
founded on the Masorete Hebrew text, and demands for them the 
more extended, and eqnally if not more orthodox readings of the 
Septuagint version. These pynmids were built, and " Shoopho" 
ruled, 6e/or« Usher's date of the Deluge, the year 2348, B. C; and 
thiF fact once admitted, it is tlot inconsistent with the deference due 
to Holy Writ, to seek for an explanation, and thereby to silence 
•cepticism. 

It is satisfactory to be able to prove, that there is nothing required 
by Egyptian antiquities, that can affect the truth of Scripture, or that 
is po boundless, as to subvert the text of the Bible. 

If, through the errors of man, his misconceptions and perversions, 
we differ in opinion with an individual on the period of the Deluge, 
thnt difiarenee will not afioct tbt fiMt of itsoccwnnc*. 



If we show positively that Usher wis wrong, as odM» hnw doiw 
by different arguments, when he choee the Hebrew text, instead of 
older, purer and more orthodox versions oi the Old Testament oar 
difference is not with Scripture, but with Archbishop Usher, onm 
subject whereon his is only one of 800 opiniona, and oo which it 10 
a sacred right of every human being to hare an opinioni and in 
to be guided, af^er adequate examination, by his own coiiaeienti< 
belief. When we point out that Usher waa wrong in fixing the Del- 
uge at B. C. 2348 ; that he was in an error in not giving due woigltt 
to the otlier versions of the Scripture, aa other eqnally pions diviiMe, 
and equally erudite scholars have done, we are entitled to entertain^ 
and to express our opinion, just as freely as he was anthorixed to pnb. 
lish his. Nor can an act of Pariiament, or of Congreaa, render om 
opinion more reasonable than another. 

Our proving tliat the Pyramids were built before Usher^aera of the 
Deluge, will establish nothing beyond the fact that he vras mistaken • 
nor can the opinion of either of us afllect the true epoch of the 
event, or the fact of its occurrence. It would be ridiculous to sup- 
pose the pyramids to have actually been erected before the J>elage( 
and as we find they positively exisited in B. C. 2348, it stands le 
reason, that the Deluge must have occurred many centuries before 
them. 

When, however, we are compelled to overstep, even by one day, 
the year in which Usher fixes the era of the Deluge, we may aa well 
go back to any epoch, that we can show to be admissible by two of 
the three versions of the Old Testament, of which he only adopted 
one; and it is a source of peculiar gratification to find, that the Del* 
uge, upon the authority of Christian churchmen, can be carried bock 
to a date, that causes no doubt 'as to the validity of the uneormpted 
Mosaic record ; and that if it be placed anywhere, beyond 30UO, B. 
C. (for Providence seems to have designed that man should not be 
able to discover the precise period of the event,) there is nothing ia 
E^ptian monumental history, that will not corroborate the sacred 
word, though some facts may trench on mere human opinions in re. 
lation thereto. 

Taking the Deluge at any given point within the chronology of 
the Septuagint— 4ay B. C. 3200, and " Menei," the first Pharoah of 
Egypt, about 2700, we allow 500 years for the migration of man 
into Eg}'pt and his progress toward civilisation, till he could build 
one pyramid. Iii allowing 500 years more for the erection of all 
those pyramids at Meroc, in Ethiopia, and in Egypt, we have snflficient 
time for their possible construction ; and then, taking up the aecea. 
sion of the IM dynasty at about B. C. 2272, we adopt Rosellini^ 
chronological series, and have time for all subsequent events in 
Elgypt. This is but approximative of the truth. My department ie 
Egyptian history ; and, in rejecting Usher's chronological system 
in toto, I accept the Septuagint date for the Deluge only-^becanaaiy 
for all subsequent epochs, I consider myself free to chooee (from 
among three hundred systems of chronology) that arrangement 
best adapted to E^gyptian monumental, and other records. I com. 
mit myself therefore only to the Septuagint date of the Deluge, 
as the shortest limit allowable for Egyptian history, independendy 
of all other nations ; while I reserve the right of adopting any ex. 
tension, that future discoveries may make orthodox, or indispensable. 
As it is, wc have not a year to throw away — and if lOOO mom 
years could be shown admissible by Scripture, there is notliing ia 
Egypt, that would not be found to agree with the extension. 

The Septuagint era of the Flood is equally necessary for the hit. 
tory of mankind in other countries. The events and histories of 
other nations demand an equal chronological extension — all require, 
that time should be allowed for human multiplication and distoibn. 
tion. We will not speculate on the possible time required, if we 
are to trace the progress of civilization, from a hunter to a shepherd, 
from a shepherd to an agriculturalist, and a manufacturer, till niaa 
could build a pyramid, such as any of those at Memphis, or in- 
scribe in the largest the name of ** Shoopho.*' I have already ex- 
pressed my conviction, that the art of writing is a divine rev^atiom^ 
in antediluvian periods ; and I incline to the belief, that roan wes not 
turned upon the earth an uncivilized savage; but that his Creator en. 
dowed him with a certain intuitive knowledge in arts and acieneea, 
which practice could improve, or negligence deteriorate. But ad|l, 
ages must have elapsed before the conce pt ion of such an enierprtas 
as a pyramid, could have entered the human brain ; and both abond. 
ant population and long practical experience, in an infinitude of arts 
and sciences, must have been for centuries in operation, befsie 
Shoopho, who is Cheops and Suphis, could erect the largest of these 
monuments in Egypt — before,' in Chaldea, a knowledge of astronottj 
could be acquired, to record calculations as far back as 2232 B. Cw— 
before, in China, Yao could rectify the year in B. C. 2269 — before, 
in Greece, .£gialus could found the city of Sicyon, in B. C. 2069— 
before Nimrod could found Babylon, in B. C. 2554--or Aahur^ sona 
have settled at Nineveh— or before, in Indian records, a Sanacrit fafe> 
tory should evince high civilization 2000 yeara B. C. ! I will my 
nothing, at present, about the incongruity of these statistical calcn. 
lations, that would people the world, like Dr. Cumberiand, Bishop 
of Petersborough, with 30,000 human beings, in the 140th year aAst 
the flood (!) whereby, in the 3rd century, there would have been 
6,66S,666,660 married people ! We have only to add the mo d ewf 
avenge of 2 children to each marriage, and, in the year 340 aAai 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



_ B Delu^, secotding la (hii ■Iwiird docirinc, llie world muel bavt 
•Minuunod lw»nl)' Ihaiuuiti mUlianiiof human tieingt! whereas, tCtei 
man iliBii SOOO roiin, we oiiljr nckon. at the prvaonl day, belwoen 
BUU and 1000 itiiiUoitB of inhabilaiiu on tJie cntlli. Nush Ict'l the 
'Vk with hie rsmjly — in all 8 individuals — and, making ever; bIIdw. 
<«iica, il muBt havo taken 130 yoais lo increaao dial cDiniuunilr to 
'■boul 1000 pemoDB. How miny cenluriea muai have puBcd away 
■to llie world could hava been eufiicienlly popiilnled (tony nothing 
of ilB civiliiatian) lo tiring about any of the greni evonta above 
fcired la in Egypt, Chaidea, China, Greocc, Assyria and Liilia T 

If we DOW know more of ligyplian history, Ihan we do of that of 
may confompoiary nation in those ramole epochs i> i> not thei otht 
e wore not in eiistcnco, but becnuae their recorda havo pei 
n the lapse of tjine — for which luaa, the wiadom and the fun 
•Aoiight of Ibe Buperior Egyptian ciiilJuitian,hnTe,insome degrei 
liven ue a compenaalian. I have, in a previoua discoune, aketched 
ibe modes in which the venerable annuls of other nations have been 
■wepi away, [enving-iia to mourn over Ibeir irrecoveruble loss. 
■-- Finally, Sir Walter Estcieh, nearly 300 yeara ago, (after inslnncine 
tfie nntiona thai had already attained to greatucrain die days of Aliro. 
-bam, and little foreseeing ibe remote audqully, that, in the year 1S43, 
•Oan he insiaied npon for Ggypc. which placea " Menei " at least SOU 
•jBUa before Abraham's visit ip Egypt — according to the Ucbrow text 
eompalBtion,) remarked, " If we advisedly consider the stats and 
'Oountenance of the world, such as il wbb in Abraham's timoi yea, 
faefon his birth, we shall find, ihal il were very ill done, by following 
•«piDion, wiibout the guide of reason, to pare the times over deeply 
Itctwcan the flood and Abraham ! because, In cutting them too near 
«Ae quick, the reputadan of the whuls story might perchance blerd," 
In lhal which auch a man, aa tlie ill-fated ituleigh had penned, and 
which BO exeelieni ■ divine aa Dr. Ualei bed eadatsctl, before the 
•Weroglypbic ohronicloa of Egypt were deciphered, I may safely con- 

■ i^r — acquainted, aa I consider myealf to be, with Egyptian subjects. 
•Truly did Ilie port Campbell, in hia beautiful address lo a mummy, 

' -fa BeUoni'a cullectian, ihua aposlropiiiu the fragile relic of a once 
'Mble being : 

'MiiCiffa^ mtpaan to Lave tiaai>ii< 

In order, therefore, that I may convey no etroneoua impressions, 

■I have prebced Egyptian bislory by this chronDlogical disquisition ; 

' it may bo fearleaaty miintiiand, without deserving the charge of 

rodoiy, thai, in rejecting the short chronology of tho Hebrew 

lis of the Pentateuch (wherein by Archbishop Usher's computation 

a creation of the world is fixed at 4004 B. C. and the deluge at 

. H8,) as insppUcable to, and overthrown by, the positive facta of 

lllieroglyphical reMarchea,we do not affect the validity of scriptural 

■ .JMCord; because, the Sopluagiat version and the venerable array of 

" -j«nhodui churchmen, wlio auppott the lalter'a compulation, permit 

■M to place the deluge somewhere about 3200 B. C— by which ar. 

iMIVement we Bllain a period of 33 cealurios, and one that givea U9 

Sample room and verge enough " lo reconstruct tho history of ancient 

I ^fcypt, founded upon Ibe results of hieroglyphical iuterprulationa, and 

d by uuthorttiaB, sacied and profane. 

his basis, that the annnla of Egypt will be heroin consid- 

s that allows abundance of room for the events which occu- 

L-fied the BBVeral branches of the human family, letwesn the Deluge 

~lf Noah, the primitive migration of man in Ibe days of Peleg, with 

bs subsequent dispersion oif mankind from the plains of Shinar, and 

bs seeetsian of ilio Rrst Caucatiart monarch to the undivided throne 

if Egypt, Mencs of History, and Mcnoi, " who walks with Aman," 

^,,^^^ of ihe acalplures; and alibough unable, with eatiafac. 

^ ^\ lory precision, lo define within ■ period of j(o« ilMBrfnii 

jmHyl ftart, the date of his ssauming the eiclnslve swajr of 

l<vw>\l Upper snd l.awer Egypt, the countrias typified by the 

I I I LvCiu, and the Papynu, Ibe ■' region of jusliee and 

' I I J purity" tbe " land of the Sycamore," yet various cor- 

V^ ^ roborativo circumstances will justify the hypothesis, 

"^"^^ that his reign began at some period btlaten Iht ytari 

{Jj^ct 29W) and 3400 B. C. 

Having stated the scriptural grounds upon which ihe antiquity I 
rilkll uid'old for Egypt ia based, it becomes necessary, before coia. 
•endig the history of thai country, on a scale aa generally novel as 
*ill by me be adopted, to give a suecint enumeration of Ibe principal 
I iwofsne chroniclara, upon which ihe historical portion of ihe edifice 
I ^« reconstructed. "To omit doing ao, wouh] defeat the object of these 
dtacourseB, which is lo give a popular view of subjucts, hitherto ban. 

■ dad only by Ibe most erudite scholars. I shall ihercfDre name Manciho, 
Bratoethenes, Josepbua, Herodotus, end Diodorus, as the most ancient 

. writers oti Egyptian History. I have placed them in ihe order in 
Which hieroglyphical discoveries, and with me, long practical Egyp. 
tfan asaocialions have combined to give them snihenticity and yjAae. 
To Ihese, the niher and later Greek and Koman writers, such as 
Btrabo, Tacitus, Plutarch, Panaanias, Pliny, Sct:^ an subordinati-, 
diaugh freqnently of eminent value and assiatance. Tlie laier works 
of Christian ehronntogists, such as 8ynct.llus,Eus(biai, with a host of 
others, are ofian important ; and it may bo pr«sumed I have ncl 
omitted to consult thuni and othais, either when llie ortginaJa were 
within my aiulnmait, or for nun frequently, when in Uie conne of 



sfcbSt 



reading tbe works of ihe CliampoQion school, I have n 
sagea exiracled by modem classics, which their supei 
enabled ibcm to produce. It is only on [Jie pievlous jl 

thai Ideem It neceseory lo makcaome remarks. The If .. ^ 

there arc accossible in every libmiyi but for tbe few precious i^Kv 
preserved to uut day of Manetho and Eratosthenes, I refer In "Cor^ 
Ancient Fngmenls," oa iba hieroglyphial's liiElorical icxcbook. "Ca 
proceed further would be lo wriio oa bibliography, which, though ■ 
most inlorealing subject is one sbuvc my preaenl aliaiiimcnli anjl 
will conclude with this general observation, that the authors throtlf^ 
whose imperfect records we have been able lo clean historical frajp, I 
moniB of remote Egyptian ages, and to whom SO veais ago, we weiji | 
indcblad for all we then knew on these abBlnise queeUons, are vaiicw 
in nation, in epoch, in meril, and in importance. Apart from ttw 
Sctipturea, which do nol touch n" Egyptian internal events befon 
Abrabam, (a period lung subBcquent to ihe occurrences on which w* 
shall have liral to tresl) we had so many conlradiclory annsls, ihatjl 
seemed bopetesi to arrive at any reosunable conclusion, from mat* 
historicsl Darralivea. The discovery of Iht key lo hieroglyphics btc 
enabled us to dUcriminatc ; and our lirat audionlj in Egyptian chco^ 
idea after tbe monuments, ia Maneiho. 

Among the minifuld advantages, since tSSO, accruing lo genet^ 1 
knowledge tlirough tho impeius given to all studies, and antiquariin , 
reseiirchep, by Champollton and his school, may be enumerated d^ 

roauseiiaiion of historical fragmenls, and (he collerti ' ~ 

Inlion of early authors, whose bouas till within ilie last SO years w 
lo-iked upon with dielrusi, and ubose accounts were treated i 
And besides the excessive value in Egyptian Archaology ihst 
compsniei fragmenls, such at Horut.AiMllo, Hrrmapian, Fatnandirt 
ApiiUuit, snd o^ier obsolete writers too numerous for specifics llaiii 
he intense interest excited by hieroglyphical discoveries has caused , 
lew and more faithful trenBCri|iliuns of the remains of such earlj ' 
chroniclers sa 5nnc<nia(Aan, JI/anelAo, Eerenis, &c. lobe 
republished. These, snd simjlsr sacred hietoricsl relics aro nMT i 
wiihin tho attainmentof the general reader, which, before hlerog1ypU> j 

icarchoa had dcmonsirnied their utiliiy, were lo those as Ok- 
learned ss myself, ao many scaled books. 

of the most gifted men and ccl(:braled scholars of tho preaent 

llh wfaom I was fore long period on termsol' social intimPOJi 

!, while we were one day repining al Ibe errors and misdirab i 

if my schoot-boy, and bia collegiate oducatlan, that on lesvinf . 

the University of Oxford, he was immediately ihrown into literatT 

1 scientific society in London. He was there struck v 

niand chagrin, alibe constant recurrence of topics of cc . 

the most interesting and imporlani subjecls, but which to him, I 
who hnd won the Gist honors of Oxford, Here mysteries he could tutt ] 
iprehend ; and ao ill-provided was he st ibe age of 33, with genem j 
information, ibal on hearing tlie name of £innoiuj,(the i " ' 
latunlisl) ho Ilioughl ho was some mythological peisunsgc, whoaa | 
lame had escaped him, and actually loukcd iulo " Leinpricre's C[as> 
lical Dictionary" to ascertain who be was ! 

In the same manner, I can well remember the period, long aFt^r 
[ had lelt a classical school, and had for yean been engaged inaclln 
life, when the only knowledge I possessed of Maneiho, was derived 
from the •' Vicar of Wakefield," wherein Mr. Jenkinson, in ireatiHf . 

the cosmogony of the world, mentions Sanconiathon, JfanelAa and ] 

BeroauB. I may therelbre he allowed (o inform ollieia who ihc aulho 

ia,. on whom so much stress ia Isid, and whose authority in Egypliu 

history is now considered of such importance, referring them, si tin 

me lime, to " Cory's Ancient Fragments," for all lhal we possess ol i 

■ once volununovB works, bearing on the points under coneidor 

Monetlio, was a learned Egyptian — a native of Iha Scbonnilie ' 
Nome in the Eastern Dolto, Lower Egypt — high priest, snd sacred 

ribe of Uciiopulis, whofiourishod sboul the year 2GQ, B. C, and vrhn 

ihe command of Ptolemy Pbilndelphus, composed a history of tha 
kinga of Egypt, in llie Greek language, from the eurliesi times down 

Aloiandor's invasion, B. C.332. This work he dedicated to PhiU. 
delphiis, with the following letter; 

The Epistle of Maneiho, tho Sebennyte, lo Piolemasui PbtU- 
dolphuB 1 

'*To ihc great and august kbg Piolemaus, Maneiho, the high priesi 

I scribe of the sacred Adyia in Egypi, being by birlli a StbennylB, 
of Heliopulia, lo bia sovsreign Pioleni«us, humbly 



grooti 



" It is right for us, most migliiy king, to pay allenlion lo all thinas 
which il is your pleasure wo should take into consideration. In 
therefore, to your inqiiiriee, concerning the things which shall 
pass in the world, I shall, according lo your conimantU, Uy 
before you what I have gathered from the sacred boots written by 
Hermes Trismegislus, our forefather. Farewell, my prince and snvs. 

It is very curioua, that Maneiho, besides giving a compcndioua 
lislory of the pott, appears lo havo also furnished to Piuleniy soma 
ixirocta of eorjj prophecies concerning the fatan. These loM, 

Tbe l^ory was compiled from the most ancient and aulhende 
lonrces, by an .^yplian, whose position and learning, aided by iba 
nfluenee of the govemmeni, enablcS him lo obtain accumle infonn- 
Ltion. Tlie sscred Incripllans on tha columns of Harmee, and tiia 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



books of Thoth- U i wu c g i rtiM , teen to hare beea ha oouccs ; while 
we may infer, that the celebmed Ltbrary of Akjuadrii, the pepfri 
of the saoerdotal order, the aealptnes oo the tev^ca and the 
logical tablets (lome of whkh haTO come down to oaj 
MUted by him, and alKirded him ahondance of materiala. 

This great work haa been kiat ; and the rediaoovery of one copy of 
Manedv) woald be tiie moat deairable and aatiafiieiory event that eoold 
be conceived in Egfptimnj and we may add, in nnivenal history and 
chronology. As the work of an Egyptian, testifying the glory of hia 
nation, it was probably conacientioaily prepared ; althoogh he may 
hare allowed national pride t j give a too partial coloring to his nar. 
ration, and poasibly an exaggerated view of hia coontry'a antiqnity. 
But we can no longer be harsh in oar criticisms ; aeeing, that to his 
16th Dvo. he is eot^firmed bf Ike aeulpiHre*, while every new step 
oi'diaouvery that it made in hieroglyphicp, givea some new confirm- 
alory light in sapport of Manetho^ emrlur arrangement. Again, 
because we hsve only mutilated extracts of his original; one, a 
fragment preseved by Josephus, which seems to hsve been copied 
ve^tira frum Manetho*s work ; another is an abstract in the chro. 
Bology of Syncellos, who did not even see the original book himself, 
bat embodied in his compilation the extracts he found in Julina Afri- 
canos and Bosebius. Within the last few years, the discovery of an 
Armenian version of Eusebius* has added some better readings to 
diose we formerly possessed. 

These writers, Joseph as, Busebius and Julias Africanus, differ so 
much from each other in the several portiuns of Manetho*s history 
of which they present the extracts, that, in their time, either great 
•rrors had crept into the then-existing copies of Manetho, or one or 
more of them were corrupted by design ; especially in the instance 
of Eusebius, who evidently suppressed some parts, and mutilated 
others, to make Manetho, by a pious fraud, conform to his own 
peculiar and contracted system of cosmogony. 

It will be seen how the hieroglyphics enable us to discriminate error 
from truth, anj) to recompose and correct Manetho. The indefati. 
gable Cory has rendered Manetho easy of access ; snd it is doe to the 
learned Prichard, to point him otit as the one who vindicated Mane, 
tho's claim to our credence in 1819, before Champollion's discoveries, 
no less than as one who proved that many ancient authors, whom 
modern scepticism had rejected, were, in their annals, not undeaerv. 
ing of belief. It is to be regretted, that Prichard in his more recent 
work on ethnology and the human species, does not give due weight 
to the discoveries of the Champollion school on ancient E^gyptian 
■objects ; nor is he by any means correctly informed on modem ones : 
but this vacuum n now about to be filled up with a mass of snstom. 
ical, geographical, historical and monumental evidences in the '^Cra. 
Bis JSgyptiaca " of Dr. Morton, of Philadelphia. 

Manetho is herein regarded as the authority, par excellence; with, 
out, however, pretending to claim for the length of his reigns undue 
credence, or to tax him with errors that proceed from his copyiats 
rather than from himself; especially, when the "Old Chronicle*' 
preserved by Syncellus was evidently known to and consnlted by 
him. In a subsequent chapter I present a table of his Egyptian Dy. 
nasties, which I shall explain in due course ; and would only observe, 
that those figures in smaller type are doubtful, and that there are 
plausible reasons to reduce the period from the 1st to the end of the 
15th Dynasty to 443 year?, as I have noted in the relative column. 

Eratosthenes of Cyrene, the grammarian, mathematician, astro, 
nomer and geographer, was superintendent of the Alexandria Library 
In the reign of Ptolemy Evergetes, and lived about 300 B. C, or 60 
years after Manetho. It appears he constructed his LaterciUos, gr 
catalogue of Egyptian kings, by order of Ptolemy, from Egypdan 
records and from information communicated to him by the sacred 
scribes of DiospoUs — Thebes. 

The original work has perished ; and the only portion extant is a 
fragment preserved by the diligent compiler Syncellus, from an ex- 
tract he found in the chronography of Apollodofus, whose work no 
longer exists. As his Laterculus gives the translations of some of 
the Egyptian names of kings, it has been found useful : but inasmuch 
as it appears he wrote with a predetermination to cast the labors of 
his predecessor Manetho into disrepute, and as the latter is infinitely 
more conformable to the sculptures, the catalogue of Eratosthenes 
holds but a subordinate station ; while we cannot forget the witty 
rsmark of Hipparchus, that Eratosthenes ** wrote msthematically 
about geography, and geographically about mathematics.'* 

With the fact staring us in the face, that Manetho, in names, in 
*imes and in number of kings, has been so remarkably confirmed 
ap to tlie 16th Dynasty by tlie monuments, we need not lay much 
■tress on the discrepancies of Eratosthenes. It may well be con. 
ceded, that a learned Egtfptian, who composed, by order of his king, 
a record of his onn nation in the Greek language, from the most 
authentic sources, was less liable to err, as well as more likely to 
obtain correct information, than a foreigner, who may have spoken, 
rearl and wrote (but probably did not) in the Eg>'ptian language. 
And, with the constant evidence of Greek mendaci^ and utter i^o. 
ranee in Eg3rptian matters before our eye?*, we may make due allow, 
ance for the envy and jealousy of a Hellene, at the antiquity of a 
country, which was already ancient long ere the /afAert of the Greeks 
were known in history. 

JosEFHUS is the well known Jewish historian, who wrote at Rome, 
•oon after the fall of Jerusalem. As before stated, his chronology, 



sceording with die Septaagint, reoden hni vaioabla 
we are indabfed to hia defence afainat Apioa* for 
of Manetho*ft hiatoiy, that are of the 




The works of HuoDOTtJs and DioDOBoa am too ftniliar to _ 
readera, to require maeh more than dssignaiioiij Hw former wm 
in Egypt aboat 430 yean B. C, doriog the dominion of the rfiniaw, 
and after Egypt had fallen entirely from her pristiiie greatneiv. Tbs 
latter waa in Egypt in 40 B. C, toward the eloee of the Ptolenaie 
Dynasty, at a atill lower period of degradatioa. 

Valuable, aa are the works of iheee two Greek aothoca, they have 
fallen very considerably in our estimation, aince J^rv^e* e ceMlrf^ 
and the •neieni EgfpUumt es • peepU have become better known to 
us ; and the incotisistencies, misstatements, ■ uaicpica entationa, w^i^ *^ 
conceptions and abaurditiea, that are houriy expooed in their accoimti 
of Egypt, more than compenaate for the information, in which, bf 
accidient, they are correct. This aaaertion a^y seem andaoioiN; 
but will be substsntisted in the sequel, wheira eompaiieon ia iiali. 
tuted between Egyptian history, aa developed in iheee chapteia and 
future lecturea, and the accounts of Herodotna or Diodoraa. 

It would require a volume to elucidate the discrepenciea, now d«. 
monstrable, between many, nay moot of the aaaertions of Herodotw 
snd Diodoms, in regsrd to slmost every subiect relating to eaciraf 
Egypt ; and the facta, with which we are inade acquainted, in the 
works of the whole Champollion school. Nor, in commoo fidraeei^ 
must my assertions be doubted, until an antagonist ahall have actaalljr 
verified in Champollion, Rosellini and Wilkinaon,sonie of the poiBH 
in which Greek suthots are shown to be so Ismentsbly ignorant. I 
will, however, add the following reasons, gleaned chidiy from Iook 
personsi scquaintance with Elgypt, to ahow that it waa not in the an 
tore of things that Herodotus or E^odoras could be often correct. 

In the first plsce, H^^otus, though a learned and highly r ee pe cU 
able Greek, and who, aa the greatest of their ancient tnvelleia and 
univeiasl historians, deserves our respect snd gratitude, waa in E^yp^ 
a atranger. He waa certainly not in literaiy, or acientific, or laah. 
ionable, or aristocratic society in thst country ; which he visited, eftir 
intercourse with the Greeks, and the Persian conquest had mined 
the former gresmess of the higher castes, snd had corrupted the in. 
habitants of Lower Egypt, with whom Herodotna chiefly mixed. 
For his own sake, we must hope he did not (although he aaya he diJ, 
as far as the firat cataract) visit Upper Egypt, else he would not hava 
left Thebes undescribed; or have listened to the idle tale, that the 
sources of the Nile were st EUpkantine ! 

In his dsy, 500 yeara of decline had deteriorated the Piieat.caata, 
the only depositaries of liistory in Egypt. As a foreigner, Herodocas 
was looked upon by the sinking sristocracy of Egypt in the light of 
an ** impure gentile ;" and utterly ignorant of the language, he hmmi 
have gleaned all his information through an interpreter. If, aa wa 
have a full right to do, we judge of Uerodutua's interpreter by thoas 
of travellers in modem times, the result with respect to the serf of 
information he could receive through such a medium, may well ba 
imagined. Nay, it is proved, by his mistakes upon almoat evaiy 
Egyptian subject which he hsndles in Euterpe. 

like some English snd other modem writers, who compooe vol- 
umes on that misrepresented country,' that are like Hodgea' raxon» 
only made to $eU, Herodotus prepared his work to read at the Olyna* 
pic games to a Grecian audience, more ignorant in thooe days oa 
Egyptian afiairs, than even Europeana of modem times are generally; 
and it waa necessary to interlard his discourse with occaaional fabri- 
cations, some of which will scarcely bear the dubious praise of ** fti 
non h vero, h ben trovsto." 

Diodoms wss in Egypt just before the downfall of the hoaae of 
Lagus, in B. C. 40, when the decline of Egyptian leamii^ iiad been 
going on for 700 years— 4uO of which had been spent under the joka 
of folreign masters. Diodoms copied Herodotus, and Hecatvua oi 
Miletus, who had visited and written on Egypt, in the reign of Da. 
rius ; snd, perhaps the later work of Hecatsus of Abdera, who waa 
in Egjrpt after Alexander ; and who, from the little we kaow of him, 
appears to have been an intelligent man, although, to the Elgyptiatos, 
all of them were naught but "impure foreigners" — so termed in hie. 
roglyphical legends by the Egyptians ; in ^ same manner, that for- 
eign nations are, to this day, in China, termed " outside barbarians*** 
Other information was imbibed by Diodoms, from Greeks in Lower 
Egypt ; whose profound %norance of E^ptian learning is only ex. 
ceeded by their indifference, their stupid self.coroplscency and egra- 
gious impudence. It virill not be pretended that Diodoms could 
speak Egyptian. 

There is so little dependence to be placed on the acconnts of He- 
rodotus or Diodoms, excepting on what they actually aaw with their 
own eyes, or could comprehend from its nature when they aaw it, 
that, by hieroglypbists their narratives are followed only in the ah- 
sence of better guides ; or, when their accounts are confirmed bjr 
other testimony. They could not discriminate between the tmth or 
falsehood of the things that were told them ; and the only way of 
accounting for the nonsense they often record, is to suppose, that tha 
humorous Egyptians purposely misled them. We have to thank 
them however for putting M down ; leaving us the task of culling - 
the pearls from the mbbish ; for there is no doctrine, however ineoiu 
sistent or improbable, that caimot be supported by gaetafisat 
Herodotua or Diodoms. 



NCIENT EGYPT. 



jJDlerpreter oak ihe n 



I iha prescnl day, through iho medium of bii 

lOBt iiitciligeDt native in itic DelU, ■ qneElion 

, and ils pmssnt rslaliDUa Hith EgJ'pt : and the 

vet will be ■ fohle, piodalled into llio fonn iba Ftllih deemn 

■I Ukcly to be pleasing la (be slmnger, if lie dues not can. 

, his utter ignoionce tJierean ; a candor rsre ia tlie valley of the 

[ ,ltile, and pouibly nlsewlien. 

Ill not morely look at iba nulhorii)-, lut at the aulhority'i 
I and qualificalions fur information, no less tlian ■! llio ua. 
Hue of Ifae nources wlience he could Bcquite dial laTannalion. Ii 
.would Buipri™ any ooe [oread descriptiona uf Egypt in flome mod 
,wii wark5 (published siace Cbainpollioa'a diecoveries,} sad iben go 
,ti> Cairo and ask. old rusidsDU their opiniona thereon. 

The luthorily of Herudutua and Diulonu on ancient Egyptian, 
^^d alill more on ancienl Sihiapiaii quesiiona, djitial lOOO niilcs 
n the provinces they visited (the epochs of the occurrcnco of 
I ^hich, date bum 3000 to 3000 years bufure they were in Ggrpl.) ia 
,«f about ibo aame value, sa would be the audiorily of aoiae modrrn 
.B»Tcllera of the last half century, whose puerile infonualion about 
«ven mudurn Cairo would be derived during i fortnight's reaidence, 
.£viii an Arab Raia, or csptain, a dankey.driv«r, or a European hotel. 
, keeper 1 Aak any of these lait, about events which took place in 

Edypt only 500 yen™ ago ! 

- Travellers, iherefore, who go beyond the Jirtl imprea^ions they 
Nceive, Bie tiatile to err, if they attempt, without time and adcquuu^ 

to ezjilBiD even what they behold, 

^ I informntioa mull be incorrect which ii solely derived from a 

I ^yQlago Anb Shttykb, or Turkish Nfciir, on eveuls whereon it is ini. 

I l^oaaible these can possess any information — and which, in eidicr 

-i4*ae,isgiveii to the traveller, ignorant of Arabic, through the medium 

I 4*f ■ alupid lascnl, who, because he can jabber ■ few words of Eng- 

■ ,)Ui, woita at table and cleans your shoes, is dignified by itiu inappli- 
Kflfibleand inappropiiate lilie uf " dragomim" or interpreter. Let 

«|Be ask, have not Amcricajia just reason to complain of the cuisory 
; ,ltulca of English iTDvollen, taken, during a railroad and sleambual 
'-' tliroagh the United Slntcsl Yet, in ihia case llie traveller 
,— .. '•» Ihe ssme language as the nation, tiirough whuae country he 
t^hirlslike an " igni9.fatuu«." 

Judge then how incompetent must that iravGllcr bo, in a foreign 

knd, UQBcquainted with the language of (he natives, when he inquitca 

nf unlcllered FelUUis, or of European freshmen, about events that 

K^^nspired thoiuanda of yean before his visit ; and yet, such was 

B.ftecisely (he poeition of J/erodaliu and Diodana, in Egypt- 

■ If, therefore, my own assertions differ from thoso met with in 
[lu of any epoch, not written by disciples of the Champollion 

_. ool, the reader will be ao indulgent as to make aome allowance 
ir divenilies of opinion, between one who knows a counlty from 
B years of domicile and many yean of critical investigation, and 
^en, whose aojoum therein nrely equalled the same number of 

Kalla, generally fell widun the same number of yseekt, and often 
not eiceed the same number of day». 
When Herodotus or Diodorus are quoted upon aubjects, which < 
^nn prove they coidd learn Hide or nolbiug about, it is <^ no great 
I . COnsequencB what iufctonce may be derived from their conclusions ; 

■ ^Jbecauie the well informed hterologisis have better aourees of inform. 
K^Wioni and mny draw inferences from txitting monuments anil 

■ ^Egyptian autocthoa chronicles, which givo them. In 1843, an infi- 
I i.Vftely superior knowledge of early Egypt (dating 3000 years before 
r 'the eorlluBt Greek historian) than could be acquired by, or was 

. known to, the Greeks, or die Romans; whose icBlimony may bo 

very often useful, but it is not evidence. 

J All authora who wrote on Egypt and Ethiopia, before the discov. 

^ ariea of Champollion, or without a thorough pcniial of the works of 

bia school, are liable to error on subjecta noa i/rrfecllii uitdfrfUmd ; 

■nd, in tlie present year, 1843, for a man to write on atieUnt Egypt, 

Tvilhuul fital making himself really acquainted with what la the last 

SO years has beea dons by die Chanipollions, by Roeellini, by Wil. 

kinoon and all the biero^yphical students, is lo act "the play of 

Hmntet, the part of Uamlci being left out by pnrticulur desire. ' 

^ Suppose sn Egyptian w«re to write a history of tlie United Statei 

•nd to make a rule of never consulting one American author, while 

I 1 frealing on American inaiimiiona, systems of government, mai 

I .Hid citstonis, annols or pcisonogos; what sort of a book would he 

I .initel and what opinion would the citiu^^s uf the United States 

e of his onesided and narrow-minded production, teeming, as 

jiild, with nonsense, errors and roiaiBprcEeniatior 

, . ■ deed in absurdity precisely parallel for any one, : 

I ,1843, lo write on ancient Egypt, without ascertaining first what i 

11 inhnbitanls record o/ lieRMilcn. 

t the special oblect of these discouraes lo ahnw what E^plian 
^^ ..y really is, al the present day; and nol lo omit the facts, 
■Helled by the intoiprelatiun of hietoglyphicnl chronicles. 
Al last, therefore, we can spread our canvas lo the breeze. 
' 1 oar voyage down the stream of lime. Fogssud tn Is Is preclude 
7 diilinct sight of the courac. Wo have many ahoals lo aio: ' 
d diere are many long and gloomy ponagca, over which we m 
'. Bwry our imaginary bark, wiihoul knowing precisely ilic length, 
Ibe courae of the river. As we descend, we shall find enormous 
bnd-marks, alietting the gieamess of their builders, widiout alH 
tailing the age of their ereclion. We shall ateer by ihcm atl- 



ting the relative bearings t^ each ; till, hiving reached die ubctiak Af 
Ileliopotis, D. C. 9080, the mists will gradually disaipate bb wb pro- 
ceed ; but die efaoals are still numerous, and die current still swift. 
Soon, however, wa arrive at the stupendous Ilypoityle Ualls of Euu 
nsc, SI the templea and palaces of Tholws, iha hoary " Amuuei," iM 
abode of Amun, about the year IBOO B. C ; from which lima, iha 
voyage will be easy and the scenery interesting, for a period ofSDOO 
years, when the hieroglyptiical sDnals cease, end eubsequenl cvena 
uro chronicled in nniveissl history. 



CHAPTER FIFTH. 

ircface thii potli.iD of my subject wilh ft 
knglhencd description of Egypt, as a country; for its geographical 
the general featuroa of its soil, climoti 
aialii:, (emi-African aspect, are Ii 
Id the reader ; or, in any esse, may he readily gleaned from popular 
works every whore accessible. 

In my lecture room, ■ large Map, colored with due reference tota 
three leading features, iheNilc, tlie Alluvium, and die Rocky Dcmi^ 
conveys, at a glance, ■ more correct idea of Elgypt dian con be ollh 
erwi>e acquired; and my fainiliariiy with the whole ground wlB 
lable me, as occasion oAcrs, to explain them by oral elucidaliaiVk 
I subjoin a skekton map of the entire Valley nf the Nile, i " ' 
will serve to make the sequel suf&ciendy intelligihle. 
MAP OF THE MLE. 







ANCIENT EGYPT- 



KoTB.r-Tha faiti Hma on Meh side of ihe NUo witl nv« a fair mUa of 
Ao aUovial aoil, and its decreaiei as we ascend the rirer from the sea. 

To the £ati and If^csC of the Nile, bevond the /ami Hoe, is /toefty Iktert. 
Tnm Memphis to Hs^jar Silsilis, the UUs are UmtHone, At Ha^iar 8i|. 
iiliS| mmdaimM. At Syene, or Asswia, grmmiu. Above the 1st Cataract, 
(— ififiai predominates. At Mount Sisiai, graniu. 

The tomd is chiefly at the noithern terminos of the biUs below Meaphts, 
«B the Sues desert, and on the sea eoast. A narrow strip ^nerallv occurs 
between the allurial soil on each side of the NUe, and the hills. These last 
bsgin at Cairo. 

Moreover, in treating on Temples, Tombe, Pyramids, and other 
Bionuroents, I shall refrain from a description, or detailed specifica. 
tkin of their relative sizes, plans, elevations, or dimensions, in ancient 
tiroes, or at the present hour, beyond what may have a direct bear, 
ing on the point under discussion ; because, these may also be gath. 
«red by the reader from works of travel, popular geographies, and 
iimilar welUknown authorities. 

Whether the great pjrramid be 454 feet high, or 474, is to us a 
natter of indifference. Whether tlie statue called Memnon, be 
«9Mi, or not, we claim to be scarcely worth inquiry ; and what may, 
yeradventure, be the precise length of the tnil of the Great Sphinx, 
can be better decided by others more learned than the writer. 
In these interesting and important matters, we shall endeavor to be 
very superficial ; fur these chapters, and my subsequent oral lecturer, 
will only show who were the builders of these edifices ; when they 
were erected ; and what purposes they were intended to serve ; with 
inch elucidations as may be afforded by the hieroglyphics. 

The Septuagint computation for the era of the Flood, being taken 
■• our extreme point of vision, the remote antiquity reqiired for 
l^gypt sends us to the Bible, for Uie account of the earliest migrations 
of the human race. 

Genesis iz. Idtlu — ^ And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the 
ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth : and Ham is the father of 
Canaan.'* 19th. — ^* These are the three sons of Noah : and of them 
was the whole earth overspread." Ch. x. Cth. — ** And the sons of Ham, 
Cosh, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan." 13th. — " And Miz. 
raim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lchabini, and Naphtuhim." 
14th. — *' And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philis. 
dm) and Cophtorim." After indicating the children of Canaan, the 
90tii reiie declares, ** These are the sons of Ham, after their 
tmigues, in their countries, and in their nations." In 1st Chronicles, 
I., verses 4, 6, 11, 12, we obtain the same account verbatim. 

In the general allotment of territories to the offspring of Noah, 
Efjrpt, (by the concurrent testimony of all biblicol commentators) 
was assigned to Mizraim, son of Ham, as a domain and for an 
inheritance. Thither he must have proceeded from tlie banks of the 
Euphrates in Asia, accompanied probably by Ham, his father : an 
inference not inconsistent with patriarchal longevity and the silence 
of Scripture, when we know that Egypt was termed Ham, or Kheme, 
by the Egyptians, from the earliest period of hierog lyphicol writing ; 



© 




KHeM, Kah, the Land of Ham. 



A question arises, whether the migration of Mizraim may not 
have been antecedent to the dispersion of the rest of mankind from 
Bhinar ; that is, whether it may not have been anterior to the 
oonfusion of tongues, on the destruction of BabeL We learn 
from Genesis z., 25, that the great grandson of Noah ** was Peleg ; 
lor in his day was the earth divided.** Now, in Hebrew, Psleo 
means to sever, to eeparttte : and, between the apparently peaceful 
migration (in Peleg's time) of the patriarchal grandchildren, when 
*• the whole earth was of one language and one speech," while " they 
ioumeyed from the east toward the west," and the forcible dispcr. 
•ion {after mankind had dwelt ** in a plain in the land of Shinar") 
of man subeequenily to tlie confusion of tongues at Babel, there is, 
chronologically, an intervening interval of sixty years, or, probably, 
of a longer period. 

It has been claimed, by Bryant and others, that the confusion of 
tongues was a labial failure— that the wrath of the Almighty fell solely 
on the Cushitos as a people, with a few rebel associates of the tribes 
if Shem and Japheth; and need not have included all mankind, 
■• tlie virtuous portion of Noah's immediate family (with the arch. 

Striarch Noah himseU, " who lived after the flood three hundred and 
ry years," and who was alive somewhere on the earth during the 
•vents of Babel,) may, in obedience to the Almighty's mandate, have 
departed in the days of Peleg — the time of the peaceful separation — 
lo the countries allotted to them. 

This speculative view is so far applicable to Egypt, that, in this 
•••e, .Mizraim, who may have acquired the most fertile soil of the 
mrth as a grant from Providence, was not an outcast from the patri. 
•rchal family : while, being of the aame blood with Noah himself, 
Im was in physical conformation a Caueaaiant nd in geographical 
origin an Asiatic. 

Hebraical scholars afford ua the following ezplanttion of ** Shem, 
flam, and Japheth." 

We learn from Genesis x., 91 — that Jnpheth waa th^ elder of 
Noah's children. The exact meaning of Japheth, according to Dr. 
Lamb, is ** the man of the opening of the tent." Now In ch. ix., the 



27th verse, we read, ** God shall enlarge Japbath, and he abaH dwofl 
in the tents of Bhem." But a more appropriate translation of tbo 
Hebrew text ia, ** God shall open wide the door of the tabemada 
to the descendanta of Japheth, and they ahall dwell in die tabema. 
clea of the children of 8hem." Whereby we perceive a remarluhla 
prophecy, of the call of the GentOea to the lighta and privilegea of tiw 
Jewish church, many agea prior to the birth of Abraham ; and one 
that is rapidly drawing to fnlfilment tfaroogfaoat the East, in a pOm 
litieal point of view, if ** coming events east their ahadowa before.** 
Those who are raaUy acqaainted with what the East is, are petanaded. 
with respect to the Holy Land itself, that the Jewa, aa a nation, havo 
forfeited all right to the possession of it ; tint God haa totally, per. 
hops finally, deprived them of it ; and pkffsicmUy diaqnaHfied than, aa ^ 
a nation, from its future independent occupation. ^ It has for ceo. 
turies been trodden of the Gentilea. No people have been able to 
establish themselves securely for any length time within its pie. 
cincts, nor will any, until it may please God to grant it to that nm- 
Uon, or to that family, whom he may chooee"— which, if oiganie 
laws have any effect on oar social constitution, will be to the con- 
quering hand of the ^ Andax genua Japethi" — ^the bold race of 
Japhctii. Many pious Christians, and orthodox divines, consider tho 
promises of tiio restoration of the Jews to be of a sptrtfva/, and not 
of a temporal nature. 

Again, according to a rigid analysis of the Hebrew text, it is dear 
that Shem and Ham were twin brothen. 

Shem signifies ** the whits or fair fwtn" — ^Ham, " the dmrk or 
swarthy twin ;" and this is physiologically correct ; because the fiptis 
of&pring of the same parents cannot vary much in cuticnlar appear, 
ance. 

The fact, that these brothers were twins, explains the reason why 
we find them always placed in this order, Shem, Ham, and then 
Japheth. As the ancestor of the Jews themselves, and of the prom- 
ised seed, we can understand why precedence should be given to 
Shem ; and then Japheth (who was senior to Shem) ought to follow 
before Ham ; but as the brothers, Shem and Ham, were the produce 
of one birth, they were not separated. Ham, therefore, altboagb 
the ** ynunger son" of Noah — Genesis ix., 24 — alwajrs takes prece- 
dence of the eldest of the three brothen. 

I dwell rather upon the fact, that Shem and Ham were, accordiog 
to the Hebrew text, twin brothers, to show that, physiologically, tiiey 
were identical in race; with the trifling distinction (frequentiy ob. 
servable between twins, as they advance in age, at the present day,) 
that Ham wos a shade or two more swarthy than his brother Shem ; 
who, as the father of the Jews, was a pure white man. 

The name of Ham was, by the BIgyptisns, preserved in the name of 
their country. The meaning of the Hebrew root. Ham, is ** dark- 
brown of color ;" no less than ** heat," and especially ** soUar heaL'* 
In Coptic it has precisely the same signification. And in Arabic it 
likewise means ** swarthf of color," as, for instance, unhlemehed linen 
is called **goomksh.ikAom"— «l8o, heat, &c. : but in no Semitic laiw 
guoge does Ham, as a color, strictly mean black. 

Another popular fallacy, and one which, being very prevalent, 
produces many erroneous deductions, is the supposition tiiat ciif 
curse attached itself to Ham : who, aa the father of the Elgyptiana, 
has been therefore made the parent of eMer so-called African nationa. 

This anomaly, which originates in the misconceptions of the early 
Fathers, falb to the ground, when we read with attention from the 
20th to the 27th verses of ix. Genesis. It is there expressly recorded 
as Noah's prophetic denunciation, not of Ham, nor of Cinh, nor of 
Mizraim, nor of Phut, ** cursed be Canaan" — ^the fourth and yenngetf 
son of Ham. 

Now Canaan, in direct contravention of die will of God, took 
possession of Palestine — the land destined for the posterity of Abra- 
ham ; and it was with a foreknowledge of his evil deeds, that Noah 
was permitted to curse him. Some m<keen centuries after this event, 
the Canaanites were ejected from Palestine, slaughtered, or subju. 
gated by the hosts of Joshua ; who politically fulfilled the extinction 
of a doomed race, and took possession of Abraham's inheritance. No 
doubt need be entertained that Canaan was aecwreed — and descrved'y 
so, when we consider the abominations of the heathen rites origin- 
ated and practiced by his descendants — their human sacrifice*- 
their altars reeking with the blood of men : yet, even in the moral 
wilderness of Canaan we meet with oases ; for— -Genesis xiv., 16^ 
Melchisedek, king of Salem, ** was a priest of the most high God"-— 
a proof, that, in Abraham's day, the worst Gentile nation had one , 
man who foUowed the pure primeval creed ; nor did the Almighty 
disregard the expostulating prayer of Abimelech, king of Gerar— 
Gen. XX., 4—*' Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation 7" 

Other exceptions to the cirrse on Canaan and his descendants, are 
producible ; but, aa a general rule, the Phosnicians and their Car- 
thaginian colony, with other Canaanites, were, in their paganism, 
atrociously inhuman. 

Canaan, however, was not physieallff changed in consequence of 
the curse. He ever remained a white man, as did, and do, all his 
many descendants. No scriptural production can be found, that 
would support an hypothesis so absurd, as that, in consequence of the 
curse, Canaan was transmuted into a neoro, or into any, the very 
slightest sflifiities to the varied races we now designate as Africans ; 
while equally untenable is that opinion which would, in consequeneo 



tt their andeniabln in/mbrifji of nc- 
ff Provideoce ■acuntil- 

Wiut chc CuiBuiliea were, prior lo B. C. 1500, 1 ehdl illuMiate in 
■V loemrij* by ibe portrait of a CajiMniie (oOeiislenl with every 
wieiir uf Ncgra, also illiuiraieii,) rrom tlie Theban eculpnirofl, i^ui 
•boul llie period or Uie Jewiib Eiuilua ; oivi whoea hEad is leid 
fa hieruglypliicfl, ^^^% ^^'%^/^ ^ » '^ Kftn&as, borbanan 

ooonlry;" given ^^ ** * ^. I ■mongptupcinamoB 

hi the preceding Jfe,^'W^'« .0^.1 ||A4 chspier; and, il ia 
well worthy of remark, ihal on ihico duferenl occaoiuni (two of 
IbBm recorded prior (o Ifae Bxode, and one wliilo the Jewa wrre 
pobnbly at Moiim Sinai,) we find iha Pharaonic armiBB conquering 
pUoH in Canaan — ''Kansnal" Tliia ii perfectly confinnslory of 
Ae chronological arrangonienl herein followed; because. Da Jophua 
OVenhrew tho land of Canaan subsequently to thene Efypltan viclo. 
lUa, il ia quite natural that, during eventi preceding jDabua. " the 
Guaanite should atill bs in the land" aa ho waa in the dsya of Abn. 
kun. In later timeo, among the hieruglyphical records of Kgyptian 
eonqueati in Palenine, Kanuia diuppeaia, lo be replaced by llic 
•King of Judah." 

If then with the eorse branded on Canaan, and on hii whole po«- 
toiity, the Almighty did not Mte St to cbnnge liii akin, hia hair, bonea, 
At any portion of bia pbyaical atmclure, how unjuat, how baaeleaa ia 
Abi theory (uneupported by a line in Scripture, and in diametrical 
l^poaition to monumentitl and hiatoricil lealimony.) which would 
Bake Canaan's immediate progenilnr. Ham, (ha father of the Ne. 
(Toea! or hia appDrently blemelcH brother, Miiruim, an Ethiopian ! 

Ham , indeed, is omitted after the prophetic eiectation of Canaan, 
And, while Shem ia peculiarly bleaaed, and Jephcth ia told that " (>od 
■hall enlarge" him, and dial he shall dwell (oa he does) " in the Ionia 
of Shem," neitlier Ham, nor his other three aona, Cueh, Mizraim and 
Phut, are doomed to bo felluw-nrBantt with the "aervanl of aerranla," 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 

I the NcgToea to be — and poaaibly connected, in aome myeteriuua 



V 



V4 



thetr 



w 



In fact, Ham and hia three lona partook of all earthly bleianga ; 
•od whether he accompanied Mizraim into Egypt or not, we find the 
•arlieci Egyptian lecorda (written not many cenluriea after hia death,) 
eke hia name to the Valley of the Nile — that in Paalm Ixiviii., 51, 
and eloowhoro, Egypt ia designated as " tho tahernaclea of Ham" — 
knd that a variety of otiier testimony anociaies Ham with the rich. 
•at, moat fertile, and moat ancient country of the earth ; and makea 
Mm the progenitor of tho moat eiviliied and powerful nation of an- 

Il would not be at all consistent with the aathorily that eiuoinson 
dw Hebrewa ihe obeerronce of the following Law, to aappoae any 
euTM hung over Ham or bis descendanla, until, in long pocleriitf limeK, 
lh«e had morally fallen from the character of their high-cute an- 
cestry. No naiioni but Egypt and Edom onjoyed ihii pririlegc. 

Deut. ixiii., T, 8—" Thou sbnll not abhor an Edomite, for he ia 
ihy brother : ihou ahalt ni>t abhor an Egyptian, bccaoae ihon waat a 
■tranger in his land. The ohildren thnl ore begotten of them ahall 
•Dter into tho cangrogation of the Lord in their third genoiation." 

It is a curioui philolDgical coincidence, tlial in Egyptian hieroglyph. 
toa, OS in Coptic, the word for amnger was *' ahemmo." The Is- 
raelite was a etranger in Egypt, and ■ deacendant of Sham — he waa 
tbanifore ahemmo.* 

In one word, from the earliest times, the children of Ham, or Egyp- 
liuia, and the children of Shem, or laraeliles, bore each other no he- 
nditary Hl.wilL Why tfaoutd they, being of Ihe same Caucasian 
■lock, the deacendanta of twin brothen I This eonatani altachmeni 
to Egypt, on the part of the Hebrews, continued ever iuutct, and 
men eieited the Ehvine anger; while, finally, no curae did or could 
Mparats Ham from Ihe temporal bleasingt allotted to hia family, or 
fram anion spiritually wiili hia twin brother Shem ; because a portion 
of Ham'a blood flowed in the line of the promioed aeed, through Ra- 
hali of Jericho, a Cnnasnitixh woman, who married Salmon, and be- 
ewne the molher of Boat, the grmdraiber of Jesse, the father of David. 

According to the Bible, therefore. Egypt was coloniied by Ham's 
children ; ond il hoa been abown, that, in hieroglyphics, the aticient 
name of that country was "the land of Ham." It hna IHtewiae 
been soon how in Hebrew, in Arabic, and in Coptic, Ham means 
dark, iwarthy in color; and this application of the name lo E^ypl 
proceeds from the daik-cotored loam, or Nilotic alluvium, of its pto- 
Ufic soil; for Plutarch telle na, that "Egypt was called Chemmia 
from the blackneaa of its aoil." As the rout of Chemmia ia the so- 
milic word Ham, which only means dark, il is an error of Plutarch 
to render it blaek. Tho ancient city of Panopolia, in tlio Tliebaid, 
wna termed Kcmmla by Greek wriiem, as its native Egyptian name ! 
and ita site aiill preserves its aneieal deaignalion in the modem 
B'khmim. 

In tho mythological tyslcm of the Egyptians, Khem waa a deity 
of the fit«l order, repraeenting, aa an attribute of the Almighty, the 
ganenilive piineiple extending over procreation in the animal and 
^agelable world — a doctrine singularly in accordance with the mya. 
■e attributes of tho father of the Egyptians — Ham, the aon of Noah 



# 



Amcm-KHEM. 

n the altar behind fate 
wo trcea. Khem ja la 
'ay connected vrith 
a sycamore, ilUI lit 
„ iioua to Egypt— and in 
liifioglyphical legends Egypt 
i* oflen termed " the land of 
the sycamore." 

The far.femed gud Oiiri^' 
among hie varioui attribs* 
lions (aa the Nilo, or tha 
"Judge of Ameiili," the iih 
lure ilale.) is myatically ■ 
form of Khem, who cotte«i 
ponda dIso to Ihe Hiodo* 
Siva, and from whom tba 
Greeks derived llieir Piulo. 

Miiraim (in Hebrew, al«« 
Miizar) aon of Ham, csma 
from Asia into Egypt, and 
coloniied that luxurious vaL 
ley. Although, in hicro- 
glyphicB, tliia name haa n«f 
been found, we have acriptn. 
rnl outhonly in abandano^ 
that Ihe country waa called 
Miiraim, and Miliar, by tl)« 
..jughoul tha cast, Egypt and 
cognate appellation of iifaas'r. 



.ersally known by n 

According lo Sanconiathon, Miaor (who may be Min.im ij wh 
tha aneeswr of Taaulue— our Tholh— Hermea-lrismegittua— wbs 
invented the writing of the fiial lellera : ao thai Phranician annab 
agreed with Egyptian, in attributing lenera to Ihe same penonaget 
while U coincidBB with our view of acriptural chronology, and tb* 
AsiaUc origin of the Egyptians, that, if by Misor, Sanconislbaa 
meant Miamim. that Thoth— Hermes should he his deacendanL 

Egj-pl waa called Miiiuim by the Hebrewa— ond iho lilde "Se^ 
iieh," or D«eert-water.cour»e, of Rhinocoluta.nearEI-Areeah onlhi 
isthmus of Suet, aa the boundary lino between Egypt and Palestine 
waa termed " Nachal -Miiraim," the torrent of Egypt 11 new 
means ihe Nile, which, in Hebrew, is " Jear" or " Jeor." 

The root* of iho word Miiraim are, by Hebmical philologist*. 
shown to be Tiui— a rock, a narrow place— whence Matiur. a for- 
tress, Miiraim is the dual number— signifying " the two tocka"— 
" Ihe two fortresses"—" Iho two barriers." Thia msy be eiplojnad 
eilhor by iha peculiar topographical formation of the valley itad^ 
on each side of which n rock, the Lybian and the Eastern hills, OOB. 
fines the river Nile ; or by regarding ihese two chaina. aa two nata- 
tiil forlreSBcB, acting as borriets to the nomads of the eaalem deeor> 
on the one hand, and of the western on the other. It may likewiaa 
apply to Upper and Lower Egypt, designated in hieroglyphica b 
" Ihe two regions.'* 

As wo are on compaiisona of early biblical nomenclalurea and 
hieroglyphicnl lerritorisl appelladvea, 1 will indicate a curioua coih 
linnolion of our theory in anotherson of Ham, who appeals to ha«« 
c rowed thro ugh Egypt, and settled in Lybia to Ihe weat. Lybia wu 
^^SS^~ termed by the Egyptiana, prior to 2000 B. C^ "Thi 
^ :^ country of the nine bows" — a designation eitremely 
■^ ^ sppropriale to the wild nomads of the " Beladed-dJA. 
^ _— ; iced" (OB the Arab writera deaignnte " Fenan") tha 
"^*" countries of the date-palm ; for Lybian arcbera and 
Numldian cavalry are celebraied in bisiory ; nor have tho " Moghte. 
ba" Arabs, under Abd-cl-Koder, loai caste in military prowcaa. Tha 
□amber nine may be vague, as repreaeutalive of " a great many ;" 
r apecilie, ns to the tribes of Lybia i,t) 

Now phimetically, Ihese eharactera readinCoptic, Niphaiat; wb*ne# 
outttng off Mt the plural, and snppteaaing tho vowels, wa oblaih 
Ph-t, or Phal, as the name whereby the children of Phut (son of 
" ' known in history : A bow, in Coptic, is likewise Phel. 
ih, Cush and Phut represent A/rieo. I con find no hiero. 
glyphical Instance, that the Phut are termed barbarians, which would 
I, if they be the deoccndonta of Miziaim's broiher; bat T 
)Eiilive on this head. 

id niaconccplion, it behoves me lo remark, thai the hiero 
glyphical name for Negioeo, which is Kosh, has no apparent relation 
:■> Cush, the ton of Ham. I ahall eipound, in my lectures, why 
hey are diiKinel, and how they have been confounded. The Cush 
if the Hebrews, na welt as the Ethiopia, of our version, and of 
Greek wrilcm, {a Antediluvian in date; and ia applied, with msrveU 
oua indisiinclneas, lo Egypt, Arabia Petrna, Nubia, Nigrilia, Aby* 
sinia, Arabia Proper, Peraia, Chnsiatan, Scylhia, Bactna, Asayria, 
India, and almost to every connlry of the Eastern-African, and Aaj* 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



MSdc CoDtineDtB. In hieroglyphics, Kush meAoi exduaively African 
in generalf and negroes in particular; aa 



c=3a: 




« Kush, barbanan country, porrerM raee." 



inaeribed orer Negro captives. 

On the geographical distribution of the seren 9on» of Mizraim, 
die liieroglyphical names of ESgyption localities have aa yet shed no 
ttn^t. Biblical commentatora are not agreed, aa to the precise terri- 
torSes of the Ludim, and the Lehabim ; but tlie latter are placed in 
Lybia westward of Lower £^ypt— possibly in the G3rrenaica ; and 
tlie former are conjectured to have colonized the province of Mari. 
ods. The Anamim are supposed to have occupied the Oases. The 
Naphtuhim possessed the sea^oast of the Delta ; and were nautical 
fn &eir habits, if it be fair to derive tiie Greek yavOne (pronounced 
yiphikt/g) and the Arabic ** No(>tee,*l — sailor, from the Hebrew root. 

As from the Casluhim proceeded the Philistim, they have been 
placed, by some, on the eastern Bide of the Nile, near Lake Menza. 
(ah. To the Psthrusim has been assigned the Thebaid. 

In hieroglyphics, the Lotus typified Upper, and the Papyros, Lower 
^inrpt. 

In Hebrew, ^ name of Upper Egypt was Ptkru9, whence our 
Fathros, from the root PTHRr— •" to interpret dreams." Now Up- 
per Egypt, or the Thebaid, was the birth-place of mystic science, 
and of initiation in occult mysteries — symbolized by the Lotus, typi. 
cai of ** celestial light," aa well aa of the Thebaid, where science 
originated. Again, in Hebrew, Lower Egypt was called Mtsur — 
Egjrpt and Cairo are now termed Mussr — while the papyrus plant 
ftuniahed food to man, and may in consequence have indicated 
""the region of primitive agriculture ;" such as must have been that 
portion of the Nilotic valley to its first settlers. We have the au. 
tbority of Herodotus, that the papyrus waa the /r«< food, the primi. 
live aliment of the Egyptians; aa likewiM of Horus-Apollo, that 
die papyrus meant, in hierogljrphica, ** the first nutriment of man," 
and ** the ancient origin of things." Now the papyrus grew only in 
Lower Egypt ; was the cheapest food of ita former population, and 
agriculture, with primitive social organization, began in Lower Egypt. 

Thus does Hebrew confirm the symbols of the ESgyptians. Be. 
Mtm tracing in the word Mizraim, and explaining it by the transla. 
tfon of ** the two fortresses," we reach other curious coincidences. 
Hie singular number of Mizraim, is JbTfirtcr— -embracing two roots, 
Mloe, meaning ** onleavened bread ," and Urr, signifying ** a bun. 
^^ or " a roll of papyrus,** as used by scribes, symbolizing the 
fnif9odf and the ancient origin of things. 

' Now, unleavened bread--Hii<se— existed in the days of Moses, 
Exodus xxii. 8, and other verses — no less than leavened bread, xiii. 
% 7. The Jews were an Arabian, and essentially a pastoral people, 
before they settled in Canaan. Unleavened bread was the primitive 
Ibod of man, in the eariy stages of civilization, and before he learned 
10 leaven it It waa adopted by the Jewa, on their departure 
Mvoas the desert from Goshen, as the aimplest mode of preparing 
bread in die wilderness ; and has ever been the daily food of the 
Aimbian nomad, the present B^dawee, who prepares a eake of flour 
wa4 Ivater, bakes it with dried camel's dung, and calla it *< GoOra. 
n.** The Hebrew lawgiver, when the Almighty ordained the Pass. 
over, adopted the unleacvened cake for his nomadic tribe. The 
agricultural and civic institutions of the Egyptians, had previously 
Induced them to adopt aa a symbol of civilization, (in contradistinc 
tion to the coarse unfermented aliment of the nomad,) the leavened 
broad, ezprcMed in hieroglsrphics by ^f\ the consecrated loaf; 
identical in shape with the consecrated \J cnke of the Roman 
and Eastern Churches ; aild preserved, among us, in the koU 

€f99§Jfutta, sold on Good-Fridays, and on the Continent during 
other festivals. Thus a dear distinction waa permanently esta£ 
llahed between Egyptian and Hebrew ritea, between leavened and 
onleavened bread. 

The location of the Caphtorim is uncertain. It has been conjee, 
tared that they were placed in the Delta, or near Pelusium, or in 
Crete, or in Western Palestine. 

Caphtor, has been ingeniously traced to AiXaphtor, or covered 
land— posaibly referring to the annual covering of Egypt by the wa. 
tars of the Nilotic inundation. Hence, by elision, we obtain Ai. 
oapht, or Ai^opht; and, by tranaariution with Greek, ^ AryraT".«f , 
ESgypt; which may derive aome confirmation from the Arabic, "Gypf* 
or ** Gupt," or " Qoo(^" in relation to our word Copt, the present na- 
tive Christian population of that country. It is curious, that in San- 
oerit, Egypt is termed Gnpta.8han, covered land wherein we trace 
tba same root Gjrpt; no less than Cardama.shan, meaning mud 
aad. In Greek, Aigyptos, often means the Nile itself. 



The ancient classical name, Adria, which is traceable to it^, do. 
noting obscurity and darkness, in reference to the color of Egyptian 
alluvium (aa in Scripture, *< the darkneee of Egypt") has not been 
found in hieroglyphics ; but I tuink it derivable /Vom the roots of Ra, 
Ouro, Aur ; explained in the previous chapter, as referring to Phre, 
die sun, ihe solar deity of Eg/pL 

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 
negativea (when the abeolnte silence of Scripture leaves no better 
aignment,) that there is nothing in the Bible, which compels us to 
carry thejiret eettlere 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 aa far aa the Thebaid ; while all the other brethren set. 
tied 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 thia is but reasonable, when we reflect, thot the mid. 
die and the lower provinces oficred 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. 
nieval 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 cuise on Ham, or on Miz. 
raim. We know, that the curse on Canaan affected him n\orally, 
and not physically. We have seen, that Shem, Ham and Jnpheth, 
were of one blood as brothers. We have learned that Shem and 
Ham were t\nn brothers. We know, that Shem, the parent of Sem. 
itic nations, snd 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 ho 
entered Egypt 

It is our part now to prove, that not time, nor circumstance, nor 
climate, efiected any palpable change, or physical alteration, in th^r 
progeny; and that Ham's lineal descendants, the Egyptians, were all 
pure blooded Caucasians, from the earliest to the latest Pharaonie 
epoch — modified in the Upper Nilotic provinces by the sdrnixture of 
exotic Au8tro.Egyptian (that is, as Dr. Morton explains, by conu 
opotmd Semitico.Hindoo and equally Caucasian) blood ; and this was 
strictly the fact, except in incidental and individual intermixture with 
the African races of Bert>ers and Negroes in those provinces to Ethi. 
opia adjacent This latter commingling, however, api)ears 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 Pharaonie Egypto-Caucasian family, than it is now discern, 
ible among the Fellihs, ot the lower and middle provinces of the 
present day. 

On the dubiotis 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 — ^Ikat of prtmevai migratione — ^Lower Egjrpt 
waa an *< uninhabitable marsh ;" and, therefore, that Upper Egypt 
must have been settled first Nay, Herodotus and Diodorus main, 
tain, tiiat Ethiopia, above the cataracts, was the cradle of the ancient 
Egyptians. 

Bryant, who, by the way, fipequentiy breathes " the word of promise 
to die ear, and breaks it to the hope," has judiciously remarked, that 
** among many learned, men, who have betaken themselves to theso 
researches, I have hardly met with one that has duly considered the 
situation, distance, and natural history of the places shout which they 
trest :" 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 
Eg3rptian subjects, of which a sober and practical investigation of the 
facts woiUd at once have exposed the fallacy. These chapters and 
my future lectures are specially directed to the removal of the mora 
prominent instances of ancient or modem 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 glsdly 
availed my8elf,forhearingmany 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 ita support 

Among the illusions consecrated by the halo of ages, there is none 
so singular, and tiiat strikes any one who has traversed the Nomea 
or Pr^ncee of EgypU in their length and breadth, as more unac 
countable and inconceivable with the array of natural f sets presented 
to him, than the statement, that the Delta of Egypt is of recent date ; 
or otherwise, that iu 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 



[ boalily a( that counlir duiing some twf Ire yam of icliul soj< 
I led hiiii la (he ma«l iccimle concliuioai. " vre mm led ti 
:BMiIv uf nllawiug an immDUiinblo lime for the toul formation of 
.[■pace, whiL-li la judge fioni the very lilllo iccDinutatian of iM 
I Milt <■"'' ''■B amall distance it has encroached on ihc net, since the 
f wactiun of the ancienl cidei wilhin it, would require ages, and throw 

htck ill origin fat beyond iho deluge, or e>eu the Moulc oro of the 

C"Miun." 
, So thoroughly, indeed, has Sir J. O. Willdnaon domonilraled thii 

Itct, that, were it dsaiisble to enlor iolo deliils, the m»«t convincing 

■Hthod would ba lo aitracl from pagea 5 to 11 of hifl fimt, and froni 
, VWea 105 to 131 of his fourth volume, a[ " Manncn and Customa 
I of iha Ancienl tigypliana." But, ainoj the curious can readily peruse 

9ii eminenl work for ihenuelvca, 1 perform an agreeable dutf in 
I itferring to hia antement, adding il Ihn lalnB lime an cxpresBion of 
L Ijtj admiration of iu accuracy. The fallowing axiotru will then be 

JaL That the Delta i* sa old as the Sood, and woa ut inhabitable 
irhen Hita'a children entered Egypt, aa it ia in Diose pnila which 
>ra peopled nl the precenl hour. In fact, owing la ihe constnnt riae 
of ihe bed uf the river being more rapid than that of Ibo soil on its 
Innlu, the Dclln and Lower Egypt are probably more maiihy now, 
llian at any previous period. 

2nd. Thm, ki ihe south of ihe Delta, the perpendicular riae of ihe 
bed of ihe Nile cileuda the inundaiion and alluvial deposit much 
farther, in a horiionlal and lateral direction, Eoal and Weal, at the 
pnseni day, than was the case at any anterior period — that lliia pro. 
can has atwaya been in operation — and ihul there is now ■ wider 
Mlenl of auperlicieB overfiuwed nnd irrigated by Ihe inundalion than 

3d. Thai the eiaggeraltid and ridJculoua stories, about the encroach. 
menl of aand on the arable suil of Egypt, deserve no allenlion; far, on 
the eontrory, whatever ii^tirythe aand may have hereand there effected 
(ihal is, al Roselia, Beni.e>IUne, the pyremida, Behnesa, and Aboo- 
aitnbel) lh4 number of square miles of inundated alluvium haa always 
been, and will ever be, on the iacrease,i!a long as similar cauica operate 
10 produce simibu' eOecU. 

4th. Thai Iha celebrated Oaaea, to the wesiward of Egypt, are not 
" fertile apota in the midat of a eondy plain ;" but depreaeions in the 
lofiy tableland of Africa, where, in the absence of the superincum. 
bani limestone slrala, ihe water hoa the power of rising lo the aurface. 

Slh. Thiit the desert is not a dreary plain of aand, which has over, 
whelmed a once fertile country, whose only vcsligea are tlie "iao- 
hlad gardens of the Oaaea," but a high lahle.land ^limestone, aand- 
•tooe, granite and other rocka, according to locality; broken and in. 
tMnipiO'l by alternate elevations and depressiuna: where, when nol 
en this lop of the isble-rock iteelf, you iraiel in tavinea, defiles, and 
qncca, on hard gravel, upon which your iread often [eovei no trail ; 
tad where frequently you are truly delighted, aa Ihc shadea of even- 
lag warn you to acorch for a bivonack, if you can find as much sand 
■a will inake under your carpel a Bdda wee's mallress. The Isthoiua 
of Suez, and those already-named places, which the casual Anglo. 
Indian hurries over in his eiploraliva uanait, are exceptions lo the 
■bnve rule, for very simple reasons. 

The fanciful accounti of cnnivana' being overwhelmed by sands 
ia the deaerl, would be loo puerile to deaerve allention, did nol those 

riguna of obaervers, Herodolui and Slmbo, Paul Lueaa and Mr. 
John [who conliue their knowledgeto the half-mile strip of sand 
between the oullivated.soil and the desert, or "Higar," stone) per- 
petuate the delusion. Sirabo, like some later travellers, must have 
bnved great dangera during his voyage 1 and, even now, we read 
lAoul wonderful escapes and miraculous preservations from a Si- 
■Bad« .' The army of Cambyaea is said to have been awallowed up 
by waves of sand. It would be a phenomenon in physics to see one 
•fsucli wavef, Otiien, beatdea the writer, who are still alive lo tell 
the lale, have been out in the wilderneaa durinj* the wont Si- 
Biooms thai ever blew, and found them diS^Tveable enough ; but, 
having abundance of water at hand, they sal down under Ihe lee of 
■nythiiig they could find — (oomela kneeling down afford aa much 
shelter aa > ■ iiuoessary) and, without a shadow of apprehension, suf- 
fered tiie blast to blow over with ila cloud, not of soad, but of hot, 
impalpable, though penetrating dust. 

No aerial force having the power of raising waves of aand. there 

never was, during a 3imoom or Khamraecii, the sUghlesI dtmger 

<n oi the sands of the desert. If a man, during these 

emote from pools or springs, and llie skins which eon. 

Ills beverage break, or are dried up, then he will per. 

bh from Ihini, his drought being aggravated by the parching heat of 

■ lurid atmosphere. Consequently, where caravans have perished in 

the desert, from causes not originaling in man himself, they have 

died, after losing their way, from hunger and thirst ; as did the army 

af Coinbysea, after encouutoring the arrows of ihe "nine bows" of 

Lybia. Aa the animals fall, the li^hl particles of dual or fine aand. 

. Aift aceumidale with the obalructiun, and miy somedmea bury ihc 

; but this ia ao rare, that, when occasionally in journeying 

over the desert, you pass the skeleton of a camet, you often regret, 

di»t there wot not aand enongh to screen Ihe unpleaaing relic from 

roar view. 

Tbe dcacrt, ibe samd, iho Simoota, the Ehtmeseen, wilh all their 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 




(abulous horrors, alarm nol the Arab who has plenty of water; nnA 
lo a hale European, ore Inlinilely more appalling in a book ot 
travels, than when encountering the acme of iheir disagreeables ki ifao 
Sahara itself. To iboae who love clear skies, pure air, oDen huw^ 
liful. ever romantic scenery, Iliere ia s charm in deserclife, that cut 
be fell, bnl not described. 

Finally, there is no danger in the deseit at any time, (save now- 
and then, from msn, who, even there in much belied) provided Ih* 
wayfarer haa food and water (wilhnul which he could not eiisl la 
Eden,) and, as for the dangen of a Simoom, in comparison with iliosa 
of a snowstorm in Ihe Highlands of Scotland, among ihe Alpin* 
crigi of Swinerland, or on the northweeb'm prairies of Americat 
ol lo be mentioned in the same breatli. 
. uhjecia afford ample room for pruliiiiy, but being al ptesenl- 
irrelevant, I spologiie for the digression. Lei us return lo Luwef: 
Egypt, ihe pristine sest of Ham's descendants. 

Poailive levels demonalTBle to Ua, thai when the Delia was an "am 
of the sea," or even "an uninhabitable marsh," Asia and Africa wan- 
separate Continenli, and the Red Sea flowed into the MedlterrsneBit 
In those days ihe Mohstlam bills behind Cairo, and ihe opposite Ly, 
lin, whereon now aland the eternal pyramids, (if those hilla< 
n in existence) Blood out, into the sea, bold capes and prom. 
The nesreit points of cither Oinlinent would have beeM> 
GeM Atlaia on the African, to GeM Ein Mdota on the A>iatic aide, ' 
at the preaeni apex of the Red 8es, distant from each other about 
Ihtrty miles. While, on each Coniineni, tferifi rocki were oil, ihM' 
for kundrtAi of milei, were out of Ihe water. 

The aame geological iransiliona that cauaed the recession of lb* 

lien, and upheaved the narrow slip which now connects Africa 

:lh Asis, bmsl asunder Ihe basaltic barrien of Wkdee Haifa, rifled' 
ihe granite portals of Syene, opened the sandstone gslews)^ of HwLa 
jar Sileilie, separated ihe linuulone ranges of the eastern end wcaieni 
hills, and by forming the Valley of the Nile, allowed the "aaered' 
river" lo pour along the narrow channel ils ever feriilixing stream. 
Then was the alhtvial soil of Upper Egypt begun, end evenluallj 
formed, simnltsneaasly wilb the Delta — ane did noleiisi without lli* 
other : and until Ibo alltaial depoule bad been made, there wsa ■* - 
■oil throughout the land of Bgyp^ or in Ethiopian latitudes, but sU 
was kttrd ntk, anfii for man's abode. 

The periods of these events are geological, their latest epoch it 
diluvian; but Ihe alluvium had to be formed, before man could inliabll 
' le ■' land of the Sycamore." 

The geology of tbe Isihrnns of Suei and of Ibe adjacent dewRL 

ilh their oyster beds, and petrified foreala ; their viinfied rocks of 

,ndBlDneoponlimeBtone,and iheirporphyryupheavings; their erralio 

blocks, and srglllaceuua slrale ; presents s man of conflicting irregit. 

lariiioB, from die dilemmas of which it would require the analyzing 

-ji a Lyell lo extricate us ; but, amid the chao*, one point ia 

I, which is, ihat when Ham's children came from Asia intit 

Egypt, ibcir journey was by land from Assyria through Palesline. and 

OSS tbe Suez deaerl— thai they found Lower Egyp , and the Dell* 

inhabitable then, and aa suited to agriculture, in proportion to ths 

alluvium then existing in the upper country, as ihey are now — that If 

the Delta had lillle soil, there was then still less above— end that all 

scripluta! commentatora agree in diatributing the sons of Miiraiv 

ivcr this lower tract ; whence, as population increased, their progeny 

Fpreod themselves in suitable directions, according lo circumstsncsa 

by us unknown, bul actuated by motives probably to them eipediant. 

" Dalo il cnso, e non eoncesao;" lei us for a moment suppose, thai 
Lower Egypt, on ihe immiglstion of Mizraim, wae a iBortk. Lei us 
concede, ihai there was a macadanixtd road from Palestine to ibt 
Mokattam at Cairo t and let it be, for a momenl allowed, thai His> 
raim, hia wife and children ascended at once lo ihe finl Catamcfc 
Where shnll we place them T where shall we find allnvisl soil and 
vegelalion. in a land in which these primary principles were enlirel;^ 

inting 1 that is ; for all pnsloml, and still more for agricultural pus. 

sesj For when the Delta was a marsh, there was nol six lc«t 
brcsdlh of soil above Hadjar Silsilis ; bui all was barren rock. 

However, we will Suisse tbsl onward they plod their weary way, 
(as did those Cushites ! who, by some are said to have come <Tiim 
" ' ' ' lugh Asia, seroBS Behring's Straits, into North JtmerieSi 
[cxico, and onward to Peru,) taking Iheir preeuHm* with 
them. Mizraim had lo bring from Palesline lo the MokalUm, a dia. 
taneeofnt least 300 miles, ButGcieni for his family and his Aocka, and 
Ihence to convey hia commiasarial UK) miles farther to tlyene, Il 
being uaeleas lo remain amid granite rocks, they are hence carried 
onward into Nubia. Now,in Lower Nubia, even at the presenldaf, , ■ 
there is nol soil enough lo support its spsrsc and frugal population Ol I 

Bsrsbr^ra." Yel, their provisions being sbundsnt iprobsbly her. 
lodcally scaled,) altera march of 330 mites more lo the aecand CsU 
let, and not discouraged in ihe least, by the howling wiUierneaa 
Ihey "go aheadj" and afler a couple of hundred mile*, th.'V find wha- 
are now the plains of Dongola, bul which were then lalher mor( 
rocky Ibon alluvial. " Rebus angustis animoaus" dtc., Mixraim. 
nothing daunted, after a march of 300 miles (for he had m follow iha 
river 10 obtain water) finally reaches Ihe far-famed " Isle ofMcroe in 
Ethiopia." We will suppose ibis spot to have been a lerrestnal para- 
dise al that lime, whatever il be now, and it if about as fertile os Lower 
Nubia. Here, aficr a wcsry irsmp from Polealine uf above 150O 



HCIENT EGYPT. 



Mm (p Mfo mwd whh m miwli niadily u the cUtdrea uid fluclu 
■■lowed,; Mizraim and hii fumilr Hille and hen ()uy Riullipl]'. 

Aa Mizroim and hU children were all Cauca>ian» at first itUirt 
•rder to ohan^ ihcii skim fram wliite lo block, their hoii to tvi 
Mid to atlor their ostsalog)', " lliroagh tho e&ecta of climate," timt 
least muRi bo allowed. Who will defiaa the neceaBBCy jiDiichl 
AeM radicnl ehangca T Never mind — wa gnnl eTety rsi;tlilj. Let 
•DuntleM geaentiaos transpira. Lei ibem becomo NeKCoes, or Bor- 
bara, in race. Let iIiimd reach ibo acmo of civiliiHiion, Lei iheni 
nrpua Dshanier; outrival Aahantea ; become as inlcllectunl a* 
HatlontoiB — u philaathroiucal aa Tuaricka-^aa conMructive o> Tib. 
Una. Let IheiD build the pyramida of Merue, Gehel Birkal, and 
Noorl — which done, let them come duwn the Nile a^n. to build 
dM pyramida of Momphia and cover Egypt witk stupe adoua alruc- 
lorea ; a perTecl, and essentially a civiliiod community ; to confirm 
Herodoiiui,Bnd hia Egyptian applications, of fiXiyxf—t «1 tixdrfixn 
'*'blBck in complexion, and wooly-haind"* lu be called alao Mi)io/iii4- 
Jwv — "the black -foots di" or more approprintely, " the long.beeled 
noe." On their irriVBl in Lower Egypt, the Delia, of course, ia no 
brnger a manb; and having waited for its rormation, they cover it 
with cities. 

Let them, I repent, perfonn all of these imponibilitipB, and then 
1hef are no longer Africana in Egypt. A miracle (of which we havo 
10 record] has metnniorphoBed them afaio into Csucasiims. 

It does seem odd, if not unnecessary, lo muke the Aaialic aod CsU' 
Hiian Miiraimilea al once proceed up the Nile, 1500 miles to Meroe; 
Ibere lo study slid improve and aojourn, until the wonderful eflecu 
sf climite should tmnsmule ihcni into Africans ; and then, alter 
munliess genoiatiooa, to lead theiu back into Egypt, and there wiu 

Blhiopian ever changed his skin ', 

And we must make all lliew chang^u in far less than one thousand 
jUn: (hat is, we atirt with Uam and Miimim as Caucasions ; we 
Innaporl tliem from Assyria into Ethiopia, and watch (heir transition 
lata Negroea, or Berben, by the elTects of climate, and under the 
IBgnest extent of time i we perfect them as such, and doal upon the 
■able or dusky philosopheis, who are to iuslruet Muaes, and civilize 
^ Greeks. We then bring them back into Egypt, and by magic as 
It were, tratHmuie these Negroes or Berbers, again iniu pure white 
■Hn, or Caucasians, such as every Egyptian was. We niuat eceom. 
'^iah all this between Miiraim and Abraham — in ■ space of about 
too years, by the Hebrew vorBion ; of about 500 by the Seplusgint. 
On Egyptian monumenis (as 1 ahall prove by fac«iniilo copies) we 
tbid the Negro and the Berber, painted prior to 1500, B. C, as por- 
fcctly distinct from the Egyptian natives, >a an Anglo-Saxon la Irom 
K Cliimpansee. If four thousand years have not had the Bllghtesi 
•Aecl in whitening Negruai, how much change of color could have 
beeu Dccompliahad in one^i^hlh of the time I 

■ What should we say, if auch a doctrine were msintnined in defi. 
■nceofScrlpture.of nature, and of fact? We should disdain to regnrd 
•nch nonsense ; and yet auch ia precisely the course we must pur- 
•ne, if Ham be the father of the Egyptians, and the Bgypliana dc- 
•cended the Nile from Ethiopia into Egypt. Such is precisely what 
Biust have occurred, if we believe Herodotus, Diodorua, and ihcir 
Koman plagiarists ; and auch ia, in line, tlie analysis of the Ethiopian 
qrigin of the Egyptiaiia, if we pretend to believe the Bible. I will 
•ut etlmogmphy lu the windi; I willdiacaid chronology as a dream ; 
km even then, I confess my inabilily lo comprehend, or to accept, 
Mich a tiseue of abiurditieB, if not profanations. 

However, wiUi GenesiB for our guide in human primeval mlgia. 
■tons, with the Septuagint chronology as our limit, and the Delta an 
.fahabitabla province, at the time of Miiiaim's arrival from the plains* 
^ Shinsr ; it will bo seen, that Egyptian monumental history coin. 
«idea — thai, where Scripiura is silent, oilier lights are now obtain. 
*bte — end thai, if a blank intervenes between Mizraim and Abra. 
Jum's visil, the Scptuaginl gives a period of obout 550 yeois : to fill 
jarhtch, we have a innas of materials. Turn now to Archbishop 
Ushet's chronology, and lake note, that between Miiraim and Ahra- 
,)iun, we have to condense oil the events iato a space not exceeding 
400 yeoia l when iherc could not have been 100,000 inhabiUnts on all 
4lte earth, according U> any loasonable statiaticat calculation ; where. 
rtm, if Abraham's birlh be placed at mora tbon 1000 yean after (he 
.Flood, a period has been allowed for the propagation of mankind, 
iwhiicb, at least, is more reaaonable, no leas than mora orthodox. 
iflowever, it is aiifficienl for me to acknowledge Hani and Miiraim 
Ma be the progenitjra of the Egyptians. On the epoch of the loliur'a 
. Immigtatioa, I have not the presumption lo decide. It is enough 
ithsl il look eUecl, ai an adequate lapse of time after the Deluge, and 
-jel atifTicienlly romoto from Menes, ihe fiial Pbsraoh of Egypt, to 
.•dmil all ntlalive preparatory events: and as, on Egypt, Ihe Bible 
^ s>lentrornianycenturie>,WBmsy legitimately look to other aourcos 
^or information. 

; The Buthorily of Sir J. G. Wilkinson, on the an(i<iui(y of the 
, Delta, is supported by ihat of all soionlific gentlemen of present 
ijimesin Egypt, whose occupations, as surveyors and engineers, enabli 
<tfaem to corrobotalo ihia view by ma ' " 



•l«l«' 



casual obaervera, like (he writer and other old resK'^'a , 
gratory and sporting habits take them into dIbccb "l^r 
dreams of going, this 



„. wftoae ml. 
placfB wi(rc ijie mere 
...„., u^.c. ^..u^ u. B^.^, ».„ „>^,....o is iniplJCitlj- believed, 
agreeing wilh oil llieir personal experience. Wo "hall hove occa. 
aion lo return to the inundation of the river, and its prolilic alluvium ; 
but, at present, ailention is expressly solicited to the following anger. 
tioQ, viz ; thai the Delta and Lower Egypt, having existed almoet in 
their present physical state, since the remotest limit of known lime, 
there was no obslacle of an agunfiG or mors^ nature, to preclndv 
the immediate scldemcnt of the linl immigrants from Asia, in any 
portion thereof, thai ia by msn inhabirible at the present hour. 

Lower Egypt and the Dclts, the western province of BohSyreh, 
luid tho " land of Goahen" — now the Sharkceyeh, or eastern pnrr. 
:c — of yore the Tanitic and Bubastito nomes — containing the rieh. 
portions of the alluvium, and blessed by the fineel climste of iba 
Valley, would present to any new colony, agricultural or pasloral, 
■ ducemenw to aojourn within their area, superior lo any thai nouM 
I met with after passing Middle Egypt, or the Heplsiiomide. 
As from tbe Thebaid, yon proceed upward along the Nile about 
Hadjar Silailis, the feoturea of the country on either bank undergo t 
' ange, from fertility to unfruitful neae, from alluvial to hard rocki 
>ni cultivation lo sterility : nor can it be said ihul any inciteinenM 
agriculturists, or any resources for abundant population, exist be. 
een Uodjor Silailia in laL S5, and Khart oOm abool laL 15, com- 
parable in value to those infinitely superior advantages to be found 
below the Thebaid ; and which increase in the exact ratio of your 
descent from Ethiopia to tho Mediterranean. 

Between Hadjar Silailii, where the sandstone formationa rise j 
pendicularly from the very edge of the river, and where Ihc Nile Mr | 
iprcssed into its iiarrowcBt Egyptian channel, and KhatioOm — tftf [ 
, ;ture of (ho Eiht-el-lbiad, or ITAi/e NOt, wilh the Bahr-el-«« I 
rek, or Blue JVile— there is a length of some GOO miles, as the cr 
files, and probably 1000 by the windings of the liver. 

population la now, and over has been, tpnrre ; v« 
propensities more or less nomadic, and driven by natural caufes to 
rallier pastoral ihon ngricultuial. If all eonmiuni cation of Ihe -_^ 
hobiinnta of this line, wilh (he Egyptians on the nortli, and wilh tM 
Nigrilion nations on the south, were cut off; the mass of an nhuniL' [ 
am population would perish from starvation, as it would be impoa. 
sible fur them to raise a sufficiency of food for their eusifnaiieaC 
Certain spots, of no great extent, are, however, fertile, and may unpii 
population in direct proportion to their alluvial snpuTlicioCi; I 
spot was the hie of Meroe In ancient days. But to Buppoo* ] 
that, even thereon, ihe alluvial aoi) was ever so extensive as tii fvtC 1 
nish food for one million of inhabitants, would he contrary lo ge£ 
U>gical evidences, as well as lo statistical facts. ' { 

\bout KhartoOm, and upward through Sennkai, the country Could 
tcmlered extremely prolific, if ■ radical change were efiecled k 
the governing power; bul, within a few decades of miles to tM 
nmmsnce the dense forests and rank vegolnlion of ceBl 
'i(h its inland seas, its annnal raina^-tcrri lories that irai. 
than four tliousand years have been, inhnbiled oold* I 
■■ea; where no living White man has ever penelraM^ 
nd whence the While Nile transmits, from unknoVTB ] 
rcoB, lis evar.bounliful, ever.weleome floods. On these latitud«4 I 
we can aay ia, Ihal we literally Jbioio nothing ! bnt, we may rea> 
sousbly infer much 1 and conjecture anything we please. No bieroloL 
gist doubts, that tho Pharnonic governments of Egypt were bett^ , 
acquoinlod wilh Nigritia 3,500 years ago, than imy geographera of | 
modern limea, who have gone little beyond tbe legendary fragmenk ] 
~ cqucalhcd lo us, 2000 years ago, by Eralostlienra. 

Now Meroe, we are well aware, was a powcriiil Slate ; and, alone 1im», 

gave a dynasty of kings to Egypt ; but this was an accidental occUe. 

nee, of brief dumtion, and in ages long posterior to primeval epocM 

Here pyramids attest remote antiquity. Temples bear witness at 

ler grandeur. But Ihe Isle of Meroe ilscif was no ■* officjiia goo. 

ua" — no laboratory of nationo. I( held a small community. Ik 

alluvia] soil could merely support a population commensurate widi 

and both were small. Immigration crealed its social Kli 

nmmercc supported its vitality and protiacled its ituratio 

Religion eanclified iu inhabiuino, and prnlected iheir trade. Y4^ 

It withstanding all these aliribules, Meroe bore no more relation fa 

Hilary strength, raaai of population, or physical power, lo Egylit; 

than to ihe latter country was borne by the Oasje of Seftwah, iha 

lemptcd lancluary of Jupiter Anmiun. 

In foci, between Meroe and the Oasis the case is parallel. Both 
were fertile spots, of limited area, in the midst of deserts — wildar. 
iicsscs, aSutding secure relreala to wild and varied tiibee of nomada. 
Both were equally exposed lo tlieir inroads : wilh ihia immense ad. 
vantage in favor of Merne, that she posaeseed water-comniunicatioD 
southward and northward i and that, from her geographical position 
in relation to Abyssinia, whence journeyed Hindoetanic and Arabian 
commerce ; to Nlgriiia, whence gold, and staves, and African piu. 
ductione swelled her marts; to Lybia, whither tlowed the commercisl 
stream toward Corthage and Europe ; and lo Egypt, oi her presiding 
genius, and " ministering angel," ahe had reaourcea, of which tha 
Oasis could only partially partake. 

Geographical position tendarcd both of them the eoneentraljng 
points for the diveigencea of commerce, and the transit of free Irada 



thward, 
trol Africa, 
and for mu 
by Negro i 
500 miles; 



■ANCIENT EGYPT. 



— iinde ib«m the eoanecting links of vu( counlriei, whicli wt 
•epnrEied from e«eh other by wiklemeweB of greBl eilenl. T 
|H>lilicnl forcaighl of the ruling powcn of Meroc iinil of the Ouis, 
Inndn Ktligion the ioalrutnent of tlint conlrol and dominion, which 
wer« denied la lliem by the hmited Diimber of iheii inhubitimt 
the paucity of their rcapecnvD inherebt reeourcei. And lh« r .„ 
Rishance, the ■ingle.minde't* Berber, the prednlot; Atih, and the 
Lybiui archer, acknowledged (be moral iway of the wise and bi 
hierophanU — flew lo arms al their bidding to defend Iho Iempt< 
« harry ■ foe — apared the camvans, Iraveieing ilieir nntive wi 
out of pious roipecl, and superstitious fear, of the (tDcerdutat gu 
ant of commerce — and ipi-ll-bound, as it were, by the mora! lio 
ion of superior wisdom, cringed beneath the dictates of iJie " high 
priests of AinOn-Rfc," 

ll was not from their fertility, which was partial ; it was not from 
(heir military force, which was insignificant ; it was nol from 



piipiih 



which 



from the inherent resources pf their territory, which were i 
queto-7-lhal Moroe and the Oasis, rose supreme over the wildemeis, 
ftjd ruled with despotic sway over ihe tribes of men lo each reapi 
lively adjacent; bat, from the political wisdom of their rospecl 
govomments. And, of what race were these aages, these dci 
thinking politicians i I answer, they were CsucBsians; (hey wi 
white men ; they were E^pliai»-~lhe high-csate descendants of 
Hnm, the An'stlc ! and their dominien over the varied nations, by 
wtirim they were surraundcd, proceeded from the menial and physieul 
aiiperiorily af the Ciucasiim over all African ahorigipca. 

These Csucaaiana founded a pontilicnie at Meroe, and al the Oasis, 
originating in the same hierarchal doctrine, and supported by its tier 
with, and afliiintiDns proceeding from, the founders of TlicbsB and 
•f Memphis, lie sway waa bniied upon the same politicai principles 
which have, tlirough so many centuries, preserved Christian Rome, 
and not upon pks*ieal importance. The sourcoa were poUlicnl fore- 
thought, and inrellectual diserimiiiition ; ita duration proceeded from 
their utility to the happiness uT man, and was concecrsled by their 
judicious and salutary protection of muji's material interests. By 
silken wb confining bis physical paweia of resistance, while by 
moral influence it secnred his obedience. 

WhoD, therefore, Meroe and the Oasis arose, it became the inic 
rest of every neighboring nihe and individual, to preserve institu. 
lions BO heneliciiil to the prosperity of commerce, so conducive to 
the interchange of social relations : nor did Meroe cipire, till Ihe 
doctrine changed, after a duration of 3000 years. 

I am perfectly aware of all the views tliat have been put forth by 
the learned Von Heeren, on these subjectB; and owe matiy of my 
eoncluaions to the light derived from him, and olhria ; but hicro- 
irlypiiical and craniological discoveries have served to di»ipale 
of their positiona. That beautiful fabric of Professor Heer« 
asloundingly constructed from such erode materials, is curre 
■yatcm ; but, in regard to Meroe, iis appiieation is now reversed ; for. 
instead of appertaining to primeval periods, it was not coneolidalcd 
till some 700 B. C. i and we are discussing subjects oalecoding this 
dale by twenty cenluriei. 

It is said by Diodorua, that Egypt held about eight millions of 
population, from the Isl Cslsnct to the sen. At present, owing lo 
the benign mis of Mohammed Ali, there are lees than two millions. 
In Nohin, Dongola, Meroe, as far as Khanohm, it Beems queationable, 
if, including the nomads of the adjacent deserts, there ever were as 
ma.y as one million of inhabitants. At present, there are lesa. 
Even these must look to Egypt, or Nigritia, for the hulk of aliment ; 
for there is tiot situvium enough in these regions now, whereon lo 
raise ■ sufficteney of substance, from Aaawtn lo Khartobm. And 
yel, every year the Nde has brought down addilionid soil, so tliat the 
alluvium is greater now than formerly. Meroe was ■ province of 
Egypt for 3000 years ; for, how coald the Fhantonic armies have 
conquered Negro nations without paaeing by Meroe t Armies in 
Ethiopia must follow Ihe river ; else Ihey can find no sufficiency of 
water; imd following the river, to reach Negro nations, not nearer 
to Egypt than lat. 15, ihey muat unavoidably have pased by Meroe, 
Negros are nol a migratory race in Eihiopio latitudes, and only come 
Donhward by compulsion. 

We have gone as deeply as was necessary into the subject before 
Its lo show, that Ihe case of Meroe Ib parallel with that of Ihe Oasis. 
No one, I presume, will Ihink it possible thsl the original source of 
the Egyptians was oi the Oasis of Seewah, Scripturally, olhno. 
graphically, geologically, philologically, goopaphicaUy, historically, 
and monumentally, ii ia as unreasonable to make Meroe in Ethiopia 
the birth-place of Ihe Egyptians, liis vain to quote Herodotus or Din. 
donia, Eratosthenes or Strabo, on questions whereon Ihey could leom 
but hlile, inesmucli ss the events precede them by 2000 yea™. Wiih 
UiBse damical writers, aa with aome otheii in modem times, it haa 
been customary lo take " omne ignotura pro mngnifieo. " 

Suflicienl has been aaid, lo evince the stand we lake in eariy Egyp- 
tian history, in order Ihai we may not find ourselves behind the age in 
Ihe continual progress of diacovery ; and, in the ssme mode thsl wo as. 
sorted that Ihe Delta wss inhabiuble »t the time of Miiraim's arriTal, 
ao now we Blill majnl-iin, that Meroe and Etliiopia were unqualified, 



geographically and geologf colty; to nlirturo the primeval parents of Om 
noble race, whom we now know to have been high^caate Caucaaiatta. 

A point has been reached in Ibis exposition, where, before pro- 
ceeding furlher, it is imperative on me to acknowledge the source, 
whence I derive these views of primeval Nilotic history ; and it is 
with cheerful readiness tliat I indicate my valued friend, Dr Samuu. 
Geo. Moaion, of Pliiladelphia, as my authority for the positive de. 
monetration of the CaucasiBli race, and Asiatic origin of Ihe ancieac 
Egyptians. 

Under the title of ** Crania .Xgyptiaca,' has appeared from Dt. Mar- 
ton's pen, a memoir, wherela Ihe Caucasian race of ihe early Pba- 
ruonic Egyptians is, for the &nt time, demonstrated, by a ross* of 
craniologicsl, anatomical, historical and monumenlal evidence. I 
have had the full advantage of Dr. Morton's revision of whatevrron 
this subject is herein advanced ; while, so far as my name may ha 
asBociaied with the "Crania >£gyptiscB," it need only be aaid Ihnl 1 
derive the original idea, ail the craniological facta in ils eupport, and 
by far the greater portion of the argument herein put forward, from 

the peruaal of this work no less then from these sub 

jeclB having, fur sii years, formed the substance of much cpietoloty 
Intercourse, and for many months, the constant theme of CoOveiSB. 
lions between its autlior and myself. 

Were it not for the conviction, thua acquired from ihe incontro. 
vertible array of facta set forth in the " Craitia .Egyptiaca," (facts 
hitherto unpublished by any writer in the world ; and, wiih Ihe ei- 
ception of Sir. J. G. Wilkinson and one or two olbeis, hereloforv 
conlcjted by all hieroglyphical authorities,) I ihuuld not have ven- 
tured lo tslie up against Ihe opinions of learned and unleanied, ihs 
subject of Ihe Caucaaian race of the Egyptians; hul repoeing In con- 
fidence upon Ihe labors of one so emiuentiy qualified to decide. I am 
not apprehensive of the conBcqucnces in the minds of those who 
will peruse the work thus announced. Furthermore, ils author b 
not responsible for any deviationa from hia liewa I may, perhaps 
erroneously, have adopted. 

To show, however, lliatanadequaLelbttDdationenstsfbrths nova) 
USsrllons I have made, t eitract irom the *Ci«nia J>rpt>acs,, a few 
paragraphs which ma; nrve to illustrBla the views ol the author of 
Ihat work ; merelj premising Ihal the heads employed in Dt. Mar- 
ton't researches, were obtained by me from seven sepulchral local- 
ilies in I'^ypt and Nobis. 

Dt- Morton remarks, Ihst the entire serisa of one hundred crania 
" may be referred to tn o of the greol races of men, llio CiucaiUh 
and Ihe Neoro, althoug'h there a a remarkable disparity in llM 
numlier of sach. 1'he Caucasian beads atso voir ao mudi amoDf 
themselves as to present sevond different tjuca of this race, whicH 

ma;, perhaps, be approprijiel; grouped under the Ibllowin^ desig- 



" I. The fPtlangif Tgpe. In tlii* diviBion I place those beads 
whidi pieaent Iho finest conformation, as seen in the Caucasian na- 
tions of western Asia, and middle and aoutlieni Europe. Tba 
Pelasgic lineaments are bmiliar to ub in the boauliful models of 
Grecian art, which are remarkable for the volume of the head in 
comparison wiih that of the lacu. tlie large iacial angle, and Uie 
symmetry srul delicacy of the whole osleolt^ical structum. 

" 3. The Stmitie Tupt, as seen in the Hebrew communitic*, ia 
marked by a comparatively receding foreheail, long, arched and 

haavy. broad and slning and uilen harsh development of tile whole 
Buaal struclnre. 

" 3. The EnVfUon form differs from the Pelasgic m having a nar- 
rower and inorB receding roiehaad, while the face being more prom- 
iiiont, the bcial angle u cunsequently Iosb. The noso is straight 
or aquiline, the face angular, the leaturas often sharp, and the hair 
uniftinnlj long, sofl, and curling. 

"The true A"(gro confonrmtion requires no comment; bat it ia 
nvxmay to obwive thai a practised eye readily deteclB a few heads 
witli decidedly mixed characten, in which those of the Negro pt«- 
dominala. I or these I propose the names of Mgmid crania ; tat 
while the osteolovical development is more or leas that of theNfVio, 
the Iioir is long, but sometimes harrh. thus indicating that combina- 
tion of leaturcs which is limiliar in the mulallo gr^es oT the pies- 

'• The following is a Tafauhir View of tlie whole series oT crania, 
arranged, in the first place, according to Uicir scuulclirsl tocaliliea, 
and in the second, in reference to tSoir national stRnities." The 
1'able speaks fur itself. ■' It shows that nioie than eight tenlhs of 
tlie crania pertain lo the unmixed Caucasian race ; that the Pela*- 
gic furm is as one to one and two thlrda, and the SamiUc form one 
' I eight, compared to the Egyptian : that one twentieth of the whole 
composed of heads in wliicli there is a trace of Negro and other 
lotic liueoge; thai Ihe Negroid coufamtalioa eitais in eight in- 



n EgypLia 



*CBaHia ^GTrTuci, or Observation 
derived (ram Anatomy, Hislorv and tli 
George Morton, M. U. 4lo Pliilailelpbia, 1644, J. fening'toi 

"lib oliiuogniph' -■■-■-- 



■eorge Mi 

■■tldo, 



Jinompby, 
By Samuel 



i~r< Uiui m 'y *^ indicolo the moot perivct lyiie of crauio-iiicial oi 



NCIENT EGYPT. 



"EllinogTapk 


■c TiAU of ow hmiJrrJ a 


eiriif I^Ivm Cnmio. 


Sepulchml 

Mnmphi., 
Mubdeh, 

Theb«. 
Oinbo*, 
Philm. 
Debod, 


No. 

1 

1 


f'ilTP 


Pfil.;Vi<:' 


»einit:R. 


4 


1 
2 


a: 


^ 


1 


3 


7 
I 
3 
30 
3 


16 
1 

10 

1 


1 


5 


• 


4 

49 




lUI) 


as 


e 


5 


8 


1 



From then uid an Inlinllf of olliar deUiln cmhnued !n Dr. Mor- 
ion's wotli, lie hae drawn the following «inon^ otliorconclusioiw: — 
"Thn valley of Uie Nile, both in fipypt and Nubia, wu origiml- 
1; peopind hj > bnuicl) of the Caaracian rars. 

"Those primeval peopl*, mncB called llio E|[f ptiine, wen the 
^ Miinimitee of Scriptnro. Uii^ paUetHy of Ilsm, aod directly affilui- 
' ted with tin l.lhvan (aniMy of notions. 

' " Tlie Aurttal-^yptian or Meniite communiliea wero an Indo- 
Anblan itock enf^iied on the primitive Libyan inlLabitanls. 

" Beeidea theae ciolic •oiircm of population, tlie Egyptiin raca 

wan at different periods modified by thn influx of Ibn < aij'jiaian na- 

' tion* of AhIh and Europn, — PeliU^, or Hollena, Scylhiani and 

PheriiciaiH. 
■ " The Capm, in pan at Inal. are a miilure cf tba CauEaKau and 
the Negro, in extremely Tariable proponioni. 

" Nogioes were numerous in t^ypl, but Ihoir KH:iiil poailion in 

aneianl timee wu tlie sine ta il now is, thai of vervxnl* and slaves. 

" The preannt Fellalii are tlio lineal and lewt mixed denceoduita 

of the anciert K^jptiansi and Ibe latter are cotlalenilly lopresealed 

by the Tiiarika, Kabyles, Siwahs, and otiwr isinaios of the Libyan 

- ftmily of nationit 

" Ttie modern Nubians, villi n (ew nicoptionx, are not (liodescen- 
. 4uiti or Iha monuniBnlal Ktbiopiaiv, |ju( a vinously iniiod race of 
Arabs and Nrgroea. 

" The pliyaicad m organic chatiiclotB wbicli dialingiiish the seveml 
I, waa» of men, ais m old sa tlie oldest records of our species." 



EgypI, 

To bring the ancpslors of the Egjptinns from Ethiopia, lends to 

' eonsequonees im^concilablc wilh primeval biblical mi(tr»lions, Ilnm 
end his son were indisputably Caucasiiuii — to find, therefore, tliil 

'. Iheir Egyptian descendnitts were Cguensiani also, ii perfsally in ac- 
■ordancH with nature, and with Scripture. 

Lower Kgypt and the Delta, would naturally be the region mnei 
■uiled to agriculture J and contrary again to Ibe general current uF 
opinion, It wu horo ihal the enriiest Egyptians eellled — il was here, 
ihat the mnat ancieiil cities arose — and here, thni the most ancienl 
monumcntol piles alill remDin, to attest the carreclness of the user. 

The erection, in Lower Egypt, of the most ancient tnonnmcntg 
wo etieountsr, docs not at all itnppde the migration of the Caucasian 
nee, «i a very early period into the Thcbsid, or even as far as Meroe ; 

J nor is the inferior relative antiquity of those vsat edifices, that proud. 

,'ly demand, for ThebeB,~Rnd the Thehaid, an ago nearly pntalli ' 



,Wdi 
ttiuae t^ Lower Egypt, devoid of e. 
an indinputable fact, si 



n other 



uoda:1 



cntlon of the Champollion 
ealB to any ol tne ruins in llie Nilotic volley, that Ibe most uicient 

, (estiges preserved to us Ui north; and the earliest extant arc the 

, tleinphile pyramidal while those found to the soutliward, are com- 
faratively moro recent ; with tlie doubtful exccplian of tbe pyramids 

, «f Meroe in Ethiopia, which will be attended to in due course. 

_ In the intervnl previous to the accessiun of Menes, and sul>8equcnl 
to the dispersion of mankind from Shinar, must that wandering tribe 

...of Caucaiians, who settled pemianenlly la the vcJIey of the Nile, 
nave entered Egypt from Asia ; and although we possess not the 
•lightest account of the time, beyond that uf its occurren,:e between 

, Nuah and Almham, and none of the mode in which this much 
muiI have taken place, from Assyria into Egypt i yet, the fact of the 
Aiialic origin, and Caucasian race of the early Elgyptians being de- 
clared in the Bible, and proved by anatomy, with monumental and 
biatorical corroborations ; il may be desirable to inquire how far geo- 

' |nphicil fscililiea smoothed their path, and whether topographicnl 
eircumannces, in conneclian with localities in Egypt, admit (^ and 
«anl!rTn Iheir introduclion. 

According to the facta, set forth in Morton's "Crania £gyptiaea," 
we find the Cniicasiana occupying Egypt, at the remotest lime we 
can descry; and any errora uiiintentionolly committed in speculating 
upon the road they look from tho Asiatic continent to Egypt, niil 
not affect the fact of thnir joar:.ey. 

fthciner their pcopess was slow, such a* a pastoral people (wc 



ntay infer they were at Aat primeval liwel nW""""^ *ilh ft,„,„„ 
and flocks, would neceswirily adopt: or whelhe>'"»ag ^^ „ j 
march of men driven by political convulsions, or '""''ly j.^^, ^^^^^^^ 
safely in connlrius remote from their first origi1> 'ro (juegnons in 
themselves hypothetical, though the former specutatioD f,^ ^^^ ^ 
probability. Whether Iheir migration, from east to wetl, was ante, 
rior or posterior lo the dispersion of Babel, I leave others to deter. 
mine : in either esse, we msy recognize the nll-wiae hand of Provi. 
deuce, Rccomplishing by natural instruments, end according to im- 
mutable organic laws, the object of man's creation. Whether, prior 
to iheirentry, they pomessed any information concerning the fertility 
snd salubrity of that smiling valley-land, whereon the " sacred Nile" 
by its periodical inundationa, spreads its rich alluvium, must etEi 
remain doubtful. 

That they had theirwomen with them isceruin; aa they preaerveil 
their blood, pore and intact, from smalgamatiun vcith African abo. 
rigincB ; excepting, in partial instance*, of much later timei, proceed- 
ing from very natural causes, and affecting mainly those provinces 
which Wfte adjacent to tVse Africans; but no more intluei icing the 
mass of popaiation in Lower and Middle Egypt, at any period, than 
is apparent, or usual, aa I have before remarked, with tfaa present 
Fclllih and Arab inhabitants of these districts at this day. 

The (impleal view of the esse would lead one to infer, that, in 
proportion as the increase of human and animal population rendtnd 
the area of Assyria too limited for the peaceful sllBinmenl of a 
fulGcicncy of food, small psrlies, offsets from the pDtriarcbal tree, 
wandered, like the B^dawees of the prcBcnl day, pat luring ihr-ir cat- 
tle in search of forage, nlong the valleys of Palestine. The van- 
guard of these nomsda, pushed forward constantly by iho advance 
of later separations from the main body, or induced by other contin. 
gences, which we may conjecture, but cannot define, crossed the 
small desert, which even at the present day, in winter, ofTera every 
facility for similar migraliona, and reached tho valley of the Nile, 
irfimewhote in tho vicinity of Pelusium. 

Once in the land of Goshen, it may be readily imagined, whoever 
came the first would not be long in inviting his friends end relations 
to join him (and to sojourn permanently} in, what must have been 
to a hiTtlsnisn, as it is the present day to the agriculturist, a terras. 
trial paradise. Simitar csusea always produce similar effects. Po- 
pulation increased, and migration continued, until every atom of the 
then alluvia] soil between the deserts of Sues and of Lybia, and 
from the sea beach to that extreme point, where an African climate 
becomes mortiferous to tho while man (which region commences 
alKiut the 16ih degree of latitude in Ethiopia above Egypt,) wsa 
eotoniied by the Atietle Caucasians ; and, in those remote countries, 
by their intermixed dcseendanU. As population increased, the 
herdsman was forced, by interest, and want of pasture room, to be- 
a fanner: and the first spade struck into the yielding blsek mud 
of ttie receding Nile, was the first sti-p toward that civiiizalion and 
power which, for SOOO years, made Egypt the greatest country of the 
arth. 
I deem it requisite ordy lo allude to the prevalent, but erroneous 
iilion of the African origin of the ancient Egyptians, in so far aa to 
express my disbelief of the possibility, that the Caucasian route from 
to Egypt, onuld have lain, in those prfmevol times, across tho 
Red Sea, at the straits of B^b-el-Mandeh, or higher up. Let any one 
II ihe map, ond measure tho distance from Assyria to Meroe, 
by that road — let him pause and eonaider the vast geogrephieal oh. 
ions to be encountered in Arabia : tlie lime il would lake lo 
overcome them; and then let him consider the little chronologies! 
space we have for the evenis ihst occurred in Egypt between Mix. 
and Abinhsm ; and allow, that without ovorthrowing Scriplnre, 
this doctrine cannot be mainiained. 

From Assyria and the plains uf Shinar, even at tins day (aside 

im human insunnoun table difficulties) the jonmey through Arabia 

rosB the Rod Sea, into Abyssinia, over the deserts of Catareff, to 

croe, and thence down the Nile, ISOO miles, tu Lower Egypt snd 

e sea-bonrd, wonld bo almost impossible to a family accumpanied 

by children and by flocks. It may be otye'^ted, that tills migration 

lot immediate, but may have trccupied ages. In that case, my 

is, that Iheir journey must have Iwen rapid, and accomplisbeil 

1 a few years; or wo must reject even the Septuaginl chro. 

nology ss insulGcienL To pass over the Red Sea with Hocks and 

' Tge fumily incumbrances, impliea vcnrli; whence could they ob. 

lin timber on the western Arabian coast? how procure maicriab 

for naval construction and outfit, in those primeval times T 

mere glance al the map of Abyssinia will present obstacles, 
after their siipposidlious arrival on the western shore of tlie Red 
Saa, to render Iheir progren toward Meroe and Ethiopia, anytliing 
but desirable ; nor is ihete any point, whereon the advocates of the 
African theory can hang a reasonable hypothesis, since the resutu 
ohlaioed by Dr. Morton, and delailed in hia " Crania .^Igypliaea." 
'latic in Aeir origin, apringing from the same stock as Shem 
and Japheth, and Caucasisn In llieir osteological eonformalion, tlia 
Eg)rptiana were while men, of no darker hue than a pure Arab, a 
or a Phomician ; and it is ouile aa justifiable, and equally rea. 
!e, tu draw Ibe dusky and the sable inhabitants ot Afnca from 
Shem, the type of the Hebrews and the Arabs ; or from Japhelh, ibe 
ii't1.e EuropemiE, Of t^deiive lbeB«rbenand the Negroi-B from 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



Bam, whom Scripture MlU us ww the pireni of the Egrp'^Bx* i 'id 
u auch, Ham miut iiave been an Asiilic anJ Caucaaian, dnce we 
know posilivGlf, thai Mi Egyptian detccndaala nere Caucasiajii, aa 
pure-Uooded in orijfiii ua oumolrrs. 

The climate of Egypt will nenr change n Caucniinn into a Negro, 
a btaek into a white lunn ; and we have yel to learn what elTect cti- 
inaie mojr have had, in eveiy other latitude, on the physical oigani- 
laiion of min, on the inBIerial variation of hia hair and alua, ur on 
hia oileoloKicaJ and craniologlaal confannallun. 

How the real African aborifinea — the Betben and the Negroca, 
were diwcmiiiatetl over Ethiopia and Nigtilia, is fureign to my di*. 

It doGa nut auem posaiblo (although the mau are excellent awim- 
taon) thai they, and alill less tlieir feiuaiee and children, awam ai^roaa 
the Rod Sea! and, if it be necenary to import iheae Africui rocea 
from the Asiatic hive, the aame reai<jiis wliich render the Idhntua of 
Sue* iho toui« the inoat naiutnl lo the Coucotian children of Ham, 
may likewiae have eerved for the anceiton of the Bcrbcra and the 
Negroes. 

Equally unncccaaary doe* it seem, to apeculalo whetlicr Egjpf waa 
inhabited by any or by what tribe of man, al the period of Mizraiui'a 
immigration; becauce auch a epeculation would imply the posBibility 
of the eiiatence of other peuple at the time of Noali'a duecerit from 
the ark — a luppuailion liiUuirlo irruconcilDble with all we learn from 
Scripture. Tlioae are problonu still insglublo by human roaaon — 
ihuit mulu, audi aa arc developed lo ue, point out tlie miraculoua 
Drdinstiuna of [he Creator without d'nfuldiug his inacrutahle waya^ 
and I again repeat, there i> no mom biblical rcsaon or authority to 
derive llie Negrooa kaai Ham, thin from Shem or Japbelh ; and if 
climate ii to have effected the change, the asme cauaes niual have 
produced theiama elfecQ, operating on ibeaamc pbyaical priuciplea; 
ao thai ii ig Juat aa probable that the Caucoaian Shorn or tho Cauea 
aim Jap lie ih was the parent of African race*, aa the Coucaaian Horn, 
tvhoBo children, the Egyptiano, were like iheir father and hia blood, 
broth en, Aaialics and Coumuiana. 

Finally, it aeema more naliiml, that a tribe, coming from Asia and 
adopting Egypt aa its rcaling place, should have entered thai country 
by the rjute wliich, frum the eorlieai limea, haa been the high road 
of Dnllona between the Asiatic and African continenu. It waa by 
the Uthinas of Buei that the Hykahoa, the Scythian ahepherd kinga 
of remote antiquity, come and were eipelted ; ihia Islhiuua was like- 
WLM the bcaton ruad of the Mcbrewa from Abraham lo the Exodua, 
U it ia ot the present day between Jerusalem and Egypt. It aerved 
ibe EgypCBM under the Pharaoha and the Ptotcmiea, aa the route 
for their mitinry expeditioos and for all commercial intercoatae with 
Asia. 

Tlie Peraiana, under CambyaeB and Artaierxea Ochoa, Aleiander 
with hie Matredonian phalanx, the Saracena andcr Akmer, and lh( 
Oitomona under Soolitn SeleCm, uaed itaa their jindevialmg highway 
inlo anil out of Egypt ', while from the moat sncienl poetdiluvinn 
period 10 The present hour, it hsa aiTurded and will conlinoe to aliurd, 
the eame facililiea between Asia and Africa, that induced me toaetect 
it as the ronlo of the Caucaalsn family of Miiraim. 

An imporlanl confirmaiion of tlie Aaiatic origin of the Egyptlana, 
and, indeed, of alt the views herein put forward, is lo be derived 
from ihe r«au1la establitihod by llie loamed ethnographer, philologist, 
and critical hicrologi^t, Dr. Leipaius; who haa proved iba aihailiea 
between (ho Indu-Germanic, Semitic and Coptic lungaatces, to I 
Idonlical, proceeding from their common origin in one primev 
aource. This diacovery puta tho seal of autheniicily even aa la la 
gsage upon the Aaiolic origin of [be cariy Egyptians ; while it go 
far to eiplain all Coptic linguisiical alEiutiea with Hebrew, Arabi 
Sanacrii, and other Asiatic longuea. 

We bare brought the children of Ham, under Miiraim, Inlo Lower 
Egypt : hers ihey settle ; here they multiply ; and hence ihey apread 
all over the alluvial soil of Egypt, from Ihe Mediterranean to Meroe, 
following the Nile, in a natural coorM uf migration and Mlllemenl. 
Agriculture aupenedes all paatornl habits; cities and orderly commu- 
nilies lake the place of the tents and Ihe roving irregulari^eB of Ihe 
Nomad. The progrcaa of civiliiation muat have been ao aniaiingly 
rapiii, that to preserve our confideoce in Scriptural chronology, we 
are forced to conclude (aa staled in a previous chapter) that ihe chil- 
dren of Horn brought along with them all the knowledge and eiperi- 
eace accumulated during antediluvian periods from Adam lo Noah, 
and by ihia aecond father of the human race, Iranimitted to the Egyp. 
tiana. We can form but little idea o( ita original amount ; but, witliin 
B few generaliana from the immigration of Miiraim, we Rnd monu- 
ments thai attest a akill in Ihe aria, an ac<(uaiii lance with piaclical 
■ciences, a profound knowledge of political economy and principles 
uf government, an exieni of civil iution of every kind, equal (aave in 
Uie luxury and relineinenta superOuoua lo Ihe ncceaaitiea of human 
life] to the eattemo civitication and welLregulalcd social syal 
iaiing in'Egypt it any future peiiod- There are very few 
■ciencea, the early antiquiiy of which aslounda ua oi 
of Egypi, but must have been familiar to the Egyptians prior to th 
areciion of the pyramids. As we proceed, we shall mention aom 
of the moat prominent. 

The time and Ihe increaaing ratio of population, are equally undi 
finable ;wiih this exception, that, taking the Deluge aome where aboi 



iibority of the Septuaglnl, and the immigratioa 
of Mtzraim inlo Egypt in the chinl generation afler the Flood, we 
urn of about four hundred years ; wbicb wg may logiii. 
mately fill with all theae preparatory labors. The rcaaon X pretend 
even to guess at ihe interval (which ia purely conjectural, and merely 
poaaible) ia, thai llie eventa which I shall soon show to have occurred 
:upy all the space left, from about S700 B. C. lo Ihe 
is ivilh extreme difficulty that, even then, Egyptian 
chronological /acta can be oircumacribed within this limited area. 

Tradilionary legends, floating in Ihe works of Greek wrileia on 
Egypt, inferencca gleaned from the mythological doctrines ihal wnf 
' in the garb of fable, and deductions legilimaUly drawn fioni 
lonumenta, enable ua to consider it probablf , thai a prieally aria 
locracy waa the firat form of genera! govemmeni *n Egypi ; crealn. 
gradually oul of ihe union of Ihoae patriarchal heads of viilagea, whs 
probably governed, each hia own family, in the same manner ihal 
an Arab tribe of the present day is niled by its own SliJykli and Ihe 
elders of the community. This wouhl be perfectly in accordance 
wilh Oriental and Aaiatic customs, thai have varied but little aiiiuo 
the palriurchal ugea in IdWer Aaia aud Arabia. 

A hierarchy appears lo have been Ihe iini form of general govern. 

ent adopted by the Egypdaiia of that primeval penod ; which wa 

feel peraaadcd precodud the establishment of u monarchy. This 

hierarchy, we presume to have commenced within a few ge Don lions 

Miiroim's immadialo descendanta ; lo have increased in power 

ilil the accoasion of Menes, the hrnf Phuraoh ; and lo have ruled 

Egypt during die coiyeclural period of ah<iut400 years. 

It ia here neceiaary lo explain, ihal, from the earliesl limes, the 
Caueasian inhahitanla of the Valley of Ihe Nile regulated their Mcial 
stem by the division of easles; whioh, however, must not be j-jd(ad 
' by the notions we derive from India ; for the Egyptian i>yetem el 
am waa merely a division of cIsbes, without any of those rigtdilici 
Ibis day practiced in Hindoetan. 

From the primilive aimplicily of a patriarchal govemment, wlirrciu 
ihe eldeel of ihe tribe governs by geiienil conaeni, as a father cuntroli 
llie domestic welfare of his family, the gradual increatn of ihe num- 
of iheae elders, in priiporlion to the increase of dicir reapecuvu 
lice, prubably suggested lo them the propriely of nmon; and li.a 
EgypUana, casentiaUy ■ religious community, bowed beneath Ilia 
mild rule of a theocrticy. This iheocracy, formed I y Ihe union of 
the oldfra, was thefirel form of genera! govErnmonl, in whichaecuU- 
inlerests, at jirat aubmilted to Ibe contrut of tuu 
^ , .... short (uno a hereditary right in rertain lomilin, 
where Ihe chaFscter of prieal gave power, iodepoodently of the age 
of the individual. 

Champallion Figesc has ao cteariy eipTMsed the moal accuralu 
views on Ihia particular head, thai I will adopi his language. 

"A theocracy, or a government of priests, was die flisl known lo 
the Egyptians ; end it ia neeeaaary to give this word )Tie#((, llie ac- 
ceptation that it bore in remote times, when the miaiaien of leii- 
gion were also the minislan of science (and knowledge ;) so that 
they united in their own ponona two of the nobleal miwions with 
which man can be invested, the worahip of the Deily, and the cuj- 
tivalion of intelligence. 

"Thia theocracy was necoraerily despotic. On the other hand, 
wilh regard lo despotiim, (we add these reflectiuna, to reassure ihr 
readora loo ready lo take alarm at Iho serial condition of ihe early 
Egyptians,) there are s« many diflerenl kinds of deapollem, that tlie 
Egyptians had lo accept one of them, as an unavoidable condition. 
In facl, there ia in a Iheocralic govemmeni Ihe chance of roligloua 

an ariaiocracy, or oligarchy, Ihe chance of a feudal derpolisni i in a 
republic, the chance t^a democratic despotism — everywhere a chance 
ofoppreaeion. The relative good will be where these several ehaneea 
are moal limited." And, wjih respect to Ihe form of government 
best adapted to the social hsppineas of man, opinions are as varied 
SB are the couniries, and human races on Ihe earth. Thai inalilu. 
lion which is admirably anited to Europeans, may be odious and de- 
leterious to Orientals. 

In Egypt, under the primilive theocratic government. Iho nation was 
divided inlo three diatincl classes — theyiriu(«, the mililars, and the 
pttpU ; an arrangement whereby the finl two, Ihe privileged claiaea, 
confpired lo hold the third, and moal numemua, in aubjectiun. 

" Time and the hour run ihrongh the roughest day :" and when a 
politiea! evil becomes insupportable, nature has provided thai il shall 
work ils own cure. 

The prugreH which time inevitably realiies everywhere, effected 
in Egypt n nolsbla alleralian in this slate of tiling*. 

A rivalry sprang up belwcen the Iwo ruling elasees. The military 
grew tired of blindly anbmilting to ecclesiastical sway, nithoui par. 
taking of their full share of control, The physical power being in 
ihe hands of the military chiefc, a levolulion was the conaoquento 
of these jealousies. 

A military chiel'taia sriied the sceptre of dominion ; ealahlished 
a royal government, and made Ihe throne hercdilary, through hia 
line of descendanta, A soldier of fiirtune, but a statesman In mind, 
changed and amclioraled ihe sotiiat condition of Egypt; and con. 
secrating ihe progreaa the nation had already mode, perpetuated it 
through a long ai ' ' 



in of afler centuries. 



A N C r E K T EGYPT. 



This chief waa Meith of Hutai7 — Merei, 

" who waJlu wilb Amun," of ihe sculplures 

M wbo, front lbs dnys of Syaceilus, Km boaa con 

founded wilh Miiraim, or nlher, according u 

Sfncellua, wilh Meslroim. 



\^ y I would hero observe, lb>( if mcicnt Egjrpl 

•^^^m was ever called Meslnca, wo hove no evidence 

U„ - ei. of (he lums io liierog;jpphica : nlchougb it m 
" t I be derived from iwo EJgjplian roou, and oo. 

•^poonded of JtfMi begDilon, and Jte, llie Suii. IT Miiraim be Mi 
■ . tnim he waa cetlainly aol Henea ; and if Menea be Mosiraim, . 
*aa eettaiaYy nol Miiruim, wbo preceded Meuea, by il Icaai 400 
yean. Wo fnll into palpalile uiachroniuna in endeavoring Io make 
one man oul of tvio porsonigea, distinct in tune, in name, in altri. 
■■■ buiBs, and in everylhing else. Brevity requires thai I Bhou)d limit 
-my argroment* aimply lo the oipo^itionuf this fact; by not olwerving 
' which, BDcient iind modern wrilora, (with a few eiccpliona among 
■he hieruKiyphiata, including iho learned chronologial, Dr. Hales,) 
luTe rendered early Egyptian hinloiy n chaos of anachranisnu. 
This grand political revolulion had, over tlie auciul welfare of (he 
-natian, an influenco most salutary and durable. From a aaccrdalsJ 
' deapoiiam, ihsl in ihe name of Heaven exacted implicit ubedience to 
the pririleged membcn of the hierarchy, Ihe Egyptians paaeed under 
the authority of a tempered civil monsichy, and ncquired a coiulitu- 
. tion chat rendered them free as well as happy. 

The chief of the state waa king, or Pbarauh ) and bis power was 
kansmilted, in the order of primogenitureship tu his male children ; 
' Io faia daughter*, if ho had nu sous ; or Io hia brothers or siatcra, if 
'Ua direct line ahould, by aboence of offjpring, be broken. There 
-was no Salie law in Egypi; uti in a country where /muk* were 
•admitted loafull patticipnlion in all legilimalo privileges witliman — 
where women were queena in theirown right — royal priceteBaeH from 
Ibeir birth; and otherwise treated as females are, in ail civilized and 
-Christian countries; there were none of those social realriclionB 

- thai elsewhere enslaved the minds, or constrained the persons of the 

We have the most positive and inconlrovertiblo evidence, in a 
-Mriea of monuments coeval Viith Egypiian eveuta for 9500 yeoiB, lo 
< prove that the female boi in Egypt waa honored, civilized, educated, 
«tidaB free sa among ounelvea; and (his is the most unanswerable 
froof of the high civilizalion of that ancient people. This is the 
■ •froDgeal point of diatinctiou between the Egyptian social system of 
•odeni unua, and that of any ollter eastern nation. Even among 
Ifae Hebrews, the Jewish female was never placed In relation to man, 
• k the same high poeibnn as her marc happy and privileged sister en- 
joyed in Egypt. And if, at the present day, Mahommedanisin haa 

- vrerlhrown all the rights of the female sex in the valley of the Nile ; 
Mr if, in any ancient or modern nation, females wore or are oppressed, 
it was certainly not from the early children of Ham ihat they took 

I - 'Aelr precedent : not from Ihe primitive Caucasian inhabitanta of 
I • Egypt, thai the enalaiera of the gentler sex received their leason. 
I ^Soma of the evidence for this assertion will appear aa we proceed ; 
but, in the mean liine, let ua render to the ancient Bgyptiana ihe 
' proud honor of being Ihe Htsl nation who appreciated the moral ca. 
I "pabilities, social virtuei, intellectual aciributea, and civil righta of 

I * In the procession, Tomb of Gurnah, the gollantry of the Egyp- 
I^'ttuts is proved, by Iwo qneens — Aahopht and AnhmoaJJofreuri 
I k {queens of Amunoph Isu) taking precfldenCB of the kings; and ibis 






• The royal authority was not nbsolule. The sacerdotal order pre. 
I > anved in the councils, their rightful positions — tho military were 

maintain order and lo slrenglhcn the monarchy, but were 

■ kcJtiiCTUoldiers; and in the groat assemblies, termed panegi/riei, 

I ^ wherein all religious, woriike. civil, admioistralive, commercial, poli- 

4^ Heal, Blaliaijcal, internal and external zdTaiii were periodically 

• -created ; the priests, tiie military, Ihe corporations, and Ihe people 

were representod, and the interests of all were protected, according 

• V> the wise institutions of the Egyptians. Tho claises of Egypt may 
^ hi divided inio foar greal casles; but not, ss before said, on Ihe 
■ ngid sysle-n of the Hindoos. These were the priests, the sotdiera, 

the agriculturaliati, and the tradeamen of all denominationa ; each 
aabdivided into more or less categories — but no Egyptian was an 
onteast from civil rights in this world, ur debarred from eternal hap- 
piness in the world Io come, save by his own misconduct ; and in 
iha tatter respect, the king and the peasant were equally amenable 
to the inexorable judgment of AHiNTt — " the future state," and 
vllimulB tribunal. 

With Ihe accession of Menea, dates the consolidation of iho inter- 
' B*l polity, and uf those wise and well-regulated insttlntions, that 
- aMoniah ns by their peifection and practical utility, aa much as by 
dM remoteness of iheir antiquity. I do not, a1 presonl, deem it ne. , 



cessary lo enuinenle ot detail then 

the greaier portion will bo mtlior a consequence o! _ .^^^^^ ^^ 
Egypt, as I am about to unfold it; while I prefer leaving uhateier 
may now be omitted to a fulurc summary. It is n^t^easaiy 1?fb1 W 
establish the chronological scale of hieroglyphic developments, 
before discussing points, which in dale arc dependent on monu- 
mental evidence. 

Bgments we potwtm of anrienl Egypiian history. In Iho 
writings of early IrBvelleta and chroniclers, permit our dividing tha 
dynaslies. of Egypt into lliree categories, viz : 
lal~ The rule of the Gona — or Auritse ; 
and- Tho rule of the Dehioods— or Mesirrans ; 
3rd — The rule of (hirty.one snccinBive Avmun dynoaties — ot 

Egyptians. 
I. The Gods. Under ibis designation 'A may be plausibly con- 
jectured, thst tho BiicienI Egyptians, in their logendaiy talcs lo Iha 
Greeks, ctsased thoae primeval events, which are known lo ua oa 
in. It is also curiuus, ihal " Cronus, and the oilier iwvtva 
divinilioB," who arc said lo hove reigned during 3384 yeore, do not 
very widely dilTer in number from Ihe paoiaichal generations froBi 
Adam to Noah. The aim, in hieroglj^hics, being s type of Hortn^ 
which is of Ihe same root 09 Rk, Ouro, Aur, gave probably the nonw 
of Aurim lo the Egyptians, aa the " children of the sua." The word 
AuriliB has been referred lo tho " Golden age," of heathen myiho. 
logy, but ihe term aurun itself is derived from that uoivorsa! toot 
aur, the aun, which revcraes the current derivalion, 

U. The Dehioods — ot Mestraans, may be explained hypilheiL 
cally, as referring lo those pristine postdiluvian limes, whii'h oni. 
brace the dark period from Noah lo the accession of Mrnos : a pendd, 
according lo my view, of some SOO years; In the firtt century of 
which Mizmira .T.ay have coloiLized Egypt. The term Metlncail, 
viewed, as above slated, in its meaning tj' " begotten of the Etia/* 
again sends ua back lo the primitive but. 

III. The Mbh, or Egyptians, comment^e Iheir rule with Mene^ 
the lirst Fhanuih, and continue through 31 successive dynasties, la 
the invasion of Alexander the Greal, in B.C. 33S. From this tn, 
history and Ihe monuments enable us to define the period of lb* 
Luim, or Ptolemies, down lo 99 B. C. The hieroglyphics thenoa 
bring us down to Ciiacaixa, the Roman Eniperor, when thin moda 
of writing ceased, aboul SIS aTlcr ihe Christian era, and when itM 
race of Ham ceased to be poliiicatly recognizable. 

In regard to the reign uf the gods, and Ihe demigods, howevttr, 
one point is very clcariy established 1^ Sir J. G. Wilkinson; whudl ' 
is, that the Egyptians never hsd ihe folly or impiety lo trice tbalr 
own origin lo deities. On the contrary, they ridiculed Ihe Grcoka, 
for supposing themselves to be a heave a-desceoded race, in a tigbl 
line nf successioti ; for iho Egyptiana were a practical people, and a 

When the priests ahowed tu Herodotus a scries of 345 images ct 
in, who had successively filled Ihe office of high prictt : as- ai ■ 
rmer period, Ihcy had exhibited a limitar ai 
uq — ihey laughed at Hecalcus, who claim 

cestor ; and told Herudolus. that " each was o riromis, son of a 
Piromis." Piromis being the Greek corruption of the Coptic Pi-iuiMl; 
'lie man ; and the strict meaning of the senlence being " a mnn, sob 
>f a mail ;" wo have herein an indisputable proof of Herodotus^ 
gnorance of the commono&t words of the native langugge of as I 
country, concerning which he wrote so largely, and so very icnnt- 
edly. Hia igaoranoe was nslural enough, but his presumpiion mtij 
be derided by us, aa much as hia credulity was the sport of tha 
Egyptians. 

therefore, in a document, called by Syneellus " the OU 

Egyptian Chronicle," ihe rule of gods and demigods on earth, pro. 

les Ihe reign of human monarcbs ; we must make full allowanca 

tho errors of Greek iranslalois, rendering into ihetr own tongua, 

and adapting lo Hellenic comprehension, the lofty ideas, and myslie 

designations of ihe Egyptians. Nor musl we accuse the dead, n linaa 

ts present a mule refuialion of Grecian fallacies, uf bd. 

_ fantasies, such as are handed down to as by Herodolua.. 

Under the guise of mystic attributes, and through the medium of. 

tr/mloU, the veiled Inilhs of which were not divulged to the " impura, 

igner," the Egypiian gods and liemigads, of the Old Chronicla. . 

probably, are nothing more ihao our patriarchal antediluvian- ontl 

posldiluvian generations. Bigotry and fanaticism, among the earl)r 

Christiaiu, prevented their perceiving that every eUgma cast on tlw 

pure doctrines of primeval antiquity would drtiacl from tlie an 

(hority of MoBcs ; who, as before staled, was undoubledly " leamod 

in all the wiadom o( Ihe Egyptians." ' 

I now proceed to lay lieforB the reader, Iwo tables of Egyptian 
history — one the Old Cubonict.i ; aod the other compiled fruna 
MANtTlio by Roaellini and ChampoUjoa Figeac, «utli a few addl> 



AHCIENT EGYPT. 



EGYPTIAN DYNASTIES. 
THE OLD EGYPTIAN CHUONULE. 

1«L — Reiqr or THE God* — oh Aositjb — AtmBn.xrru.n miuo T 
Barharitmui 1 Yean. 

ToHErB.isTD3 — Vnlcui — Plhah, IbeCccalor — ii BMigned 

DO time, 99 h« u (ppETBRt botti by Aaj and nigbl, 00,000 

HiLiTis — tbe Sun — the ion of Hepb&glm — reigoed three 

myriule of yenn, eijuivaleul to 30.000 

C«oaui, ind tha other twelte Dmninu reigned logellier, 3,964 



Gout reigned — rc« 



33.984 



3ii(l.~REiait OF THE jyL»i.Ctooa—<n 
PojT(iii.wvtia WWOD — Scylhin 

The eight liinge — Dexi.Godi — (or J 
together. 

3rd. — Reiqh or Mev — or Egypiinni — HeUemtmuif 

The ISoHMSBiTiONs (familieg, dynaBlies.orroyBlhou.'ci'l 
CDmpriied iu the Cynic Cycle — or Sothic peiiod — 
reigned, 443 

The remaining 15 drnutioa of king»— commen- 
cing with ihe 16th dyiiaaiy Bnd ending with 
the 30lh dynuly — reigned together, 1S8I 

EevmiHS reifftied, S394^ 

Vents, 36,.'i35 3 

ThCBO yeus 36,525— end before Christ, 359. 



MANETHO'S EGYPTIAN CONSECUTIVE DYNASTIES.. 



^"^^ 


miE osiam. 


HUMBBROF 
XUtQI. 


^"" " " " 


ITR EKIGSS. 


"""^.r" 


mZJ^raV 


P1IULLEI.S. 


WISCELLAJtEi. ^ 




Thinit., 






an, 353 


Ymni, 5867 


B.C.2715I 




AAer Flood 439 


lit. 




1 y. 


shid, 


Tanile, 






as? 


■' 5G1S 






treat* I 


Srd. 


Hemphite, 






197 


" 5318 








4lh. 






4 


44S 


■• 5131 




Tomb». 




5ih. 






isi' 


948 


" 4673 






6lh. 


Memphile, 




V,i 


SOS 


" 4435 




Copper MiQes, 




7th. 


Memphito. 




75 


" 4323 




Nam ea unknown 


8ih. 
9th. 


iVIemphilc, 




111 


100 
100 


" 4147 
" 4047 


yearB443 


Relicaan'dPapyri. 


Idem 
Idem 


lOth. 








IBS 


" 3947 




Number of 


Idem 


11th. 


Thchnn, 




ill 


59 


" 376i3 




Unplaced kiEga. 


Idem 


12th. 


Thebitn, 




»fi- 


345 


" 3703 




Uncertain ' 


13th. 


Thebui, 




453 


•• 3417 






Idem 


Hih. 


Xoile, 




1^1 


484 


•• 3004 






Idem » 


15th. 


I'heben, 




t.|a 


250 


■■ 2530 




ObeliBkofHeliopt 

Kamae. 

Tern plea. Tombs, 

Palacea, Tablets, 


Idem 


16ih. 
17th. 
18ih. 


Thebnn, 
S Tbelwin, 
lHyk.h«. 
Thehsn, 


6 >. 
1? * 


s 

6 
18 


190 
S60 
348 


■■ 2372 
" 2083 




TableloTAbydM. 
Abraham's visit 
HebtewT-B.C.5 
fl9»# 
MoMsB.C.14>Ii 


13th. 
90th. 


Tliebun, 

Thebiui, 




G 


194 
178 


" 1473 
" 1279 




Papyri, Rolfoi, 


SUt. 


Tanile, 




T 


130 


" 1101 




all over' 




sand. 

Mrtl. 
94 th. 


Bubiutite, 

Taniie, 

Saiiie, 




S 

f 

r 


lao 

89 
44 


" 971 
651 
762 




ar' 


Rehoboam 
B. C. 9TI 


SStb. 


£tI.iopiin, 




3 


44 


718 








36lh. 


Saitic, 




b 


ISO 


" 674 








STdi. 


Feniui, 




4 


130 


" 534 






i 


S8th. 


Saitic, 




1 


6 


" 404 






] 


99ih 








31 










aoih. 






1 


38 


377 








31ii. 


Persian, 




I 




'■ 339 








n dynudeB 




378 kingiL 






£nd.B.C.331 






_ 



Conquest of Egypt by AleiMndor, 
Accession of Ptidemy Soler, 
Fall of the Lagidi, 



B. C. 333. LuqRor. 
B.C. 304. Philc. 
B. C. 3U. Oqiboa,EdfDa. 



The upper table is a reduction of the " Old E^gyptian Chronicle," 
■naerved to oa by Syncellus. This appears to be > suacincl compi. 
ktlon, made in Egypt about the reign of Nuhletietif, o^ the 30th 
dynasty, say B. C. 359. 1 hove already eiphuned, that the " reign 
•T the gods" refen possibly to our antediluvian period, wlien those 
barsaiea, lerroed by the fathers of the church, laTbaritmu; seem to 
have been first introduced. Thia hcleradaxy they eipltdned, as 
•Tineedby the fact, " that then men had naruiers ;" end tliat their im- 
|fety and inaubordinati on, brought down upon thorn the vengeance of 
^e Moat High, and tim obliteration of all mankind save Noah'a font. 
Uy. It is eoiijectured, that the first tiro reigns refer to those events 
■BUeodlng the creation of man, which enter into tbe category ol' 
geological periods, of which it seems the Hierophanls had some 
knowledge ; in confirmation of which, the aamos of the gods them. 
•alves lend some feeble glimmer; for Cronos is "time immeosura. 
He;" and Vulcan, who is our PlhUi, typifies " the creative power" 
■ af the Almighty. When Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, discoursed 
irithihe Egyptian sages about those events which had happened to 
Ae Pelasgic Greeks, such as the traditjona concerning the first Pbo. 
Mswua, and Niobe, and the deluge of DencBlion and Pyrrha, one of 
Ae most venerable of the aaesnloiai ancients eiclaimcd, " O Solon, 
Boton! you Greeks are always ditldren; nor is there such ■ thing as 
•M aged Grecian among you. All your sonis are juvenile ; neither 
•mlsining any ancient opinion derived from remote tradition, nor 
*ait discipline hoary from its eEistenee in former perioda of time. 
Vonmaitiwi one Deluge only; wbereea monii happtned!" Th« 



remaining 13 divinities relate, probably, to the line Irom Adam ft J 
Noah. * 

The " reign of the demigods" ia probably the period from Noik ' 
to the accesaioa of Meneii ; including tbe primitive coloniialion of | 
Egypt, and the theocraticalgoYonimenl, termed by the falheta, &v(Aw> | 
miu, in reference to the apostacy of man, the confusion of Babel, & 

The "reign of Hen" begins with Menea, and the Pharaonic m< 
narchy — termed alao by the fathers, KtlUttUmut, on account l. 
the spread of idolatrous paganism. In whirb Terah, the father gf ■ 
Abraham, seems to have participated with the resL Yet, if excep. 
flons to auch idotati? existed in those primeval doya, they will bs 
fiiunJ in " the order of Uelchiscdek," and among the Initiated ik 
Egyptian mysteries. 

Then follows Manetbo's liaL Those ciphers preceding the ace 
Bion of the Ifith dynasty are doubtful, and the chronology ia reducL I 
ble upon the amngement of Syncellus into 443 years. The inoii» 
mental parallels are poeilive in point of relative position, withoH 
requiring Bnytbing like Manetlio's intervening inlorvala of limo W 
tween the pyramids and the obelisk of Htiliopolia. I bava added m 
list of the hieroglyphics] tiames already identified, which in 1841 
was deemed to he correcL 

Taking the era of the Deluge, BCcontiog to (he SFptuaginl (aflar 
the rejeeron-of the 3nd Cainsn) at B. C. 3154, we obtain some oi. 
rious coiDcidences to strengthen our belief in tiie correctnasa of lb* 
record; while, at the same time, they indicalc the pussihie cpucb o( 



sd 



ANCIENT KOTFT. 



Yean 



S683 




Iimhe first pl&ce, by the Old Chronicle : 

From the birth of Christ, to the 9iid king of 

30th dynasty, there intenrened Yeeri 359 

Trom 30Ui dyn^ to 15th 1881 

From 15th to Ist — or the accession of Menca 443 

From 1st dyn,f back to commencement of the 
demigods (or possibly only to Misraim's 
arrival) 



Postdiluvian intenral 

Septoagint era of Flood, B. C. 3154 

Yhis would give us 354 yeara between Nosh and Mizreira^ arri- 
val in Egypt — not an unreasonablo interval. Then 317 more from 
Misraim, during the theocratic period to Menes, who would thus have 
ascended the throne about B. C, 36dfit or 471 years after the Deluge. 

'In the second place, by Manetho : 

Years. 

From the birth of Christ, to Alexander's conquest, 333 

From the 3l8t dynasty back to the IGth dyn.. Years 3373 
the interval from Alexander to our Saviour, 333 



1940 
443 



Gives us for interval, between Alexander and 

the 16th dyn., 
Firom 16th dynasty back to Ist, 

Accession of Menes, B. C, 
interval between Menes and the Flood, 

Deluge, B. 0., 

Wo thus obtsin the accession of Menes, by Ma- 
netho, at 
By the Old Chronicle at 



3715 
439 

3154 



B. C, 3715 
3683 



Difference only— yean S3 

between the two records, after Manetho has been reduced on the 
qfatem of Syncellus ; which, in subjects so remote, is of no import. 
•nee ; 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 1 
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, 
16,5.25, divided by 1461, gives exactly 35 sothic periods ; this period 
being compoeed of 1461 vague or civil years of 365 dsjrs. The 
singularity of this coincidence msy, 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 die almost 
inconceivable remoteness of astronomical calculations and observa. 
tions- among' the earliest Egsrptians, who appear to have perfected 
•heir calendar, for all practical purposes, st a period so distant, that 
•von \hti Deluge epoch of the Septuagint appears irreconcilable with 
lie deduc jons thereon consequent. Indeed Champollion declares, 
what ii*d great mathem%tician Biot confirms, that the astronomical 
dates, procured from the tombs of the kings at Thebee, would cany 
back *he use of a national calendar in Egypt to the year 3335 B. C^ 
wo>«h is 39 years beyond the Septuagint flood; even without the de- 
iuction of the interpolated Cainan ! I do not pretend to be compe. 
sDAt or, this point U} form any opinion ; and the fact is merely ad- 
duoed, in proof of tli« priority of astronomical knowledge among 
the c'flildren of Ilam ; who, as 1 said before, most have brought into 
Elgypt all the learning uf antediluvian generations as an inherit, 
•nee from Noah. 

It would seem, that the primitive division of the year, in Egypt, 
was into 13 lunar months — ^i. e., that the time occupied by tho 
moon's revolution round the earth, gave origin to the month of 38 
days. 

The first change in the Egyptian year, was the snbstitntioa of 
Mar for Lunar months ; and then the year consisted of 13 months 
of 80 days each, or 360 days ; but, it being very soon pereeived that 
Ibe seasons were disturbed, and that they no longer corresponded 
to the same month ; five additional dajrs were added to the end of 
the last Egyptian month, MisoiB, to romedy the defect in the cal. 
undar, and to insure the rotum of the seasons at fixed periods. To 
those accustomed to our present calendar, and to the division of the 
seasons. Spring, Summer, Autnnm and Winter, it maybe worth ob. 
■srving, that in Egypt, from the most ancient days to the preeent 
hour, the agriculturalist recognises only tkn§ se a so n s in the year. 
Tbe Arab of the present day, who, in his ehvoiiolqgieal division of 
lims, adopts the Mahommedan system of Lunar months in ail Us 
•Cber pursuits ; follows for sgricoltoiai purposes, tbs Coptic months. 



which are simply the ancient Egyptian ; while both Copts snd Arabs 
call these months by ibeir sndent nsmes to this day. Each third 
part of their year consists of 4 months, snd is regulated in perfect 
accordance with the seasons in Egypt, and the periodical overflow of 
the Nile. Thus, the JHrtt sosson in Egypt begins shout a month 
before the end of our autumn. It is called by the Arabs ** esJShitteb,** 
or winter. It is the sesson of sowing and vegetation— and anci^ntiy 
was termed the season of the *' wster plsnts." It Issts 4 months, 
beginning about November, and ending with the cloee of February : 
duration 130 days. The teeond sesson begins about the end of 
our winter : the Arabe call it ** es-S«yf," or summer. It is the son- 
son of harvest and reaping, and was anciently styled the " season of 
ploughing," for then, as at present, they prepared their lands for Aba 
summer crope: it lasts 4 months, or 130 days. The third season com- 
mences about July, and is called by the Arabs **el.Hare«f,*' or autumn, 
or more usually ** Neel," as the period of the inundation of the Nile. 
Ii is the time, when the river overflows its bsnks, and ssturates all 
the alluvial with its fertilizing moisture, cither by inundstion or hj 
filtration. Anciently, it bore Uie appropriate name of** the scascn of 
the waters." Its duration is 130 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 tho 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 Bigypt by the sea^oast. 

The intercalation of the 5 complementary days, at the end of the 
year of 13 solar months, brought the calendar to practical utility. It 
was then termed the vague or civil year, consisting of 365 days ; and 
die Pharaohs were obliged to swear, that they would preserve it in 
tact from any intercalation. This was the only year known to Hero 
dotns, to Plato and to Eudoxus ! 

This vsgue, or civil year of 365 days, was soon discovered to bo 
actually snorter 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 130 years; and about one year of 
365 days in 1460 years. By preserving, however, in ordinary usee, 
the civil year of 365 days ; there were many advantages accruing to 
the religious system of Uie 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 ;" snd wherever wo 
turn, we find that we are only perpemating the notions and systems 
of our forefathers, whom we stigmatise as Pagans, while we adopt 
many of their customs. Thus, the Mahommedans, at present in 
Egypt, who ffo |)iously to prey in the mosque, on a day, supposed by 
them, to be ue birth.d&y of a Muslim saint, whose tomb lies in the 
sanctuary ; or who assemble at the periodical festivals and fairs of a 
*< Seyd.el.B^dawee," and a « Seyd Brehe^m.ed-De8o6qee,'* are littlo 
aware, that they are only doing that which was done on the same 
spots, St the same seasons, 3000 years before the Muslim ssint, or 
even Mohammed himself existed ! yet, nevertheless it is a fact, and 
die Mahommedan clergy are prudent enough to regulate the annnoi 
return of some of these festivals — not by the Mahommedan, but by 
the Coptic calendar — not by the lunar, but by the solar months. 

By adhering, therefore, to the civil year of 365 days, the priests 

were enabled, in consequence of its annual recesnon, to carry the 

periodical festivals through all the different sessons 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 Ramadkn ; which, within my recollection, has passed 

from midsummer, through spring and winter, and is now in sutumn 

The Egyptisn astronomers, while they thought it expedient to keep 

the practk^al and popular calendar to the civil year of 365 days ; 

were, however, perfectly aware of the necessity of a further interca. 

lation, to equalise the annual rotation. They therefore created a 

period, well known to astronomers and chronologists, as the Sothio 

period, from Sirius, the dog.star, termed Sethis by the Egyptisns. 

This period wss styled by the Greeks, the Cynic Cycle, from Cynos, 

a dog. When, then^oro, we use the terms Sothic period, or Cynio 

Cycle, we mean one and the same thing^-«nd when we say tlio 

Sothic year, the Sidereal year, the Cynic year, the Canicular year, 

we refer to the year whose commencement was regulated by the pe. 

riodical and heliacal riidng of the dog^rtar, or Sirius, called Sothis— 

tbe star of Isis, and Isis-Tboth ; or perhaps Thoth-Isis, (T) which, 

by transmutation into Greek, has bmsome Sothis. This year eoik 

sisted of 365) days, whereas the civil year remained 365. 

It is certain, that the fiist morning apparition of the dog.star, be. 
fore sunrise, was rsligimisly associated in Egypt, with the 1st dsy of 
the month of Tkmtk, called by the Arabs and Copts, « Toot " And 
thus, the 1st day of Thoth was the first dsy of the fint month of esoh 
year. But there was snother and a local cause, that connected tho 
heliacal rising of the dog^stsr with the rising of the " sacred river ;** 
tbe grandest natnralphraomenon in the valley of the Nile ; and ono, 
as iatimatoly hallowed by thevisC utility of its benefits, ss mythioaUy 
intsrwovan with the religious doctrines of the Egyptians, «mi saeied 
10 tbs memories of OsiriMsd Isis. 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



In Egypt, the dAg-stsr— SiriQi sr Solhis— for sbout 3000 yeara 
B. C snii raraome cenluriBi afier, me on ihe miiis fiicd day (i 
paraUel,) a lilile bFfare ihomn (heliacal riaing;) and ihiaday waa 
the 30(h day of July, Julian calendar. Thia star in ilie courM of 
jraar cmsmI to be vtaible on ibe lioriion in li^ypl for about a monlh 
and a half, bccaune ii ruae and «et during ihc day-lime : so 
it began lo be perceived in ihs eianrn aky, a linlo before 
•ltd un ihc following days it iliowed itself more and mora a 
buriiOD, before the end rf night. Tho firat appearance of the aliir 
•f laii occurred aoma days after Ihe aummer loteiice, and corre. 
^Kiaded exactly lo the first rising of ilie waters of the Nile. Il was, 
tfaercforo, lU important lo observe iis motements; and ihcae olmer. 
*>tian> luon proved, tbal the riic of Iha dugjitai, which occurred on 
Vm firat day of the month of Tlioth on one year, was not visible rum 
jaara aubaequcolly till the Mcond day of tbe aame month ; and foui 
TBBislaur, not till the third, and so on i till, after 190 yean, this snme 
rising of the dog-^lar would not be viaible till the first of the utOHd 
Montli of the year, or PaepL 

The ciUBO of this change wm immediately tiplained, fo soon u 
Aa priesla remarked, that the Civil year sonlainod only 365 days: 
whcreaa, the heliacal riling of the dog^slor took place after an ill. 
tervil of 3GS days and a quarter. The priests, therefore, crested an 
■MTonomical or fixed year, by the addition of one quarter of a day, 
ar six hours, to the original civil year; which fixed ycnr, being regu- 
kted by the dog-alar, woa lenned the ntkie year of 36S1 days, which 
Modern oalrODDmera consider may have been tbe trua jenglh of the 
fear in that laiinide. 

It was thus ascerloined that, as the vague or civil yesr of 3C5 days 
VBS a moveable year, and as the aolhic year of ZUSi days was a fixed 

rear ; that, if at any time these two ycara began on the 
461 civil yean, or H60 aolhic yeata mual tTanapire before the aame 

y 1460 aolhic yean 
1461 civil " 
Mng a diflerence of one entire year between the aunt of yi 
pendent on iho solar months with five daya' intercalation, and the 
aiim ofyeaia dependent on the annual heliacal rising of the dog.*lar 
In 14G0 sotbic years. The heliaeal rising of Sinus being, then, the 
Initis] paint of the true year, the prieeta designaled as the sotbk 
RiiOD the series of 1460 fixed yearn, and of 14G1 vague yean, b] 
which tLese two should recommence on the same inatant; becauai 
K60 yeara of 365j days, inclose exactly the sama number of daya 
Ihal are contained in the 1461 years of 3ES days ; there beiug 533,305 
daje in each of tliese series. 

Such was the calendar of the sncienl Egyptians. It is probable, 
thai to the generality of readers this cxplanolian is supererogatory, 
because il is so familiar. However, at the risk of tedium, 1 have 
Inserted il ; and now proceed lo draw some dedactioni from Iha fscls 
kid down. 

The coincidence, on the ssrae day, of the Iwo initiol days of theao 
nspecUve periods — thai is, when ihe Eini day of the fixed year was 
Ihe Grat day of the vogue year — a coincidence which could only occur 
every 14G1 vague yean, was in E^ptian chronology a memorablo 
•poch. Wo arc told by Cenaoriniui, who wrote in tho third eonlur? 
•ficr Christ, ihal iho last lime ihe coincidence occurred, was on the 
SOlh July, 139 yean after Cbiisli by which we know, that it oc. 
curred 1333 B. C, end ngain in tho year STBS B. C. : whence the 
luowledge we possess of the learning of the Egyptian hierarchy, 
lagilimaiely allows our inferring, thai ii waa by them observed. 

The Greek asironomen of eorty times appear lo have been quite 
•naware of the introduction, by the Egyptians, of one year In 1461 
Tsgue years, or of six lioura al the end of each yesr. We have the 
•ulhority of Strabo, ibat the inlerealaiion was unknown lo Plato and 
to Eudoiua, although they are aaid to have studied at Keliopolts; 
while Herojotus'a ignonnce on this mailer ia fully proved, by his 
•peaking of the Egyptian yeu of 365 days having ibc effccl of keep, 
iog the senaons in ibcir proper places ; although, iu anolher pnasage, 
be givea the moal conclusive proof of the eiisience of tlie intercalary 
quarter of a day in hit timr. 

Ha says, the prieals reckoned from Mene«, 341 kings, orgcnera- 
fionsi whence Herodotus calculates an interval of 11,340 yean: yel 
he adds, " During this lime, they (tho priests) said Ihe sun had four 
Untn risen out of his eusioroary places ; that, both where he now sets 
be hod IiDtc< there riien ; and where be now riaes, he had thors 
hn'ce set."* By explaining thia posange in relation to the sothic 
period, modern astronontcis see thst. ander an appsmnt fable, Ibe 

rails mysticolly told him tho Imth, although ho did nnl undcntand 
For, in the interval of at least 3350 years between Menes and 
Herodotus, embracing as il does much mure ihsn one sothie period, 
Ihe sun rose twice and sot twice (at least) in the same degree of the 
•diplic. The allegory waa beautiful. 

It follows therefore, thai the later Greek aalronomcn, aueh as Hip. 
yarehus and Entoslbcnes (although they do not acknowledge the 
Moicea of their learning,) derived most of iheir aatronomical know. 
ladge from the calculaliona of ancient Egyptians. 



lit hough il w 



II known fable of ihe Phrenix seems lo be mys:ieaUy con. 
ilh the astronomical revolution of the sothic period — 
m thai iha slory of in rising from lis ashes hiu 
unknown in me ame of Herodolus, but wsa inveniod in afler times, 
and was adopted by the early Christian falhen. There is great con- 
fusion in Ihe intervals between each Phcenix ; some reducing ibem to 
340 yean, otben extending them to 14S1 yeara. Il seems, however, 
lo have symbolized, in whole or in part, the Bolhic Period, or great 
aslronomical yesr of the Egyptians ; being found on Egypiian mono, 
menu, dating as far back as the eommeneemcnl of ihe 18lh Dyn., or 
B. C. ISOO. In the Coptic FheHtk, meaning agt or period, we Irac* 
ihe rooi ol' Phoenix, and its iM^endricBl utilities. 

According to Uorus-Apollo, the Phtsnix symbolized the sou/ fj 
nun — an expiring eyett of timt — and also, lAs inundalwn of Ihi 
Nilt. 

V(e have ihe authority ofChvremon and Porphyry for the antiquity 
of Ihe word alaiaKOck in Greek, long prior to the Saracens ; and for 

10 English and Arabic vocsbulisla amsrl, thai ajinaiae is an 
.4ra(ic word !" I concede Ihe article " al," or rather rl, lo be an 
Arabian prefix. Dnt 1 should be edified to leani, to what Arabic 
Doi they ince the word majiat. Il is probably of ancient Coplie 
irifiin ; and if ever used hy Arab hiatorians (for il ia unknown in 
be Aarjg,) il is a compound, like Iha word aliKoe'il — Ibe Anbie. 
el — (Ae, and the Greek, megistos — B*'iiit>*l used by Ptolemy in 
istronomy, and by the Grenada Moors in alchemy. 

Now, by tbe authorily of SyncclluH, in Ilio table of tbe Old Chron- 
clc, the first dynasties embnco 443 ycara of the aolhic period; 
vhonce il follows, ihat the lint king of the lei Dyn., Menea, ascended 
be Ihrono aboiit tbe yoar27B3 Julian B.C.; and ii may ba inferred, 
hat ho was the fint Pharaoh who pledged himself not lo alter iha 

Tbe 36,525 yean of lime, which the Old Chronicle gives for Iho 

entire reign of gods, demigods, and Egyptians, divided by 1461, 

gives us exacity 95 aothio periods; and instead of being takcD by ui 

liltrallji, and therefore rejccled by us as fabulous, most be regarded 

as a vatt lutroBotnieal cycle, by which the Hieropbanls regulated 

their calendar; and their astronomical skill ia nowheie more appo. 

nt than in their cycle of 35 ysan, for at^ualing llio lunar with the 

lor motions ; whereby ihey possessed a system more rigorously 

irrect than iho Julian method in similar reductions. 

The whole of this digression ia merely lo precede a few deductions, 

enlighten us on tbe probable epocb of the accession of Mcnei ; a 

ndamentat point in all BubBequoot Egyptian biitory; and witlioiil 

deeming it absolutely necessary to conlioua in prefatory eiplanatioas, 

I present tho soveraJ reoulla. 

Isl — By the astronomical reduclion of Herodotus, according 
lo Professor Keawick, we obtain the aceeasion of Me- 
nea about B.C. 3990 
2nd— By SyncelluB — Manetho agrees with ponersl — (or 
Septoagini) chronalogy, if we cut off 056 yearn before 
tbe flood, and 53* afterwards — Iho irua period of 
Egyptian history, according lo him, would place tho 
accession of Menes— Ren wick's calculation, B. C, 
By Rosellini'a reduclion of Syncellus, page 15, vol. lit, 
Menes would fall about B.C. STTV, 
4th — By Champollion Figcac, pngi- 367, ihe epoch of Mones 
would be— Frerei's ealclilalion, B. C. 
Sih— By Doct. Hales' calculation, 
6ih— By my reduclion of the " Old Chn 
7(h— By my reduction of " Manedio,'" 
t have before auied, thai we could i 
■pocb of Menea within 500 yenia — bi 

between the extreme of 9890 B. C. for ramoteness, and 3419 B. C.^ 
proximity, which added lo Roeolliiti'a and Champollion' 
efl of Ihe accession of tbe 16lh dynasty . B. C. 2373 
Addiiion, 478 



a4is« 
!." 36eM 

. lefino with precision lW4 
all ditTHencea conridersdJ,fl 

imnlnnsn tfA 9JIQ R IT^V 



Would place Menes about ihs year . S7S0 6. Cl 

which I am inclined lo adopt, sswitliin a hundred ycar^ opproxim*. J 

r the truth; ibus affording abundance of interval, bciwear 
Flood and Menei on Ihe one hand ; and possibly sufficient foi 
Bction of the works now existing at Memphia — tbe pyramids — b«. 
een Menea and the accession uf Ihe 16lh Dyn., on the other. . ^ 
Perfectly awaie of the extreme uncertainly of Iheae calculaliona, 
I would observe, aa an excuse for tbe digression, that the epocb ot 
a ia all.important in history— that I have endcavoi*! lo recoil. ' 
wilh the Sepluaginl as nearly as possible wilhin reason and. ' 
probability — and that I lean rather in favor of an exlenaion' of th*. 
* itcrral between Menea and our Baviout; for which 1 could casilf 
ring forward a mass of ai^iumenls and explanations, founded ml 
facts; among which are Ihe vafl number of "unplaced kings" w» ^ 
powes.1. who must have lived bclween Menes and the 16th Dyn. I ^ 
ipeal, however, to ihe best of my pteseni belief, the epoch of MenM ' 
_iken at B. C. 3750, will reconcile monDmealol evidsncaa with Ifaft J 
Scriptural chronology of Ihe Sepluagint venion- 

It is, however, neoeaaaiyfor me lo explain, why I have presume^ 
di^r in chtDQology with s* lsani«l a kierolagia« as Su J. Q. 



JLTICIENT EGTTffA 



'Wilkinson ; 1>ci:ausp, u Tii* warlis ora moat finiillir to my rcailci?, 
••me miirht be Eiruck wiih the diacitponcy. 

■ In his ■■ Trjpography of Thobea" (Lnrnion, 1935, page 506,) nftct 
. fnTernng the liEt of EriloathcDea to tliil of Muielho, fur bis entlier 
■erica uf kines, Sir J. G. W. raya : 

' " I am Bwnre, iho era of Menae might be cnrriod bick to > much 
aiore reiaola period thnn Ibe due I have eseigned it ; bat u we haii 
it yet Qo authority furllior tiian the anccrlsin nccouati of Manetho 
copyist, to eneblo ua to fix the time and the number of reignainto. 
Wning between his neccieion and that of Apnpput, I hsve not plnf e 
%im eariier, fur fenr of interfering with the jute of tlie deluge c 
Jfoah, which U 2348 B. C." 

The lis* of Erntosthenes b«'rg now of Ices suthority than Mam 
Ao, and it being impoerible .a cramp and rrowd E^gypttan annnl 
Intu Arclibiehop Uslier's limit of 2348 years, I wouid remark, (hi 
, ■( Ihe time of ihe constniciion of Sir J. G. W.'a table, 1 waa i 
Gairo in {pradl/ing relations with him, end therefore know that thi 
Kbie ilolea about 1639-33. 'rbe worka from which I derive th 
buia of my di^courae, have moally been publiihed in France and i 
Italy sines ISSS : and Sir J. G. W.V tnble it now behind lie age, and 
fee progTase since made in Egyptian devolopmentsi while Col. Vyee'a 
leseorclies ot the pymmida have mide tho ilti Dyn. of Manelhi 
like ■ meloor in tlio night of time. 

The ebmnology of Wilkineon in incotwnstent with itsolf. Hi 
ffie Deluge occording K> Usher, at . ■ . B. C, 

•ad he is compelled to place Menaa at least . . - " 2201 
M the loweel linill — leaving butween tho nood and Me. 
■M an interval of years ...... 

M which time it is eilremely doubtTuI, If the Caucasian children of 
JTosh, had aroand them a anfficicney of population to impel tJiem to 
4tiit Asia, and 10 coloniio Egypt. But, on referring to page 41, Isl 
Vol. of his invalusbto later work, nn llie " Mintien and Customs of 
Ate ancient Egyptian*," London, I83T, (uncontradicted in hissecand 
•eriea of 1841) it will be seen that the learned nulhur, on the author- 
Iff of JosepbuB, (who »ny» " Menea lived upward of 1300 ycara be. 
M»« Solomon," wlileh last kin? ascended the llirone of Israel, B. C. 
1015;) exlendalhe date of Menes fmm a30t«. C. of liis fanner 
Bbia to S39D B. C. without any inlinintion that he. Sir J. G. W., rc 
eogniies a corrcBpomtent ptecesgion of the en of the Flood, which ha 
Htll leaves al B. C. SMS. 

If, OB before staled, 14T ysara are loutly iniulficlent, as an interval 
between Noah and Menea, how muirh more ao must be laatly-eisht 
yearii T Theao 38 yeats are nltogrlher abeurd, for Egyptian local 
tvsnta slono between the Flood and Mener; still more so, when we 
frflecl on the geogTapbical distance from Mount Ararat lo Lower 
Egypt, and on ihe neceaeury prior mullipliCBlian of the hiinun race 
on ihe plains of Shiner. 

That one lo erudite and critical as Sir J. G. WilkilUMl, should 
kive committed any inadvertency in such arrangement, is an impos. 
■ibility. On the contrary, it displays a design ; which may perhaps 
lis eiplaiued, by suppoeing, llint amid the couflictians of 300 syetcms 
tf chronology, on the epoch of llie Deluge, the learned author may 
have deemed one view about aa well founded aa any other; while, 
fcy plaeing ao obvious en anachronisra on tho " head and froui" of 
Ilia tables, he desimd to show the absurdity of attempting to tecon. 
. tfe Egyptian moaumenlal annals with Archbishop Usher's Deluge ; 
and I foal extremely obliged fiir the areumenl I am thus enabled to 
4(aw, in favor of my more eiteaded hypothesis. 

Finally, whether we confine Egj-plian history to the conlniclod 
bnitsofUaher'a chronology, and the Hebrew verity; or take "In ei- 
knso" the widest range Icgiiimalcly admissible on the authority of 
the SepiunginC version, it will be found, that the limejjonored chron. 
loloe of Egypt coity lu back to ihe remoteil era of early [loriods i 
and Dvan then display to us the wonderful and almost ineoneeivable 
««idonees, of a gaveniment organized under the rule of one monarch ; 
a a iHighty and ntimeroiu people akilled in the arts of war and 
peace; in mutlirnnaua abstract and ptactieal scteuees; with well 
framed laws, and the social hobita of highly civiliied life, wbbrcin 
iKe fsmolo ses waa free, educated and honored ; of a prietihood 
foaaesalng a religion, in which the Unity of the Godhead end hia 
attributes in trinities or triads, with a belief in Iho immorlntity of 
Ihe soul, a certainty of ultimate judgment, and ■ hope of a resurrec- 
tfon, are discoverable ; concealed though they be by the mysticisms 
of ■ wise bat despotic hierarchy, and loaded by the vulgar ttaates and 
the uninitiaied, with the impurities of the grosseM aupentition. 

It will then bo seen, that, apart from those change* of style and 
hshioH, whieh tho comwrrative ^irinciplea of Iho prieathood couid 
Bot altogether prevent in the lapse of so many agea, the Caocoaian 
Inhabitants of the Nilotic valley ware in podseesion of hiemglyphicat 
writing, al Ihe farthest point of time we can descry. And we shall 
find ibe Egyptian children of Ham, the Asiatic, as great and as 
hamed, if not much more virtuous in those primeval daya, as they 
were at Ihe itivsalon of the Penians, in the year 535 B. C, ' 
their monarchy had eiiated from 1500 to 9000 years. 

Of what nation, obliterated from the face of the earth at tho pres. 
ant hour, or providentially anrviving to defend its pretensioDa lo jwio 
aiiatence, can the contemporary annals boast a eimilar antiquity 
Te whom, but to Ihe Egyptiaru, are we indebtsd tor the origin of 
nianr af our moat Impottaet arM, and scieneaii and ioatitotiaDB I 



And why should pieiudlcea and preconceived noliuM. Eaihcred 
our infancy wa eon scarcely IcU how, ond mainUuned by narwi._ 
middedness and ignorance, still prevent our recognJI'i'g in the puwa I 
blooded Caucafian inhabitonta of early Egyp". ""^ purees of n - - " 
of those benefits, that we, who recogniie in Noob t 
ancestor, at present enjoy t 

There remains still one final point, upon which it is necessary hti I 
me to dwell, before commencing the monarchical history o! Egypcii 1 
and this refers to iha long.prevailing, but erroneoua opinii 
the kings or dynasttcs of Egypt were canfonporaneeus ; that 
one kiue may have ruled over tho Upper, while another may ha*«a 1 
reigned over the Lower country ni the same moment ; ihan whiohjr I 
(however it may be deemed expedient thereby to reconcile the al 
quity of Egypt with the §hott chronology) llicrc is no more imtcna 
doctrine, or one more unanimoualy rejected by the Champolllona, bfv I 
Rosellini, by Wllkinaon, ami by si! who, as hierogly^hists, hat*( I 
euamincd the monuments and ^e country itself. I'he etsumenlft I 
that would remove all doubts, would probably be too long lo codmi 
mond attention ; but I erave indulgence while I define and estnbliah * 
my DWG po«|iion, leal 1 should ho foand hereafter behind ibe age. b 

It is herein, thercfote, maintaiaed, Ibal, with very few and coiiu 
jectursl exceptions, (on which the argumcnla for, or against, am iui% 
' ■ nco either equally balanced, or destructive of the contciow 
porory aj^lication,) the result of hieroglyphical researchea daring tb«* J 
whole period of histoiy from Menns downward, overtbrowa euidtf T 
an hypothesis as confeniporBneDiianera. The only contemporoija 1 
dynaaiy, by the best aulhoritica recognized, is the liila of the Hyk^ 1 
tAo», or Scythian Shcpherd-kinga in Lower Egypt, during a period, I 
probably of 3G0 yeats ; while the 17th Tbeban dynasty, of natJMv I 
Egyptian Pharaohs, reigned over Upper Egypt, till ibase ' - 

>ded in expellingthe alien race. 

To this eolilary instance of two contemporary dynasties, ruling ia^ 1 

different parts of Egypt at the eatne moment, may be added lliat 

period of apwrchy, which preceded Pssmetlichaa of the 2Gth Saitle 

Dyn. ; wherein Herodotus placea Ibe rule of the Dodecarchia, or ruiB| 

of 13 kings ; but this last cose is cxiroraely doubtful, and has derive^ 

:oulumaiion bom the hieroglyphica. Aa we proceed, we shall^ 

^h in their places on points that confiim the above view, wliila, 

can confidently assert, that there were no coolcniporary EgyplisJl, 

Pharaohs. * 

The only cormct view of the classiGcallon, by Manelhe, of dyna^ 

a named Thinite, Taoile, Mempliitc, Elcphaniinite, Keliopolilih - 
Diospolite, TLaite, Buboslile, Saitic, Mendeaian, and Sebennile, is Q 
' 'lem not terriloria), but family dittijictioos; not acpsratl 
governments, but the localities, cities, or provinces, whence IM 
reigning Pbaraoh, or hia BDoestois were derived by birth, or were i^ 
noiue associated through aome other unknown bond of conneclion. 

The monuments, and aacred and profane history, will be found Ig 
confirm and justify this slraighuforward view of an often " vejaUj^ I 

a oJTord to smita at the creolion of on independent state nnl^ 
contemporaneous munarcby. on a uuserable little rocky island, no^, ' 
ire than twice the sixe of the New York liallery, and not so lirga ^ 
the Common at Boston, and allow ELiraANTiME and its iodepcndr^ 1 
t and contemporary sovereignty to sleep with the fublod and fabu- ' 
loua Momnon — the vocal Swiue — the ae^o faaturoa of tlie Sphinis | 
— Cleopatra's Needle — Pompey's Pillar — the antiquity of the Zodiaci^ 
of Dendera and EsdA — the African or Ethiopian origin of the ancieo^ 
Egyptiona, and other odd fancies of on expiring age. 



CHAPTER SIXTH. 

tlie previoua portion of this discourse, I gave Ibe calculsiiona 
tmd arguments, whereby the accession to the tiirone of Menes, waa 
considered by mo, to have taken place within a century il the year 
3750.. B.C. ' 

To give an idea of the process adopted by the hieroglyphical 
school in reconstructing Egyptian history, no less than to estsb1iiA| 
the fact tliat the ancient Egyptians were Caucasian in race, and Asia. 
tic in origin,! will dwell rather longer on ihis monarch, his deeds and | 
times, than at first fight may appear neceaaary, or baa been generally' 
thought loquiflile by my predacesaors of the ChampolUon school. 

The fragments of Manelhogive, as the Islkiogof the Isldynontf 

Menes, the Tlilnite ; who carried the arms of Egypt into foreign 
countries, and rendered his name illustrious. He died of a wound 
received from a hippopolnmus, obout the 62i)d year of his leign." 
Besides the aiilborily of Manelho, we possess the testimony of other 
ancient autbon, Herodotus, Eratoslbones, Diodorus, Josephus, the olf 
Egyptian Chronicle of Castor, llie Canon of Syncetlui, all agreeing 
' - Menea waa die first of tho kings of Egypt ; which is corroba, 
by our finding hia royoi oval, in hieroglyphics, as tho earliest an- 
cestor of Bamaes 3rd — Sesoetris — in the procession sculptured on ' " 
walls of Aa Thebaa Palace, now known aa the " Ri 
formerly, and erroneously called, the Memnoninm. 

See tablet, in my leciure room. This Suecesaion « 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



M 



"MMiei 



u 



wei 



N we lind tlie sculpluiea m one 
EmMalheiiea rayi, bis name " I 
lujB," rendeied " Jovislis," of 

IE Jove ii llie Enyptinn God, ' 
tir, " Maiiei" ia ou nbravintioii of 
oilyingi " who wnllu with Amua. 



hore Uio fim nnceelor uf Sesostris, 
conErniing hJElory. 



ir buloiiging to J ate. 
Araun,"»nd in Oop- 



laltlU 



•a than 1300 yean before Salami 



na, tliat Meues ruU'd " 
wu bom in I03J. B. C. 

To the ■boTC.mentionad ^noalogicol procession may lie kdded ibe 
eelebrolod cbronoljgicsl cnnoaof the djrimsti™ of Egypt, 
pipyrua, la the hieratic chsnirier, ootnpoBcd in the 15ih cDnitiry, It. 
C. nnd now eiiaiing in the Muaoum af Turin. This uenerahle relic 
ia insitc)iideploruliiecUiIeordilBpidtiiion,(hn.lbnt little can bsmadi 
out, beyond i few simple facls, ih&t ezclle at ones cimodly and iin 
availini! regreu. Bui the fiml p:^ opens with these words : " Tin 

Ling, Menoi, exercised raya! attriha^ong yeiira — " 

By somo ancient wrilCTi, Menes is stated to liavebcoa a Thebnn; 
by others il U said that he noa born al the city of Thu, near Aby- 
doB, whence his dynasly I' termed Thinite. 

Wc are told he faundcd Tbebos, which ia likewise allri baled lour 
later hing, Biuiria ; but the concurrent (eatlmony of Herodotus and 
Joaepbua ascribes to the firet ting, Menea, ll« glory of founding 
Miimphis ; wliich achievcmenl ia by Diodorus likewise atlribaied to 
■noljier voiy early monarcli, (ibough aubaoqaent to Menes) Ueha, 
rcua. Thero seema ta be no reason why Henes abould not hare 
founded, or perhaps only eilended, (1) either or both of iheae eilios ; 
but it is psiliciUarly lo be lemarkod, 

Ibu Thai Haneiho (peaks of Athotbu, son of Mcnct, bnilding a 
pjlaee at Memphis, whence wo may Icgitimal^y infer, that the ri/j 
wan ahcady in eiislcnce, and therefore was probably founded by his 
father: 

find. That, na Joaephua had ecceaa to copies of Manatho's original 
bistory, trf" which we possesa only fragmenu, and seeing tTiat by hia 
numerous quotattana therefrom in his defence of the Jews againal 
Apion, JoBophuB show* that he, and the world in hia day, placed 
implicit conhdence in tlie then Indisputable sulhorily of llie learned 
Frieil of Sebenoitua ; wa may infer, that when Josephua aaaigns lo 
Menea the foundation of Memjihia, apward " of 1300 yeus before 
Solomon,'^ and " many years prior to Abraham,*' the Hebrew chron 
Icier was not at variance with Hanetha'a tneord of Egypia.anti- 
quarian lore ; while the view of relatiye chronology taken by Joae- 
^UB could not have been contrary to the Jewish historical an:hirea, 
Hch as they were in his time, previoualy la the corruptioa of the 
Hebrew Biblical text- 
Herodotus, likewiee, in ollributinK lo Menes the building of Mem. 
I^ia, adda, alao, ^<at Melica founded therein a"Temple toVulean." 
now the Vulcan, or Hephiealus of the Greek mythology, who was 
dograded by them Into a limping blacksmith, is only b Greek mis. 
conception and perrcrsion of that beautiful Egyptian mythical idea. 
whereby Volcan or " Pthfch" of the E|gyplian«, was but a fonn of or 
•roanation from tho Godhead, symboliung the" creative power" of 
Ihe Almighty. We know thai Memphis was the city of "Pthab," who, 
Irora time immemorial was here peculiarly wonhipped. Memphis 
■ EibUcoily " Noph." A ro'l'*- "nilage on iia site ia termed Mctnf, 
or Monoph, thus con6rmiiig history, ssCTed and profane. In hicro- 
llyphicsB 




[■•TUhabim 



One form of the god Pihnh waa Itrmed Pihah-Sokar-Oairis, and 
was peculiarly venerated nt Mcmphia, This deity waa often callod 
only Hokaris, or rather " Sokar," whence thu present uame of the 
village, which lies on the Necropolis of Mempbla, boa been inge- 
niously traced, being now called " ZnccUa." 

Fthah, or Tulean, we know was worshipped in a msgnidcenl tern. 
■le at Memphis, until Christianity destroyed the doctrine, and Ma- 
laiRmedaniam obliteniied the edifice, save a few Mattered blocks 
nal still mark its site amid the date groves of Melraheni. The 
frequent hieroglyphical references to this temple, exialing in the time 
of Herodotus, though not in its ancicatsplendor, (asitbad thon been 
^imdered by Cambyms,) ahetls a confirmatory glimmer of light on 
RW Bccurvcy of the Greek hialorian in this instance; because a 
hieroglyphical tablet in ilio quarriea of " Toara," oppoaito Memphis, 
«f the time of Amoaia-Thetmoses, vanquisher uf the Hykabos, and 
hatofdia UthDyaaaty, B.C. 1833. recorda that, be, "Aahmea took 
food mBterialafrom Iheie qnerriea to repair) restate T or build T the 
t*mple of Pthah, at Memphia*'— a proof thai ibo temple of Plhah 
(iLtcd ul Mcmphia, priur lo B. C. 1833, oi tho rei^n of Ainutiji. 



\Vhoiice, even if we h»d no other evideiioe li. liriiig l<.twarii, we 
may already draw satiafaclory inferences that Herjd.ilus wjia eKima 
m hia account of early Memphia — thai Memphis was a city when 
Alhothis, or Motibb his father, founded therein a temple to Ptiiali— 
and thai lhi» temple of Pthoh eiialed before the end of llie 17th 
Dyusity, B. C. 1833. 

Again, HerodotuBspesksoftho-'ruming off of the Nile into a 
new channel by Menes," who rniaed a dike lo prevent its overflow 
from flooding the vity^-a work corrohtjratcd by the topographical 
nature of the localities, and by the prpsent aspect of the Nile, near 
the spot where iho river waa dikedj;a; about fourteen inliea ■boVs 
mounds of Meimheni, the site of Memphis: and a precauliun 
retained by the Felliha of that district, to preserve llieir village* 
. i„..„j„i™. 11 .. .„ conttoi ,|,g irrigoiiag utilitiei of the 



from inundation, as well at 
" Sacred Rjvor." 

This diking.off of the Ni'c ia a process, which (as there is every 

reason to euppoae it was perfonned by Menea) ia a strong argument 

to show, that, in liis day, tho children of Ham had already arrived, 

nut only at abundant population, which rendered necessary the found. 

ntiun of a metropolia, and the economical preeervatioo of the altu. 

vial soil obovB Memphis (the fineal tract of land in all Egypt,) bul, 

that they had aUo arrived at considerable knowledge in hydraulics, 

full as other branchea of BCience. Moreover, as dieee were work* 

likely to be attempted witliout neceaaity, or witliout long previuua 

experience of the habita of the river, it mual be allowed diey imply 

long prior reaideoee in Lower Egypt. 

History thus enables us to carry back tho foundstion of Mempht* 
I tlie accession of the firBl king Menee ; and it is in her Necropolis 
- borial-ground, we find Ihoee moinuneols, which, in me, as in an- 
tiquity, exceed all atlKO in the world, viz., the pyramida of Gheft. 
seb, Abociaeer, Zacc&ra, and Daaho(>r, with some tomba, coeval with, 
"not antecedent lo, the erection of the oariieet! 
We are tharefore enabled to establish, 

1st. Iliatorically, and monumentally, that MenesorMenei, was the 
first king of EgypL 
3nd. Historicallund monnnienlally, that, being foutided by Menee, 
iemphis ia the olMt city. 

3rd. Geographically, that Memphia ia in Lower Egypt ; and iIiob, 
that the children of Ham, coming from Asia end spreading over the 
Nilotic valley, considered Lower Egypt the most eligible point (bb 
i^ly ia) for a melropoli^-for great worka — and mido it 
the chief seat of primitive monarcliial govemmenl. 

Upen tlie authority of Josephua, wliose chronology ia in accord. 
ce with the Saptuaginl, and not with the corrupted Hebrew ver. 
m (independently of the absolute ncceaaily for placing the acces- 
m of Menes oa far back as possible, to make room for tliB kings who 
igned after bim,) we establish the foundation of Memphis by Me 
a, and its existence aaa Templed city ; pmlectod by great artificial 
Iter. defences, at somo period anterior to 1300 years before Sohi. 
uo, or prior to S330 yean, B.C. ; and we can therefore with pro. 
priely contend, tlial tho view herein token of chronology, based on 
tho Scpluagint yeraion of the Biblc.la neither extrovagaiii, nor merely 
hypothccicd ; because the interval of 33 yean between the founda- 
tion of Memphia by Menea, end llie Deluge, according ta ArchbiEhop 
" ' - •ichronology, B. C. 2348, is wholly inauIKcicat for tlie num. 
preparatory evenla that must have employed the human race, 
■n tlie multiphoBiion and progress of Noah's family down tho 
EupliratUB, till they aeporoted alShinar, and the foundalion of Heu:- 
phis, in Egypt, by a Caucasian colony. By allowing, un the chru. 
nology of (he Sepluagini, an interval of about 400 lo 500 years before 
Menes on the throne of E^Tpt- aomewhore about the year 
2T50, B. C. — we are not Bubjectet^ to such absurd anachronisms and 
pbyucal impoBslhlUtieB. 

Menea, chief of the mllilary caste, happily aecompliahed the revo. 
lulion which ■ubatituted a rlvil government for the theocracy. He 
OB the first invested with the title of Phoieoh (in Hebrew, Phrah) 
r king; and, from this new order of things was created a royal he- 
iditary government. It would appear, that Menea was occupied 
illi foreign ware, though upon what natioo we have no information. 
. may be presumed, that these military movements were cliieily di- 
rected to the protection of ihc frontiers of Egypt from the incursioiis 
of adjacent nomadic and barbaroua tribes, by which Egypt was, and 
rouifded in every direction. To the aoulh, tlicro were the 
Berber and Negro races; to the west, the Lybians, along the whole 
length of thariverfroinNubin tolheaea; tolheessi, lay Ihe Eaglom 
" aeri, probably occupied, as at present, by mixed races of Araba 
d Berbers; while Uie Islhnius of Saei required particular a len- 
n, OS this line of frontier was eiposed to cun«liint incureiona of 
ia tic tribes, eogor to obtain their aharo of the "ttusb polaof FTg)-pL" 
Of iheao defencca we have abundant vestiges to this day, altbough 
a cannot say by what king, oral what time, they were erected. 
I have already spoken of Egypt, aa a valley, between two high 
chains of hilla — tbe Lybian and the Eaaum ranges. Tho fact* of 
tfiese, especially along tho eaBlcra bank, are often quite pctpendicn. 
Isr ) so that they act as walls to keep the nomad from Ihe cultivated 
ground ; hut, at various distances, these are ioleraected by deep ra- 
vines, along which journeys aro performed, and intercourae ismaJn- 
milled between the Nile end the Red Sea. Now, there ia not ana 
of these tuvinea, but at its mouth, neaieai tha river, ^ra ara m. 



M ANCIENT EGYPT. 



mftiiit of wbIIb, that once blocked up the paieage ; and, from the ru. 
ina in the vicinity of aoine, we may conjecture theae were forta, 

Stea and military atationa. Wherever, aa you aacend the river, you 
d the inclination of the hills, on the caatem aide, auch aa would 
admit of communication between the cultivated aoil and the deaert, 
you will find traces thereon, more or lesa apparent, of a long brick 
wail, stretching from north to aouth, and terminating only where na. 
toral impedimenta render thia wall unnecesaary — taken up again a 
few milea beyond ; and ao on, all the way to Nubia. Thia wall ia 
;enned by the Arabs, Giar-el-Ag60a, or the ** Old Mon'a Dike," in 
memory of ita antiquity. 

The aubject of the relatione of the dcsert-tribes with Egypt, from 
the earliest times to the present day, is one that haa much interested 
me, and might be extended to long and curious exposition, that would 
remove many erroneous impressions concerning the ** B^daweea" in 
the deserts aoyacent to the Nile. 

It cannot be aupposed that, by the conatniction of thia wall, the 
Elgyptiana intended to cut off all intercourse with the deaert ; on the 
contrary, thia intercourse wos to both parties essenliul ; fur the nomad 
would starve if he could not obtain grain from the farmer ; while the 



A long, but undefinable interval, from Menea to Uie end of the 3rd 
Memphite dynaaty, brings us to the 4tli, and (M> ua) tl>e moat im* 
portent of all ; becauae recent discoveries have enabled ua to verifjr 
history by extraordinary monumental confirmotioi.s. 

We are all well acquainted with the wonder of the world — th« 
eternal pyramida, whose existence aatounda ourc edence — ^whoee anti- 
quity haa been a dream — whose epoch is a nystery. Wiiat monu. 
menta on earth have given rise to more fabtea, speculationa, trrocib 
illuaiona and miaconceptiona 7 

The subject of the pyramida ia ao vast, aa not to be condensibl* 
into thia series of lecmres ; but those who feel curious to know the poa. 
itive height, length, breadth, areaa, cubic contenta, &.C., dec. of each 
of theae lofty monuments, are referred to the great work of Col. H. 
Vyse, who expended during the yeara 1837-38, many thousanda of 
pounda, in excavationa and other labors in tliese edifices. It is rojr 
intention to construct a table, which, at one view, ehoU give all ra. 
quisite details ; and then it will afford me pleaaure to devote especial 
lecture to the pyramida ; but I am prevented, at present, from so 
doing, by the absenee of the meet important vol. of Col. Vyae^ 
work — the 3rd, which haa not yet reached this country ; and although 



latter, with the manufacturer, requires the camePs hair, the long reeds I am generally acquainted with the aubstance of ita contents, haT. 

for matting, and a number of productions, whose ottainment requires ing seen many of the calculationa in manuscript, and witnessed 

the skill of the son of the desert, aa much aa grain that of the far- the labors of Mr. Perring, on tlie spot, in 1839, it would be contrarir 

mer, or aa uaeful manufacturea that of the craftsman. to the principles I have laid down, (of not haxarding statit^tical aaaer. 

The object of the walla was to bring the nomad under the control tiona, without being able to produce competent authority,) were I 

of a well-regulated police ; to prevent him from pasturing his flocks, q^^w to enter into details. 

without paying for the permiasion of the proprietor of the aoil ; or It will be coflceded, that a peraon who, like myself, haa reaided for 

from atealing the grain and forage he was thus compelled to purchase ; yeara in constant eight of theae Mauaolea ; who haa apent at difTerenK 

with an infinitude of other wise and excellent regulationa, conducive intervals, many montha in exploring them, and their vicinitiea-— who 

to aocial good order, and agricultural economy ; but by no means do. haa aacended the great pyramid a score of tim&>, and entered fre. 

atructive of friendly intercourse between the Ishmaelite and the quently into all the chambera, paaaagea, dec, of the otliers ; haa af 

peaaatit. Indeed, the Almighty'a hand is nowhere more apparent leaat had an opportunity of gleaning aome knowledge about them, 

in adapting man to the nature of the aoil on which he is to reaide, Since therefore, with all theae advantagea, I poatpone lecturing on the 

than in peopling the deeerta around Egypt with a hardy race, as use. pyramida, till I poaaeaa the moat important work ever publiahed oii 

ful in their vocation aa the citizen, the farmer and the aailor. Euro, the aubject ; my readera will appreciate the difficulty of the appra 

peon civilization will work no material chongea in the habits of the hended taak, when evAi I, who know air that haa been done, fear to 

** BMawee." , A mislead othen by premature expoeitions. On every subject touched 

Bat, though employed in wars, Menea distinguished his era by the in theae chapten or lecturea, the lateat and beat information will bo 

arts of peace. He founded Memphis : it is aaid he built Thebes, produced ; and I would rather encounter the chaige of ignorance ou 

He commenced, on a large acale, the diking and " canalization,'* ao the pyramids, than that of abusing the confidence with which mjr 

•asential to the prosperity of £2gypt. He founded the great temple communicationa are ao indulgently listened to.* 

of Pthah ; and introduced into social life those comforts and luxuriea But, if I abstain from atatiatical detaila on thia head, there are aomo 

of civilization, which, notwithstanding the curse of Tnephachthus, generalities, proceeding from recent discoveries of hieroglyphical 

conduce to the terrestrial happineaa of man ; while by hia protection namea dec, in the pyramida, that are invaluable to history ; and these 

o( religion and the priesthood, he insured the education of the peo- I will now conaider. 

plis, and the preservation of a religioua system, that Christianity alone It is sufficient to sweep one*s eye along the map, suspended above 

after a lapee of neariy 3000 years could overthrow. We cannot me (a rough outline of which I preaent in tliia treatise) from Mem. 

wonder, therefore, that the memory of so great a man sliould have phis to Meroe— a distance of 1500 miles — to perceive that there waa 

been dear to hia aucceaeora, or that the munumenta ahould atteat the a time (and that prolonged for unnumbered agea, during a remote 

veneration of a name handed down to ua by all eariy writen. period,) when pyramidal conatructiona were in vogue in the valley 

These chapters being confined to the exemplification of Egyptian of the Nile ; and that in Egypt, the Memphite pynmida were the 

Alatory by the hieroglyphica, I refer to Manetho for the namea of the aepulchrea of kings, doea not any longer admit of a doubt, 

kings of the Ist, 2nd and 3id dynaatiea, who followed Menea on the At Memphia, on a line extending about 35 milea from the most 

Pharaonic throne ; because, aa yet, it has been impossible to identify northern to the most southern pyramid, we have acattered in clua- 

the namea of any one of theae in the hicrogl3rphica ; owing rather to tera, near the villages Aboo-rool[ah, Ghe^zeb, AboOseer, Zaccira, and 

mieouth changfea, made through ignorance of transcriben, of the Daaho6r, about 35 pjrramida, or pyramidal tomba of varioua con. 

namea left by Manetho, than to the absence of royal ovals, aa I shall atroction, elevation and dimenaiona ; of which, aome 18 may be 

aoon explain. termed large, and the reat small. They are all surrounded with counu 

We glean from Manetho, that during theae three dynaatiea, pala. leas tombs, pits* excavationa, paaaagea, aubterranean worka and 

cea were built, pyramida were erected ; that Egypt was visited twice superficial atructorea — all excluaively dedicated to the dead— and, if 

by the plague, whence the antiquity of thia diaeaae in Egypt may be millions of mammies have, in the la#t 1500 yeara, been removed and 

inferred. In fact, it is an illusion to auppoae that the aome natural deatroyed, there are millions still unmolested in that burial ground, 

cauaea ahould not operate, in early times, to produce the same effects to attest the vast population of ancient Memphis. Along this line 

aa at preaent : and it haa been demonstrated by Clot Bey, that the ia the Necropolis of a city, that ceased to exist after flourishing for 

fdague is indigenous, not only to Egypt, but to the Eaat in general, SOOO yeara. 

along the northern coast of Asia and Africa ; that ita causea are un. The pyramida of Ghe^zeh are of all aizes, from the largest to the 

known, but that its developments are apontaneous ; that it ia an error amalleat. The laigeat, that of Shoopho, ia 

to auppoae that mummification (begun in primeval epochs and con. ^^^^^fil^^ *»./V7**^ ^SSH^o^n'^' '^S^uVSH' 

tinned above 3000 yeara down to the daya of St. Auguatine,) waa ^ f^^ '*? ^. ,. 89,088,000 6,848,000 

adopted aa a preventive (!) becauae. during the perioda of mummlfi. <^/<x>d hmeatone ; cut into blocks, varying from 3 to 5 ft. square 

cation, we have abundance of aacred and profane hiatory to prove the —^""^ ^*»»c> eaomate of hmeatone, however, must be deducted a 

occasional desolating effects of the Oriental pestilence ; and finally, aa ^« "»■" *^ «»""• ^^}^ T^, »» ?"^ ^^ mtenor— while the 

theae two occurrencca of the plague are antecedent u^ Abraham, the ;™2SB* of «pace occupied inaide by chambera and paaaagea, la only 

peatilence with which the Ahnighty visited the Egyptiana in the Ume ^'2?" °" » ^^H **/ l^^ff ^f the whole mass. 

of Moaea, waa not the firat matance of the plague in Egypt, aa we are The "malleat (^ Uie 9 at Ghedzeh, ia aome 70 feet high, by a equate 

well assured it waa not by many hundreds the iast. We alao learn, *>"??, <^' ^^^} *^ *«^*- . ^ ^ , , i. r a v x 

that women were, in the aecond dynasty, permitted to hold the impe. „ The remauung pyramida at the southward, thwe of Abooae^r. 

rial government; an insUtution that continued intact tUl the extinction ?5?«^, *?** Daahoftr, may be roughly Mtimatcd— the amalleat about 

of the Ptolemiea in the far-famed Cleopatra ; aa ia attested aU through ^^."^ ^ laigeat, about 350 feet high—two are of crude bnck. 

thia long line of centuries by hieroglyphical evidence. , There are VrnimdB at other pUcea in EgypU Two small onea at 

The Lybians. at that day. were tributary to Egypt ; and we are in- Liaht, about «) milea beyond DaAo6r ; and, about 30 milea further 

formed, that an eclipse of the moon was observed. Works on anat. <>°» f^at of Meymoon— called Oie false pyramid"--two of en-de 

omy and medicine were written by two kings of these dynasties, brick, and the vestiges of ^o more of stone, on the site of Lake 

It may be inferred, that the use of the saw in cutting large stones, ^^^ »n the Fayo6m— and one at EUQenta, above Esn6. The 

waa diacovered in thia period — ^while all the arts and acienceaof the latter are all amall. 

ancients appear to have been in full development and use— but oth. • EvenrinM thli leeuira wsBdtMvMvd at Bcmumi, iMtan Ihm Efrm inform me Uiot 



erwise. these kings gained no celebrity i whence we may infer, that the PruwinB adentifie miMion. mdm the anthuiiaaiie LtiiMiiii, had. ia JVtcamber, made 

Egypt was peaceful, happy, and proaperous, during the dominion of ■•w«i valuaWa diioovaiMi amooff Umm ttopaodoui raia* ; aU eoafinnatory oi tte 

vnambitioua kinffs. vtewihcftinMtfintk. At aoon as tlwdatailBamfa.mromllKUirtiwill comainal 

* * Mlativa iuJbinatioa. 



A I* 3 I E N T EGYPT. 



In Ethiopia ihera nr* 



17 



II Gcbel-Birkii', 



139 Pyramldi above the Nile a\ lat. 13. 

Thp arch, bulh lound and poiniod, ia coeval wilh llic era of [hcae 
lul pyramids. 

For all ihal ia liitheria luiawn of the pyramid* of Meroe, I refer 
M ihoi valuable work, " Travels in Ethiopia, by Hoekiiu — Londun, 
]S35.'> The facti of tlie author are indiaputabio ; bul some of bio 
deducliona from thoae (acta are often erroneoua, eapecially ihoae 
whereby he would prove the priority of Meioe. Without a fpecial 
ai]{umDnt on the aubject, il would be impoeiiUe to eatabliafa the fal- 
lacy of these deductiooa — bul aa the worli of a genllemaa, a hierolo- 
glM and ■ (cliular, Mr. Hoekini'a book la full of merit. 1 aholl touch 
on aome of the deductiona I draw from the «uiie data, anon. 

Il would be veialsdelailall the nonaenae,thBI,rrota time iuimemDrial, 
hia been written on the pynunida of Momphia, which, by eomo, have 
baen coniidered aoledilurian ; aUhough two of the moat utdecit tieing 
built of aunbumt brick, could not have endured the waves of the 
Deluge for a aingle month. Others have aacribed their oreclion tu 
gmuts or genii : they were aaid to intloso tlio impenetrable aecrela 
of myaiic da monomania, or to have been built for the myateriea of 
Initiaiion. Again, ihey were auppoaed to have been oTecled for aa. 
tronomical puriianee. Then, it has been maihemaitcally demonatraled, 
that they were built ia " equare tlie circle :" they are aaid to have 
atiwd over reaorvoira to purify the muddy waten of the inundaiion ) 
to have aerved aa l)ie sepulchrea of entire royal familica, or fur 
maaaea of population- In ahari, each apeculalion has exceeded it* 
predecessor in abeurdiiy, excepting when confined to the objecu of 
Wlronomy and aepulture. With reaped (o their having served astro. 
Domical purpoees, (though no harm can proceed from such an liypo- 
iheais,) it ia refuted, let. By their extraordinary variety and number ; 
■ltd ^ad, in Ethiopia, by their fronts facing all poinls of the compaat, 
from N.E. 10 S.E. 3rd. Id Egypt, from ihe measurements made in 
1839, by Mr. Perhng. which demonstrate that the iiiclinationa of the 
paaaagea, as well as the relative podtion of each pyramid, vary ao aa 
lo destroy all conformity to ma^cmatical or astronomical purposes. 
These proofs against their aatronomical utility, are independent of the 
Tiduminous eridencea to be gleaned from hiatory, and from a glance 
■I the monumenu thenuelics — their hicalities, and aaaociationa, 
which declare their eepulchral design. If, as Sir John Iferacheli 
obaervet, the inclined passage into Ihe largest pyramid of Ghedzeh, 
(which could never, at the time of its building, have been piiinled at 
wa Polar atar, that is, el a Urae Minoria) was made at on angle lo 
eotTeipond to a Draconis ) this pyraiuid most have bean built about 
tin year B. C. 3133, which alone would sullica lo upaol Usher's 
apoch of the Deluge, 3348, B. C— because, 235 years would be too 
brief a period for llie Caucasian children of Ham, to migrate from 
AaiB into Egypt, there lo acquire orto, sciences, and writing; lo 
Meet first several pyramids, and then build the one which is now the 
largeat. Their knowledge of eslrunomy miial have been great in- 
deed, and Ihe study of the heavens a primarii object in life, to have 
wused them to conceive, and then to execute works (one of whirh 
wmsumed G,S4B,000 lona of cut stone, brought IS miles from ihe 
ouarry,) the object of which would have been to point a paasage S3 
taet long, to such an inaignificaiit little star as a draamit. And, 
why did they build some 35 pyramids 1 or erect at least two after 
(be conatruction of the largest 1 

The greaieat aslronomer of the age. Sir John Herachell, after in- 
■peeting the tables, (accurately deleriniaEd fur the flial time by Col. 
Vyse, and his coGpen^oia in 1838J dcclares—Vyse, Snd— 108: "No 
odier oatrananteol rolalion can he drawn from the tablea containing 
the angle* and dimensions of the poaaages -, for although they all 
paint within 5 degrees of Ihe pole of the hoavena, they differ too 
much and too irregularly to admit of any conclusions." 

"The exterior angles of the bnil ding* are remarkably uniform; 
but the anfi^e 59° is not connected with any sslronomical faci, and 
was probably adopted for architectural reasons." 

The opinion of their astronomical utility may be set down as now 
uploded in Europe ; while, in Egypt, the idea cansns a smile of 
•orprise, that any one should have taken Ihe trouble aeriotuly to in. 
quire inio the aubjecL 1 am very far from c]ne>lianing [he antiquity 
vfaalronamy, or doubling iho knowledge of that science In Egypt : 
(or Diodorui, i., 98. expressly ssya : " Il is indeed suppoaed, thai the 
Chaldean* of Babylon, beimt aa Enplian eolmf, arrived at their 
CBlebrity in astrology, In consequence of what they derived from the 
priests of G^pl." The Babylonish method of dividing the year 
Was the same a* tho Egyptian, and can be traced poeilively back lo 
B. C. 730— but. although we know from Chron., ii, 31, 32, and King*, 
H.. 90, 12, Ihat, sbont the year 700 B. C, Babylonian aetronomera 
vlsilod Jerusalem; yet, it is allowed by the beat mathematicians, 
thai the epoch of the Chaldean table* aacenda to the year 3231, 
wnich laoMly lU years alter Usher a Deluge! 

If Ihe Chaldcana derived astronomy from Egypt, ihe fact would 
jrove lliat this science was known ai the time of Menes, i:' 
bafo.c . n^i s'-.dira el! 1 have aaid of the antiquity of the i 



period. Atilronomy was, williuut question, an auvaiiced ai 
tlio pFopte, who could erect pyramids on the acala of llione at Mnal < 
phis ; but il doea seem ridiculous and supcrcrogatiiry-, after 
wc tnoie the Egyptian! made of these edifices, to Fpecalstci 
relatione those kingly tomba may have had to the sura. Thoy ni 
tombs, and nothing else. King* were buried in them, end perhqtf'^ 
fUfenM. In some (the pyramid of five steps, at Zaccara, for inalane*^ 
iilhcr persons liave also been buried beaidea the monarch ; prubab 
members of tho royal family, or of iho royal household. 

If much labor has been wa*led in gueasjng at the olijccia of thtf ' 
pyramids, still more haa bepn thrown away in crude fancies as Itf 
their epoch, or their boildera. Poor Uerodalui, snd his copyist DiM 
doms, iheiDselvGa misandetclanding tiie accounts received from lllib ' , 
priuMs, have been lira cause uf the grcslett misconception o 



lo define the epoch. While, although the learned Calmet and other..' 
IlebraisD and iravellers, have iraced their origin la Moaes and A 
and have wvpl over the supposed aggravation of the labon o 
Jews, employed «s forced laboreia in erecting some of these pyn 
Tiiide ; il is culiafaclury tu be able to deduce from tho unening hteiL 
glyphics, that every Mempliite pyramid wo* erected at least fiM| 
conlurioa befart Abraham, and ihsl the Uehrews had nothing to d) 
with them, except lo look at them from ihc opposite shore of tl 
Mile. The erection of the pyramida at Memphia alone, would la' 
a longer time than iho entire sojourn of the Jewa in Egypt ; and ei 
■uppoaing it were proved that Ihe Hebrews had assisted in the erecHg 
of some of those si Memphia, how did the Egyptians dispense 
their services, or whom did they employ, in erecting those il 
Foyotim 1 or in Upper Egypt 7 or those one hundred and thirty-nl 
pyramids 1500 miles up the Nile, on the plaina of Meroe, in Elhiopiaf*] 

The Jewish theory iu connection with the pyramids ia also al,* 
plodcd, and we now proceed to show ibal, aa Ihe whole of those oF ' 
Memphis were buill between Menea end Ihe accessioD of Ihe lOdr, ■ 
dyn., in B. C. 3973, these monumeota aniedate the en of Moses hfF ] 
al leaat 800 lo IQOO yean. *. l^ 

Our leiubook, MaDetho, infunns us that Venephes, ihe third klay 
from Menea (whom we may coi^ecture occupied iho ihrono wjlhte 
a hundred yeaia from lhal monarch,) ereeled tho pyrsimda near &>■ 
chome, or Choe, or Cochoma. Thia shows, historically, ifac anliquilf, 
of pyramidal cons true lions. " ' ■ 

I would casually remark, thai the Great Sphinx, whoae mutilata^J 
features luive given rise to ao many diacuasions, although silualBd 'r 
amid the pyramida of Ghceieh, has nothing lo do with the epoch c( I 
the pyramida ; for, as 1 shall show hereafter, that grest work b«loDg| ' f 
period — to die IBib Thcban dynasty, not earlicrthuL*] 



todS*1 



B. C. 1800, or several centuries after the ceaanlion of pyran 

We pasa over the 2nd and 3rd dynaades, and brgin wiih the 4tb 

Mempliile dynasty of 8, or according lo another reading, of 17 king!, 

MANETHO'S FOURTH DYNASTY 

of eight (or sevontecn) Memphile king* of a different raeOi 

1 — iSliria reigned 29 years. 

3 — Suphit reigned 63 years. He built the largest pyramid. « 

Harodolua oays was constmeied by Cheopa. He wM 
arrogant* loward the goda, and wroio the sacred bool^ 
which is regarded by ihe H^iypi'"'" aa a work of great 
Importance. ■ 

3—SupMt reigned 60 years. 

4 — Mtncteret •• 63 " 

5 — Rhatoeae* ■■ 33 " 

fl— Bicheris " 33 " 

7 — Sebereherea" 7 " 

8— Thampthis " 9 " 

Altogether, SSJyeara. 

Tho firat king of this 4th dynasty ia termed by Maneiho, So« ». 

In one of the innumerable ancient tombs thai are in the NecropolM^ j 

of Memphia (fragments of which are now in the British Museal 

ihe following name occurs ; tho 6ial of a aucceasion of four kinj 

'hose names, it will be seen in the sequel, correspond lo the I 

This name reada, a* it stands, IlE.in-0. By meta. 



Re ihesis, we are allowed to iranspo^ the diak of the aun 
from tho top, where it was placed ont of respect lo tho 
deily, to tho bottom, and then il reads 8h-o.kb. Tho 
Greeks could not, by any combination of their alpha, 
bet, express the articulation «A; ao they were obliged 
to vrrile the name wilh an S, while the termination 3 
is a Givek addition to euphoniie those Eaatem name* 
ihey were pleased to term barbariaa : ao that Soma in 
Greek, was Skdri ia Egyption, designating on e and the aame peiana. 

' ' '— ~ " «^'flup>««iii«i»'ifCh«iia" 



Ths meoniiis of Sho.Re is, " Fharaoh domiostoc," 



la the liBi of Enloslhcneg, the ISlh ThebBD klnE u Bauotii, 
trariBlated by him artiicrator, or ■' chief of ihB mielily," which cor. 
rMpandd to iho meaning of Shore ; now, if we read the name Shore, 
ll coCTQSpDada in lound, in construe don, and in aignification, to Ma- 
oetha'a Soria; or, if wo ruad il Ettho, il comsponda in aound, in 
eonatruction, and in dgnificition, lo (lie Raaoaii of Eratoalhenei. 
In both hiatorianj, Shoco or Reaho precedea ihe namca of kinga who 
laim«diBiclr follow him in the hieroglyphieal aucceaaion found in 
Ao tomba about the pyramid! ; while, Ciom the name having been 
{bund in il. there ia every probability that he built the north pyramid 
«f AbaoaepT. That which, however, ia at thia maiDeot spoculalive, 
darivea infinite carroboralion trom whnl fullowa ; aa all the ciriuin. 
nancea that Justify the antiquity of tlio one, allend on the poaitioD 

The eecimd king, according to Manotha, of the 4lh Memphite 
dynasty, waa Surais, who built the Inrgcal pyramid, which by Hem. 
<b>Iua wna gaid to have been conatnicled by Cheops. These nra 
Manelho'a wordi. In the ■ucceaaion found, aa aai^ before, among 
Ike tomba at Memphts, the next king who fullowa ia — 
• ^ Sboofbo, whom the Greeks called Suphia the 1st. 

O^^Sh Eialoatbenea givaa aa 15th Theban king, Saophia Ist. 
^^ Ho ttanslaica Saophia hy camalut, meaning "many. 

y ^r in haired." Now, in Copdc, Sbdo means Nans', ^ix^ 
"™" ph roo, hair. It v.-aa conjeclurod, fourteen yean ago, 

^L that ihia cartaathe must icpreaent the name of the 

^^ oo builder of the great pyramid; having been found in 

-^ J ao many places, and most immeronaly in the ancient 

•^ ^ tomba about tjie Memphite pyramids ot Ghchzeh, Jcc. 

We had iba authority of Manetho, lliat hia king, Suphia Isl, was ^e 
same aa (he Cheops of Herodotus, who buill the great pyramid ; 
mti, phHiilogically, in meaning and in sound, wo identUied lliia cor. 
Nnclii with the Saophia of Eratuelbeiies ; but it is carious to aei? 
As beautiful chain of cannealion thai rccanciles all dilTurencca, and 
II will give ■ dialinci idea of ilie analectical proceai by which hicr. 
•iogista demonstrate their theorenia, to expound iL 

Theaign jjjijfc in hieroglyphics, mny be read in two ways — lat, 
V ia o<luiva^^^ lent to the Coptic letter «-■ ~~Shei — which ' 
twr SH i ^tw' 9nd. it ia equivahinl to llie }£} Coptic 
Jfei^which, is our KH., hard and '^ ' ~" 

glj^hical IcCter la therefore either Sh, 

The Grcoka had not in their alphabet of 34 letters, Ihe power of 
•xpreaeing the Sh of foreign languages, aad were thenfon obliged 
lo transmute the sound aa nearly, oa lo Ilia ear of the writer this aiti. 
•ulalion could be convoyed — that ia, some times by— a 
X—X't—w in Zifbr—Xeiiet, whose namo in the arrowhead, or 

cuneiform (ancient Persian) character, aa well as in liieroglypbics, 

was"KUSH£EKSH.-< Or by a 
E— Sigma— as in Manetho's £d^.<i Supliii. Or by a 
X — Chi — OS in Herodotus' Xions, pronounced in Greek Hhtiapai, 

but by us — Cheopa. 

We ore thus enabled etymologicolty to reduce, Suphia, Baophis, 
C^ops, to one and ilic sams name, apall dltfureolly, and diuB recon- 
•Hs MaDCtho, Emlosthenoa, and Herudoluii. 

< Wo now cut dIT the Greek termination of 8. or («, with which they 
•ndeaviired to soften down lo a Grecian car the rigidiliea of foreign 



CIENT EGYPT. __ 

• Uie ■* presiding the 3fd vol. of Vyae'a work, is not uncalled f*-,"""!,'!!.!.* *' f^senl 

.. that with the era of the great pyramid, (wnen 6 v^, ,|^^j ^ 

epoch Wda,)long before the year 2273. B.C.— wnfi before Ushers 



i Coptic Iciiur T 
al. Thehiuro. J^ 



"LilHOIl 



unliiii. mttaral. 



Wbltb •n'nokliiadu Um uri ipu and tin 

The reanlt of our reduction is to oliuin in Greek, in Copcie, and 
hi hieroglyphics, the namoof Sooph.Shooph. or Khooph, as Iheirame 
of the king who bnilt the great pyramid — corroboralod by Munady. 
■n Arab author — who soys that in hia day, tiadilioii in l^yp' still 
•aeribed the erection of that pyramid Id "Sbjoc^." 

Thui mnch was known up to 1837 — but the anti-Champoltionisia 
Itiokvd with disdain upon a science, which couli not produce from 
■ha pyramid itself, con Rrmstion of its unening value i and confidently 
;t«claring, that there were " no hieroglyphica in the pyramids," |bL 
Ihoiigh all antiquity asserts the contmry,) thoy vauniingly challenged 
Ihe hierologisls lo prove, that hieroglyphical writing was known at 
ihe date of the pyramids — these geuticmen, fonoolh, having already 
dtcrecd, that "hieroglyphic writing was a subsequent invention." 
■nd thot letters were derived from the Hebrews, orfrom the Greelu, 
«r, at lesst, frum the Phceniciana. 

But some thinga were wrillcn before Mosea wrote ; and aotne 
bcriWs lived before Agnmcmnon : 

ViuR Kirtn uu AiammiiGsi.— Hoatca. 

Id the year 1837, the munificent Col. Howard Vyae set dl donbta 
at reat, by finding Shoopho (and bis variation} in the qoamor's 
Mnrka, in the new chamber of the great pyramid, seared in rcdocbro 
In hierDglyphies on the rough sloniui; orid thus, by cunfinning history 
knd Ihe aculplures, he has iitunortaiixed hia own labota, and aUonced 
ibe cavillers. 

It will now be seen that my diftiJence, whan declining 



subject as the pyramid*, wilhiut pOBaeseiog j ^-Il^p 



of Ihe Deliigo 2348 B. C.-^Bges previous to Abrahoni— 
riBs prior to the Jews — and many generaiiona anterior iq ^^ jjvk, 
shoe ; every hieroglyphical legend, or genealogical table, aa well ■■ 
oil Egyptian toctd circomatances will be found to Coireapond, uid 
harmoniie — and yet, in Ihal tluy, Egypt wna not a oca* countiy, or 
its inhabitants a new people 

A papyrus now in Europe, at the date of Shoopha, establishes tha 
early use of written documents, and the antiquity of paper, made of 
the byhlus. 

The tombs around the pyramids afTord ussbundsnce of sculptural ft 
and pielorial illustnil''>n of manners and customa, and ailest iha 
height to which civilixndon had attained in hie day. While, in ona 
of them, a hieroglyphical legend" tells ua, that thia is " die sepulchc* 
of Elmei — great prieat of the habilsliona of King Shoopho." Thiail 
probably that of the architcrt, according to whose plans and direc- 
tions, llic mighty edifice — near the foot of which he once reposed^ 
the lorgest, beat constructed, moat ancient, and most durable tif 
MaoBolei in the world, waa boill; and which, from 4000 to SOW' J 
years after bia decease, still standi an imperishable record of hisskUblT 

Shoopho's name is also found in the Thobaid, as the dale of If J 
tomb at Chenoboscton. In the peninsula of Mount Sinai, his DatW 
and tabkia show, that the copper mines of thai Arabian district wer 
worked far him. Above his name the titles " pure King and sacra 
Priest" ato in strict accordance with Asiatic inslitulions, whereiL 
the chief generally combines in his own peraon (he attributes of 1 
lempond and spiritual dominion. His royal gulden signet has hettf 1 
difcovcred since I left Egrpi. »nd is now in the collection of mf 1 
friend Docl. Abbott, of Cairo. The sculptures of the Memphili|f T 
Necropolis infoim us, tliat Memphis once held a palace called " '' "^ 
abode of Shooplio." ) j 

If dieseractsbe not suRicient^ir it be still maintained, dial ShooJ ] 
pho, who employed 100,000 men for SO years, in er 
nienl, for which 10 preceding years were requisite n 






nlhe 



a lo be I 



— o pyramid of limestone bloeka, quarried 

Nile, while the edifice was rnifcd some SO miies on, on mo wcaien 
aide of the river- the former hsse of which was once 7114 feet ead 
face— the original height 4B0 feel—cantnining eO.O'^g.OOl) cubic fiMI 
of solid masonry, and 6,848,000 tons of slone— if Shooplio performad 
all Ihese work), is it in common seoee, I oak, to doubt his ptnetr, M 
that ho ruled all over Egypt I 

But if, rejecting all these evidences, and ihe leatimony of Erslo* 
ihenes that he was^ikewise a Theban king'-the impracticability d 
hia being contemporary with any odiet Egyptian king be not suA 
cienlly proven ; and thot Shoopho was merely s petty king of Menk/ 1 
phis be Blill asserted, let me propound Ihe following query ; 

How is it, that the great pyramid is lined with the moat beaDliful' 
and massive blocks of syenite — of ird granite, not one paiticli 
which exists 25 miles below Ihe 1st Caluract of the Nile at Aswk%- 
dulant 640 miles ap Ihe river from the pyramid 1 that blocks of thi» 1 
syenite are found in tiiis pyramid's ehambere and paasagea of sudr i 
dimensiona and built into such portJona of the masonry, that th^ I 
must evidently have been placed there, before the upper limestoo*' ] 
masonry was laid above iho granite ? end, that Ilie ni 
inhieraelyphica,ia found in that central interior, writ < - ■ 

jacenl Ihneslone blocks; where the laller layers must, in the ordered I 
buiWing, have been placed oflei the granite had been covered npf j 

There nol being in lis native state aspeck of grtinile to be found IW ] 
Egypt, as milea below Ihe lat Cataract, its ciisience in the pyramkd 
distant 640 milea from the quanies, is a final proof, thai Shoophaa j 
mled from Memphis to Aswkn — from " Migdol ti 



my own part, I see no plausible douhta why bus domini 
thnve been, like that of his successon, much more e:"- 
arard Lybia and Nigril 



Syen 

For 

oth 

Egypt proper — eapocially Ic 

The 3rd Kuig of the 4ih Dynasty is— 

ScFHrs ard — 3d King of the 4ih Memphite Dynasty- Monetho. 
SiorHi»2nd, or Sensaophiat-lClh King of Thebes— Erotosthcnea :* 
conesponding to the Chephren, brother of Cheopa, who, aceordinfc j 
to Herodotus and Diodorus, built a pyramid i which, we may inf^j, ] 
was the second pyramid of Gheozeh, aoeing that we know hisioiis 
colly and mDnunienully Iho builders of the first and third. We ala«. I 
know he was king boib of Thebes and Memphia. Of diis king Ch«., I 
phren, oolhiiig has yet been gleaned from the pyramid atiribuled W 
him — hot, (AilologicBlanaloaiea can reduce all theao names into ob*, , 
I will not detain the reader with aomo doubts arining from hietoglyii, , 
phical vnriatioaa in ono or two cartouches of these times ; althouofk , 
they are curious, and I can explain ihem, at least lo my own sadi 
factian; buipamon to aay, ihni in the ahscnceof positive pynmidi 
data, I feel inclined to adopt the foliowiug owl. as probably contaii 
ing the noma of ChepLren • 



9 Rb ResEiapfa — Itsshef— Eedioof or Rekhooph, 

^" ill SiiBfre — Shcphre — Shoophre or Khephre, 
t*^ ph now 

SheptiTG'-corTeEpDndi lo Chephre-n, 
^^J Ithophro " " K«f^*-«. 

Besides bping found in ihe Necropolis of Memphis and in n genett. 
logical ■erioi, thai ptsceg him as a Memphjie king of Ibc same epoch 
u Shoopho, this ovil is alwsys nccompinied by title), thu contaiii, 
unong olhor signs, thnt of a pyramid. 

But no doubt hangs ai-ound iho nama of the folloa-ing monarch, 
■nd nolliing can any longer render his identity with (he Inulder of 
the 3rd pyramid, b anbject of coutroveniy : 

Maoetho — 4th King of " Memphite Dynasty" — Hkbobekb, 
EratoBlhenei — 17tb King of Thebes — " Heliodaws" — Muacherea, 
Diodonis— as cotnmeacer of a " third pyramid"— Mykerincs, 
Hetodotos— as elector of a " smnller pyramid" — Mykerinu*. 
The fras'ne'" "^ '•" '"''■' Mummy.CaM (now in the Briliah nrn, 
iGum) whiuh tha Arabs, oa forcing n pasrage into the 3rd pyramid, 
(at die time of the Catipltate, GOO Ui-gin, or about G5U yean ago, 
■ccording to Edriai,) had thrown aside on a liosp of rubbish, after 
deairoying ifao mummy; presented to the researciics of Col. Vyso, 
in 183T, the following ovsl aa the glorious reward of bis labon ; 



Re In 



uu 



And Ibos BgHin is history authenticated by 

the monuments even in the meaning of Era. 

loathcnes, who Inunlntn Mencheres by Helio- 

I dotus — for the oval of Mcnkare will hear the 

Ka j Re acceptniiDn of "ofTeringa beloved byordedi- 






The SI 



ill apply to Monkate that hare 
SlTbuXd Shoopho'B dominion all over Egypt. Thia oval U well 
hnawa at the copper mines of Wadbe.Magkra, and baa been found 
In other places in the vicinity of Memphis. 

Out of eight kinga, of the fourth Memphilo Dynasty, whoso names 
have been preserved by Manetho, and conobonled by other hiato. 
riaoB, {three Pharaoha, who were connected with the building of the 
Ihroe largest pynunida of Rheeieh, being among them; the hiero- 
glyphics enable ua to IndicaTe four wiib preciaion, and two with in- 
cuiitrovertible evidence, vii: 

Saoac — Soris. , , , .. 

Baoorao — Gheope, or Supbi* Ist.found in the pyramid. 
Shefbee — Chephren. ^^^ 

lH>l«»iae — Mencherca. 

Who twenty-five yeare ago, could have eipecled auch wonderful 
eonfirmalions of ihe untrriiig application of Champollion's discove- 
lisal Who will now assert, that hieroglyphic writing waa not known 
la the time of the pyramids T 

Hera fur the present may rest onr terifioation of ancient history, 
ud our applicstioB of hieroglyphical tcsla in connexion with the 
pyramids. There are many ovala of kingi, (whom wc 



___ ._ jt know where cisclty to insert ihem in 

oiiT oiironological list) who belong to the time of Shoopho, as bia 
predeeesaors or auccesaota— eome found at the Necropolis of Mom- 
^ua— others eJBawherB ; and, although we cannot identify them 
with historical names, or say wliich pyramid is the tomb of any of 
Iboin, yet there soemi every probability, arguing from thai which has 
bean done already, what may be evenlually accomplished, that 
much new light will bo thrown on them to add more confirmatory 
facts to the view herein taken. Those who have made a aludy of 
hieroglyphics, are porfeoUy oerlaiii that future discoveries can bat 
confirm ttie past, and extend the present boundaries of our knowledge. 
In chronological order, and in number ot kings, these " unplaced 
Plmiaoha," go wonderfully lo confirm Maoetho. Besides finding 
die names of the buildors of tlio pynunida of Ghooieh, it imul be 
considered that Uiere arc, between largo and small, soma Iweniy.fiv« 
pyramids and pyramidal tombs in the cemetery of Memphis. Sup. 
pose each of them to have contained the sepulchre of one montueh, 
(and all proofs confirm this view) tha number of kings' tombs, when 
we make allowance for eomc monarchs who msy not have thougbt 
it incumbent on ihomaclvos lo erect such D maosoloum, etrangely 
corroborales the number of aovercigns comprised in the early Mem- 

eledynasties of Manetho -, for he gives about thirty .two kings, and 
D wo find some tweniy-fivc pyramidal resting places for them. 
It ia recorded, that it took 30 years to build the largeat — the lomb 
*f Shoopho ; which is not at all an eiaggetuted view of the necessary 
tins. There are about lU o6ers, none of which could well have 
been buill in less than 90 yean. The remainder may have occnpiod 
6uni 3 to 10 yoaiB each. 



AlrtTl^IlT EGYPT. 

the actual lims required merely for their erection. Mow, aiipp«i». 
Ing thai of Maneibo's 32 Memphite monarclis, only 30 erected 
pyramlda, and allow the average of S3^ years as the mean length of 
reigns, or kingly generations, we obtain at once 450 years i when, 
if we consider, that a few yeora 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 dcmiso 
— (or, in Egypt, people built liieir tepulchrea during their own jifc. 
time— we shall find that between Mcnea and the 16th dynntty, *43 
yean arc not too much time to allow for edificea, the mere bvilding 
of which must have occupied some 300 years. 

Now, all these works had been completed, and pyramidnl con. 
alructiona had ceased to be faMAietmiie, in Egypt, long prior to iba 
accession of the 16th dynasty, or B. C. S3TS ; and yet they were all 
built afUr Menes. When, therefore, we allow only 443 yean' io. 
terval for all the events between Meuea and the 16th dynasty, it will 
bo conceded that we ere within the mark, possibly by eevcral een- 
lurica ; but, in the absence of positive data, I prefer not to disturb 
the view oif chronology hettin taken — wliich placea Menes about 
equidistant between the Flood on the Sepiuaginl vonioa, and iho 
accession of the IGch dynasty. Yet, I will cunfesa my inability to 
adopt thia niwigement aa a permanent one ; for if any adeqiiau 
authority were to add 1000 yean to the Scplnaginl, tliete are ma- 
terials to fill the spsoa. Aa for reduction of my system to a narrower 
limit, it cannot be done, without abandoning fuels, reason, logical 
deduction, and truth il«elf. To bring the case homo : how many 
years has it taken to construct ifae " Monument at Bunker Hill," 
Boston; the " Merchants' Exchange," or tlie " CusIom-IIuUfe,'' al 
New York 7 It may bo objected, tlial unfureseen impediments ts. 
tarded the progress of the work, in one or all of then inslancM, 
It may well be supposed, therefore, that simitar delays took place iu 
the construction of the 35 Memphite pyrainids, which will equatlia 
the comparison. In point of peifeclion of masonry, these Ameiicui 
edifices are not superior to the work in the pyramids — while, in poiul 
of cubic feet of atone, if the materials of all these were put logetheii 
they would not conaCruct Ihe least of the largest ten pyramids in Ihe 
Necropolis of Memphis! We can thus form an estimate of the 
lime it must have taken to erect them ; and msy be prepared for 
the aaaerlion thai a period »f 300 yeaia is within the mark for the 
pyramidal worka existing, at the prciert day, to attest the aniiquily 
ofMcmpbis; tlie territorial dominion, and consequent power — and 
uncoHTEiiFOB^iiioiiSNisa — of her early Pharaohs ; ard llie wealthi 
the population and the woodeiful progrcsa, at that teinuCo ent. 
already made in ell arts and acinices by the Egypto-Caucacians ; m 
well na tlie impenoua necessity for a mare eiiendcd chronology than 
the lleliittB vetsinn. It may be remarked, ihst some pyraniids at 
Memphis — those of Aboorootsh, AbooeeCr, ZsccUa, and OaeboDr — - 
appear to be much older than even the Qrtat Fyranid of Suoorno. 
Ttiis circumstance corroborate* Manelbo, wherein he says, tliat 
Venephes, 4lh king of let dynasty, " raised pyramids at Cochotne ;" 
whereby we learn from history thai pyramidal construclious were in 
uBo many generations before Suphis-Cheopfl, or ^oopho. Nor doei 
it seem probable, that Shoopho would have erected auch an enormous 
pile as the (argssf, if he had not wished to outdo all bia predecessura. 
We kuuw, that two pyramids — the second and third — were con. 
siructed a/fer that of Shoopho ; aud if they did not equal his in 
gigantic dimansiona, both of them had peculiar merits of ihoir own, 
to equaliio the apparent diSerence, in the grandeur of tlie cooeap- 
tion, and the relative tnnor oi eieculion — one having been CoatMl 
with *(neca, the other cased with granite brought from Syene. 

Mnriirs is, therefore, Insloricslly and monumentally, the sUmI 1 
«'($, and it lies in LotBtr Egypt. 1 will hereafter explain, why < 
Thebes is historically coeval with, pcrhapa anterior lo Memphis ■ 
though, monumentally speaking, it is inferior in aniiquily. Il wotlU 
be tedious to prolTer ■ special argument, whereby we can prove thU. 
Takjs — the " Txohan " of Scripture 
FELitlim, 



Thei 



1 : 



3,1 



. 30 

10 X ao - .300 

13 X say average 5 years, 65 



Egypt, are historically 
oa ancient as Memphis; 
Btaisns — "Pibksith" of Scripture, and that tlie Delta waa 

HsuoroL's — "Btttt.Shem.mitn'' and "On," studded with tuwiu al 
BuTO, TirciaiBia, Sxie, dtc. d2,c., J the earliest epoch, prob- 

ably long prior to the fouudatiun of a meiiupolis like ihst of 
Memphis. 

I do not know whether the observation has ever been made hf 
others, but it has often struck me, in my reflections on EgyplJan 
bittory, as a singular fact; thai, allhough Eratosthenes makes all Ug 
early kings Thibant, other auihota, especially Manetho, invariably 
keep UB in iho lower ceunrry, and about Memphis, in (he classified 
lion of car'y monarchs. The superior antiquity of the names of 
placod and unplsceil kings found in the Uiatr country, and the un- 
co nlTovcrtnb'o prioTil3 of the niunumcnis existing al Memphis, beai 
wimeH tu tlie truth ol the record.* Moreover, the only rvysl nenw 
wc can perfectly identify in the reepeclive catalogues cf Manelbo 
and EruUwthenei, after Menet — are Sorit or Sauotit., Suphit ot 
HUM tr eI^ 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



g jiy 4if ,let and 8ndy togethr with Mencheres or Moachcres, (all namei | with AfrieanM at the top of the Kile, and come downward with 
of Pharaohs, which I have produced inhieroglyphica,) and these are civilization, instead of commencing with Asiatics and wbitk mmjh ac 



every one of them placed by Manetho in his 4th 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 archivea of the 
Diospolitan priests as Theban aorereigns, are the aame persons aa 
those we find attributed by Manetho to Memphite families ; may we 
not draw a reasonable inference, that theae, at least, ruled, like Me- 
nei, all over Egypt 7 holding, aa each of them evidently didt aupreme 
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 undividied 
away, it was necessary only to subjugate the 120 miles between 
Memphis and the aea, and die 138 miles between Thebes and the 
1st Cataract of Syene. If they held, as monumentally and historic 
ally we prove they did, Theb^ and Memphis, what could prevent 
their holding the remainder 7 

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 tis to assert, that the sceptre of Menes 
waa held by each of his successors, alone and indivisible, down to 
the invasion of the Hykshos, several centuries after the days of the 
pjrramids, to which we are confining our preaent inquiriea : while^ 
from Manetho, from the old Chronicle, and from Herodotus, we learn 
that the families, qt monarchs, who successively held that aceptre, 
either were from Lower E^pt, or were, in aome mode or other, 
therewith connected by buildings, or great works, though their sway 
•trelched from the Mediterranean at least aa far as the 1st Cataract. 
On reference to theaubjoined 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 Biemphis, the oldest 
eity and the first metropolis of Egypt. The dnd waa Tanite. The 
My 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 litde rock, not so 
laige 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 bom there ; or from aome other equally insignificant 
reason. The 9th and 10th are Heliopolite ; while it cannot escape 
atttntSon, that of the few early events noted by Manetho, and (with 
•JBOeptions, proceeding mainly from their erroneoua claarification of 
monarchs) by Herodotus, and Diodoms, the greater number of eventa 
nake Lower and Middle Egypt the acene of their occurrence ! 

The importance of confining history to its legitimate place — ^to 
LoWKB Egypt, is evident: 

1st. Beesttse it waa in Lower Egypt that the Caucaaian children 
of Ham must have first settled, on their arrival from Asia. 

3nd. Because the advocates of the theory, which would assert the 
African origin of the Egyptians, say they rely chiefly on lustory for 
their African, or Ethiopian predilections. 

M. Because the same theorists* assume, that we must begin 



*I hav« aliMdj itstKl, iJist Sir. J.Oardaar WilUiuoa*s enti6aJobMnraUoitt,duniif 
kb loot ntidaaot fn Ef jrpt ; and his eoin|Niriam» brtwMO tfa* prateot Eg yptians and 
IhS aaeiant laea, at depietad on tha moaamanta, hava lad him to aawrt tha AaiatU ori' 
tia af tha aariy faUiabiunU of tha Nilotic vallqr. Tha laarnad hiaioloffiifl. Bamual 
lUMh, BhIm of tha BritMh mmaam, infiirraad ow in Loodoo tliot ha hod arriVad at tha 
nsM eoodoikMia; whila to hii nifgartion am I iodablad for tha fiiat idaa, "that tha 
BMMt aneiant Egyjitian mooureanu Ua Jfbrtk,** Tha ffiaat natumlirti, Blomaabaeh 
and Cuviar, daeloiad that all tha mammita thay had opportunities of axaminisf , pra- 
waiad the CaaeaMui tjrpa. Monsiear Jomaid, thaaminaot hydrosraphar and profeund 
Oiiatalut, la a papar on Ecyptian atiwolorr. appaodad to tha Shi Yidoma <rf' " Mao- 
cioa Hbtoiiada l*£ffypta,** Fans, 1889, sustains tha jfroMoi (and oonsaquaaUy A$iMtic 
and Gmc anaM ) origin of tha aarly Egyptians ; and his c^bioas are tha mora valnabla. 



as hs drawB his eonelwions kndapandently of hiaroglyphieal diMovariaB. On tha oChar 
haarf, Pruftssoi Roeallini, throughout his ** Momunaoti** aeeapts and eootinuas tha 
doetiioa, of tha deresiit of civilisation from Ethiopia, and tha 4/rtMti origin of tha 
EfffptianB. ChampoUion Piganc, in his *• Egypta And^noa,** Paris. 1810. p. K. M. 417. 
■uppatts tha same thaory. which his ilUistrious brother set forth fai tha sketch of figyp- 
liaa Milary prssantad by him to Mohammed Ali, in UK. (publishad in his lattan ihim 
lEgfpt aad Nubia.) wharain, ha dariva^ tha aoeiant Egyptians, aoctxrding to tha Giaciaa 
autboritias. from Ethiopia ; and considers tham to baloog to ** la Race Barabim ;** tha 
Mmhtrs or AViMaM. Daamhig tha original Bmrakn to hava bean an Afrtcam race, 
ingmllad at tha p i asant day with Caucasian as wall as Nagio blood. I »qiaeta«n>simili- 
tadeto tha monumental Egyptians in toCo; and am foin to baltava. that Champollion 
la Jauna himself had aithar modifiad his prerioos hastily-formad opinioa. ot, at any 
rata, had not taken a decided stand on this important point, from the following extract 
of Ms ekiquent address ftom the academic chair, ddivacad 10th May. UBL 

** Otaaamaire Egyptiaane, p. xix.--irest par ranalyse rals«inu^ da la hmgua des 
PhanuNM. qua l*«huoirniphie dietderm si hi vieille popubtioo ^gypiienne Ait d'origine 
AaUTiQUB. on bien HMs detetnUU avac la fleuve dlTinisA, des pkteanjc da TAfrique 
cesnala. On d^eidara an m4me temps si les Egypiieas n*appartenaient point k nne 
laaa d'Afaicia: ear, il faut la dAehuer M. (in which lentiraly agree with Um)contre 
f eidnioa oommune. las Cornea da TEgypte modeme, regard^ comma les demien 
■llttnns des anelens Egyptienes. n*ont offint k mes yeux ni la couleur m' aueun dee traits 
•aiad^ristlquas. dam les lineaments du visage ou dans las formes du corps, qui pdteoo- 
iisaer une aussi noliln dasoeadanee.** 

H may be added, that tha linguistic dasidamtum looked for by ChampoOinn, has, shma 
hii damisa, been fully supplied by the profound paleographer. Dr. Iieipsius.of Berlin, 
who has r«tnl>tt«hed the Asiatic affinities of the Coptic tonge. while the prospective 
innrnar of the Prussian HeientHle Mission to Merae. hi the ensuing wfater, will probably 
Ml all Hlhiopie qiieftlons at rest. -• , wm prouaoiy 

Tha "Crania iRgyptiaea,'* erected on a foundntkm hkheito unanUcipatad by any 
athnoloffical inquirer, and combining every view of the snl^ect, will eieate a new era In 
IhsMNiiry of nun. as honorable to its author, as hnportant to tha aavao. and aminantlv 
^ — . ^taiheeaiamifleiapalattaBafhlieattrtry. -"i-i-iuy 



the bottom, and carrying it up. 

I have m>t as yet touched on ethnography ; the effecta of dimata « 
and the antiquity of the different racea of the hiuian family ; but I 
ahall come to thoee aubjects, after establiahiAg a chronological ataiMiU 
ard, by defining the history of Egirpt according to the hieroglyphics. 
At present, I intend merely to sketch the eventa connected with the 
Caucasian children of Ham, the Asiatic, on the first establishuent 
of their Egyptian monarchy, and the foundation of their first and 
greatest metropolis in Lower Eg3rpt. 

The African theories are based upon no critical examination of 
eariy history ; are founded on no Scriptural authority for eariy mignu 
tions ; are aupported by no monumental cTidence, or hieroglyphical 
data ; and cannot be borne out, or admitted, by practical common 
aense. For civilixation, that nerer came hokthwasd out of benifi^ted 
Africa, (but from the Deluge to the preaent moment has been carried 
but partially into it ; to sink into utter obli?ion among the barbarous 
racea whom Providence created to inhabit the Ethiopian and Nigri- 
tian territories of that vast continent) could not qiring from Negroes, 
or from Berbers, and mcvEB nm. 

So far then, aa the record, scriptural, historical and monumental, 
will afford us an insight into the early progress of the himian race in 
Egypt, (the most ancient of all civilized countries) we may safely 
avert, that history when analyzed by common aenae ; when aerutL 
nized by the application of the experience bequeathed to ua by our 
forefathers ; when subjected to a strictly impartial examination into^ 
and comparison of the phjrsical and mental capabilitiea of nationa ; 
when diatilled in the alembic of chronology ; and submitted to tiM 
touchstone of hieroglyphical tests, will not support that superan. 
nuated, but imtenable doctrine, that civilization originated in Ethl. 
opia, and consequently among an African people, and was by them 
broitght down the Nile to enlighten the less-polished, and therefore 
inferior, Caucasian children of Noah — die white Asiatica ; or that 
we, who trace back to Egypt the origin of every art and science 
known in antiquity, have to thank the aable Negro, or the dtiskr 
Berber, for the first gleama of knowledge and invention. 

We may therefore conclude with the observation, that if civiliza. 
tion, instead of going from Norik to South, came— contrary, aa 
shown before, to the annala of the earliest historians, and all montu 
mental fact»--down the *' Sacred Nile" to illumine our darkneaa % 
and if the Ethiopic origin of arts and aciencea, with socisl, moral, 
and religious instimtions, were in other respects pomfrle; these Afii. 
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^ 
history since the Flood. 

Having indicated the loweat boundary of our chronological limit 
for the pyramids of Memphis ; and ahown that they could not well 
have bc^n 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 GebeLBirkel, Noori, and Merawe, in Ethiopia. The largest of all 
these has a base of only 100 feet square, and the smallest not mora 
than 5M) ; 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 thoee of Memphis ; but the reasona hm 
adduces, are not by any meana conclusive. I hsve examined th« 
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, atyle, coloring, and sub. 
jects, whence we may derive two conclusions. ()ne, that hierogly- 
phical writing was known and practiaed, at whatever period theaa 
pyramida were erected ; the other, that they were built by the sama 
Caucasian race of men who erected those mightier edifices at Mem. 
plus. We are also assured, that in purpose they were identical with 
the aepulchral uses of those of Egypt, and contained, like these laat, 
the tombs of monarcha or royal families. 

With regard to the epoch of the construction of the Ethiopian 
pyramida, we have as yet no data beyond the evidences of remote, 
though indefinable antiquity ; but that they were built by the svme 
roec of men,* who foimded those at Memphis, iB established beyond 
dispute, by Mr. Hoskins. This accurate draughtsman and faithful 
narrator has, witii strict impartiality, furnished facta whence he would 
deduce — 

Ist. The priority of the Mero^ pyramids over those of Memphis— 
and secondly, that being built by the same people in both cases, ha 
would establish the origin of civilization in Ethiopia, and ita deacent 
(down the Nile) into £^^t, where the descendanta of these builders 
of EUiiofuan pyramids erected all the monumenta of every age, now 
existing below the first Cataract. 

With precisely the same facts, and groimding all my argumenta on 

* Dr. Morton, m nu eranioiofnoai oosanrauons, nas oeeiareo " tnat tne Aostiair 
Ecyptian, or Meruite communities, were in rraat maasure derived from the Indo-Arabtaa 
stock * thus pointinf to a triple-(}aurasian sourea fttr the oricin of tba £f yptians. whan 
rafarded as one people eztandbs firom Meroe to the Daka.** The arfunients for this 
opinion, whieh is by me impKeltly adopted, will be found In the ** Crania iEiryptiara,** 
and I seed only at pnsaot manUoo, that this Indo- Arabian intarmiztuie with the chil 
di«iofBaai,caabai«adily aeeoonisdfor. • 




ANCIENT EGYPT. 



I Aa pislci and deseriplioiu of Mr. Hoakiiu. I amvc al results dia. 
[ Molricnlly oppualle. 

'l is indeed aulEcIcnt ta glance one's eye it \ke plmcB of Ihn iFulp, 

18 rcum Ifae Ethlopinn pymnide, to see dial ihere ib noching Al'ri. 

in tlie cliBracler of the human faces ; anil [bal, he they who ihey 

[ taaj, these |>eop1e were nol, and did not deure lo be caiuidcred Afri. 

, wlielher of the Berber or the Negro branches. Whence, already 

>agin 10 infer, thai the builden of ihcse Ethiopian pyraniidB were 

iboriginas of "thai country, but of a race foreign lo Africa, and 

neraliy apeiUiing, st that remolo period unmixed with Arricaa 

blood. Unleaa bom in Glhiopia, (bey mnal havo conie originally 

from some other region. Who can they ha T 

Now it ia but reaaonablo to i;lBim,lhat if in Brta,Bcioncffl , 
religion, color and phyiiological conforma 'ion, iheae people of Mcroo 
are theeeme people as (he Egyptian*, and wc prore the Egypi' 
have been Asiatic in origin — Caucasian in ra:n, and white t 
color : Ihe people of MerOB must have been Aaiatica, Caucasians and 
whilB men abo. This was precisely the case, and for (he Egyptian 
side of the (guealion, I need not recapilulote iheaceounlof Mixnim's 
migratioa into the valley of (he Nile, but refer to Morton's "Cnmia 
£gypIiBca" for incontrovertible etidence. 

'I'hB question, in regard to the priority of erection between the pyra- 
mids of Meroe, and those of Memphis, merges into the eliU more 
inlerestiiig fact of their having lieen built by the same race of men, 
who were not Africans, but Caucasians. 

This will a* «ico eiplsin the cause of the Bnperiorily of (he inhsh- 
itanta of Mcroe, over all Africsn Dborigines, and the reason why the 
Egyptians looked upon them as brethren and friends— never Biigma- 
lixing (hem by the contemptuous title of "Gentiles," or "impure 
foreignew," as thay deaignsted Aaislic and European nstjons ; and 
never applying lo (he penpla of Meroe, the reproach of belonging (o 
llie "prnurn race of Kath," (nut Citth, the son of Ham) by which 
naniB the Eayptians eieluaively designated (he Negro and the Berber 
rsces In hiert^lyphics. We ihall come lo these facts in due course, 
'i'tiia view can be suslained by (ho whole chain of monumcnisl and 
other history. It will accoun( for all the coaflicdng traditionary 
legends, that would make Meroe the parent of Egyptian civiliintion, 
or Ethiopia the cradle of the Egyptian people— will explain the inli. 
macy and alliince subsisting al every period between Egypt and Mo. 
roe 1 the parity in religion ; Identity iu usages and instituliona ; 
aimilsrily in language, writing, buildings, &e. 

I would ihorofore olfor, as nn improved hypothesis, that the cUl- 
dren of Ham, on leaving Asia and seiiling in (he vstley of the Nile, 
colonized fitsl Lower Egypt, and then all the alluvial aoil from the 
Delta, to the confines of Nigritia, wherein they did not penelrale for 
permanent establishment, for the identical reason, that ibIuIi men 
cannot doso al the present lime — the tliiKate; 'jv-hich>ia Central Africa, 
is mortiferoua to the Csucouan. It does nol change bis skin, hair, 
facial angle, or his osteologr; il kills him ODlrigJil, if he crosses a cer- 
tain latiludc. Of course, here and there, an exception maybe instanced 
where white men have crossed the (to their race) deadly miaamata 
of Central Africa; but these eiceptiona are bo rare, tint ihey fortify 
the rule. Witness the lalo Niger expedition ; witness the grave-yard 
that Africa hss been lo the most enterprising tiavetlen; witness the 
fruitless sltempu of Mohammed Ali to send expeditions, but a few 
hundred miles beyond Khkrtooni. 

The Caucasian children of Ham proceeded up the Nile in s nat- 
ural course of migmtiun and settlement, from Lower Egypt as far as 
Meroe — and prulably there (sithough il would seem likely in Istcr 
times) met tnJo-Arabiaa Cnuensiaus, with whom they miisd, and 
formed one people. 

All we con siy of this epoch is, that these circumstances must 
have occurred before Menes) before the pyramids of Memphis rose 
in Eitypii before ibf pyramids of Meroe could have been built in 
Ethiopia. 

Tlial civiliintion advanced notthvard from llie Thebeid (which 
appears to have bean the parental seat of the Iheoentic government) 
before Meaei, ia not improbable. That the Caucaaians who settled 
SI MeroG may hsve somewhat preceded in civiliislion their brethren 
In ligypt, is possible ; though, from monumental and other ressons, 1 
dooni it unlikely. But il aoet seem unnecessary, that the children 
of Ham, (the Caucasian,) the higlieai casle of that triple Csucorian 
stuck, should have come from Asia Into Egypt, snd have directly 
asoanded the Nile, leaving the mo«t eligible provinces and heavenly 
climate behind them, and have proceeded IGOO miles to an almoai 
barren spot, to Meroa, between the tropics, for the objects of study 
snd improvement, and then have returned into Egypt lo colonize 
ills t country, or in other words to civillxo their own relations. How 
much more reaaonsble is il to allribulo liio rise of civiliznlion to the 
people, occupying the bed land Under the pure skies of Egypt, or to 
auppoae that its development waa simultaneous among the same 
people, along the whole alluvial line from Lower Egypt to Meroe t 

There are no positive data bywluch llie antiquity of the pyramids 
of Meroe ia shown to be more remote than that of Memphis ; and 1 
am Inclined to r'gatd br>lh as dating about the same period, when 
pyramidal consjrucliona were preferred lo all othcre, for the leal 
hobiistioii of tlie royal digniloriee of Egypt and Meroe. It may be 
conjectured, that if in Ethiopia those are tombs of individual kiugs, 
tliey continued there lo erect pyramids long oflor this species of 



aepulchre wss abandoned in Egypt i because ihis would in ■■ 
degree explain their number. Thry were all built, and wore ancienl, 
ill Ihe days of I'irhska, B. C. 700. 133 pyramids, at 22) yeaia for ■ 
kingly generation, would be 30271 years; which is iticompanijla. 
with all Bcripiurol chronology. J sin, therefore, inclined lo consiiiot 
the pyramids of Meroe to be tombs of kings, queens and prinaosi 
We have no sure basis for calculating their antiquity, excepting tlia* ' 
they belong to a period more ancient than TOO B. C. ; but we know, 
that whenever they were erected, it was by the same race whlck 
built those of Memphis, the cliildren of Horn — ilic Csucasisn sellleis . 
in the Nilotic valley, and nol by African aborigines of any race, or 
of any period. The most critical eiamiaaiiuti establisliea for iha 
P3Tamids of Egypt, and for Shoopho, builder of the largos), an anli. 
qully that caunolceruiiil)' be later than B.C.S313 — though probablr . 
dating some centuries earlier ; but that they were creeled by Cauca. 
ins is indiipulable. That the pyramids of Meroe belong to lb* 
me epoch is probable, and Ihnt they were Idtewiae built by Caaea. 

If the pyramids of Meroe are older than those of Mempbia, their 
epoch must necessarily surpass the Sepiuagint era of lite Flood, if 
it (ho( of llie Creation. 

If, from a rigid examination oftheir present appearance, the priorilr 
those al Meroe is proved, (as Mr. Hoskios considets,) and thla 
ed sppoarance cannot be explained by the efTccts of tropical raiol 
d solar heat, acting wiih Ihe hand of ihe spoiler on a friable mala- 
rial like a soft sandstone j when we rellecl how little, in an Egypllsa 
ime affects the appearance of moauments ; and then, (Iboitgh . 
i)y,) recognize in Ethiopia a heller cliniale than thai of i 
Egypi — if, I say, we consider Ihsi noiwithslanding so long a period, 
(above 4000 years,) as we know (ho Memphite pyramids to hay* 
itood — time has had such a trifling efleetOD their massive struetuns; 
ind we are to allow a stitl slighter etfact to be produced by lime on 
hose edifices al Moroe — why, we must carry ihe pyraniids of Meroa 
loyond all chronological, and measure ihi'ir antiquity hy geological 
periods; lat, as regards the epoch of the building of lliesa Mcroa 
pyramids; which is one fsct; and Snd, ss concerns the national . 
miu of the builders, who were nol Africans, but Asiadcs, ihe uilet 
deslTDClion of all biblical chronology by litis process would b* 
another. 

things which are equal lo the seme are equal to ona . 
If they arc anterior to Slioopho's pyramid in Egypt, then 
It have been occupied in ihe eariiest ages — many ceiiluriM 
before B. C. 2348— by Caucosisns, who must have migrated up ib« 
valley of the Nile, and have been settled many ages ai Moroe befor* 
lliey erected one pyramid. Ifposterior to Shoopho's pyramid, Mero* 
a ■ colony of Egypto-Caucasisns, ai any inlerveniug period prior . 
the IGth dynasty, B.C. 2273 — for we know from positive coo- 
quests of Egyplisu Pharaohs in Nigritia and Ethiopia, that Meroe 
Egyptian province from abont ibsl lime, down to a fsvr yean 
prior to B. C. 700 — asy for a thousand years. 

~ " ach of these pyramids of Ethiopia, liketliose of Memphis, 
jlchre of a king, and if all of these Meroe edifices, (sc 
cording to Mr. Uoskins) were erected before Shuophoe' lime, as there - 
sre 139 pyramids in Eihiopia, we should have 139 generations of 
Caucasian kings at Meroe before the pyramids of Memphis weia 
thought of. 

Lutly, if the odvocaies of the African origin of the Egypiiani 
cling to the superior antiquity of the pyramids at Meroe, as s prool 
of the origin of civiliiation in Ethiopia, and in consequent descent 
Egypt, they ale easily placed in a series of dilemmaa. If they 
deny ellCaucasisu inlroduction al Meroe, in the hope of vindicating 
it mental end pbyaiosl capabdilica of Negro or Berbei 
: have proved the immense and aUnosl biblically-irrecoo. 
cilsble antiquity of the Mempliite pyramids, the advocates of Iha 
African origin of civiliiation must reject Scripture altogether, botii 
for chronology and primidra migrations. If, on the other baud, they 
' t, sccording to ihe Bihle, Ham waa the psrent of the Egyp. . 
re prove these Egyptiona lo have been pure-blooded wbila 
must allow that civiliaatlan, proceeding from the Cauca- 
.. its rise in Egypt; and that Ethiopian civilisation is a con- 
sequence; while, in no case, can they make il ^ipear that iha African 
races above Egypt wera one iota mora civilized in ancient limea ibaa 
the present day, for the civilization of Meroe originated with Iha 
lucosians, and expired on the cxitnclion, or on the dcterioraliiig 
nalgamalion, oftheir high-caste race. 

Such ore Ihe results of my rf Rcclions on the subject of Ihe pyra- 
mids. They are not rashly advanced ; nor devoid of infinite coiro- 
boration. They might be greatly eitended, and a variety of into.. 
reeling compariBonsmighl be inatiiuled between ihe pyramids of 
Ethiopia and Egypt, and those found on the Euphrates by Colooai 
Cheaney, that one supposed to be the ruins of Iho lower of Babel, 
and those in Central America. 

Wy province, however, is solc'y Egyptian history ; and 1 will eon. 
lidently aa»n, toal any one who will read and study the works of 
the hieroglyphioal school — the volumes of the Champoltions, of Ru- 
sellini, end of Wilkinson — who will weigh the demonstrations in 
Morion's "Cronis jEgyptiscs," and who, lo remove the lost aioliH 
of eeeplioisiu, will psy a visii lo Egypl's timo.bonored moniimenti, 
and verify for himself the trulhafibsdescripuoDS given by thehiora. 



ANCIENT BOYPT. 



(•■MM— 411* oat, 1 npMt, who will do ail Ihh, (which 1 have dona) 
and tfasa atnj thaa* BvideiieM, would. I ititlij balisTe, dilute ths 
tnith of EueEid'a aiiom, and uaintaia thai " ■ aliaighl lias ia mUlhe 
afcoRMI dinanca £n>m one giTaa point to aaotbar." 
Let ma racapitulale, ia a nuiunaiy mode, what theae Teaolta are : 
' Itt. Geologicatljr — that tha Delta la aa ancient aa any portioa of 

Ae alluvial aoil of tha Niia, atid that it waa inhabited aX the milieal 

liaatdjluvian period. 
Sad. OMKTaphicaUr — that Lower Egjpl waa b]t elimata, aoil, and 

•Tery clrearoilanee, moet faTorable to aarir aeHlsBiBiit ; and aa the 

moat condfuuna to Aaia, waa the region beat adapted to primitive 

caloiiIiati(»i, uut ilia eariiatt dviliiotion. 
3n(, Scrlptoially — that the ohlldrea of Ham came from the hank* 

of tlM Enphratea into Egypt, throng Syria, FaleMine, and the I«th. 

mm of Suez — that ibey inhahiled tb« lower prorineea of the Nilutic 

Tallay in the fint inctanca, whence they eTcctaally apread thrm- 

aatvea over the allnvial aoil of thht Tsllay, in a natural ocJer of mi. 

(ratioa and letUenient. 

4th. Physiologically — which, for the Snt tiroo la dearly demon. 

BlnlMt by Motton'a "Crania Mgyptitct," the keystone of tha tyt, 

tarn : that iha ancient inhabitant! of Egypt were Aaiatic in origin, 

and Caueaaian in race, from the oartloat period in the cicinetion ol 

Fharaonic dominion, which ia in perfect accordance wilh Scripturs! 

DilgTBliona, and their Caueaaian origin aa deecondanta of Noah. I 
Sth. Ethnogtaphically — according to I>r. Leipsina, ihst, aa (hi- ' 

■Hinltiei of the Indo-Germanie and Semitic languigea with the Cop. ' 

tic, eetabliih the Aaialic and eonunon primeiil origin of all three, 

the r^miining link of language ia supplied to ' 

atthbuloa of the Egj^dan tongue. 
6th. Hiatorically— from the collalioii of the tnoM ancient record) 

with each other, coireeted by the uppUcatioa of hiaroglyphical tea. 

timany, coeval with the aorlieat exenn of which hialory haa left ua 

(ho anna la — 
7th, and Montlmentatly — from the ediScea itiU erect in Lower 

Egypt, which are more ancieai than any othen in the world, and 

from the veitige* in Lower Egypt of suiy citiea, which hiatoiy at. 

teCta wen equal to any othera in antiquity — 
We an fully juatiSed ia concluding (hat milt 

from Aaia, introduced by Caacaaiani into Lower Egypt, obtaioediu 
a«rUeal known dereli^menta in the lower provinoea, and dureron- 
MCompaniad a while race up the Nile, from north (o aouth, u theai 
people, the prlmitire Egyptiana, moM bare aaoended, and not de. 
MOMod (bat rirer. 

Let tia itow retntn to the chain of hialocy. Wa have bronght the. 
eUMien of Ham fiom A<ia into Egypt; we hara aattlad tbeir de» 

emdutta ahmg the wbola Nilotic valley ; wa have watched the ri« 
of eiviliiation, aad the formation of a general theocratic govern. 
mNt ; we have seen a militaty chieftain aeile the aaeplre, and fouiui 
« powerful dynasty of hereditary aorereigDi ; we have seen hia sue- 
eeaaon improve cilioB for (heir residencea, build pyramids for ibeii 
tombs ; and wfaete an we in chronological epoetaa 1 still in very re. 
mota psriodl. We are only at the cluaa of Manetho's 4th Memphlu 
Djiiaaly, ao ftr'as hieroglyphicst con&matioEia enable na to deduM 
plnaJUe eoqecturaa. 

We havo now rvacbed a point of darknssa ao dense, that a few 
observatioiu will suffice (a explain the difficulties of our position : 
OS the one hand standa Scriptural chronology, limiting ua to a given 
peiloA between lh» Flood and Abrsham ; on the other, we have the 
very doubtfnl number of Hanetbo's kings and rsigna. A fsw years 
ego no one pretended to consider Manetho'a fint fifteen dynasties ae 
worthy of notice ; and even at the preaent day, tbire is no reaaoo for 
•coeptlng the number c^ hla kings ; or the length of their leigna, 
■Mb aa have been traoamittod to ua by hk eopyista. Therefore, 
MBBCiho's period, from the fourth to the end of the Cflaeath dynasty. 
Is considered improlwble by me, although on the Continent there 
•ra some hlarotoglala who aceept the whole of Uanetbo aa he atanda 
bi die Uble alieady preeented, by whieh the aceea«an of Henea 
wmild have oceuned, B. C. 566T. 

It ia aingnlar, Aal the tnonumenta conflnn Manelho, as will be 
eeen, in t most eitraotdlnary manner up to the 16th dynasty ; that 
the pyramid! confirm Us 4th dynasty ; and tbst tlie 1st king of (he 
let dynaaty, Henei, is now confinned by tablets and papyri. In 
fact, It may be contended, that, dating back from the 3Iat dynaaty, 
at Maneths haa been eorroboniiod by the hieroglyphica on the mono, 
mentj of Egypt up to the 16th dynaaty i eay B. C, 997i— liia autho. 
rity muit not be altogether rejected npim preceding epochs; espe. 
ri^y now, that hia 4(h Msmpbite dynaaty stands (brth a brilliant 
enutsltation in (he firmament of hiatorical gloom. 

Bnt unhappily tha tomae of the high priest of On— the far-famed 
Hellopolis— ^ve reached n* in acattered fragnenta, which bear in. 
tara>- evidence of having been mutilated by hia copyists, to suit their 
own peculisr aystoma of cosmogony i and while we may refuse our 
brilef to the immeasurable, as well aa inconeiatsnt perioda, and ex. 
tiaordinory number of king) for hia fint 15 dyuaatiea ; yet, not ha. 
vlng, in the fragmenl* bequeathed ua by Minelha'a transcribers, the 
names of the kings who figured in the 7th, 8ih, 9th, 10th. 11th, 13th, 
IWi, 14lh and ISth dynaatias, wa are not able to identify with Ms. 
Mlho'a list, the long hieitttly^cal eataloone 
*" " - -■ . or, eieaueatW w 



proving tbci 
dynasty ; say prior to 
of Menea. 
tmplaced kings' 



ipperuuniog tu 



t Ibc great number of royal ovsb 
ng the namea of Pharaohs, the greater pert at 
whom lived trsfore the loih dynaaqr j becauaa, from the 16th dynaaty 
downward, we can a^nst tlu monumenla wilh Manetlui'B histo- 
ry, sod therelbre theae unplaced kinga must have lived befoM that 
period ; independently of a variety of circumstancee which uud each 
of them back to a previoua epoch. 

We know that each of theae unplaced kings "*.tad, moved, 
and had a being ;" and from hiaiorical and hieroglyphic teatimony 
wo csji prove, that so many of them ruled over all I^pl, aa to do. 
supposilion of theit being coetooeous. For inslonce, let ua 
following. 

RtsOKsn — Sum — lelovs J oosic. He is a mc«t ait. 
cient king. He is found in Kamae; at Chenoboecion, 
(in the Coaseit toed— and aa hia titlee are " Loid of 
Upper and Lower ^^rpi," he niled over die whole 

country. 






Let Be take another. 
', Lard tf aa eieduiil ptopU. 



LF— "The beloved of Phre." His titlee ate ak» 
Re " Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt" — but, aa his name 
ie found at Eilethyaa, at 8il«lia, on the Coeeeir road, at 
on, St Karoc, and at the copper mineaof 
li, he must have tuled over ail Egypt. 



Tlii'se Unplaced Kinga may amount in number at present (for 
one or more new kings an yearly discovered,) to sbout 180 car- 
loucbea aa an spproximatita extreme. But, m^ir^g due allowance 
for possible repetition of the some kings' osmea in variitiDns of car- 
touchee, or otherwise ; and rcjecdng, as doubtful cases, many others, 
we have in hieroglyphics moie Ilian silly cmplafGd kings, who 
must have lived and reigaed between Menes and the I6lh dynaslj, 
or between Miiraim and Abraham, wherewith lo Git up aome por. 
tiOD of the blaoka of hietory. Othera will be discovered — circum 
BtancBS will add to our knowledge of many of them; but it is scarcely 
possible to be hoped, by the moet sanguine, that we shell ever be 
able to poeeeaa the hieroglyphical names of all " the children of the 
sun," who swayed the sceptre of Menes, owing lo (he deatructioil 
of monuments in Egypt by the Hykshoa, the PemiaiiB, the Greehsi 
the Eorosns, the Chtisiisns, die Saracens, the Turks, and the Herod 
of all destroyers, the pteaent Mohammed All. 

Au adequate number of Egyptian royal ovale haa been found, 
koweverj to aatisfy the impartial, that the number of 950 kinga, who, 
according lo profane authors, ruled over Egypt from Menes to the 
31st dynasty, B. C, 339 — is fsr from being a mere fable, without 
aome /oimdatioa in fact; end that it in poaitively not an exsggeretioii 
in toto. 1 can, from tny own noiaa and compilations, produce idl 
that to the best of my belief were known np to 1B43. 

There Is every teosonsble coi^jeclure that the cfTsced 39 kings, of 
the tablet of Abydos, would, if we poeeesaed all Manetho, be' found 
to correspond to his ISlh dynasty ; of which kinga, neither the nam. 
bar, nor the namea ore extant in the fiagments of the sacerdotal 
chronicler. The mutilated conditioo of the tablet itself adds to oar 
difficulties. I merely note the circumstance, while (he uncertainty 
compels UB to throw ihese 29 kings among ^ unplaced Pharaohs 
preceding the 16th dynasty. 

We are therefore compelled to drop the veil over the Egyydan 
history from the 'pyremids, during an Dncertsini but a long petioi, 
to tha.lGth dynaaty, B. C, 3S7S. In this interval, templea were 
built, aa we puaeaae their remsiua ; tomba were prepared fiv milUone 
of departed; quorriee wen worked; minea were opened snd ex. 
plored ; all the ana and sciencea were practiced ; religion was fos- 
tered. Egypt would aeem to have been peaceful, proaperoua, civiU 
iied, and oappy, under a long chain of nnambiiions monsrchs ; but 
more than thia we do not know — perhaps never may. Yet the die. 
covery of a single taUet of kings — a genealogical papyrus — a copy 
of Manelho— w die Maae wondetful chain of succcHful Inbois and 
extraordinary eoincUeocea, that have hitherto atlended ihe Cham. 
pollion acboid, may eoaUe some fortnnsle explorer to find, and to 
open the sealed, the loet hooka of Hermea. 



CHAPTER SEVENTH. 
Tsa first of my two preceding discoones wsa intended aa a akelch 
of the coiijectnral and probable commencement of Egyptian cola. 
r ti i THg n by the Csucaaisn children of Ham, tha Asiatic — their pro. 
grass up the Nile, die rise of the theocracy or hianrcbisal governtnenl, 
down to iia modifioation on the acceaaion of Muni, ihe 1st Pharaoh 
I tiypt. 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



The ohjeel of the neeond diKouree wm to define the poiiriWa pe- 
•■ liod of MenoB'n ro.indalion of llio Phsrsonic munarchr, wking ihe 
" . r 3750 B.C., aa widiin a few gencnitioia approriinBlive o( the 

Wb then dewended ihraugh the prraniidi! peiiod of Egyptisn 
mDnuraont*. We touched on Ihe difficultic" of cleseing our •■ bd. 

■ p(>cod kiQg«;" »nd. while wo alUwod the double and conSicting 
Btolenionii of pfofnne hialory, we endeavored, al Iho tune lime, to 

*< tindicate Manctho'a daima upon oar nodce. 

Wo have wen, Ihataome evona of lhi> period sre pomtive, ai wo 
\ wmea* monuments to alteil them, no leea than the greatnen of 
' E^7pl in ihoM days : nor con we any longer tolerate the objeolioD, 

• Ihat all is fable in history before Abraham'! birth. 

We liavo proved, that, in Ihe wildemesa of anliqnity, before the 
" Wrth of Abraham, there are many onsos, Buch aa Ihe pjrremidB of 
-■ Eeypl and EUtiopia, with other Pharaonie remaini i and, if we can. 

• aoi trace in every caie tho eonncction between these verdant apolt, 
' We have ennbhahed, thai iliey ate all embraced within a chronolo- 

gicil eiiclc, llie lower circumferenco of wliich Elrihes the 16th Dy. 
' naaty, iriiile the upper rim of lla imaginary orbil recedee from our 
[ ' view into the gloom of primeval epoclu. 
' Who,30}cnra»eo,<:ould haveforeaeenlhntwcriionld beennblod 

■ U doa ihousandthpettai much 1 and who can now doubt, that evcty 
lirture year will prcMntaome new pianelin the hintorical firmament J 

On lurniiig lo the table of dynasties, it will be obaervcd thai Ma- 

- Betho ii met by the toilet of Abydoi, at the IGlh dynasty. 

Keserring the more copioua elucidalton of this monument to my 
lalure oral lectures, in llie couice of which I afaall eihibit a large 

- eopy of tlie tablet, it is necessary at present lo explain d»l this ir a 

■ biuroglyphical genealagical recotil, wherein Rikses Iht Srd — Seso*. 
«»— about B. C. IS50, has chronicled fijtt-otii Pharaoha, who pre. 

'ceded him on the throne of Egypt. The original of this precious 
Mulptnre is now in the British Maeeum, but in a very mulltttted 
cindiiian, compsted with its stale 25 yeaia ago, when it Biood in the 
temple ai Abydoa. 

The 16lh Theban dynasty of five kings is recorded in thia lablel ; 
and from this dynuly downward, Egyptitui hisiory is now clearly 
''llefined. 

I would neil solicit atlention lo the reduction of the " Old Chron- 

IbIs;" whereby the finldflBendynsslies are comprised intlie firel443 

I , ywia of oSilAic, or canicular period ot cynic cyrle: (leiploined this 

* Mbjeclin a former chapter.) Now,il la tolerably well enubUshcd by the 

ealculau'ons (JChampollion Flgeac, that ihis cycle began In the Julian 

; y«Br2762B.C,; whence, if the 16th dynasty began in Iho year 444di 

, *f this cycle, ils accession woold correspond lo the year 2339 B. C. 

Again, as Chnmpotlion Figeac remarks, "if we add lo the year 

443 of ihia cycle, wliicb was Ihe iait year of ihe ISth dynasty — Isi, 

ISO yeara for ihe duration of the reigns of Ihe IGthdynoaly; andSnd, 

^e 178 years that, with the 6 yeara of the 96th dynasty, are wanting 

, In the numerical details of tjie Old Chronicle (see Cory's AncicDl 

Fragmenla.) to reach the enm lolal of 36,525 years, which the Chron. 

Icle givea as the amounl of years reigned, we shall attain, at an 

Ipproiimation of eleven years, tlie same reiults" that our author 

drewe from other documents, lo 6i ibe invasion of Ihe Hyiihat with 

, . Ihe commencement of the ITlh dynasty, at the year B. C. 3083 ; and 

'. lo eslBbUsh the commencetnenl of the IBlh dynasty, at 1833 B. C. 

\ . Considering the remoteness of the epoch, such a irifliDg lUSerence as 

' plevea yeara " needs ncilber defence not attBck." 

It is probable ihat Ihe accession of Menes — the annual ruing of 

. the sacred Nile — and the sstronamical relsUun of ihe Sclhic Cycle 

lo the same — are three cveuisutcaetaneous occurrence about the year 

S783 B. C-i for this I refer puiticulaily lo ihe maslerly cbIguIb. 

tiona of Champollioii Figeac. 

The method by which ihe liM of Ihe IGlh dynasty is deteimined 

' by Roaellini and by Champsllion, is based however on a more eimple 

eolcnlation. Their several eslimales for this event differ but faio 

• fairs from each other. 

Ai the end of each of Manelho's dynaaljes we have — aa in the la. 
' ble — (he sum total of (be yeaia reigned. 

Two eras, upon which chranolagista coincide, are seleeleil. One, 
' tiio conquest of Egypl by CambysoB, in tlie year 595 B. C. ; the other, 

• the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, B. C. 333. With 
«ach of these well known dates, the sum lolai of the yeara reigi 

' by the last ISdynastics, preceding and down to the Macedonian, m 
»(ree— that i), in the ynar 525 B. C, the 26lh Saitic dynasty m 
end ; and in the year ^33 ihe lule of the Penians mosi caaae. 

If then, we count ihe yeara given by Maneiho— as corrected by 
the munumenis — for those who reigned from tiie beginning of the 
16[h dynasty, la ihe end of the Slat dynasly, 

Tcara. 
wn obUin, 19-10 



The 16fli dynasty begin 



We oblain, again, for Ihe 16lh dynasty. 



B.C. 



9379 



It will be seen, as we proceed, how admirebly Ibe mnnnmenta and I 
history conoborale this date : and how peifecily it dovc.loils wllk 
the chronology of the Bible, from Abtnhitn downward, when we tabs I 
the Hebrew chronology for limes succeeding Moses. And not M 
lose myerlf to the charge of inconsielency, I would hcg leive M I 
lark. that for the time between Moses and ihe Delcge, I fuilov 
Ihe Sepiuagini venuon, as ihr only scale leconcileble wilh Egypllaa 
history ; beceuae it was in Ihe lives and generations prior to Abra. 
ham, ihnt the Hebrew tents of Scriptnrc were altered, corrupied and 
curtailed by the Jews, after the advent of Chrisdanity : wheiess, fat 
ihe period subsequent to Moses, ihe Hebrew lexl would seein lo b* 
more accurate than for anlenor dmes ; and from Mwea downwB^i j 
Arehbishop Ueher^ system of chronology will probably befoundbi ' 
adapted lo Jewish history. 

On iho other hand, I am not treating on Jewish, bul on Egypth* ' 
history ; and the Egyptian chronologicnl edifice from ihe 16th dynaaiy 
' iwnward, in general principles, is built u'^ion a rock. 

The monuments are silent about the Uebrewa; and it is highlf 
satiafactaTy to be able to show, thai this iitence does nol aflect 4m - ' 
eulhorily of Scripture. Il has been seen thai, slthongh ibe Bible ii ] 
silent on Egypl in the limes before Abraham, we have positive «fc 'i 
clhon moimmeniol history in Ihat country to fill up much of ft« i 
icuum, and to confirm the Scpluagint era of ihe Flood, ll will hj. , 
id-hy become evident, that, although the Egyptian records ar 
, ilher ailenl about the Jewish aojoura in Egypi, circumelanci 
enable us lo account for this Hltnce ; while we meet wiih boi.._ ._ ^ 
raordinary coincidences confirmatory of Biblical duonology sa4 ,fl 
lisiory after the times ofMoec3,andcorioborotiveuf the compulaiiont: W 
f the Hebrew vctmon from iiim downward. 

The reader will i Julgenlly observe ihol, owing mainly lo the si 
ure of our educalion in America and in England, we cannol dJtcM 'I 
luiBetvea of certain naaociations, whenever the word Egyp' i^ used. . I 
We iiistanlly connect E^'pl wilh Scripture and wiib ihe Ilcbrewai .1 
' 10 foreign country certainly is, to the inspired wrilers, of lUlA L 
:uiieequcnce as Egypt, from ihe lime of Abraham to Ibe felloT I 
Jerusalem. But, if any of my readers had resided in E^pt as long: f 
la I have, ihcy would readily pereeive, that although some may sot J 
choose lo disconnect the Jews from the Egypuaiw, we can cerUinlf ] 
detach Ibc Egypiiana from Ihe Jews. Egyptian local and iniemd 1 
hislnry is as independent of Jewish history, prior lo iho daya of SolOi 
mon — cicepi so far as il may concern the Hebrew Exude — as is iha ' 
biblory of China. America has her annali independently of Englavd. 
Ass)Tia rose and fell frotn causes known to, and predicted by.buiinda- 
penilcnlly of Ihe Hebrew prophets ; and, in the same nianner, Egypt 
hasher own chronic lea, her own events and her own sunslujts, inde- 
pendently of all connection with the Jews, whom aha preceded, in 
anliquily by at leasl ten centurics- 

As an Egyptian annalist, tlierefote, I s[iall,in my future oral lee< 
lures, unfold Egyptian history from Ihc hieioglj^hics. I shall louch 
on every event and on every nslion, thai concern my subject, bul I 
shall treat of ihe Jews, as I do of any other nalion with whom tha 
Egypliana were brought into conlaci ; without twisting confirmationi 
from data where none eusl ; or withholding Ihe smallest of ihosa 
llial confirm or elueidnle an historical text of Soriplure. 

We begin thou with the 16ih Theban dynasly, ai B.C. 3273, on 
positive monmitental data, and historical evidences ; leaving ont all 
those observadons which have been so often promulgated, though in 
the year 1843 they do nol bear upon Egyptian hialory al Ihis point. 
It has been accurately observed by Champollion Figeac, thai his (and 
Ronelliniti) compulation of the I6th dynasty, si B. C. 3373, is rather 
more conclusive, than the feeble slriclurea of Syncellus upon Mane 
tho, or the explanations of Eusebius.in regard lo the number of yeara 
—36,535 — of the " old chronicle," which concern neiiher ihe Deluge, 
nor Abraham, nor history, nor positive chronology, since they are lbs 
arbitrary product of purely mythological or ostronomicBl specolsiiona. 
We shall find ourselves conalontly bringing Iho dales on Egyptian 
monuments to correct or lo aid hialory in ibe number of years reigned 
by Iho tings of Egypt ; for, as I remarked in a former chapter, il 
was customary in all documents to dale tlie cunenl year from lb* 
king's acoeaaion to Ihe Ihrone. 

Willi reaped to the number of kings who ruled from the lit mo- 
narch of Iha 16lh dynasty, B. C.aa79, lo tho close of the 31»l Per 



d find It 



I the, 



1 comparison belwt 



Old Chronielo for ibis period, gi^ 

Mane Iho, according la Eusebins, ■ 

do do Africanua, ■ 

Canon of Syneellus, adjusted by Hales, 

and extended by myself, ' 

The mean beiween these records fiimishes i 
applying this lo Rosrllini's and Champollion's ei 
we again oblain snlisfaclory resultai for 



ANCIENT EOTFT 



TlMlttkdrnM^kginnby theiDBt B.C. 9971! 

T*ks kirajr Iha yawi benraan tbe Slit drnaMr and nor 

saTkMw^ biith, aaa 

there nmain 1940 
wUdi divided by 97, givea xm SO yen* fcff the iTence leign oT ex 
Uii(; ui iTenge len bj 9) Ttta, tli^o by Doctot Umlee toi oibL. 
it Dutbenulicuni U t^en for the bmui length of a kiiwljr 
). By BDothei compantite redoetioii I made of tba "Old 

,"Haaetho,E!rataaiheae«,aiul8riicellaa'aCaiioii,IabuJnBd 

A* ace«aaioii of the 16thd]nuair,at a mean within M yean of Ro. 



SnwRtiaa. 
Chraniele,"! 



nIOfiMa, bat acting alao upon mjr own 
4arived from tcloal inveMigatian. 

Of theaa ninety-aaTan kioga, the OKMUunenla will enable ua to pn>. 
dB«« about aevanty.five in hieroglyphie* ; while. Tor the abeance oT 
die net, we have to bccom the ipoilar ) and each anfouod king will 
la hia plac9 be readily accounted for. Their non-appeuance in hie. 
roglypbica, howeveT, doea not in the lout afiecl Iha mode or lbs occu- 
. iMjr of theie eompulationa for the IQth dynwty. 

It is acareely neceaary, aFlei my former remark* on Herodotin 

■ad Diodonia, lo tepeal, ihat in maltera of Egyptian chronology, it U 

. bnt loal time to consult them. Their delaila of an iadiridual king'i 

reconcllnble with tba monumenta, with otlier 
hemaelve*. Moel of the confuaion in Egyptian 
Uatoty has arieen from the miaeaDceptiooa and miarepreaantalioni of 
iImm two Gteeka, who wrote on aubjocti they neither did doi conld 
ItBow much abouL 

THE Ifilh DYNASTY OF THEBAK3, 
Conaiating of Rtb Pharaohi, who reigned togethei 190 yean, com. 
nanced B. C. 3973, end ended B. C. 9083. 

See faUal ef AIndot, in my lecture room, Noa. 90, SI, 99, 33, M. 
It will be obeerred that iheae orala are in iha tablet obllteraled, bnl 
Noa. 33 and 34 *iv aupplied by the goneaJogical lucceaaion of Beni. 

In ■ foiraar chapter I explained, thai each Pharaoh, after theae of 
' 4MearlierdynMtiea,hadtwDOTalaDrcartoucbaaincloainghianame«; 
aoe of which, called the prenoaen, contained hia diating^ahing title, 
Md ia generally lyinbolii: — the other, called hia nomen, conuined 
bb proper name, which in mo«t eaeea ia altogether phonetic. It ia 
by Ua pienomen that the Pharaoh ii generally determined on a tablet. 

When ence the poeition of a prenomen in relation to other pre. 
Bomina, ia eatabllahed by a genealogical tablet, it ia genetally eaay 
M find oil aome other monument a hierogiyphieal legend, wherein 
tbt prenomen ia connected with it* nomen or proper name, for 
faatance, we Rnd No. 33 in the tablet of Abydoa effhced ; bat atiU, 
tba former exiatence of an owner for it, U indiapuuble ; and we 
•oont bim for a Fhareoh, even without knowing hia namee. 

Tba genealogical ancceaaion i^ Beni-haasan (which ia another 
ncoidl givH — * 



SVK 



i 



M the tide or prenomen of a king — but we are >ltU ignorant of thie 
king** proper name. Let uaaeek for a monument, whereon we can 
And thia ptanomen aaaoclated with it* cotreqkondiiig nomen. Wa 
lake the granite obaliak (Tide obeliak in chapter third,} that atiti 
, toarka lbs du. of Heliopolia- Here we End thia prenomen (No. 33 
id nbleB AbyJoa and Beni haaaan) coupled with ihia nomen. 



Smi omau i« m wou,i>— OaosTuiN — 
and be ia our OacsTuuT the lat — 4th king 
^of IGth dynaaty. 
He waa, up to 1B37, the earlieai king identified on the tablet of 
Abydoa; but an accident happily acquainted na with hia predeeeaaor. 
No. 91, who ia alao en obliterated Pbaraoh. A broken atatne of a 
rittlng human figure of daik red gianita, waa in the poaaeaaioa of a 
fnilaman at Rome- Of thia atitne, (be lower pattion, conalMing 
«aty of tin lop and the chair, waa preaefred. It was known to bo 



Egyptian, but waa not eoiiaideradof any importance by ha propcletv 
Chance broogfat the kamad hlerolngiala. Dr. Lepdna and ChevaliM 
Baron Bonaen, in the way trf' thia block i and on a hieroglyphieBl 
legend down ita aide, they nad ** The King, 8d> omatn m tern 
Woauj (the prcmamn oyal of Oaoaruui lat) giver of ternnl Ufa, 
baa made a durable conatruction for hi* ftier, Pharaoh, Snv or 
GuABDumHlr ; ha* made a alatue in red granite to hitn, wh 
him vivifier for ever." 
On the other lide of tba *tatue, a legend the a*me In at . 

peatad ; hot in thi* legend the nomen oval i* given ; and tbua wm 
know that the father of (No. 33 of tablet of Abydoa, or OaoiTuxa Ik,} 
w*a "tbeaun ofguardianahip," AunorOan. One might be tempted 
'~ conaider him a Jubannea, a Hknoa, or a John, *o nearly doea tho 

lonetie value approach the eulera aonnd of Ih^ familiar name. 

Thiu, ifien, we have gone back one king more, and bare anly 

'O blanka to fill in the Ifiih dynaaty ; for No. 34, though obliterated 
the tablet of Abydoa. ia nipplied from Boni-haBian ; prenomelii 









I have thought it would be tatiaraclOTy lo the reader, la expound 

the curioua but practical proceaa by which Egyptian hieroglypbica 

~~~ read, and the chronology detemiined. Henceforward we ehall 

I the aucceadona regular through the tablet*, and where they end, 

can, in moat caaea, produce other equally ponlive proo^ from 

Of the Giat Oaortaaen we poaeaa many very intereiting recorda, 
ilightening ua on evenM unknown to, and uncbraoicled by any 
icient writera ; and it i* the pride of modem hierology of the last 
Gfloan yean, to have brougbl to light aome anndi uf a monarch, 
whoae exiitenee and name were omitted by alt hiiloriani ; and yet, 
whoee deeda place bim among the grenteat of kinga. It i* from le 
gend* coevd with him tiMt we glean thia information ; and when 
we reflect that, in hia day, B.C. 9088, Abraham, by the Hebrew ver. 
don, waa not botn ; it will be aeen bow lutenaely intereatiug are 
''~eae reauacilation*. 

Tbe monimieula of 0*artaaeti fint begin in Nubia, near the ae. 
cond Cataract, where he erected a temple ; and a table;, exhumed 
from thia >pol by the French and Tuscan cnmmiiuona, and now at 
Florence, recorda hia victoriea over the Lybiaiu, and over ten Afr* 
nationa, aome of whom miut be aougbt for toward the now-myr 
lerioua lourcea of the Nile. Another edifice waa left by him at Hi 
eracODpolia above Eilethyaa, the laat atone of which was carried oft 
'loul 1836. He built the aanctuary of the temple at Kar. 
B an enonnou* Blalua ooce stood representing thi* king, 
ctvetalliiad aulphate of lime ! One of hia general* lay 
buried in a tomb at Beni.haaaan. An obelisk in the Fsyoom, and 
the well known obeliak still erect at Heliopolis, record his name and 
titles. Scattered fragmenla bearing hi* legend are found in the win. 
dow^silU of moequea and tlireaholda of doon at Cairo, which Ma. 
hommedan deaeeration haa taken from Memphis and Heliopolis. 
Excavation* at Memphia andAbydoa have brought to light Stela 
ith his names ; and In the museums of Europe there are many 
relics of Oaarti*en. We poasess monuments which bear the aerend 
datea of the 9lh, 13lh, 17th, 9Sth, <9nd, 43nl, and 44lb yean of hia 
reign. 

The summary of dedoctiona to ba drawn from these fscta is, that 
•ortaaen wa* a great and iriae monarch, who ruled the land of 
Egypt with mnch regard to the welfare of hia subject* ; by whom 
hia memory was revered in alt after time*. His dominion extended 
into Ethiopia and Nigrida. He reproaaed the nomads of the Lybian 
desert It may be presumed that, toward the eastwsrd, hia Aaiatio 
frontier was limited to the Buei Isthmus, and Mount Sinai peninsula. 
In hia reign religion waa carefully protected ; and the arts of paint, 
ng and aculpture reached a bold purity of slyle, unsurpaeaed in eie. 
iution even by the more florid ehatacteristica of later times. Every 
art and every science known to the Egyptians were fully developed 

The style of archtleclore waa grand and chaste ; while the columns 

iw termed Doric, and attributed to the Greeks, were in common 
u*e in this reign, which preeedea the Doriana by n thousand years. 
The arch, lioth round aiid pointed, with its perfect keystone, in brick 
ne, waa well known to the Egyptiona long before thia 

, _. that the untenable aaeettion, that the most ancient arch ia 

that of iha Cloaca Hagmi at Rome, falls to the ground. 

In aicbitectura, aa in everything else, the Greeka and the Romana 
obtained their aoowladgs from their original sources in Egypt, where 
still existing ruina attest priority of invention 1000 yeaia before 
Greece, and 1500 yean before Rome. These topica are now beyond 
ly be found in the page* of the Champollion sch(>td. 
Unlit the laat few years they were utterly unknown in history. 

It aeema poadble, however, that the habits of good order, agricul- 
tural welfare, civiliistion, and social refinement, had rendered the 
(hen peaceful inhabitants of the valley of the Nile unambilioua of 
foreign extension. It would appear, asif content with repressing the' 
tnroada of the southern and western natioas, they thought more of 
preserving and improving the goods accruing to them from peacerol 
imtiiatians, than of increadng their waalth by military prow tsa or 
talritivlal aztendon. 

This ia to ba tnferrwl fram the fiarca vidtBtimi, which FrovidaBce 
id tban in store for Egypt, ib*i bafsl in lb* naxl ingn. 



ANCIENT EGTPT. 



\ 



Although, of CUDTH, not the alightml record of the evetil 

found in die hieroglyphica, modem chcoaalogutaFoiiaidet ihi 
Abraham (o hivo (okeD place in liiii or tlie precediog reign. All 
aeem <o agree that the petrinrch eought refuge frum ihe funine, at 
thai Dme in Cuibiui, amid the nelt-<tored grnnuiea of Egjrpti during the 
IGlh dynaily. I confen, that there ere many objection* loiliii view 
ariniag from an tiiiniluda of ctrcumelancea. The main diStcntdea 
proceed fium the divcraily of computmioa 6( Sctiptanl chronoli 
and [he doubt a« to the epoch of Abrahmn within 500 yeiis. 
Egyptian chronuiogy, we have »o many lind.marka, that now.a^aya 
Ihe hierologist con err but little in hia date for the 16th dynaaly ; and 
ihurefure we am compelled to adept the Biblical chronology to the 
monuments. Tliia can be done eatiafaciorily, when we gelect thoee 
Bililical auihoritiea that bust accord with hieroglyphic history. 

My oral leclursa wilt touch on the aeveral eomputalioni of Cham- 
DollioD, RoaaUini and WUhinaon. 

In any case, if Abraham miled Egypt during thia dynaaly, he wa> 
received with hoapt tali ly and kindness; although ho made use of 
■ aubterTuge, that, to aay the least, was repTchanaiblc. 

The Pharash of Egypt behaved to him with manly generMity, and 
dismliwd him and all hia people " rich in cattle, in ailver,and in gold." 
Thli aayi volumes for the land itylcd the "region of purity and juat- 
Ice" in thoae moat remote perioda. Not only did Abraham retain all 
hia wealA, but he waa allowed tn inke it, and to go hta way 
Ihe desert toward Mamre near Hebron, unmoleslpd, and enriched 
with presenu. We may infer that li^ypt was grcnl and wealthy, 
when eattle, silver, and guld did not tempt Ihe inhabilunti lo viulate 
ihe righta of hoipiuihty. Nor can Egyptian forbearance be altrl. 
bated to any other feeling than that of justice to Ihe atranger ; as 
Abrahoni'a armed force [his " trained servanla"] many ycata after, 
did not exceed 31B men ; whereaa, the Egypliana poaaeeeed regular 
, armiea, vast citiea ; and some contuiicB previously, had devoted 
100,0011 men eutely to erect one pyramidal tomb. 

Abraham doubtksa increased his alack in Egypt, and likewise 
hired Egyptian attendants; for his handmaid Hagnr waa an Egypt' 
female ; their eon Ishmael,' waa therefore half Egyptian in bio 
and to evince his ailachment lo his maternal origin, this son i 
capouied an Egyptian, when he aelded in the wildcrnesB of Peran. 

These circnitistancos, though in thomaelvcs Infling, go far in 
pon of the Anialic origin and Caucasian race of the early Egypti 
who, while they do not appear to have looked upon Abraham 
Gentile, were by him coniidered worthy of his family. This w 
probably not have been the ease, had the Eg)-piians Iteen A/rii 
There is in fact, every Scriptural reason Ui believe, that the early 
Egj'ptiana and Abraham's ramily were on the inoet friendly footing. 

The relation between Abraham and the Phaivoh of Egypt, waa 
euch as between a Bfdawee Sheykh and Mahommed Ali of the 
present times. The obligation was eiclusively on the aide of the 
Hebrew pnlriarchi who, apart from his personal merits, as a vene- 
rable and pious man — a distinguished guest of the Egyptians — must, 
in other points of conipatiMin to tlie monarch, whose away extended 
1500 miles along the Nile, have been quite insignilicant. 

It ia on these grounds, that the aileace of Egyptian Annata in re. 
■pec4 10 Abrahsjn ia readily explained. 

To proceed with Egyptian history — the succeeaot to Osorlasen Ihe 
1st, was Amencmho 1st ; but few of hie remains have come down 
la U4. oni.ig IG Ihe catastrophe that put an end to his life and reign ; 
no less than lo the happiness of Egypt for a period of afiO years. 
Let ua take up Manetho preserved to ua by [he Jewish historian Joec. 
pbits, after observing that " Amencmhe 1st," agrees chronologically 
with Tiroaua — Choneharis. 

Fragmenla of Manetho's history; preserved by Joseph us in his 
defence of the Jewa against Apion, (extracted torn Cory's "Ancient 
Fragments.") 

MANETHO 



or T 



S SIUTIIERD nlNGS. 



tapsK, IknaonDihow.ihiiODdovsii di 
DP frtnn the East in a ilnrrfe maaasr n- 
conMiinee to iavide oerenunlry, and rav 
Dul a battle, And whan Ihey bsd our ni 

ciiiea, and demniiihed Ihe lenples of ihe (uda, and iuflKlnl every kiad oT 
harhariif upon the nihabitanti, slayini Mme, and reducini the wives and 
children of olbars la a stale of slavery. At lenf Ih Ihry ma^ one uT them- 
selves kini, whose aame wa* Salsiis ] he lived at Menifihis, and lendered 
boili the upper and lower raiioM uTEiypt irtbuiary, and siationed larrisoas 
■a plaeas which warn but adapled far thai purpose. But he directed hii 
■imum prtncipiliy to iha sscwity of lbs csstsn frontier i for be rsfarded 
whh«ii«pioiDntl»inena*in(pDWerorihaAHr'>aD*, wbe he foressw woutd 
HAa day underlalie sn bvaiim of Ihe kiufdon. And observini in the Bails 
MHDe, upon Iha east ef the Bubaalha ehaMiH, • einr whkh from soma an- 
etea* IheolafiosI refrmice waa ealM Avarts : and fiadinf it adaiinUy 
■dawed to his purpow, ha rebuilt it, aad itrnMl* f.>rliGcri u with walia, aad 
■arriseaed it widia Ibree aflwo hiuHlrrdanfl fifty Ihowand men completBly 
troed. Tn Ihit eily RalBtiirei>aired ie lumner liiv, to coll'-ci his Inhote , 
, and pay his lioinM, and to eierciae hb soldiers in anlrr in sirike terror into 



Apfchlr. 



riitaed Auii rrniy^ains ] 

la war opoii the Eiypiians m 
this DaliriD waa styled Hya 




Iter a reicn orniDeieen yrars : alter hlsi reiineJ an 

d BBan,*/ertV-four );csis; and hs »«■ •eecetd. 



Its and unenionib. Aficr 
i» and IWD nienihs. Thcia >ia were iIm 
11 the whole period of ibeir dynasiy, Ihey 
Jiihehapb of exterminaiinf the whfde race. 
I, thai i> the bhepherd Kincs ; for the fim 
- ■ - id Boa ai|i™i4c« ■ 

id at theai 



pouaded the lerni Hyeaoa; some eai ikry were Arabians. Thia pmple 
who were [bus deBomualed Shepherd Kin as, and Iheii detcendaets H'labird 
poasesaiin ofEiypI durini Iha period of Bve hunditd and eleven yean. 

Aflat these Ihings he rtbtrs Ihal the kings of Thrbai* and oTihe ollwr pre 
vinces of Enpt> made an inaurreciion afainel tb« S|>,p|iF>d>, and Ihai a 
hat and eiigbiy war waa carried on belween ihem, till ilie Btirphaidi wrre 
ovetconw by a kins whose nsme was Aliiph^iaHilheaia, and ihty «ite ay 
him driven out of tlie Mher pans of Eiypi, BIB hammed up in a place ew- 
tainini sbiHii ten ihuvsand acres, which was calltd Aari*. All this Iran 
(siya MaDetho) the ShepbiTds aurroundsd with a vast and sipnuf wall, that 
Ihry might retain all theit |.raperty and their pay wilhin a hnU of sinsiiih. 

And Thumnmiia, ihe sun of Alisphragmulboaii, endeavored torsreelhem 

' »nd heleafured the place with a body of feiir huriditd and eirfiiy 

,.teB; but Bi the nomeni he deapairvd ef leducinf them by iiCf a, 

ihcy agreed to a cspitulaiinn, that they would leave Kiypi, sad sheuU be 
perniiiicd to so out without molsatalioB whersanrver they nlrasad. Aiut, 

- .■--.-..-,-..- ,,,_„ 1, f,„,i. 

couatry which Is now called Jut 
UHle of nr>n, and named it J>ru 

iTiheEi 

ailed She, 

„. ..., of this nation of Shrpherdi to Jcrti^lrm, Tpitipiivip, 

the kiof of Eiypt who dmve ihom out, leigned twrnty-flve yesri and f-ur 

' ishaoils Gv thineen years; aflerhini r«i(iMd Ameniiphii for IwDly yeaia 
od seven noathi: ihrn his liiter Amesses Iweniy-one years and aiiie 
»nths: shs was succeeded by Mephres, who reiinediwrlfe yean aad pina 
.jtaaths: allcr bim MephramutboiiB iwenly-Grs years aad im niunihi ; iben 
Thiaosis reipied nine yeara and ei(hl nHrnlha; ifltr vhom Amenopliis 
thirty years and Im numihs i Iheo Orua thinv-sla years Bod fire nonilis : 
then hii dauihler Acenchrea twelve rears aad olie BI'iliTb ; afterHards htr 
brother Baihotie Dine; then AcencbEres iwclve yrars and five nwn'hs; 
' r Aeeneherei twelve years and three mnoths; sl^er hhs Armaisfiair 

irmeisEs the son afjiliainniaus sixty- lis ytarsaiiil two aHmihs : aOer 

..mnnophis niaeieen years sad aii nooihs ; snd he was f Dcceeded by 

Seihoiia and Ramesass. he mainiaised an army of cavalry snd a nsvsl fbr'-e. 
This kine (Sethoor) appeinied his braiher Arnala hia viermy nvei 
Eiypii ha also inveMad him with all the authority of a kinf, wiih only ihrra 
restrietiona; that he should Pot wear Ihc diadem, nnrinierfkrewiihihequeFn, 
the mother of bia children, &nr abuse the royal cnncubiara. Selhosia then 
ainiK Cyprus and Pbanicia, siul HB|ed war rritb the 
and he subdued them all, lomehy force '.farms, and 
[ha lorraiorror of hia fewer. And heinj entrd 



othn-l wilhoDt a 



-it-X'. 



inlidendy, a 



fraili 



iVrmais, who was lad in Eiypl, IDok sdrsMaae c 
ily perpelraied all those acts which his brother 

iih the coneuhiBSS -, snd at the persuaiiun uf Ids fi 
sdetn, and openly eppossd his brolhtr. 
But ihe ruler over Ihe prime of Gcypt by 
fis, and inlbrmed him « what had hopuf'" 
•■ ■ ■ !>■ . V\ 



limsel^ap Id oppowiioD , 

mrd [o Pahiaiiuo, and recovered his kiiiaion. The o 

ila naiae fmn Setheals, who ws> called alao Jf^ti't 



led, Bud how his broiher had 



ontrj »^E»F' 
•Ir.'jlpp, lib. I. 



n by iha ni 

OF Tl 
iphil) vrai , 
of his predecessor* in 'he kinitdair 

nowleiige of ruluriiv ; and Amenophis reluriieil him answer, ■> 

ipers and other onclssn persnDs thai shmindrd in il. 
Well piresed with this inrormatinn, the hmf islherBd It*! 
E(Tpt all that labored under any defect in body, |« the ainoui 
''^ -nd.and seal ihcmto lliequanies, whiiJi are aileaied nn ine lui sion 
Nile, that ihey nufht work in then and bsseparaled ftvnlbasfsl of 
the Eeyptiana. Awf (he says) there ware tmepg Ihem some Icanwil priesia 
wIhi were adeeted with leprosy. And AmenoptHs th* wise msn and piophel, 
feerful least d>e venr-BBce of die |ods shoukifiOl both on hmsrlf and on ihe 
iin«, ifit should appear that vidence had heed offired ihe tn, added thlaalan 

dean persons, and weald subdoe Egyp', said hold it in paisssiinn 
en years. These tidmfs boivcver he dsrrd noi lu canimunicti* M 
bin leR in writinc what should conte [ddbsb, and deaireyed bmseir, 

Ihe king was faarfuDydistrnsed. 

which he wriias thus, word f.ir »nrd :) Whsn Iboie Ihsl wen sriit 
n Iha quBiries had cmiiinued for ion»iinie in ihsi laiasrsMs slsia. 



It of eifhiy 



p.sn— ti>s*s<iiii<oiB iKite idKnt IhbSmi 






I Uken poMSBion of the ciV, and faund i( ir. 
mraraio'i.snT'PiMinlHlfur ihoniielvot ■ nilwfrom umpng th( 
HsUnpoIki, DM wSoH nrnms wu Omrnvb, and Ihgji bound ihei 
flclfallwttlwii "wldlMubediait. Oiukpb Iben, is liw fini pt«ct — 
l»,tli«ilba]r>hiwtdDsiih(r nurrtifpiheiodi, nnrBbnuntnaiuiy ofAsa* 
«Mr«d uiinua which iha Emtitnt hold id nncrakn, bui neriB» u ' 
ib]> ihnn nil; and ihu iber nbouUI eaimFCI rhsnuslfai mlb uoc tnil bm 
■awere gf thM contedBrac;. WIkk ha had omit luch lawi aa ihoacu 
•HW oihvn of ■ icndnic; diitcil:r in Dpinaitini In the euitoin* oT li 
Kay^iaiM, hs («•« ordor* <1ial ihiy ahould cnplny tha mtiiiude of baiila i 
^ rabiiildlni ihc walb aboul the eilv, Ukd hold ■hBiruelra ia ratdiima r« ni 
T wiib AmcBophii tha kiiif. Ha ilwn Inok iaiu hu eounacb aofm Mhrrs o. 

.L. _.i J — 1 ._j — .__ .. to iho city Cillad 

Taihmoa--- —■• 
iramliMi oT Ihsir ■Sain, aod nqusMod i 
. _ , la uiiiluca ia thl. wtr with Ecypi. I 

pnoiisl inihcfinl|Kicelor>iiuulelh«ininih«r ucientcitraDdi ^ 

A?«ri«,aiidpruvldB»plmtitul Biainiananoo for ihtir hMt,>jid fifhi for Them 
' m mithl rrauira j and wmmi iheu ih«t he wtKild taiilv nduoe 

y undat Ibair doauiiDB. The Sh.phwdi ree— ' "^^ 

h Iha rreatot jcv. tat qnickly nuatend la iha nuol 

u lh« iaat ff EfypI, irbrn ha wu info 
ceaHanuiioBinBcnberiBg ihs prophtcr id'Ameni 
afPiBii. And be ■■■eiiiblad Iha arnica orihe Biypti 

__ whail nith ibo badan, h« oonnandod Ihe ■nrriJl i....... . .. 

breauhi W hiJa. eap«iall|r ih«ia whieh ware h*U ia mm panicular *«ii 
tiiwu iha iinplia^aBdhflbithwitliehufMliha prieda laemcatil (heimi 




ANCIENT EGYPT. 






■ndhi'- 



af IhaBioriiiiuMbvitif thna huadiiwl ihauMnd ••arriori, uiinM ihr tarmj, 
oInailTanoedtoiiieeibinibBlhaddiuMaiuckthEin, IhinUnfii wDuklbE 
la •nfe war atsian ibc tun>- hut ratarnedi and cama iiruD to Mnr"'-!. 
(rhera he took ApH add Iha athar aaUHl aninab he had aenl for, an 
Inatad iinmcdUlal]' Inu Ethiopia lofethar wfib dl hi) tiimr, and a 

■wllitude of the Girplianai lof the hiii(cd' Bihimia waimder sUip. 

In him. Bt mn Iherelora kindlf raeniTgd bf the king, who link care oT all 

, Dm tMliiiud I that waa with him, wlille the eomlrr aupplied what waa ne- 
«aaaV7 far Iteir auhiiiiance. Ue ataa alkmed to him eiiiei aad t)lla«ea 

, 4ariD( hi* eiilei which wai to esBiImia fiDm iu bsfinninf duriiw I' 
4aaliB«l Ihirteeo jean. MorooTcr he piiched a damp (or as Ki 
•rav ll*Mitba border! of Kn'PH ....... 

!■ Iha nt — ■■ '"- — ^ 

• ■ ■ ■ tieTvt. , 

, ....ilahad (urmerly B>«n;i 

lb* olira and rlUafei, but CMnmitted nerj 
dia iBafei oTlhe lodi, and reaiud and led 
re wonhippad ,- and haTlii|[ mnipB" ' 
lifioe IhMB, the* eaii Ihem diked 
IB prieilf who arJained their paliif and lawi 
■dhiinaineOnniph,rrainOair>tlliefo.l<if Heliopnlia: but IhiiL ol 



XVU. DYNASTY OP SIX SHEPHERD W^cg^ 



, Aaeth. 



Dynaatr reigned— yean 359" If) 



AXEKEVUK II.* 

OsoBTaaEN II. 

OsOITaiEN 111. 

Ahbmekbe III. 



lUle of thinta in Ethiopia, I 
ID nui Eome Down with Iha unclean DTths EgTptiai 
with auci' barbariiT, thai ihoaowbow' ' ' 



raerilifii, tiM riralrejed 
me aacrtid aniaala thai 
andprsphetg le ki" 



■epA. emtr. App^b. 1. 1. M. 



ieliopnii.;! 
Land hew. 



liirM, anil Kkmiiaei alao, hi , .... 

he Shi'ph«n)i and the imnfeia people, ibn dpr-at<>d Ihem and 
leioT thm, aodpurauedihem to the bound) of Srria.—/iMeiih. 



Kr, App. lit L e.ZJ. 

Having mr" laid befor* lite raadnr M the preli 



the clcu compmhetisitin of Egyptian palcograph)', from ilie 
11 10 the acceaaion o{ the IGAi dynastf of Diospoliians, 

^d tha boundsiy proposed in the pubticBlii>n of ihe pre. 

In my future ore! Lecluroa all rcraniuing eubjei;tB, that experience 
tmy proTfl to b« iiilereating to iho public, will be progiesaJTely de. 
mlnped : ind to lender ibe Ebronological portion iaUlUgible, I 

GENERAL TABLE 
(B THE LAST SIITEEi DYNASTIES OFTHE KINGS OP EGYPT, 



XVL DYWASTY OF FIVE TREBAN KINGS. 



1 


1 


'UaSfl-ysJisr.'j- 


"'.^iijWjT.r 


P 




1 


a 


a 


4 


5 


B. C. 










'iin 
















m. 

IV. 
V. 


AiiN. 

OaOETASEN I, ' 

Aaunn I. 


Atneasea, Amtjels. 
Timaua, ConcliuHfl. 


^" 


9133 
aiSG 

2082 



VI. AaHHEs, ThailimotU.l Migphragmuihosis. ^ | 11139 

Tba entire Dj^asly reigned— yesi> SCO 

THE XVIIIth DYNASTY OF 17 THEBAN RINGS. 
Occupied the Phaiaanic throne during the Dioai bKlliaiil and impoi 
" period of Bgypliaa history. The reCalabliahnieiil of auprem* 
er on Ihe oipulaion of the Hylubos; tlie ereelion of llie moel 
magnificent edifices; Ibe conquesD in Africa fnr Into Ntgridn, in 
Asia Minor to Cholcta on the Euxine, antl ihnnigh Central Ania into 
Hindoelan ; with the aojonni and Eiodua of the hraetitcs, combine 
to reader this portion of the page of Nilotic history teeming widi 
inUiegl. Four parallel hieroglyphical lists exiil lo confirm and cor. 
rect the fraemeat) of Manetho, via. : the Tablet of Ahfdot, Ihe Pro. 
ceasion of Iho Konuunum, the ProcDsaion of Mtdttiitl-Haboo, and 
the Tomb of Gumah. 



1 


3 


3 


4 


5 


D. C. 


ID 




AiTOKora I. 




afiM^ 


1822 


1.1 


II 




;hebron. 


13 


IT9G 


U 


III 


Thothmes II. 




w 


1783 


15 


IV 


AiniisE, queen, 








17 




Thoth™ III. 

AMSraMElIV. 


[banda of queen 


21 9 


17(3 


IS 


V 


TBOTKMMlV.t 




12 i 


1740 


14 








ili> It 




m 


VII 






H t 




UI 


VIII 


AsnniaFB IlL 


Anienophia.Memnon 


3U II 


iG9a 


w 








;«i ; 


I6«I 








A^-hentteren. 


12 1 


1035 






Ra»se> 1." 


ftalliutis. Alhorin. 


» 




«.^ 


XI! 






U t 


1604 


ilH 


XllI 




( R«ra)a,Se>oa, l 


u 


157» 


27 


XIV 


Ruisu III. 




G6 2 


1566 










3 




29 


XVI 


ME-tEfBTBA IH. 


Ameoopbi). 1 














IU t 




nil 












31 


XVU 


RKntsai.Ucrri. 




it 5 


UT6 



e Dynnmy reigned — yeara 3d8 
XIX. DYNASTY OP SIX THEBAN KINGS. 



Ramses VI. 
Ramses VIT. 
"Ramsej VIII. 
Rauses IX. 



Sclhos-SgypluH. 
RapBachre, ItampBCS. 
AintDeoephlhca, 
Rameaes. 
Ammoneiiiea. 
Thuori»,Polihiu»,! 
Dynasty reigned — ] 




AHCIrBlfT 'EG.YPT. 



L 



IVaauiofltoiuvBHnonfband fai WflWUcf on ihi 




mrnm* of Egypt. 






L Emnom Cjuab Av^vavh B. C« 97. 










A. A. 


11. 


ff « 


TnmmCiBASv 


14 


in. 


M 


Caios— CaUniiU— 


86 


IV. 


f 


TiBiBnrs OiJkiiMDi CmuMrAmmam 




T 




QnMiuaaatMm 


40 


V. 


« 


Neso Ci.AimxuB Cmmmm Awustus 




4 






54 


VL 


« 


Maicos Orao Cmmam Ammm, 




vn. 


M 




68 


VIII. 


M 


Titus Gjuam Vvpasuv Aanamt 


78 


IX. 


t< 


Cjbsak DomxiAH AimusTUSy 


81 


X. 


<C 




97 


XI. 


M 




116 


XII. 


$t 


C JOAX TrruB Euus AmuAir 








AMToviirvs A wvtm Fraiy 


187 


XIII. 


U 




161 


XIV. 


M 


Lvonm Voios CjnAi, 




XV. 


<l 


GoMifooai, 


280 


XVI. 


M 


CjuAB Ssmui Kvmmoh 


184 


>xvn. 


«l 


C JBSAB OiTA Avraro, 




^▼ni. 


II 




ini 



Nort. Of 
0AUA«dl« only 

sMPnu 



aiUd 
Ib hiwoiljpUe^ are Omibm, VlteUkw 



That fixnn »ii indefinita period, prior to the ywir B. C. 9878, down 
to About 815 yean after Ae Chriatian era, the hieroglyidiical char- 
acter is proved to have been in nae ; while, from die year 9378, B. 
C, modem hierologyhaa determined die chronolo^cal aeries of 
Egyptian monarcha, by the translation of hieroglyphlcal annals. 

The Romana held Egyptfrom the 97th year 6. C. till 395 A. D. ; 
whan the sons of Theodoahis the Great divided the empiie ; and 
Egypt littgend under the sovereignty of the Eastern Emperors ; till, 
conquered by Akmer^bn^eLAs, the Valley of the Nile became a 
province of Omar's Saracenic Caliphate, in A. D. 540. In the year 
A.D. l5i7-'A«gir«888-J5gyplwaaovemm by the Ottoman hordes 
ofBoeilto Be l e to, and haa a«ar ainca baen.the spoil of the Turk i 
buti In tba pwphatic **. Books of Haimaa" it is written, 

«Et InfaaMtibit iEgyplnm Seydna, ant Ihmi, Mrt «%»» lalia.* 



m 09 AjreBHT 



ERRATA. 

FAflsSO. Sad Cohnnnr 14 lines fiomlop, for la Ifte.flMMbfMdisiaiAtafteM^ 
•^ 30. lat. ••IS * « M <« Mvtoi)UrM«,im4lrl^gll4»iiUfMr. 
•• 30. lat. *• A •* •* bottom for, siisii li s als, nwisr, gaad s l sawtie ii, tUi 

• 81. 9nd. «• 15 •• ^ ** " Mwdhmmi M well M 

* 4SL -ShtL *• 11 «« •* «• « «jfA,faadistas»<. 
« 43. let. •<38'« ••lop'' ^.taadOsy. 

TlliflasdaaKn, emdita inHebaawand othar Oriental lang«|gea» haa kindly «iggaaladdia foOowiog amandationa to ihaAolkar. 
HolSt pv* kl— 4iat thanama of Msass MoanaH- 4)aingdaihrad fimn the Hebrew root **lo draw out," haa no rsfa ra naa to the root *• to 



YiMa Sl^'Hkat the Habiaw root Am doaa not maaa iha Amn b« lighi, and Urn, or Oo««> algnifiaa JlasM, ff l s irf sr; that fhtiM and TBUMimr, 

are not dnals but j^MPato, and ahonld be randaisd ** splendors and perfectiona.'' 
W9^ 4 8 " d i at the naaM of the ThebsM ■yAiMUia ii aot darifnble fcam the root FATBAm, to Mteiprtl; but probably represents the Coptic 

P»HODmis, Tenm A nst w Ma, ifaa A u t h tm hmi. 
YiMe 43 — diat die word Mats-xa, unleavened baaad^ia dailvadfiam dia root^aafwaaa^ la- 



Ko( to enter Into an argument, I refer die erfdcal reader to Poitaxi, ^ Lea 9fmM9§ dee E^nvdaas eomparfe k eaux dcs flebreus ' 
fWi 18i0— and De IiAMB on d»Habi«w Alpoabet London, 1885. 



ANCIENT EGYPT. 



7% GioKsa B. Glidpoit. Riq. 

BoiTOM, Fabrouy, i, 1843. 
Sir, — Having i.ttondcd yourcoume of thirt«<Hi LwAoraa (■oroaaf 
tu IhB whots, uid otlisn, piru of Ihe coiine,) deliiend in ttili eilf, 
Da''EiBLT EorrTiAH Hutdbi. AhfrSoloot, ma othkr miB- 
ITH HtCaooLiFtiiciL LiTEHAiuKE," we Uka 
« Ihe high KtiBTaclion wo have experieu»d— 
ia ocmiiuui witli your oilier auditora — in rnllowing you tliioueb the 
iklct^in^ deVDlapmenU rnade of your noble and ineiluuatible aub- 

il out be TBiDarked, Ihil, until tlie praaanl am. the eilrvor- 
dinory biiloij uid iuilu|iiitt« of that arei inannnLl>[e couiilry, iu iu 
■arlieit penoda, have been, nun|iua.tiTuIv faking, a tinue of la- 
blei -, and, aliiioat litsnlly, Bnvela|ied in Uial inip«aetmb]e dtirknan, 
•fhieh has long bseu anociitad *filli tha uiiine of tlial people in a 
ftmiiiar proretb ; for, although the lilgrptiuia ftom the eulioit agei. 
lilia other mtioni, htid leooided Ihair grett public evanta on tlioir 
public oioniimeata. which are Mill eiUnt, jet all knowtudga of Uia 
language cf Ihoie InoaumeuLa — the HirLftooLTi'HErAL f iAWi^aea ol' 
tigjfi — bad long been toM to the world, and ha* but recently been 
itHiovpfcO by liiK prolound reHearchcii, uliicli ware in»lituled in Kng' 
luid by YoDHO — ^ke •minant in SeiouM and UleratMra — and, in 
I'ranu.', aucrfiMfiilly proaeculfld to tlieir full davolopmenl by Chih- 
rau.iDN i a raaulL, which wilt abed a lunre upon Lbahtenry ftmeof 
' LO loB briili^iicT thnn the nnat calshrated dw- 
coverm mads in any of tlw fislda of icisnca. 

We cannot, Iherotbre, permit the pieaanloccaiion topuB, witliout 
iMti^ing oui gratification at hating jiad thia opportunity ofliewiBg 
(he Ant coune of Lecturva, deliveied in Ihii cotintry, upon the re- 
■ulLaof tboaa piolbunU ftnd interesting reeearclue*. Th«ae raiulla 
■bed new light upon the early hulory of u ' " 

vieWt in adoitioD to the knowted^ we be 
Scripluiea, the autlioiiUc records of a greal natu: 
remote epoch, than tlie earliest rsoorot of any ]>euple wlriah the 
i have tiitliorlo made a lubject ol' Itioiough &n'l exkci, iaveati- 
ntiOD. The impulie novt given to then aludim, will. We have no 
doubt, atimulate many of our mIelligRiit and (lenevering KlkoliLn, 
to emulate thei.' illiulrioiu Eiuopeiui preoecesKorr inlhiBdepirtment 
of knowledge : and, white they extend thctronn&me, to add 1o the 
npatstioa of their country. 

With Oiir cordial wiihealiM your succoa* in niakin known, in other 
puU at the United Sutei, the valuable and inl«resling r»iillB of 
tuptfao reaearches, aud witli the uiunuicea of our porcoua] regard, 
We are, Sir, 

Youi obedient aervanti, 



J DO. Pickering, 
John Divia, 
Wm. Jenka, 
CLarlea P. Curtia, 
B. K. Lothrop, 
An Ealon, 
Jaa. Savage, 
1. P. Davif, 



aiarla Sumner, 
r. C. Gray, 
Jo., W. Ingmlam 
Aloi, Young, 
G. S. Ilitlard, 
Goo. Hay ward, 
Chajle* LowelL 



PBiLaDiLrnlA, March 30lb, 1B44. 
To GcoKOR R. Oliddoh, Eaq. 

DtT Sir, — Ab momben of VDOr recent elan in thin city, we can- 
not denr DurMilve* the gratincation of returning you our warmen 
thanks lor the pleaiuie and profit derived from youi diicoursea. We 
preaunie, however, that* J iial appreciitiun of llie importance of your 
theme, will prove lar more a^oeable to your feeling*, than even the 
rirhly-meriled acknowiediment due to the unvarying urbanity and 
kindnes of manner, which diitinguialiad your penonal iolercourae 
with your hearan. 

Permit IU, then, to thank you mut ainceroly — rather aa citiiena of 
an eitensve communily than u mere individuala — tot the elfotli 
yuu have made lo arouee the attention of Uie American (lublic to 
tlie deeply inlereatinr aubjecl uf ^tiplian Anfianltji^. 

To pjiraplirase ■ familiar Saatem ejaculalion. " Thtrt u no Truth 
ial ]Vu(A,"_aiid il ia squally true, thai scepticiam ia deprived of all 
it> weapon* when truth appean, diveatod of the erron, with which 
il luk been veiled through honeat miacancepliona, 

A( Chriatiana, we feel that the public ia deeply indebted to you, 
fbl uiuming the critical puat of a pioneer, in thn laak of nodering 
popular tlie conalantly accumulating Incta by which Egyptian hiero- 
glyphic hiatory eoiroboratea the record of the aacred writer*, and 
ea«U bright aunahine upon agoa, inalitutiona, men and molivei, hith- 
erto bill vaguolv traced in the dim, deceptive moonlight of Grecian 
■nd Rijiiian pliiloaopliy. 

Aa men, we have liatened with liiKh intereat to your irji«tt of the 
nala of learning and Clw srta, amoim a people antedating all oilier 
riuinl hiitory, and the pure, tliough aoemlngly enigmatical inoml- 
Itv, whicli viadlciUu tlie dignity ' ' -- 






ling ijuantioi 
orgovsm mental ayatei 



without efTorl o 

tiie subjecl of enduring (liougliL. 

I'heae tliinga are Gir too grand ai 
tico; and we will, theretbie, doa* « 

conaiJeiations, not Ivai ihan priulo graLification, induce ua~mo«i,. 
heirlHy lo wiali yon a prosperous career elwwhera, and a apoedy f*-" 
lurn to Phlladelpliia, whale we trust Iha inlslligenos and virtuaof 
tlie community will sver be ready lo welcoms you. ' 

We are, voiy fospeclfulJy, 

Jamea Meaw, 

Henry VV. Ducachel, 

Peter Vanpell. 

C G. Childa, 

David 6. Brown, 

J. Fisher Learning, 

A. D.ChaUiuci, 

A,D, Gillelle, 

Joseph Muntgotneiy, 

Charles R^ao, 

Thotnta RyuiJ 

John S. htiller, 

U. Heiijy. 

Joaiah Rundall, 

Sainuel Jick*uil, 

S. F. Smilh. 

R. D. Wood, 

Lawrence Lewis, 

Richard C. Taylor, 

John J.Smitli, Jr., 

Isaiah Hacker, 

WilliainPetoi, 

John G. Watioough, 

TboniB* Gilpin, 

A. M.Prevoal, 

Thomas Firth, 

William Morrison, 

J. 8. Phillips, 




'ocatlon. I Immcdialoly ixnt down to Wiley brut- 
nam's, and was Ibrtunate enough to obtain a copy, which I hava 

Eons over ; and as il contains your address, I cannot withhold aif t 
omblo tribulaofipjilaiise. It is the Jlrit attempt, that 1 am awaf* * 
of, lo populariM the subject of hieroglvphical lileratura and histoi; 
In all lUi delaila and branches ; and the thoroughly masterly monntr 
in which you have executed your task, (con amore) wilt be appK> 
cialed by all, and yet more especially by tlioae who have labored ia 
Ihe same lield. — bir the mass of valuable inlbrnialion lirought to- 
getlier from a thousand discordant sources, ia truly aatoriishing-" 

" I have recommended your work lo aeveial 

rriendi, who wisL to know a tittle truth nn Ancisnt Egypt and iH 
Arcliffiology: and shall advise all who visit that country to make K 
their study on the voyage," be. 

MaoDCH,* Lsnden, 10th Nov., IflJS. 

" I am very mnch pleased with the work, (Ancient Eptpt,) fur X 
conveys in a aimple and eloquent style, information which is not U 
ba prociucd in any other way. It ffave me great plaaaurB lo (oA 
that the American public appreciated your eietl^ona," &c. 

H*aHii, JJfEandFM.asth Nov., 1813. 

"Our friend Mr. A. Tod,| presented 
EgyDti ■--- " - '■ ■ ■ 

of your industry and application, which must have been very great 

to hive productid a work of so mucli ' ' ' ~" -*--'■ 

will make yoursulf a name, if you pur 

out for yourself 1 nncorely wish you auccesa," &'c. 

BsNOHt, Fyramiif] of Gtunth. 17th Jan'ry., 1^44. 

" We are all very much pleased with the efFofts you hai . 

making in the cauaa. It is, indeed, highly orediUbla lo you to nam 
produced such a complole and highly mlerfallng volume on Ihe *u]»- 
ject. I do not know any treatise on the subject that is likely li -■ '- 



ANCIENT r. c. y P T . 



n»der tolhs veiy mu-gin ul our knawlodip; luving ahown liim in 
the coune sevonl nlla/i and branclioa of ths gmt X^ijrinlh that 
ua aliU uiioxplored, ind itimulnted liim lo puraue the iludf by pi- 
quant iugge«tiDn». In «hort, yuut book lina done morB la rendsr Iha 
■DbJBd pupulat, llun any wtirk in eiislDuce," Uc. 

I.XPIIDI, Kartrvm, la S3 CJan, 1844. 

(Junclion or Iho WhLle mid Blue Nile.) 
"HoOBBDT et ColUguo, 

" Je nw hiXe dg vodb accnMr reception dii bulletin* dd la Soci^ti 
dM SciencfH NalurellcM de Philadelphia, que vnui aval bien Toiilu 
n' envoyer par I'cntremiso de Monneur volie pire. Je voii pur eetn'* 
que oatla nonoralile Sociele m' a fait rhoniiaiir de metlra mon iiom 
pannt mm memhrei comopondanls. Bien sensible i cettis diitlnctioii, 
que JB ne miirsi* eipliquer que par rinlerct bion *if que rous pren- 
DBi BUI m^mea etudoa auiquelles je mo suia livr£ de prJKreiu«, el 
dont voua etea la reprieentint ai^i zi'le que nvantdaiu te nouveau 
Mnnde, je vous p^is de voulair presenter i ilea humble* remerciemeni 
i flionorable Boei^tj, et d' agreer en inenie teinpa I'eipmeion do 
ma reeonniisance enver* roue meme, qui ivei bien roulu Imulifnir 
I^Dioi^t pour lea ^tudea EgypUennet sur celui qui raudiait lee Giire 



»T>n«r autonl qu'il 
TO per la mime leuille que vous av 
•arnotre Expedition acientifiiiua. 
quo Touj J porlBi," lie. 



flit un rapporl a la Society 
tuOs reniercia pour I'lateret 

Sept., 1844. 



Lkf*idi, Iiland of Phita, 

" J'ai lu avoc io pluspaod inlcret lea aopt. prom iota chapilroa de 
TOtre coura aur I'ancienne Egyplo, et je auis convaincu qua voua avei 
gtgni un applBDie s^nfral el in^rilc de tous ceui qui out eu I'avan- 
tags de pouyoir niivre voire coura. J'cspera VLvament que vous 
trouvenn la temp* pour continucr roa utiles rechercboe dana ce 
(■nre dVludea; qui.malerf la ricbc moiuon qu' ell« proiDeltent,nnl 
pourtanl Imuve juaqu' a pr^aenl beaucoup pliu d'amateurs que de 
ttavailleun s^rie^u, taute, ilcatvnii, eDgra.nde par(ie,deladJIEcull< 



WiLiH," ParU. May 7lh, 1844. 

■' Monsieur Johard, oT the Royal Library, the highest aatlioritj 
Ml Egyptian topics" — "rajoioes in Ihe recovery of Mr- Gliddon's 
work, which he acddentally left iu Jl^ly in the autumn, and moans 
to read atteutively without delay."— .ValionoJ InlrUigcnccr. Vfaab' 
togloa. SOlh June. 1844. 

■Vide Procaediuffaof the Aeadamyaf Natural S'^neea, July and 

August, 1843. 

•v. 8 Couiul, Parii. | 



BiKcM. BrUiik JKwfum, Londam, ISUl MlJ- '**<■ 

" 1 hive read *ilh much pleasure yonr ir.tprwrting Lecture, e« 
^yptiau Anllquilies, in the United States, which oughl to tiuvo tlia 
eHwl ur a.u'akening tlie public atlontion there (u t)ie reaenreliea go- 
in^ on in the Uld World. 1'hey have been very popular here, ae I 
dare aay your publialian (Maddoii h Co.) can iniorm you ; and do- 
servedly ao, since they place the iiiatlor in a cluor and didlincl point 
of view in all its boaringe," be. 

Lure, Caira, I^tth July, IB41. 

'' I congratulate you niu«l atncerely i 



- JadJak, (.^'d>ia,) 4th Aug., IBH. 
d lo your '" Ancient i^pt" ibr Ihs little poaitiva 
r p j a ucua on the aulnect which you have trealed with 
' end "diainvoftuni." .... 



IV acknowledge, that you ha 



ZS^ZZ 



, my Dirn department ; aod " qu' a moina 
I'elre do fbr, (which, you know, ii not my case,) on ne pent paa 

iiiBre a tout " Go on, my dear Sir, and "ngreeB 

nea nncere* fetieitalioni," k.c, 

Cnuul /qt Eg^ 

" Caira, 19th October, 1B43.—" The book » eharartoriicd here a« 

learned, modeal, and moal uaefui." 18lh KorcmLot — " Amony 

the Elite of Cairo you have pasaed the ordeal, "our work ia con- 

idered a most opportune compendium, and a moal acceptable vadf 

4.— '■ Soon aftprWHrda 1 eichangad 



lost opportune coi 
Ulh Fehraaiy, 
[a with Sir J. O. Wilkinson, and vol 
. he confiin>ed all that had nwched m 



vill b 



itifiod t. 






troin Judge Jay and Mr. 



charged me 

. . . "Meare. Wilkinaon, Btigga, Wainc, Bonomi, 
Traill, Ijeder, be., indicate your work to all travollen in set 
hien^lyphical inrormation, aild the conaequeuce ia, llial 
' Ch^m' are taken off the table of Iba ' Egyptian Society, 
were, bj the doum," &o. 



BaUiman, 15th Match, IB1&. 
■French Conaul al Juddah— Red Sea. 



NEW SEEIES 



ARCH/EOLOGICAL LECTURES ON ANCIENT EGYPT, 

COPIOUS AND SPLENDID PICTOBIAL DIAGBAMS, 



GENUINE ANTIQUITIES, 



ooKnaeixa 



THE L4TEST HIEHOaLYPHlCAL, AND COGNATE MONDMENTAL DISCOVERIES, 



GEORGE E. GLIDDON, 



MsKnER OF THi " EoTPTtAJf Societt" or Cairo — ConKEapoNDUjo Mbmbkr 
LvcKuii," Brooklyn, New York — CoRREapoNOBNT of the •' Academi 

DELFHU CORRESPONDIKO MbMBBR OF THE " NaTION 

THE " Ahbricak Obibntai. Society," Boston- 



F THB " Unitii) States Navi& . 
OF Natural Sciences," Puila- 
Wabhin<3ton — Mbhbbr of -< 

UoNoRARV Member of the "His- 



TOUicAL SociETV OF PENNSYLVANIA" — CqRREsi'oNoiNo Menberof TH8 " Sr»o- 

Eotptian Societv" of London — Correspondino Member of the 

"Sociiri Oribntale de Prancb" — Cobres ponding Mbk- 

BEK OB THE "Institute of Arch^ological 

Correbfondbnce of Rome," 

A¥THOB OF 

"A Mknou om the Cotton of Eoypr" — "An Appeal to tub Antihuarizs of Eubope on the dkbtrvotiok 

or THB Monuments of Eoypt," London, ISJl— "A Sbribs of Chaptebs on Eablt 

EarPTiAN HuTORi, ARcufoLoai, and other iiubjbcts cohnbcted trrm 

HiEBoaLYi-iiiCAL Litsratuke," New Yore, 1843, 

AND FORMERLY 

UNITED STATES CONSUL FOR CAIRO. IN EGYPT. 



* Plurimat terrai ptragnui, diijunetiMiima quaipte Itulrans; eali talique genera plurima vidi, erudiloi komintt ■ 
permultoi audivi; •--..---.- ^gypliorvm, rpii Harpedonapti: {a^Hiiord/itat — Clem. Alex. Slrom. I, 
— ynfln — ]1K — ifiin=aHRPD— AUN— Hl'TE— " Coiui ehe largitce la verilii delta luce;" i.e. the Illuni. 
KATi — Michelangelo Land, Paris, 1846.) nomirvutlur, apud ho» autem poalremo uultos per anno* pert' 
grinatut lum." 

Dbmocbiti Abderita Operum fragmenta — p. 328. Ed, MulUtekiut, Berlin, 1M3. 



Philadelphia, October. 1846. 



lu announcing his relnrn to Philadelphia, after a twelvemonth's sojoam in Europe, wilh ihe intention of resuming 
his Lectureship throughout the 0niled States, Mr. Gliddon b^ leave to preface his new Courses with the following • 
lemu^ks : I 

through direct md othI addreu, indcprnilently of the pitronife M 
Aid of Uovnnineiiti or Kea^Kmiew, In Ihe cotnprchenuoii of th* rdu»^, 
CAted OiBBca, IboniB" aa fnU|[ht with inteien to the put hirtor; Aok ^ 
tlopmoDt of UumBiihv. doca not appcir to have htxn tried, in 
ry, bbee the Olympicerft of the HaliunixHion. To thii 
day the oral oipoailion of hieragrgmmalical Kience ia confined ift« 
Europe to regal callcgiHle precincCi ; and it iial Parii. Florancr.and • 
Berliu uluae where Ihe ttudenl or Bi^nenlheirer hu hilbrrto galherrd , 
^KTP^*" iiutmclion from the incomparabl* diacauraen of a CkilX- . 
LI.IDXI.I JcuHs, iiRa»i.LTi(i,aI,iTao:iTr«, aRiacL-RoCBiTDV ' 
a RicniRU LiPSiDS. tn Eni-hmd, to Ihii isry hour, iWre an . 
public Ufturt.i tfhalertr en Egyptian Aicbcology : and ih* bd - 
thsl ffluif thouuDdi of America'i ciliieoi hsTC ipDntaniioiuly atlendsl 



Four winlcn hs*e elapaed aiace the writer, whoee Iwentv-three 
;mt'« rewdence in the Valley of the Nile naturally led him la take 
inlereft in llie progreaa of local leanrcbei, conunencfd («t Botton, 
1843-3,) in Ihe novel form of illiulraUil and popular Lectarea, the 
•ipnition nflhoMi diaoiveriea ia hjeroglyphical literatare, conaequant 
Bpon the memorable French and English Enpediliona to Egypt in 
1798—1803, which, iinpreeaed by Napaleon'a genina. and fore- 
afaaJowed in tbe noble loliog " Deecriplion de I'EgypIe." have calleJ 
furth in Ihia aecond quarter of Ihe XlXih cenlury tbe laviih expen- 
diture* of enlightened Oavemtnenta, SaiHetiee^ and indiciduali, tbe 
•Dthuaiaitic inTeatigation of the moU iltuattiaua Savan* of IJia age, 
and the intellectual admiraliiin of nil ciTlliied communitiea. 
. 'Jlw mpanmant (Uempled by the wiitei, thai of popularizing, 



IKnMMM npm Hiaragl<n>tiiei, b toot Bnrspaui drcle* ii yat 
baliend, in olhert it u a lopic of miagteil nonder anil applaiuc. 

It wu ujxiii (ho difiuiioD of edacation unoiig the pcopU at ibe 
Unitei) SlBlea uul their thini for knowledge, fiMlcred by Inilitutiankt 
frBedmn in Ihii rut Republic, Ibat the wriler, ■lioiiitBted bj Ihr 
■dTice and ths enecUte aid of a (ew penonal friondt, aOWIIg whom 
tbe name of Kicbard K. HiieRT.f of New Yotk, auM t\W 
aUnd presDiiaent, grounded hia hope* and caiculelioni i nor, wbilsl I 
DMiely diinuidlD bo the papulaceipoiiloraf the profound rew«rcb< 
of others, without Iha slighMet pnleiuion lo aught but aa iiiuf 
fidelity oC oamUie u lay vrithiii tha compau of hii rcacb oi abil 
tisi, bu be e*er doubled, thai itiv inqinnng iatelligenoe of ihu Hew 
World would he lonnd lully eqiml to die ^ppicriltion «t diBconerli 
(bal for half a century hare comtituled the uiicesiliii; atudy, Uio ii 
crcanng ittentioD. and the herculean labors of the greatcat iii«n and 
nationa of the Old. 

Such wo* the wri^'a 
Jannary,184a. Tbteea 

of practical eiperlenec have dumonaLraWd, Ibat, ta far as the broad 
principle of American intellectual culli'ation be concerned, 1 
in hia antidpalionB been miatakea. Hia Lecturaa upon Egyptian 
Hiarology have been cotiiecu lively liitened 10 byaudiencM ombradlig 
many Ihouaanda of tbe population, from PorUmouth, N. H., to Sa- 
vannah. Goo^ including repeilejlv tbe largnr Allunlic Citica, Barton, 
New Yaik, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, BalUmore, Waahinglon, Itidi- 
mond and Chailealon; wbile, at Botloa, bla courn of 13 Lectures 
on Egyptian Archaology, repeated, before Iho '■ [,one!l InatJlute 
1843-4, waa altendod by above fiic thouaand persona. Tbe aal 
leai than ihrea yeata, of IS.UOU copiea of the Chaptert, preao 
graluiluualy by the AuLbar to the American Public, and Iho 
bated demand for nvw iuipreuiona of Ibia Intioduclion to the almjy 
of Hietoglypliics.t an.- aleiling lacta in proof of tbe popular deaira 
manifealed by the public of the United Statee. to Iwcome familiar 
with thaas aplendid reiulla rtmI triumphant diaeo*erica that iav' 
immortality to the School founded by CaAVtoLLiOT. 

Taking our departure from ilie -■ Pieoia da Syaiama Hiciogly- 
phii]Ua dea Anriena Egypliana," put IbrUi by CatMroLLioi u 
JiDni, at Pariain 1324, we can now realize, aftar the toilaoriwenly- 
two yeare, tbe reauuitalion, froai the tomb of fllUen celiluriea, of the 
Umgaa/re of the long-buried denixen* of Egypt, ami wHimm in the 
year 1846 the focilo tranalatioa, by liiing French, Bnghah, German, 
and Italian HieralogiAU, of any and all monumenlal legend^ Painl- 
inija, Siulpturca and Papyri, scillered along the ■' Sacred River," 
fiom tbe ahorei of the Mediterranean to the conSuence of tbe While 
■nd Blue Niles beyond the fBr-fnmed, if modem Meroe, on the torriil 
raiifloei of Nigrilia. And beholding, aa we now do with our own 
•yea, the progreasWe reconalruction of the time-hanoml cdiSco of 
Fharaooic anliquily, from autochihonmia tMorda with Ibe eTcnta 
thenuKlTea axiaatuut, our niDda have awakened to tb« romprehen- 
■ion of the rcaaon why- the odvancament of a gifen country in 
Egi/plian lurning baa become, aa it were, the atondard meosuro of 
ita literary rapuEalion in oicliBolngical ind cognate Kiencoa. 

Hpurrcil to emulation, under the penalty of being distanced in the 
race, by the glorioaa example of Frante, the Govennienta of Tua- 
cany, Prusaia and England, and many of tha leaa aflteenl tlBlea of 
Italy and Germany, have laUeiiy been Bending Commiiaion allei 
Commiaaion lo explore and re-aiplora the venerable Riiina C 
" Afiriral'tn,"Dr are collecting and dopoai ting under the Rgia of Euro- 
pMD iMiicity, In gigaiitie natioaal MosiniDB, the hoary veotigea of 
primBTti NHutic drilizalion. Lif>iub and the Pruuianahave but just 
Totumed from Egyptand Clhiopia, laden witli treasureH gathered da- 
ring three ycara of unequalled and moat xucceaflful labarioiianDBB — and 
yet. Paraka; chief of a new Scientific Minion, ia nn the paint of re- 
(urninR from Paris to the aame incxbauatibto regiona, in order that 
French a cfc tt iti may atill malntai'a ita pnemineDca in the namh of 
hieroglyphical diacoveiy. 

Abflken, Ampere, Barucchi, Biol, Birch, Bi>ckh, Bimomi, Botta, Boudin, Aitucn, Burton, Cahen, Callleaud, Champollion- 
fli^ae, Chftrubini, Coltretl, CtiHimore, D'Avesac, VEkhthal, Dc Saulcy, Felii, Flandin, Frcmel, Gazzeta, Goury, Hamilloo 
HarriH, Heiigstenberg, Henry, Hinuka, Hodgson, Horeati, Hoskins, JrmnTd, Jon/s, Lann, Lane, Leetnans, Lenonnaiil, Leptitit 
Lmueur, Lttroimi, L'H6tB, Linsnl, M»U«r,^iglia[ini, Morton, Munka, Oabuni, Puflbey, Pmlhier, Peiring, PeRigraw, Peyron, 
Prnlal, Priduird, Priiut, Pmdhoe, QuUiBtniie, Raoul-Rochelle, Rosellini, Sail, Salrolini, Sdhwarse, Sharpc, Taltam, Taylor 
Ungarelli, fend, Vysc, Wilkinson, Young, &c. kc. &c. ' 



Par!*,T.ai)dan,Barlin,St.Pelerabureh,Iieydan,Aina[erdani,aiodk 

holm, Copenhagen, Munich, Vienna, Turin, Milan, Florence, Bmim, 
and Naploa, iodepeiidciiUy of minor citiea and of counlleaa privot* 
CBbhieW In Europe and Egypt, boaat at the preaent day of Egyptiwi 
antiquarian poaaeBoiona, lo obtain and lo preaerye aome ofwbich mil- 
liana of doHatB have been exi>ended, and each city rcjoic» in tbe 
noble rivalry of ila reiprctive hieroglyphical atudenla to decipher 
and eipound fragmenla, whose no-longer recondite meaning aervea 
lo illumine every department of human knowledge. "At reganla 
thoec eminent men who have won a brilliant place in the career of 
EgyptijUiBtudies.il iaoul oftho qnaalion here toanalyicltHir^DoA'i,- 
it anflicea that it abould be known that all have marched boldly 
along the I-orf oprnedliy ChaMpnttion, and that the arienM which 
owed ila IJrat iliusUation lo Young, to Ibo ChaoipoUiona, to tha 
llnmboWla, to Salvolini, lo Boeellini. la Neator L'hote, and of which 
the reality has been procbumed without reacrvalion by Sylveatre de 
8«cy andby Atngo, couotaalthisday Baadepltbrvtnt and convinced 
1* Buch OB Meaara. Lelronnc, Ampere, Biot, Mcrimee, Priue. E. 
■nouf, Leptius. Bunacn,Peyron, GatierB,BanKebi, * • • * * »^ 
Leemnns," Paulhier, Land, Birch, Wilkinaon, Harria. Cullimore, 
Shaipe, Uincks, Oabuin. Bonomi. it, Ac, " The frienda and Ibe 
enemicB of Champollion's syatem are now well known."j " Tanl pia 
poor quiae Bo rangeta paa uvcc cea lioramca celobrca du cdie do 
''eiidence el de la juilice."* 

The specification of the works, national and individual, puhlinhed 

and Forthcoming from the presa of Europe on BienhigicaJ Uletalurr, 

Chronology, Hialory, Arts, Science., and PhUoaophy, would alone 

»cll a quarto volnme, aa may be inferred from the aubjoiiied list of 

ulhorB, whoBo rcwarehea haw been eontalled in tbe prepaiation of 

Mr-Cliddon'a Lectutea. and whoae worka are to be found, on Ihw 

if the watfr, in the private lilmiy of Mr. Hiioht at New 

, 10 the munilicrDco and fiiendship of whom the writer owet tha 

advantaEBofacceaato Ihii unique archeological collection. And yet, 

withal, if in trantattmtic America, apace, time, and the nalnre of 

tliinga, baie hitherto precluded einilar pecuniaTy eRbiUUkeep pace 

wiih Ibo antiquarian ambition of Buropean aoDmiunilira. it is a 

facl, OB remarkable in iUelf as easy of dsRHnolnitian, thai there is a 

widely-difluBcd and g-etjfro/ knowledge of the progress of Egyp- 

llicovery, ond a more popular dcRire manifeated to ponea* 

correct ideas upon the rCTolte of Edypnilogical inquiry, than in many 

parte of Europe, where Ihe public mind Blill lica torpid in the very 

midatofthediaeoveriea and the diteoKercri: anditwaa to qualify him- 

f for tbe bcllcr development ol these aubjects, in tbe endeavor to do 

iliootothisgrowinBdeaire, that the writer, suspending bia Lectures 

ring the IbbI winter, proceeded lo Europe lo collect, by peraonat 

applicBlion at Ihe fountain wuroM of Paris an] London, Ihamiat 

lulbenlic msloriala, and the laleit hieroglyphieal discoveriea. 

During five monih'a residence at the French metmpolia with Ma. 

HaiBHT. whoBB intimacy with many-of die msal dialinguiahed Savana 

' SooiBtieB of Franca afihrded to the writer on inSnituilo of plea- 

b!e a_dvantage«; a'ailinghiroaelf of Ibc influential kindness of hi* 

>m|i)iahpd friend Mr, RoDiaT Wil«ii, U. Ststea Consul, to whom 

■ indobteil for manifold (iuilitiea ; and happy in the auspieiona 

untre with hta old Cair»«olleaguea and Eastern fetlflwIntTrl- 

lers, PaiCTIi.t the reBCOer (from otherwiae inevitable perdition had it 

lined at Thcbea) of ihe " Ancealml Hall of Kamac" Fuanai, ,| 

decipherer of Iho Himyaritic Inacriptiona of Soolhem Arabia, 

BoTTi.l the resuaeilalor of tinu'-inletred Nineveh, wlia took 

mrs in explaining their aaTeral dtseotrries, and in innodnaaf 

lo their rcfpccrive scientific frieuda, the writer has enjoyed fiom 

iberal and fruiik cooiplnisaiicc of the Savon* of Franca so many 

uni, Ibal in Ida present inabilily to oipreaa to each his 

gratefol obtigatlonfl. he must content himBBlf by ilaUeizing among 

Iho following aulhoritiea quoted in hia lectures, Ihe namea of Iboso 



A coiutanl attendant during the winter at the invaluable " Cours 
d'Arch^nlogla Egyptienne" of LsTnoioia at Ihc College de France. 
ail>IurRiDf~.-RocHi!TTi at Ihe Blblioth^que Royale.and afreituent 



Dt S.oT.cT, -• Df I'Eiud. 
Rrthtreliea •!> Ki^le rl 



*H Mt*ntlipto<'l-«u) A>l|»ll I, IBM, 

an NuliU.-' Cvabm ll|inrl«. luiA 

Vlcaloia, July. laiS,-" K Skrlch of the annntt vl 

Amerliai" and Uw Bcfni and SMlni oT Mr O lldd. 

ricaa ftns for Ika 1*b1 IMr jnn, particularly la the Botlao Trmnrrltt, Pfal- 

IsdelphU Ls^Hf, and BalUoiai* Sua. 

Naw York. tU9; Mnrton-i Crania ^|.^li,a.^ilail<4pMa, la**; aadJar- 
flira. Biiltrf ami Jrrhjnlitg," are TitLoa ftCo,, No, 1. AitorHonae, Ntw 



«« BucerHrullr applilDi! h.«oiiljphl«r rti«n.M 
•et. DHiBi w. (orgf 1 M'""- Biwin. QB^asa 
u and MiCctxoa sTBaJllmow, Hohhox ..f B«> 
rf B«li>ii, aad NuTT vr Mirblle. 



S^B.aLMl-tu 



•m iMeouvTrte. i KbortaJM*. pv* i* 

on al U» Mlctiraivit llallail aulli u ul 



} wvMnrtrr^ *wtl MowBtuand Libtmneclkil •dora A* "WorM'i 
nlt« <rt' ■danc*," the wiitar hu TeceLved iiutnictiHi on sutgtcU (hnl 
■^eTptorore l«<r beyond his aUainment. And vliich h« will enilMvour 
to tiaboij in hii future American duronnes. Thetmnmer of bu 
•tKcncc wnBipentinilDdieiin London.wbere, guided bj IhegvncrDUS 
•nd insMiiiiable coanacl of Biarii, the Eaglkh hieraiogisl " poi 
•iBellonee," the wrilM pirpared Ibose csaiys with which he pro- 
poaeii la conunpnco his pte»nl Coutaea in Ihii couutij: whiliil the 
•ncournging cuuntenanco of H. E. Chcv. Bunaen, wbo gcicioiuly 
petmilled hia pcruaal of the English MS. trarulaiion of Iho "jEgyp- 
tana ilello in der WcltgcKbichle," forthcoming from the ■ccompliahcd 

En of Ma-CoTTBaLt; *ad more than all. (he penonil rencontre willi 
I. Liraiui, freahfrom the region* «fhi««lupenJon»Nite<ie iimt i nitf 
net, are epiaolea in the wriler'a nnderinga ai grilerul to his indivi- 
dual feelinga, B> of durabk value to Ibe accuracy of t^ acientifii) fada 
thai will be promulsatcd through hii public taeliirea. 

To aum up in ■ few wordi. Me bu bad &ra nccoa in London 
■nd Pari* to MS3„ documents, boolu btiJ porirolioa, and has 
verbtl and epiatolar; communtciilion of varioui 
rials, many lar in adinnce of Buropaan pablicat 
will not be IbrthcouuDg 'or yean. He baa bcuughl 



rchBologicB 
1, and of .or 



naol fMwnt wodH, pkH^ &e» bttring upon EgTploIaeT— mora 
than hair of ntuch ha>a not bclbte been introduced inio tha 
United Stales. Ue ha* eaiahiiabsd relalioni nilh London, Paia 
and Beilin, that will insure him the most rapid inuination fif ail 
Aiture Egyptian " Nonteautea Archeologique*.'' whiia by cairupon- 
denca with the teTerai cludenla of hieiology Ihroughoot Egypt u,d 
Europe, bs i* prMniaad pennaneDI lUpport and fiatofi commoui- 
cation of the IrealiMt intelligence. Thiough the conaderale irienil- 
ahip of ika learned bierok>siiit. Ma. A. C. Hiaais. of Aleiaoddt, 
he ilrewly poaaowcs the nucteiu of lucb a coUection of Egyptian 
AntiquiticB as will serve to itluilrate hia oral Lectnrea with ^nuina 
•pecimena of Ancient Art Part of this coUcciion, bearing ebiefly 
upon the manmifiealion and (iincrral ccremauiei of Egypt, haa. 
slreiuly arrived, and the remainder is in pioceaa of collerlion and 
ahipmanl to the Uaitetl Statea. Thcae curiont relics will lend a 
mora pogiular inlercet to Ibe diacourae* nhich he contemplatM deliver- 
ing in the Utg« cities of the United Statea, and the following anio- 
fflaiy catalogue will afford an idea of the number, variety, and cart- 
linos of the Pictorial llluMrationa that will embelliab tha wrilar'i 
Leclar»Toonu, and eloddale each quealioo as it occun — 



,&AJTA J. niLiEies5P:BHfc'ffii©iie. 



BRILLIANTLY OOLOKED, AND COVERING MANY THOUSAND SQUABB FEET OF 8UHFACE. 

Hieroglyphical, Hieratic, Enchorial, Oraek and Ronun Toxtt, Tablats, SttUt, Ipaeriptions, Ac, from the Sculpmrei, Painlingi 
and Papyri, including the Ruttia Stone, tha Funereal Bitval, the Turin Gentalogical Papyrus, the TabUl of Abi/dm, the AnaitrOw 
CAamAer of Kamac, the Zodiac of Dendera, and all important hislorital documenW of Ihe Egyptiani from the eailieil limea to ibt 
Cbrialian era. A complete series of all the PgramiJi. and pyramidal manumenta of Mempbii, Sec. ranoramic view* of tb* 
TcmpUa, Palaa», and remarkable Tombt, in Egypt and Nubia— Tableaux embracing the entire leries of doeamenti and painlinp 
illuilrating the ort>, icieneti, manner; aitfonu and eivilixolion of the Ancient Egyptiani— Plalei iDuglnlive of Ibe art ot 
embalmment, human and animal, Sarcophagi, Mummiea, funeral nrementa. ornaments, and doctrinal featurei of Nilotic Sepulture— 
beiidei genuine jpecimeni of agreat variety of the Anti^arian Riiia (hemselvea — Fat-ii mile copies of Ihemost splendid Tableaux found 
in the Temples and Tombi along the Nile — FortraUa of the Phineh* in their cbwiols. «nd royal robes— Queens of Egypt in their 
nried and elegant coslumes— LiAmoM' of 48 Sovereigns of Egypt, from Amnnoph the Itl, about B. C. 1600, down lo the Ptolemie*, 
and ending with Cknpalra, B. C. 30, laken from the Hculptilres — Triesta aad Pxieslessea offering to all the Deilia of Egyptia« 
Mythology- 5af/Jc icen« on the Monuments of every epoch— Egyptian, Asiatic and African Ethnology, elucidating the conqneila, 
roaiilime and caravan intercourse, commerce and political relations of the EgyptUns wilbNigtitia, Abyasinin, Libya. Canaan, 
Palestine, Phcenicia, Syria, ArabiayMeiopotaitiii, Aiia Minor, Persia, Central Aw»,.Ac. &c.— Ciania J^pliaca— iVr^roj and other 
African families, of every epoch— Saeneianpposad torelala to lhei/e6reuicaplivity,Jkc. — PTOcauiomof Foreign Nations tributary to tba 
Pharaohs— Plane, geographical maps, topographical charts and paintings, exhibiting the Counlry and the ArehUttiure of Egypt. In 
•horl. Diagrams of every kind, illnitraling 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 subjerl 
of interest as il presents itself in future explorationsi together with all Ibe most valuable bUrogrammatical Booki which arc or may 
be published in elucidation of the philology, Ac. (cc, of Egypt, so that in no department of Egyirtian science will the critical or 
euHory attendant on Mr. Gliddon'a Lectuiea find any daiideraluffl wauling. 



Portherat/ecfschoscn as the themes of the wtitor'afulnrcdiacoorse*. 
and for rctativo spcciflcalions of lime, place, Uirma. iLc referenee is 
made lo the Daily Papers, no le« than lo the Programmes, which 
will announce witli all details, in each dty, Iho seToral Course* of 
Egyptian BTchBolDgical lectures Mr. Oliddon is preparing to deUver 

And finally, Mr. Gliddon must ever refer the curious who deeire 
more critical information on Egyptian litcraluro than can be embo- 
died in desultory and popular Jecturas, lo Ibe lilUe pamphlet, " An- 
eionl Egypt." (with llie «le of which tho author, having presented 
it to tba public, never had any pecuniary connoiion,) wherein, for 
Ihe inrignificanl coat of 33 cents, the general reader can glonn Ihe 
biilory ol hieroglyphical studies, together vrith tho worka to be eon- 
•ulled, np lo the close of IR42. Since that year, as Mr. Gliddon 
will explain in his oral lecturea, diecovery baa been proceeding with 
giant stride*. During the last four years tho aspect of primeval his- 
tory, owing mainly to L«f*ivs, has undergone great changes. The 
ailvanco made in monumentol Chnmalogy, baa superseded much, 
and ha» greatly eilended portions of those views of antiquity here- 
toforo followed hy thn Champ/Mitn-Scltoc^, based upon the nrrango- 
inent of Rottllini for dates prior to the commencement of the tSth 
Dyn.of Dioapolilnt*, l*k«n by modem hierologi** at Ibe 16lh to 
181h centuries before our Cbrialian era. These pointe h*vo fanned 
tho criiical study of the writer, and their consideralion will not be 
omitted in his conlcmplstid lectures, which will be found lo keep 



pace with Ihe continual dcvelopnient of hieroglyphical reaeatcbea, 
Tbaaia of MiXH, the first Pharaoh of EgypU thai in .Mr. CJliddon's 
Ch^ten of 1 343, was estimated approximalely at B. C. 2750. a data 
which the wriler'a subsequent lecture* on tho Pyramidi showed 10 
10 longer lonoble, baa receded into the gloom of primordial time : 
□Dtil Lepsids publishes at Berlin in the ensuing winter tha 
results of his diKOveriea (in Da* Bach der ^gyptiscben Konige. eine 
ehrnnologischc ZusammenilcUung allar Namen der ^gyptiacben 
Konige und ibrer Vermndtachaft, von der Golierdynaatie und 
Menes an bis CarBcalla,) is it powible to do more [han treat in gene- 
ral temi* of the remote epochs of the first XI] Dy nastiei of -Manelho 
{See TabU of DynasUes, Chaplcn. p. 49. ) This important queation 
of the ManethoniaH DynasCiee wai made the subject of a Coneoun 
by Ibe "Aitademie dea Inacriptions et BelIea-I,eUre>."* Monsienr 
LasDCUB in the pre^nt lummor Yiti had the distinguished honor ol 
winning Ihe priic. but i9 his work had not appeared IbeI Auguit, 
the writer U enabled only lo nwnliiisi thai M. L. informol him ver- 
bally that his result* fm the era of Menes rcech the J8th cen- 
tury B. C. 

I^nnilar erudite opinions on tho involved (jueetion of the first 
Egyptian Pharaoh have long been lamiliar to the readcn of Caax- 
FOLUaH-Fiatic, LaulaiiaiiT. and other eoritinenlal hierologisla. 
The following new works o/' (Atrfei/ point out thn pending elsU 
of hierologicnt inquiry into the primeval ages of humanity, vii; 



RKcKit — Berlin, 1845," — Manelbo und dio Hunilsalemperiode," - 

Hbnrv— Pari*, 1846, — L'Egypte Pharaoniqtic," 

Buuiccui, — Tvrin, 1845, — " Discorsi critici sopra la Chronologis Egiiia," 
JivTsmVi— Hamburg, 1845<— " JEgyplens Stelle in tier WeltgMchicIne," 



Dale ofMenia. 
Years B. C. 5T02 



'sin r nsmtn crtUqoa de la i 



^hIsb in dyaaalles (grpUen 



■■pi*. 1(« 



ThadtHBirioDiif AsnhthitiiatnniHidelaiaMiif the above and 
woffca ii iMw^ad lor tint propowd Loet««^ with the tole ra- 
ttatwUla he will adopl Ibr coouiiob chronologieel pnrpoees 
the MMMnMi syelMi of Chev. Bvvim, the writer ie ewera^ owing 
le dw hinte geneioiulj eupplied him hf Dr. Lerti ve, thet the estr»- 
mHamrf tbtcU and uDaspected dieoeveriee leeaUiiif from the xeoent 
Pftwian ezploimtione aramd the Ff ruude of Memphia (eflSMtoil bj 
Dr. Lsraive jmm Chev. Bnnaan'e ••Egjptfa piaoe in the World'e 
Hialoiy,'' went to piem») will eanj the ate of Mairia aoae oentnriee 
AtyaiMl B. C.S643» bached hf the ineontroveitibleleetifflonj of the 
Pyiamidel fnoMMicnilfc 



Awaiting, in eommon with flie miftiBBl pnbBflb An 
hiatorieal ravelatiotta of the PniaMan Sdentifle Mimioo, the crilied 
in wert igationa of Mr. Binon in Enghmd, and the future diacei wi ea 
of M. Pniaix in E|7pt, the writer tekea thia oppoi tuu iiy le na- 
nounoe for pnblicatiou, next year, the following wori[, whcnin the 
wliole of theee Egyptian data, being tlie moat authentie and aadant 

portion of the Uatory of Thiriy-ThrM Nation^ fiRWi CAmm le J^Amtf 
indurive, will receive embodiment s 



CHRONOS. 



OUTLINE 



or 



A GRAND CHRONOLOGICAL ATLAS, 



THE PARALLEL HISTORIES 

OF THE 

EAST AND THE WEST, 



A STNOPTICAL AND SYNCHRONOUS 

TABULATION 



ORIENTAL AND OCCIDENTAL 

EVENTS, 

FROX THE EABUESI TDIES TO THE DEATH OF NAPOLEON. 

(Babid dpoh the latest Geological, Geoorafbical, Etbitological, Abcbjcolooical, MomjiiENTAU 

Biblical, aitd other resbarcbeb, ahd cotebinq above 400 Page*, folio. 

OFFERED 

TO TBX 

CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

BT 

HENRF VENEL, 

(CITIZEN OP SWITZERLAND,) 

AS A TRIBUTE OF ADMIRATION AND RESPECT. 

TbAHILATSD FmOM THS AOTBOa's ORIOIVAL AHD UHPDBLUHSD FrEHCH MaVOSCRIPT, ANP 

Edited, with avnotations, bt 

6E0B6E B. 6LIDD0N 



^^^^^^HfOOO O OOO^^^^"" 



. K7*ProfpecuifM with all ezpIauUny detub will be iMued af aoon aa tfaa amofeniMiti for pablieatioR art 
adequately matarod. 






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THE PROVINCIAL AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS 

OF 

EGYPTIAN ANTIQIT ITIES IN GREAT BRITAIN. 

BY 

Miss Amelia B. Edwards. 



Tinge k part da Rteutil de traveutx rtltUifa h la philofogie et & Varchfologie r'gyptiennta tt atyritnnu, X* ann^e. p. ISI et snivv. 



I. The Peel Park museum^ Manchester. (Public.) 
II. The collection of Je8se Haworth Esq. (Private.) 
III. The Mayer collection, Liverpool museum. (Public.) 

In pnrsaaDce of the object to which I have twice ventured to call the attention of 
European Egyptologists, I propose, with M. Maspero's permission, to contribute to the pages 
of the Recueil de Travaux such descriptive lists of Egyptian antiquities, and copies of Elgyp- 
tian inscriptions, as I may be able to collect from time to time in the course of my visits 
to the provincial and private museums of Great Britain. However unimportant some of these 
minor collections may be when taken singly, they will, I trust, l)e found valuable e?i ma^se 
for purposes of comparative study; and it is with 'this hope that I submit the first instal- 
ment of the present series. 

I. THE PEEL PARK MUSEUM (MANCHESTER). 

This collection is not large, but it contains three funerary tablets and other objects 
of interest. 

I. A limestone stela, measuring 19 inches by 13 inches, made for a 'royal relative' 
named Renpit-nefer T j , a priest 'in his month' of the second class. The top of the 

stela is rounded. In the upper part is seen the signet between two symbolic eyes; below 
the signet, the hieroglyph representing water and a libation vase xj; on either side, the 
oonchant jackals of Anubis with the kheru and flagellum. Kelow this heading is engraved 
a group representing Ranjnt-nefer ^ ®^ jl "^ I | I I ^ I I "* *^ fringed robe, his head 

Bnrmounted by a cone, and his hands uplifte(l in adoration before Sokar-Osiris (hawk-headed 
and crowned with the Atef », Horus ^^T ^ wearing the Pschent, and Isis crowned with 
the seat jj. Between Renpit-nefer and the gods stands a table of offerings heaped with 
YOgetables, geese, loaves and a libation- vase. Two waterjars in stands are placed under the 



1 1 

■ r 



2 Provincial and Private collections, Great Britain. 

table. The inscription fills six horizontal lines. It is ill- cut ^ and in three places illegible. 
The execution of the tablet is also very coarse and scratchy. 

It will be observed that in lines 5 and 6 the lapidary scribe has erroneously sub- 
stituted the feminine determinative Vw for M after the name of Renpit-nefer. The date of 
the tablet is probably late Ptolemaic or early Roman. 






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The following translation of the above stela was made in 1885 by the late Dr. Birch^ 
and is in the possession of the curator of the Peel Park Museum : — 

'Act of homage to Osiris, ruler of the West, great God, Lord of Abydos, who gives 
sepulchral meals of oxen and birds and all good and pure things off which a God lives, to 
thy Ka, blessed Osiris Renpa-nefer Justified, son of the one attached to the rolls, the singer 
of the Ka , , . royal relative, the one in his month of the second class Harut'a, born of the 
lady of the house Ariu, Justified. He says: Oh, Osiris Renpa-nefer walking in the presence 

of the great living god a second time the very great year of the sun, the devoted 

to Osiris Renpa-nefer, justified to the great god in Abydos.' 

II. A limestone stela measuring 2 f* in height by 15 inches in breadth. The top is 
rounded. In the centre, the signet and libation cup are flanked by the two symbolic eyes. 
Beneath this heading is seen a group of three persons in adoration before 'Osiris the great 
God of Abydos' and 'Horus son of Isis the great God dwelling in Amenti\ Osiris wears the 
Atef crown, a collar and menat, and grasps the 'coucoufa' sceptre with both hands. Horus 
holds a similar wand in his left hand and the Ankh in his right hand. Both deities are 
seated on thrones. In front of Osiris is a table of oflFerings laden with loaves, a libation 
vase, ribs of beef, vegetables and a large bouquet of lotus lilies. The second register con- 
tains eight figures; namely three groups of persons seated on chairs, two and two; two 
standing male figures in adoration; and two tables of oflFerings. The third register also con- 



Provincial and Private collections, Great Britain. 3 

tains eight figures ; i e. one group of two persons seated on chairs facing towards the left, 
and six seated female figures one behind the other^ each with a small table of offerings. 
Lowest of all come two horizontal lines of hieroglyphic inscription, leaving a blank space 
some three inches in depth at the bottom of the tablet. 

The large number of persons here represented belong apparently to one family. The 
three worshippers of Osiris and Horus are (1) 'the maker of adorations to the Lord of Eter- 
nity, the attendant in the Pure Place, Kaf ] ^^3 j i ^|o| 1 ^ ^^^^N'^/^ 
^ j U (| (| ^; l2) his father 'attached to the seat of Anhur^ RaY j fjVjl .^ i ^ 
.2^1 (111 I; and (3) his wife [i e. the wife of RaY), the singer of Anhouri, named Sont-nefer 
.-1-fl ^ I j\ j Qj J)« In the second register, the first seated couple are one Didi 



and his wife, 'the Neh-t Fa Maaa' i ^ \ c^ K^ . Next come RaY priest 

of Anhur and his wife Sont-nefer, i /J /vwvna f\ T OQ^ I •'^ ^ n 1^1 seated 
behind a table of offerings and adored by their son KaY, the ISet'em ash; and lastly one 
Uau, father of Sont-nefer, and his wife, the Neh-t Pa Maaa, i (1 ^.c^ v^' 




2 0o. 



(|^ adored by their bo„ Nehi, \^\(s^^ ] fXLh. I ^i"^- ^^^ '"^'^ 

register is occupied by the family of KaY. They are described as 'his brothers' Anhurmes, 

A* 0; and Anhurkebu, H J V' ^^^^^^y f^^ii^g the brothers, follow the six seated female 

figures called (1) 'his sister Tim', ^^^i. » ^^) ^"^ sister As-t', h ; (3) 'his sister As-t the 

little one' I 11 ^ jj^Jj I ^^^' '^^ ^^^ *^^^ ^^^^^^ "^^ 1^^' ^^^ ^^^^ ®'®*^^ Hatsheps'; 
— ^^ I^Jj (0^ 'his sister Messu', fl'l'lly- T^ie mutual relationships of these various 
personages are not clearly defined. RaY and Sont-nefer appear to be the heads of the family, 
and KaY was their son. In the second register, we are probably in presence of the third 
generation, and Didi may have been the son, or Maaa the daughter of KaY. Curiously 
enough, Maaa, who is described as Neh-t Pa and the wife of Didi, reappears at the 
other end of the same register as the wife of Uau. Didi must therefore have died, and 
Maaa have taken Uau for her second husband, thus giving another confirmatory example of 
Mr. W. M. F. Petrip/s suggestion that Neb-t-Pa, 'Lady of the House', is a title given to 
widows. Nehi is evidently the son of Maaa by her second husband. The fact that there were 
two daughters named As-t ^Isis^ looks as if this long array of sisters and brothers repre- 
sented the families borne by Maaa to Didi and Uau. Including Nehi, who is presumably 
the eldest born, Maaa was the mother of eight children. The fiict that RaY and KaY were 
priests of Anhur, and the prominence given to Anhur in the names of two of the sons of 
Maaa, indicate that this family were natives of Abydos. The executicm of the tablet is very 
neat and delicate. The period is probably about the XXVP^ dynasty. 

The two lines of inscription below the registers of groups read as follows : — 

^ ° i B ri To P S « '^ t ^ ¥- f ^ 2 ^ A I 



ppM^n^z^pniTPr^Pinj:^'^,'',^^. 



A '■■' 






Provincial and Private collections, Great Britain. 



'Royal oblation to Osiris dwelling in Anieuti, Horus the support of his father, to 
Apuat Lord of Taser to Anpu dwelling in the divine abode in the cemetery of Abydos, give 
sepulchral meals of bread, oxen, birds, all good and pure things, libations of wine and milk 
to the Ka of the attendant in the pure place, KaY/ 

III. A limestone stela measuring 14^2 + lO^/j inches, made for a priestess named 
Kakaaa ( ]\\ )l(]^Rs^. The top of the tablet is pointed. The apex is defaced; but it evi- 
dently contained the signet, the water ^^ and libation cup being uninjured, as well as 
the two Utas, The field of the body of the stehi is rounded at the top, and contains a group 
of two figures; namely Osiris standing on a plinth, wearing the Atef crown, and holding 
the crook and flagellum. Before him stands a small altar supporting a libation vase and a 
lotus. Facing the god in an attitude of woi-ship, a sistrum in her right hand, stands the 
lady Kakaaa, a cone and large lotus lily on her head. She wears a robe with long loose 
sleeves, and sandals slightly curved upwards at the toes, l^ehind Osiris is engraved a ver- 
tical column of hieroglyphic inscription containing the ordinary formula to *The great God, 
Lord of Eternity' etc. etc. In the space above the heads of the figures are five short ver- 
tical columns; above Osiris, his name with the title 'Lord of Amenti ; next follow prayers 
for gifts of incense, water and breaths for the deceased; and behind Kakaaa, her Uiime. 



r ^(L 



AWVNAAA 
AAAA/VA 



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The style of this stela is somewhat stiff 
and meagre, but the face of Kakaaa is remark- 
ably life-like, and evidently a jmrtrait. I attri- 
bute it to the XIX^»» or XX*^ Dynasty. 

The name Kakaaa is unconnnon. I know 
of but one other example, namely in one of the 
Leyden stelae reproduced by Lieblein \Dict. de 
Xoms HitroglyphlqueSy p. 302. Inscript. r>39). 

Of Ushabti, the Peel Park Museum pos- 
sesses but four. The best (1) is in wood with a 
finely cut inscription, made for one Teta h . The other three, apparently of XX^^ Dynjisty, 
are painted, and were made for (2) the Neh-t Pa J Jv ^^ ; (3) the scribe Q ^ fl; and (4) the 
priest of Amen, 







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Provincial and Private collections, G-beat Britain. 



H 



The flame collection also contaiaB a large fragment of an Amset alabaster canopic 
vue, wbich however is broken accroBX the top in fluch wise that the beginning of erery 
column of hierogly])hs is missing. This fragment measures 5 + 5 inches, and is stated t» have 
been brought from Thebes. It appears to have been made for a personage whose name is 
half destroyed, son of the lady Hes (1 JPs. prieet of Isis, and President of the Thirty 
Judges ^. 

Among the minor Egyptian objects 1,^ 
in the Peel Park Museum may be noted ; | 
(1) a fine bust of Thoth in blue stone [ , 
ware; (2) the upper part of a very beau- I 
tifal alabaster Ushabti, coloured; (3) a cu- i I 
rions head of an Amu in thin wood, carved ' ' 
on both sides ; (4) a fragment of au ala- 
baster throne of a statue inscribed b \ ; , 
(6) a fragment of a figure in yellow stone, \ i 
the legs broken oflF; (6) and two funerary | ■ 
cones stamped with the same stamp, be- ! 
longing to the scribe Boma, containing i 



fonr lines of horizontal inscription, and measuring 2' , inches in diameter 



'4^1-^4^^ 



iS.r.T]mu!i 






The latest addition to the museum, however, is the mnmnty of a boy, vrith a portrait- 
panel over the face, discovered during the present year (1888) by Mr. W. M. F. Pbtrie in 
a large cemetery of the Greek and GrKco-Koman period at Hawarii, in the Fayflm. The 
mammy is in a pink cartonnage adorned with gilded figures in relief of Isis, Nebhat, Anubis, 
etc.; the feet are enclosed iu a gilded foot-cnse with paintings of bound captives ou the 
bottom, under the soles of the feet, resembling the captives commonly depicted on the soles 
of sandals. The portrait is i>aintcd on a thin panel of cedar wood, having a broad border- 
pattern of vine-tendrils and grapes, richly gilded. The head is that of a boy of twelve or 
fourteen years of age, swarthy, ruddy, with short curling black hair, thick black eyebrows, 
la^ eyes, short nose, and somewhat thick lips. The type is scarcely pure Egyptian; but it 
probably represents a mixed descent. As art, the painting is free and vigorous, though some- 
what coarse, and the expression of the eyes is singularly life-like. The date is probably 
about the second century'. AD. This fine and valuable specimen of the earliest known school 
of portrait-paintiug, and of nn unique style of mummification, was presented to the Peel Park 
Uoseum by Jesse Haworth Esq. 



II. — THE COLLECTION OF JESSE HAWORTH ESQ. 

UK WOODBIUE, BUWDON. CbEBHIRE. 

Mr. Haworth's collection, though not very extensive, comprises some objects of great 
historical interest, of which the most important was, till quite recently, a superb tbrone- 
chair made for Queen Hatshepsu of the XVIII'^ Dj'nasty. 



Provincial and Private collections, Great Britain. 



I, The thronb-cbaih of Qi;bek Hatkbkvsu. TIiik unique piece of royal furniture, though 
not absolutely perfect, is complete iu all its essential parts. Tbe seat and back iwbieb may 
have beeu made of plaited palm-fibre or bands of leatlien have perished; but all that remains 
of the ori^nal structure is nia^iiticent. The wood is very hard and beai"y, and of a rich dark 
colour reaenibling rosewood. The four legs are carved in the shape of the legs of some hoofed 
animal, probably a bull, tbe front of each leg being decorated with two royal basilisks in gold. 
These basilisks are erect, face to face, their tails forming a continuous coil down to tbe rise of 
the hoof. Round each fetlock nms a silver band, and under each hoof there was originally a 
plate of silver, of which only a few fragments remain. The cross rail in front of tbe seat is 
also plated with silver. The arms (or what would be the anna if placed in jwsition) are very 
curious, consisting of two flat pieces of wood joined at right angles, so as to form an upright 
affixed to tbe framework of the back and a horizontal support for the arm of the sitter. These 
are of the same dark wood as the legs and rails, haviug a border line at each aide; while 
down the middle, with bead erect at tbe top of the upright limb, and tail undulating down- 
wards to the finish of the arm-rest, is a basilisk carved iu some lighter coloured wood, and 
encrusted with hundreds of minute silver auuulets, to represeut the markings of the reptUc. 
The naila connecting the various parts are round-headed and plated with gold, thus closely 
resembling the ornamental brass-headed nails in use at the present day. The gold and silver 
are both of the purest quality. Of the royal ovals which fomieriy adorned this beautifni 
chair of state, only one longitudinal fragment remains. This fragment measures some !> in, or 
10 in. in length, is carved on both sides, and contains about one-fourth part of what may 
be called the lield of the cartouche. Enough, however, remains to identify on one side the 
throne-name, and on the other side tbe family name, of Queen Hatshepsn. The carving is 
admirable, every detail — even to the form of tbe nails and the ei-eases of the linger -joints 
iu part of a band — being rendered with the most perfect truth and delicacy. The throne- 
name, 'Ea-ma-ka,' is surrounded by a palm-frond bordering, and the family name, "Amen- 
Khnum Hatshepsn,' by a border of concentric spirals. The wood of this cartouche is the 
same as that of the basilisks uiwtn the arms, being very hard and close-grained, and of a 
tawny yellow hue, like boxwood. Some gorgeously coloured throne-chairs depicted on the 
walls of a side chamber in the tomb of Kameses III. at Thebes show exactly into what 
parts of tbe framework these royal insignia were inserted, and might serve as models for 
the complete restoration of this most valuable and interesting relic. 

The throne-chair of Queen Hatshepsn was exhibited in 1887, by permission of the 
owner, at the Jubilee Exhibition, Manchester, where it occupied the place of honour on the 
dais under tbe dome, in the centre of tbe building. Since then, it has been patriotically pre- 
sented by Mr. Hawoeth to the British Museum, where it may now be seen in a eouspicuous 
position in the first t^yptian gallery at tbe top of the great staircase. 

II. Signet rino op Quebn Hatshepsu. The bezel of this ring consists of a fine swivel- 
mounted turquoise, cut in the for m of a scarab, a nd engraved on the under-side with the 
family name of Queen Hatshepsn ( n '— -■ £ _S) '^ j- The setting is of the familiar Egyptian 
pattern shown in fig. 287 of Profeswor Maspero'h Ardwoloffie Egyfiiiitnup. 

in. SioNET HiNo OP Ambnhotbp II. A tiuc gtceu-glazed scarab of the best Theban 
work, mounted like the preceding ring, and engraved witb tbe following legend: — 



Provincul and Private collections, Great Britain. 



u 



mil 



I I; 




These royal signet rings and the throne-chair of Queen Hatshepsu were all three pur- 
chased at Thebes. 

IV. Funerary stela op Napu. This stela is of limestone, much studded with nummn- 
lites. It measures 13 + 10 inches. The top is rounded. In the centre of the arch is the hut, 
or winged disk, flanked by two couchant jackals, e^ch holding the kherp (), and surmounted 
by the Uta ^^- Below the winged disk, and between the jackals, stands the group /^y^. 

In the first register is seen, to the right, the deceased, Napu I I, with the fol- 
lowing legend: 

*Saith the Osiris, Divine Father {t. e. priest) of Maut, 
true-voiced (makheru) before the great cycle of Gods.* 
Napu is clothed in a long robe, his head being 
closely shaven, and surmounted by the pointed cone 
peculiar to the later periods. He stands with hands 
and arms uplifted, in the attitude of worship. Before him is placed an altar laden with 
offerings; and beyond the altar, facing him, stands Ra-Harmakhis, hawk-headed, and in the 
form of a mummy, with the following legend: 

'Said by Ka-Harmakhis, the great God, Lord of 






A'S 



D O 




1 



Heaven, give him a good sepulture in Kher-nuter.' 
Ka-Harmakhis is followed by Hor-se-Ast^^. rj^ 
hawk -headed and crowned with the pschcut; Isis 
^ ; and Nebhat TT^G 



iSI 



c^l 



each crowned 



11 

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11 



D ^ 



J 




1 



l=AfsV11flhf 






nc^ 11^— 'tip » ^ 



iPrTiTp^ain^^yjgjfiu 



with the hieroglyph of his or her name. 

The second register contains three horizontal lines of inscription, which in the original 
read from left to right: 

'Royal oblation to Osi- 
ris dwelling in Amenti, the 
great god, Lonl of Abot, may 
hegive sepulchral meals, oxen, 
geese, incense on the fire, 
wine, linen, vegetables, all 
good, pure and sweet things 

to the Ka of the Osiris, the 

Divine father of Maut, Napu, 

son of the same, the Osiris Asa [or Ati V], son of the Lady of the House, Mautenhat-mest.* 

The name of the last mentioned personage is so much crowded, for want of space, 
as to be partly illegible ; and that of the father of Napu is uncertain, owing to the diffi- 
culty of determining the pronunciation of the hieroglyph dfc. That the son, Napu, inherited 
the priestly dignity of the father as 'Divine father of Maut' is seen by the expression ma 
enen (y ijf), 'the same', meaning 'holder of the same office*. 



.jcO* 



3iu^o";iTiiM^^*ty 




Pkovincial and Private collections, Great BbiTAIK, 



The esBcutiou of this atela is very careful, the hieroplyphs being long, slefider, and 
finely cut; the fignres sculptured in delicate relief; and the details, such as faces, hands 
and feet, singularly minute. A goose, a vase, a loaf, some cakes, and a sheaf of lotus 
lilies and buds are piled on the table of olferings; beneath it are seen two tall jai's in 
wooden stands, with conical stoppers. The date of this tablet cannot be earlier than the 
SaYte period, and is probably later. 

V. Au alabaster Canopie vase niiifle for one Kcninni, ii Majonloiiio, and engraved 
with the following legend : 

'Says Nebhat, Thou hast extended thy two arms 
over that which is in thee, thy magical virtue nimn this 
Hapi which is in thee — the Sn])erintendant of the House, 
Keniuni, true-voiced.' 

The body of the vase is of a dark grcy-hued ala- 
baster, and the hieroglyphs are tilled in with blue pig- 
ment. For the original lid, which should of course have 
been the Hapi-head, an Amset-head lid of fine pale yel- 
low alabaster has been substituted. Curiously enough, I 
myself possess the Amset - headed vase of this same 
Majordonio Keniuni, having bought it in Loudon from a dealer in antiquities in the year 
1875. 



11 


flk 


(k 


£ — - 




^^ 


=«H- 


;n 


h 


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V. Five Ushabti of \ 

(1) 



* periods : 




i 



^ 



i 
]& 



(V) A I 



I specimen measuring 2'/^ inches in length, raated with a bnllinnt blue 



glaze, the inscription being written in black before glazing, and bearing the solar cartouche 
of Rauieses II. This beautiful little uehabti bears the unmistakeable cachet of the factorj' 
in which the innumerable usliabli found with the royal mummies at Dayr-el-Babari were 
made under the priest-kings of the XX"' Dynasty. 

^2) A tine white ushabti of unglazed ware, measuring H inches in height; made for 
one Iri-aa-ta, Commandant i.pf the Storehouse. 



Provincial and Private collections, Great Britain. 9 

(3) This specimen, made for Uahabra Ptahmer, son of Tetu, is of the usual pale 
green glazed ware of the Saite period. Height S^/^ inches. 

(4) An ushabti of unglazed pale green ware, Saite period, height 3^ ^ inches; made 
for one Ahmes. 

(5) Pale green glazed ware, Saite period. 

Besides the above, Mr. Haworth's collection contains a particularly fine bronze sta- 
tuette of Osiris, in a standing position, crowned with the Atef crown, and holding the 
pedum and fiagellum; height 13 inches; also five small alabaster toilet vessels, from 2 to 
3 inches in height; and two very curious little figures of archaic design carved in dark 
wood, and standing on short truncated pedestals. They wear the ordinary wig (nems), 
are naked to the waist, and are clad in a long kilt with a wide apron. Their arms hang 
by their sides. The faces are full of character and admirably modelled; but the hands and 
feet are of inferior execution. These tiny wooden statuettes stand 4 inches high, and were 
purchased with the fragments of two draught - boxes and a set of 34 draught - men carved 
in wood in the form of lions' heads. The wooden statuettes are believed to be markers 
used in the game of draughts; and the whole were purchased at Thebes. 

Mr. Haworth's collection likewise includes a variety of interesting objects from the 
before-mentioned cemetery at Hawara, including a very curious terra-cotta model of a lady 
carried in a sedan-chair by two slaves, the figure of the lady being separately modelled, 
and moveable; also a beautiful vase of cut-glass, with engraved « wheel-pattern » ornamenta- 
tion; some domestic and personal relies from tombs, such as slippers, bronze bracelets, glass 
toilet bottles, hair-pins, a spindle and distatf with the thrciid yet wound round the former; 
etc. etc. Mr. Ha worth also possesses a very fine panel -portrait from one of the Hawara 
mummy- cases. This portrait re[)resents a middle-aged lady with a severe cast of face and 
regular features, her hair dressed in plain bands, and round her throat a necklace of 
large emeralds. The terra-cotta group and the portrait may be attributed to the Roman 
period. 



HL — THP: MAYER COLLECTION, LKERPOOL MUSEUM. 

Next to the contents of the Egyptian galleries in the British Museum, the most im- 
portant collection of Egyptian antiquities in England is that of the late Mr. Joseph Mayer, 
presented by him in 1867 to the Liverpool Museum. To give a detailed description of the 
contents of this large gallery would carry me far beyond the limits placed at my disposal 
by Professor Maspero; I therefore ])ropose from time to time to submit to readers of the 
Recueil de Travaux a selection of the more interesting inscriptions, and some account of 
the more important objects, in the Mayer Collection. 

Mr. Mayer's antiquities were principally purchased from Mr. Sams of Darlington; 
some were brought to England by the Rev^ H. Stobart, and others by Mr. T. I. Bourne; 
while some formed part of the Hertz collection, and some were acquired from the collec- 
tion of Lord Valentia. The Mayer gallery also contains a considerable number of objects 
presented by Mr. W. Crosfield, Mr. C. Stoess, and Mr. I. A. Tinne. The cases have like- 



10 



Pbotiscul and Pbivate collections, Geeat Britain. 



fATffis 


m 




I 

J 



. /S-n 



wise beeo enriched by donationg of amtilets, nahabti, scarab^i, etc., from the Egypt Sx^ 

ration Fund. 

I begin with 8 sepulchral bas-relief of the period of the Ancient Empire. 
(I.) This fine fragment, which meaeurea 32' 'j inches by 25'/i inches, fonoed tti 
lintel-stone of a tomb evidently Memphite, and belongiBg if- 
parently to the time of the IV Dynasty. It repreBenb i 
Chief Scribe Hg?, Royal Friend I « , and Superiotendant rf 
the Palace ^ctd, named Tet-en-Ankh S ■?-, having di 
the title ^^, of which the signification is Ibelieve nnknavi 
Tet-en-Ankh is seated before a table of oSerings, on wUd 
are seen a trussed goose, a joint of beef, vases of wioc^ eb. 
with a short superimposed inscription enumerating^ 'libatkn 
of water red and white' (i. e. water of the South and Ik 

North) '""o ; 'incense', 'I H ; and 'wine', |]*^^^». The details of this tablet are very deia 

tely executed, and rival tlie finest wood-carvings of the same period. 

(11.^ A sepalcbral tablet in red granite made for two persons, both Superintendant 

of the Palace, named respectively Nefern, I^, and Hotep, . Below the insraripliH 

which occupies five horizontal lines, is a bas-relief group representing three men in the at 

of walking, the centre figure bearded. 

All three carry the kherp in one hand and a long staff in the other. This very fia 

and interesting tablet measHres 37Vj inches by 23V4 inches; and is of the period of tb 

Xn"- dynasty. 

Translation : 

1. Superintendant of the Palace, Nefru ; superiutendant of the Palace, Hotep. 

3. Royal oblation to Osiris, Lord of Tattu, 

3. All good and pure things on which a God may live to the devout Saperintendant 
of the Palace, Hotep, 

4. Bom of the Lady Ehnomhotep, daughter of the devout servant Khnumn, 

5. Bom of Ehunmholep, son of the Superintendant of the Palace, Khnumhotep. 



^ULl A pyramidiou in black granite made for one Nefer-renpit, I] , who was a 
prince D , chief of the two Lands, '"^ , Nomarch, f \ general ^* , son of the Lai^ 

of the House, ^"^ , Akfta-em-aK % ^ "fifew^T '^'^ monument was dedicated 
to Nefer-renpit by his son Bak-en-Pten, a priest, anadates from the XVUI'^ dynasty. Hie 
height of the Pynunidion is 16 inches. The inscriptions on the four sides read as ffdlows : 



Provincial and Private collections, Great Britain. 



11 



1. 



2. 



I 



^/^Ar^AA 




D 







II 




mi 



11 

4.^ 



cn 




■m 



tf 




■^ 

^ r 



II 



J 




<= o 




t^ 



6f 



3. 



6? 



PPO 



I I I 

^A/^Awv. 






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] 



I 



fo© 

-11 



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II 



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f^ 



/VAAAAA 



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A^/W\A 




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pr 




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1. The Osiris, tbc Prince, Chief of the two Lands, Nomarch, General, Nefer-rcnpit, 
Born of the Lady of the House Akfta-em-aY, 

Son of t!ie Osiris, the Judge, Nefer-renpit. 

2. The Osiris, the Higli Priest of Ptah, the servant [of PtahJ Nefer-renpit, 
His sister Anauhi, living! Vi, 

His mother Ta-ur-khati. 

3. Hail to thee I See the Lord of tlie Horizon, oh Nomarch, Nefer-renpit, 
His daughter Amiu, by the Lady of the House 

His daughter Ptah- 

4. Made by his son who perpetuates his name ', the Prophet of Ptah, Bak-en-Ptah, 
Son of the Nomarch, the General, Nefer-renpit. 

Born of Ta Pipa. 



The names of Nefer-renpit and his sister Anauhi are given by Libblbin under a refe- 
rence to this monument, n** 1068 of his Dictionary of Hieroglyphic names. The name of 
Anauhi is however erroneously given as Oc/l] V'^h'^ ^' *"^ *^^ names of Akfta-em-aY, 



1) Literally 'who makes his name to live*. 



12 



Provincial and Private collections, Great Britain. 



Ta-ur-khati, Ptah and Bak-ea-Ptah are omitted. 1'be last is, however, given from 

a stela at Boiilak (Libblbih, n" 832), tbongli uot from tbe Livcrjiool pyraniidioii. 

(IV,) A leaf-shaped dish in green tiasalt, said to have been found at Edfii, cngraTed 
with a dedication to Osiris for a Judge named Ankli-f-iii, -V- , son of one Sebak- 

botep, '^a=^-«s- and of a lady named Scnaiikb. This object measures 1^ 
in lengnt, and dates probably from the XIII"' dynasty. 

TranslatiO!4 ; , . 



' of nn inch 



^pH 



1!^ 



laoHc 



,?^i 



-,\)^\- 



Royal oblation to Osi- 
ris, Lord of Abydos, that be 
may give se]iulehral meals, 
bread, oxen,vcgetabIos,KeeBe, 
to the Ka of the Judge Ankh-f-ni, who lives anew; born of the sister of the master of 
Hie altar, Schakliote]> who Jives anew, born of the slave, SeiiAnkh, Lady of perfectiou. 

iV.i A stibium -box in dark wood, ear- 
ved in the form of a square pillar with semi- 1 f /_. i fl '^ ^^ n 1 f) '^^ ^3 D ^ 
uircular corners, and fitted with a kohl-stick. 
The following inseripticm is cut down one of the sides : 

Tran.ilatios; 

'The priest of Amen of the second class, Kefcr." 

(VI.) Another stibium-box, can'cd in wood, in the shape of a 
column with ])alm-cn]>ital, engraved with the aceumpanying Icftcnd for 
a scribe named Ilyk. 

lA'II.) Another 8i)ecinien, same design, but with 8(|uare abaouK. 

(^VIII.) ?^ragment of dark wood, carded with the stilijoined 
horizontal inseri])ti<m : - 




Royal oblation to Ra, Royal oblation to Osiris dwelling in Amenti [for! Asni, Living. 

{IX.i An abibaster vase, in shape of a Greek Kalathos, graven with the Ka-namc 
(ordinarily called the 'banner - name') of king Kbufu, builder of the Great I'yraniid. This 
interesting and imi>ortant object meafinres 9 inehes in 
height, and is about ■'■ ,"" of an inch in thickness. 
IV"' Dynasty. See Lbi-eius, Denkmiihi; Vol. 3. Abth. II. 
HI. 2. D. 

(X.) A seated statue in black granite, of one Amen- 
eniba-t, Majordomo of the i>alacc. This monument bus 
been broken anciently, but is mended, and the parts are 
perfect. The features, bands, and feet, are very finely 
executed, nnd the work tlinmghout is in the best style 
of the Xll"' dynasty. Height 23 inches. Round the feet 
is engraven the following inscription : 





Provincial and Private collections, Great Britain. 



13 



Translation : 

Amenemha-t bom of Netermestu. 

(XI.) A small alabaster slab engraven with seven vertical columns of hieroglyphs 
containing the names of various cosmetics^ oils, etc.^ each column of inscription terminating 
in a small cup-like hollow. Size 4'' ^Vie*^ i^ length, by 2" Vic*^ ^^ width. 






I I 




f] 



^ 




AA/VWV 



9 




w 




1 



tf 




(To be continued.) 



1 








^1 
mi 




The Larches, Westbury on Trym. August 1. 1888. 



J 



I 

« 



A 



'? 



ON THE METHOD 



OF 



« 

IT 



INTERPRETING EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHICS 



BY 



YOUNG AND CHAMPOLLION, 



WITH A VINDICATION OP ITS CORRECTNESS PROM THE STRICTURES OF 



SIR GEORGE CORNEWALL LEWIS. 



COMMUNICATED TO THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES 

BY REGINALD STUART POOLE, ESQ. 



• ( 







IT 



^ LONDON : 



PRINTED BY J. B. NICHOLS AND SONS, 25, PARLIAMENT STREET. 

1865. 



FROM 

THE AROH^OLOGIA 

VOL. ZXXIX. 



ON THE METHOD 



OP 



INTERPRETING EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHICS 



BY 



YOUNG AND CHAMPOLLION. 



The subject on which I have the honour to address you is the correctness of the 
method of interpreting Hieroglyphics originated by Dr. Young and developed by 
ChampoUion. This method, after having long been generally accepted by scholars, 
is now seriously attacked, and the learning of the assailant demands as serious a 
defence. The question is one of much graver importance than at first appears. 
The immediate results of the interpretation of the hieroglyphic inscriptions seem 
meagre and uninteresting, but it will be found that these results have been largely 
used by almost all inquirers into the primaeval period of the world's history. To 
abandon them is nothing less than to go back at least thirty years in this pro- 
vince of historical inquiry. If we have erred let us frankly acknowledge the 
fault and retrace our steps, but let this not be done without a careful considera- 
tion of the evidence before us. 

Sir George Comewall Lewis, in his "Historical Survey of the Astronomy of the 
Ancients," has called in question all that has been done by the Egyptologists ; but 
as he admits that, if they can read and translate the inscriptions, they have a 
trustworthy basis of inquiry, I shall mainly confine my remarks to this one ques- 
tion, which I need not explain to be the question upon which the existence of 
Egyptology depends. My object will be to show the grounds on which I hold 
the method of Young and ChampoUion to be true. I wish to discuss as clearly 
as possible the means of interpretation, their application, and the evidence of the 
correctness of this application as shown by the eflfect of the results on historical 
inquiry. 

The discovery of the Rosetta Stone, during the French occupation of Egypt, 
supplied what seemed to bo a key for the interpretation of hieroglyphics. This 
tat)let bears three inscriptions, the lowest of which is in Greek characters. The 
Greek inscription is a decree, ending with a statement that it was written in three 

A 



2 Young and Champollion^ 8 Interpretation of 

characters, sacred letters or hieroglyphics, enchorial or vulgar letters, and Greek 
letters. The first and second inscriptions are, therefore, Egyptian, and there can 
be no doubt that they represent the sacred and the vulgar dialects of the Egyptian 
language, spoken of by ancient writers. If the three inscriptions can in any way 
be closely compared, the first step towards the interpretation of the ancient 
Egyptian cliaracters will be taken. The enchorial I shall only examine as an aid 
to the understanding of the hieroglyphics. 

Before attempting any comparison it is necessary to endeavour to ascertain in 
what manner the hieroglyphic characters correspond to words, whether they are 
phonetic or ideographic, that is, letters or the like, or symbols. The Greek in- 
scription ends with the words " of the first and the second,*' th(* rest of the last 
line being wanting. In the hieroglyphic inscription, we observe, in the last 
line, a sign occurring three times, having respectively beneath it, one stroke, two 
strokes, and three strokes. There can be no reasonable doubt that here we have 
arbitrary symbols for numerals ; but this supposition does not warrant a similar 
opinion as to other signs. 

The number of characters in the Egyptian inscriptions may throw light upon 
the nature of their signs. The hieroglyphic inscription is imperfect, the enchorial 
is almost complete, and the same is the case with the Greek. The enchorial 
inscription occupies nearly as much space as the Greek, and seems, as far as can 
be conjectured from its appearance, to contain not many fewer signs than the 
Greek contains letters, although the signs have far more forms than those 
letters. The enchorial character is evidently a kind of running hand, and there 
is therefore great difficulty in determining how many strokes compose a sign, and 
what the signs are meant to represent. Some signs, however, bear so unmis- 
takcable a likeness to certain signs in the hieroglyphic inscription, that it is 
evident that the enchorial character is, at least in part, a degradation of the 
hieroglj-phic. 

A very careful comparison of the enchorial with the hieroglyphic inscription 
shows that their extent was originally the same. In preference, however, to 
determining on this basis the number of signs in the hieroglyphic inscription, 
it will be enough to calculate how many signs the remaining lines, Mhen 
uninjured, must have contained. Those lines are 14 ; the lowest contains 101 
characters, and has lost space which would about contain IC characters; we 
thus gain a total of 120 : the next line above, which is more defective, contains 
135 ; and six above, all diminisliing in contents through the injuiy, 120, 111, 112, 
116, 108, 107, &c. The average number of characters in a full line would have 



Egyptian Sieroglyphica vindicated. 3 

been at least 145, which would give 2,030 characters for the 14 lines. The 
original number of letters in the Greek inscription may be computed to be about 
6804, a few being wanting. It is obvious that the proportion is too large to admit 
of the hieroglyphics being wholly symbols, or as they are now called ideographs. 
There are not 2,000 ideas in the Greek inscription. We can therefore only 
infer that at least some hieroglyphics are sometimes phonetic, representing either 
syllables or letters. 

It may aid our judgment to consider the very diflferent number of letters in 
which diflferent languages express the same ideas. If we compare Hebrew with 
Greek, for instance in the fiurst five verses of the 1st chapter of Genesis, we find 
in the Hebrew 197 letters and in the Septuagint 334. If written like Hebrew, 
the hieroglyphic inscription of the Uosetta Stone might be alphabetic. 

Another indication of the nature of the hieroglyphic characters is discover- 
able in the relative frequency of the occurrence of certain of them. On com- 
paring the hieroglyphic inscription with the Greek, it will be seen that the 
number of distinct characters in the former is much greater than in the latter. 
Certain signs occur but once, others seldom, others often, and the hieroglyphics 
can be separated into two distinct classes, rare and common signs, a separation 
which the examination of other inscriptions amply confirms. The common signs 
must be phonetic if I am correct in supposing that some hieroglyphics must be of 
this nature in this inscription. It is important to compare the frequency of 

occurrence of these signs with that of the Greek letters. The half-circle -^ 

occurs 118 times ; the wavy line ^*^^<^ 72 ; the mouth ^z> 60 ; the three straight 
lines side by side 1 1 1 46 ; the single straight line i 45 ; the sign of two parallel 
Unes connected by a sloping line ^=:^ 40 ; the bar ? • 33 ; the cord ^ 33 ; 

the siphon [] 32; the cerastes — J^ 30; the mat I 25; the reed ^ 24; the 
the two reeds W 16 ; the three straight lines, one above another i 14 ; the 

duckling ^ 12 ; the owl ^ 8 ; and the lion 2s^ 6. The most frequent sign is 

therefore one to eleven and a half in the whole number (1355 -r- 118 = 11-4) ; 
the next is 1 to 18'8 ; the next 1 to 29*4 ; the next 1 to 30-1 ; the next 
1 to 338; the rest 1 to 41 and above. Taking the first line of the Greek 

a2 



* Young and Champollion* 8 Interpretation of 

inscription, two letters are 1 to 6, the next 1 to 9, then 1 to 11, 1 to 13, two 
1 to 15, and the rest 1 to 20 and above. The most common hieroglyphic sign 
is as often repeated as T. 

The following conclusion is the result of the first stage of the inquiry. 
Hieroglyphics arc, some ideographic, some phonetic. I am anxious to lay stress 
upon the strong reasons for holding that some are phonetic, as the agreement of 
ancient Avriters in calling hieroglyphics symbols has seemed to furnish a trium- 
phant argument against any of them being phonetic. If, however, some are 
phonetic, the error of these writers might be accounted for by the circumstance 
that characters wholly pictures of known objects, if sometimes used as idcograi)hs, 
would strike a nation like the Greeks as essentially ideographic. 

It must bo frankly admitted that the next step is a conjecture though not a 
mere arbitrary guess. 

Dr. Young observed that certain signs were inclosed in rings or ovals in the 
hieroglyphic inscription, and that, in cori*esponding places in the enchorial, there 
were signs inclosed in marks like those we use to inclose parentheses. The name 
Ptolemy occurs eleven times in the Greek inscription, and inclosures are found in 
corresponding places in the enchorial. The enchorial inclosures contain five sets 
of characters. These were conjectured to mean Ptolemy, King, Arsinoe, Berenice, 
and Alexander. In the hieroglyphic inscription there is only this difference, that 
but one set of characters occurs corresponding in position to the supposed 
Ptolemy and King. It seems therefore probable that the characters thus dis- 
tinguished from the rest are royal names, and on examining the sculptures 
and paintings of the temples it will be seen that rings are always found in the 
inscriptions accompanying .the most important figures of warriors, or sacrificers, 
and in the greatest and most sumptuous tombs, and that these rings contain 
a great variety of diflbrent groups. 

As the Egyptian hieroglyphics are partly phonetic, it is most probable that 
foreign names would be written in phonetic characters. The number of characters 
in some of the rings is so great that it exceeds that of the Greek name supposed to 
correspond, and it is therefore evident that a title or titles must be added. Some 
of the rings omit the latter portion of the group, and the remaining hieroglyphic 
characters are seven in place of the ten Greek letters. They were therefore 
supposed to correspond to the most essential letters ETAMAIS. The fifth and 
sixth hieroglyphic signs are identical; elsewhere one of the two occurs alone; so 
that we have a double sign that would well represent a long vowel. The short 
vowels in this case would be omitted, as in the old Semitic mode of writing. 



Egyptian Hieroglyphics vindicated. 5 

This conjecture was tested by an examination of the numerous rings found 
in the Egyptian inscriptions, and was not only confirmed, but the alphabet was 
gradually enlarged from the names of the Greek and Eoman rulers. Soon after 
Dr. Young's theory had been published, a list of kings corresponding to the chief 
names in ancient Egyptian history was drawn out. Among these was one 
identified with that of Cheops, the traditional builder of the Great Pyramid, which 
was selected from about eight rings found in the inscriptions of tombs near that 
monument. Some years after General, then Colonel, Howard Vyse undertook to 
explore the Pyramids. In the Great Pyramid he discovered some chambers never 
previously opened, and not carefully finished, as they were merely intended to 
lighten the weight of the masonry above the King's Chamber. On the walls of 
these chambers were scrawls in red ochre, written by the quarrymen or masons. 
In these scrawls two royal rings only occurred, and one of them was that pre- 
viously assigned to Cheops, the other that of a king previously supposed to be 
his immediate successor. 

It must also be remarked that the names occurring in the same parts of edifices 
have been easily recognized as belonging to one and the same period. Thus the 
Caesars are found together and the Ptolemies together. A Greek dedicatory 
inscription always is accompanied by names of the Greek or Homan rule. At the 
great temple of Dendarah the portico bears a Greek dedication under Tiberius. 
In the sculptures of the portico are the rings of Tiberius and later Caesars to 
Nero. In the further part of the temple, which is obviously of older date, are 
older names, from that of Cleopatra downwards. In like manner the sculptures 
of the kings identified with those as to whom we have an agreement in the state- 
ments of ancient writers, that is from Psammetichus the First downwards, show 
distinct styles. The accurate delicate style of the Psammetichi is not accom- 
panied by any but names of that line ; the heavy style of the Ptolemies is not 
found with Egyptian or Roman names ; the still heavier style of the early 
emperors does not contain the names of the later ones, under whom Egyptian art 
reached its lowest point. 

If it be granted, and I cannot see how assent can be withheld, that royal names 
occur in the Egyptian inscriptions and are correctly read, it must also be granted 
that the phonetic value of many signs has been determined. The second point 
is thus fixed : hieroglyphics can be read. 

Reading and interpretation are not the same. You may read a phonetic lan- 
guage without interpreting it ; you may interpret a symbolic language without 
reading it. We cannot advance in the present case from reading to interpretation 



6 YotDig and Champollion^a Interpretation of 

without a knowledge of the hmguage in which the hieroglyphic inscriptions are 
written. 

It was held by Young and Ohampollion that the Coptic language was so near 
to the ancient Egyptian as to be a safe means for the interpretation of its writings 
when the sounds of the characters were once known. They considered Coptic to 
be a debased form of ancient Egyptian, essentially differing very little from it. 
The connection of the two languages is now called in question. Strange as is this 
denial, in the faee of the results of advanced philological inquiry, it has been so 
confidently made, that the reasons for holding the general opinion must be care- 
fully stated. The date of the Rosetta Stone, which we may here consider the 
only hieroglyphic inscription of certain age, is B.C. 196 ; the oldest Coptic papyri 
are not much earlier than the close of the sixth century after the Christian era. 
There is therefore an interval of almost eight hundred years. Is it possible that 
the Egyptian language should have materially changed during this interval ? The 
condition of the nation, the nature of the language, and the composition of the 
vocabulary, prove that it can have undergone no essential change in this period. 
History shows us that the Greek and Homan rule tended rather to confirm than 
to alter the national peculiarities of the Egyptians, The longer the foreign rule 
lasted, the more distinct the Copts became ; and at the time of the Arab conquest 
they were not only separate from their rulers, but so hostile to them that they 
almost welcomed the invaders. The monuments confirm history, for excepting at 
Antinoe there is scarcely an important monument of Greek or Roman style out of 
Alexandria. The nature of the language leads us to the same opinion. It is 
related to a group of African languages, which have the same characteristics, 
though they are evidently in a later condition. In examining it, the difficulty is 
to discover such indications of change as a general analogy would lead us to 
expect. If, however, we perceive its essential character, we perceive the cause 
of this difficulty. It is a monosyllabic language, and therefore inflexible. The 
changes that we do discover are mere variations of sound, the results of express- 
ing several dialects. The laws of permutation are traceable, and they show us 
that the language is essentially unchanged, and incapable of change. The com- 
position of the vocabulary affords remarkable confirmatory evidence. We find 
almost aU the religious terms to be pure Greek, and in reading the New Testa- 
ment we find these terms as mere transcriptions, with the addition of Coptic 
prefixes or suffixes. Had the Greek rule or the conversion of the Egyptians to 
Chi'istianity greatly changed the language, we should not find Greek thus mixed in 
an unfused state with Coptic. Turkish and Persian both contain, in like manner. 



JEgypticm Sieroglyphica mndicated. 7 

a multitude of Arabic words ; but Turkish is still Turaniazii and Persian Iranian, 
notwithstanding this Semitic element in the vocabulary. 

■ 

Happily it is not merely on high probability that we have to depend. Ancient 
writers have preserved transcriptions of a certain number of Egyptian words with 
their meanings, and these are frequently to be recognized in Coptic. It is true 
that these writers speak of a sacred and a vulgar dialect, and many of these words 
must belong to the former ; but the nature of the language does not admit of 
these dialects differing essentially. 

Parthey in his Vocabulary gives two valuable appendixes containing respectively 
these Egyptian words occurring in Greek and Latin writers. The Greek writers 
furnish the more important list. If we omit etymologies as dangerous, names of 
plants as likely to be wanting in Coptic, demonstrably late words, and words 
marked doubtful, there remains a large proportion, of which half are easily 
recognizable in Coptic, as may be seen by the following specimen of the first 
twenty-five words : — 

1. A/Ska^wtovj a kind of papyrus rope. 

2. A&npa, a kind of food. 

3. Afjfifyrj^i name of a book. 

4 (1). Afiovvy {a) the hidden, concealment; A.iUiorri to hold, &c. 

5(2). , (5) word for calling ; /uutOYit come I 

6 (3). ATraTTTTow, the greatest; A.^ou^; A.^oun, a. giant. 

7. Ap(ra(f>rj<;y manhood. 

8. Aa-fiaxy those standing on left hand of king. 

9 (1). Bairjdy a hawk ; Ra.IC, JBlH^, BiHt^ei hawk (accipiter). 

m 

10. Bat, the soul. 

11 (5). H^, the heart; gHT, the heart. 

12 (6). Bdi^y a palm-branch ; Aa, Aai, a palm-branch, palm. 

13 (1 ?). Ba\, myrrh; &a,7\, myrrh? 

14 (7). Bapt9, a boat ; RA.pi, a little boat. 

15 (2 ?). BoirroA, tombs ? AoTe an abomination ; to pollute. 
16. Bvi/iyro?, a kind of garment. 

17 (8). Bui/t, Boi/t, Boui/^ an instrument of music ; JBLOirrH, nablium, cithara. 

18 (9). 'Ep7rt9, wine; Hpn, wine. 

19 (3 ?). E/3Tft)<r*, every kind of animal ; epTto, to germinate. 
20. Ipcy the eye. 

21 (10). I<rt9, ancient; AC, ec, antiquus. 
22. KaifiLVi beheld. 



8 Yatmg and ChampolliotC a Interpretation oj 

23 (11). YLcucm^ a kind of bread; A.IK, A.CIK, bread. 
21. YiaKoLivov, colour. 

25 (4 ?). KaXaaipi^i a broad tunic, a tunic covering the legs. ka.7v, a tuuic, the 
shanks, tliighs (crura, femora). 

Admitting, therefore, that the Coptic is nearly the same as the vulgar dialect 
of the ancient Egyptian, and that both are essentially the same as the sacred 
dialect of the same language, the next step is to test this conclusion by an attempt 
to interpret the inscriptions which our alphabet enables us in part to read. This 
test may best be applied to short inscriptions accompanying sculptures and 
paintings, and possibly of an explanatory character. 

Thus the figure of a woman clapping her hands is accompanied by signs reading 



HST *l' 



°l^ followed by a sign not found used as a phonetic. In Coptic a song is 



gouc and t is the feminine article. We can thus read "a female singer," tlie 
fourth sign, the arm, being apparently a corresponding ideograph. Over the 



figure of a man working at boat-making are the characters • :^i n kii, followed 

as before by a sign not found used as a phonetic. In Coptic JUorrK is " to form " 
or " construct." The last sign as before is not found in Coptic, and, on examin- 
ing it, we perceive that it is a representation of an implement resembling but not 
identical with that the craftsman is driving into the boat at which he is working. 
This gives us a clue to the use of certain non-phonetic signs, which are evidently 
ideographs employed to determine the sense of phonetic groups. The hand in the 
preceding case would indicate an action done by the hands, clapping the hands, 
as the implement here indicates carpentering. The third instance I adduce is the 

occurrence of the signs 'IjC u s T above the figure of a man sawing. In Coptic I 
find OY0UC9 a "cut," "division: " the T here may indicate the substantive form. 
Over a yoke of oxen ploughing are the signs >cd Lj' | s k, followed by a harrow 



and three grains. In Coptic cka.1 is " to plough : " here there would seem to be 
a double determinative : over the labourer who guides the plough are signs which 
cannot be all read without a further knowledge than the alphabet supplied by the 
Greek and Roman names furnishes. In addition, I will only cite three figures of 
animals accompanied by hieroglyphics which appear to designate them. Over an 



Egyptian Sieroglyphica vindicated. 9 

animal like a jackal is written ^ac^ u n s h : in Coptic we find oruJitia 



" a wolf;" over a cynocephalus, i-L, a a n a, in Coptic €n an " ape ;" over a rat 



J! • \ p N N TJ, in Coptic u^itt, um, a " rat " or " mouse." In all these in- 

stances the words are radically the same. It will be perceived that the discovery 
of the names of objects being sometimes written above them, and, still more, the 
separation of determinative from phonetic signs are of great value in the inter- 
pretation of ancient Egyptian. We thus gain a means of ascertaining the signifi- 
cation of many of the numerous words which occur in the inscriptions written 
phonetically and followed by determinatives, by looking in the Coptic dictionary 
for the words corresponding to the latter, for if they agree with the hierogly- 
phic phonetic signs, the identification is complete. Thus a n, a bull, is the 
Coptic eg€ ; BAB or BEE A, a pig, the Coptic pip ; s ha aw, a sow, the Coptic 
€J4|Ay; u h e e, a dog, the Coptic OYgop; e a, the sun, the Coptic pn; s e e w, a 
star, the Coptic cioy. After this step had been made the grammatical forms were 
by degrees discovered, and ultimately the theory of the language ascertained, and 
most of the words common to it and Coptic discovered. Unfortunately this does 
not complete the vocabulary of ancient Egyptian. Coptic is a language with 
a small literature and now no longer spoken. The religious terms are borrowed 
from Greek, and the ancient religious terms are therefore mainly wanting. The 
meaning of these, and the rest of the doubtful part of the vocabulary, is mainly 
to be ascertained by a laborious inductive process, which has now made great 
progress. 

We are now able to discover the general sense and most of the details of any 
historical inscription, and of not a few of the religious inscriptions. A larger 
knowledge of the language will probably not add greatly to the important 
results. 

It is impossible, with the limited time at my disposal, to show how every step 
to the position now gained has been made. If as much as I have explained be 
sound, the subsequent steps cannot be considered uncertain. The rules for the 
reading and interpretation of hieroglyphics are definite and unvarying. At 
the same time, many of the sounds and words are yet uncertain, and the grammar 
is not complete. Those who assert that the method of the Egyptologists is wholly 
arbitrary, that letters are read according to the meaning sought to be discovered, 

B 



10 Young and Champollion' a Interpretation of 

not by any fixed rules, confound the labours of conscientious scholars with the 
ill-regulated attempts of impostors. 

Thus far I have spoken of the philological side of the question. That question 
may be further illustrated by some notice of the character of what are now termed 
the alleged results of the interpretation of hieroglyphics, as to most minds the 
results are the best test of the truth of any system supposed to be on its trial. 
This argument has indeed been rather hastily dismissed by the assertion that the 
results are of no value. The exact value of a literary discovery is very difficult to 
determine. Every one will estimate it according to his individual partiality. In 
this case the discovery depends for its interest wholly upon its importance as 
illustrating history. Those who feel no interest in history cannot be expected to 
feel an interest in the discovery. Let us suppose an opposite case. All English 
literature having been lost, one work is recovered. In Shakspere's writings the 
world Avould at once recognize an addition of extraordinary value to literature; but 
if they could be compared with the Greek and Latin classics it would be very soon 
decided that history had gained very little by this discovery. A regret would be 
felt that a double service was not done to knowledge, and this regret must be felt 
in the case of hieroglyphic discovery. Yet the uninteresting form of absolutely 
new historical knowledge cannot injure its importance, and surely it is a narrow 
mind that insists upon new truths being agreeably told. It would be as reason- 
able to expect mathematics to be taught in poetry. 

Those who look reasonably at what has been done for ancient history by 
Egyptology may well hesitate to believe that so many pages can be blotted out of 
the annals of mankind. They are unable to see how so congruous a series of facts 
can be untrue, and prefer to rest their conviction rather upon the results of the 
science than upon its method. There may be great disagreements in dates and 
details, but the general scheme of Egyptian history is in its clearer periods the 
same with all the authorities, and upon certain main facts they are aU agreed. 
Theii' differences are rather in the attempt to synchronize Egyptian with other 
history, than in the arrangement of Egyptian history itself. 

In considering the results of Egyptology, the main point that strikes the 
student, and which has aroused suspicion where it should have almost forced con- 
viction, is then* unexpectedness. The hieroglyphic records were searched at the 
first discovery, in the hope that Joseph, the oppressed Israelites, Moses, and the 
great events of the Exodus, Avould be found in their places in Egyptian history. 
Not one expected notice has been certainly discovered. No doubt this is because 
the sojourn in Egypt fell during a period Avhich is a blank in the monuments of 



Egyptian Sieroglyphica vindicated. 11 

the country ; but had we been impostors we should not have failed to find exactly 
what the world required. Yet not in this matter alone, but throughout every 
province illustrated by Egyptology the results have been always unexpected, and 
generally contrary to expectation. If the method be a deception, conscious or 
imconscious, it is difficult to understsmd how its results can be so unlike what the 
learned almost demanded from the discoverers. 

I cannot even mention the chief additions to knowledge which Egyptology 
claims to have won. I will only notice the provinces that are most largely 
indebted to it. In history we have recovered the annals of Egypt for two thou- 
sand years. The manners, the religion, the arts of the Egyptians are as well 
known as those of the Greeks and Romans. The ancient geography of neigh- 
bouring countries and much of their history have been illustrated. Comparative 
philology has gained a most valuable addition in the recovery of a language the 
first records of which are four thousand years old, and of which we know the 
history for at least two thousand five hundred years. Biblical archaiology lias 
received new and important illustrations corroborating minute particulars in a 
manner that signally proves the accuracy of the Sacred Records. 

Take away all this, and look at the result. Erase from our commentaries, our 
cyclopaedias, and our dictionaries all that is due to Egyptology, and see in all 
that relates to Egypt what a vague, dry, miserable caput martmim remains. Or 
compare what was written before ChampoUion with what is written now, and 
you will perceive that the positive gain due to Egyptology cannot be the fruit 
of an erroneous system, and that in this case credulity is on the side of scepticism, 
not on that of belief. The history of literature does not exhibit a parallel to 
so gigantic an imposture or a delusion as must be supposed if Egyptology be 
untrue ; and, if this could be proved, something more could also be proved, that 
results afford no test of the truth of a system, and that we must add to our new 
criticism a new logic. 

It may seem surprising, if there be so much to show that Egyptology is true, 
that Sir G. Comewall Lewis has entirely refused to sec any of these arguments, 
and I should be guilty of disrespect to him were I not to show that this may be 
explained without any slur being cast upon his scholarship. 

No one can read the portion of his work which relates to Egyptology without 
perceiving a strong bias against the scholars whose opinions he combats. It 
is needless to prove this, as it must be evident to any reader of the work. The 
result is evident in the positive contradiction of all ancient authority which runs 
counter to his views. The priest who explained the inscription of Ramcses to Ger- 



Yotmg and Champollion'a Interpretation qf Eieroglyphica vindicated. 

juB is characterized as an impostor, but no reason is given for this conclusion. 
feeling is still furthra proved by Sir G. Comewall Lewis's neglect of the 
ptian authorities, which may be exemplified hj one remarkable instance. In 
oizing Manetho, the Egyptian historian, who is the great authority with the 
rptolc^ists. Sir G. Comewall Lewis is anxious to expose his untrostworthiness. 
accordingly cites the notices which are attached to several reigns in his Hsts 
all the remains of his history, and not alone remarks that they are in part 
Jiistorical, but that they show that Manetho did not write what can be called 
story. It is, however, well known that there are good reasons foi* doubting 
lese notices to be by Manetho, or preserved in his very words : one Sir G. Come- 
/all Lewis acknowledges to be partly at least an interpolation. There are besides 
hsBo notices three long fragments which enable us to judge Manetho's character 
as an historian. The first and second are grave historical narratives, worthy of a 
place by the side of the most sob^ of the classical writings. The third is an 
untrustworthy legend ; but Manetho expressly says that it was not preserved in 
the sacred records, but on some uncertain popular authority. It is inoonoeivable 
that Sir G. Comewall Lewis could have missed these weU-known and most 
interesting fragments had he not unconsciously prejudged the whole question, 
and searched for anything but evidence to support his particular theory. He 
evidently looks upon the Egyptian records with the contempt that was felt by the 
Greeks and Bomans, a contempt shown in their general neglect, and embodied 
in the sarcasms of Fliny, who calls the Lake Mosris, of which the fisheries pro- 
duced a large revenue, a great ditch, as Sir G. Comewall Lewu says that the 
people that invented paper contributed nothing to the progress of mankind. 

ADDENDtru. — ^The alphabet may be obtained witJiont the guess that led 
Br. Yoimg to its discovery. There is in the Leyden Museum a well-known 
enchorial papyrus in which certain words are transcribed in Greek characters. 
from these transcriptions an enchorial alphabet may be &amed, by which the 
words in the enchorial inscription of the Bosetta Stone, inclosed in signs like 
those we use for parentheses, will be found to furnish the same names as the 
corresponding words inclosed in rings in the hieroglyphic inscription according 
to Dr. Young's reading. 






aeiopal Jitfitttute of Britisi) atcijttetts. 



At the Ordinary General Meeting, held on Monday, the Slat of January, 1870, 
E. rAaaON, Vice-President, in the Chair, the following paper was read : — 

ON THE ORNAMENTAL FEATURES OF ARABIC ARCHITECTURE IN 
EGYPT AND STRIA. 

By JOHH D. Grace, Contributing Visitor. 



Last year, from the necessity of avoiding an English winter, I found myself in what always seemed to 
me an enchanted city — Cairo. A " convalescent," and therefore for the time an idle man, I found in 
its picturesque streets, its ever-moTing coloar, its variety of East«m coHtome, its primitive manufactnrei ; 
but above all, in the remuns of its noble and graceful buildings, on endless field for amusement and 
for Btndy, 

A subsequent ride throngh Palestiue and Syria was a. good sequel to this sojourn in Egypt ; and 
afforded an opportunityof extending my notes on Arabic buildings, and comparing their local pecuharities. 
I propose to lay before you, as simply as I can, some of these notes. 

In a paper necessarily short it would not bo possible to attempt an historical analysis of Arabian 
art. That it was a vigorous and beautiful outgrowth of more than one decadent and debased style is 
as tme as it is remarkable. To trace the exact part or share which Persian, Greek or Copt each bad 
in its development would bo a difficult task. For this evening it will suffice for us to note the fact that ' 
among an energetic, conquering race, having fw art of ikeir own, but having an intense vigour of 
character and existence, a style of art sprung up which quickly ripened into individuality. And 
although, probably for a considerable period, every artist or skilled workman employed was an alien 
having his own art traditions, yet their varied workmanship and art seem to have been adapted and 
appropriated to one result, and that result a style as remarkable perhaps ss any in the civilized world 
not only for consistency and beanty, but for originality. For, whilst, no doubt, each separate feature 
might be traced to some parent source, the whole possesses a nnity and completeness, in its best examples, 
unsurpassed in any other style. 

I propose to call your attention more especially to the varioos ornamental features of the Arabic 
architecture of Egypt and Syria. But in order to do this exphcitly, it will be necessary for me to 
touch to some extent also on some pccnlaritics of constructjon ; and to point out some of the special 
features and stepping stones of its development and growth. 

It may be broadly stated that Arab architecture commenced at a distinct style about the middle of 
the ninth century, a little more than two hundred and fifty years after Mohammed's " flight," or about 
seventy years after the famous Haroun e' Rashecd of the Arabian Kights. 

The earliest Arab monnmcnts in Egypt upon any records of which reliance can be placed, are the 
" Nilometer," first completed A.D. 861, but altered and added to A.D. 872 by " Ibn Tooloon ;" and the 
Tooloon Mosque, built A.D. 876. As is well known to moat of you, both these buildings possess pointed" 
arches, nhich are often quoted as the earliest known examples in systematic use. In addition to this, 
however, both present many features which continued throughout the best periods of the style. It maj 
be as welt here to note that the Tooloon Mosque is entirely built of burnt brick " stuccoed" to resemble 



72 



ON THE ORNAMENTAL FEATUEES OF 



Btone ; the ornament, which is of a bold and artistic character, being cut in the shicco by hand— not 
cast. In both this and the Nitometer the iDEcriptions are in the " Kvfie " character, which bears the 
same relation to modem Arabic writing that our old black-letter does to onr modem type." 

From the foundation of the Toolooa Mosque about a century elapses before wo arrive at another 
distinct landmark in Arab architecture. This is the Mosque of " El Hakim " (the founder of the 
Drnzes). This mosque was founded A.D. 1003, and has much of the same churocter as that last 
mentioned. The writing here is also Knfio and, intermixed with excellent scroll ornament, forms an 
admirable frieze. The open parapets here, of simple geometric pattern, are worth attention. (Figs, 1 — 2). 

The examples which I have, so for, quoted, whilst possessing a distinct Arabic character, show 
almost as wide a difference from the subsequent Arabic monuments as onr own " Norman " work does 
from the Enghsh work of the succeeding century. A certain massive, heavy appearance distinguishes 
them ; nor was there as yet, apparently, any extensive use of the variegated materials which become so 
conspicuous a feature in the exterior of most of the later buildings. 

I may here notice one very interesting monument of Cairo. Close to the " Morostan," and opening 
to the Kalaoon Mosque — in one of the most picturesque streets of Coiro— avery beautiful pointed 
doorway arrests the attention. Most people are struck with it; but the architect most so, for be at 
once recognises the familiar mouldings and grouped shafts of the early pointed architecture of Northern 
Europe. Its history is curious and very interesting. In the year A.D. 1291 Akka was taken by the 
Sultan Khaleel, the eon of El Mnnsoor Kalaoon, the founder of the Morostan. Gibbon says of Akka 
(which was, for some years previous to the siege, the Metropolis of the Latin Christians) : " It was 
adorned with strong and stately buildings, aqueducts," &c, ; and that, after its capture, " By the 
command of the Sultan (Khaleel), the churches and fortiGcations of the Latin cities were demolished. " 
He there found this beautiful doorway, the work of Crusaders, and removed it to Cairo, where it adorns 
the mosqne which bears his father's name. The Arab historian " El Makreefiee" speaks enthusiastically 
of its beauty, I mention this doorway becauBO it is earlier than any of the more elaborate Arabic 
bttildings of Cairo , and evidently excited considerable admiration in the Arab mind. An Arabic 
inscription on the lintel gives the date of its erection as G93 A.H. (or A.D. 1290). The Kalaoon Mosque 
was founded A.D. 1280, and completed A.D. 1305. 

The Mosqne of Sultan Hassan dates from about A.D. 1354, and is probably the most important of 
the mosques of Cairo. In it we see the details of Arabic ornament wrought to their greatest perfection. 
It would be impossible to find, for instance, a more exquisite specimen of writing, treated ornamentally, 
than the frieze of the great court ond alcoves. The scroll interwoven with the Kufic writing is admirable. 
One door in this mosque is plated, as usual, with bronze in geometric patterns, but has raised bosses, 
exquisitely inlaid with the most delicate niello ornament in silver. 

The noble recess of the main entrance of the Mosque of Sultan Hassan is a well-known feature ; 
and its details of inlaid coloured stones, sculptured and interlaced patterns, are among the most perfect 
examples of Arabian art. The style has here attained its full development ; combining the most perfect 
and highly finished details with the noble severity of the lofty walls, upwards of 100 feet high. 

We have now arrived at the middle of the fourteenth century. (The period of Yussnf s Alhambra). 
We may turn to the beautiful group of domes and mosques known as the " Tombs of the Caliphs," 
about two miles out of the City of Cairo. We there find the grand sepulchral Mosque of " Barkook," 



• The modem Arabic cliaracter was not used at all till the middle of the tenth ccnturj. Even then the " Kufic " 
only waa used on buildings till the end of the " Fatemite" dynasty, abont Ji.D. 11 TO. After tliat the Arabic and 
EoGc were ioth employed. Even na late as oar fifteenth centniy, single inscriptions are occasionally written in 
both cbaractera side by side. 



AEABIC ABCBITECTUBE 1 



75 



a most norlhj example for stndf . This daten from the close of the fourteenth centaiy. (" Barkook e' 
Zahir'' died 1399, AJ).) For breadth of mass and effect, good proportion, picturesque parts and 
jadicious detail there are few better examplcE. Here (as in most of the same group of buildings) ne 
find the use of striped courses of dark and nhite stone. 

The Mosijue of " £1 Modiud " in the city, with its spacious open cloister and well proportioned 
arcades, follows a fen jears later, about A.d. 1415 ; and in its ceilings and cornices we find an elaborate 
specimen of coloured decoration ; much of the colouring being nearly confined to black, white and gold, 
with but a small relief of bine and red. Its masonry, both interior and exterior, is of red and white 
conrses ; the columns (being-, as in rery many of tbe Cairo mosqncs, borrowed from more ancient 
buildings) are of red porphyry. 

Then, at the close of the fifteenth centnry, we have the Mosqne of " El Kaitbai," who was buried 
here A.D. ) 496 ; (when the Moors had already been driren from Granada). This is another of the gronpa 
known as the " Tombs of the Caliphs," and at once the most perfect and the most picturesque. It would 
probably be difficult to find in any country, or in any style, a more cbarming group of building than this 
mosque, with its high, gracefal minaret, and its delicately sculptured dome, standing out from the pale 
desert against the rocky distance. The minaret may, I think, be considered tbc most elegant of all the 
Cairo minarets. The detail and interior decoration of the building are worthy of its general aspect. I 
shall presently refer to them again. With a view to making more clear the Telative ages of the 
buildings I have mentioned, I have prepared a table showing their dates, aide by side with those of the 
Aihambra, 

jPfie Dates of the Arabic Buildingt of Cairo, compared teith the Aihambra. 



Date. 


Caibo. 


A1.HAUBBA. 


876 


Mosque of Ibn Tooloon. 




1003 


Mosque of El Hakim. 




1272 




Death of Ibnu-l'Ahmar at Kasr-rilamra. The first 
Moorish King who resided there. 


(1291 


(Tlie Gothic portal removed from 
Akka-~re-erected 1299). 




1286 
to 
1305 


'■ Moroalan," and the " Moaque of 
Kalaoou. 




1302 




Death of Muhammed 11., who bad continued the building. 


1310 




Mohammed III. erected the " Meejid-al-jami," described 
as having " Mosaics and delicate tracery." 


1333 
1353 




Yussuf buUt and decorated the Courts of " the Fishpond" 
and " Ambaasadora," the " Hall of tlie two Sislers," 
the Banos, and the " Madrisah." (a.d. 1349). 


1354 


" Mosque of Sultan Iloasan." 




1395 


" Mosque of Sultan Barkook." 




1420 
^492~ 


'• Moaque of EI Moaiud." 






"Boabdil" surrendered Granada. 


1496 


'■ Slosqne of Kailbai." 





74 ON THE OBNAMENTAL FEATUBES OF 

Mj object in enomeratiDg the bnildings I haye qnoted is to afford the opportunitj of tracing the 
derelopment of Arabic architecture by means of distinct and important landmarks. The list might be 
largely increased, and the intervals shortened, bnt without anj very useful result. 

It is now mj purpose to consider the various details of Arabic buildings, without reference to date 
except where special notice is called for. It is, however, first desirable that I should set before you a 
few of the leading types of the structures themselves. They may be classed as follows : " Mosques," 
'* Sebeels,'' " Gates," " Khans," and " Dwellings." 

The mosques vary much in plan, according to the special conditions of their situation. The 
original form is an open court, surrounded by a covered, arched cloister of one or more aisles ; the 
number of aisles being usually larger on one side than on the others, as two, three, or even five. Under 
the widest covered part is the ''Mehr&b" or sacred recess towards Mecca, and the high pulpit 
(« mimbar"). The decoration is also usually richer in this part. A fountain, or large covered cistern 
of water for ablution usually occupies the centre of the open enclosure. This type is taken from the 
first mosque at Mecca, and examples of it are found in the grand mosques of Damascus and Hebron ; 
and at Cairo, in the mosques of << Amr," << Tooloon," " El Hakim," << El Moaiud." But some of these, 
as notably that of Damascus, have the sanctuary altogether enclosed. The second type has an open- 
court, having a centre fountain, with one or more large arched recesses or alcoves opening to it. Such 
is the Mosque of Sultan Hassan. Under the third head may be classed the mosques which are either 
altogether enclosed and roofed over (of every variety of plan) or are only partially open to the air. A 
fourth group may include the ** Kubbets," or square, domed structures, which exist in considerable number 
near Cairo, and have been, in fact, mausolea. Some of these are beautifully and richly ornamented. 

The ^ Sebeels," or drinking fountains, are very numerous in Cairo, and are among the most striking 
of its buildings. They are, most frequently, at the comers of streets, or in prominent places. Below 
is a single closed chamber, lighted by one or more large metal grilles, sometimes simple, sometimes very 
ornamental. Within is the water supply, with which a tube communicates, and, terminating in a small 
brass pipe or nozzle, allows the wayfarer to quench his thirst by tucttony for the water b rarely allowed 
to run to waste. 

The upper story of these buildings is almost always a school. They have usually been built as an 
act of charity by some person whose name they afterwards bear. ** And thus," say the Arabs, '' the 
thirsty man remembers gratefully the name of the founder ; as also does the youth who is trained (and 
caned) in his school." 

There is generaUy a wide eave, or verandah, of wood projecting some feet from the wall to give 
additional shade to those who choose to rest by the way. Sometimes the Sebeel is included in the same 
endowment as a mosque ; in which case it forms a portion of the same building. The interior roofs are 
often richly panelled and decorated elaborately with colour and gilding. 

The '* Gates" have always in the East been treated as important, not only for defence but for 
ceremony ; as might, therefore, be expected some of them are works of considerable grandeur. Such 
are the Bab e' Nasr and the Bab Zoweyleh of Cairo. Or, again, the Damascus Oate of Jerusalem. I 
may here note one curious feature of almost all the Saracenic gates of Syrian towns. The thoroughfare 
is never direct^ but usually takes a rectangular turn. This does not apply, however, to the Cairo gates. 

Their ornamental details do not call for separate notice at present. 

The '' Khans " consist, usually, of an open court, surrounded by small chambers or recesses, and 
have generally also an upper story. In the country, or by the roadside, they afford shelter and security 
for man and beast ; and are invariably built near a good water supply. Usually they have been erected 
by private means, as acts of charity^ and frequently bear the name of the founder. In the large cities 



ARABIC AECHITECTUBE IN EGYPT AND 6YBIA. 



76 



tbe khnn is sometimea s sort of inn, bnt most freqaontlj is a dep£t for merchandise ; each being set 
aside for a. speciality. Thej bava frequently very handsome doorways. I exhibit sketches of two of 
these at Cairo. Ronnd the open or enclosed court is an arcade, or series of recesses, to bo used as 
ehopH, with a stone divan running in front of them. A wide eave or awning affords shade if the court 
be open. The famous Idian of Assad Pascha at Damascus is entirely roofed in by domes, and has a 
fountain in the centre; a, gallery mns round it : and doors open from this, as well as on the ground, 
into a scries of apartments which are let as shops or offices. 

The residences, or private houses of Cairo are of every variety of gcueral plan ; most, but not all, 
of tbe better class having an open court, into which the reception rooms open. The other rooms are 
built nith a special regard to privacy. The rooms of the harem are generally on the first floor, and 
some of these are very handsome. I shall perhaps best explain myself by describing to yon one or two 
of those Cairo houses (bnilt when Arabian art still flourished), which I have visited. 

I will take first that of Ibn e' Sadad, the head of one of the oldest Arab families of Cairo, and a 
rich man. Tbe visitor enters by a double gateway from the street, into a large open court. Upon his 
immediate right a considerable space is screened off by ornamental trellis-work. This is a private 
mosque, nsed for the devotions of our host and his household. Tlicre are chambers over this. On the 
left, an upper chamber, having a large window (a very exquisite specimen of the " Mnsbrebeeyeh"), is 
supported at its outer angle by a single column (l)F The remainder of the court is surrounded by 
buddings with screened windows ; but a deep, open recess, with divans and cushions, occupies the angle 
farthest from the entrance (£); a passage near this leads to the garden behind. The grand reception 
rooms occupy nearly the whole of one side, the rooms being the full height of the building. These 
rooms I shall eudeavoar to describe. In plan they are three ; but, except by a step iu the door, and the 
arrangement of the ceilings, they practically form one large saloon, called " llanddrah." 

Entering a small doorway from the court at A, the first room, B, is lighted from above by an 

octagon lantern, or opening, in the centre of a ceiling of wood 

elegantly panelled by mouldings into geometrical devices, and 

having pendants at intervals. This ceiling is higher than those 

adjoining. From the ceiling downwards, the walls of this, as also 

of the other apartments, are lined with old Persian glazed tilts — 

blue and green on a white ground" — to within perhaps 9 or 10 feet 

of the floor, the total height being possibly 25 or 30 feet. The 

lower part of tbe wall is plain. At tlie end facing the other 

apartment is a niche or recess in the wall, with a small cascade, 

having shallow steps of marble. Tliis first room (B) is in fact an 

ante-room, or the " durkiiah" to the other, called the " leewan," 

which is entered by a low step, at which the domestics invariably 

Plan of a house. Caiig. take off tlieir shoes, even when serving. 

In the opening a transverse beam, with deep trusses, or brackets, which terminate in corbels of 

gilt honey-comb work, carries the roof. Similar beams divide the square of the room C from the 

window recesses, which have separate, lower ceilings ; and from the large bay or chamber (marked D) 

at the further end. 

The ceiling of C is very rich, and of a form common to dwellings or mosqnes, as I shall presently 
point out. Large parallel beams or girders, about 12 inches thick, and perhaps 18 inches apart, are 




* I beltcTC that mitil about a humlied years ago, tiles of this dcscriptioi 



! a till mannfactnied at Damascus. 



IS 



ON THE ORNAMENTAL FEATDEES OF 



Gsnied from Bide to eido. These are elaborately chamfered from the ends, the centre length being 
rounded or octagonal on the lon'er face. The nhole of this surface is decorated with the most elaborate 
ornament in gold, with grounds of blue or other colour, each beam differing from the next ; the cham- 
fering of the ends is also giit and ornamented. The spaces bctn'ccn the beams are divided into email 
square aud oblong panels, tlie framing of which, as well as the panels tb cms elves, is elaborately decorated 
and gilt. The whole effect is rich and harmonious to the last degree. The ceiling of the bay (D) is of 
the same kind ; and this portion of the saloon and the two recesses (in C) are fitted with deep divans. 
Low windows divided by mdlions are behind them. 

In dining with the master of the house, I observed that whilst we dined in the centre aaloon, the 
household servants (as well as stray objects of charity) took their meal in the first ante-room, within 
our view. We ofterwards retired to the further bay (D) for the post-prandial chibouque. 

The house adjoining the one just described is at present occupied by Haleel Pasha, who kindly 
allowed me to see a splendid room on the first floor, the " K&ah," a part of the harem. This, in addition 
to having very beautiful ornamental, coloured ceilings, was lined to a height of 10 or 12 feet by marble, 
arranged in upright panels, divided by inlnid margins of elaborate design ; the whole being surmountod 
by a broad inlaid frieze, broken at intervals by circles of coloured marble, somewhat like that of 
Bt. John Lateran, at Rome. On one side a cascade fountain is recessed in the marble wall, and the 
water from this flows through a narrow channel into a small circular basin in the floor, curiooaly 
carved with entwined serpents. From this it is again carried to the basin of a fountain in the centre 
of the floor, the floor itself being paved with inlaid marble. 

The next house at Cairo which I shall describe is in a very neglected and niinons atate. It is 
known as the house of the Chief Mafti, or head magistrate, and seems to have been intended for 
reception only. It is a very interesting specimen of Arab domestic architecture. In general plan this 
resembles the reception rooms or " Mond^raU" already described, the ceilings being of the same 
description. They are, however, very much smaller. Below the ceiling beams is a wide cove, which Is 
painted in panels, with conventional groups of flowers on grounds alternately blue and reddish-brown, 
Belonr this the wall surface, for a height of two or three feet, is painted with rough landscapes of most 
elementary treatment, and probably of later date than the rest, under which there is a very elegant 
frieze of ornament incised in white marble, and filled in with black and rod cement. The wall below this 
level is much cut up with doors, windows and wooden cupboards, all of very varied design ; but &o 
intervals between them are lined with blue aud white Persian tiles. The cascades again occur here, and 
are richly ornamented with gilding and inlaid pearl. The upper windows are filled with beautiful 
stained gloss, in the Persian manner ; that is, in a setting of deeply cut plaster or cement. The floor, 
with its centre shaped fountain basin (" fasfcceyeh"), is an admirable specimen of inlaid marble. 

Hoving briefly described specimens of the interiors of old Arab houses of Cairo, I may now torn 
your attention to those of Damascus, which, possessing some features in common, have also wide 
diflerences from thom. The large houses of Damascus have invariably a spacious open court, paved 
with marble, in the centre of which is a fountaiu. This fountain varies in form aud size. In some 
houses it forms a large, oblong pool, of perhaps 15 or 20 feet in length. In others, it is a circular or 
octagon basin, in cither case the sides are riused about two feet or more from the ground ; these sides 
being usoally of marble, inlaid more or less elaborately. 

On at least one side, sometimes on three sides, of the Court, is a wide arched opening in the wall, 
extending to the height of two stories, forming a large recess, or open apartment, with the floor raiaed 
above the level of the court. These (called " leewan") arc fitted with divans, and are carpeted and very 
haudEomely decorated in many cases. They are, in fact, the places of reception. Ou either side of the 



ARABIC ARCHITECTUBE IK KOYPT AND 

recess is generally a door leading to enclosed (ipartments ; reception rooms also. The odling of the 
recess ie panelled and ornamented with gilding and rich colours ; the effect of which tells admirably 
against the more Hubdued tones ol the arch, when seen from the conrt. The face and soffit of the 
archivolt are, as a nile, ornamented with elegant mosi 
the stone. 

The walls of the conrt are freqnently in conrEes of whit« and black, 
or white and some darker colour, with an ornamentally inlaid frieze at 
the first floor leveh Tiie heads of the doors and windows aro likewise 
usually treated ornamentally, the archivolt or key-stones showing, and 
being frequently worked into interchangeable ornament at the joints. 
The surface Is, also, often relieved, either with mosaic or ornament in 
coloured cements. 

In some houses a triple chamber, such aa I described at Cairo, 
opens on tho conrt, arches of stone or wood dividing the centre from 
the wings ; tho flat ceilings being panelled as already described. The 
doors and windows open into the conrt on all sides, there being no 

windows opening on the street, on the ground-floor. This remark applies equally to Cairo houses, when 
built in a street. The windows of the first floor arc protected at Cairo by the beautiful " Muahrebeeyeh," 
and in Damascus by a more simple trellis. I should not omit to state that the conrt of a Damascus 
house has nsually an open balcony or gallery on one or more sides, in coraniunication with the npper 
rooms or with tho riof, precisely as in continental inns ; or ns, indeed, in some of tlie old inns of London. 

There are eeveral distinctions between the Arab domestic architecture of Egypt and that of Syria 
as represented at Damascus. Of the latter it may be said that it is more " Persian." Moreover, here 
the same general style end plan of house continues to be built to this day, although the details become 
Tsry debased and corrupt. At Cairo, Arab architectnre may be said to be extinct, the modem style of 
ornamentation being entirely derived from Europe and Turkey. 

Iwill now proceed to describe the manner in which the various parts of Arabian buildings are orna- 
mented, taking first the exterior. 

The dome, which forms the prominent feature of many buildings, especially of those devoted to 
sacred uses, varies in form, but almost always has the pointed arch for its section. In the neighbourhood 
of Cairo it springs usually from a straight stilt. At Alexandria, however, and at Rosetta, it has occa- 
sionally the curve returned at the base. la Egypt, the external surTace of the dome is almost always 
relieved or decorated. Sometitoes this is by being vertically moulded. In other cases, tho surface is 
moulded in a succession of bold chevrons ; but in many instances, both in Cairo and its neighbourhood, 
the ornamentation of the dome is carried to a far more elaborate extent. Intricate geometrical figures 
are worked over the whole surface, whilst arabesques or scrolls, carved in a lower plane, enrich the 
ground between. The group of buildings known as the Tombs of the Caliphs, include many splendid 
examples of dome decoration. A broad band or frieze, usually of writing, is carried round the base of the 
dome. The broad splay, or " weathering," by which the structure rises from the square to the octagon 
is frequently very boldly monJdud, the section showing on each of the square faces. The dome ib 
generally surmonnted by a bronze turned finial, carrying the crescent. Of these ornamented domes, a 
very elegant httle example at Jerusalem is tho " Dome of Moses," so named aft«r " El Ashraf Moosa," 
who is said to have built it A.D. 1249 (_?) It is situated within the " Harim" enclosure, near the " Gate 
of the Chiun." ■ 



a later building, and rather 




t the date. 






78 



ON THE ORNAMENTAL FEATURES OF 



But ereii more chatacteriBtic Ib&n the dome, it the " Minaret " of the Arabian mosque. These vary 
mnch in form ; and no lesa eo in omamentatioo. In plan, the octagon is perhapa the rooet freqacnt 
form in the minarets of ^gypt ; bnt they arc also sometimes square, sometimes circular. In the earlier 
mosqnes, the minarets are shorter aad more simple than in those of the fourteenth and fifteenth 
centorics. It is these latter nhich may be taken as examples of the minarets of Cairo ; to this period 
belong the most perfect examples, Starting from the square base, they are splayed into the octagon, or 
urcnlar plan. If octagon, the sides are aometimes panelled, or arcaded in the lower story. The 
structure is then corbelled out (usually, bnt not always, with the honey-comb work) sufficiently to allow 
of a balcony or gallery running round. The next story, of less diameter, will sometimes be panelled 
with monldings geometrically arranged, or occasionally, as in one at Damascus {Jama MMlah), with 
bands of a differently coloured material, or with inlaid devices. Where octagon in the lower stories, the 
upper story is generally round, as in the beautiful minaret of Kaitbai. Some hare the upper story open ; 
the supers tructure being carried by single or grouped columns. If coloured materials are used in tho 
exterior of the rest of the building, they are generally used also in the minaret, either in bands, or 
ornamentally. One at Damascus is entirely ornamented with a series of bands of black and white stone, 
the dark courses being ornamented variously with geometric inlay. The balustrade of projecting 
balconies is sometimes of wood ; but, in the best examples, more often of stone slabs pierced with 
geometrical tracery; these slabs being dropped into grooves cut in the angle posts of stone (see fig. 15, 
Mosque of Sultan Barkook). The minarets of Cairo are terminated variously. Many are surmounted 
by a terminal of the form of an inverted pear (Kaitbai); others have a sort of domical summit. 

The Syrian minarets are more frequently, though by no means always, square in plan, are less 
elaborate in form, have fewer stories and lesa sculpture. They also invariably have a wooden canopy or 
roof projecting above the balcony, to protect the mneddin. Minarets are occasionally built in pairs, as 
in the mosque of " Sultan Barkook," and also as flanking towers, in the Bab Zowejleh. In this last 
example one story is ornamented by the surface being moulded chevron ways, and the topmost balcony 
is elegantly carried out by tho nsual honey-comb bracketing, springing from a shaft at each angle of the 
octagon. Some of tho square minarets of Syria strongly remind one of the Early Italian campaniles. 
The square tower is sometimes pierced with openings of two pointed lights of very Gothic appearance. 
One which overlooks the Harap enclosure at Jerusalem is of this character; another at Damascus is, 
except in its upper story, almost a eonnterpBrt of the campanile of tho " Palazzo Scaligeri " at Verona, 
even to the alternate courses below, and in the form and marking of tho arcadiug above. 

Arabian buildings, tho minarets excepted, have rarely mnch exterior cornice. The Mosqaa of 
Sultan Hassan, at Cairo, has a heavier cornice than usual of bold honey -comb pattern. Interior cornices 
are more used, as I shall presently explain. An ornamental crenellntion, or parapet, however, is 
frequently used. These are often shoped on the reversible principle; that ia to say, the ornamental form 
is such as to correspond with the reversed form of the interval. I shall presently point out to what an 
extent this principle is carried in Arabian design. 

It is in the walls of the larger buildings, that is to say in the treatment of the large masses, that 
we may perhaps find most to learn from Arabian architects. Moat dignified and simple are they, 
preserving great breadth ; yet without unsightly plainness or heaviness. It must, of course, be borne 
in mind that, nnder an eastern sun, less inequality of surface is requisite for effect than with our grey 
skies. The Arabian builders have admirably adjusted their wall surfaces to their climate. All their 
surface ornament is so subordinated as not to break up the masses, which are, usually, so arranged as to 
preserve the eScct of height. The mosque of Sultan Hassan ia a notable example of this, almost to a 
fault ; but there is hardly one among the finer mosques which docs not display this characteristic. The 




AEABIC AECHITECTURE IS EGYPT AND SIRU. 79 

npper and lower window openings are ustiallj grouped into baj6 slightly recessed ; a wide frieze being 
frequently carried tlirongh and continued between them. Kordn inscriptions usaally form these friezes. 
Alternate courses of stone, of two or more colours, are of very frequent use, both for exterior and 
interior. Being used horizontally their tendency is to give size and width ; a tendency the excess of 
which is skilfully counteracted in the recessing of the windows, as already mentioned, and still more so 
hy the high doorways. Large plain snrfaccs are often relieved by panels, either of sculpture in low 
relief, or inlaid ornament of variously coloured materials. The examples which I show are from the 
" Jama Hiillab," at Damascna ; one of them combines earring and coloured inlay. Friezes, or courses, 
of interchanged ornament in two colours, inlaid, are also frequently used for the decoration of the 
external walls. (Fig. 10). 

The external doorways of the principal mosques derive immense grandeur and dignity fram the bold 
way ia which they are set within a deep recess of great height; frequently nearly the full height of the 
building. Fine instances of this arrangement are the world -renowned doorway of the mosque of Sultan 
Hassan, and those of the Moaiud and Kaithai mosques. Although these recesses arc frequently 
elaborately ornamented with earring, inlay, or both ; care ia always taken to keep all subordinate to the 
main form, which is further emphasized by the use of alternate light and dark stones in the arcbivolt, 
when alternate courses are used in the walls. Sometimes also richly carved and inlaid borders frame 
the whole recess. 

The interior walla of these entrance recesses are nsnally richly ornamented with coloured marble, 
inlaid in geometric devices, and their pavements are frequently very handsome. Sometimes the arched 
head of the recess has honeycomb pendentives elaborately worked; and, perhaps, in no situation does 
that ornament tell with such legitimate effect. 

The door itself is, in the case of public buildings, usually a very handsome ohject. The moat nsnttl 
decoration of those of mosques consists of plates of bronze, elaborately wrought in the geometric devices, 
GO familiar in Arabic and Moorish work. The surface of these is often richly engraved or chased, and 
the panels within the geometric forms pierced or engraved with elaborate detail. Richly worked raised 
bosses or studs mark the centre of each repeat of the design ; and the handles, usually pendant rings, 
are handsomely worked. Tlie " Khan of Assad Pacha," at Damascus, presents another form of strong 
door. There, thin strips of iron, overlapping each other horizontally, are fixed to the wooden frame 
by nails, with elongated lozenge -shaped heada, so aet as to touch and form a hexagonal diaper. 
(Fig. 9). 

The external doora of private houses are much simpler. Those at Cairo are most frequently set in 
a pointed or segmental arch, are plain match boarded, and then ornamented in colour with a painted 
device or frame, which usually contains an inscription in praise of God. The opening has often some 
simple decoration to the arched head, such as the band of interwoven moulding, so frequently used as a 
border in every situation. 

The doors of private houses in Damascus, however, differ much from those at Cmto. There the 
door-head is generally segmental, and the wooden door itself has an outer omameutally cut frame, under 
which the planks, placed straight or diagonally, are nailed to the stronger bock framing, in such a way 
that the nail heads form part of a geometrical pattern drawn from nail to nail. Sometimes this pattern 
b only scratched or marked with a pencil line. 

Having described the doorways, I will now briefly allude to the window openings, in so far as their 
external aspect is concerned. In the mosques and " kubbet," the upper windows are usually small 
single openings, with pointed heads. Openings of this kind generally occur in the circular wall, or drum, 
immediately under the dome ; whilst in the space of wall between the splays, formed by the pendeutivefl, 



80 ON THE ORNAMENTAL FEATURES OF 

they are clustered into two or three-light windows, like our simplest early English. Where the single - 
pointed upper windows are of a large size, they are often filled with pierced geometric tracery of stone 
or cement, or, occasionally, of wood. The lower windows have sometimes square, sometimes low 
segmental heads. 

I have already alluded to the way in which the upper and lower windows are panelled together by 
recessing the wall. The ground floor windows of mosques or sebeels have usually a wooden frame, or 
architrave, with carved surface ornament, in which is a grille or trellis, more or less ornamental, of 
either bronze, iron or wood. Many of these consist simply of inch rods intersecting through a square 
boss. (Fig. 5). When this pattern is used in wood the rod is generally turned, with mouldiugs. 
Some of the metal grilles are wrought, or cast, in more elaborate patterns. (Fig. 4). 

Other window openings have pointed heads, with light shafts in the reveals ; or again, the same 
are double, with a light centre shaft and with their arches cusped, and these are often most elegant. 
Kosctte and star-shaped vnndow openings are also used ; some of the former splaying outwards from a 
small circular opening, the cusps followed out in the splay. The example which I show contains both 
these forms ; it is from the mosque in the Castle of Hunin, one of the most beautiful and picturesque 
spots in Syria. (PI. 2). 

I now come to the windows of the ordinary dwelling houses. First among these stands the beau- 
tiful " Mushrebeeyeh," to which Cairo, and the Arab quarters of other Egyptian towns, owe so much of 
their picturesque beauty. These are projecting bays or " oriels," of wooden lattice, of every variety of 
pattern and of lace-like delicacy. These lattices are most ingeniously constructed, the parts being first 
delicately turned, and then fitted together in a geometrical net-work. (Figs. 6 — 7) . Some, again, are 
altogether simpler, being formed of fiat laths, half lapped into each other, and notched, often with great 
ingenuity, so as to make the lattice ornamental, the openings becoming octagon or star-shaped, instead 
of merely square. 

The " Mushrebeeyehs " vary greatly in size and form. The largest are usually square in plan, and 
are divided into four, five or six bays in their length. The lower part has enclosed panels, with some 
ornamental arrangement of mouldings on the surface. Above these are the trellis or lattice panels, and 
at the top are, not unfrequently, small squares, of coloured glass set in pierced ornament of plaster. 
The whole is crowned by a projecting canopy, with bratishing of wood, prettily shaped, (Fig. 11). 

The " Mushrebeeyeh " is sometimes carried on stone corbels or wooden trusses, in which case the 
soffit is formed into a decorative ceiling, with geometrical pattern made by nailing on slips or mouldings. 
In other instances the lower part is corbelled out, as it were, by a bold cove ; or again, more elegantly, 
by dividing the cove into a succession of octagonal pendentives ; in either case being finished at the 
bottom by a reversed cresting or bratishing. (PI. 8). 

Prom these handsomer specimens the " Mushrebeeyeh " dwindles down to its probable prototype ; 
the little projecting cupboard of lattice work, octagonal in plan and but just large enough to hold the 
family " gho61eh " or porous jar, in which the water cools as the air passes through the surrounding 
trellis ; for " Mushrebeeyeh " signifies the ^^ place far drinhy 

Windows of this description are to be foimd in Jerusalem and Southern Syria, but not frequently ; 
nor, at Damascus, did I find any of an ornamental kind. The windows there are trellised, it is true, 
but the trellis work is not made ornamental ; it consists simply of thin laths from half to three-quarters 
of an inch wide, rounded on the outer side and nailed together pretty closely, most often diagonally, so 
as to form a plain lozenge trellis. 

Of exterior features I have reserved till the last, the column and the arch. The former is, in the 
older works at least, wherever possible, borrowed capital and all from more ancient buildings, whether 



ARABIC ARCaiTECTUnE IN EGYPT AND SYRIA. 



81 



Egyptaan, Romaii or Christian. As in the existing Boman basilicas, coIudidh of odd lengths ai< 
freqiiEDtl; used ; and the height, where defectirB, made up either by an impoet or abacua, or by lowering 
the superposed structare to meet it. 

One peculiar feature in connection with the coliunn in Arabic balldings, is the almost iurariable 
use of a wooden cushion between the capital and that which it carries. This is usually formed by two 
layers, placed iu opposite directions, each consisting of from three to five pieces of wood 3 or 4 inches 
thick, and the necessary length. In the case of a continuous arcade, wooden tio bars extend from the 
centre of the cushion to the next column, Some allege that this arrangement is a provision against 
earthquakes. But, whatever its purpose, the practice seems to have been very general. The smaller 
columns, such as the shafts already spoken of as used in door or window openings, are often made very 
ornamental. Some terminate in a soi't of ogival, bell-shaped capital, round or octagon. Others in a 
capital having a square abacus, from which is worked the honeycomb pattern, to meet the round or 
octagon of the shaft. Tfie shaft itself is often divided iu its height precisely as in Renaissance, the 
upper surface being twisted, and the lower portion panelled or made octagon ; or even richly carved in 
low relief. Columns of this character are however usually of late date. But small shafts, twisted like 
Romanesque or Lombardic work, or ornamented throughout, are met with even in the older buildings. 

The treatment of the arch is, in every style, a very distinctive feature, and this is especially the 
case in Arabic architecture. The forms of arch most favoured are the pointed and the segmental ; the 
latter usually rather flat. The round horse-shoe arch of Moorish architecture is seldom met with in 
Egypt or Syria, although the pointed arch lias frequently the slight return at the springing, which is so 
conspicuous in the true horse-shoe. The simple semicircolur arch is liowevcr met with, as in the 
example of the gateway to a khan at Cairo (of which I exhibit a sketch) the ornamental treatment 
of which reminds one so forcibly of Norman work, than which it is much later. 

In the examples of the best periods of Arabian architecture, the treatment of the stones of 
the archivolt, where materials of two or more colonrs are used, is very distinctive ; and this is especially 
the case with the segmental arch. The stones are, in this latter form of arch, almost invariably notched 
or keyed together ; often, with most ingenious designs, in snch a way as to produce a counter- 
changed ornament on the face of tho archivolt. This is generally made to appear constructive, 
although in fact, it is not always so, but is occasionally produced by a thin layer or veneer on the 
surface, as is shewn by an example from the " Kubbet el Fedaweeyeh," near Cairo, where the actual 
construction is notched in the simpler way. The system is, however, frequently truly carried out very 
cleverly. A niche in the Mosque of " Bark o ok," is a striking example of this, the stones being 
elaborately worked into each other on the double curve, from the face to the back of the niche. The 
same thing occurs in some of the great entrance recesses. 

■ In larger arches, snch as gateways ; and, also, where a straight lintel is required, a plain single or 
donble set-back or notch is used merely as on additional security in construction. And we may note, 
that had tho great centre stone of the Untel at Baalbek been thus keyed, it could not have slipped into 
the critical position which it now occupies. This construction, and its ornamental treatment, is 
as general in Damascus, and throughout the Aroh buildings of Syria, as in Egypt, Indeed, the system 
is, perhaps, in even more extended use in Damascus than in Cairo ; for not only is it applied to every 
form of arched door or window opening, but it is used for keying together tho stones composing the 
basins of fountains, or even the straight threshold of a doorway. In painted decorations also the 
idea is made use of, though often in so modified or tortured a form as not to bo really practicable. 
For some time, I imagined this system of notching or interlocking the archivolt to be a purely Arab 
invention. It may, however, I think, be shown tliat the Arabs derived this peculiarity from the some 



i 



82 ON THE ORNAMENTAL FEATURES OF 

sonrce as much of .their building art. In the mined '^ Palace of Belisarius, (as it is called,) at 
Constantinople, the interior round arches have the stones of their archivolts thus keyed or notched, 
some in the simplest way, some with the " half-round and arris,", as in pure Arabian work. This 
construction appears, therefore, to have an origin as early, at least, as the time of Justinian, (say A.D. 
560). (Fig. 13). 

The extensive, and often exaggerated use of the relieving arch, is another peculiarity of the 
openings of Arabic buildings. Hardly a lintel or flat arch which is not relieved, at least once, either 
by a regular relieving arch, or by what is almost as common, a slight space or open joint between the 
arch or lintel and the next course, which is again relieved in the same way. This is sometimes repeated 
with three or four courses. The east gate of Damascus is a good example. (PI. 2). It must be 
allowed that the effect (when visible) of this space or open joint, is displeasing ; nor does it appear to 
be a justifiable expedient. 

Before quitting the exterior for the interior of the building, I must not omit to allude to those 
portions of the structure in which wood is used with ornamental effect. I have already described the 
" Mushrebeeyeh,'* or " roshdn," windows, which of themselves, are sufficient to set fancy at work, and 
to recall the " Thousand and one Nights." There are however, in addition to these, the trellis work, 
and pierced boarding used often to screen ordinary square window openings. The old slave market at 
Cairo, contains a variety of simple patterns of the latter description of wood- work (fig. 11) ; whilst every 
coffee shop, and almost every old house presents examples of the former. Besides these, there are the 
projecting eaves or verandahs of the " Sebeels," usually consisting of narrow boards fastened together 
with a bead to cover the joint, and finished at the outer edge with the cut bratishing already referred 
to. (Fig. 8.) In some cases, the bratishings are repeated twice or thrice, one below the other, a few 
inches being left from the face of one to the back of the next. A delicate lace-like effect is produced 
by this. These verandahs are usually supported by wooden truss brackets of open construction, which 
have a very pleasingly picturesque effect, (Fig. 12). It may be remarked of most of their wooden 
structures, that the material being scarce, is used with great economy and ingenuity. 

It is time that we now turn our attention to the interior of the buildings, and observe the decorative 
treatment adopted. In the first place, it must be remembered, that the same use of alternately 
coloured courses which we notice in the exterior, is very frequently extended to the interior ; and, even 
where they are not built in coloured material, the imitation is carried out in red and white, or black and 
white colours. This may be seen, not only in the mosques and other large buildings of Egypt, but in 
the courts and rooms of the private houses, both of Cairo and Damascus. At the latter place, there is 
scarcely a court of any large house, but presents an example of this system, more or less consistently 
carried out ; whilst the great '' E^han of Assad Pascha/' in the same city, although a modern, and 
scarcely '' Arab " structure, is a good example of the principle carried out to its fullest extent. (Date 
1742 A.D.) The interior of the cupola is, not infrequently, decorated upon this system. At the base is 
a frieze consisting of inscription, either carved or painted, on a dark ground. Over this, the upright 
circular wall (the drum) which supports the dome itself, is pierced with pointed windows at short 
intervals. These are sometimes filled with pierced tracery, or have formerly contained coloured glass, 
which, however, few now retain. The intervals between the lights are sometimes plain, sometimes 
banded— in other cases are panelled and ornamented in colour or relief to agree with the windows. 
The cupola itself, is often partially banded in white, black, and red, relieved by zigzag courses ; and 
towards the top, has a radiating counterchanged ornament of the same kind as that already described. 
This is one treatment, and specimens of this are to be seen in the " Tombs of the Caliphs," notably in 
that of '< Barkook." 




l.ithof'' lor t,>n-m !) AtvK=il Hto*]. 



ARABIC ARCHITECTURE IN EGYPT AND SYRIA. 



S3 



I 



Occasionally, however, the cupola is for more richly decorated. That of the " Kabbet el 
Fednweeyeh has a bold and elaborate Moresque diaper in relief, the face of the ornament almost entirely 
gilt, whilst the groonds enclosed by the leading lines of the ornament are coloured, bloe, red, green 
and white. The whole is most rich in effect ; although, unfortunately, the building is in a very 
minouB state. As it is a fine example of the " Kubhet," I will continae a descriptioa of its interior 
ornamentation. 

Below the cupola Trindows is the usual frieze of writing, on red ground, under which nms an Arabic 
fret border. From this line the pendentives commence, and the construction of these is yery nncoraioon. 
Across each angle of the square is thrown a plain pointed arch, the apex of which meets the ring of the 
dome. The archivolt is in red, white, and black stones. The curved face of the pendentive is decorated 
with flat relief arabcsiue in stucco ; light on a coloured ground ; as also are all the plain wall faces in 
the same story. The alcove, which is recessed to the angle, is the remarkable part of the pendentive, 
being constructed on the system of fan-vaulting and meeting in an octagonal alcove. This can only be 
made clear by a reference to the diagram (PI. 2). Another fret border or string course is carried 
round the bnilding from the springing of the pendentives — the pointed windows iu the angles breaking 
it — whilst those io the lunettes range above it. The walls of the next lower story are very ruinous, but 
seem to have been nearly plain, with a dado of marbles inWd in narrow upright panels — possibly the 
wall was lined with tiles, or painted with coloured designs ; but this is only surmise. 

The flat ceilings, whether of Mosques or other public or private buildings, ore treated, without 
distinction, in one of two or three ways. The handsomest, producing the richest effect, is the beam and 
panel arrangement already described, which seems to have prevailed largely in mosque, sefaeel, or dwelling. 
The finest examples are to be met with in the " Moaiud," " Mahmoudie," and " Kaidbai " mosques ; in 
some of the older scbeels; and ia the Louses "of the Sheikh, of the Mufti," and " Eba e' Sadiid," both 
before referred to. There are, however, many others iu the older private houses, but they are difficult 
to find out and not easy of access, great numbers of the older houses having been destroyed during the 
last few years. 

A simpler form of ceiling is that formed by " beam and match boarding." Here the boarding is 
probably placed diagonally, and the narrow boards are painted successively in various colours, viik 
perhaps a running pattern of conventional flower ornament, or arabesque, on each — the beam being 
elaborately decorated (as ia an example at Damascus) ; or the beam ia decorated with rich diaper or 
geometrical pattern, and the boarding painted in panels without the division of framing. (Mosque of 
Mohammed Oanim, Cairo). 

The flat ceilings, in which the beams do not show, but which ue divided by email mouldings into 
elaborate geometrical panels, more or less decorated in colour, are of great variety. As I have already 
incidentally mentioned, they occur in buildings of all descriptions, and are used both internally, as the 
ceilings of rooms, and extemaJly, in the soffits of the " Mushrebecyehs " or other wooden structures. 
Occasionally these are elaborated and enriched by bold pendants marking the central points of the device ; 
and in some instances this system is combined with the beam treatment, as iu the entraace corridor to 
the old " Morostan " at Oairo. There we find the ends of the beams cased, and ornament is carved on 
the casing. In the same place is a good specimen of wooden cornice formed of a series of polygonal 
pendentives — a style of cornice to be met with both in Cairo and Damascus (House of Assad Pacha), 
The most frequent form of interior cornice, in large buildings, is the bold hollow or cove which is divided 
by coloured decoration into ornamental pauels, with rich borders. Kordu sentences, in white and gold, 
ou rich blue grounds, are often introduced in these panels, the surrounding colouring being iu more 
subdued tones, and the top and bottom lines of tie whole cornice being strongly marked with black and 
white, bright red, or other vigorous colours. 



84 ON THE OBNAMEMTAL FEATURES OF 

Below the cornice is usually a frieze, almost always of writing. How beautifully the Arabic cha- 
racter lends itself to ornamental purposes is well known. Probably in no other style of art has writing 
been so largely used for this end. For, whether externally or internally, wherever there is a frieze in 
an Arabic building, it consists of writing. Beautiful effects are produced by intermingling the character 
with delicate scroll-work, the latter being gilt and the writing white, both on a blue ground, as in the 
" Mahmoudieh" mosque at Cairo. And the writing itself is often wrought into ornamental monograms, 
whole sentences being so entwined as to be difficult, even for the expert, to decipher. The same use of 
writing extends to every object in which Arabic ornamental art is expended. Witness their metal ves- 
sels, in which the whole surface is frequently covered with inscriptions. The practice doubtless originates 
in the preclusion of the representation of animal life ; the instinct of the artist to appeal, in some direct 
way, to the understanding and sympathy of the beholder being too natural and too strong to bo 
altogether repressed. 

I have already alluded to the use of coloured marble inlay, and tiles for the internal wall decoration. 
At Damascus the taste for mosaic decoration was evidently very strong, much more so than at Cairo ; 
and the examples of real and imitation mosaic are of untold variety. A mosaic of geometric or other 
ornament, cut perhaps a quarter of an inch deep in the stone, and filled with hard cement of various 
colours — black, red, blue or yellow — was alsQ in extensive use with very excellent effect. I must also 
notice that, at Damascus, interior coloured decoration, of essentially Persian character, exists in consi- 
derable quantity. Here the walls are divided into panels by bands of rich colonr, the ornament being in 
slight relief, and gilt or silvered. But this is late, and cannot be considered as pure Arabic work. 
There is another branch of interior ornamental work, which is of infinite variety, and deserves much 
study. I have already remarked that wood, as a material, must bo considered scarce in the region of 
Airabic architecture. Not only this, but a climate of extreme dryness and extreme temperatures makes 
its use, in large sizes, difficult or undesirable. Probably, from these causes, all Arabic woodwork is 
made up of a number of small parts, framing and panels, ingeniously wrought into every variety of 
rectilineal form and design. (Fig. 14). Doors, panels, window shutters, cupboards — all are made after this 
fashion ; and no two seem to be alike. I agree with those who consider that to this system of wood- 
work may be traced the wonderful variety of geometric design applied to all materials by the Arabs and 
Moors. A workman at Damascus, who made for me the panels which I exhibit for your inspection, 
showed me a scroll in his possession, containing about two hundred traditional designs of rectilinear 
geometrical forms for wooden panelling. This panelling usually has the narrow framing moulded, and 
the panels bevelled at the edge. The panels are sometimes left plain, sometimes are painted ; but they 
are also, as you see, occasionally inlaid with ivory or pearl. 

The richest specimens, and those most elaborately worked, are also, as I believe, the oldest. These 
are the screens in the Coptic Churches of " Fost^t," or " Old Cairo." In some of these the wooden 
panels are delicately and minutely carved ; in others the panels are inlaid with ivory as ornament ; or 
again the ivory, let in, is itself carved in elaborate arabesques. Even the full-sized drawings which I 
show of these screens give but an imperfect idea of the minuteness and delicacy of the work ; and it 
must be borne in mind that each panel, and each straight piece of framing, is a distinct piece of wood ; 
and that, moreover, in the original, each screen contains several superficial yards of such work. 
This style of wood-work is now almost extinct. A few workmen, and only a few, are still to be found 
at Damascus, where, in the richer houses, there is yet a limited demand for it ; but it is no longer in 
general use. The pretty and characteristic furniture, inlaid with pearl, is still found in Arab house- 
holds ; but all Arab art virtually belongs to the past. It is rapidly being pushed aside by the garish 
and tawdry products and tastes of Southern Europe. 



Tfl*llS»CTI0N3 OF ROVAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS 1866.70 




fy if 



A MUSHREBEKYEH -CAIRO 



jtiMey^/Br 7%* fi I B A. by XmI^&V £endirn.S C 



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■Jika 



ii*lM*ai<lfafta 



■M*i<la 



ARABIC ARCHITECTORE IN EGYPT AND SYRIA. 



85 



It is melnncholj to feel that RlmoHt every example I have quoted is a portion of a min, or is 
shortly Joomed to rain by those sure destroyers — neglect, apathy and selfishness, Monnments worthy of 
world-wide fame are dropping to pieces, either by ntter disregard, or by dishonesty, or by the mildew 
of a fatalism which uevfr repairs. Enquiring once of the Imi£m, or priest of a mosque, why, since ft 
dcvont man had hailt so beantiful a structure to the glory of God, no good man was fonnd to keep it in 
repair, I received this reply — " Tmly he was a good man who built this place for the worship of God; 
" but it now belongs to God, and, if He wills it so, it will surely crumble and fall. It is as God 
pleases ! " 

Such is the Mohammedanism of to-day. We may well loot around and ask these ruins if it waa 
auch when they were in their splendour. Did they who built them look for this ? Was he, who, from 
the Mosque of Tooloon— just a thousand years ago — called the faithful to prayer, even such an one as 
the blind Mucddin, who, to-day, from the crnmbling minaret, sends a wailing voice over the city as he 
cries (sadly, as it seems,) " God is most great! There is no deity but God! Mohammed is God's 
Apostle. Come to prayer — come to security ! There is no deity but God alone ! " ? 



Sir M. DiGBT Wyatt, Fellow, (responding to the Chairman's invitation), said : If the paper we havo 
heard to-night, and the drawings illustrating it, evidencing as they do artistic powers of the highest 
description, are results of the convalescence of an invalid, I aro afraid it reflects a sad reproach upon 
many of us who are strong and active. I would venture to compliment Mr. Grace alike upon the zeal, 
ability and energy with which ho has collected this mass of information for oar instruction and 
gratiScation, and for having brought it so agreeably before us this evening. It is too early yet to 
propose that vote of Oianks to him which I am sure some other speaker, no less plessod with his 
discourse than I am, will be willing and zealous to do by-and-bye ; but I cannot refrain now from 
proffering an expression of my gratitude to him personally for bringing forward so much of novelty and 
interest to ns all. The subject which Mr. Grace has so well treated is a deeply interesting one under 
several aspects. In the first place, it is highly interesting to us from its relation to the development of 
style, and its connection with the history of a great family of the human race, under peculiar conditions of 
faith and social relations. I need scarcely remind you that the germs of the Arabian technical and orna- 
mental arts are to be found in those of the Byzantine empire, to which they had for the most part 
descended from the decaying Roman empire. If there is anything in Mr. Grace's admirable paper to which 
anyone could take exception — a cavilling in which, indeed, it would be almost wrong to indulge — it might 
possibly be that the speaker's notice of the history of Arabian art scarcely safiiciently carried us back to 
the stock npon which it was engrarted. The victorious arms of the Prophet and his immediate followerB 
speedily carried Islamism over vast tracts of country, upon many of which technical and decorative arts 
had long been cultivated with signal success. Hence the peculiar conventional character with which the 
Arabians so early stamped the eclecticism arising from the junction effected at Dyzontinm, in Asia Minor, 
Africa, and Sptun, between the Orientalism of Persian and Indian arts, (as they existed before ths 
Hegira), and the classical type traditional amongst artists and workmen trained on the system of 
Imperial Rome. I have myself had occasion to point out in this room the intimate connection which 
existed between the Persians and Justinian, and its influence on Byzantine art. The peace which was 
concluded between Justinian and Ghosroes Nushirvan was one that was " to last for ever," according to 
the terms of the treaty ; and Persian architects were largely employed by Justinian. Thus we see in 
the details of St. Sophia an evident departure from both the technicalities and the principles which 
characterised, the old Roman works, and a certain marked anticipation of some of those changes of form 
and predilection for inlay and surface decoration in structure which were afterwards manifested to a 



86 ON THE OBNAMENTAL FEATUKES OF 

great extent in the works of the Arabs. I wish Terj much that mj friend Mr. Owen Jones could have 
been present to-night. I went to him yesterday and urged him to come here, and add to our common 
stock of knowledge on this interestmg subject, as he could do so much better than I can. To have 
done so would certainly haye been a labour of love with him, as well as an opportunity of showing that 
profound acquaintance with the principles as well as the practice of the Moors and Arabs which distin- 
guishes him, and which has so long rendered him the true " propagator of the artistic faith " of the 
Prophet, and our best interpreter of the mysteries of the interesting style under discussion; but, 
unfortunately, Mr. Jones was prevented by the state of his health from attending to to-night. I think 
that is much to be regretted, because he could have so well "pointed the moral" of much of 
which Mr. Grace '^has adorned the tale.'* The second aspect under which this subject is interesting 
to us as practical professional men,-*students at least, if not masters, of the handicrafts we con- 
trol, — is the technical basis of this style. This it was which made it vigorous from its earliest 
date, and has imparted to it the perfection of execution which always characterised it. From 
first to last it has exhibited the skilful workman compelled to do his best unfiinchingly, and 
obviously to please a master, jealous of good works, who would put up with no half-hearted service. 
Every artizan, whatever may have been his specialty, engaged on the great works described by 
Mr. Grace, was a master of his craft, who carried out his work in subservience to the methods 
and best traditions of his trade, keeping closely to every characteristic of design and workmanship 
which the materials he used demanded, and which the tools and processes at his command best 
enabled him to execute. From his intelligence as an operative, his enlightened ideas as a designer, and 
the perfection which the revival by the Arabian mathematicians speedily effected of the study of 
geometrical form (which had been carried so far by the ancient Greeks), enabled him to bring to bear 
upon his special branch of industry, he was speedily in a situation to originate new features in his 
business, and to make the old ones far more beautiful than they had previously been. Thus in carpentry 
and joinery, from the very dawn of technical Arabian art, we may observe a dear recognition of the 
best mode of combining and contrasting both in form and colour, all the various woods which appeared 
to be at conmiand. Not only was this the case with woods, but we find the same intelligent use of 
other materials in all the architectural works of the Mahommedans. I differ a little from my friend 
Mr. Owen Jones in what he has remarked with regard to the place and period in which Arabian 
architecture was most highly perfected. No doubt it is to be recognised in the earlier portions of the 
Alhambra, as having attained a thoroughly concreted system, in which, as in perfect Grecian architecture, 
every part had its definite form and dimension allotted to it, without confusion, and with such true and 
absolutely mathematical design and setting out as to preclude the possibility of the occurrence of a pattern 
geometrically inaccurate, or one which does not complete itself in all its parts and repetitions. We find 
this development of completeness in the Alhambra in its extremest complication, but we find it no less 
complete, though in a simpler form, in the earlier works at Cairo, such as those of the Mosque Tooloun, 
and in the Meschita at Gordoba* At the same time we find it associated with better ideas of structure 
in the technical simplicity of the primitive Arabian system, and in the dear expression of function in every 
architectural member. Gertainly in the Alhambra, with which I am myself better acquainted than with the 
monuments of the Ehalifate, we find the overlaying of the stucco and coloured decoration has to a certain 
extent hidden the structure itself; and beautiful as this overlaying certainly is, and perfectly as it has 
been made to harmonise with all of structure whidi is allowed to remain visible, it generally, to my 
eye at least, obscures too much. In earlier works, both of the Arabs and Moors, a principle of simple 
masonic construction is always indicated, and the stone is never overlaid by the plaster, nor is the eye misled 
by the inlays into confusion as to the system of jointing. In thus dwelling upon the beauty of Arabian 



t^HoBaa^^Mb^Lad 



ARABIC AltCHITECTDEE IN EGYPT AND SYRIA. 



87 



masonry, I would not be understood for a moment as depreciating the plaster work (as such) of tlie whole 
range of Mahommedan design, from the days of Ebn louloun to those of Boabdil el Chtco, since during 
nil the many centuries intervening between the reigns of those sovereigns we find, in stucco, admirable hand- 
worked patterns, executed with a precision and force at least equal to those we meet with in the works 
of ancient Rome itself. There is one more aspect under which this subject is interesting to us. In the 
present day there exists on all hands great desire for novelty in the main features of design, os well as 
in the decoration of buildings. I believe that legitimate novelty in this direction is not to he obtained 
by a mixing up of styles, or by confusing them together ; it is rather to bo found in the development in 
new directions of technical arts, which, if they have not already done so, may in the fntnre bo made to 
minister to the operations of building and decorating. It was by " developing " in this direction that the 
Arabians found strength, novelty, and completeness of style, and as they did so may we do. When I look 
' at these tiles on the table, I see one direction at least in which we have been for eome time so following 
on Oriestal lead, and I note in them a very legitimate and excellent form of decoration, calculated, 
1 think, to effect a great change in the aspect both of our exterior and interior architecture. I know it 
has, to some extent, done so already, Bind I believe it will do so yet more. I see also in this variety of 
Arabian woodwork, involving an apparently very intricate, though really simple, combination of different 
patterns, nothing which any skilled workman with the least desire to do, what has been so well done, and 
what seems so thoroughly congenial with a just idea of good joiners' work, would not be able to do per- 
fectly in this country at the present day. When one looks at the rode materials and processes by which 
elaborate and beautiful works were carried out in almost every technical art by the Arabians, it is 
difficult to imagine why the same good work should not be designed by us architects, and wrought by 
oar artificers, who should learn to take a pride in their calling, and be honoured in proportion to their 
merit in it, as the Arabian workmen were. All that is wanting is that the same simple taste, good 
jndgment, and technical energy should be bestowed opon oar dfstgns, and upon our works. Men are 
yet to be found in India and Persia, in Cairo, and even in Spain, who, in some degree, retain the 
theory and practice of the most ancient Arabian tradition. I myself saw in Granada, only a few months 
ago, a man working with a lathe of the kind described by Mr. Grace. The only difference was, that the 
lathe I saw consisted of a long iron bar, with " gudgeons" sliding on it, and capable of being fixed by 
screws at any distance apart. Between these gudgeons a piece of wood was so held as to be capable of 
gyration, with the least possible amount of friction. The workman sat down with this in front of him, 
and kept it working with a bow, similar to that constantly used by Indian turners, which twirled the 
wood round rapidly on the iron gudgeons. This he did with his left hand, while with the right hand ha 
steadied himself, changed his cntting tools, and measured from time to time the gauge of the work he 
was doing. For what right hands usually do with ordinary lathes, he substituted his right foot, which 
exhibited, an elongated great toe just like a thumb, and a metatarsal development such as I never saw 
before. He held the chisel tightly between the great and second toe, and seemed to use his foot just as 
easily as we ordinarily use our hands. It was curious to find at Granada such a retention of the simple 
machinery and method by which it is probable that the Moors executed the bulk of their larger orna- 
mentations in wood, dependent upon the lathe for the fashioning of their leading forms, I trust I 
may be permitted to allude to one more point before I sit down ; and that is, the opportunity for surface 
decoration which was afforded by the large wall surfaces in which the Orientals have always delighted, 
and by their simple arch soGGts and vaults, rarely cut up by moulded work or chamferings. I cannot 
help thinking that these remarkable " reversible" patterns which we see here, and the effect of which is 
invariably excellent, were probably originally due to the desire to economise labour and cost, by making one 
piece of material serve, by connterchanging and interchanging the parts into which it was cut, to produce 



88 ON THE ORNAMENTAL FEATDHES OF 

patterns in different coloured materials withont the waste of Buy portion of material. At the same time 
I cannot bnt consider that, speaking theoretically, patterns so formed appear to be in strict compliance 
with that which was, and should be always felt to be, a bounden duty to carry out in coloured decoration, 
viz., equalisation of superficial areas of contrasting colours in the design of patterns intended to convey 
a sense of tranquil beauty. The principle was no less important when the contrast was intended to bo 
effected by chiaroscuro only or by variety of materials than it was when the effect was intended to be 
produced by contrasting colours. Equalization was demanded of the light and dark shades. It is such 
regular balance which keeps ornamentation quiet, and which gives to it its dominant aspect of repose. 
Balance, it should always be remembered, is just as essential to repose in decoration, as equilibrium is 
to security, and its appearance to a sense of security, in structure. 

Mr. W. BuilGES, Fellow. — May I ask one question of Mr. Grace, and that is whether the colours 
in these decorated buildings are simply primitive colours, or whether secondary and tertiary tiats 
were used ? 

Mr. Grace. — With reference to the colours, the primary colours were used largely, but the 
secondary and tertiary colours are also used. In the instance to which I have referred of a panelled 
ceiling, it is common to find the sides of the beams, — in fact, I think one or two of the coloured examples 
will show that, — the sides of the beams are coloured with maroon or a tertiary red, not a positive red. 
In the same way greens are employed ; but I may observe that the more varied the tones of colour 
employed, the later is the date of the decoration. In the earlier buildings the more positive tones are 
employed, but broken in that case by black and white in largo quantity, the red, blue and gold being 
used to give point and precision to the ornamentation. The red would in that case be vermihon ; the 
blue, cobalt or ultramarine ; and gold would represent the yellow of the scale. 

Mr, BURQES. — I think these drawings arc so valuable, and they teach us so much, that I hope 
Mr. Grace may be induced to allow them to remain in the room for several days longer; and I venture 
to express a hope that some of them vrill be given with the printed Paper, more especially those 
showing the treatment of the ceilings and doorways. A few woodcuts of such subjects would add very 
considerably to the value of the Paper ; as the object of the nuthor has evidently been not so much to 
give us a history of Arab Architecture (for we can learn that from books) as to tell us how wc may 
improve our architectural decorations. Another thing which deserves notice is that this sort of work 
is allied, in some respects, to that of the thirteenth century in Europe. No doubt, during these times, 
wo had great importations from the East, and in the decoration of the Gothic houses of the present day 
I should imagine this style of decoration is peculiarly adaptable ; thus instead of having all our doors 
of the usual description, we might have a few with panels like those we have now before us, I should 
be glad to hear whether these panels are very costly. 

Mr. CbACE. — They are expensive, as everything of that kind is in Damascus. I am afraid I have 
not the same opinion of Arab mercantile transactions that I have of their architecture. Every 
mercantile transaction is always the subject of a good deal of bargaining. It generally begins by two 
persons opening the market at opposite ends, and at last they make a compromise. lu the case of 
these panels, the compromise at Damascus would come to something like £i. or £5. per panel, perhaps 
about thirty to forty shillings per square foot, according to the elaboration of the design. In England 
I think they would be very costly ; more especially when we consider that under the Trades' Union 
regulations every separate mitre wonld represent a sum of money. I have never submitted the question 
as yet to a British workman; but I should say that if you could persuade some one to work for you, 
alone and under cover, you might possibly get these panels made at from £ 5, to £ 10. each, without 
the ialay; but in any ordinary London workshop they would cost vastly more. 



ABABIC AHCHITECTDEE IN EGYPT AND SYRIA. 



89 



Ur. T. MoRBis, AsBDciate, asked if the pattom was cnt ont of a solid piece of board. 

Hr. Grace.— No; each figure of the panel is a diatmct piece of wood. This will be seen on 

looking at the hack of the panel. 

Sir DlQBT WyATT stated that four panels of similar wortmaaship to these, which he designed 
for the state railway camage of the Paaba of Egypt, tho bIzq of the panels being about G feet 
by 4 feet, the cost of the four panels was a tittle under £500., and they were considered cheap. 

Professor Kbee, Fellow, — I have great pleasure in rising to propose a vote of thanks to Mr. Grace 
for his paper. I think we have reason to congralulato ourselves that Sir Digby Wyatt postponed that 
duty, inasmuch as it gave him tho opportunity of offering those highly interesting remarks with which 
he has favoured us, and of rendering good serrice in tho discussion of this really interesting snbject. 

Mr. PHfes^ SprEES, Associate. — I have great pleasure in seconding the proposition of thants to 
Mr. Grace, and in doing so, to bear testimony not only to the remarkable accuracy of his drawings, but 
also to the excellent choice of subjects he had made for illustration ; inasmuch as they represent nearly 
every point that one would wish to bring forward, in order to give a general idea of Arab decoration. / 
There is one point partially alluded to by Sir Digby Wyatt, viz, the great power which the Arab/ 
architect seems to have acquired almost from the first in constrnctural features. Mr. Grace has alluded 
to the Mosque of Tooloon as one of the earUest instances in which the pointed arch is found. It is, 
however, generally allowed that the Mosque of Amrou, in Fostat, or old Cairo, and which dates from 
the first fifty years of the Hegira, is one on which all the features of tho Arab arch are foreshadowed. 
Yon have on one side of the mosque circnlar-headcd arches, that being the first form of arch employed ; / 
on a second aide slightly pointed arches ; and on the other two pointed and slightly horse-shoe arches. 
You also find there that curious introduction of wooden ties to' the arches to which Mr. Grace has 
alluded, of which he has given an illustration from another mosque. One recognises at once the neces- 
sity of these cross pieces of wood, and I was astonished to find they were objected to by some of those 
who saw them in my drawing ; but I should imagine that the chief reason for their adoption was 
because in a country subject to visitations of earthquakes, it was tbe more secure way of supporting the 
arches, and far better than buttresses, which were rarely employed. I may say that though this form of 
construction seems strange to us, yet, after a little time, one does not notice its existence ; and the 
general effect of a range of arcades is not interfered with by the ties. Becoming from the first perfect 
masters of construction, the Arabs seem to have played as it were with tho decoration of constructive 
feature. In the elaborate decorations of the voussoirs of their doorways, they play with constructive 
features. You see this again in the decorations of the pendentives of the circular and the square niches. 
The first forms they chose were those handed down by Greek architects in tho series of domes or small 
barrel -vaulting. They cut these up into a series of smaller barrel vaults, or coves. In the case of tho 
gateway of Damascus, there is a still further development of this style of decoration. We find the 
second phase of tbis kind of decoration, tho upper portion of the arch is left simple, and the lower is 
divided into a series of semi-domeHj to which we give the name of stalactitic vaulting. Again, it is 
curious to notice the simple principles in the design of the geometrical figures which the wooden panel 
before us contains. One of the chief elements of that decoration consists of a figure composed of ten 
branches, with doable lines intersecting. This figure gives the cue to all the rest. The distance of 
these circles of twelve radiate from one uootbcr, giving all the remaining features ; in fact, on a slight 
analysis of the principles of design in Arab decoration, we are surprised to find its simplicity. I beg 
very cordially to second the vote of thanks, and also to express my personal acknowledgments to 
Mr. Grace for tbe amount of time and great care be has expended upon the preparation of the paper, 
and tbe beautiful drawings by which it is illustrated. 



no ON THE ORNAMENTAL FEATURES OF ARABIC ARCHITECTURE IN EGYPT AND SYRIA. 

Mr. Cbaoe, in reply to the Chairman, expressed his willingness to allow the drawings to remain 
some days for inspection. 

The Chairman, in putting the vote of thanks, said, I will not occupy your time with any observations 
farther than to add my tribute of admiration both of the matter contained in the paper, and the 
beautiful collection of drawings exhibited. There is one fact of a practical nature which I may 
mention. I recollect our ingenious neighbours the French in their last Exhibition had in one of their 
houses a large collection of these trellis panels ; and I was not aware that this kind of work was so 
expensive as has been mentioned to-night. 

The Tote of thanks to Mr. Crace was then unanimously adopted, and the meeting adjourned. 



On the Deities of the Amenti, as found in Effj/ptian Mummies. By Thomas 
Joseph Pettigbew, Esq. F.R.S., F.S.A. 



From the ARCH^OLOGIA, toI. XXXIV. pp. 392, 393. 



Seville Row, Not. 6, 1851. 

In the 27th volume of the Archaeologia (pp. 262—273) an account is given of 
an Egyptian Mummy, unrolled by me at Jersey in 1 837, in which, for the first time, ' 
the special parts of the human body considered by the Egyptians to be under the 
protection or influence of the deities of the Amenti or Amunti, are distinctly pointed 
out and confirmed. On the 23rd of May last, at the solicitation of the Council of 
the United Service Museum, I unfolded another Egyptian Mummy, and, meeting 
with some objects confirmatory of the opinions expressed in ray previous paper in 
the Archseologia, I beg now to submit a short notice of them to the Society of 
Antiquaries. 

The Eg}'ptians, it is very generally believed, were the earliest to assign to parti- 
cular divinities certain portions of the body over which they were destined to preside. 
They divided the human body into thirty-six divisions, each of which was under 
the government of Decans, or aerial demons, presiding over the triple division of the 
twelve signs ; and these, we have the express authority of Origen for saying, were 
frequently specially invoked for the cure of various diseases. Upon this the late 
Mons. Champollion constructed a sort of theological anatomy, which he derived 
from the great funereal ritual. The deities of the Amenti figured in Archaeologia, 
vol. XXVII. plate xxi. fig. 3, were peculiarly appropriated to the contents of the body; 
thus, Amset was found, in the enrolment of the mummy of Pet maut-ioh-mes at 
Jersey, to be bound up within the bandages which contained the stomach and large 
intestines ; Hap^e, with the small intestines ; Kebhnsnof or Netsonof, with the liver 
and gall-bladder; whilst Smof or Smautf was found with the heart and lungs. 
These deities are very commonly to be seen depicted on the funereal papyri, and 
on the vases and boxes for holding the \iscera, carrying in their hands the bandages 
as typical of their connexion with the practice of embalming. They are also often 
to be met with in the funereal sarcophagi. 

With the deities thus mentioned as present in the Jersey mummy, there was also' 
in the mummy of the United Service Museum the wax figure of a bird, which is 



2 Oil the Deities of the Amenti, as found in Egyptian Mummies. 

known to Egyptian scholars and naturalists as the Benno, — a hird considered by 
Sir Gardner Wilkinson as holding the next rank to the ibis anaong the Egyptians, 
and emblematic of Osiris. It is iigured by Sir Gardner in his Manners and Customs 
of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. p. .'iO, fig. 15, and also in wood-cut No. 340. 

Although the appearance of any emblem indicative of Osiris, the judge of 
the Amenti, accompanying the four deities of the Amenti, cannot be regarded as 
extraordinary, yet it has never before been recorded in the manner here found. In 
the Jersey mummy the wax representations of the Amenti deities were discovered 
folded up with the several parts of the body to which they were appropriated ; but 
in the United Service Museum mummy they were found lying loose over the 
bandages which contained the \iscera, and these had been removed from the interior 
of the body, and placed, as is not unfrequently the case, upon and between the legs. 
With these was also found the bird Benno. Osiris is well known to take the 
character of the god Benno, who is in the Egyptian Mythology distinguished by the 
head of a crane, having a tuft composed of two long feathers. (See-figure of Osiris 
with the bird's head in Sir G- Wilkinson's work, plate 33, fig. A.) In a small sepul- 
chre at How (Diospolis Parva) the bird Benno is represented perched on a tamarisk 
tree, which is reported to have been the tree in the branches of which, on the 
coast of Byblus, the chest containing the body of Osiris was found, (Vide Plutarch 
de Iside et Osiride.) Tlie hieroglyphics inscribed on the tomb at How, refer to the 
bird Benno, and are given by Sir Gardner Wilkinson (Manners and Customs, vol.ii. 
p. 262, second series). Osiris is here specifically mentioned as emblematized by the 
bird. In conclusion, I may add that Sir Gardner Wilkinson has never before met 
with a representation of the bird in the situation I have now described it; and he 
regards it as an interestiug circumstance in connexion with the region of the dead 
over which Osiris is known to be the presiding judge. 



^'It is particularly requested that those Gentlemen who 
may obtain Copies of their Papers, printed in the Archteologia^ 
or Vetusta Monumenta^ do use every possible means to prevent 
those papers appearing in any other work, previous to the period 
of their publication in either of the above-mentioned Volumes. '^'^ 



Account of a Bilingual Inscription taken from a Vase at St. Mark, at Venice, 
by T. J. Pettighew, Esq., F.R.S., F.S.A. Communicated to the Society 
of Antiquaries fty the Council of the British A,rch^ological 
Association. 



From the ARCHAEOLOGIA, Vol. XXXI. pp. 275—278. 



Saville Row, Sept. 1, 1844. 

I HAVE great gratification in laying before the British Archeeological Asso- 
ciation the rubbing of an inscription, taken by Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, 
from a Vase deposited in the Treasury of St. Mark, at Venice, which, at his 
request, I communicate on the present occasion. 

The inscription is expressed in two characters, the arrow-headed or Per- 
sepolitan, and the Egyptian hieroglyphic. The latter, with which no one 
is better acquainted than Sir Gardner, gives the name of Artaxerxes, 
reading phonetically Ard-kho-scha, whicli name is, as usual with royal names, 
contained in a cartouche or oval of pecular construction formed of two letters, 
R and N, which, with the intermediate vowel so commonly omitted in 
Oriental languages, gives the Coptic word RAN, and signifies name. The 
name of the Persian king is followed by certain hieroglyphics which pho- 
netically read ERFRA, signifying Great : it is thus King Artaxerxes Great, 
or Great King Artaxerxes. Above the hieroglyphics expressing this, the in- 
scription in the arrow-headed character is arranged in three lines. 

This inscription appears to me to be of very considerable importance, 
inasmuch as it must not only tend to assist in the development of the arrow- 
headed character, to the deciphering of which a few illustrious scholars are 
now paying a deserved attention, but also to illustrate the influence which 
the conquest of Egypt exercised over its Persian rulers. This is the second 
decipherable bilingual inscription of the kind known, the first being one on 
the alabaster vase of Xerxes, contained in the Cabinet du Roi, at Paris, and 
first depicted by Count Caylus, in the thirtieth plate of his fifth volume of 



Account of a Bilingual Inscription 

Antiquities. In this work, however, it is very indistinctly given, and the 
characters are unintelligibly expressed. It was, therefore, more accurately 
copied by M. St. Martin ; but Champollion afterwards distinctly brought out 
the hieroglj-phics by rubbing the vase with veroiiUion in the presence of St. 
Martin, as described in the Journal Asiatique, torn. i. p. 67. 1822. The 
hieroglyphics, as given by Champollion, in his Precis du Systeme Hiero- 
glyphique des Anciens Egj'ptiens, plate 7, fig- 125*, read Kh-sch-ea-r-scba- 
Xerxes, followed by Erpr, which he conjectured to read frhia or Iri^o, and 
to signify Iranien or Persian. This interpretation, however, must be aban- 
doned, for Erpr means great. 

The inscription forwarded to me by Sir Gardner Wilkinson is of essential 
importance, because it not only gives the same arrow-headed and hierogly- 
phical characters, with very slight variations to express the same title, inter- 
preted by Dr. Grotefend, of Hanover, " Rex fortis," from the Parisian vase, 
but gives us Ard-Jih-skschu to meet the hieroglyphic orthography of Arta- 
xerxes, with the same critical accuracy of the Khschearscha or Xerxes of 
M. Champollion. We have thus new proofs of the validity of the established 
principles of cuneatic, as well as of hieroglyphic, interpretation in this 
inscription, besides a confirmation, were any wanting, of the hieroglyphics of 
the Parisian vase, as brought out by M. ChampolUon. The importance of 
this discovery of Sir Gardner Wilkinson is greatest with reference to the 
cuneatic interpretation, which is perhaps not capable of so much evidence as 
the hieroglyphic j for the confirmation derived from the bilingual vase of 
Xerxes, to the discoveries in arrow-headed decipherment by Dr. Grotefend 
and his learned collaborators, is rendered unanswerable by this bihngual 
vase of Artaxerxes. 

It would be more correct, perhaps, to call both these antiques quadrilin- 
gual; for although the writing of the first of the three arrow-headed lines 
only has been clearly deciphered, enough is known of the second and third 
to establish that they together form three versions of the same substance, as 
demonstrated by the inscription on the cylinder of Darius Hystaspis, in the 
British Museum ; the first in the favourite writing of the Kings of Persia, 
from Darius Hystaspis to Arsaces, the first King of Parthia, as proved by the 
recently discovered cylinders bearing the tiames of these princes ; the second, 



taken from a Vase at St. Mark-, at Venice. 3 

most probably, in that of the Kings of Media ; and the third, in Assyrian 
characters, as appears by the Ninevite inscriptions discovered by M. Botta 
and others. 

The agreement of the title, ERPR (Great), after the hieroglyphic name 
on both yases, in correspondence with that of the arrow-headed title, is 
another extraordinary confirmation of hieroglyphic interpretation, while this 
identity is conclusive against the meaning of Zongimanus, the peculiar title 
of Artaxerxes. The " Rex fortis" of Dr. Grotefend would, I have no doubt, 
be more correct if rendered " Rex magnus," the invariable title of the 
" Great Kings" of the East in those ages, in sufficient correspondence with 
Sir Gardner Wilkinson's interpretation. 

The only difference between the cuneatic Ardkhshscha and the hieroglyphic 
Arddkkssch, is the repetition of the dov t and « of the latter, and omission 
of the two vowels, which are, no doubt, inherent in the Egyptian syllabic 
consonants, like the Ethiopic and Indo-Bactrian alphabets, which nearly 
agree in number with the phonetic hieroglyphic characters. 

To illustrate the subject, I herewith (See Plate) present to you sketches 
of the two inscriptions according to M. St. Martin, whose copy is more com- 
plete than that of M. Champollion and Sir Gardner Wilkinson, the arrow-headed 
part of the latter being slightly corrected from his rubbing. These are accom- 
panied by the hieroglyphics placed over the decipherable arrow-headed lines 
of both, and over the corresponding characters so far as regards the proper 
names. European characters are applied to the proper names only, about 
which there can be no difference of opinion ; while hardly two of our 
Orientahsts or hierologists will agree as to the titular portion of the inscrip- 
tions, as given in different languages. M. Burnouf will apply the Zend lan- 
guage to the cuneatic characters ; Professor Lassen, the Sanscrit ; and Dr. 
Grotefend will exercise his own profound sense. Neither are the forces of 
the hieroglyphic characters sufficiently agreed upon for a question of lan- 
guage ; Sir Gardner Wilkinson's excellent alphabet is, however, enough for 
the proper names. 

T. J. PETTIGREW. 



P.S. Smce 



i Aw*wtt ((/'(I lUUtiUHnf h-icription takmjrom a Faae at St. Mark. 

IVH, HIiuKt wvltliiK \\w uliove, I have received a letter from Sir Gardner 
Wllkliimiu, In wliloh \w Hityn thitt, having oommuuicated to Cdoael Rawlinson 
A (>M|iy iif tliti rutiliiiiK fVtiiu tilt' Vue, that gentleman informs him that the 
Www llnitH iif ouiK'irDrm chiknu'ten are in three distinct languages, Persian, 
Mi'^llHit, ititil IVittiyloiilnu. nitd \w reitoree the first two as seen in fig. iii. The 
wmHlitltti^ lluu lir tliuU nioro tUtBoult \ hut upon this I h<^ to be able at a 
(taturt Uttk* to oiUttiuuntntUi (\trthw to the Sod^. 

T. J. P. 



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4 Account of a Bilingual Inscription taken from a Vase at St. Mark. 

P.S. Since writing the above, I have received a letter from Sir Gardner 
Wilkinson, in which he says that, having communicated to Colonel Rawlinson 
a copy of the rubbing from the Vase, that gentleman informs him that the 
three lines of cuneiform characters are in three distinct languages, Persian, 
Median, and Babylonian, and he restores the first two as seen in fig. iii. The 
remaining line he finds more difficult ; but upon this I hope to be able at a 
future time to communicate further to the Society. 

T. J. P. 

Saville Row, March 1, 1845. 





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"7/ iJi parliruiarly ^^mm^uwF thofe OentUtnev tcho 
may obtain Q)pi6g of thvir Papers, prmled tu Ihc ArrJuuoUigia 
or I'HvMia MaiiumeMa, du tiw even/ po9sAle tnnuu to prevuni 
thMfi f\ipera appearing in aay ofker ioork, pteviam lu tfif pvuttd 
oj their pttljicaiion tn either of tlte a/tove menlionetl Vo(nme». 



ACCOUNT 



OF THE EXAMINATION 



or THE 



MUMMY OF PET-MAUT-IOH-MES, 



BROUGHT FROM EGYPT BY THE LATE JOHN COSSET, ESQ. 



AND NOW 



DEPOSITED IN THE MUSEUM IN THE ISLAND OF JERSEY. 



COMMUNICATED TO THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES 

BY T. J. PETTIGREW, ESQ., F.R.S., F.S.A., F.S.L., &c. 



LONDON: 
PRINTED BY J. B. NICHOLS AND SON, 25, PARLIAMENT-STREET. 

1838. 



FROM THE 

ARCHAEOLOGIA, 

VOL. XXVn. p. 262—273. 



ACCOUNT OF THE EXAMINATION 
MUMMY OF PET-MAUT-IOH-MES, 

BROUGHT FROM EGYPT BY THE LATE JOHN COSSET, ESQ. 



Saville Row, Nov. 2. 1837. 
I HERE are few subjects within the range of arch^ological inquiry which 
present to us greater interest than that which arises from a consideration of 
the antiquities of Egypt, and particularly of those points which bear reference 
to the religion, the ceremonies, and the customs of the ancient Egyptians in 
connexion with the dissolution of the body, and the modes adopted to arrest 
the progress of decay. The reasons which induced them to take such extra- 
ordinary care in the preservation of the bodies of their deceased is, I believe, 
to be sought for in their religious opinions ; and, it is most probably to be 
explained, upon their adoption of the doctrine of the transmigration of the 
soul. Upon this subject it is not my intention here to enlarge, as I have 
already treated of it in ray " History of Egyptian Mummies." I am anxious, 
however, upon this occasion, to introduce to the Society an account of the 
examination of a Mummy, belonging to the Museum in the Island of Jersey, 
which presents to our notice some peculiarities differing from those which 
have been hitherto observed in the process of embalming. I owe to our 
respectril member, my friend Sir George Staunton, intelligence of this 
Mummy, which was brought from Thebes by the late John Gosset, Esq. who 
travelled in Egypt in 1835 in company with E. Lane, Esq. the author of a 
most excellent work on Modern Egypt. Mr. Gosset died at Paris returning 
from his travels ; and his entire collection of Egyptian Antiquities, consisting 
of several articles of great curiosity and interest, has been presented by his 



4 Account of the Examination of the Mummy of 

father, Isaac Giosset, E^q. to the Island of Jersey, and has formed tbe com- 
iDencement of a Museum, which promiseB to rise rapidly into distinction. In 
Mr. GoBset's Journal I find the following entry : 

" Thebes, May 12, 1835. Several Fellahs, who may be called tbe resur- 
rection men of Tbebea, are in the habit of excavating for antiquities, which 
they sell to travellers in spite of the Pacha's monopoly and of his ex- 
cavator, a Turk, who employs twenty or thirty boys constantly, but sel- 
dom finds any thing. A gang, composed of five, sent us word that they bad 
found a tomb untouched, and said, if we wished to see it, we might come at 
night with one of their party. Accordingly Mr. Lane and myself went this 
evening. From the tomb we descended through a narrow, steep, and winding 
passage, into a small cavern hewn in tbe rock, into which we groped upon 
our bands and feet and found three Mummies. It was impossible here to open 
or examine them. We were covered with dust, and almost stifled going down 
the pit to the cavern, but delighted to see the manner in which the ancient 
Egyptians buried their dead. This style of Mummy is very ancient, being of 
the time of tbe Pharaohs ; it ia in two cases, each of which is beautifully 
painted, the first case not unlike the style of painting and subjects in the 
tombs, the top representing the ceiling ; inside, offerings to Osiris, &c. Priests 
with leopard-skins, snake, jackal, and hare-headed divinities. A king's name 
upon a leather bandage, flowers of lotus, a garland, also a wreath round the 
forehead." 

It appears that the Mummy, to the notice of which the present paper must 
necessarily be confined, was found in one of the western valleys, where Mr. 
Wilkinson tells us he saw a tomb bearing the name of Amunoph III. the 
King of the Vocal Statue ; and which may fairly be considered as the most 
ancient catacomb hitherto discovered in those valleys. Colonel Oldfield* 
through Sir Greorge Staunton, ikvoored me with a fac-umile of the paintings 
at the bottom of the inner case of the Jersey Mummy, which I am happy to lay 
before the Society, (see PI. XIX.) and in which it will be seen there is a repre- 
sentation of the King Amunoph III. and beneath his figure cartouches, con- 
taining, in hieroglyphical characters, his name and distinction. From this cir- 
cumstance it was not unreasonably conjectured Uiat the Mommy might be that 
of the sovereign, although it must be remarked that the portrait or figure of the 



Pet'tnaut-ioh-mes, brought from Egypt. 5 

sovereign is frequently introduced in Egyptian antiquities, serving merely to 
denote the period to which they belong, and not to have any special reference 
to an individual. Without an examination, therefore, of the hieroglyphics 
upon the cases, it was impossible to give an opinion as to the identity of the 
sovereign aud the inclosed Mummy, and for this purpose, and to unroll the 
Mummy, I waa invited to Jersey by my friend J. Hodges, Esq. The result of 
this examination it is now my intention to detail. 

I found the Mummy inclosed, as described by Mr. Gosset, within two cases, 
highly ornnmentt'd and covered with hicroglyphical characters and mytholo- 
gical representations. These were of various colours and in high relief, being 
depicted upon a composition with which the whole surface of the cases had 
been coated. The cases were shaped in the human figm-e, with the lower 
limbs joined together. The arms were crossed, and the hands had suffered 
injury from being apparently sawn through, by which the emblems held by 
them were lost, but traces of their nature were visible on the cases, and showed 
them to have been the usual accompaniments of Osiris : the hook, or symbol 
of moderation, and the whip, or symbol of excitation. The face on these cases 
was painted yellow, and furnished with a long beard, somewhat turned up at 
the point. Lines of hieroglyphics in various colours ran in different directions 
along the entire length of the sides of the cases around them and across. They 
consisted of the customary addresses, and were as follow : 1. Consecrated to 
Re, lord of the upper and lower world ; Atmou, lord of the two regions of the 
south land of Poni(?) ; great god, manifested in the solar abode, Osiris, who 
presides over the land of the West (Ement), lord of Abydus, revealer of 
good, regulator of lives ; Isis, great mother goddess, mistress of heaven, ruler 
of the gods of Ement-Eri (?) ; ... Neptbys, great sister goddess, regent of 
the abodes established to all the gods ; — That they will give an abode provided 
with bread, flesh, fowl, utensils, clothes, frankincense, with perfumes (?) all other 

good things, pure Ubations, and all other on the tables of lord of 

the world Ounophris, for the sake of the Osirian lady of the house {name 
defaced.) 

2. That they will give abundance of bread, abundance of cordials, abun- 
dance of flesh, abundance of fowls, abundance of all other good things, pure, 
with all other .... with offering. 



6 Account of the Examination of the Mummy of 

3. Oh ! thou, my defender, Osiris, great god, lord of To-Eri (?), president of 
Abydus, investigator (?) of the heaven, lord of Neutchiu (?), king of the gods. 

4. Oh ! thou, my defender, Osiris, great god, lord of To-Eri (^), president of 
Abydus, investigator f?) of the heaven, lord of Neutchiu (?), king of the gods, 
regulator of the living .... before the other gods. 

5. This is of Re Atmou, lord of the two regions of the south land of Poni (?), 
chief, great god, lord of heaven, manifest in the solar disk's abode, lord of 
worlds, restrainer of the Foreign Country, lord of the abode of Thoth .... 
. . . president of ... . That they will give offerings of an abode provided 

with cakes, geese, oxen, frankincense for the Osirian lady of the 

house, Priestess for Aroon-Re, chief of the gods {name defaced.) (See 
Plate XX.) 

These examples will suffice ; they are offerings to the deities on behalf of 
the deceased, who in three places is designated as a priestess ; and following the 
hieroglyphics having this signification, and in the place where the name of 
the individual ordinarily appears, a most careful obliteration has been made. 
This is clearly the effect of design, not of accident, for the varnish occupying 
the spaces between each hieroglyphical character that had formed the name 
was quite perfect, and the characters themselves had been literally scratched 
out. This circumstance tended to destroy the means of identifying the indi- 
vidual embalmed. 

I have noticed an apparent anomaly — a yellow face and a beard. The 
female countenance is, I believe, without an exception always painted yellow 
or white, and the male red, on all cases and sarcophagi containing mummies. 
The beard is unquestionably a male symbol. How, then, are we to account for 
this singular combination ? It seems to me that it may be solved thus : the 
yellow face denotes a female ; the beard belongs to the figure of Osiris, who is 
judge of the dead, and president of that kingdom where the souls of the ap- 
proved were to be admitted to eternal felicity ; and Mr. Wilkinson, of whose 
acquaintance with the Egyptian mythology it is unnecessary for me to speak, 
says, that '^ every Egyptian after death was deified to a certain extent, but no 
one became a god ; they merely bore the name and form of Osiris, a name ap- 
plied in the same sense to females.^ Men and women were thus both repre- 
sented after death under the form and name of Osiris, never of Isis, as the late 
Dr. Young had conjectured. Osiris, Mr. Wilkinson supposes to signify, in his 



Pet-mauf-iok-mes, brought from Egypt. 7 

character of judge, the unity of the deity, and to this unity, or original essence, 
man returned after death, but man collectively, and no distinction of sex was 
maintained after the soul had quitted its material envelope. All this seems to 
confirm the statement given by Herodotus, who, it must be recollected, in his 
accomit of the persons employed in embalming, says, "Elff) St oi eir' aurtu towtw 
Karearai, Kcti re^vr^v e^ooirj TauTTjV. ouroi firfctv ff^iKojttKrflr vfKpos, SeiKWoao-t 
raiiTi Kafkitrcta-i jra^aSeiyftara vtKpdiv ^u'^tya Tnij ■ypa<pf) it-efJuifj^iifj-fvei. Kt) t^v (x€v 
ffTrooSaiOTOtTi)!' a^ritov ^atrl elvui, tou ouV oo-iov Troi(Ufi.ai to aZvo^n-a fn-i ToiovTot 
TrpifyjxaTi ovojLta'^f jk,"^ — -" There are certain individuals appointed for the purpose 
{(, e, embalming), and who profess that art ; these persons, when any body is 
brought to them, show the bearers some wooden models of corpses, painted to 
represent the originals ; the most perfect they assert to be the representation 
of him whose name I take it to be impious to mention (/. e. Osiris) in this 
matter." 

Now the cases of the Jersey Mummy are in the representation of Osiris, and 
the beard is, I conceive, thus accounted for, and the Mummy belonging to 
them may fairly be considered as having been prepared in the very best mode 
of embalment. A greater difficulty, however, presents itself in the erasure 
of the hieroglyphics upon the cases ; thus preventing all means of identifying 
the body as appertaining to the individual for whom the cases were made. Be- 
fore I describe the Mummy, I shall say a few words upon the rases. They are 
of sycamore wood ; and, from the style of painting with which they are orna- 
mented, may fairly be considered as belonging to the time of the sovereign 
Araunoph III. depicted within them. Amunoph III. was the son of Thoth- 
mes IV. and lived two hundred years before the Trojan war. He reigned 
1430 B.C. which is twenty-one years after the death of Moaes, and sixty-one 
years posterior to the Exodus of the Israelites ; so that the antiquity of the 
cases is very great. Interiorly and exteriorly they abound with figures of the 
Egyptian deities: to describe these would demand an entire essay on the 
Egyptian Mythology ; they bear relation chiefly to the deceased, figured as 
Osiris, and the deities through whose intervention or intercession her admission 
into the mansions of the blessed was hoped to be obtained. Within the inner 
case or coffin was a lid placed immediately over the body of the Mummy, re- 
presenting a female without any beard or Osirian character, and having a line 



8 Account of the Examination of the Mummy of 

of bierogljpbict nmniiig down the centre, bnt containing no name. Upon 
removiDg this lid, the Mommy in its bandages was brought into view. It 
measured 5 feet 5 inches. Around the head was a garland composed of acacia 
and bay leaves, and the leaves and flowers of the lotus ; these were strung to- 
gether with much taste. Over the whole upper surface of the Mummy similar 
bands of leaves and lotus flowers were distributed, and a long leathern bandage, 
or fillet, measuring three yards and a half in length, and about one inch in 
breadth, extended across the shoulders, and was passed across the back and 
over the breast and body. At the extremities of this leather belt, which was 
of a red colour on its outer side and yellowish within, there are the remains 
of some figures which have been stamped upon them ; but which time has too 
much obliterated to be now decyphered. They appear, however, to be the 
figure of a king having his cartouche over his head, probably containing his 
name. This was the case with the Mummy of Natsif-Amon, who died during 
the reign of Ramesses V. ; opened a few years since at the Leeds Institution, 
and specimens of a similar kind are to be seen in the new Egyptian Room at 
the British Museum. 

The outer bandage of the Mummy consisted of a fine linen sheet folded 
double and laced up at the back with a narrow strip of the usual mummy 
doth. Beneath this wrapper were many successive layers of rollers usually 
not exceeding four or five yards in length. One, however, measured six yards 
and a quarter, and another twelve yards. They varied in size, some being 
much broader than others, and several of them were fringed at their extre- 
mities, and had borders, principally of a blue or green colour. Having re- 
moved upwards of fifty of these rollers, upon which I only found rudely figured, 
not in ink, but apparently with charcoal, a vase of libation, and a representa- 
tion of the sacred Eye, I came to a second sheet extending over the whole of 
the body from the head to the feet. This was covered with a coating of as- 
phaltum, which it was necessary to cut through to arrive at the Mummy, and 
appeared to form the division of the layers of the bandages. Dividing that 
part over the breast, I discovered the representation of a laige scarabseus in 
baked earth, having been dipped into some vitrified mixture which gave to it a 
most brilliant green colour. This measured two inches in length and one inch 
and a half in breadth. Upon the under surfiice were six lines of hieroglyphics. 



Pet-maut'ioh-mes, brought from Egypt. 9 

and these give the name of Pet-maut-iob-mes. (An impression from, and a 
drawing of, the Scarabteus I herewith transmit. See PI. XXI. 6g I.) Immedi- 
ately beneath the scarabsua was a figure of a hawk (see fig. 2), with extended 
wings, emblematical of Re, or Phra, the Sun. This measured five inches across 
the wings, and four inches one-eighth from the head to the extremity of the tail. 
In the bird's t&lons are the disks, the emblems of the Sun. This representa- 
tion was in soft lead, and was thin and quite flexible. A tjaantity of the metal 
in a state of oxydation was covering the whole of its surface. 

Around the neck, close up to the head, was a necklace composed of nineteen 
pieces. These were of various kinds, and of different materials : a sceptre in 
green porcelain, another in blue, an emblem of the soul in blue porcelain, 
another in a dark-coloured material, and a sacred eye of the same kind ; an 
emblem of stability in green porcelain ; two tablets, one of Thoth, the Egyptian 
Mercury, in basalt, the other of Anubis, the jackal-headed divinity, in jasper ; 
a vase, a small scarabseus in dark-blue porcelain, a blue glass bead, a geome- 
trical form in basalt, four pendants in lapis lazuli and other substances, and an 
emblem of the soul, another of the sacred eye, and one of the serpent Urteus 
with the disk in mother of pearl. These were all strung together by thread, 
and passed round the neck, at the back part of which it was secured by a thick 
bundle of threads tied in a knot. Beneath the necklace was a bandage form- 
ing a kind of cravat, having at its extremity a profusion of fringe, and fastened 
by a knot. Upon the removal of this the throat was found to have been 
divided across, and in the space thus occasioned a quantity of earthy matter 
was found. The face was now examined, and it presented that of a 
male, having a short beard on the chin and upper lip, of a reddish brown 
colour, which was probably occasioned by the materials used in the em- 
balming. 

The place of the natural eyes was supplied by artificial ones of ivory 
and a black composition, well executed and adinirabty placed within 
the eyelids. The cheek of the left side was rather larger than the 
other, the reason of which was afterwards discovered. The features of 
the face were all perfect, and the expression good ; no difliculty arose in 
the removal of the bandages ; the nose was not at all disfigured, and the 
septum was perfect ; but the nostrils, as well as the hollow places within 



10 Account of the Bxaminatum of the Mummy of 

the ears, were filled np with earthy matter like to that which waa foimd in the 
throat. 

The binder part of the sknll having been removed, to observe the method 
that had been adopted with regard to the extraction of the brain, a variety 
presented itself, of which I know no instance on record, nor can I hear from 
any of my friends who have visited Egypt, or are familiar with these subjects, 
of any thing like the mode which had been employed in this individual em- 
balment. The dura mater, or lining membrane, was perfect in all its processes, 
quite dry and semi-transparent, and it was necessary to cut through this before 
the contents of the head could be eacamined, which were found to consist of 
earthy matter having a few portions of linen doth holding some spicy sub* 
stance.* The brain had been entirely removed ; but not in the usual way, for 
the ethmoid bone was perfect, and for a long time I was not able to observe any 
opening through which it had been extracted, and the earthy matter introduced. 
By a close examination of the incision in the throa^ however, I found that 
some cutting instrument must have been carried up along the antmor surfaces 
of the bodies of the cervical vertebras, and thence carried through what anato- 
mists call the foramen lacerum m hast crofm on the left side of the head, by 
which operation the foramen had been somewhat enlaigedt &>id through which 
this part of the process of embalming appears in this case, unlike to all others 
I have seen or reod of, to have been effected. The difficulty in passing the 
earthy matter hud occasioned the afferent swelling of the kft cheek j the la- 
rynx and bone of the tongue had been pushed towards the right side. 

The body was now the subject of examination ; it ms ^isily brQu^t into 
view, the rollers coming away with the greatest facility. The inpision in the 
left flank, four inches in length, had been piractised agreeably to the 9Ccount of 
Herodotus and other writers, and over this incision was placed a square portion 

a Uponanslysuof diiasidMtanoelOOpiurts weiefoirndtocoitfi^ 

ligneoiis dust, oontainiiiff a little aiomaftic extractm mstter, soluble in water 42 

Csrbcmste of lime, wi A some aloniina, and oxide of inm .43 

Suics •••••••••••15 

100 



Pet-maut-ioh-mes, brought Jrom Egypt. 11 

of lead four inches id length and three inches and one-eighth in breadth, and 
impressed upon it was a representation of the sacred eye. This I>eing removed, 
the body was found to be filled with the dust of woods having an aromatic 
odour, and the viscera were folded up in four several portions^ in each of which 
the representation of a deity four inches and one-eighth in length, and one inch 
and one-eighth in breadth, was contained. These were made of earth, and covered 
with wax, similar to some I have in my possession, which were taken from a 
Greek Mummy, and said by Signor Passalacqua to be peculiar to the embalm- 
ing of that period. I had, previously to this examination, ventured to suggest 
that the deities represented upon the four Canopic vases frequently discovered 
alongside the Mummies, and reported to contain the viscera, would he found 
to be specially appropriated to particular parts. Neither Herodotus nor Dio- 
dorus Siculus give any information as to what is done with the viscera after 
their extraction from the body. Porphyry has handed down to us a prayer, 
■aid to have been uttered by the embalmers in the name of the deceased, en- 
treating the divine powers to receive the soul into the region of the good, and 
casting into the river Nile the organs which he supposes may have oftended 
the gods and done injury to the soul, by eating or drinking unworthily. This 
account receives something like confirmation from Plutarch ; but it cannot be 
admitted to be even probable, for it is inconsistent with all that has been ob- 
served in the preparation of the Mummies, in which the chief object of the 
Egyptians appears uniformly to have been to preserve every part of the body, 
and in as entire a state as possible, upon the success of which we may presume 
the likelihood of its being re occupied by its former spirit, or soul, would be 
promoted. We have so little precise information as to the Mummies furnished 
with Canopic vases, and the latter have ever been so much sought after and so 
eagerly removed, that it is impossible to say whether they contained the em- 
balmed viscera of the body, by the side of which they have been placed, or 
not; they have often been found to hold the viscera, and there is therefore rea- 
sonable grounds for presuming that to be the case. I have in some instances 
found the viscera embalmed and placed among the liaudages ; it was the case 
in the Mummy of Kannop, at University College. They were within the body 
ID the greater number of Mummies I have unrolled, and always in four por- 
tioDS. This would seem to correspond with the arrangement of the four Ca- 



iC. 

^ ■ 



• * 



1 2 Account of the Examination of the Mummy of 

nopic vases, and it is remarkable that in the Jersey Mammy each of the foor 
portions had inclosed within it one of the deities represented on these vases. 
They are the genii of the Amenti, or Amunti, which in Coptic exactly corre- 
sponds with Hades in Ghreek. It signifies both the receiver and giver. Mr. 
Wilkinson, therefore, says it was a temporary abode, and it will be remarked 
that this agrees with the idea of the Egyptians returning again to the earth, 
after a stated period. They may be arranged thos : 

1 . Kebhnsnof or Netsonof, with the hawk*s head. 

2. Smof, or Smautf, with the jackal's head. 
3* Hap^e, with the head of the cynocephalus. 

4. Amset, with the human head. (See fig. 3, Fl. XXI.) 

The portion of bandage in which Kebhnsnof^ was found contained the liver 
and gall bladder ; that with Smof, the lungs and heart ; that with Hap6e held 
the small intestines ; and that with Amset the stomach and lai^ intestines. 
The kidneys, with their ureters entire, were loose among the wood dust, and 
had no bandage whatever. The Egyptians divided the human body into 
thirty-six parts, each of which they believed to be under the particular govern- 
ment of one of the decans or aerial demons, who presided over the triple divi- 
sions of the twelve signs ; and Qrigeii says, that when any part of the body was 
diseased, a cure was obtained by invoking the demon to whose province it be- 
longed. A kind of theological anatomy has thus been made out by the late 
M. ChampoUion from the Great Funereal Ritual, or Book of the Manifesta- 
tions. This is expressed on various Mummy cases in hieroglyphical charac- 
ters; and may we not in this trace the. first attempt to assign the different parts 
of the human body to the several planets, which has been continued down to 
the present day in the favoured and favourite astrological almanack of ^' Francis 
Moore, Physician " ? •^ 

b Snof sigDilies *' blood." 

c Mr. Bircb^ of the British iMuseom, whose attaimnents ia hieroglyphiciil literature are by no 
means inconrideraUe, and whose zeal in the research is correspondent to his ability, has kindly 
shown me an ancient sycamore case, shaped in the human form, upon which several of the parts of 
the body are appropriated to particular deities :— these in a great measure accord with what has 
been drawn by ChampoUion from the Papyrus MSS. The tfubj^t is' deterring of further inves- 
tigation. 



Pet-maut-ioh-mes, brought /rom Egypt. 13 

To return to the Mummj : The limbs were scparntely bandapcd ; but the 
rollers were not applied to each finger or toe separately, the whole ol" the hand 
or foot was inclosed within the bandage. The nails were altogether perfect, 
long, and of a filberd shape. They were stained of a dark colour. The whole 
body was greatly emaciated, and the lungs carried evidences of a tuberculated 
condition, ao that it is extremely probable the individual died of phthisis. 
From the appearance of the diploc of the skull, the teeth, &,c. It would appear 
to he a person of about the middle period of life. 

The erasure of the hieroglyphics composing the name of the individual upon 
the cases was performed at a time when that language was generally under- 
stood — it must have been done by the Egyptians. The priests, there is little 
reason to question, made a traffic of the tombs. Mr. Wilkinson found the 
tomb of Harnesses VII. had undergone many changes ; the stucco, on which its 
present representations are figured, is placed over sculptures of a nmcb earlier 
period, and he has suggested the probability that, when a family became ex- 
tinct, so that no one remained to pay the customary claims for the liturgies and 
other services by which the revenue of the priests was maintained, the tomb 
was re-8old to another occupant to indemnify thcni ; and this exchange does 
not appear to have been confined to the walls of the tomb, but extended even 
to the sarcophagi and wooden coffins contained within them, for the name of 
the first inmate has been found to be obliterated, and a second substituted in 
its place. The names on the walls are constantlv found to he erased, and the 
spaces for names often left in a blank condition, the sale of the building not 
having been yet effected. I thought I could observe in one part of the outer 
case of the Jersey Mammy something like an attempt to figure some hiero- 
glyphical letters over the place where the name was formerly introduced ; the 
hieroglyphics were of a diflFerent character, they were written in plain red upon 
a white ground, whilst the original in the same line of inscription had colours in- 
variably intermixed with them. The new hieroglyphics were, however, not suffi- 
ciently distinct to he decyphered. It appears, therefore, that some circumstances, 
of the nature of which, at this distant period, it is difficult to oflfer any probable 
conjecture, had occurred to occasion the obliteration of the name of a priestess 
of great rank in the early times of Amunoph III. and placed within her ease 
or coffin, is the Mummy of PET-MAUT-ioH-Mts, "man, deceased," as the hiero- 



14 Account of the Examination of a Mummy. 

glyphics on the scarabaeus taken from his breast demonstrates. The period at 
which this exchange took place it is not easy to determine; but, judging from 
the mode of embalment, I should be very much disposed to place it in the 
Greek period, probably in the time of the Ptolemies, for (excepting the pro- 
cess adopted in the extraction of the brain, and the substitution of earthy mat- 
ter within the skull, which I observed before, and of which there is no record 
whatever to be found,) the mode of its embalment corresponds to those in 
which the names have been decidedly of a Greek character, and upon the cases 
of which various circumstances would seem to connect the Mummy with that 
people. 



FURTHER EXPLANATION OP PLATE XIX. 

This Plate represents the paiDting at the bottom of the inner coffin : at the upper part are 
two figures of the snake-headed god, the goardian of the Oates of Amenti. Beneath these a figure 
typical of the heavens, followed by the winged snake and disk denoting Hob-Hat, or AgathodsBmon. 
Succeeding these, above and on the sides of the large centre figure, are, on the right, a winged ani- 
mal with a human face, which is not represented in profile, as ordinarily occurs, and around this 
figure hieroglyphics, the purport of which is, '' The great God, Lord of the West ; " on the opposite 
side the hawk, as Hoaus. On the right, beneath the winged animal with the human face, is another 
snake-headed god, and opposite to it a different land of snake-headed deity, fumuhed with large 
wings, having a dbk over its head, and representing probably Eilbthta or Lucina. At the right 
shoulder of the large figure is a deity having emUems of Osiris, and beneath this is an unusual re- 
presentation of a vulture furnished with an asp's head, being one of the deities of Amenti. Oppo- 
site to these figures are representations of Anubis as a jackal, and Anubis seated holding Osirian 
emblems, and before him stands the snake-headed deity beside a taUe furnished with offerings. At 
the lower part of the laige figure, on the left, is a deity of Amenti, with a helmet of Lower Egypt, 
and holding Osirian emblems ; and at the feet of the figure, in a kneeling position, is placed the deity 
Nbtpb. The laige figure in the centre appears to be the representation of a king deified, or under 
the form of Osibis. It is furnished with a royal head-dress, and has the beard of a deity pointed 
and turned up at the extremity ; not square at the end, as is the case in the beards of sovereigns. 
This seems to be the King Amunoph under the form and figure of Osibis. Beneath the pedestal on 
which he stands, and in what may be called the third compartment of the picture, is a cartouche, 
bearing in hieroglyphics the name of Amunoph ; and on each side of this is a figure of Hapee, one 
of the four genii of the Amenti. The lower division of the representation gives Nbtpe, the mother 
of the gods, on the right, and Nbphthts, the sister goddess, on the left \ each furnished with tables 
of ofierings of fruits, cakes, and wine. 



J. B. Nichols and Son, S5, PttriiaoMnt-itieet. 



l^'ijaifl.Hal^SX.jxTSi 



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ON 



THE CHRONOLOGY 



OF 



THE TWENTY-SIXTH EGYPTIAN DYNASTY 



AND OF 



THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTH. 



BY 



THE REV. EDWARD HINCKS, D.D. 



PROM THB TRANSACTIONS OF TEE KOTAI. IRISH ACAOBMr, VOLUME XXIL — POLITE LITERATURE. 



READ KOTEMBEB 18, 18M. 



DUBLIN: 
PRINTED BY M. H. GILL, 

PRINTER TO THB ROTAI IRISH ACASBHT. 

1855. 



THE CHRONOLOGY 



THE TWENTY-SIXTH EGYPTIAN DYNASTY, AND OF THE 
COMMENCEMENT OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTH. 




JjEFORE the commencement of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty we have no Egyp- 
tian chronology that deserves the name. We know the order in which a great 
number of kiogs reigned ; but we know the lengths of the reigns of extremely 
few of these ; nor is this want supplied by our knowing the interval between 
any particular reign and a fixed epoch. With the exception of that of the first 
Shishonk, whoae conquest of Judea furnishes us with a sure synchronism ; and 
of those of the Ethiopian kings who immediately preceded the Twenty-sixth 
Dynasty, we cannot even approximate to the date of any particular reign with 
anything like certainty. When we go back to remote periods, the limits of 
possible error, as estimated by the difference of opinion among those who have 
endeavoured to construct a chronology from the insufficient materials that we 
possess, are measured by millenaries of years, rather than by centuries. 

As to the Twenty-sixth Dynasty we possess data on which perfect reliance 
may be placed ; and from these I think I shall be able to demonstrate that the 
first year of Nechao II. must have beea the 13Gth of Nabonassar, corresponding 
to 612 B. c. ; while there is a probability, almost amounting to certainty, that 
the Dynasty was counted to commence 75 years before this; the first year of 
the 80-caUad Stephinates, being the 6l5t of Nabonassar, nearly coinciding 
wilh 687 B. c. It is admitted on all hands that the first year of Darius was the 
227th of Nabonassar, corresponding to 521 b. c. The interval between this 
and the commencement of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty would then be 1G6 years. 
It will be convenient to divide this into three periods. The first of 75 years 



424 The Rev. Edwabd Hinges on the Chronology of the Twenty-sixth 

intervened between the first of Stephinates and the first of Nechao II. This 
period is not actually measured by monumental chronology ; but the duration 
of it is determined by Greek authorities with a high degree of probability ; 
and the lengths of reigns which these fix with accuracy are proved to be ap- 
proximately true, both by monumental evidence, and by Assyrian and Jewish 
synchronisms. On this period I will ofier some remarks, after I have treated 
of those which follow it. 

The second period of 40 years intervened between the first year of Ne- 
chao II., and the first of Amasis. The proof that this was the precise length 
of the interval will be found in my paper on the Egyptian Stele, read on the 
28th of June, 1841, and printed in the nineteenth volume of the Transactions 
of the Academy. I divided this interval among the three reigns in this man- 
ner : — I supposed that 16 years of Nechao, 6 of Psammitichus, and 19 of Apries, 
were reduced from 41 to 40 in consequence of the months Which were deficient 
in each reign having in the three reigns made up an entire year. An Egyptian 
record has since been discovered by Maribttb, from which Lepsius has deter- 
mined that the actual intervals between the first years of the four kings I have 
named were 15, 6, and 19 years, respectively; and, moreover, that the year in 
which Nechao died was called his sixteenth year at its commencement, and the 
first of Psammitichus II. in its latter part. It appears from this important dis- 
covery that the Egyptians counted the year in which a king died as the first 
year of the reign of his successor ; diflFering in this from the Assyrians and Ba- 
bylonians, who called the fraction of a year after his predecessor's death " the 
beginning of the reign" of the new king ; and reckoned the following year as 
his first. See the Nimrtld Obelisk, lines 22 and 26. 

The third interval, between the first years of Amasis and of Darius, was 
counted as 48 years by Rosellini, and 49 by Wilkinson, who agreed with each 
other, and I believe with all previous modem chronologists, in placing the con- 
quest of Egypt by Cambyses in 525 b. c. ; Wilkinson allowed 45 years before 
this for Amasis and his son ; Rosellini allowed only 44. In the paper I have 
cited I maintained that the conquest of Egypt was two years earlier, in 527 b. c. : 
and accordingly I made the interval between the first years of Amasis and of 
Darius 50 years. This was, at the time I published it, a novelty ; but I have 
since been followed both by Bunsen and by Lepsius. I now see reason to 



Egyptian Di/nasiy^ and of the Commencement of the Twenty-seventh. 425 

amend my stfttement, and to extend the interval to 51 years. I suppose that 
Amasis and Carabyses reigned over Egypt 44 and 6 years, respectively; and 
that the reigns of Psammitichiia III. and of the Magian impostor together made 
up another year. The first year of Amasia would thus be the 176th of Nabo- 
nassar, nearly corresponding with 572 b. c. 

The grounds on which I was led to allow six years for the reign of Cam- 
byses in Egypt were two. Africanus expressly assigns this number; and 
although his statement is obviously in some fart incorrect, the most natm'al 
correction is what I then proposed, viz., to substitute 6 for e. These Greek 
letters, in theu- uncial forms, in the times between Africanus and Georgtus Syn- 
cellus, were very similar. Making this correction, Africanus says: Kafi^vatj^ 

e.Tf] & Tijv eavToS ^a<ri\eia^ Tlspaaiv e.^trlXeva^i', At'yi'TrTOu eV?^ s . " Cambyses 
reigned nine years over his own kingdom of the Persians, and six years over 
Egypt." This observation was adopted from Manetho, and by him from an 
Egyptian source ; and the correctness of it, as well as the necessity of its being 
made, will both appear from the fact which I am about to state. Cambyses 
dated the years of his reign in Egypt from the death of Cyrus; and his last 
year, the 226th of Nabonassar (522 b. c), was reckoned as his ninth year in 
Egyptian records. Lepsius has noticed the former of these facts ; but he has 
unaccountably overlooked the latter, though it follows from the very record 
that he quotes. It appears from the funeral record of a certain Apis, that he 
was born in the fifth year of Cambyses, that he lived eight years, and died in 
the fourth year of Darius. Lepsius shows that this could not have been the 
case if the reign of Cambyses had been reckoned to commence at any point 
later than the death of Cyrus ; but he labours to avoid the conclusion, which 
naturally follows from this record, that the fourth of Darius would have been 
the thirteenth of Cambyses: and, consequently, that the year before the first of 
Darius would have been the ninth of Cambyses. 

What made Lepsius so reluctant to admit this conclusion was this : — In the 
Canon of Ptolemy only eight years are given to Cambyses ; and what seems to 
prove that he cqidd have reigned no more is, that the eclipse of the moon, 
which took place on the 197th day of the 225th year of Nabonassar, or on the 
16th July, 523 b. c, was in the seventh year of Cambyses. 

This is certainly a difiiculty ; but it strikes me that it is more apparent than 




426 The Rev. Edward Hincks on the Chronology of the Twenty-sixth 

real. The death of Cyrus took place in the 218th year of Nabonassar (530 b. c). 
According to the Egyptian mode of computation, this would be reckoned the 
first year of Cambyses: and, of course, the 226th would have been reckoned his 
ninth. This is what the Apis inscription proves to have been the case. Pto- 
lemy, however, follows the Babylonian computation, according to which the 
year which commenced next after the death of Cyrus, that is, the 219th of Na- 
bonassar (529 B. c), would be counted as the first of Cambyses.* 

* [As manj persons may find it difficult to admit that what Cambyses caUed his 8tb year was 
different from what Ptolemy reckoned as his 8th year, it may be well to mention that there are 
two instances, at least, in the time of the Lagidae, when a similar difference existed. One of these 
is universally recognised. What is accounted in the Canon to be the Ist^ear of Ptolemy Ever- 
gates II. is his 25th according to all contemporary monuments. The other instance, though I 
think it equally certain, is not equally well known. What is accounted in the Canon to be the 
first year of Ptolemy Philadelphus is, according to contemporary monuments, his fourth ; the cause 
of this being, of course, that the Canon reckons his years from his father's death, while the monu- 
ments reckoned them from his being taken into partnership by his father, which was three years 
earlier. This appears from a Greek papyrus at Leyden, which has a registration in the 29th year 
of Ptolemy, the son of Ptolemy, on the 2nd of Tybi, being the 29th of Peritius. These dates coin- 
cided in A. M. 489, which is, according to the Canon, the 26th of Philadelphus, but not in a. n. 492.- 

For proof of this I observe, that the dates by which Ptolemy records astronomical observations 
in the years of Nabonassar 504, 512, and 519, must have been lunar; the interval between the two 
last dates being 7 Egyptian years and 124 days, or 2679 days; which was equal to 7 Macedonian 
years, 4 months, and 21 days. It is manifest that this equation could not hold good in a solar year ; 
but if we take 21 days from the above interval, the remainder, 2658 days, is as near as possible to 
90 lunations. 

To come to accurate calculations : the first day of the first year of the Seleucidae was 436 
Egjrptian years and 291 days from the epoch of Nabonassar. Subtracting this interval from those 
between the same epoch and the 28th Thoth. a. n. 504, the 10th Thoth. a. n. 512, and the 14th 
Tybi, A, N. 519, — the three Egyptian dates given by Ptolemy, — ^we have 66 y. 101 d., 74 y. 83 d, 
and 81 y. 207 d.; or 24191, 27093 and 29772 days respectively. Now, as the Macedonians 
accounted every month to consist of thirty days, but passed over every sixty-jpifr day, we must 
add to the above numbers the integral parts of the quotients when they are divided by 63- This 
will bring them to 24574 days >= 819 months and 4 days; 27523 days = 917 months, 13 days; and 
30244 days = 1008 months and 4 days. Ptolemy equates the above dates to the 5th Apellseus, 67th 
year, the 14th Dius, 75 th year, and the 5 th Xanthicus in the 82nd year; the intervals between which 
and the 1st Hyperberetseus in the 1st year are precisely what have been found. Let us now seek, 
in the same manner, the day of the Macedonian year corresponding to the 2nd of Tybi a. n. 292, being 
the 29th of Philadelphus according to the Canon. The interval between this and the epoch of the 



Egyptian Dynasty, and of the Commencemetit of the Ticaiiy-seveitlh. 427 

Perhaps, however, it will be objected to this view of the matter, that if the 
Egyptians counted the years of Cambysea dijferently from the Babylonians, they 
should count the years of Darius differentty also. It might be sufficient to say, 
in reply to this supposed objection, that the record already cited shows that 
they did not count the 226th of Nabonassar as ayear of Darius; but I think it 
best to state the reason why they should not do so. 

It appears from the Behistun inscription of Darius that Gomata the Magiau 
seized the kingdom on the 9th of the month Garmapada, and that he was killed 
by Darius on the 10th of Bagayadish. The Babylonian date of the former 
event is preserved; and from comparing the monogram for the month with tliose 
in the Calendars, it appears that this was the eighth month of the year. The 
Babylonian date of the impostor's death has been lost; and it is uncertain whe- 
ther the seven months which Herodotus states that he reigned should be counted 
from his usurpation, or from the death of Cambyses. Nay, it may be doubted 
whether Herodotus was not mistaken in this, as in so many other of his state- 
ments. The 9th of the eighth month may, however, be confidently identified 
with the 299th day of the 226th year of Nabonassar (26th Oct., 522 B. c), and 
Cambyses did not die till some time subsequent to this. Almost the entire 
year would consequently have been reckoned to Cambyses; and Darius, who 
could not have established his authority over Egypt till the fourth or fifth 



Seleucidffi would be 547 years, 195 days, or 19905 octuol daya. Adding the quotient when thiais 
divided by 63, or 315, for exemptile days, we have 20220 days as counted by the Macedonians, or 
674 montha exactly. la this year, therefore, the 2nd Tybi would correspond with the Ut of a 
Macedonina month. But three years before this, a. h. 489, we should have 1095 actual days less; 
that is, 18810; 298 exemptile daye, and 19108in all; that is, 636 months, 28 days, which exactly 
corresponds. 

Ad interesting corollary follows from this. Brdgscb has shown from the inscriptions found 
by Maiuette in. the tomb of the Apises at Memphis, that the Erst years of eevea successive Apises 
occurred in the foHmving years of Egyptian kings, which lie equates to the years of Nabonassar 
placed after them. 1. 32ndPhiladelphu3,A.N.495. 2. 16thEvergetea, a.n.517. 3. l2lhPhilopator, 
A.N.538. 4. 20th Epipbanes, A.(j, 563. 5. 17th Phitometor, a. n. 584. 6. 28lh Evergetea II., 
A. N. 606. 7. S.lrd. Evergetes IL, a. n. 631. The intervals he makea 22, 21, 25, 21. 22, and 25 
years. These animals were not allowed to live beyond 25 years, but of course they might die 
sooner. Now, according to the above numberg, only two out of six lived to the end of ihtir term; 
but I have just shown that the 32nd of Philadelphua was a. n. 492. This would icoreafe the first 
interral to 25, and consequently give a third out of the six who lived out its appoiated period], 

VOL. XXII. 3 ; 



428 The Rev. Edwabd Hincks on the Chronology of the Twenty-sixth 

month of the following year, would have had no ground whatever for calling 
that his second year. No dates have been met with, so far as I am aware, bear- 
ing the name of Bardis as king ; but the record of any event occurring in the 
beginning of the 227th of Nabonassar would, of necessity, have been dated in 
either his first or his second year. In Babylon the case was different: the year 
that began in spring, 521 b. c, would have been called the first year of Bardis, 
and if Darius had succeeded him regularly in the course of that year, the fol- 
lowing year, beginning in 520 b. c, would have been reckoned as his first; but 
the imposture of Bardis having been detected, Darius would date his reign from 
the beginning of the year which next followed the death of Cambyses. Thus 
the year 521 b. c, or the 227th of Nabonassar, was the first of Darius in both 
Babylon and Egypt. It was the year next following that in which Cambyses 
died ; and it was the year in which Darius actually began to reign. 

The other ground on which I assumed in 1841 that Cambyses reigned six 
months in Egypt was, the inscription found near Cosseir, and published in 
Bubton's " Excerpta Hieroglyphica," PI. viii. No. 1. I understood this inscrip- 
tion as not being a collection of three dates in the 6th Cambyses, the 36th Da- 
rius, and the 12th of Xerxes ; but as a statement that a certain functionary held 
office during 6 years of Cambyses, 36 of Darius, and 12 of Xerxes; at the end 
of which period he was doubtless relieved from its duties in consequence of his 
age. Now, as this man was a Persian, and as Cambyses would not have been 
likely to appoint a superintendent in this remote district till the conquered 
country was tolerably settled, I now argue that Cambyses must have conquered 
Egypt fully six years, or rather more than six years, before the accession of 
Darius, — that is to say, he must have conquered it in the year 528 b. c, or in 
the 220th year of Nabonassar. 

Further proof of this, however, is derived from the Apis records. An Apis 
was bom in the fifth year of Cambyses, that is, in the 222nd of Nabonassar. It 
is evident that these animals were discovered when very young, and that they 
were not sought for till after the deaths of their predecessors. It is evident, 
also, that this Apis was the successor of the one that Cambyses killed. It ap- 
pears, also, that another Apis was buried in the fourth year of Cambyses, which 
was of course the predecessor of the one that was killed. Hence it follows that 
the death of that Apis, and consequently the return of Cambyses from his ex- ' 



Egyptian Dynasty, and of the Commeiicemcnt of the Twenty-seventh. 429 

pedition to Ethiopia, must have been in his fourth year, or at latest in the 
beginning of the fifth. It is certain, however, that Cambyses conquered Egypt 
a considerable time before his expedition to Ethiopia. Many things are re- 
corded of him by Herodotus which would occupy a considerable time; and 
further statements of his proceedings appear on a statue in the Vatican, the in- 
scriptions upon which have been explained by Viscount De Rouge. Cambyses 
at first designed to allow Psammitichus III. to reign aa a dependent king. It 
could not have been till after he had found that he was not to be depended 
on, and had put him to death, that he assumed the Pharaonic title which op- 
pears on this statue, and made appointments as the King of Upper and Lower 
Egypt. He then went to Sais, to be initiated in the religious rites of the 
country, as the kings his predecessors had been ; and it was not until after all 
this that he set out for Ethiopia. Allowing a reasonable time for all this, his 
conquest of Egypt could not have been later than his third year, that is, the 
220th of Nabonassar, 528 b. c- As to this point I should observe, that I do 
not differ from Lepsius as to the year of Cambyses in which he conquered 
Egypt, as deduced from the Apis records. He concludes from these, as I do, 
and as I think is unavoidable, that Cambyses conquered Egypt in his third 
year. What we differ about, and in which I think I have proved that he was 
mistaken, is — that he counts the 22l8t, in place of the 220th, of Nabonassar as 
the third year of Cambyses, according to the Egyptians. 

This 220th of Nabonassar must have been also the first and only year of 
Psammitichus III., and the year before it must have been the forty-fourth of 
Amasis, whose forty-fourth year has been found by Sir G. Wilkinson as an 
Egyptian date ; whde the independent authorities of Herodotus and Africanus 
both give him a reign of forty-four years. The results of this are, that the first 
years of the following kings correspond to the years of Nabonassar, and the 
proleptic Julian years which are placed after them: — 

Ist Aiiiasis . . . = 176th Nabonassar, beginning 13th Jan., 572 b. c. 
Ist Apries . . . = 157th „ „ 18th „ 591 „ 

1st Psammitichus II. = I5Ist „ „ 20th „ 597 „ 

IstNechaoII. . . = ISGth „ „ 23rd „ 612 „ 

I have now to speak of the period between the commencement of the Dy- 
nasty and the accession of Nechao II. The independent authorities of Hero- 

3/2 



430 The Rev. Edwabd Hincks on the Chronology of the Twenty-sixth 

dotus and Africanus concur in assigning to the first Psammitichus 54 years. 
Various dates of his up to the 45th year were published by Young, having bee^ 
communicated to him by Chamfoluon ; and M. Maribttb has recently found 
a date of his 53rd year. No reasonable doubt can then exist as to this first year 
having been the eighty-second of Nabonassar, commencing 6th February* 
666 B. c. Before this, Afiicanus and Eusebius place three reigns, of Stephi- 
nates, Nechepsus, and Nechao I., to which they assign, respectively, seven, 
six, and eight years ; precisely agreeing as to these three numbers, though they 
differ everywhere else in the Dynasty. No such names have as yet, I believe, 
been found on any Egyptian record ; and yet there are good reasons for inter- 
posing these kings between Tirhaka and Psammitichus I. 

In the first place, it appears from the second Book of Kings (xix. 9) that 
Tirhaka reigned over Egypt at the time of Sennacherib's expedition ; and the 
Assyrian inscriptions, which have been recently discovered, fix the date of this 
expedition in 700 b. c, the forty-eighth year of Nabonassar. According to 
Africanus, he reigned for 18 years ; according to Eusebius, 20. If we admit 
the existence of these three reigns, and thus make his last year to coincide 
with the 60th of Nabonassar, 688 b. c, either of the above-stated length of his 
reign is admissible ; but if we suppose his reign to have terminated in the 81st 
of Nabonassar, we must ascribe to him a much longer reign, for which we 
have no authority whatever. It appears, also, from 2 Kings (xvii. 4) that So, 
that is, Shebek, one of the two first Ethiopian kings, had possession of Egypt 
some years before the 26th of Nabonassar (b. c. 722), when Shalmanezer be- 
sieged Samaria. The date of this event is certain from the Assyrian inscrip- 
tions. This is 56 years before the accession of Psammitichus I., which is a 
longer interval than is allowed by any of the Greek authorities for the Ethio- 
pian dominion. If, however, we interpose the 21 years in question, the interval 
would be reduced to 35 years, which harmonizes with the statements of both 
Africanus and Eusebius from Manetho. I admit that there is an imcertainty as 
to these Ethiopian reigns; but I contend that all the synchronisms which we 
have concerning them require that we should insert an interval between Tir- 
haka and Psammitichus I., which cannot be very different from what is assigned 
for it by the remarkably concurrent testimony of Africanus and Eusebius. 

But what of the monuments ? The fact is, I believe, undoubted, that the 



Egyptian Dynasty, and of the Commencement of the Twenty-sevenik. 431 

name of none of the three first kings of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty has been found 
on an Egyptian monument; and it will be expected that some attempt should 
be made to reconcile this fact with their existence. There are two ways in 
which the non-appearance of their names maybe accounted for; and I believe 
that both of the causes which I am about to mention existed. In the first place. 
the authority of the kings of this Dynasty was, for a considerable time, limited 
in its extent to a small part of Egypt ; and that part one from which few monu- 
ments have been brought. In the second place, there was a rival sovereign 
during the early part of this Dynasty, and yet not in its very earliest part, whose 
partisans would probably have defaced any monuments they might find bearing 
the names of the Saite princes. I allude to Queen Amenirtas, whose daughter 
was in course of time the wife of Psammitichus I., but who was herself opposed 
to him, and for a time probably at war with him. It appears from the monu- 
ments that this queen was the daughter of a Queen Mut . schd . neferu. I am not 
aware that her father's name has been found mentioned; but I think it proba- 
ble that she was the daughter of Tirhaka, because Eusebius mentions " Ara- 
meris the Ethiopian" in connexion with the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, who could 
scarcely have been a different person. At any rate, she appears to have been 
regarded as the legitimate Queen of Egypt, while the Saite princes were re- 
garded as intruders. 

By his marriage with Shapentap, the daughter of this queen, Psammiti- 
chus I. strengthened the title to the crown which he owed in the first instance 
to conquest, effected by the aid of foreign mercenaries ; and Nechao II. imitated 
him in this policy, marrying his half-sister, Takkote, the daughter of Psammi- 
tichus I. and Shapentap. Psammitichus II. did the same: marrying Nifakrit, 
the daughter of Nechao and Takhote; and by her he had a daughter, who was 
probably married to her half-brother, Apries. Whether this, however, were 
the case or not, she married Amasis ; and had by him a son, Psammitichus III., 
who alone of the kings of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty had the blood of the ancient 
kings in his veins, — assuming, as I do, that Amenirtas inherited it. I give at 
the end of this paper a Genealogical Table of the kings and queens of this dy- 
nasty, exhibiting the two lines of hereditary descent: one, of the Saite princes 
in the male line ; the other, of the blood-royal of Egypt passing in the female 
line, through five descents, and uniting in the person of the last king, whose 



432 The Eev. Edward Hincks an Hie Chronology of the Twenty -sixth 

unfortunate fate has been made known to us by Herodotus. The sarcophagus 
of his mother, Onkh-nas-Ra-nefer-hetj is in the British Museum. 

In the Genealogical Table I have given the approximate dates of the births 
of these kings and queens ; and I must now state the groimds on which I have 
proceeded in estimating these. I depend, in great measure, on the names given 
to the different persons ; and in particular to Apries and Onkh-nas-Ra-nefer-het 
It was very much the custom among the Egyptians, as it has been and is among 
those of other countries, to call a boy by the name of his grandfather. A de- 
viation from this course had most probably a cause different from mere caprice; 
and that cause is often traceable. Nechao 11. was called after his grandfather, 
Nechao I. ; as was his son, Psammitichus II., from his grandfather, Psammiti- 
chus I. In the case of Apries a deviation from this course took place. He 
received for his name the royal praenomen of Psammitichus I.* Names com- 
pounded of royal prasnomens were very common. They consisted of a propo- 
sition, sometimes declaring the king to be great, or wise, or the like; sometimes 
of one merely declaring him to be living, or abiding ; and sometimes one of de- 
claring him to be " in the solar mountain," that is, to be " a setting Sun." This 
last name was given when the king was dying, or dead, as a parting tribute of 
respect ; the others were always given during his life. These names, being too 
long for ordinary use, were often shortened, and that in different ways. When 
the king, whose prasnomen was a part of the name, was in good repute, the con- 
cluding part of the name was dropped, and the praenomen retained*alone. If 
the king became afterwards of less repute, the Ba^ or " sun," of the praenomen 
was dropped. Thus we have the name Sotp-het^ in the reign of Amenemhe II., 
belonging to a person who was bom in the reign of Amenemhe I. whose prae- 
nomen was Ba-sotp-het. The name given to him had, no doubt, some addition, 
as nakhtj or aker^ or or^h; which was in the first instance dropped, as making 
the name too long, and afterwards the JRa was omitted also ; the memory of this 
king being apparently not cherished among the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty, 
who regarded Osortasen I. as the head of their family. On the other hand, if 
the name of the king whose prasnomen was used in the name was a decidedly 

* According to Hosellini and others, the name which he took was that of Psammitichus II. 
This mistake, which has caused much confusion in respect to this dynasty, has been rectified within 
the last few years; I am not able to say whether by Lepsius or by Bbuoscs. 



Egyptian Dynasty, arid of the Commencement of the Tioenty -seventh. 433 

obnoxious one, it was dropped, and the concluaion of the name alone retained. 
Thus, such a name as Nakht, or Aker, was not intended to designate the person 
born as one who would be " brave," or " wise ;" but was a remnant of a name 
describing a king as so, whose memory it was no longer prudent to respect. 

Having premised this as to Egyptian names, I draw the obvious conclusion 
that Apriea was born not later than about 612, the year in which Psammiti- 
chus I. died. He might have been born some years earlier, but could not be 
later. The Hfe of Psamraitichus I. was therefore not less than three genera- 
tions, each of which we may estimate at from twenty to thirty years. If, how- 
ever, we take the smallest number, the age of the king at his accession would 
be too small ; and if we take the highest, he would have lived to an age that is 
by no means probable, I accordingly take the middle number, twenty-five. I 
observe, however, that though it is well to give dates for the births of the diffe- 
rent personages mentioned, which are tolerably near to the true ones, I draw 
no inference which assumes, the correctness of these dates. I only argue from 
those of Apries and of the motherof Psammitichus HI., which last is fixed with 
the same certainty; which two dates appear to me to prove that Apries could 
not have been a son of Nitakrit, the queen of Psammitichus II. 

I observe, that Onkh-nas-Ra-nefer-het, the daughter of this king and queen, 
could not have been born till her father ascended the throne, because his royal 
pr»nomeQ forms part of her name, which signifies that this king " was living 
for her," or " was her life." This fixes her birth in 591 at latest, and in 597 
at soonest. I take the mean 594. She would thus be 18 years younger than 
Apries, whose birth I have fixed at 612, its latest possible date. In fact, the 
least possible interval between their births is 15 years; and the addition of a 
few years to this is highly probable. Now, as she was the descendant in the 
fourth degree from Ammirtas, who was born before 687, we should have about 
24 years for a descent in the female line; and this shows that neither Apries, 
nor, for a like reason, his father, nor his grandfather, could be a son of that 
princess of the blood royal whom his father married. 

This being premised, I come to speak of the probable nature of the Egyp- 
tian government in the early part of what Manetho calls the Twenty-sixth Dy- 
nasty, as well as in the time of the twenty-fifth. An Assyrian inscription con- 
taining Sennacherib's account of his expedition to Palestine, which was certainly 



434 The Rev. Edwabd Hincks on the Chronology of the Ticenty-sia'th 

in 700 B. c, gives us the interesting information that there were kings of Egypt 
opposed to him, as well as the King of Meroe, Tirhaka, who is, however, con- 
sidered by Manetho as the King of Egypt, and is so entitled on contemporary 
Egyptian monuments. The number of these Egyptian kings is not stated. More 
light would probably be thrown on the matter if the beautifully executed and 
perfectly legible cylinder belonging to the executors of Colonel Taylor were 
accessible ; but this is not now the case. Another Assyrian inscription, which 
would necessarily throw light on the matter, has been mentioned by Colonel 
Rawlinson. It contains a record of the conquest of Egypt by Esarhaddon. I 
am not aware that Colonel Rawunson has given any of the particulars of this 
conquest ; and the inscription is accessible to him only. The published in- 
scriptions of Esarhaddon describe him as the King of Egypt, and subduer of 
Milukhj or Kuts (Meroe, or Kush); names which are used as equivalent, and 
which should put an end to the fancies of recent commentators as to the Bibli- 
cal Kush being in Asia. 

Now, although Herodotus was certainly misinformed as to the circumstances 
connected with the dodecarchy, it is hard to think that his statements were 
altogether without foundation. The probability seems to be that under the 
Ethiopian rule there were twelve kings of Egypt who acknowledged the supre- 
macy of the Ethiopian monarch as lord paramount « The latter had the title of 
StUen Heb^ or " King of Upper and Lower Egypt;" and was probably, through 
the female line, regarded as the legitimate sovereign, while the dodecarchs had 
some inferior title expressive of royalty conceded to them. Stephinates, so 
called, was, I suppose, one of these dodecarchs ; and I think it likely that on 
the death of Tirhaka he assumed the titles of supreme royalty. I believe him 
to have been the king who is represented on a stele in the Louvre, with the 
prsBUomen that Thothmos III. had previously used, Ba-men-hhepery but with the 
name hammered out This stele is evidently of late age; and the name of the 
princess which accompanies that of the King, Mut-irtas, is analogous to that 
of Amm-irtaa and others which were common in the Saitic period, but not, I 
believe, used at a much earlier date. The conquests of Esarhaddon reduced 
the son of Stephinates to the rank of dodecarch; and after his death Amenirtas, 
whom we may suppose to have married one of the dodecarchs of Thebes, ac- 
quired the supreme dominion ; and to her I ascribe the defacement of the royal 
name on the stele in the Louvre. 



Egyptian Dynasty, and of the Commencement of the Twenty-seventh. 435 

The dodecarchy lasted during a considerable portion of the reign of Psammi- 
tichus I.; and it very probably terminated by the other dodecarcha combining 
against him, by his subduing him through the aid of foreign mercenaries, and 
by his marriage with the daughter of Amenirlas. 

The name Stephinates is evidently not Egyptian; but it seems to me a not 
unnatural corruption of Tufnet, " Neith is his breath ;" a name which was borne 
by a person of whom, and of whose descendants there are several naophoroua 
statues in different Museums, from which it may be inferred that he was born 
in the latter part of the reign of Psammitlchus I. His grandfather, conse- 
quently, from whom he inherited the name, might very well have been born 
before 680 b. c, when Stephinates would have died. The name which I read 
Tufnet was read by Champollion Pefpa-net; but the second element, signify- 
ing " breath," must have had the value (u, because it is not only used as a deter- 
minative to this word (Sharpe, "Egyptian Inscriptions," 77.4), but is used for its 
initial character, replacing the semicircle, on a coffin of the age of the Thirteenth 
Dynasty in the Museum at Belfast. l^oyf,peftu and (w/are equivalent forms, 
which are habitually interchanged. As to the age when this Tufnet lived, we 
have the following data. There are two naophorous statues of himself, one in 
the British Museum, executed when Apries was King, and exhibiting his royal 
shields; another in the Louvre, executed some time later, when Amasis had 
succeeded him. There are two statues of his sons: one in a private collection 
in London, representing a son named after Apries, and of course born in his 
reign; the other in the Vatican, representing his brother Ucha-Hor-Sun, the in- 
scriptions on which have been explained at great length by Viscount de Rouge. 
They represent him as having lived through the calamitous reign of Cambyses 
to that of Darius. A fifth statue of this family, in the British Museum, repre- 
sents a son of Ucha-Uor-Sun, named Ra-num-het-men, which name implies that 
he was born, and probably that the statue was made, in the reign of Amasis. It 
is most likely that this person died before his father; as the latter speaks of pro- 
viding for his brothers, taking no notice of his son. The reason why I suppose 
the statue to have been made in the reign of Amasis is, that the name 1 have 
given is called "a good name," and the prienomen Ba-num-het is included in a 
royal shield. It is not likely that this would have been the case under 
Cambyses. 

VOL. ixn. 3 1 



486 Thd Rev. Edward Hincks en the Chronology j &c. 

The inference to be drawn from what has been stated is, that Ucha-Hor-Sun 
was born within a few years before or after 586 b. c, so as to be between 60 
and 70 at the accession of Darius. This would leave 58 years during which 
he might have a son sufficiently grown up to hold office, as it appears he did. 
It is certainly within the limits of probability that the great grandfather of this 
person, bearing the same name as his feather, should have been bom before 680 
B. c. I am not aware that any other record of this family exists beyond the 
five statues I have mentioned; but it is very possible there maybe such. Nei- 
ther am I aware that any other person who bore the name of Tuf-net has been 
found mentioned; but this also is very possible. Those who have the charge 
of Museums would do well to investigate the matter. 

Stephinates (Ra-men-kheper? Tuf-Net?) 
Born c. 757, d. 680. 

Nechepsos, (Tahrak?)=: Q. Mut-sha-neferu, 

Born c 733, d. 674. I b. c. 714. 

I ' , 

Nechao I. Q. Amenirtas, 

Born c 709, d. 666. b. c 690. 

I i 

Psammitichus I. (Ra-wah-bet Psamitik) » Q. Sbapentap, 
Born c. 685, d. 612. J b. c. 666. 

Nechao I. (Ra-chem-het Neka'u) ^ Q. Takhote, 
Born c, 661, d. 597. I b. c. 642. 

Psammitichus II. (Ra-nefer-het Psamitik) = Q. Nitakrit, 
Borne. 637, d. 591. ! b. 618. 



Apries (Ra-haa-het Ra-wab-het) = Onkh-nas-Ra-nefer-het = Amasis (Ra-num-bet Ah-mos) 
Born c. 613, d. soon after 572.* b. c. 594. | Reigned 572, d. 52a 

Psammiticbus III. (Ra-Onkh-en-ka Psamitik). 

b. c. 570. 

* [In the Paper as originally sent, I bad, instead of this date of the death of Apries, written 
'* after 570 ;*' and I had added the following note, viz. : — ** Though Amasis dated the years of his 
reign from 572, it appears that Apries lived and was acknowledged as King for some years after. 
Lepsius mentions that he has found a date of his 22nd year. Diodorus gives him 22 years ; Herodo- 
tus, 25." On further considering, however, the sentence in Lepsius's Paper to which I referred, 
I am perfectly satisfied that it is the result of an error of the press, or of a lapsus mands of his own. 
The context makes it quite evident that it was Psamitik I. of whom he intended to say that he 
had found a date of the 22nd year. Though Herodotus says that Amasis did not put Apries to 
death immediately, it is by no means likely that he recognised him as king. Africanus distinctly 
states that he reigned 19 years only; and the monuments prove that what would have been his 
20th was reckoned the first of Amasis]. 



*■-" . 



.r !■» ' 



ACCOUNT 



OF THE 



UNROLLING OF A MUMMY AT FLORENCE, 



BELONGING TO 



THE GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY, 



BY PROFESSOR MIGLIARINI. 



TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN MS. OP PROFESSOR MIGLIARINI, BY 

C. H. COTTRELL, ESQ., M.A. 



COMMUNICATED TO THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES, WITH NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS, 

BY SAMUEL BIRCH, ESQ. F.S.A. 



LONDON : 

PRINTED BY J. B. NICHOLS AND SONS, 25, PARLIAMENT STREET. 

1855. 



FROM THE 

A 11 C H iE O L O G I A, 

VOL. XXXVI. 



ACCOUNT 



OF THE 



UNROLLING OF A MUMMY AT FLORENCE. 



In the month of September, 1827, the late Professor Rosellini, and the present 
highly talented director of the Belle Arti in the Uffizi at Florence, Professor Mig- 
liarini, were commanded by the Grand Duke of Tuscany to imroll a mummy which 
had been in the collection of the " Qabinetto di Fisica e Storia Naturale " since the 
year 1824. This was done in the presence of a large number of spectators, and a 
very detailed account drawn up of it and drawings made on a large scale by Prof. 
Migliarini for His Royal Highness. As no notice of this interesting operation 
has been given to the world, the following details, taken from Prof. Migliarini's 
private notes, may not be unacceptable, in order that the peculiarities here exhi- 
bited may be compared with those observed in other mummies already unwrapped, 
or which may be hereafter brought to light. 

The person embalmed was a female, and her name was Takarheb, or Karheb,* 
daughter of a royal scribe and priest named Naantev,* and of a lady Nevt'hei,' 
which occurred thus on the cofl&n, PL XV. fig. A. 



OSIRI 

Osirified 


TAI 

the 




KAKHIB 

Karhib 


MAoUTAoU SI 

justified daughtex 


eN 

of 


SOUTeN 

the royal 




SK'HAI 

scribe 


HoN 

prophet * 


NAaaNTW 

Naantev 
[very glorious] 


MAoU TAoU 

justified 


MeS 

bom 


eN 

of 


NeVHi 

the lady 


NeVrHHI 

Nevtliei 



SHIME MAoU TAoU 

lady justified 

When stripped of the wrappings in which the body was enveloped, and of the 
bust with its gilt face, the mimmiy was found to be entirely covered with a 
wrapper stretched longitudinally, fastened up behind, and uncoloured. The 
exhalations, however, &om the inside had given it a dark brownish tint, and 

12 3 4 x}^Q notes will be found at the close of the memoir. 

B 



2 Unrolling of a Mii/mmy at Florence ^ 

deepened the usual yellow colour always given to the cloth, of which the wrappers 
attached to mummies of this description are composed, and which is intended to 
imitate byssus. 

This wrapper having been removed without much difficulty, it appeared that 
the body after it was enveloped had been covered with a crust laid all over it, 
seemingly with a brush, for the sake of preserving it. This stratum we will call 
the PiRST Cement. It was probably a sort of encaustic, inasmuch as lime mixed 
with a small quantity of chloride and a little wax, when burnt, produces a paste 
of this kind, which is an excellent preservative against decomposition. This re- 
minds us of the etymology of the word Mummy, supposed to come from Mum, 
which signifies wax in Persian, and is alluded to in a passage of Cicero.* If it 
should be argued that this is not the general or universal sense, it may still be true 
as regards the class of mummies known and described in his time. This crust, which 
was of a glassy texture, and easily broken with the fingers, was stripped off bit by 
bit, and then the wrappers upon which it was laid. 

After this operation was concluded, the body underneath presented a totally 
different appearance. It looked in some places like those little figures of 
mummies, so frequently met with, composed of various materials, but generally 
of enamelled earth, with the arms crossed upon the breast, and the lower part 
down to the feet covered all over with inscriptions. 

The bandages which enveloped the body underneath the arms were inscribed 
with hieratic characters. Great care was requisite to remove these in regular 
order as much as possible, they having burst in many places, and being burnt as 
it were by contact with another cement which was laid on underneath, and had 
made its way through to the upper side. 

They were eight in number, and composed of cloth dyed to imitate the colour of 
byssus, and marked throughout on both sides, that is, on the right and left, vni\\ 
hieratic numerals (Plate XV. fig. B). On the right side, at a short distance from 
these, commenced the usual sentences copied from the great Formulary, and similar 
to those used on some of the papyri. This sort of inscribed bandages was first 
noticed on the mimimy of Count Caylus, and subsequently on that of a child of 
six years old, in the possession of Mr. John Symmons, unwrapped in London 
March 29, 1788, in the presence of many learned persons. 

In removing these and the other bandages, which had no inscriptions, there was 
found attached to the left loin a so-called Nilometer of enamelled light blue earth. 

* In Tuflc. Quest. § xlv. 



belonging to the Orand Jhthe of Tuscany. 

Although tliis emblem of stability is frequently met with, painted on the shoulders 
of mummies,* it seems more probable that it had found its way there during the 
process of wrapping from some other place where it had been laid, or that these 
little figures were thrown in promiscuously from time to time while they were 
enveloping the mummy. All the clothes which belonged to this structure having 
been carefully taken off, the mummy appeared like the figure of Osiris. 

A wrapper larger than the body, stretched over the whole of it, on which a 
fig:ure of Osiris in outline was drawn, was fitted to the body with such exactitude 
that the face of the figure corresponded to that of the deceased, and its hands, in 
which were the sceptre and whip, to the hands of the deceased, and so of all the 
rest. As the tall cap, with the two high feathers, would have reached considerably 
above the head of the mummy, it was folded over behind and hung down the back, 
where also the cloth itself was fastened. This representation of the transformation 
of the deceased into Osiris, agrees with the first title of all the funeral inscriptions 
preceding the name. Champollion read it Osiris, the Osiridian; and Prof. Migliarini 
interprets it by a phrase which expresses his notion of it, namely — the Incorpo- 
rated ioith Osiris, as being initiated into, and consecrated to, his mysteries, and 
thus, it may be said, identified with him. This view is confirmed by a passage in 
Athenagoras : — TFhen Ist-s had found the scattered limbs of Osiris, who was slain 
by Typhon, she religiously buried them, which mode of inhumation is to this day 
called Osiriac. When this wrapping was removed, others of a similar kind were 
found, but without any cement. They were fitted close to the body, and any 
slight interstices there might have been, owing to the bandages not being all of the 
same size, were filled up with compresses. This stratum presented no remarkable 
feature, except that a few strips of cloth were found, inscribed as above, upon the 
legs, but very slightly raised up. 

Another stratum of asphalt was laid over the whole body, which we will call 
the Second Cement, to remove which pincers were obliged to he used in the first 
instance ; afterwards, the cloths imdemeath were raised up. 

There was found attached to this stratum a broad piece of cloth, which covered 
once more nearly the whole body, but it was unfortunately in tatters, having been 
destroyed by the bitumen and salt in the cement. Upon it also something was 
inscribed difficult at first to understand. Wlien, however, the least mutilated frag- 
ment had been attentively examined, it turned out to be a panther's skin, with a 
stick (probably a thjTsus) and a sort of cap, such as is frequently represented, but 
with less precision, before Osiris, the judge, seated on the judgment seat. It may 
possibly allude to the admission into some order of the priesthood, one class of 



4 Unrollmg of a Mummy at Florence^ 

which wears this panther-skin. In one section of the funereal papyrus, the soul 
is found similarly clad. 

This is the first time that an imitation of the panthers sMuy with other articles 
of dress, has been discovered on a mummy, and it proves the close resemblance 
between the Dionysiao rites and Egyptian formularies. All the peculiarities 
here exhibited offer a striking commentary on a statement made by Suidas 
(*Hoa7(ricoy), whose account of the process of embalmment bears, in all its details, 
a remarkable resemblance to the one before us : " Upon the death of Heraiskus, 
after the embalmer had completed all the ceremonies prescribed by the priests, 
and the vestments of Osiris had been fitted on to the body, it suddenly became 
resplendent all over with light, through the cerements, which were diversified with 
secret characters, among which were special images, suitable to the deities — 
evident proof that the soul was already among the gods and associated with them." 

To proceed with the description of what presented itself to notice afterwards. 
The head, and more particularly the face, was covered with bandages and narrow 
strips, like so many strings interlaced, and well fastened together in regular order, 
so as to form a number of squares, one inside the other, each less than its prede- 
cessor, the centre of which was at the nose. These bandages, after passing round 
the head, descended towards the neck. It is to be remarked that, before they were 
so fastened together and interlaced, they had all the usual prayers inscribed upon 
them, as far as could be ascertained from the few portions which were examined. 
This artificial mode of enwrapping was not new. There is another mummy of a 
man in the same royal museum, with similar wrappings about the face, but vnth 
the rest of the body swathed in a different manner, as will be seen from the draw- 
ing published by Dr. Nardi.' 

Thus far the bandages were of a simple character and easy to arrange, such as 
an ordinary workman would be competent to do. But there were others formed 
into a regular chequer-work, which must have required great skill and experience 
to execute. It will be as well, perhaps, to give a description in this place of two 
instruments employed in the process, which we will call needles or pins of bronze, 
now in the same museum, and which appear, from their shape, to have been 
indispensable for making such complicated fastenings. The eye is sufficiently 
large to contain both the ordinary bandages and the double strips described 
above. Being only about as thick as the blade of a knife, they could easily pass 
through both the bandages, and their circular form peculiarly adapts them for per- 

* Notes to Lucretius, 1647, pi. iv. fig. 2. 



oelongmg to the Chand Dake of Tascant/. 5 

forming this operation. In the point of one of them there is a cavity, by means 
of which a strip may be puslicd through and passed transversely ; the head of the 
other, like the claws of a crab, is specially adapted for laying hold of and drawing 
out any string whicli might have slipped off or been stopped underneath, as well as 
for forcing it back into its proper place. 

This lattice-work, as it may be called, having been removed from the face, some 
square pieces of cloth were found under it, which covered the head in various 
parts ; as well as a fiUet, which was composed of a finer tliread of the same cloth, 
but more closely twisted, so as to have the appearance of a diadem. 

On the forehead, not far from tbo right eyebrow, were found two feathers in 
stone, like those on the head of Ammon, and other similar figmres. 

The forehead itself was covered with three squares of cloth, with three caps 
drawn upon them ; that is to say, the cap of the upper and the cap of the lower 
region, and one in the centre. 

The two eyes were covered with similar squares, having eyes drawn upon them 
with wings and legs, which may be those of the Sun, or some other deity.* 
A different kind of artificial eyes, formed of cloth steeped in resin, and fitted 
under the orbits, were first noticed in unwrapping a mummy in London, wliich 
will be mentioned hereafter. 

Above the occiput there was, in another square, larger than those above men- 
tioned, the drawing of a Ilypocepbalon, with Cynocephali ui the attitude of 
adoration, and around them a border, consisting of rams' heads, with four horns, 
like those with which the supreme god Ammon is represented ; diflerent fi-om the 
Hypocephalon in Fig. F, which was over the head, between the protecting cowl 
and the body of the mummy. It was drawn upon finer cloth, made solid by the 
double stratum.' 

There were other bandages, inscribed as above, which extended from the head 
over the different parts. 

About the top of the left ear was found an amulet, said to represent an 
Egyptian column. It is more probable, however, that it was an ornament for 
the ear, representing, in small, a lotus or papyrus flower with its stalk, like the 
sceptre which all the female deities are represented liolding in their hands. 
Being made of a material which easily stretches, it would lose its elegant sliape, 
and so becoming short and thick, might look like an Egyptian column attached 
to its capital.' 

It is needless to give a description of the other bandages wrapped round the 
different parts of the body, as they presented nothing remarkable. The last of 



6 Unrolling of a Munimy at Florence^ 

them were attached to a Third Cement, or stratum of asphalt, with an efflores- 
cence, which was mixed and laid on over the whole body with greater regularity. 

At this point, the object of our greatest anxiety, the existence of a papyrus, 
which was at first strongly doubted by the persons present, was established. Un- 
derneath the hands, which were folded over the breast, was found a papyrus rolled 
up, placed perpendicularly on the body. Measuring from the point of the chest 
downwards, the whole height of it was twelve inches, or a little more, and the 
length four braccia, sixteen inches. Unfortunately, the stratum of asphalt had 
been laid on to the papyrus very hot, so that it was fastened down all round, above 
and below, so tightly, that a portion of it was necessarily lost in the removal. 

A few double strips of cloth, inscribed with the usual hieratic characters, 
adhered to the right arm, but it was impossible to ascertain whether they were 
connected with those which went do^vn from the head. Similar strips were passed 
across the neck. 

Upon the breast, or, more properly speaking, in the cavity formed by the hands 
up to the neck, was found a gi'oup of amulets, apparently thrown in promis- 
cuously, made of different materials, as will be seen by the catalogue of them 
given below. They remind us of the beautiful mummy at Gotha, unrolled by 
Hertzog in 1715 — the most precious which has been opened in Europe up to this 
day, as regards the vast quantities of little idols, scarabsei, frogs, Nilometers, &c. 
found in it, objects at that time very rare and highly appreciated. 

There were now discovered upon the rest of the body pieces of cloth with draw- 
ings upon them, Uke those found about the head. On the right and left 
side two Osirises in two long squares. Near them, on the right, a figure of 
Thoth, with the eye in his hands. On the same strip a Nephthys, of a 
larger size than all the rest, the upper part of which only was identifiable ; and 
with it another fragment of cloth, on which was drawn the goddess Tme^ truth ; 
and a fragment of the hawk of Sokari, and the back part of the jackal, the guar- 
dian of the Western region. On both sides towards the feet were two crocodiles, 
the one on the right only being well preserved. In general the right side was 
better preserved than the left, on which all the objects originally in duplicate were 
either in bad preserv^ation or altogether destroyed. 

On the front part of the legs, and perpendicularly along the thigh bones, there 
were two short inscriptions (Fig. E), but unfortunately very much mutilated, for 
reasons already assigned, and owing to the dark colour of the border they were of 
but little value.® 

The wrists were ornamented with counterfeit bracelets, made of gummed cloth, 



belonging to the Grand Duke of Tuscany. 7 

to imitate, by the aid of colour and gilding, precious stones. There were similar 
imitations of precious bandlets * around the ankles. Under the feet were repre- 
sented false sandals, painted with the smallest possible chequers of different 
colours. 

Under the armpit was a very small stone like a seal, which would seem to have 
found its way there from some other part, as it more properly belongs to the 
stones found on the breast. 

When all these cere-cloths had been removed, the body appeared denuded, as it 
were ; as before mentioned, it was that of a female of middling size, very little of 
it being preserved. 

The skull, which was fleshless and burnt, had a hole made in it through 
the orbit of the right eye, apparently for the purpose of taking out the brain, 
and injecting the usual preparations into the head. This was generally done 
through the nostrils, but not in this instance, as they were untouched. In another 
mummy, opened in London in 1793, that of a female child about fourteen years 
of age, a similar hole was found in the roof of the mouth, which was used for intro- 
ducing the preparation of resin into the skull. It is also said not to have had 
any remains of a tongue, or the small plate of gold in the mouth, peculiarities 
which characterise the mummy before us. 

The whole anterior portion of the back broke to pieces on a very slight touch, it 
having been burnt by the asphalte, which was laid on to it in a boiling state. 
Marks of burning were likewise visible all over the body, so that on the slightest 
movement a separation took place wherever there was a joint. This prevented it 
from being aU stripped. The first bandages, which were fastened tightly to the 
skin, and pressed almost into it, were not removed. It being merely the first 
wrapping which was applied, and as it presented no peculiarity, it was left in its 
place. This, however, does not imply that no further researches were made. 
Every fragment of the bandages was examined several times over. The result was, 
that the name of the deceased was discovered written at the top of the bandages 
of both sizes, that is, once on the broader and once on the narrower bandages 
(Fig. C). A few Demotic characters were also found in a comer (Fig. D), which 
may possibly be the mark of the manufacturer of the cloth. 

From the vast quantity of wrappers used on this occasion it would seem that 

• These ornaments have always been used by women in Asia on the ankles. The prophet Isaiah (chap. iii. 
18), calls them D^P^fi. A'CH-aSBI, and in Arabic the real name is Khalkhal (see Meynoun and Leila). In 
the Coptic versions the Egyptian name is not given, the Greek word being used, but it may be CIHC, T. 

T. IHI. Memphitic ? 



8 Unrolling of a Mummy at Florence^ 

there is no exaggeration in AbdaUatifs ' statement, who calculated that the neces- 
sary amount of material required for a careful and complicated embalmment of this 
description would be some thousands of yards. 

Very diligent search was made to find, if possible, some clue for fixing, approxi- 
mately at least, the date of the mimimy. None such, however, were detected, 
except it be the representation of sandals under the soles of the feet, on the first 
outer envelope. These would indicate that the date was subsequent to the libera- 
tion of Egypt from the invasion of the Shepherds, and possibly at no great 
distance of time from that event. They were here specially characterised by their 
own peculiar costume, and with all its niceties, whereas after this time these 
details were forgotten and became obsolete, having given place to a conventional 
representation, which was naturally less exact. 

Blumenbach, with extreme sagacity, observed that, in examining bodies of 
this kind, attention should be paid to the singular form which the incisor teeth 
sometimes present. He verified this by an entire head and a jaw in his museum, 
as well as by the mummy of a child about six years old (cited above). In spite of 
its tender age the incisor teeth had a thickish crown^ hut little raised at tJie extre- 
mity of the toothy which is usually pointed. Middleton made the same observation 
in examining some mummies in the Fitzwilliam Museimi at Cambridge ; Bruck- 
man in those of the gallery at Cassel ; and Storr, who saw something like it in a 
mummy at Stuttgard. When we consider for how many ages and throughout 
how many revolutions the Egyptians retained the custom of embalming their 
bodies, it is obvious that we ought not to expect to find in them all one imi- 
form dental conformation. On this account every little peculiarity of this kind 
is deserving of especial attention, the probability being that it may assist in deter- 
miniQg the period at which the embalmment was made. In the present instance, 
however, this did not occur. The teeth offered no remarkable appearance, except- 
ing that the person in her life-time had lost two in the right upper jaw, the 
cavities being filled ap with bitumen. 

On an examination of the skull and facial angle as exhibited in profile, it was 
agreed that it belonged to the pure Egyptian race. The Egyptians have been 
rightly classified between the Caucasian and Ethiopian races. We say the person 
in question was of pure race, because she was by several degrees more nearly 
related to the Caucasian than to the other stock ; and bore a resemblance to some 
of the portraits of ancient heroes represented on bassi rilievi of the better period of 
that style of sculpture. 

^ Eelazione deir Egitto, lib. 1, c. iv. 



beUmgifvg to the Orand Duke of Tuscany. 9 



> Wood gilt. 



Catalogue of the little Amulets found on the breast. 

Little figures of Isis "1 

„ „ „ Tlioth, with the Ibis head iln paste, coloured like lapis lazuli. 

„ „ „ Phr6 J 

Image of Esculapius, Imouthy paste in imitation of rosso antico. 

Hawk, sitting 

Image of Esculapius 

The same, a fragment 

Heart-shaped Vase 

UraBus Serpent 

Lotus flower 

Nilometer 

Symbolical eye of the Sun 

Six Fragments of Objects not distinguishable 

Two images of Esculapius, in enamelled earth. 

A feather, striated, perhaps made of Ethiopian emerald. 

PiUow, to rest the head on, very small, semi-circular, of haematite. 

Other Objects J fowad elsewhere. 

Lotus, or Papyrus flower, sceptre or column, found over the left eye, wood gilt. 
Ammon feathers, in white stone, found over the eyebrow. 
Nilometer, in enamelled earth, found on the right side. 
A sort of square or seal, found about the arm-pit. 



NOTES, by S. Birch, Esq., F.S.A. 

PI. I. — 1. The lady's name appears to be Takarheb, although it is once written Karheb, the 
demonstrative feminine article Ta being omitted. On a Ptolemaic tablet, belonging to M. Pulsky, 
it is written TAKAR[heb]. The word is determined by an ibis, and the whole means the name 
of a bird, perhaps the Coptic Karapep. 

2. The name read NAa anTeW by Prof. Migliarini may possibly be AaPeH-PeH, a form of 
Apophis, or Aphobis. Conf. M. De Rong^ (Mem. sur Tombeau d'Aahmes, p. 139), and C-hev. 
Bmisen (Egypt's Place, vol. i. p. 516, No. 279). 

3. The mother's name is NeBTeNHi; cf. Champollion, Gram. p. 95, where the word wing is 
given in its full phonetic form TeNH ; or possibly NeBMEHi. 

C 



10 Unrolling of a Mummy at Florence ^ 

4. The father, it will be observed, held the double office of royal scribe and priest, shewing 
distinctly that there was no real caste difference in these two functions. 

5. The Nilometer TaT was at the same time the emblem of a region and of a god. The region 
has been snpjwsed to be This, from which the Tiiinite dynasty derived its origin (M. Lepsius, Ueber 
d. ersten ^gyptisch. Gotterkr. s. 35, note 2); or else the Meroitic island of Tadu ( Pliny, N. II. vi. 
0. xxix. 34). In the Ritual, one of the invocations commences thus, " I am Tat, engendered of 
Taty born of Tat" (Lepsius, Todt. i. 1, 4, 6). The first of the six amulets placed on the neck of the 
dead was a Tat (Lepsius, Todt. Taf. Ixxv. c. 155). In " the chapter of the golden Tat placed at 
the neck of the dead," the deceased says, " Thy back to thee, Oh mild one [Osiris], placed in thy 
place, I bring thee the water belonging to thee ; take it I bring thee a Tat ; rejoice thou at 
it Said over a golden Tat, made out of the body of a sycamore-tree, placed at the throat of the 
dead ; he enters at the door of the gates, he listens to the words ; he takes his place on the day of 
the new year with those who are under Osiris. If he knows this chapter, he becomes a wise spirit 
in Hades ; he is not turned away from the Gates of the West, he has given to him cakes and 
drink . . . , and a quantity of meat off the table of the Sun *^ (^or of Osiris Honnophris). 
According to another version, he is justified against his enemies in the Hades, ** in the place of 
the dead." 

6. The two eyes on legs are the vignettes of the 163rd chapter of the Funeral Ritual or Book of 
the Dead (Lepsius, Todt Ixxvii.). The Book of the Dead really ends with the 162nd chapter, 
the final Rubric of which concludes twy^^u, "it is finished.'* The 163rd and subsequent chapters, 
which are of very late introduction, are called, "The chapters [163-164] introduced into a second 
book added to the Book of the coming forth from the day. This [163rd chapter] is the chapter of 
how a person avoids that his body sliould be destroyed in Hades, and how to save himself from the 
devourers of souls who arc at the prison, tatliOy [?]... in the Gate ; and how a person avoids 
that his sins should be borne off the world there ; so that his body and limbs may be safe from the 
reptiles and gods which are lying wait in Hades, that he may come out and go in as he likes, and 
do everything which is in his heart and not be crossed." The vignettes of this cliapter represent the 
two symbolical eyes, called Uga, the same word as that for " health " or " sound,'* with wings and 
legs, and a snake, having a disc and horns, walking on legs. The Rubric at the end gives the fol- 
lowing account of what they represent : — " Said of a snake having legs and a horned disc. The two 
eyes have two legs and two wings ; there being in the pupil of one [eye] the figure of a man raising 
his arm, with the head of a hawk having plumes, its back like a hawk. In the pupil of the other eye 
there is a figure raising one arm and having the face of Neith, wearing plumes ; its back in the shape 
of a hawk, painted yellow in clear southern green colour, with water of the western lake of Egypt, on 
a sliji of papyrus. A i)erson wrapped on all sides with this is not turned away from any of the gates of 
the P^nipyreal Gateway ; he eats and drinks and voids, as he did on earth ; no opposers stand against 
him, the hand of the wicked is powerless (?) against him, for ever and ever. If this book is made on 
earth, he is not captured by the guides, who are rushing in tx) make destruction of the wicked of 
the entire earth ; he is not smitten, he is not annihilated by the blows of Su [Typhon] : he is not 
tiken to the prison, but he goes in to the gods of the Halls, and comes out justified, and goes forth to 
exjwl all the evil [he has ?] done on the whole earth.*' 



belonging to the Grand Duke of Tuscany. 11 

The contents of this chapter are of a most mystical nature, as the following translation will show : — 
" I am," says the deceased, " the Soul of the great body at peace in Aruhahu [Arabia ?] He [It] is 
the back [or trunk ?] of the body of Haluti, the land, the arms of which repose [?] in the bay of 
SenhaAaruJia, Oh the Soul, existing, which is tasting his heart at his rising and setting; his 
soul is at peace in his body, which is at rest in Senhakalukana. The deceased may take it from 
the spirits of the god Hes^ prevailer of hearts, the taker of hands ; fire which the souls taste 
comes out of the mouths. Oh, he who is at rest in his body, making his scorching and burning 
in the sea, raising the sea with his vajwurs, give them flame, increase the vapours beyond what 
they are- He will place his hand at the [head] time of the deceased, for ever and ever. The 
deceased receives tlie time of the heaven ; his time [head] is that of the pacers of the paths every- 
where in the heaven. Whether thou art an earthly soul or a traverser, save thou the Osiris ! 
rescue him from the demons, devourers of souls which have done evil. His soul is created in 
his body again; he is hidden in the midst of the pupil of the Eye. Sharu^haru {KM), shapu is the 
god making his existence ; he rests in the north-west of the city of T-apy of the land of Nubia. 
He has not gone to the East. Oh, Amen the bull, scarabajus, lord of Eyes, commander of its 
Pupil is thy name ! The deceased is the drop and lituus of th}"^ Eyes. Arka Sharusharur[khi] 
is the name of one Eye; Shapu, the god who made his existence, is the name of the other. 
Shaka Amen Shakanasa, at the head of Tum ; Illuminator of the World is his name. In reality 
the deceased has come from the land of the two Truths, cleared of his sin ; he is from the land 
of Disappearance. The Nostril is thy name. The wise (or victorious) spirit (the deceased) swears 
that [he] it is the soul [of] the great body in Sa [is] [of] Neith.'' 

These mystical names only occur in the latest rituals of the Persian or Ptolemaic epoch, and 
appear to have been borrowed from some other religion. Tliey liad already attracted the attention 
of Chamjx>llion, and are mentioned in his letter to Baron WilHam Humboldt, (Idelcr, Ilermapion,) in 
which he supposes many of those he cites to resemble Semitic names, and others to be Sanscrit. He 
also throws out the suggestion, that they may be the ineffable and mystical names referred to by 
lamblichus, vii. 4. But in the 164th chapter of the Ritual, 1. 6 (Lepsius, Todt. taf. Ixxviii.) one of 
tliese names is said to be as " spoken by the Nahsi or Negroes of the Phut of Kans '^ or " Kenous " 
of Nubia. This would show that these mystical names either came from the ^Ethiopian or Meroitic 
worship, which had some share in the Theban service, as appears from the presence of the Negroes 
of Phut in the great festival of the ithyphallic Amen Ra of Thebes, or else from the worship of tlie 
Libyan Oasis. It will, of course, strike every one who has perused the extraordinary names used by 
the Gnostic heretics, how much similarity these have with them, as will be at once seen by compar- 
ing the late demotic papyrus, published by Dr. Leemans (Mon. Egypt., fol. Leide, PI. 1. and foil.: 
Reuvens, Lettres, 4to. Leide, 1830, p. 12), and the Greek one. edited by Mr. Godwin. Through- 
out the Ritual, the first duty of the '• wise spirit" of the dead is to know the names of the gods, 
demons, doors, boats, regions which he meets. The images painted on the dead, after having had 
these mystical words recited over them, protected him hereafter in his passage. Taken in connec- 
tion with the gilding of the face and other appearances, tlie mummy of Takarheb was probably not 
much older than the a(;e of the Ptolemies. 

7. Three of these fiat discs, called by ChampoUion Hypocephaliy or pillows, are in the col- 



12 Unrolling of a Mummy at Florence ^ 

lections of the British Maseum. The first which I shall cite (Cat No. 8446) was made for 
Haneg-a-t-f^ a Theban priest of Ammon, and of the Saviour and Brother gods, i. e., of the Ptolemy 
Soter and Philadelphus and his wife. It has a black background, and its subject is in yellow outline, 
in two compartments: — 1. The Sun as Af, or Num, going in liis bark, with attendant deities. 
2. The four ram-headed Num, or Amen Ra, adored by the four Cynocephali. A cow or bull and 
mummied figure are in the exergue. The second. No. 8445, which has its subject in black outline 
upon a yellow ground, is made of linen, like the preceding, and has four rows of subjects : — 1. A 
god, with two human and one jackal head, wearing disc and plumes. Six rams, the emblems of 
Num, and three herons, those of the souls of the dead. A hawk {akham) mummied, in a boat. Isis 
and Nephthys adoring the chest of Osiris in a boat. Ra in a boat, with a scarabaeus, adored by a 
cynocephalus. 2. The four-headed ram seated on the ground, wearing on his head the attire of 
Ptah Socharis Osiris, or the atf, adored by two apes, or Cynocephali, wearing solar discs. At the 
sides is a mystical address to the god: — 

1. Oh creator, resident in his place. Oh great Soul, produc- 1 

2. Oh prevailer over heat, dwelling in the ing the transformation of flames, 2 

3. Empjrreal gateway, giving life, transformation of the two divine 3 

3. Thence Eyes — King. 3 

4. prevailing over the gods of the gate by his power. 4 
The scenes of the other division are taken from the diurnal or annual passage of the Sun. Two 

boats, in one the Sun as Ra ; in the other the Moon, as a Cynocephalus, adored by another ape, 
holding in its paw one of the mystic Eyes. A god oflFering an Eye to a god having a human form, 
with the body of a hawk. A cow, either one of the seven mystic cows or another of the Athor 
advancing, having before it the four demons Amset, Hapi, Tuautmutf, Kabhsenuf*, and behind a 
deity full face. Behind these are a leaf («Aati), an ape (oant), and a ram (Aa), and a gateway with 
a ram's head. Behind, the god Ra seated, and a scarabseus. Above is '^Adoration to the Sun.'' 
Thy beloved Son comes, &c. 

Round the border is the following series of declarations : — 

I am the Spirit (aakh) in my going. 

I am Amen Ra, who is in the [hidden] void. 

I am the Great One in the Gates (Empyreal r^on). 

I am he who proceeds from the Eye. 

I am he who is in its pupil \^gefg]. 

I have come firom the great place of Pennu (Heliopolis). 

I proceed eternally from the Gates (Empyreal region). 

The fragments of the third in the Museum Collection, No. 8845a, are two pieces, also in black 
outline, upon a white ground, but made of papjnrus instead of linen. The scenes have a general 
resemblance to those of No. 8445. There remains the boat of the mummied eagle or hawk {alcham\ 
with rams and apes ; the boat of the Cynocephalus of the Moon ; a female, probably the Heaven, 
falling to the earth over a scarabajus, the Cosmogonic creation of the world ; part of the scene of 
the mystic cow advancing to the pylon ; Ra and scarabaeus ; the whole perhaps intended to represent 
the genesis of the Helios or Sun. The central inscription totally differs from that of No. 8445. 



belonging to the Chrcmd Duke of Tuscany. 13 

From what can be gathered from the mutilated phrases, it appears to be of a nature referring to a 
creation by fire, and is a different text of c. 163, as given in a papyrus of Tau (Salt, 955 
Brit. Mus.): — 

nor them .... thou rejoicest Tattu . . . 

he has made things by (his) flame. Amen, hail 

he has brought to the fire of 

of the heaven the second soul, the third soul. 

The legend is equally mutilated : — 

made by thy terrors. I am 

. . Amen, being in thy hidden place .... in thy rising .... 
I am coming 

The Mormon Joseph Smith, in his Pearl of Great Price, 8vo., Liverpool, 1851, p. 24, has 
engraved another of these hypocephali, which, in the arrangement of its subjects and the figures 
represented, is like No. 8445. The inscription is so badly engraved that it is not possible to make out 
its meaning, and Smithes interpretations throw no light upon it Champollion, also, in his Panth^n 
tgyptien, PL 2 quinquies, has engraved part of another, with some very singular representations. 
Some additional light is thrown by the one of the Takarheb upon the meaning of the use of these 
hypocephali in Egyptian mysticism, and the scope of their representations. It will be at once seen 
that this hypocephalus (Fig. F.) contains three scenes. In the first is the double-headed human 
deity ; then the phoenix, called the Soul of the West, in its boat ; and a boat with the emblem 
of Thebes, and a scarabaeus. On the other hypocephali the bird resembles the hawk of 71st 
chapter of the Ritual (Lepsius, Todt. taf. xxvi. c 71), which, with the mystical cow, forms 
the picture of that chapter called " the Chapter of Departing from Light, of averting the 
destruction, of not being taken in Hades, and of preserving,*' or " bringing out the body from 
Taser,*' the place before the gates of the Sun, where the deceased entered. This chapter com- 
mences with the following inscription : — " Oh hawk, emanating from .£ther, lord Mehur, the 
great cow, make me sound, like as thou thyself hast been made sound," &c. But the bifront 
figure resembles that of the planet Osiris, or Jupiter ; the boat that of the Egyptian constellation 
Argo ; the deity one of the decans ; and the scarab one of the Egyptian constellations. In the 
other division is the cow, here called " the great cow ; " the god seated on his throne, in his raised 
hand a whip, and behind his back a hawk body, corresponding to the description of the god in the 
pupil of one of the mystical Eyes, adored by an ithyphallic hawk-headed ape, holding to him an eye 
by both hands. This cow refers to the vignette of the 162nd chapter of the Funeral Ritual (Lepsius, 
Todt Ixxvii. 163) called the Chapter of "making the Warmth [? or Hypocephalus] under the 
head of the Spirit ;'* for this very expression is found above the cow in the hypocephalus. The 
chapter is of mystical import, like that referring to the two Eyes. It commences thus, " Hail to thee. 
Oh god Paru [Baal-Peor], pursuer, rejoicing with plumes, lord of crowns, flogging with the whip. 

" Thou art the Lord, having the phallus, growing in sliining light. 

" Thou art the Lord of the numerous transformations of skins, hiding [or hidden in] them 
in the Eye at his birth. 

" Thou art the Opener of divisions among the gods [?], the wounder [?], shaker of legs [?] . 



fi 



14 Unrolling of a Mummy at Florence^ 8fc. 



99 



*' Thou art the powerful God, to whom came my plaint, and my grief, 

The cow, after making this address, is then supposed to say, ^' I am the great cow ; thy name is 
in my mouth. I will tell it — 

^^ Pen ha ka ha ka her is thy name ! 

'^ Shu ru au aa kar sa ank ru-ba-ta- is thy name ! 

** The leaf [ichneumon] serau [the sheep] is thy name I 

*^ Sharusata is thy name I 

" Sebana is thy name ! 

^^ I am the Cow ; my words are heard the day I bring thee the warmth under the head of the Sun, 
which is made in the Empyreal region, the god in Pctennu. You may produce it as if on earth ; it 
is thy soul in the region of Khemret (the land of Annihilation). The deceased has come ; place 

thou the producer of warmth \Hypocephalu8\ under his head It is the soul of the 

great body which reposes in Pennu. 

'^ The light, the scaraba^us, the Chief, is his name ! 

" [Hai kheper ur is his name 1] 

^^ Ba ru [Baal] ka ta ga ua is his name ! 

" Thou mayest come," answers the god addressed by the cow ; " and let him be as one of my 
followers, thou art he." 

The rubric gives the following explanation: — "Said [of the figure?] of a cow, made of good 
gold laid at the throat of the dead, and she is made in outline upon a roll (or book, gam) of 
linen placed under his head. There is then abundant warmth throughout his form, as when he was 
on earth. Very much . . . has made the cow to her son the Sun, when he sets ; his place is 
. . . . from all persons, from ... ... He is a god in the Hades ; he is not 

turned away from any of the gates of the gateway in the place of the dead." 

The inscription round the border of the object contains the final part of the chapter : — " Say, 
if you have placed this god at the throat of the dead — 

** Oh Amen, of the gods I 

" Oh Amen, who is above I 

" Place thy face on the body of thy son I 

** Make him well in the Hades I 

*^ The book is the greatest of secrets ;' do not let any eye see it, — that would be detestable ; know 
it, hide it, make it. The Book of the goddess who rules the secret house is its name. It is ended ! " 

I apprehend from this that the circular form of the pillow was intended to represent the pupil of 
one of the mystical Eyes so fiilly described already, and that the object itself was considered as the 
restoration of the vital warmth of the body. Like the eyes with wings and legs, it was not a purely 
Egyptian idea, but one borrowed from another mythology. 

8. The chapter of the mystic papyrus sceptre is given in Lepsius, Todt. Ixxvi. 160. 

9. Among the amulets often found on the mummies is a little pillow^ made of hsBmatite, the use of 
which is not explained in the Ritual of Turin. In one of the British Museum, however, made for 
a scribe named Nebseni, there is a chapter of the head-rest or pillow, with a vignette of this object, 
followed by another chapter called the chapter that of . • . . . the head. 

« M. Chabas proposes " secret " as the meauing of shta, which agrees with this passage. 



, V 



UPON AN 



HISTORICAL TABLET OF RAMESES II., 



OF THE 



NINETEENTH DYNASTY, 



RELATING TO THE 



GOLD MINES OF JITHIOPIA. 



COMMUNICATED TO THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES 

BY SAMUEL BIRCH, ESQ. 



LONDON: 

PRINTED BY J. B. NICHOLS AND SON, 25, PARLIAMENT STREET. 

1852. 



FROM THB 

ARCHAE0L06IA, 

VOL. XXXIV. pp. 367— 891. 



HISTOEICAL TABLET OF BAMES 



I HAVE the honour to transmit the translation of a long Egyptian hiero- 
glyphical inscription, consisting of thirty-eight lines of text, published by M. Prisse, 
but not explained by him, in his Egyptian Monuments,' which is of considerable 
importance for a due knowledge of the political history of Egypt. M. Prisse 
describes it as a tablet of Rameses II., taken from the ruin which is situate facing 
Dakke, in Nubia.'' This spot, which he states has not been as yet well examined, 
ought to be Contra Pscelcis,f or rather Tachompso, according to Ptolemy "^ The 
tablet is of granite, and of very mediocre workmanship, and its lower part had been 
broken into several pieces, one portion of which, the only remaining, he had 
presented in the midst of the plate, not knowing its right position. '* Notwith- 
standing its mutilation, this monument," says M. Prisse, " is very interesting for the 
history of Rameses II., who, as this inscription states, as soon as the third year of 
hia reign, had rendered himself illustrious by his victories. Since the drawing was 
made the tablet is supposed to have been transported to France by the Count 
St. Ferriol, and to be at present in the chateau of linage, near Grenoble." So far 
M. Prisse. I propose to take up the subject where he has left it, and to give a transla- 
tion of its contents, which pr<'sents no great difficulties except in three or four 
places, which I have marked. In the notes which accompany this Paper, I have 
indicated the new philological explanations which I have proposed, as well as such 
restorations as the text, often indifferently copied, demands. But the historical 
commentary, and such as requires more than mere verbal criticism, I have added to 
the translation. It is also much to be regretted that, while in France,' in Prussia,' 

" Monumenla Egjptiens, par E. Prisse d'Avemies. Folio. Paris, 1847, PI. iii. 

'' Ibid. p. 5. " Antoninus, Itinerariiun, p. 2 ; MetAcompso, Ptol. iv. c. 5. 

' According to Herodotus, ii, a9. Tachompso was an island, 

' An example of the invaluable aid afforded by the type in the prosecution of these studies will be found 
in M. de Rouge's Mfemoire sur TlnBcription du Tombeau d'Ahraes. Eitrait des Memoires preaent^s par 
divers Savants. 4to. Paris, 1851. 

' M. Lepsius, Einleitung. (Die Chronologie der -^gj-pter.) 4to. Berlin, 1849. The type is linear. 



2 Upon an Historical Tablet of Rameses II. 

and in Austria,* there is a national hierogljrphic type by which Egyptian studies are 
materially advanced, no such aid exists in England. Hence many points can only 
be proved by fewer examples cited than would have been the case had a type 
existed ; although^ in these instances^ those which occurred to the writer as most 
conclusive have been selected. 

The hierogljrphical scholar will bear this in mind, while the general historical 
inquirer need only be informed that the interpretations stated positively are such as 
are used or admitted by the best scholars^ while an examination of the notes will 
guide him to new, difficult, or contested points. 

The tablet f^tu or hutuj is long, terminating in a rounded top, the usual shape 
of those in use during the eighteenth dynasty. It consists, as usual, of a picture 
and a text ; the one forming a vignette to the other. The picture is divided into two 
portions. In thefirst the monarch Rameses II., wearing a helmet (^c^tt^A^ and the usual 
royal tunic, offers two vases of wine to Ammon in his ithyphallic t)rpe, the Ammon 
and Horus of the Pantheon, accompanied by the usual titles of " the good living God, 
the Sun sustainer of Truth, approved of the Sun, the Son of the Sun, Ramessu, 
beloved of Ammon; may he live!"** Behind his head is inscribed, "Health to all 
his limbs ; to be, like the Sun, immortal !'* The god stands under his usual attri- 
butes, and is entitled in the line nearest the king, '^Khem,^' who dwells in the 

* I am only aware of the existence of this type from a commimioatioQ of M. Lenormant. 

^ The expression tUT is either the participial form anch-ia^ '' living ** (Champollion, Grammaire 
Egyptienne, p. 426), or ** giver of life.*' (Dictionnaire, p. 340), or the optative ma-^-anch^ <' give to live/' t. e.y 

would that he may live ; for M is to in its paradigm, with ma in the optative, as rightly observed by 

Lepsius, Einleitmig, s. 406. The feminine form I i amcA-to (Champoll. Gr. 1. c) is not so easily explained. 

The name of this god is very puzzling. My reasons for considering it Khem have been already given 

(ArchsBological Journal, June 1850, p. 117). To these may be added its apparent equivalent at Edfoo 

(Lepsius, Einleitung, s. 134-136). jiXJU Shaf. t &. . . • in which th^ last word is perhaps J>\y 
h€tu The first word ihaft perhaps means ''create" (Dr. Hindis, Trans. Roy. Irish Academy, vol. xxi. 
pt. 2). Hence in the Ritual (M. Lepsius, Todtenbuch, xxvii. c. 73, 1. 1), entitled The Chapter of passing 
through the West on tlie day going through the court-yard (anunah), the deceased says, A ha naa 
shefiuf *'0h, Soul! greatest of created things." Consequently this title may be (month of) ''the producer 
of com.** The analogy of shtifl with sheepf as in the expression her sheft^ "sheep-headed '* (Champollion, 
Monumens, t. i. pi. xxxviii. bis), and with shape, as when Ammon says to Rameses 111. " I give thee my shape 
(sheft-^i) in thy limbs," is remarkable. This god is also called the god with two names, and he who conceals 
his name. 



relating to the Gold Mines of jEthiopia. 9 

hill;"' while the lower part of the line expresses the action of the king, '' making a^ft 
of wine to his father Khem, who dwells in the midst of the hill." Before the god 
is inscrihed, "beloved of Khem, who dwells in the hill;" and behind him, "gives 
a perfect Ufe," probably referring to the Huty 

In the other scene, the monarch offers a vase of fuming frankincense to the god 
Horua, hawk-headed, and wearing the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, or of the 
upper and lower hemisphere, the pschent, holding in his pendent left hand the 
emblem of life, and in his right the sceptre, gam ; the two expressing the idea of 
" perfect life." The legends of the king contain the same titles as in the first scene; 
and that "he gives fraiikincense to Har fHorusJ, Lord of Bak. that he may let 
him lire." In reply says " Har, Lord of Bak, I give to thee all lands under 
thy sandals; I allow thee to rule a long while; I give to thee all health, victory, 
and power ; and to be, like the Sun, immortal !" Behind the god is in the field, 
" who gives all health and tranquillity," a general phrase similar to that in the first 
scene; and which maybe in connection with the Hut, or winged globe, above. 
The two scenes are surmounted by the winged globe (dpi)," always called the region 
Hut^ the celestial Edfoo or ApolUnopolis Magna, "the morning sun." 

It is as usual entwined by two uraei, round the neck of each of which is an 
emblem of life.'' The one to the left wearing the hut or sut, the "white cap," or 
upper part of the pschent, emblem of Upper Egypt, or of the celestial hemisphere, ie 
the goddess Subn," or Sun, the eponymous goddess of Eileithyia or El Kab, the 
Boutheru limit of Egypt Proper ; the other, wearing the red cap, is Ut, the goddess 
of Northern Egypt, or the lower hemisphere ; and probably eponymous of some 
other city, if not of the Mediterranean' It is difficult to understand the reason 
of this often-repeated emblem. Clearly, from all expressions relating to the Hut, 



* M, Priase has throughout given I I instead of I I , but the correction is obvious, 
*> Compare ChampoUion, MoQumeDs. t. iii. pi. ccl. 

* Champollion, Mon. t. iii. pi. ccxxiii. 1. 1, 2, in the legends of the Sun, " He has changed himself in the 
globe of gold" (a^jieiinufi). •» Wooden Tablets, British Museum, No. 8447, and folL 

* The true pronunciation of the name of this eponymous goddess of Eileithyia is called in question b; 
M. Lepsius (Ucber den eraten GoKerkreis AbbandL d. K. Akiid. d. Wissenschaft. 4to. Berlin, 1831, 

\ TR- 1 I 

B. 42), who propoies Neben as the true name. By the same process T may be proved . t or ku , 

i. e. a T or J.— Cf. Dr. Hincks, Attempt, pp. 45, 94 ; M. De Rougt, Mtmoirt), p. 190. 

' For the name of this goddess, cf. Sir G. Wilkinson's .Manners and Customs, pi. xxiv.; for the expression 
kut or ut hur, " the great pond " or sea, Champollion, Mouumens, t. iii. pi. ccxiiv. A-ai em ta len «n . . . 
ui heli hut hur, '• Oh, come behind them in the isles in the midst of the great Be»." — Ibid. cxct. 3. 



Upon an Historical Tablet of Rameses II. 

such as " the great god who comes out of the horizon," ■ the Hut is the mornmg 
sun rising from the east, between the north and south. It is not restricted to tablets 
made at any particular time, so that it does not refer to any season, but it may allude 
to morning worship, which appears to have been the time of prayer. Hence many 
tablets commence, " A prayer to the Sun when he shines out of the eastern horizon 
of the heaven." ^ Thus, while the general scene represented the nature of the adora- 
tion, or rather sacrifice, the solar emblem recalled the universal hour of prayer. 
On the occasion of undertaking any work, the monarchs prayed and made these 
sacrifices to the gods, and offered milk, wine, water, incense, and sometimes inani- 
mate objects, such as collars, images, for their health or safety, while the gods in 
their turn were supposed to answer, or responded in an oracular manner. This 
function was generally performed by the living animal of the god, and in one 
instance the cow of the goddess Athor is preceded by a man, who is the one 
" acquainted " with the oracle" of the goddess. Besides which, it appears that in 
Egyptian mythology local deities had each spot under their protection, and it was 
necessary to conciUate their good will when interfering vrith the site. At Contra 
Pscelcis, Khem and Horus, the beginning and end of the mythic cycle, appear as 
the parhedral deities, and it is probable that the sckos was dedicated to them. To 
this I shall subsequently refer; and, having given so much of explanation, shall 
now proceed to translate the hieroglyphs which explain the object of the proscynema. 
(L. 1 .) On the fourth day of the month Tybi, in the third year of the Sun, liring 
lord of the horizon, the strong bull, beloved of Truth, the Lord of diadems, ruler 
of Kami (Egyi)t), chastiser of countries, the Golden Hawk, the sustainer of years, 
the greatest of the powerful,"" the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, the Sun 
defender of Truth approved of the Sun, the Son of the Sun Ramessu, the ever- 
hving, beloved of Amen Ra, lord of the foundations of the earth, dwelling in Thebes, 

• " He gives health," applies to the Hut. — CharapoUion, Monumens, t. iii. pi. ccl,. The Hut, great god, who 
Bound life like the Sun. lu the tomb of Sethoa I. the Hut is called lTfl/l\l A'efi salu, "Lord 

au. — ChampoUion, Mon. t. iii. 



gives 



>TI 



of Sunbeams, like the Sun !" Hence I f may be the " shining beam," $eta 

*' Sharpe, Egypt. Inscript. pi, ilvi. Cf. Diodorus Sicul. i, 70. 
' Tablets from the Collection of the Earl of Belmore. fo. London, 1843. No. 17. 

■^ Naa en nechut, " the greatest of those made strong." The ayntM of one adjective before another, or a 
participle, gives the lirat a superlative value, as when an adjective is placed after another it has an adverbial 

•*^*- 



force, thi 

Moniunens, pi. \v. ^, last line. 






very great, 



-Cf. Prisse, 




relating to the Gold Mines of ^Ethiopia. 

(I. 2.) crowned upon the throne of the lord of the living, like his father the Sun, 
daily, the good God lord of the south land of Hut.* The Horus, the feathered 
creature, the perfect hawk of gold, who has protected Kami with his wing,'' giving 
light to the saved," a rampart of victory and force, who has emanated 

(1. 3) from the body,'' terrible in bearing his glory,* who has enlarged his 
frontiers ; the colour of his limbs has been painted like those which belong to 
Mentu,' lord of the upper and lower diadem f taken out of the heaven '' the day that 
he was born, (said) the gods,' because we begat him — because, 

(I 4.) isaid) the goddesses, he has emanated from us ; I gave him " the empire of 
the Sun isaid) Amen Ra, because' I made him, I gave Truth her place upon earth, 
making the heaven tranquil" and the gods at rest at the (same) time— a strong 
bull against the vile Kish, a gryphon " 

• See note ", p. 3 supra- 

■* Chui naf Kam. t. em tenhuf, " he has prelected Egypt with his wing." Similar phrases occur. 

" Ar mat en rech, "making light to the wise apirits," or "the saved." The leg appears superfluous. See 
ChampollioD, Moa. t. iv. pi. cccxiii. Shaafer unn ai-u en 7'erhu, "he neet to open the eyes of the wise." 
Perhaps rech ia m " spirit." 

'' Either the body or belly of the egg of the Sun. A similar phrase occurs in the Theban tablet. — Prisae, 
Monumens, pi. xxr. 1. 3. 

' Literally, Mi er ti peh pehf. her s-unrh tashuf, " terrible in taking his effulgence, in order to extend his 
frontiers." ■ //^w* 

' A very diflieult phrase, to en tut er en hafemnechut en Menlv. The form jkiS »3r ". °r its 
equivalents, appears to me to have the force of o compound preposition, meaning " in the power of," as " (he 
great chiefs of the vile Ruten, led by his Majesty in his power (em nechtuf) from the land of the Khita, to 
fill the great cell of his father Ammon," &c. (ChampoUion, Mon. t. iv, pi. ccciv.), or " belonging to — subor- 
dinate to." Thus, on the Karuak Tablet (Lepsius, Auswahl, t. xii. Trans. Roy. Soc Literature, vol. ii. 
p. 328.) 1 propose correcting to " his first expedition," i.e. " the first expedition belonging to him," dbc. 

s The lower world is represented as a gryphon, emblem of Set Baal ot Nub Ungarelli. — Int. Obel. tab. ii. 

" ^— yi A'eAam means "to take," as well as "save." Tlius the king is said, neham sen, "to have taken" 
or "spared them" (ChampoUion, Mon. pi. xv. !. i.), as is evident from the content — M De Roug6, M^oirc, 
p. 15. The owl is used indifferently, as the Coptic 11 or Efi.O?s, and means "from." 

' Speeches are often introduced elliptically into the texts; sometimes preceded by ^ nn M, "from" or 

"by," i.e. "said by," or the "speech of" (Lepsius, Todtenbuch, throughout). Cf. taf. i. c. 1, 1. "Oh Bull 
of the West ! (said) by (an) Thoth. Eternal king. 1 am," &c. 

' Amf, the Coptic aceusaiive XUUOCj am len lllieV, in the following line. 

' The sense requires the full form her en (i, " because."— ChampoUion, Gr. p. 505. Cf. Lepsius, Todt. 
xxvii. c. 72, 1. 5. 

"■ j^ her, Coptice fipOV aeiiare, to quiet — De Rouge, Memoire, p. 36. 



.i:'^i.>^. 



kaha, a gryphon. The adjective or parliciple after it reads neck ut. As the symbol ^ 
used for " nails, bones," as in the Ritual (Lepsius, Todt. taf. xix. c. 42), in the mystical descriptioi 



6 Upon an Historical Tablet of Rameses II. 

(1 5.) furious against the land of the Nahsi, whose feet are about to trample on 
the Phut,' whose horn is about to butt them ;*■ his spirits prevail over Penthannefer, 
his terror reaches to the Karu, his name encircles 

{1. 6.) all lands on account of his power, and what his arms have done ; gold comes 
out of the rock at his name, like as at that of Har, Lord of Bak ; he does whatever he 
wishes in all the lands of the South, like Har in Sham and in Bulian ; the king of 
the upper and lower country, the Sun, the defender of Truth approved of the Sun, 

(I. 7.) Son of the Sun, of his body, lord of diadems, Ramesbu, beloved of 
Ammon, ever living and for a long while, like his father the Sun daily. When his 
Majesty was in Ptahka, about to return thanks " to liis fathers, the gods of Upper and 
Lower Egypt, because they should give him victory and a great time of milUons 

(1. 8.) of years, and to he the first of his kind on the day that he was made ; when 
his majesty was seated on his great throne of gold'' crowned in feathered plumes, 
in the act of registering the lemds from which gold was brought, and in promulgating 
plans for making 

(1. 9.) reservoirs' on the roads deficient of water,' then he heard it said that 

of the dead — miHtaken by Chompollion (Cailliaud, Voyage a Meroe, vol. iv. p. 35,) for the dedication of the 
parts of the body to the deities — it is said " his fingers and nails are in (the shape of) living ursBi," Hence 
the phrase is probably " a clawed dragon," or " gryphon." 

■■ Unn aka. t. her petpet. That aka. I. raeans a claw is proved by the passage in the Ritual (Lepsius, 
Tndt. taf. lixix. c. 164, 1. 1^) ^m aka. t, en mau, " by the claw of a lion." The substantive verb Aunn, 
" to be," or au, " to be," acts as an auxiliary ; when accompanied by the preposition her, it forms the paulo 
post future, " being about," Both forms occur in this sentence : hunn aka. I. u. J' htr petpet av ah f her 
kahab am sen. De Rouge, Memoire, p. 181, has recognised the gerund force of this form. 

" Kahab, a word not found in the Coptic, but evidently the action of the horn, m petpet is of the foot. 
Cf. Sharpe, Egyptian Inscriptions, pi. 118, 1. 20. 

" Or Her ar kett-lu, " about to do the behests," not " songs," as is usually translated. Under the old 
empire the form is constant. — Lepsius, Denkmaeler, iii. taf. 160. The tablet (Sharpe, Eg. Insc. pi. 17) mentions 
the Lady Matu " as his beloved wife doing his behests {ar-heii) daily," The little statue of the Prince 
Anebta (B- M. No, 78; Lepsius, Auswahl, taf. \\. 1, 1), is said to be ar-t em he>-tti. "made by the behests" 
or "orders" of Hatasu and Thothmes IIL It is antithetic to mer, "love, wish, will;" aa in Lepsius (Todl. i 
c. 1, 15,) aka.fhei-ut her fmerul, "he goes in as he wishes, he comes out as he chooses." 

'' Hut, the same as the name of the morning sun. and of the stand or table of viands placed before persons. 

Cf. Sharpe, Egypt. Inacript. pi. 100 area ■ ^i**® ; also pi. 82. 87 area. 

'' W WKKK nemi or chenem, well or tank, for the phonetic value may be either (Bunsen, Egypt's Place, p. 565. 
No. 9 ; Clarac. Musfe de Sculpture, torn. iii. pi 248. No. 367, 1. 3j in the name of Chnemis or Chnumjs, 

% j| Cf. also Rosellini, M, R. No. ilix. i. Ta »*m en Ha men Ma naa nechtu, " the tank of the sun, the 
placer of truth (Sethoa I-), the greatest of the powerful," — with the pool represented. 

' ^ J I I I which ends in . . . ti-tit the past-participial form, the Latin at, il, I-m, and the English 
ed, the Coptic ut, is deduced from the passages in which it occurs. This word ends twice with the evil bird. 



relating to the Gold Mines of /Ethiopia. 7 

there was abundaQce of gold in the land oi Akaiat, only' ita road wanted water for 
the purpose.'' 

(1. JO.) There came complaints fromc the miners-' of the gold washings of the 
place, saying that those who were about to approach' it died' of thirst on the road, 
with their asses which were before them, for that they could ^ not carry'' them 

{I. 1 1.) drink in their transit, on account of the distance.' There was'' no gold 



Bunsen, Egypt's Tlace, 544, No 81. The root is generally applied to sculpture.— Ibid. p. 549, 125. Per- 
lupB tbe Memphitic KHIT (leficieDt. Cf. Todt. Lepaitu, xxxt. 99, L ii. t. i. 

© 

• <=> eher. Genenlly affixed to the auxiliary Terb, the ^unctive conjunction, ^A. u(i jue, revera. 
— Parthey, Vocab. Copt. p. 216 ; M. De Roug^ MSmoire, p. 162. " For I was about to serve the king on 
foot ;" hunn cftor-a her shet atai anck uga meb her ret a. 

*" A/car, or kar. This word constantly occurs in the Ritual (Lepsius, Toit.patnm), either after the word 
bach, or rather cha.t, " spirit," as Lepsius, Todt. sxxi. 1. 7, " Let this chapter be knoien ; he is one of the 
wise (a/car) shades (chut) of the Hades (kamrter). With the prefixed i" (ibid. \:dx. 1, i.) " The boolt 
of making wise (i-akar), the dead to be in the midst of the sun, that he may prevail like Turn," &c, 



[jI 1 1 must be corrected t 
380 ; Diet. 432. 



mi 



leApu. rt€gne negn a 



" complaint." — Champollio 



'< ^^4^ ka-ru or kalti, a smith. Copt. g&lJt-KC?^7vE 

' Correct J\ to j\ mer, which is obvious. 



n'l the root being n 



^r^. 



y am mu. Its phonetic force ia given. — Salvolini, Analyse Grammaticale Gr. A. 
33. It appears to mean "to contrive." The value of the negative, b»n or man, will be subsequently 
mentioned. 

'■ Karl. For a proof of this word meaning to carry, cf. ChampolUon, Panth. Egypt, 6.9. i Lepsius, Todt. 
taf. Ixxviii, c. 163, 1. 13, mbric,^ her hefi kar rH, "aaidof a snake bearing (or having) legs." — Ixxix. c. 
164, 1. 42, 43. 

' The erased part ii uncertain. The only part to be relied on is hai em mau .... going from the waters 
[of the river ?] 

^ A eanfid study of the hieratic papyri, the numerous instances of which are too many to cite, has demon- 



B.X 






strated to my mind that Ji Ji or >;^ti^ is really a negati 
generally in clauses where it is repeated, like the Latin n 
occurs in colloquies. To the auxiliary verbs it is affixed, as h 
in 1. 14. in the expression "we neither see nor hear." The 
the " Akuat." 



; either bu or ben, or else menu or men UU1 
neque, or " neither' ' and " nor." It generally 
infiu.l. c. aubu, "werenot.'" It will be found 
mtext shows that it meant, no gold came from 



8 Upon an Historical Tablet of Barneses II. 

brought from that desert* land. His majesty was asked by the keeper of the seals, 
who was there in attendance.^ to let the principal chiefs open'' 

(1. \-2.) their mouths to his majesty about that land; '■ I have made them come 
here, leading them into the presence of the good God." They hfted up their arms 
in adoration to his existence," saluting his gracious countenance,' and explained 
the nature of the country, opening* their 

(1. 13.) mouth fur orders to bore*" a reservoir in its road. They then said to his 



' The word is man 
shews that it is used i) 
instaDce of its use sei 
majesty (Arsinoe). 1 

'' Badly copied ; apparently for 

pi. »v. pp. 126, 128, 129. 

1 T-kW ,„4„ ,ka, 



a or maneka. The packet, determinative of dust, dirt, mud, and the evil bird, 
d sense. Perhaps JUtOVnK deficient. It looks like an Aramaic word. Another 
occur (Clarac, pi. 242. 1. 1), " They were going to that place, bearing her 
tank of Saia, which viyifies the desert land !" 

^fl^ mer chatem, the seal-bearer. — Cf. Archaeologia, vol. XXIX. 
The following is either ^wLxw entt er maf, " who wa» in his place," or 



possibly 
counsellor of hi 
draws a bark. 



"chief counsellor," or "eunuch," if not the phrase »ebu Mkiia e 
ims to he the former. — Cf. Rosellini, M.C. cisxv., where a jnii 



merut, chief 

or " eunuch " 



IP^TT,. 



t-at, followed by a man raising one arm, often occurs in the text, as " to hail," or 
"to signify," or "salute." Coptic ACI a chorus. The following group ia the locative ma; the neit ai 
" lo hail." The nest is repeated at the end of the other line.— Cf. Todt. li. 126. 6. 

" This group occurs twice, and is probably the word neg, commonly read *en(, " saviour," a verb used in 
addressing a person, as a neg-her-len, "oh, shew your faces" (Lepaiua, Todt. taf. slvi. 1. 1 ; ilviii. c. 35), or 

else ntg, to "assent." If, however, it is correctly given, it should be I ^JB uek-ru Beih-ru. 

Neg ru occurs, Lepsiua, Todt. xxiv. c. 64, 1. 28.— Cf. Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pi. 20. 1. 23. 

Kar, meaning existence. In the Ritual the deceased says, " I make all the transformations to place 

1 all the places i wiah ; I exist by it (ka-a am") Lepaius, Todt. taf. ii. 1. 24. The phrase is often 

Also ChampoUion, Mon. Egypt, t. ii. pi. cxxsi., "on the throne of Horus dwelling in hving beings." 

' Sen ta en her f. — Cf. Prisae, Mon. Egypt, pi. xxiv. I. 8. Hi\ en guften la tm ha cher t, " having 

made his obeisance before his Majesty." — ChampolUon, Mon. Eg. pi. cccviii. 1. d, bis. Urn en (knku) en 

Jtute/musen en baufra neb, "the chiefs of the Ruten make obeisance to his (Pehar's) spirits daily," 

* This group has been already explained. The remainder should be " devised" her »-cker ^■vl '-* 
Ka means " the shape," tf2L, as JVeternefer m ka enMeatu, "the good god in the shape of Mars." — Cham- 
poUion, Mon. iii. pi, ccv. 

^ Tela, "to paas through," or "bore" See Bunsen's %ypt's Place, p. 589, No. 30. In line 19, Phthah 
is called lord of works or devices. Two other forms are seen : Prisse, Mon. xJvi, Nos. 6, 8 ; the context of 
the poamges 1. 20, 22. It Is the Coptic OYETfi,- 






my heart 
repealed. 




relating to the Gold Mines of jEthiopia. 9 

majesty :' Thou art like the sua in bringing all that you determine'' to pass ; if thou 
issuest an order for light in the night it will come to pass. We have come" 

(1. 14.) in order to explain the leading^ of thy minerals.' When thou art crowned 
as king we can neither hear nor see it— it is yet done as if they (thy quarries) were 
worked/ What has emanated from thy mouth is like the words of the Sun.R lord 
of the horizon ; the words weighed in thy hreast are 

(1. 15.) collected by Thoth" 

thou hast not seen it. No land has escaped thy tread in its 

turn, opening its 

(1. 16.) ears when thou art about to clasp' that land. Thou art the e^ of the 
glories'" of thy posterity. Thou givest thy words and plans over all lands. Thou art 



■ The word ehef-t means " before."— M. De Roug6, Mferaoire, pp. 70, 73. In that case -^v^ tu-k \i 
the detached pronoun of the second person "thou," r(0OK ItTK : other examples occur (ChampoUion 



Mon. t. i. pi. jtxiviii. 1. 4, 6). \icheft is a verb, ^ is the end of the passive participle) and the 
nominative, as usual in the syntax, is enveloped between it and the verbal root. 

" Meit-t means " wish " or " will," as ar merrt en nebf ra neb, " doing the will of hi* master daily.'' 

— Lepsius, Aiwwahl, taf. viii. A.; Archaologia, XXIX. PI. XIV. Bei, M J\ means " to transfer." 
— Burton. E«. Hier. iii. 

" The general sense is clear, ar "if," ab-ek, " thou allowest," /cA»r, " to make," tm-gerh, "the night," 
that, " light." Compare 1. SO, abi en tulen-ntt en kar ha, " allowed the kings who were before.*' 

^ Ai-tit, past participle of the verb aeti, which occurs I. 16, init. The rest of the line is copied wrong: 
probably, her sa, " behind." 

" " Thy sledges " on the Kamak Tablet (Lepsius, Auswahl, taf. xii. 1. 27) ; ha. — ChampoU. Mon. t. i. 
xixviii. 1. 22, 1. 25. 

' A difficult phrase. 

* A similar phrase occurs at Aboosimbel, where Ramesesnechhef says to the king, " All that comes out of 
thy mouth is like the words of the Sun." — Cbampollion, Mon. t. i. pi. ix. No. 2, central line. 

'' ^ I I e-cheler appears on the right wall of the Speos at Derri, as the equivalent of t-men; as, " I place 
thy name on the great Persea." — ChampoUion, Mon. t. i. pi. xliii. The following phrases are utterly uiiin- 
telli^ble to me. 



ink tau beahtu, " squeezing the 



' ' MWVk^J anJe, an action of the breast or arm 
enemies' lands," as at Beitoually. — CharapolHon, Mon. i. pi. xliii. 

^ Aau . t or aa, " glory," AA. Rosetta Stone. — Brugsch, Inscriptio Rosettana, tab. ii. No. 24, 1. 5, p. 1 3. 
ChsmpolUon, Man. t. 1., pL xUii. 3, 1. 8, "I give thee the title ... the throne while upon earth." 



10 



Upon an Historical Tablet of Rameses II. 



the youth" subduing the evil.'' No evil approaches'' — it does not'' terrify 
thee. 

(1. 17.) It cannot exist before thee.' Thou hast made thy mouth over the 
depths.' Thou art the youth performing works* which are the device of thy hand 
laying them down. Shouldst " thou say to the waters. Come out of the rock, forth 
issues the celestial 

(1. 18.) water in obedience to thy request.' Thou art the Sun in person, made i» 
truth ; thou art the living image of the Sun, the flesh of thy father Turn, lord of 



^Sef,". 



' as in the Legend of the Sun 
a lord of Edfoo, the great f 



t Edfoo (Champollion, U ii. pi. cixiii. in the liral hour 
i, lord of the heaven, in the cabin with the Sun. 



lie has 



1 the globe of gold, he is changed i' 
ii. pi. cxxiii. 2, for Horus, »«/ ai Aw 



• i<-g 



I (tef) placed in the 
I Ba, " the noble child who emsnates 



made his traoBformation 
midst of it."_Cf. Ibid, 
from the Sun 1 " 

'' The following group may be read K-ar buten, as in the tablet (Sharpe, Eg. loser, pi. xcix.), "governor of 
the north and of the south, terrifying the evil " (buten), or like the Karnok Tablet (Lepsiiis, Auawahl, (af. xii. 
1. 14) "his majesty approaches Egyjit, the envoys of the ... . (knnbut) come bearing their tributes of black 
atone . . . , " This looks, a'i it has been anggpsted, as if the inscription referred to pictures on the other 
side of the wal). Champollion, (Mon. pi. ix. I. 1, 15,) ben hunn hesht em ha A", " no enemies are before 
thee." 

' Bu aim«i. a very difficult phrase: "comes no monument?" 

■* Au ben »u heli "it is not — feared:" mutilated, and uncertain, 

' Bu eheper lepit em chet k, " it is not engendered from thy seed." Tep heru either means "guide of 
the way," or " preparer of the path." In the Ritual is mentioned the egg of Seb, laid on earth (tep er ta). 
— Lepaius, Todt taf. ixii., c. 54, 1. 2. 



' A difficult phi 

n. Seel. 21. §1 



■k ru her 



•71 pe The 

Cf. however, 



M^., 



tilated word looks like f J* . . hutb,aviel\ o 
■, mjIt teser, " fluid."-— Lecman'a Monumens, b 



* Au k em hunnu ihel kat ntbi. The apparent restoration < 
the youth of ten years old. If it could stand it should be venpa, " growth," t 



1 of 1 ri • 



years," would be ' 
" renewal." 



the substantive verb to be. English are, A.pi prefix of the imperative; 



M. 



I 



Cf. Lepsius, Todt. c. 6, taf. ii. ; and in the rubrics of the Ritual 1.^ ar-kar, ■' let only. 

' The syntax is worth remarking: her, "forth comes;" mnu, the water; a).l, "following 

ru-k, " thy mouth ;" vii. the verb, the nominative, the participle dependent foUowmg the 

preposition with tlie locative. For ae, see Leps. Todt. Ixi. c. 141. last lines; as ark " yi 



■'fehindr 
, and the 
. may go on." 



rehting to the Gold Mines oJ\'Ethiopia. 



11 



Petennu. The god Hu» (taste) is in thy mouth, Ka*" (feeling) is in thy heart, 
Isis" is in thy beard, the shrine of Truth is seated in thy breast, for ail the words 
thou makest daily, 

{1. 19.) all thy heart has been made to expand by Phtha, the deviser of works. 
Thou art for ever. AH thy plans are executed ;'' thy words are listened to, oh our 
Lord ! When the land of Akalat had spoken as aforesaid," the prince of the vile 
Kish (Ethiopia) then 

(1. -20.) spoke as . . . before his majesty, that it (the land of Akaiat) was 
labouring under a want of water during the late reign,' and that persons had died 



■ In the Legends of the Sun at Esneh, occurs an illustration of the ri'al names of these two gods, Hu ;ind Ka, 
who stand adoring the disc of the Sun, on which is a scarabjeiis and pscheal. On the other side of the boat 
are two other gods; one having on hia head an eye, personifying " Sight" ; the other with an ear, meaning 
" Hearing," From this it would appear that Hu and Ka are two other senses, Taste and Touch. The curved 
object is apparently the tongue. In the Uituol of the British Museum of Nebs«ni, loco Lepeius, Todt. laf. xxxvi. 



). 1. 2 



!9, the form o 



en n-a hu help er-ru a, " givi 
e of the god Ifa P ^ "> 



ye to me to taste (Au) 



o he Taste. 



IS::^ 



V"5 



'> The preceding note shows why the god represented hy the woof and eagle J^V not cut as the text 
of M. Prisse representB, should signify " touch,'" or " smell," as another of the senses. Variations in the 
mode of writing the name of this god occur (Lepsius, Ueber den Gotterkreit. b. :i9). In the Mystical Hall 
the following phrase occurs : " Thou dost not proceed," says the porter, " unless thou lellest my name." — 
" Feeler of hearts {ka-halu'), requirer of hellies (j{ar chatu), is thy name," replies the deceased. Cf. Brugsch, 
Inscr. Ros. tab. vii. 1. 1.3, No. 65 ; rta ha vt, " that it may be fell" or " perceived," and tab. i. 1. 3, No. 27. 

■" Possibly for " truth," ma. It is also nut impossible that the apparent word tnert or mtrx, the beard, may 
be sept, " the lips ;" and mean, " Truth is on thy lips." 

n® 

'■ This phrase throws some light upon the very difficult word ITtT ^-cAbtu, reading artif em tecker 
n«b, "done are all plans;" talem ut gu neb ek, "listened to (are) all thy words;" one of the meanings of 
tether is " sections," as •' the gods in this section (-acherpen) ." Champollion, Ur. p. 47 1 ; Diet. 321, 382. 
Hence, the word " plan " answers well the sense. Gf. 1. 8. A 
See Prisse, Mon. pi. ixiv. '■ Contriver?" similar to the phrase 

' As it stands in the text nenu er t, this word ■f'T-AMiW 
oflen'repeated phrase in inscriptions, rha nen, means " of the sa 
the so-called tatanen in the Ritual mean rank, order, kind. 



r-chet. 



title of the god Chons is Ar-ichar. 



nen, means, " order, kind, rank." Thus an 
ne rank" in the titles of functionaries. Hence 
Lepsius, Ueber den Gotterkreis, s. 42, note 



Cf. also 1. 1 
' The us 



In the treaty with the Khita and Raneses II., em nenn 
of the auxiliary ««, as prefix of the perfect, is self-evidcr 



appears to signify 
The 



had' 



" about to apeak." What the group - 



IS aforesmd." 
spoken, and was 



" doing it." 



J2 Upon an Historical Tablet of Rameses II., 

in it through want of water ; that the kings who were before had wished ' to dig a 
tank in it, but were not able to dig it ; 

(1. 21.) that the king, the Saw, the placer of Truth (Sethos I.), had likewise 
attempted to cauge a tank to be made for 120 cubits in front to bring it to the road, 
hut that the water would not come out of it. If thou thyself sayest to thj' father 
Hapi (the Nile), 

(I 22.) the father of the gods, " Let water come out of the rock," all will be done 
as thou commandest and orderest, being about to be done before us. Have not thy 
requests been heard ? For thou art beloved of thy fathers the gods above all kings, 

{1. 23.) formed hke the Sun ! His majesty replied to the chiefs : " All your words 
are true, stating'' that there has been no boring for water during the past reign, as 
ye say. I will make a reservoir in it for drinking daily, like 

(1- 24.) a reservoir according to the commands of his father Amen 

Ra, lord of the foundations of the earth, and of the threefold Horus, lords of Phut," 
that they should gratify his wishes. I have caused it to be said in [that] land . . . 

{I- 25.) Id saluting their lord, in reverencing, in making it on their belly 

before, in prostrating,* and in 

(1. 26.) proclaiming to the heaven. Said his majesty to the royal scribe the 
governor 



The next phrase .^/ | ter rek neter, " while ruled the god," means, " the past," or " late r«gn." 
An expression eiactly Biniilar occurs in the restoration of the palace of Luxor, by Alexander 111. of Macedon, 
in which he saya he has made the restoration of the place in wliite atone, well carved, oa it was in the 

reign (mtuhl ter-rek en char tulen O'^^^ ©^ Iawwt'3* ) ff Amenophis IH.— Champollion, 

Mon. t. iv. pi, cccxxxTiii. 3. AVA\ ,85=^ :^^ir]J —Champ. Man. t. iv. pi. ccexcr. 4. L 6, 
Men hikar en rek-a, " 1 have not fasted in my time," says an officer at Benibassan. The Mine expression 
occurs on the tablet at Leyden. M. de Rouge (R^vue Archeologique, torn. vi. p. 566) has also given 
another instance, ter rek Bar uah anch, •' while ruled the Horus, the nugmenter of life 1 " In an iuacription, 
(Sharpe, pL 83. 1. 4,) Mesa em rek cher sut cheh Ra mtp hat ma tu ; " 1 was bom in the reign of the 
king, the peaceful Sun (Anienemha 1.), deceased," is said by Mentusa, a scribe. 

» For the value of ni or chah. aee Brugsch, Inscr. Rosett. pi. 1. 

" /"eAuhere is eiidently a mistake or error of the transcriber for (eftAii, "to beseech, to state" (Ch. Gr. 378). 

' The triple Horus ia Horus lord of Sham (itfiwAotiO of Bchni (the VVady Hiilfa) and of Bak . .. A fourth 
form also occurs at lord of Maha. They are often worshipped in Nubia, especially at Gebel Addeb and 
Aboosimbel — Champollion, Mon. t. i. pi. ii. 3 ; vi. 3. 
_* S-kab, ffOO&G, to humiliate or prostrate. 




relating to the Gold Mines of Ethiopia. 1 3 

(1. 2'.) .... of the road to the Akaita. Thou givest the month' and day. 
Has 

(1. 28.) as it was done before, when he was conducting'' men (Egyp- 
tians) to 

(1. 29.) shewing it the (things) done by the Prince of Kish. The 

water was 

(1. 30.) the road to the land of Akaiat. Never' was there one made 

like it while there were kings in Kami (Egypt) 

(1, 31.) causing fishes in the pools,'' the oxyrhynchi touched the reeds 

in pleasing him are made 

(1. 32.) as if rowed by Truth, sailed bearing a letter'^ from the Prince 

of the vile Kish (Ethiopia). 

(1. 33.) thy majesty said by thy own mouth, that there should be water 

in it to the depth of ten cubits; it is already four cubits deep ^ there. 

(1. 34.) .... it (or them) to come like the plan, made by the god to gratify thy 
wishes. Never (was any thing) done Uke it 

(1. 35.) Akaiat, in order to take them from the great . . . b being 

at a distance 

(1. 36.) the ruler of the water which is in the firmament (place of 

gates,) because he has listened to his boring for water in the 

• This phrase only derives interest from the ides T^OI that thb group ia the word nnat, one of the 
dficana, and that it marks a month of the panegj-rical cycle of the great year. — R. Stewart Poole, Hor», 
pi. iii. 1 — 1 1, p. 55, and foil. An instance of its meaning " month" will be found on the base of the Karnak 
obelisk. Priese, Monuments, pi. iviii. aect. 3, last line. " His majesty commenced (^thaa) to make it (the 
obelisk) on the first day of the month Mechir (sjiiitl), and lerminated (ne/eri) on the thirtieth of Mesori of the 
I6th year, making geren months from when it was in the quarry." It is here necessary to correct IGth, as it 
stands in the text, to the I5th, for the eonl^xt rccjuirea it. Cf- also Lcpaiua, Todtenbuch, taf. Iv. c. 13-1, 
rubric, " adorations of the sun on the day of the month of the sailing of the boat," c. 135. " Another chapter 
to be said on the new moon" (en reupa en Abot). 

>• The full form of this word is heben, t-heben.~Cf. Sbarpe, Eg. Inacr. pi. 29, 28, 1. hor. line, " The 
return of that great god to the fields of the goda ;" sometimea to " combine." 

= The second pair of arms ought to be a bolt. The phrase is at a«p, " no time." 

" Rami, "in the pools," /cah en ahaat an tehu, "touching the onyrinchi in tho reeda." — Cf. Cham- 
polhon, Diet. p. 453, Kah 3CUJg ; and Peyron, Lex. Ling. Copt. p. 253, AffTOg or " the rushes ;" Lep- 
sius, Todt. Uxiii. c. 149, n. 56, meh atur tahu, " the river is full of rushes." What this refers to I do not 
know. Perhaps it is a poetic expression, denoting that the rami and oxyrinchi entered the pool. 

' Sett, perhaps for CA,C(. The common word for a letter is ska . t. 

' Set, the same word as before, or elae get, 2CICE, 

s Rennu, determined by a block, perhaps " under the great names of Horus ;" but what it means here is 
difficult to say, the few remaining parts of these lines are so mutilated. 



14 



Upon an Historical Tablet of Rameses II. 



the prince sending. They were excellent 



(1. 37.) he has . . 

about 

(I. 3S.) . . . Amen Ra, the good deeds compelled and declared 

(1. 39.) denominated the pool to be that of the tank [or we!]] of Rameses, 

beloved of Amen, victorious in 

The I'illage of Kouban or Kobban, which is situate upon the eastern bank of the 
Nile, is apparently the Contra Pscelcis of the Itinerary of Antoninus, as it lies imme- 
diately opposite Dakke, and in about the 23° 10' north latitude, between the first and 
second cataract. Not much is known of this locality, the attention of travellers 
having been principally directed to the more promising ruins of Dakke. The town 
has, however, been visited and described by Belzoni, Burckhardt, Dr. Richardson, 
and others. The site is described as like that of El Hegs, or Eileithyia; and tlie 
ppribolos, or trace of an oblong space of about 150 paces by 100, with a wall of sun- 
burnt brick, 20 feet deep and 30 feet high, within which are the ruins of private dwel- 
lings, shews that it was one of the strong places in Nubia of the eighteenth dynasty. 
At the south-east corner of the wall beyond the peribolos are the remains of a 
small temple of rude construction, in the sanctuary of which the present tablet 
was probably found. It is a remarkable fact that the Bedouins have always retained 
a tradition, which is also found in all the Arabian geographers, that the Djebel 
Oellaky or Allaghi, which gives its name to a chain of mountains beginning to the 
east, at the distance of an hour's ride from Kobban, and continuing to the Red Sea, 
contained gold mines ; and this statement, endeavoured to be explained away by 
Burckhardt," receives a remarkable confirmation from the present tablet. Nor is 
the name Oellaky totally unknown to the hieroglyphical inscriptions, as it is the 
exact transcription of Ualuka, the name of one of the tribes conquered by Ameu- 
ophis III. Still more recently this locality was visited by Mr. Bonomi and Mr. 
Linant, and the results of their journey and a description of the mine at Eshuranib 
or Eshuanib, about three days' journey beyond Wadee Allaghi, is given by Sir Gardner 
Wilkinson" in his Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians. It is remarkable 
that this spot, which Ues in the Bisharee desert or at Edreese, is called by Abulfedah 
the land of Bigga or Boja, a name found in the Ethnic tablets. 

The condition of the tablet upon the whole is not so defective as might appear at 
first sight. In fact, the 26th line joins on and completes the 25th, as will be seen 



* A precis of the account of these travellers will be found i 
vol. ii. pp 293, 294. 

■■ Manners and Cuatoms, vol. iii. p. 229, and fallowing. 



) Modern Traveller, Egypt and Nubia, 



relating to the Gold Mines of Ethiopia. 1 5 

by inspecting it; the fixed point being the figure of a man with the arms 
raised, the upper part of whose body is in the SStb and the lower part in 
the aeth line. This lower fragment should consequently be moved to the \±j 
right, so as to almost bring the end of the longest line to the edge of the J 
tablet, and only a small portion of this side is wanting. Of the left-hand side, about 
one half of the commencement of each line is wanting ; and, with our present know- 
ledge of texts, it is not possible to propose more than a general restoration of the 
sense. Enough, however, remains to show the general import of this part of the 
tablet, and the general historical information conveyed. As in the case of the 
temple of Khons, the inscription must have had a hieratic import, in connection 
with the temple; these sacred edifices being in all cases the depositaries of the 
official decrees. In Egyptian history, these documents assume a dramatic form, 
and are a striking picture of the customs and laws of the empire. The present is a 
process verbal, from which the following may be gathered. On the fourth of Tybi. 
in the third year of his reign, Rameses II , then in his youth, was registering the 
annual tribute in the land of Phthaka The king mas returning thanks to the gods, 
and was probably celebrating the f^te or festival of Amen Ra, in his ithyphallic 
type of the god CAem, who was the eponymous deity of the Egyptian month Tybi ; 
and it is probable from the subsequent expressions in 1. 8, " when his majesty was 
seated on his great throne of gold crowned in feathered plumes," that it was the 
anniversary of the royal coronation, which was purposely, during the nineteenth 
dynasty, made to correspond with that of the autumnal equinox. The coronation 
of Rameses III, or Miamoun, at Medinat Haboo, was celebrated on the 1st of 
the month Pashons. There are many reasons for connecting the festival of the 
"bringing-forth" or "exposition" of Khem, with that of the coronation. The 
peculiar glory and distinction of this god were his mystical plumes,* and his alhance 
with Horns, upon whose throne the king was supposed to sit, or upon that of the 
god Tj^frt, "the setting" sun, and of Ra, the midday luminary.'' Thus, on the 
occasion of the coronation, the four genii, — Amset, Hapi, Tuaut-mutf, and Kabh- 



' They are fotistantly alluded to. At Luxor Amenophis HI. (Champoilion, Mon. t. iv. pi. ccculviii.) placed 
th(>m on his head. In the Gnt part of the Ritual, in which the deceased his to explain severnl mystical 
notions, the god says, "lam Khem, in his ' coming forth,' or 'showing;' piumes huve been placed on his 
head. Rubric. Let him explain it. Khem is Horus, the su^toiner of his fAtber; his sppearaocc is his birth : 
the plumes on his head are Isis and Ncphibys walking ;" or his eyes, and certain serpents of his father, the ^od 
Turn, were also explained as symbolized by these plumes. — Lepsius, Todt. c. 17, 1. I2-i5- 

■■ Champoilion, Mon. t iv. pi cccxliii. Also of Seb. " He (Amenophis HI,) has placed to him the 
throne of Seb, the title of Turn," on the 1st of the month Pashons. — Chomp. M. cccxxx. 



1 6 Upon an Historical Tablet of Rameses II. 

senuf, — under the form of birds, are sent to announce to the gods of the north, 
south, east, and west that the king has taken the crowTis of the upper and lower 
country;" and Thoth is represented at Karnak standing hefore Euergetes I. and 
Berenice II. with the inscription, " Says the being of the two gods Euergetse, for an 
eternity of cycles, and infinity of festivals, billions of years, millions of months, hun- 
dreds of thousands of days, tens of thousands of [nights], thousands of hours, hun- 
dreds of minutes fba.tj, tens of seconds ConJ, ' Ye are the two gods, crowned on 
the throne of [Horus] , indwelling in living creatures for ever !' "'' 

The god Khem was particularly the god of the quarries, an officer who was 
appointed on the 15th day of the month Athyr, in the second year of the reign of 
Mentuhetp, or Mandouphis, to be nomarch and governor of the desert ; to bring 
the good precious stones from the quarry, or mine, "making," it continues, "his 
work to the living lord inscribed for the edifices in the temples of the south ;" also 

" from the lands of his father Khera he has made." Allusions to the 

crowning of the monarch Rameses II. like Khem occur at Beitoually, "Bearing kis 
bow in his chariot," say the hieroglyphs ; " he is like Mentu (Mars) ; crowned upon 
horseback, he is like Khem." ' 

At the time of the celebration of the festival of his coronation the monarch was in 
the land or city of Phtha-ka,^ by which is perhaps meant the land of the Pataikos, 
or Memphis, in which the god was worshipped under his Pigmaic form, the word 
Pataik-os being probably the Egyptian and not the Phenician name of the god/ 

There is a subject copied from the tomb of Rameses III. in the Biban El Molook, 
of the personification of several regions advancing with offerings of their products to 
the king. The order there is Hapi, the Nile ; the Northern Peten, or Poni ; Ta-meh, 
the north or irrigated country, a river, or Nile, surmounted by three fishes ; then the 
Nile surmounted by three other fishes ; then the region of Phtha-Ka; another Nile 
surmounted by one fish, and the Southern Peten/ Now the gods at Hermontbis 
are called lords of the Southern Peten, of which this city was probably the extreme 



I 



• Sir G. Wilkinson, Man. and Cust. pi. Ixxvi. 

'■ Lcpaius, Einleitmig, a. 127. For ka, " e»i8teni», feeling," vide infra. This is omitted in parallel passages. 
— ChampolUon, Mon. t, iv. pi. cccxiiii. It is evident that the cjphers precede, and do not follow, tho periods ; 
hence ha .t, or a t, is " a. minute," and an, " a second." In a papyrus, Brit. Mus. the head of a hippopotamus 
replaces the group Aunnu, or unnu, "an hour," which may be compared with Horapollo, lib. ii. c. 20, 
fTTToi Ttordfiiat ypaifioiteyos &pav htiXoi. 

" Champollion, Mon. ^ Burton, Exc, Hier., pi. t. 

• Herodot. iii. s. 87. 

f Champollion, Mon. cclii. 



relating to the Gold Mines of ^Ethiopia. 



\7 



limit.* The northern limit of this region was San, or Heliopolis. The country of 
Peten is consequently to he looked for between these limits, and it is not a little 
remarkable that Rameses III., or Miamoun, calls himself " ruler (heka) of Peten," 
and that Amenanchut calls himself ruler of the *' Southern Peten." 

Numerous remains in the vicinity of the old Memphis show that Rameses II. much 
enlarged and beautified the temple of Phtha,'' and it is exceedingly probable that the 
king was then at Memphis ; the more so, as it seems to have remained, till the age 
of the Ptolemies, the old hieratic capital ; and the monarch was engaged in worship 
of the gods of the upper and lower countries, or of the empire in general, and not 
in a special act of homage to any local deity. It would appear that these solemn 
occasions were particularly used for the transaction of public business. It was, for 
example, when one of the later Ramessids was celebrating the festival of Ammon in 
Thebes, that the ambassador of the Bakutana was introduced to him.' On these 
occasions the great officers of state were present, and ordonnances were issued by 
the king to them. The monarch, on the celebration of this festival, had under con- 
sideration the enregistering of the amount of gold brought from the South. One 
of these coronation scenes is represented at Thebes. Rameses II. enters, kneehng at 
the rich shrine, in which is seated Amen Ra, and behind him his wife Mut. Thoth, 
Ra, and Horus all follow, holding notched palm-branches, from which hang emblems 
of the festivals. A colloquy ensues between the gods, and the hieroglyphs explain 
the scene thus : " The king Rameses is being crowned upon the throne of Ra, the 
Sun." The gods.speak as follows: — 

Amen. — [Speech omitted.] 

Mut.— [Speech omitted.j 

Thoth, — My beloved son Rameses, beloved of Ammon, I have come to you 
bringing the festivals. 

Mentu. — I am thy father Mentu. I give thee power over all lands. 

Har-siesis. — Take the royal title, my beloved son, of the Lord of Thebes. I 
give thee the title, and to mount on the throne as when thou wert upon earth for 
ever. Thou art crowned as king for ever under the title {aa) of the Sun, the 
sustainer of truth — the approved of the Sun, the living I*" 

From the Karnak Tablet it appears that accurate registers of the tribute paid to 



' Or Poone. ChampoUiDii, Mod. t. ii. pi. clxvi. 2 ; cxlviii. I. 

' Cf. for example, the Colossus at Metnhenny. Mr. Bonomi, Trans. Ii. Soc. Lit., 

'■ Prisse, MoDumens, pi. «iv. 

' ChampoUion, Mon, t. iv, pi. cccxlviii. hi*. 



ii 297. 



18 Vpoti an Historical Tablet of Rameses II. 

Egypt were kept in the rolls of the king's palace, under the direction of a royal 
scribe." And these again were delivered to the scribes of the silTer-house, or treasury, 
of whom there were nine, who recorded the materials and substances paid."" In 
addition to which, the quantities deposited were represented on the wall as in 
the treasury chamber of Rameses III.," or Miamoun, at Medinat Haboo, and also 
in a chamber of the temple at Philse.^ 

A record of the quantity raised at the mines was diligently kept ; hence, at the 
old mine of the King Sene/ru at the Wady Magara, an officer records in the third 
year of Amenemes III. the copper and 724 troops.* It does not indeed appear 
whether this was raised daily or monthly ; but the tablets in the vicinity of 
the excavations always alluded to the locality, and the works carried on there 
from time to time ; " this memorial to bis father Khem-Khabt-Har (Coptos), lord of 
the quarries over the Phut, that he may accord him very many festivals, and to live 
like the Sun !" ^ It is, perhaps, more probable that the proscynema is addressed to 
Khem. as lord of the Hill or Speos ; for the same expression is used both in the 
Cosseyr road in speaking of the emerald mines, and also of the Speos Artemidos, of 
which Pasht was " the mistress." 

The principal inducements which led the Pharaohs to the south were the valuable 
products, especially the minerals, with which that region abounded. At the early 
period of the fourth and sixth Eg}'ptian dynasties, no traces occur of Ethiopian 
relations, and the frontier was probably at that time Eileithyia (El Hegs). So far 
indeed from the Egyptian civilisation having descended the cataracts of the Nile, 
there are no monuments to show that the Egyptians were then even acquainted with 
the black races, the Nahsi as they were called. Some information is found at the 
time of the eleventh dynasty. The base of a small statue inscribed with the name of 
the king Ra nub Cheper, apparently one of the monarchs of the eleventh dynasty, 
whose prenomen was discovered by Mr. Harris on a stone built into the bridge 
at Coptos, iatermingled with the Enuentefs, has at the sides of the throne on 
which it is seated Asiatic and Negro prisoners. Under the monarchs of the 

' Lepsius, Auswahl, taf. 1 13 ; M. Dc Roi:g«, ;\Iemoire, p. 103. In a paper read before the Roy. Soc. 
of Literature, 14th November, 1850, 1 had made the same correction. 

" Cf. Dr. HiDcks, Wiuchester Meeting, TraDs. Brit. Arcbieol. Assoc, p. 257. 

° ChampollioQ, MonumeoB Egyptiens, Notice Descriptive, p. 364. 

" MS. of Mr. Harris. 

• Burton, Eic. Hier. pi. »ii. Lepsius, Denk. ii. t. 149, f. 

' Burton, Exc. Hier. pi. v. 



relating to the Gold Mines of Mtkiopia. 



19 



twelfth dynasty, the vast fortifications of Samneh* show the growing import- 
ance of jEthiopia, while the conquest of the principal tribes is recorded by 
Sesertesen I. at the advanced point of the Wady Haifa." The most remarkable 
feature of this period are the hydraulic observations carefully recorded under the 
last monarcbs of the line, and their successors the Sebakbetps ' of the thirteenth 
dynasty. A tablet in the British Museum, dated in the reign of Amenemha I. has 
an account of the mining services of an officer in ^Ethiopia at that period. "I 
worked," be says, " the mines in my youth ; I have regulated all the chiefs of the 
gold washings ; I brought the metal penetrating to the land of Phut to the Nahsi." '' 
[t is probably for these gold mines that we find in the second year of Amenemha IV. 
an officer bearing the same name as the king, stating that he " was invincible in 
his majesty's heart in smiting the Nabsi." " In the nineteenth year of the same 
reign were victories over the Nahsi.' At the earliest age Jithiopia was densely 
colonized, and the gold of the region descended the Nile in the way of commerce ; 
but there are no slight difficulties in knowing the exact relations of the two 
countries. 

The age of the eighteenth dynasty is separated from the twelfth by an interval 
during which the remains of certain monarcbs named Sebakhetp, found in 
the ruins of Nubia, show that they were at least yEthiopian rulers. The most 
important of the monuments of this age is the propylon of Mount Barkal, the 
ancient Napata, built by the so-called S-raen-ken, who is represented in an 
allegorical picture vanquishing the jEthiopians and Asiatics.* The eighteenth 
dynasty opened with foreign wars. The tablet of Aahmes-Pensuben in the Lou\Te 
records that he had taken " two hands," that is, had killed two negroes personally 
in Kish or ^Ethiopia.'' More information, and particularly bearing upon the 
Tablet of Rameses, is afforded by the inscription of Eilethyia, now publishing in 
an excellent memoir by M. de Roug^, in the bne, " Moreover," says the officer, 
"when his majesty attacked the Mena-en-shaa," or Nomads, "and when he stopped 
at Penti-han-nefer to cut up the Phut, and when he made a great rout of them, I led 
captives from thence two Uving men and one dead (band). I was rewarded with 

■ Rapport de M. le Revd. P. Abeken. Bullelin d. 1. Soc. Geogr. 8vo, Paris, IR45, 3™' serie, torn. iv. p. 
168 and foil, p 170-77. Proo. Acad. Sciencei, Philadelphia, 1845, p. 1-8. 
* Roaellini, M. R. «v, 4. 

' M. De Roug6, Rev. Arch. vol. v. 311. '' B. M- MS. 

' Communicated by Sir G. Wilkinson. — Lepaius, - >| L| 1 S I ■ I -H-Ll X 1) fl 1. 

D.»k. ii. 138. '4^ 3 lij!J,i\^® a MW 

' Lepsius, Denk. lii. 140. e Cailliaud, Voyage ii Meroe, pi- bi. 

'' Lepsius, Ausvahl, fo., Berlin, 1844, taf. siv. A : Priaae, Mon, Eg. pi. iy. 



20 



Upon an Historical Tablet of Rameses II. 



gold for victory iigain ; 1 received the captives for slaves." During the reign of 
Amenophis I., the successor of Amosis, the Louvre tablet informs that he had takeo 
one prisoner in Kash or Ethiopia. At EI Hegs, the functionary states, " I was in 
the fleet of the king — the sun, disposer of existence {Amenophis I.), justified ; he 
anchored at Kush in order to enlarge the frontiers of Kami, he was smiting the Phut 
with his troops." Mention is subsequently made of a victory, and the capture of pri- 
soners. It is interesting to find here the same place, Penti-han-nefer, which occurs in 
a Ptolemaic inscription on the west wall of the pronaos of the Temple of Philse, where 
Isis is represented as " the mistress of Senem and the regent of Pent-han-nefer "' 
From this it is evident that these two places were close to each other, and that this 
locality was near the site more recently called Ailak or Philse. The speos of this 
monarch at Ibrim, the chapels at Tennu, or the Gebel Selseleh, show that the 
permanent occupation of Nubia at the age of the eighteenth dynasty extended 
beyond Philte. Several small tesserae of this reign represent the monarch actually 
vanquishing the ^Ethiopians.'' 

The immediate successors of Amenophis occupied themselves with the conquest 
of jEthiopia. There is a statue of Thothmes I. in the island of Argo," and a 
tablet dated on the 15 Tybi of his second year at Tombos.^ The old temple 
at Samneh was repaired and dedicated to Sesertesen III., supposed by some to be 
the Sesostris who is worshipped by Thothmes III. as the god Tat-un, or " Young 
Tat."' It is at the t€raple of Samneh that the first indication occurs of that Une of 
princes who ruled over jEthiopia, by an officer who had served under Amosis and 
Thothmes I., in which last reign he had been appointed Prince of ^Ethiopia/ The 
reign of Thothmes III. shews that Kusk figured on the regular rent-roll of Egypt. 
The remains of the mutilated account of the fortieth regnal year of the king is men- 
tioned as "240 ounces" or "measures of cut precious stones and 1 00 ingots of gold." 
Subsequently " two canes" of some valuable kind of wood, and at least " 300 ingots 
of gold," are mentioned as coming from the same people.* It appears from the tomb 
of Rech-sha-ra, who was usher of the Egyptian court at the time, and who had duly 



* Od the pronaos of Esueb (Ptolemaic), Champollion, Moa. t. i. pL icvi. 2, bit. Id the tweDty-eightb 
year of Shishok H. mention is made of the good gold otPenli han neftr. — Young, Hier. pi. xliii. ii. Q. n. 

"■ Birch, Gall, of Antiq p. 73-74 ; RoaelUni, Mod. Slor. iii,, pi. i , p. 95. 79, 80. 

= Sir G. Wilkinson, Man. and Cust. i. p. 52. " Lepsius, Denk. iii. 15. 

' Young, Hieroglyphics, pi. 92. I cannot agree with M. Lepsius (Oeber den Gotterkreis, a. 35,) thai 
Tattu represents This — but rather Tadu, {Pliny, N. H. vi. 29,) or, as it is sometimes read, Tata. 

' Young, Hieroglyphics, pi. 91. 

' Lepsius, Auswahl, taf. iii; Young, Hieroglyphics, pi. 41, 42. 



relating to the Gold Mi>ies of Ethiopia. 21 

introduced the tribute-bearers, that the quota paid from this country was bags of 
gold and gems, monkeys, panther-skins, logs of ebony, tusks of ivory, ostrich-eggs, 
ostrich-feathers, caraelopards, dogs, oxen, slaves," The permanent occupation of 
the country is at the same time attested by the constructions which the monarch 
made, at Samneh, and the Wady Haifa." At Ibrim Nehi, prince and governor of 
the South, a nomarch, seal-bearer, and counsellor or eunuch, leads the usual 
tribute mentioned as " of gold, ivory, and ebony" to the king.*^ Set, or Tj^hon, 
called " Nub " or " Nub-Nub,"^" Nubia, instructs him in the art of drawing 
one of those long bows which these people, according to the legend, contemp- 
tuously presented to the envoys of Cambyses. The successor of this monarch 
seems to have held the same extended territory, since, in the fourth year 
of his reign, these hmits are mentioned,' and some blocks with the remains of 
a dedication to the local deities. One of the rock temples at Ibrim was excavated in 
the reign of Amenophis II. by the Prince Naser-set, who was " nomarch" frepa haj, 
"chief counsellor" fsabu shaa J, and" governor of the lands of the south." The 
wall-paintings represent the usual procession of tribute -bearers to the king, with 
gold, silver, and animals, some of whom, as the jackals, were enumerated/ The 
same monarch continued the temple at Amada, and a colossal figure of him, 
dedicated to Chnumis and Athor, and sculptured in the form of Phtha or Vulcan, 
has been found at Begghe, and in the fourth year of his reign the limits of the 
empire are still placed as Mesopotamia on the north, and the Kalu or Gallje on 
the south.' 

In the reign of his successor Thothmes IV. a servant of the king, apparently his 
charioteer, states he had attended the king from Naharaina on the north, to Kalu, 
or the Gallse, in the south." 

The constructions of this monarch at Amada and at Samneh, shew that tribute 
came at the same time from the chiefs of the Naharaina on the north, and also 
from ^Ethiopia. This is shewn by the tombs of the military chiefs lying near 
the hill which is situate between Medinat Haboo and the house of Jam, one of 
whom had exercised the office of royal scribe or secretary of state, from the reign 



• Hoskin's Travels in ^Ethiopia, 4to, London, 1835, p. 228, Ac. 

'' A temple of Thoth was founded by him there. — Champollion, Notice Descriptive, p. 36. 

' Champollion, Not. Descr. pp. 79, 80. 

" Champollion, Mon. Eg, t. i. pi. xvii; Burton, Exc. Hier. 

" Vyse (Col. Howard) Pyramids, Journal, vol. iii., pi. Tourah quarries. 

' Champollion, Not, Descr. pp. 84, 83, i05. 40 boats full (of ivory and ebony). 10 jackals and apes. 

' Vyse (Col. Hovrard) Pyramids of Gizeh, vol. iii ; Tourah quarries. 2. 

*■ Sharpe, Eg. Inscr., pi. xciii 1. 5, 6. 



22 



Upon an Historical Tablet of Rameses 11. 



of Thothmes III. to that of Amenophia III.' The reign of his successor, the last 
mentioned monarch, is the most remarkable in the monumental history of Egypt for 
the jEthiopian conquests. The marriage scarahsei of the king place the limits of 
the empire as the Naharaina (Mesopotamia) on the north, and the Kant or Kalu 
(the GallBe) on the south. Although these limits are found, yet it is evident from 
the number of prisoners recorded that the Eg)T)tian rule was by no means a settled 
one.'' They are Kish, Pet or Phut, Pamaui, PatamakaJ Uaruki, Taru-at, Baru, 
.... kaba, Aruka, Makaiusah, Matakarbu, Sahabu, Sahbaru, Ru-nemka, Abhetu, 
Turusu, Shaarushak, Akenes, Serunik Karuses, Shaui, Buka, Shau, Taru Taru, 
Turusu, Turubenka. Akenes, Ark, Ur, Mar. (See Plate XXVII.) 

Amongst these names will be seen in the list of the Pedestal of Paris that of the 
Akaiat or Aka-ta, a name much resembling that of the Ath-agau, which is still pre- 
served in the Agow or Agows," a tribe near the sources of the Blue Nile. Amen- 
ophis appears by no means to have neglected the conquests of his predecessors, and 
his advance to Soleb, in the province of El Sokhot, and Elmahas, proves that the 
influence of Egypt was still more extended than in the previous reigns. 

In the reign of Amenophis, jEthiopia appears to have been governed by a viceroy, 
who was an Egyptian officer of state, generally a royal scribe or military chief, sent 
down for the purpose of administering the country ; the one in this reign bore the 
name of Merimes, and appears to have ended his days at Thebes, as his sepulchre 
remains in the western hills.'' He was called the sa suten en Kitsk, or prince of 
Kush, which comprised the tract of country lying south of Elephantina. In all the 
Ethnic lists this Kash or jEthiopia is placed next to the head of the list, " all lands 
of the south," and its identity with the Biblical Kush is universally admitted. It is 
generally mentioned with the haughtiest contempt, as the vile Kush CKask kh'aasj 
or ^Ethiopia, and the princes were of red or Egyptian blood. They dutifully ren- 
dered their proscynemata to the kings of Egypt." 

" Champollion. Not. Descr. p. 181. and foil. Cf. Rosdlini, Mon. Stor. t. i. pi. ii, &c.; Birch, Gallery. 

'' Liats of these names will be found in the following places : Birch, Gallery, p. 84 ; Archleologia, vol. 
XXXI. p. 489, 491 ; Gliddcn, Otia .Sgyptiaca, p. 144; Arch. Jour. 1851, p. 401. 

■^ "Of what high antiquity," says Mr. Ayrtoa (Journikl Geogr. Soc. part i. 1848, p. 65} "are the names 
of many places in Arabia, and the opposite part of Africa, may be seen by comparing the nanies of prorinceB 
and triheg with those given in the earliest writings. In the Adulitic inscription, for example, are mentioned, 
in Africa, Agame, Ava, Ath-Agau (the Agows), near the sources of the Blue Nile, Samene (Samen), 
Zaa (Shawa), At-Almo (Lam-Almon), Zingahene (Zingebar), with others identified by Dean Vincent," 
vol. ii. p. 344, et Meq. 

'' Cbampoilioo, Not. Deacr. des Monum. Egypt da Mus. Charles X., \Gtna. Paris, IS27, p. 12. A 
proscyoema of him occurs at Begghe. — Cham. Mon. t. i^ pi. lx»y. 

' Cf. for example, that of Prince Merimes, M. R. itiv. 3. For the position of Kuiih in the Ethnic lists, see 
Wilkinson's Mat. Hier. pi. viii. ; Sethos I. a. 2, b. 2 ; Ramses, a. 2, b. 2. 




VoliKlVB«,'K\TIfl.i*' 



r^ 



7 



iii 



^\\ 



5^ 



/3 



T 







\^ 



rj\ ^rj\ ^rj\ 



II. 



'I- 






i^) M*! 



/;? 



ri 






J7 



m 



6 



Vuu; 






^L 



m 



u,^ 







relating to the Gold Mines of Ethiopia. 23 

A similar institution had, at an earlier period, been made for Eileithyia or El Kab. 
One of the sepulchres of these Eileithyian princes, Shaaemneser, son of Amenhetp, 
and the grandson of Thothmcs, born of the lady Ges-ka, or Nas-ka, exists in the 
vicinity of that city." This prince was a kind of priest, or personal attendant of 
Amenophis I., of the dowager queen Aahmes Arinefer, called the divine wife, and of 
the royal lady, and queen consort Aahmes, and of the monarch Thothmes I. He was, 
besides this, scribe of all ranks,* and one of the priests who entered the sanctuary 
of the goddess. Such titles are only consistent mth an elective prince created by 
the crown, and all doubt upon the subject is removed by the SaJlier calendar, from 
which it appears that the Egyptian astrologers of the nineteenth dynasty affected to 
predict the day on which the man should he born who would be a prince of the 
people." Another of these Eileithyian princes lived till the reign of Thothmes III. 
from that of Amoais; and his name, Aahmes-Pensuben, shews that he was a local 
functionary. Several works of the time, which extend throughout the whole of the 
modern Nubia, show that the country was occupied by Egyptians. One of the most 
important changes made by Amenophis appears to have been the foundation of the 
station at Abu*", " the ivory island," as Elephantina was called, probably because 
it was the depflt of the jEthiopian ivory trade. The great razzia of the king, in 
which he brought 1052 prisoners, or slaves, from Abha, and his passage down the 
river in his third year for the purposes of conquest, I have already mentioned.' 
Although the death of Amenophis was followed by a period of anarchy internally, 
yet the poUtical relations by no means changed as regarded the two countries. 



* Chmmpollion, Mod, pi, ciIt. The phrase 

*" A «a, a very difEcult hieroglyph, seem 
Id the tUr-risings fChampolIioD, Mod. t. iii. 
divided into the head (<ip\ or ga), the wai 
tablet at Aboosimbel (Champollion, Mod. t. 

with life and power, thy lirabs with health." 
" They salute (haa) him, tht-y adore him 
by 



iV 

I to mean " side, ' as -Sll , 



r the land of Eileithyia." 



enua, "beside" or "behind." 
i. pi. cclxXT., ccUivi.) the hoaven, considered as a female, is 
list or middle (mo), and the extremity (mei. I) Od the great 
pi. xxKviii. I. 18) the phrase occurs, " I accompany thy limbt 
\ common phrase is ar-,a (Lcpsiua, Todt. taf. li. c. 127, 1. 10) : 
■ith their arms, they give him their aid (at 



ta) ; be hae lived 

Cf. Champollion, Mon. t. i. pi Ixv. t, li, pi. e 

" Dr. Hincks, Dublin University Magazine, 1646, p. 190. On the oldest of all almanacks, cf. Select 

Papyri, Brit. Mus. pi. cxlvii. 1. 9, " Paophi, a good day, rejoicing the heart of the gods on the festival of 

overthrowing' the enemies of the Sun. Any one bom on it will die ennobled" (merit tub em ra pen mul 

'' For the works of Amenophis III. at Elephantina, see Young, Hierogilyphics, pi. 53, 62, where he is 
followed by Taia. — ChampolUon, Not. Descr. p, 1 17, The obelisk now at Alnwick was probably from thence, 
and is dedicated to N^um, having been placed before a sanctuary. It is of Amenophis 11, 

■ Arcbeological Journal, 1852, p. 400. 



upon an Historical Tablet of Rameses II, 

Not to re-open the disputed question of the Disc Heresy, the monarch Amenan- 
chut, who belonged to the true faith, had an ^Ethiopian prince named Hui. His tomb 
was one of those lying between Medinat Haboo and the lull of the house of Jani.' 
The prince is seen paying his respects to the monarch Amenanchut, who has behind 
him the various products of the country. Of these the roost important are, nub- 
'^Vf- ■ ■ ' "gold — 103 sacks." Foot-stools, arm-chair couches with their pillows, a 
chariot, cups filled with precious stones, ivory and ebony, trays filled with small 
palm-trees and plants, and little figures, apparently the pigmies, placed upon 
panther-skins, with chains of gold rings hanging down, give some idea of the 
opulence of the Jithiopia at this period. These are followed by " the chief of 
Shamma, the good ruler ;"'' while some of the others are called " the chiefs of Um."« 
The place called Sham is one over which the god Horns presided ; the Uai were 
conquered by Amenemha I. These are followed by an ^'Ethiopian princess, dressed 
much in the style of the ^Ethiopians as seen upon the pyramids of ^Ethiopia. She 
is accompanied by other negroes, whom the hieroglyphs call " those born of the 
chiefs of all the countries ;" and a host of other -Ethiopians, wearing their plumes 
and plaited tunics, carrying sacks of gold and silver, and gold rings in baskets, lead 
along a giraffe, and oxen which have their horns fantastically arranged to repre- 
sent a negro's head, stretching out his hands. Others bring cups of gold and gems, 
two baskets of red jasper, colours, and a flabellum. The hieroglyphs distinctly show 
that these are ^Ethiopian. "The chiefs of Kush, they say, ' Hail to thee, King of 
Egypt, the sun of foreigners ; we are the breath of thy gift, living as thou wiliest !" 
And again, " The chiefs of Kush say — ' Great are thy spirits, oh perfect god ; exalted 
is thy glory; we breathe as thou grantest : true is thy word!'" The heretic 
monarch of El Tell, and the so-called Bachenaten, records and depicts his triumphs, 
both over negroes and Asiatics, but the details are wanting ; and from hence the 
transition is rapid to Har-em-hebi, or Horus, who is represented at war again with 
the Black races. The monarch is cidled in his eulogistic inscriptions, "a Hon 
marching against Kush;"'* and a military chief or general addressing him, says, 
" great is thy name in the land of Kush." This monarch, indeed, inscribes the 
Baru, or Baru-Baru,'^ the Berbers, amongst his conquests ; but the highest point 



' ChampoUion, Not. Deaer. p. 479. 

'' Sham appears to be Aboosimbel. On the great tablet sculptured on the rocks there, it is said, " He (the 
king) has made a place for a million of ^eara in this rock of Shamma." 

" Tbia proves the Uaua of the Kaniak Tablet to be j^thiopians, and not Asiatics, es some have conjectured. 
* Nestor L"Hf)le, Lettres, 1840, p. 70. = Rosellini. M.R. No. xliv. 4. 

' Rosellini, Mon. Stor torn. ii. pte. i. p. 275-7. Cf. Wilkinson, Mat. Hier. pi. viii. a. 2. 



relating to the Gold Mines of Ethiopia. 25 

where his constructions have been found are Gebel Addeh.' The frontier of the 
empire appears contracted. The intend which elapsed between the close of the 
eighteenth dynasty and the rise of the nineteenth, seems to have been one of the 
subjection of Egypt to Northern invaders, who occupied Lower Egypt, and drove 
the native monarchs down to jEtbiopia to take refuge in the territories of their 
viceroys. It is the period of which some notices have reached us tlirough the 
extracts of the History of Manetho. The monarobs of the new dynasty had tbeir 
hands full, and Rameses I, does not appear to have engaged in iEthiopian wars." 
Even Seti, or Sethos I. is employed in the tirst year of bis reign in driving tbe 
Hyk-Shos out of Pelusium or Avaris. His southern wars were probably left to his 
generals. Like Amenophis \\\., he has, however, left behind some lists, and the 
following show that the Akaita, or Akaiat, were among them. He had recovered 
the gold mines of that spot. 





FIRST LIST. 




THIRD LIST. 


1 


Rush (Ethiopia). 


1 


South. 


2 


A-ta-ru. 


2. 


Kush (jEthiopia). 


3 


Alukhau (AUaghy). 


3. 


Ataru (Adulis). 


4 


Amru Karka. 


4. 


Anishaki. 


5 


Bu'ka (Boggees, Begas). 


5. 


Amru Karka. 






6. 


Buka (Boggees). 




SECOND LIST. 


r. 


Seruni (SUeni). 


1. 


Kush (.®hiopia). 


8. 


Baru baru (Berbers). 


2. 


Khaui. 


9. 


Tekrurr (Tigre). 


3. 


Tar-wa (Darfour). 


10. 


Mar (Meroe). 


4. 


Ataru (Adulis). 


11. 


Karuses. 


5. 


Karu-ses. 


12. 


A-ruk.' 


6. 


Akata.' 


13. 


Turusu or Tur-ru-nek 



The present inscription shows that he had endeavoured, although unsuccessfully, 
to make a tank or well for the miners who traversed the desert. A tablet set up by 
him at Ibrim, the ancient Primis, discovered by Mr. Harris, represents this king, who 



» Bosellini, Mnn. Slot, p 289. The ancient name of the site was Amen-Heri. In it is a temple dedi- 
cated to Thoth by Horus.— Chainpollion, Not. Descr. p. 40 43. 

'' There \i, however, a votive inscription of 20 Mechir, second year of his reign, at the Wady Haifa. — 
Champollion. Not. Descr. p. 33. 

« Wilkinson. Mat. Hier. pi. viii. * Ibid. 

• Ibid. Gliddon, Otia ^gyptiaca, 1849, p. 145 ; Roaellini, M. R. Ixi. 



26 Upon an Historical Tablet of Barneses II. 

has descended from his chariot, spearing an jEthiopian in the presence of a god. 
The inscription contains the proscyneraa of Amenemap, royal son of Kush or 
.Ethiopia. The inscription merely alludes in general terms to the royal exploits in 
smiting j-Ethiopia and ravaging the land of the Nahsi. "He has extended," it says, 
" his southern frontiers to the Nahsi, his northern to the great ocean." This tablet 
was probably erected upon the occasion of some visit or campaign of the king in 
the south. The great conquests of the king are, however, inscribed on one of the 
pylons, or triumphal arches as they may be called, of the king at Karnak. The lists 
of Sethos I. although by no means ao complete as those of Amenophis III., show 
that the king traversed nearly the same ground. 

One of the most interesting remains of this reign, and referring to gold mines, 
. in all probabihty those of the south, is the ancient Egyptian map at Turin, which, 
owing to the defective state of the knowledge of the hieratic character, has been 
mistaken for the ground plan of the tomb of Setbos I. It is figured in fac- 
simile ; • and I lay a copy of this before you. The portion marked A, to which I 
have attached the small letters «— /, is inscribed as follows : a has katp-Amen-em 

; and below Ta tehni en tu, " the front of the hill." On the rectangular 

building, which is below this, is inscribed, Pa chatem en Amen en ta " the shrine," 
or " closed place of Amen in the hill." Beneath this is the word ab, " clean, pure," 
but whether it refers to the hill or the sanctuary, called o-ai, "pure place," the 
abaton, is not clear. The fragment b has Tu en nub, " the hill of gold," or the 
" gold mines," and this part is the key to the whole. This expression is repeated at 
f, and at d more expressly, as Ta tu en nub, " The hill of gold." These hills 
are represented in Egyptian perspective, and intended to flank the roads or shafts. 

The large hieroglyphs in two lines in the centre (e) reading, huu enti nub am 

ckarait em pa ans tesker, " the hills or mines from which the gold is brought are drawn 
red on the plan," is a guide for those consulting it, like the rubrical directions of 
Egyptian rituals. At /is Na ha u e7i .... nak nub, " the houses of the land of 

for washing," or " refining the gold." At k is the well, with the word for 

" water" among the mutilated hieroglyphs : and the half-oval object at j is kutu 
en sut-hcb Ra men ma, "the tablet of the king; the Sun, Arranger of Truth." 
(Sethos I.) At h is Tacha enti shaa er pa iam, "the roads leading to the sea." At 
i is hi tacha enti skaa er pa iam, *' a second road leading to the sea." At k is 
Tacha en .... " the road" of some place, the name of which I cannot read ; and at / 
is Tacha en naMenta, " the road for the workmen?" It is an important contribution 
to our knowledge of Egyptian civilisation to find the very mines mapped at this 



L 



' I^epBiuB, Auawahl, tof. xxii. 



relating to the Gold Mines of Mthiopta,, 



27 



early period ; but of which gold mines this is the plan, can only be inferred by 
conjecture. Those of the Gebel OUaga, or El Sokkot, best answer the condition of 
the roads to the sea, the lower of which {k) is represented strewn with sea-sheUa.' 

Thus far the pohtical relations of the two countries have been succinctly traced 
down to the age of Rameses II., the son of Sethos I. ; and the present tablet, dated 
in the third year of his reign, which extended upwards of sixty-six years, shows icova 
the 16th Une that the monarch was extremely young when he ascended the throne. 
The administration of the southern provinces appears unchanged, for the subject of 
the well or reservoir, although introduced by the negro chiefs, is seconded by a 
prince of Ethiopia, whose name is unfortunately lost, but who is probably Amene- 
jnapt, and who is found on the monuments of Beitoually to have survived Sethos, 
and to have been succeeded by his son Pa-ur. 

The care of making wells in the desert, on the roads leading to the mines, is shewn 
by many inscriptions. One on the Cosseu" road, leading to the emerald and gold 
mines''of Berenice, dated on the 23d of the month Athyr, in the reign of Mentuhetp, or 
Mandouophis, of the thirteenth dynasty, mentions the mode used for the working of 
the " hill in the place for ever, to the lord Uving in the mine (Baa . t), seeing all the 
forms," it states, " of the god who has given his spirits to men, making land out of 
water, and transferring the water (pes mau) out of the mire of the country, obtaining 
water in the midst of the valley, from ten cubits to ten cubits, in order to draw water 
for the com, and for washing and watering the beasts as they come to the land of 
Phut," &c. Another of these wells is mentioned in the inscriptions of the mines at 
the Sarabut El Khadem, where, in the list of the governors of the temple or fort, 
it is said of one, ar naf baba un em ba pen, " who made the well which is in the 
mine."" All the principal temples and stations were provided with tanks or lakes. 
Thus a tablet in the British Museum was made for the " keeper of the northern 
resen'oirs at Thebes ;"" and an inscription published by Champollion has, "offered to 
Osiris, who dwells in the pool of the palace of Ramses in Thebes."'^ When these 
pools or tanks were of large size, they were called after the monarchs by whom they 



s For this locality, see 
S«thos 1. ID his ninth year, 
— WilkinBon, I. c. 420. 

" Burton, Exc. Hier. pi. iii. 

c Leon de la Borde, Voy. Arah. Petreu, fo. Paris. 

d Egyptian Saloon, 282. 

e Chatnpollion, Mon. pi. ckii. At Eoneh, where the templi 
houK fit to hold water, filled with all good things." — Ibid. ciIt 



Wilkinson's Topography of Thebes, p. 416. A small station, built by 
the road leading from Contra Apollinopolis to the emerald mines. 



9 seen in an oval, Num say?, ■' I give thee a 



28 Upon an Historical Tablet of Rameses II. 

were made. The large square tank, 3,600 cubits long, and 600 cubits broad, made 
by Amenophis III,, in the eleventh year of his reign, he named Nem en suten hem 
Tata, " The lake of the queen Taia." ' The celebrated lake Mceris, or Moteris, ' as 
one reading of PUny gives it," appears to have been named after Amenemha IV., 
whose prenomen was Ra-ma-tu. In the picture at Karnak, representing the return 
of Sethos I, to Pelusium, is seen a pool, or tank, defended by a fort, which is called 
Ta Nem en Siit en eheb Ra men ma. " The tank," or " well of the King, the Sun, the 
defender of Truth," Sethos I.*^ The forts were also named after the monarchs who 
built them, and in the Makatuhi en Ramessu has been recognised " the Migdol," or 
"Tower of Ramses," which the Jews built."^ The present tank was also named after 
the king Ramesses ; and, from the mutilated hnes at the end, it appears that the 
prince of /Ethiopia sent a galley with a letter up the Nile, announcing the event. 

That these letters were carried by special messengers will, of course, be obvious. 
The envoy of the Bakten, on a later tablet, records the arrival of a letter from a 
prince of that country to the king of Egj-pt,'' and the Anastasi papyri are filled 
with the foreign correspondence of the functionaries of the early part of the nine- 
teenth dynasty, the most interesting portion of which is the series of letters 
addressed to the governor of the castle of Tuk, or Thuk.'^ Another point connected 
with this tablet is the fact that the desert at this period was crossed by asses. I 
liave already mentioned that the horse (htarj was unknown in Egypt till the age of 
the eighteenth dynasty, and that upon monuments of the twelfth the ass appears 
only to have been used for riding. The Mes-stem foreigners, who approach the 
nomarch Neferhetp, come through the Arabian desert on asses,' and the tombs of 
the twelfth dynasty shew the animal treading out the com.* During the eighteenth 
dynasty horses were sent as tribute to Egypt, and also asses, but camels never; the 
two former were however often employed — the first for the purposes of war only, 
the second for agricultural purposes, especially carriage. The latter appear only in 



" Cf. Rosellini, M. R. xlir. 2 ; Dr. Hincks, on the Eighteenth Dynasty of Manetho, Trans. Hoy. Irish 
Acad. vol. xix. pte. ii. p, 7. 

" Pliny, N, H. lib. xixvi. c. 13. For the various opinions as to its etymology, and ita discovery by M. 
Linant, see M. Lejisius, Einleitung, s. 263. — M^moire sur le Lac Mtsris, par M. Linant de IJellefonds, 4lo. 
Alexandria 1813 : Chev. Bunsen, ^gyptens Stelle, buch ii. s. 209 and foil. 

' Osbum, Egypt's Testimony, p. 105. 

^ Prisse, Mon. pi. xxiv. 

' Select Papyri, pi. xcix. and foil. 

' Kosellini, M. R. «vi. 

i Ibid. M. C. 




relating to the Gold Mines of Ethiopia. 29 

the trans-Jordanic part of Palestine, ridden by the Shasu or Hykshos.» Many 
notices occur of the ass : " May it please my lord,"'' says one writer, " his asses are 
well." In another of these documents the writer wishes that some one whom 
he abuses may " fall in the mire in the land of Charu, and return home in a coffin 
on the back of an ass""^ evidently intended as a degrading circumstance. In the 
correspondence of the governor of Thuk, the writer mentions asses, and that the 
king's asses have been sent to their stable.'' They were, in fact, at this remote period 
the animal of the Egyptian desert, and preceded by several centuries the camel/ 

In ancient Kgypt the quantity of gold imported into the country must have been 
immense. The dazzling abundance of the valuable products of the north and south 
must have rivalled in those times the discoveries of the new world " In the 
(district of Meroe)," says Diodorus, " there are mines of gold, silver, iron, and brass, 
besides abundance of ebony and all sorts of precious stones."*' In the description of 
the palace of Osymandyas,* the same author mentions the annual produce of the 
Egyptian gold and silver mines at the enormous figure of 3200 myriads of rain*." 
The animated description of the working of these mines by Agatharcides is well 
known, and the position of the principal mines has been already pointed out. So 
fabulous was the quantity, that Herodotus represents the very prisoners in the 
.Ethiopian jails as manacled with gold. The expedition of Sesostris, in which must 
be recognized a confusion and amalgation of the wars of the eighteenth dynasty, 
when it had succeeded, imposed upon this region a tribute of ebony, gold, and tusks 
of ivory,' The same tribute was exacted under the Persian empire ; for the 
^Ethiopians paid every third year two bushels of native gold, two hundred logs of 



London, 1846, 



■ Trans. Roy. Soc. Literal, new series, vol. ii. p. 337- 
^ Dr. Hincks, WinchesUr Meeting, Journal Brit. Arch. Assoc, 8i 
Papyri. 
'^ Ibid. p. 236. Sel«t Papyri, Invii. 5, 
" Select Papyri, cviii. 14. 

• The taitie of Jericho were the ox, the sheep, the ass. — Joshua, vi, 2 
' Diodorus, i. 33 uicairjfeiv h' iv avr^, sal fiiraWa jyiurrou re ici 

jTjjoi hi TovToii i\nv jrXSflo' ij^ifov, KiBuv re ToXureXuc ytci) iravTahoi 

* Diodorus, i. 49. taO' or bil yXtr^aii ttrux^Iv etrai rai -^^piifiairir 
rj> Qrf ^vaor Kat Spyvpor, ay xal tj &7ravqt rXd/i/^Ofe riji Aiyun-rou ki 
XpuffEioir fieraWui'. li-noypu^caBin hi cai to ir\ij9oi, 5 wyKt^aKaioifitrov 
Tpt^tXiat tnl OioiriHTiai /ivpiiihai. 

" Diod.iii.II; Sir Gardner Wilkinson, Man. and Ciu., ser. i. vol. iii. p. 231, 
' Diodorus, i. 55. i;al KaTairoXefiSi'rnt, ^niyirnffe to tOyot if6povf reXtJy, t(ie*ov Ka\ jyHrffoi 
tKufarTUi/ rov( ohivrat. 



afiyiipov Ka'i aihiipou Kai X"^' 






aiXia, ^ipurr 

iipyop€it/r ci 

&pyfpiov \6yoi' elrrti fitu 



80 



Ujion «H Historical Tablet of Rameses II. 



ebony, five /Ethiopian boys, and twenty large tusks of ivory.' The gold sent from 
Kush or Ethiopia was either gold-dust in bags called gam, or " pure gold," melted 
into the form of large square ingots called mna or pounds, or else in the form of 
rings fseshj made into chains and carried by the hand. 

In the conquests of Rameses II. at Beitoually, all three forms are represented, 
and the rings and ingots are mentioned in the tribute of Kush, on the statistical 
tablet of Kamak. As one of the items of the treasury of Rameses III. at Medinat 
Haboo 1 ,000 sacks far/uf' of the gold of jEthiopia are mentioned." In the contri- 
butions to the temple at Philae, the Ua-ua, an /Ethiopian people, contribute gold ; 
and /Ethiopia itself a material called kertes. 

Since the time of the great Thothmes none of the Egyptian monarchs had 
exercised such sway in Ethiopia At Beitoually, which appears to have been ex- 
cavated in the commencement of his reign, the conquest of /Ethiopia is duly 
recorded." The investiture of Amenemapt, the son of Pahur, as prince of /Ethiopia, 
is there represented, while a large tribute both of the precious metals, raw pro- 
ducts, and manufactured articles, shews the advanced state of the civilization. 
The speos, indeed, does not seem to have been completed during the life of 
Amenemapt, as another prince named " Messu (Ra messu), the Ra Satp of the land 
of the south," who was also standard-bearer on the king's left hand, and royal 
scribe, is represented kneeling in prayer on the left jamb of the central gate of the 
temple of Ammon.'' This name may, perhaps, be connected with that found in a 
hieratic inscription at Aboosimbel. 

Either to the period of this prince or to that of his predecessor must be referred 
the temple of Mashakit, which is not dedicated by the king, but by Pahur the 
" prince-governor of the south, standard-bearer at the king's left hand, and royal 
scribe, having charge of the lands of Amen in the country of Peta (Phut), and also 
having charge of the gold lands."' In another place he is styled nomarch, and chief 
auditor of plaints to the king's house.' He adores Rameses as a god along with 
Anucis, and states that the gods have given the king all the bows, or foreigners, 



" Herodot. iii. 97. These boys, called makau (>nagat),a 
from SamDeh. — Brit. Mus. 138*. 



sationed in the Inscription of Amenophis III. 



" Champolljoi 


1, Not Descr. p. 364. This 


'^ Champolliot 


1, Not. DcBcr. p. 150, 151 


kviii. 




^ Charapollio. 


1, Not. Descr. Mon. t. i. pi. h 


' Champollio. 


1, Not. Descr. p. 40. 


' Champolliot 


1, Not. Descr. pp. 38, 39. 



) evidently the celebrated treaaurj of Rampsinitus. 
Champollion, Mon. t. i. pi. Ixxiii. 1. 1 ; The Investiture, pi. 



d 



relating to the Gold Mines of Mthiopia. 31 

under his sandals." A statue of this prince, made of sandstone, and removed 
from Nuhia by Belzoni,'' is dedicated to " Ammon Ra, who dwells in the fort of 
Ramesses." At Mashakit he is also named governor of the temple of Ammon, and 
it is probahle that he was located there. Another of these princes, named Sta, is 
found after this period, having ruled the country during the middle portion of the 
reign of Rameses. At Amada he is seen addressing a proscynema." At Gershe 
Hassan there is a statue with the legend of Rameses II., and the titles of the prince, 
who is called " royal Son of .'Ethiopia, president of the gold lands and king's 
scribe."'' On a tablet lying to the south of the speos of the temple of Athor at 
Aboosimbel, dated in the 38th year of Rameses, this prince is called "a military 
chief, or nomarch, divine father and friend, chamberlain of the king's house, and the 
eyes and ears of the king."' The title of Prince of ^Ethiopia is placed last. Another 
of his proscynemata is found on the route between Philse and Syene,' and traces of 
him at Ibrim.* These princes continued till a later period,'' as one named Peti ' is 
found, under Rameses III., making a proscynemaas a native of " Su-ten-chennu," 
or "the land of royal infants," a name which, in a remarkable manner, corresponds 
with the description of Manetho. The lid of the sarcophagus of the prince Sta from 
one of the Theban sepulchres shows that, like others of his race, he ended his days at 
Thebes."" During the whole of this dynasty Ethiopia was ruled by these viceroys. 

The mines appear to have been worked principally by culprits and slaves. 
Rameses particularly prided himself upon his foreign conquests. 

At Beitoually the hieroglyphs announce his titles as " trampler upon the south, 
he who sabres the Nahsi, who hoes the south and ploughs the north."' At 
Aboosimbel the same king is called " the bruiser of the Bow-bearers — the trampler 



* There is also another proacynema of uncertaio period, perhaps antecedent, of Kafai, son of Thothmes, 
goTeraor of the slave house of the lord of the Earth (the King), in the land of Phut, and superintendent 

of the gold mines. •WV i^j^ 

" Brit. Gall. pi. li. IfiO. « Champollion, Mon. I. i. pi. iwv. p. 4. 

" Champollion, Not. Descr- p. 104. The inscription slates it is offered to Ra ; "may he give a good time to 
rejoice in the panegyry ? to the Prince Sta." This shows it was after the thirtieth year of the king's reign. 

' Champollion, t. i. pi. viii, p. 4. Certain officers of the Persian court were called king's eyes and ears. 
Cf. also NoL Descr. p. 7. 

' Champollion, Not, Descr. p. 105. 

" A prince Unnefer? son of another prince named Ramsei 
Aboosimbel, Champ. Not. Descr p. 6. ; Lepaius, Einl. a. 320. 

" Coffin-lid, British Museum, Egypt. Saloon, No. 7B. 

' Champollion, Mon. t. i. pi viii. p. 2. 



* Ibid. p. B2. 

I mentioned in the hieratic inscriptioi 
' Champ. Mon. t. i. pi. iv. ] 



33 Upon an Historical Tablet of Rameses I J. 

on the chiefs of the vile ^Ethiopia." » In the same speos he is called " a bull against 
the Charu {or Chalu), a strong bull against Kish," or jEtbiopia.'' At Aboosimbel 
it is expressly stated that the king " has dragged the Nahsi (Negroes) to the north, 
the Naamu (Asiatics) to Phut —building it with his captives."" In illustration of 
wliich faet the king is rejiresented destroying an Asiatic. A similar expression 
occurs on the great dedicatory tablet of Aboosimbel, " He brought," says the inscrip- 
tion, " numerous workmen of the captives dragged from every land, he has filled the 
house of the gods with the children of the Ruten ! "^ A striking commentary 
upon the inscription said to be engraved by Sesostris on his teraples,^ OTAKIS 
ErxilPIOS KI2 ATTA MEMOX0HKK. This was, however, not peculiar to 
Rameses 11., as Thothmes III. sent his Asiatic captives to Thebes, to build the 
temple of Amen Ra, or the Sun, at Thebes/ 

The Negro represented on the monuments of the period has remained for cen- 
turies unchanged, like the natural features with which he is surrounded. 

Throughout the whole extent of Nubia Rameses erected^ various temples, pro- 
bably with a double intention of converting the Negroes to the worship of Ammon," 
and also of fortifying the country by these sacred strongholds. The inhabitants 
were kidnapped for slaves, or conscribed as soldiers ' —the mines examined and 
worked, and aU the natural products of the country poured into Egypt. 

' CbampollioD, Mon. t. J. pi bxiii. 1. i. 

" Ibid. X. 4. 

■= Ibid. pi. xTiii. 1. 5 ; pi, xvii. 

* Diodorus, i. c. 56; Herodotus, ii. 108, 197. 
' Cbampollion, Mod. torn. i. pi. ix. I. 13, 14. 

' RoBelUni, M. C. Jtlii. 

* At Aboosimbel, two temples, in one of wbicb be is seeo leading negro prisooers (Cbampolliou, Mod. 
pi. xixTii.-uxT). Kafit btten en Phut, " be has routed the vile PhuL" At the Wady Esseboua is a dromos 



.-i^-?1 



of the same monarch (Cf. Not. Descr. p. 118), and at G«rshe Hossein, called Tauaua 

(Ibid. p. 135). At Beitoually. At Aboosimbel {Champ, t. i. pi. \iv.) it says he has smitten their chiet'B, 

has given his commands to the distant Hesi. 

" Sir G. Wilkinson in Trans. R. Soc. Liter, vol iv. ad Jinem. 

' Dr. Hincks on the Power of Alphabet, Trans. Roy. Irish Acad., 4to, 1848, p. 202 ; a c 
phrase is as that of Setbos I., " he has filled the cells," or " temples, (ra) with gold, silver, and copper. 
Champollion, Not. Descr. p. 124. On coffins of this period, the Negroes and Asiatics are often represented 
under the sandals of the mummies. — Champollion, Mon. t. ii. pi. civ. Negroes are often seen, as at the 
Ramesseum. — Champ. Mon t. iv. pi. cccixii. 



• " • 



> ^ • 



^ w *■ ** V ^ 



* J. 



relating to the Gold Mines of Mthiopia. 



APPENDIX. 



There is the preamble of an inscription, dated on the 8th of Phamenoth, seventh 
year of the reign of Thothmes IV. on the Abaton of Philfe, reading " The Horus 
(hving) the powerful bull crowned with diadems, lord of the upper and lower crown, 
whose dominions are established like those of Turn; the hawk [of gold], whose 
strength sustains the afflicter of bows ; the king, the Sun, placer of created beings, 
son of the Sun, Thothmes, crown of crowns ; beloved of Ammon ; may he live like 

the Sun. On the 8th of Phamenoth of the vii year, when fas-tuj " The 

rest is entirely wanting, but it probably referred to some proscynema on the passage 
of the river towards Ethiopia.' 



I may also append the translation of the tablet removed from Samneh by the 
Duke of Northumberland, and by him presented to the British Museum, where it is 
deposited in the Egyptian Saloon, No. 138*. The upper part of this tablet, which 
was at least as large again, has been destroyed, but I do not think that it contained 
much that was very important as to the historical portion, the greater part having 
been the preamble of the document, the names and titles. (Plate XXVIII.) 

(L. 1.) [Destroyed and illegible], 

(1. 2.) .... he has smitten the evil, making all their places 

(1. 3.) .... when was expected the things paid by the land of Abba, each 
coming to his being about to be reviewed. 

(1. 4.) of his majesty, of those who were in power of the prince, giving his 

instructions, commanding by commands each of them, removed from the land of 
Mahi [?] to 

(1. 5.) commencing from the port of Bak, and continuing to Atarui, the river made 
fifty-two schoeni, lead them 

{1. 6.) the power of the Sun, the Lord of Truth (Amenophis III.) in one day and 
one hour, making .... the dead in binding 

{1. /■) their cattle, not one of them escaped, all of them were bought up . 
offering them to the power of Amenhetp (Amenophis), Lord of the Thebaid, 

■ Ch&mpollion (Le Jeune ), Notice Uescriptive, p. 164. 



Upon an Historical Tablet of Rameses II. 

(1. 8.) who has no frontiers; the forei^ lands cross over with men and women 
as slaves to the Horns, the Lord of the Earth, the King, the Sun, the Lord of Truth 
(Ameoophis III.}> the glorious victor of Abba, whose great 

(1. 9.) words are proclaimed in their hearts; the raging lion, the ruler who has 
smitten them according to the commands of Ammon, his noble father; he traverses 
them 

(1. 10.) with powerful victories. The number of captives led to his majesty from 
the land of the vile Abha was Nahsi (Negroes) 150 head, boys 110 head, Nahsi 250 
head; 

(1, 11.) hearers of plaints of the Nahsi 55 head, their children 175 head, total of 
living heads 740 head, preserved hands 312, a- 

(1. 12.) mounting with the Uving heads to 1052. The prince, the pride of his 
master, the satisfaction of the perfect god (the king) the governor of the land of 
Kush (iEthiopia), throughout its length, the royal scribe Merimes says, " Incline 
thy face. 

(I. 13.) Oh, good god, great are thy spirits to pursue; may thy enemies say to 
thee, " Flame scorches our eyes [?] ftahem nan cket er nanj, thou hast smitten all 
thy opponents dead under thy sandals !" 

The tablet engraved upon the principal rock or abaton of Philae • in fourteen lines 
records the campaign of Amenophis III. against jEthiopia. It is dated in the fifth 
year of his reign, and on the first occasion of his sailing into the country. 
Undoubtedly it has been very indifferently copied ; but, making out its tenor as well 
as possible by means of restoration, it is as follows : — 

(L. I.) The living Horus, the powerful bull, crowned by Truth, the king, lord of 
diadems, son of Ammon, the lord of the Earth, rejoicing in [?]... . fhaa em ... J 

(1. 2.) the powerful lord, smiter of the Nomads, a divine ruler like the son of 
[ Nti] COsirisJ through [his] power in the land of 

(I. 3.) creating his greatness, the king, lord of the earth, lord creating things, the 
Sun, the lord of Truth, bom of the Sun, son of the Sun, of his body, beloved 
of him. 

(1. 4.) Amenophis, ruler of the Thebaid, beloved of Ammon-Ra, king of the 
gods, and of Num, who dwells in Senem ; may he live for ever. 

(1. 5.) In the fifth year came his majesty returning from his first expedition 
belonging to him, from the land 

» Champollion, Not. Descr. pp. Ifi4, 165. 



relating to the Gold Mines of Ethiopia. 



35 



(1. 6.) of the vile Kish ; he had made his frontiers wherever he wished, moving 
his land-marks {ar schen uts); he set up fra sa men nefj 

{1. 7.) a tablet of his victories in the sanctuary (men kabhj ; never had king of 
Elgypt CKamiJ 

(\. 8.) done like it; his majesty procured victory through his power the Sun, the 
lord of Truth, who is led in 

(1. 9.) in power and force before his troops ; his father Ammon CRoJ 

(1. 10.) has issued his commands ; he has given him power and victory over all 
lands, he has given him the south 

(I. II.) and the north, the west and east ; they have hastened to deliver them- 
selves to him 

(1. 12.) as their children, having come that he may give them the breath of Hfe ; 
the son of the Sun, beloved 

{1. 13.) Amenophis, ruler of the Thebaid, The land of the Nahsi could not 
sustain his attack may he live 

(I. 14.) well joyous crowned upon the throne of Ammon, like the 

Sun, immortal!" 

The names of the prisoners are Arak, Ur, Mer. 



ox 



TWO EGYPTIAN TABLETS 



OF 



THE PTOLEMAIC PERIOD. 



COMMUNICATED TO THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES 



BY 



SAMUEL BIRCH, ESQ., LL.D., F.S.A. 



LONDON: 

PRINTED BY J. B. NICHOLS AND SONS, 25, PARLIAMENT STREET. 



1863. 



ARCH^OLOQIA, 

Vol. XXXIX. 



ON TWO EGYPTIAN TABLETS 



PTOLEMAIC PERIOD. 




The tablets which form the subject of the following communication are two 
of the most remarkable of those of the Ptolemaic period, which is not rich in 
inscribed monuments of this kind. There is, indeed, a series of tablets of this 
period in the British Museum, and others are in the Louvre at Paris. None of 
them, however, surpass in interest those now to be described, which relate to the 
famUy of Pashericnptah. It will be seen from their contents that they shed 
great light on the mythology of the Ptolemaic period, add to our knowledge of 
the annals of the Lagida?, and afford additional facts with regard to the functions 
and organisation of the Egyptian hierarchy. 

Tablets of this kind have not attracted the attention due to them, although a 
slight prici^ of their contents has been published. Two reasons have principally 
contributed to this neglect : the difficulty of deciphering Ptolemaic texts, which 
have not been studied with the same care and labour as the more attractive 
monuments of the xviiith and sixth dynasties, and the inferior interest taken 
in inscriptions of this period, it being erroneously supposed that the usual classical 
authorities have said all that is to be known of the history of the time. This is 
however by no means the case ; and the monuments of Egypt under the Greek 
and Roman domination contain much esoteric information not recorded in the 
earlier inscriptions. At the same time it must be borne in mind that Greek 
opinions and dogmas sensibly influenced the art and thought of the age. The 
substance however of texts, even at this epoch, remains Egyptian, and the Greeks 
only embroidered the hem of the garment of Egyptian thought. 

The first of tliese tablets belongs to Mr. A. C. Harris of Alexandria,' and has, 
no doubt, like the others, come from the Serapeium at Memphis. The deceased 
Pirot-, or Pasher-enptah, who is styled a lord (ei^pa), chief, royal chancellor, 
sole counsellor, divine father, and chief of the attendants on the altar, son of 
Petbast (or Petbuhastis) and Herankh, kneels on both knees, wearing a skull-cap 
with the mystical lock of hair at the right side, the rot, alluding to his name, 

Paris, 1848, pi. xx\i. p. 5 ; Sharpe, Egyptian loscriptious, fo. Lorid. 

a2 



■ Prisse, Monumens Egyptieas, 
1837, pi. 73. 



4 Ttoo Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period. 

the baam, a long garment with girdle, over which is thrown a panther-skin 
(uTiem en ab), and sandals (tebui). Before him is an inscription, and a table or 
altar of reeds, above which is inscribed per er khrui, kept hek, " sepulchral meals 
of food and drink," and helow "oxen, geese, incense, wax, and fabrics." He is 
offering to seven deities standing in a row, the first of whom, Osiris, with his 
usual attributes, is styled " Osiris, lord of the E-u-sta, dwelling in the West, great 
god in Ru-kat." He tells the deceased, " I give you a good funeral." The second 
deity is Hapis, represented with a bull's head, having an ukbub on the forehead, 
a long head-dress (nmnmg), and a collar round the neck; he wears a scaly tunic 
(ghenti), and holds a crook in the right, and a whip (kkekh) and symbol of life 
in the left, hand. He is styled " Hapi-Osiris, who dwells in the West, king 
of the gods, lord of ages, ruler of eternity." " I have given thee," he says, 
" all good things in Taneter." He is followed by Isis, wearing the disc, horns, 
and throne, uniting her celestial and terrestrial characters, and holding a 
papyrus sceptre and symbol of life. She is called " Isis, the great mother, eye 
of the Sim lord of the heaven," and announces, " I have brought thy soul to thy 
body." Behind her stands Nephthys, wearing the disc and horns, surmounted 
by her name. She holds the same sceptre, and is draped as Isis. She is entitled 
"Nephthys, the sister goddess, loving her brother," and announces, "I have 
brought delicious air to thy nostril." Horus, wearing the pschent, and hawk- 
headed, draped as Hapis, and holding a sceptre ((/ani) and symbol of life, follows 
Nephthys. He is named " Horus, the defender of his father in Ru-kat," and 
tells the deceased, " I have granted thy race to remain in thy seat." Anup, or 
Anubis, jackal-headed, follows Horus, called " Anup, over the HUl, attached to 
TJt, resident in the divine abode, great god, lord of the Taser." He states " I 
have given thee a sweet odour in Hades." Imouth, represented wearing a 
skull-cap and tunic, and holding a sceptre, closes the list of gods. He is styled 
" Aiemhetp, son of Ptah, great in continual rewards," and announces " I have 
given to thee thy blood to be renewed and to be well." 

The gods are followed by a personification of *' the West," represented by a 
hawk or eagle on a standard with a feather, and called " the West, the mother 
of the gods," or " giver of the gods." She declares, " The mummies of the West 
receive thee in peace; thou joinest them in joy." The scene itself is surmounted 
by the usual winged globe and Ur<si, called in the tablet " the Hut, great god, 
lord of the heaven, giver of life;" above which appears the heaven itself, with 
stars. At the right side of the picture, going down the whole inscription, is a 
sceptre {gam), a personification, as it appears from the other tablet, of the 



Tico Egi/ptian Tablets of the Ptolemu'tc Feriod. 5 

" B-u-ata." At the left side is a notched palm-branch, having sixty-four notches, 
rising out of the hieroglyph " ten million festivals." 

The test of this tablet is in fourteen horizontal lines, and reads: "Act of 
homage to Osiris, lord of the Western Eu-sta, great god in Ru-kat ; to Hap! 
Osiris, great god, dwelling in the West, king of the gods, guardian of ages, eternal 
ruler ; to Isis, the great mother goddess, pupil of the Sun, lady of the heaven, 
regent of the gods ; to Nephthys, the sister goddess ; to Horus, the defender of 
his father in Ku-kat ; to ^Vnup, who is over the hill, attached to the embalmcnt, 
who dwells in the divine ahode, lord of the Taser ; to Aiemhetp, the son of Ptah ; 
to the gods and goddesses in the West, who give sepulchral meals of food and 
drink, oxen, geese, frankincense and wax, linen fabrics, wine, thousands of good 
and clean things which heaven has given earth and produced to the Osirian, lord, 
chief, chancellor, sole counsellor, prophet, priest of Ptah, priest of the gods of the 
White Wall, prophet of Osiris, great god, lord of the Ru-sta, sacred scribe, incense- 
bearer of the temple of Ptah, prophet of the library and of the gate, priest of 
Ptah, priest of [A-thor] the lady of the sycomore, priest of Ptah who dwells in 
the universe, priest of Bast, living mistress of the Upper and Lower Country, 
priest of Osor-hapi in Bu-kat, priest of Anup who is on the hill, priest of 
Aiemhetp (Imouthos), son of Ptah, prophet of Ba, the soul lord of Tattu, who 
dwells in the pool of the great house of the living, great governor of Egypt, eyes 
of the king, eai's of the king, filling the heart of the Horus [the king] in his 
palace, beloved of the king as he wished, greatly beloved by all in their heart, 
high priest of the lord of the world, wand of the king in the temple, royal deputy 
at the setting-up, governor of Ru-sta, of Ru-kat, of Taser, of Egypt, of Uapi- 
neb-sat, governor of the temple of Ptah, governor of the gate, superintendent of 

the priests of all the gods, going in the temples of Upper and Lower 

Egypt, elevated to the eye in a moment, the beholding the great gods 

bom of its being, binding to Nu his great urseus, the great attendant of the altar 
Pasherenptah justified, son of a person holding a like office, chief attendant, Petbast 
justified, bom of the good assistant priestess of Ptah, greatest of the Southern 
Wall, living lord of the Upper and Lower World, Herank justified : He says Hail 
to those who approach this chamber, record ye my name with the best of the gods 
in the festivals of the AVest, make ye offerings to me of sweet water and frank- 
incense ; say ye, May thy body be renewed, may thy soul live, may the delicious 
air which emanates from Atum come to thy nostril for ever and ever, for I am 
the mummy of him who was found to have done good, and not to have done any 
evil ; I am good, doing what every one loves. The 25tli year, the 21st Paophi of 
the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the lord of the two countries, Ptoleraaios 



II 



6 TuDO Sgypiian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period. 

the saviour god, the justified was the day of his birth. Thirteen years were passed 
before [my] father. The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the lord of the two 
countries, the father-loTing, brother-loTing, the young Osiris, the son of the Sun, 
lord of diadems, Ptolranaios the everliving j gave me the great dignity of chief of 
the attendants on the altar in Ms tenth year ; I was placing the iirseus crown, on 
the head at the conducting of the king on the day when he united the Upper and 
Lower Countries, and performed all the ceremonies in the temples and festivals. I 
was arranging all the secret ceremonies ; I gave the homage, I offered water to (or 
purided) the Horus at hia divine birth in the gold house, coming and conducting [P] 
the kings of the lonians, who are on the banks of the Ocean at the "West, the 
titles of his name in Ru-kat. "The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, the ruler of 
the North and South, the father-loving, brother-loving, young Osiris is crowned 
in his palace and living.' He passed to the temple of Isis, mistress of the region 
of the Eye ; he made very numerous offerings, proceeding to the north of the 
temple, which belongs to Isis, on his chariot ; the king himself drove ; he wore 
on his head a crown of gold and gems ; the king delighted in his heart ; he made 
me his priest ; he issued a royal ordinance throughout Egypt, saying. The chief 
attendant, Paaherenptah, has been made my priest, and there is given to him an 
annual salary of the things belonging to the temples of Upper and Lower Egypt. 
The monarch went to the White WaU daily, passing and repassing at Maamat ; 
he watched over the canal of the life of the North and South ; he went to my 
temple with his chiefs, his women, and royal children, and all things, seating 
me in his boat with the passengers to perform all the festivals of the gods and 
goddesses who belong to Memphis, as the greatest of those he loved ; the lord of 
the Earth was delighted, wearing his crown in front of his [followers]. I was a 
chief provided with all things ; I had daughters ; when I reached the age of 
forty-three no male son was bom to me. The image of that god Aiemhetp, the 
son of Ftah, gave me a male son ; his name was called Aiemhetp, sumamed 
Pet-sa-hesi, bom of the lady Ta-aiemhetp justified, daughter of the divine father, 

prophet of Horus, lord of £ham, bringer of the Apis in the reign of the 

majesty of the. ruler, the lady of the world, Cleopatras and her son Cesars the 
11th year, the 15th of the month Epiphi, was the day on which he died ; he was 
placed in the great quarter, Etnd there were performed all the ceremonies of 
mummification, and he was at rest in his sepulchre on the 30th of Thotb, of 
the 12th year ; he lived forty-nine years. Oh I all gods and goddesses who are 

unnamed, let a child remain in my place for ever and ever I keeping alive 

the name of the house scribe of the sacred words, greatly praised of the 

queen of the two worlds, sacred scribe of Ba, lord of Tattu, who dwells in the pool 



Tico Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period. 7 

of the palace, chief guardian of the shrine of the throne, prophet of Horns, 
Aiemhetp son of Hapi, a person holding the same office, bom of Ilerankh 
justified by his greatly beloved father [in law] Hapi." 

The first point to be considered is the historical information conveyed by this 
tablet, Tvhich appears, from the fact of the bull Apis holding so prominent a 
position in it, to have formerly belonged to the Serapeium at Memphis, in the 
vicinity of which the deceased Pa-sber-en-ptah must have been buried. He was 
bom, it appears, on the 21st of Paophi, in the 25th year of Ptolemy X. or 
Lathyrus, that is, B.C. 92. At this time Ptolemy XI. or Alexander was actually 
on the throne ; it would therefore seem that the reign of this last-mentioned 
monarch was not recognised in the reign of Cleopatra VI , when the death of 
Pasherienptah took place, and the tablet was erected. 

When Pasherienptah had reached his thirteenth year, which must correspond 
with the third year of Ptolemy XIII , or Neos Dionysos (b.c. 79), the year of 
that monarch's marriage to Cleopatra V., or Tryphfena (but clearly prior to that 
marriage, as her name is not mentioned), this last-named Ptolemy nominated 
him to tlie charge of chief of the altar attendants. In his fourteenth year (b.c. 78) 
he placed the crown on the king's head, on the day of the festival of the union 
of the Upper and Lower Countries ; he seems, also, to have superintended some 
other official rites, and to have performed the ceremony of the lustration or purifi- 
cation of the monarch at his mystical regeneration of the " golden chamber," and 
conducted the kings of the Greeks," who were on the shores of the great Ocean, 
to the city of Rakotis, or Alexandria, where Ptolemy was crowned in his palace. 
Now, it is difficult to understand what this refers to, for at this period all the 
other Greek kingdoms had Ijeeu subjugated by the Romans, and it is probable 
that this records the arrival at Alexandria of the decree of the Roman senate 
confirming him in the possession of his kingdom, which he is known to have 
sought by bribes, while the date of the arrival of the decree itself is not known. 

The subsequent information refers to the well-known pomp and luxury of 
Auletes, who went to the temple of Isis, mistress of Aa-ata (probably one of the 
quarters of Alexandria), made many offijrlngs to the goddess, and proceeded to tlie 
sekoSy or shrine of the temple, where the statue of the goddess was placed standing 
in a chariot of four horses, which he himself drove, and adorned with a regal 
diadem of gold and gems.'' It was upon this occasion that the king appointed 

• There is an ambiguity here, as it may read " going ta the palace of the Greek monarch, which is on the 
sea shore." 

" Perhaps he gives the gods. Ptolemy IX. aays to Osiris, " I tie on thee a crown of real gems." Lepaius, 

Denkm. iv. 29, b. 



8 Two Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic PeHod. 

Pasherienptah to be his priest (that is, the priest attached to the worship of 
Auletes himself), and gave him an annual charge or salary from the revenues of 
all the temples of Egypt. Now the existence of eponymous priests of the living 
and reigning Ptolemies is well known from the Greek papyri ; not so their mode 
of remuneration or election, which it appears from this tablet was made by the 
king himself; and, in exercise of the functions of the royal priesthood, on the 
occasion of the journeys of the monarch and his court, he attended the " young 
Osiris,'* and, seated in the royal barge, superintended all the festivals of the gods 
of Memphis. 

Although Pasherienptah had a family of girls, he had no son till one was 
granted to his prayers, in his forty-third year, by the god Imouthos, the Egyptian 
jEsculapius, B.C. 49. This boy he named Aiemhetp-Petsa-hesi, and the child Tvas 
bom of his wife Ta-aiemhetp, whose name, derived from that of Imouthos, 
suggests the reason of the devotion of the family to that god. She was the 
daughter of a priest named Hapi. 

In the 11th year of Cleopatra VI., and when that queen was associated with 
Caesarion in the government (b.c. 43), Pasherienptah died, and received the usual 
Egyptian embalment of seventy days, from the 15th of Phamenoth to the 30th 
of Thoth of the next year, B.C. 42, according to the tablet, unless Epiphi should 
be read instead ; but this date of the month of Phamenoth seems rather to allude 
to the date of his death, and his burial did not take place till seven months 
afterwards. Generally, indeed, the tablets of the Ptolemaic period specify the 
number of days employed in the funeral rites as seventy days, but this period 
was in some instances divided into two, the one-half or thirty-five days being 

employed in the ^, api rtdy or " ceremonies," and the other in the P % ® •*» 

8uty or " preparations :" but the seventy days probably comprised the whole time 
occupied at the epoch of the later rulers from the death to the final deposit in 
the sepulchre.* Of the time and operations at an earlier period little or nothing 
is known from monuments, the practice of recording this and other facts of an 
ordinary nature having been introduced at a later period. This tablet probably 
came from some excavation made on the site of the Serapeiimi previous to those 
so successfully carried out by M. Mariette, as is evinced by the important place 
held by the Apis in the train of deities who confer the usual sepulchral blessings 
upon the deceased. Erom this mine most of the Ptolemaic tablets of the British 
Museum, according to M. Mariette, must have been derived. The spot was the 
great cemetery of Memphis at a later period, the principal functionaries and 

• Herod, ii. 86, 89. 



Two Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic JPeriod. 9 

personages of that city being buried in the ricinity of the Apis, and the priests 
attached to his worship were certainly there buried. 

The texts of this period differ so considerably from those of the svnith and 
xrxth dynasties, that their elucidation, at first sight, appears a work of the 
greatest difficulty, owing to the number of new characters introduced, and the 
words requisite to convey the meaning of fresh ideas which had crept into the 
language by thp contact of the Egyptians with the Greek races. At the same 
time, in the religious doeuments and monuments at least, no words of Greek 
appear in the usual tests. After the period of the xxiind dynasty, however, 
a greater number of homophones had been introduced iuto the language, and 
some unusual ideographs employed. This will easily be perceived from an 
inspection of the present tablet, in which the seated cynocephalus appears as 
the determinative of priest, and also to be used in the sense of scribe ; while 
the introduction of a chariot with foiu: horses into the text is peculiar to the 
epoch. The titles of the functionary Pa-sheri-enptah contain amongst them one 
which is frequent at the period, but the meaning of which it is difficult to define 
precisely. It is ^^y i« w '"* *''«■ In the eighth line of the tablet it states 
that he was invested with this dignity in his thirteenth year by the king himself, 
in whom, it appears from this tablet and the tomb of Beni- Hassan, the principal 
power of appointments resided, not to cite numerous tablets and inscriptions 
which record the same fact. In the present instance, the difficulty of deter- 
mining the nature of the office arises in part from the form of the hieroglyphics, 
the first, which resembles the stand or syllable ha, being apparently, from a 
comparison with other inscriptions, the sceptre, read ideographicaUy KHeRP, 
and syUabically KHeM. In the papyrus of Mr. Bhind, an officer of this period, 
who also held sacerdotal rank, is called khem alone. The root of this word, 
which signifies "to master" or "prevail over," suggests that it is a rank of 

some kind for particular functionaries ; thus ♦ is found prefixed to " the cooking 
of food,"' to " all the tunics " '■ or wardrobe of the king. At the back of a statue 
at Florence of Ptahmes, one of the titles of the officer is •T' q ,^^ , " master 
of all true knowledge," or science, " provider of the great gods, giving all their 
viands, ginng the god food in his shrine." The most common form of this 
title, however, is in connection with the temples, as " master of the temples 
or shrines," often found on the statues of the shrine-bearers of the xxvith 



' Tablet, Eg. Eoom, 6 



* Sborpe, Eg. Inscr. pi- 100. 1. G. 



i! 
ii 



10 Two Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period. 

dynasty,* although other forms do occur, as " master of the work of the vineyard.''^ 

The character ^ {kha) is a Ptolemaic form for it or T, often confounded 

on the monuments, although their meaning is very distinct ; the first appearing 
to mean the standard, or supposed athlon^ of the athlophoroSy many different 
forms of which are found; the latter decidedly meaning "artificer,"^ a title 
sometimes found, as hrai abu, " chief of artificers "** of the house of Amen Ra 
at Thebes, her abufen) hurri /, " chief of the artificers of the chariots."* The 
other form of the title often occurs in relation to the so-called "Tribunal of 
Truth," or Egyptian bench of judges, to which was attached an abiiu of the 
tribunal, an abuu hur or senior abti of the same, and a like functionary of the 
lord of the world, or Pharaoh, in the same tribunal, probably in connection with 
a judge of the king who exercised his functions in the same court, and is distin- 
guished from the other judges/ This title would seem more probably that of an 
usher, or some similar officer, than that of an artificer ; while the Sur-khem abu 
which occurs was of a sacerdotal nature, a tablet giving the expression oldest 
or chief khem or ha » abu of the god Ptah himself. 

There is another possible interpretation of this expression. The form kha is 
used by itself for " altar " on a monument at Paris,^ and the same, with the bar 
and hieroglyph for house, occurs also in the same sense in the Ritual.^ The word 
kherp has also a great latitude of expression, and seems to signify " to attend," 
or " bear," amongst other senses. Now an officer of the reign of Rameses II. is 
called, upon a statue in the Museimi of Leyden,^ hur kherp kha enti em a Ptah^ 
" chief attendant of the altars which are in the temple of Ptah." Such a charge 
would well correspond with the duties of Pasherienptah at that youthful age, 
when he was evidently employed as a neophyte or hierodule in the temple of 
the god. 

The numerous functions held by individuals of high rank at this period are a 



■ A statue at Berlin has " chief of the hall of the great house." 
^ Eg. Gall. No. 130. ^ See Champollion, Diet. p. 151. 

<^ Fig. Brit. Mus. e ch. Diet. 151. 

f Some tablets in Dr. Lee^s possession have these titles ; that of Royal Judge occurs on the back of a 
statue in the British Museum. 

« The form ha is used for number or account. Chabas, Pap. Mag. d'Harris, p. 245. 

^ Ciarac, Mus. de Sculpt, pi. 244, No. 394. 

* Lepsius, Todt. Ixxvii. 104, 8. 

^ Leemans, Mon. Egypt, ii. pi. xi. No. 45 b. 



Ttco Egyptian Tablets of the Fiolemaic Period. 



11 



remarkable feature of the age, and some of those recorded were probably honorary, 
or had been held successively by the deceased in the course of the honours which 
he had attained. Comparing this with the second tablet, where the name of 
Pasherienptah is again introduced, it will be seen that he was prophet of the 
god Ptah, and priest i^abj of all the gods of the WTiite Wall or Memphite acropolis, 
and that he held the priesthood of Ptah in three characters, of the goddess Athor, 
whose worship under the form oi Merienptah^ the beloved of Ptah, was associated 
with the Memphian deity Pakht, or Bast, who, together with Nefer Timi, formed 
the tetrade of the Hephaisteium. He was also prophet of Khnumis, who 
presided over the royal tank or reservoir, and archprophet or high priest of the 
king himself, the Ptolemies ha^-ing introduced this deification during life into 
their court ; he was also na^, or superintendent of the prophets of all the gods, 
having the right of entry into the temples of Upper and Lower Egypt. The 
seated J cynoeephalus appears in the three lines as determinative of hent neter, 
or " prophet ;» and the same with a star '^^ , in the attitude of adoration, has the 
same meaning on another tablet.'' According to HorapoUo, the cynoeephalus 
was used to express priest, because the animal did not eat fish, a diet avoided by 
the Egyptian hierarchy, and because it was naturally circumcised.'^ In line 14 
it will be seen that Aiemhetp, another of this family, is entitled by it scribe. 
But a still more curious use of the cynoeephalus seated, holding i^^ a symbolical 
eye, will be found in the titles of Pasherienptah in the variants of his title, 
king's second at the accession ; this animal there expressing the idea king.'' The 
principal other offices exercised by the same were the governorships or superin- 
tendence of the Ru-sat, of Ru-kat and Tasar, and Hap-neb-sat. The two first are 
supposed to be Rosetta and Rakotis ; that of Ta-sar is unknown ; Kami is of 
course Egypt ; and Hap-ncb-set is some district in the vicinity of Memphis. 
The fimction is probably of a sacerdotal character, and is represented by the 
seated jackal having a whip at his side, and placed upon a pylon, having above it 
the symbol of the heaven, determinative of the idea Aer, or "superior." The 
latter portion of this group is evidently determinative of the first, as it is often 

• Cf. LepsiuB, Denkm. Abth. iv. pi. xlii, a ; in tlie sense of " god." Abth. iv. pi. xlii. c ; and in combination 
forAimn or Turn, or Thotli, Bl. 45 b. 46 b. 4, b. 11. In 46 a it seems used for " hail, oh god 1" 

<> Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. 188. Toung, Hierogljpb. pi. !xs. Ix-^i. The standing ape is detenninatiTe 
of ash, "to adore," Bnigscb. Mon. ii. Ixsvii.; and of "light," liut, or a "sunbeam," sat. Lepsius, Denkm. 
iv. Bl. 82, I. 5. 

" Lib. i. 14, " Prisse, Mon. p!. xxvi. bis. 1. 6. Cf, the cynocefihalus holding ajar. 



I 



12 • 7\jD0 Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period. 

omitted in certain monuments ; and the whole evidently expresses the idea of 
*• governor/* variants of this occurring as i^'lP ^^ ^^ auten a, governor of 

the palace.* This sense of governor agrees with the explanations of Horapollo,'' 
hut it is limited to the couchant jackal, the gradient animal having a totally 
diflferent sense. In this first section there is little of philological importance. In 
the speech of Isis the context of other inscriptions shows that the form tu snatem^ 
or " delicious hreath," is intended, while there is an ohscure title of Imouthos or 
JEsculapius repeated in a more correct form in the second inscription, reading 

\hur bai^ma rut aap JL^^^X® . The first word is the well-known expression 

"chief;" the second word occurs in the sense of reward, gift, suhstance; but 
the third or last word, which, from its position in the sentence, is an adjective, 
has here the determinative of times ; but the sense appears to me very uncertain, 
although the whole would appear to allude to Imouthos, as the god of medicines, 
or the Egyptian JEsculapius.* This expression, indeed, enters very often into the 
composition of the titles of Ptolemy IX. or Euergetes II., who is said to be 
" discoursing " or " adoring with life " {he{k)nu am ansh) on the throne of his 

fathers; followed by J^^j-^^^, ^^ym^rut aep^^ \^i^ ^^ *^i^j* ^^ VB®!' ^' ^^P'^ 
Now, the absence of the form wa, in the two last forms, and the phonetic 
appearance of aep in the third, shows that it is a compound word formed of the 
preposition ma and the two words rut and aep^ the last signifying " times." The 
word rut generally means "to grow, increase ;" and here is prefixed to the word aep^ 
"times," as the phonetic group heh, "infinite," is in other inscriptions. This gives 
as a logical sequence the idea of " several, many," to the word rut in this and other 
places, as " he who discourses repeatedly on the throne of his father in the titles 
of Ptolemy Euergetes." Thus, another text of the titles of the same monarch 
states that the gods and goddesses address his face ; he has received the dominions 

* Kosellini, Mon. Reali, cxv. oxx. At later epochs the gradient animal signifies ** to come/* Lepsius, 
Denkm. iv. 44, p. 10, 45 a, 40, 10; also a dignity, L. D. iv. 39 c. 40 d. 

^ Lib. i. c. 39. ii &px^^ ^ SiKa^riip /SovXo/ievoc ypafitv Kvva Ziaypa^ovniv. It is scarcely necessary to add 
that Horapollo does not distinguish between a dog and a jackal. Of. also Sharpe, Egypt. Inscrip. 
pi. xxxvii. 1. 12. 

^ In another inscription it is said that Imouthos, or makar en meni neb, " gives remedies for all ills '' or 

" diseases,** the word makar -\ ^ 3J being determined like the present by a cake. Lepsius, Denkm. 

JrV<=> III 
Abt. iv. 32 a. 

** Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 37 a. * Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 39 a. 

^ Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 38 b. 8. 



Two Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period. 18 

of his father ; the South ia in terror of him ; the North in fear of him ; the West 
and East are afraid of him continually ; F^ ® «ia rut aep,"^ not to be avoided is 
hie face. This meaning probably applies to the passage under consideration ; the 
god Imouthos in this and the former tablet being designated as " chief of 
repeated substances " or " rewards." 

There is another word in these speeches of the gods of some interest ^r/ , the 
symbol tat and horns, the phonetic sound of which is doubtful, but the meaning 
of which may be arrived at from this and the inscription of the other tablet ; 
the gods "of the West here receive the deceased in peace, and be reaches " or 
joins " tbcm in joy;" while, in the other passage, Isis gives to the deceased " to 
reach " or join " on the beams of the horizon or solar abode.'"' In other passages 
it seems to have a similar sense."^ The word canjV^, ansh, which has pho- 
netically the same sound as " life," and replaces the usual word kam, " created, 
produced " things of the earth, should have the same meaning, as the gods ai"e 
stated to give the gifts of heaven, products of earth, and tributes of the Nile, in 
these formulsB f and it was by means or off these things that the deceased lived, 
or in which a divine life consisted. The commencement of the fifth line is 
remarkably obscure, and the second inscription does not throw light upon it 
beyond connecting it with the king. It may read " hastening to the eye (of the 
sun) at the moment (?) of the great king, beholding the great god coming forth 
from its being, when the sun has found bis great UTEeus ;" but to what this alludes 

• Lepaius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 38, b, c. " Prisse, pi, jcxvi. bis. s. 

' Lepsiua, Denkm. iv. 70 f. Cf. also tbe passage : " She has seen Lis elevation upon the tirone in which 
the disc is placed, he'.," Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 87 d. At Phils also the descriptiott of the Sun's passage imder 
the form of a scarab status Tat ap or het sen/- em hut/: " He has set up his image in his ark," Lepsius, 
Denkm. iv. 17. A corresponding passage says, Tat or htt hutf- em niUi : " He has established (or given) his 
light like gold," (Lepaius, Denkm. iv. 17 a.); as if this form, after all, was only Tat, to establish. It 
appears also as the name orKhnum, { Cham poll ion, Not. Descr. p. 183,) and may be so pronounced in the 
sense of the verb " to join :" " He places (adds or joins) his image to his shrine," Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 17. 
The disc is placed or united to its place, Lcpsius, Denkm. iv. 89 d. The north wiod comes forth to join 
his nostril, Lepsius, iv. 42 a. He has given the upper crown, ne/erl, iaaddition to lower crown, ko" tat or het 
enti teshr, uoitsA upon his head as the psehent, Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 47. Also in the sense of " joined." 
Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 63a, I have uniltd thy limbs with (or by) life. Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 70f, The 
goddess Het stales that " she has given life to her son, and added besides breath to ber child," Also Horus 
placed on the throne, Lepsius, iv. 35, 4. The phonetic power of ihls group is either Tat ap or Het, and it is 
the equivalent of the plant and serpent. All from Ptolemaic monuments. 

' Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pi. 2 ; but Sharpe gives here Ta en pe, " gifts of heaven," instead of aiisA, as Prisse 



t 



It 
!i 



! 

I 
I 

i 
I 



14 Two Egypticm Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period. 

it is impossible to say. The sistrum here ^ has the value of hek, in the word 

Ur-hek or " Urseus."* In the same line ^ ^\. the lion with an upraised tail is 

used for the word man, "like." In the seventh line, the expression " gold of the 
gods " seems to mean that the name of the deceased should be recorded with the 
best of the gods and goddesses ^ in the festivals of the West. The trussed goose 

4!^, usually employed as the determinative of the word aent^ or " terror," is here 
placed by itself for |^ uteb, " to offer," of which word it occurs as determina- 
tive in the papyri of Mentusbauf and his wife.^ The Q hieroglyph of a pylon 

inclosing a hatchet is the equivalent of the word rut^ " to grow " or flourish, or 
renpay " to grow," on monimients of this period,^^ in which the invocation or 

statement is that the soul lives in heaven ; the body, ^^ that is, the living body, 

flourishes ; and the corpse, kha t rut, remains sound in the Nouter kar or Hades. 
In the present sentence the body or kha is simply designated by a seated man.« 
The deceased is also stated to receive the north wind which emanates from 
Atum. This gift of the sweet or delicious air of the North is perpetually invoked 
in the earlier inscriptions, as "to breathe the delicious air of the north wind,*' 
on the statue of the Prince Ani,' of the age of Thothmes III. On the sarco- 
phagus of Naskatu, of the period of the xxvrth dynasty, Isis gives " breath to the 
nostril," * and the god Shu, the north wind, which comes from Atum,** otherwise 
called the delicious breath of the nostrU of that god.* 

* For urh(ek) in the sense of uraeus, see Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 45, c. 

^ Dev^ria sur la Deesse Noub. A similar expression occurs, Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pi. liv. 1. 9. 

^ Papyrus, Rhind, pi. i. and foU. 

** Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. 188; Young, Hieroglyphics, pi. Ixx., Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 43, 77 d. 

* It occurs with the determinative of blest, Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 41 c. 

^ Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pi. Ivi. 1. 7, 8. « Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pi. Ixxvii. 15. 

^ Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pi. Ixxv. d, I. 88, 84, 35. 

In the 4th Sallier Papyrus, Select Papyri, pL cli. 1. 7, the 19th Athyr is stated to be a bad day at the 
beginning, middle, and end. '' It is the day of the birth of the north wind," or " the Etesian gales," in the 
heaven. " Do not," add the instructions, ** go out and sail on the river, nor .... the sun on that day." De 
Roug^, Phenom^ncs Celestes, p. 35. Now, according to Volney, Voyage I. p. 54, the north begins to blow- 
in Egypt about the middle of September, say the 15th. Assuming the normal year of the Sothic cycle as 
having the 1st Thoth coincident with the 20th July, the date of the calendar is B.C. 1249, or the reign 
of Menephtah is of that date. The wind veered to the west, according to the same calendar, on tlie 13th 
Pharmuthi. Select Papyri, pi. clxv. 1. 2. 

^ Lepsius, Todt. xxii. c. 54. 



ii 



X 



Two Egyptian TaMets of the Ptolemaic Period. 15 

This formula, indeed, commenced under the xvnith dynasty, not being foimd 
at an earlier period, but often appearing in the xvinth till its close," and refers 
to the fifty -fourth chapter of the Ritual, which seems to date from this period,*' 
called the chapter of breathing the air in Hades. "Oh, Tum!" says this 
formula, " give me the sweet breath of your nostril ; I am the egg of the Great 
Cackler," alluding to the mundane e^^ of Seb, the Egyptian Chronos. " I have 
watched over that great egg which Seb prepared for the earth. I grow, it also 
grows ; as I live it lives, sending forth air. I am the examiner of purity ; his 
name is Behind his eggs, and his conception hourly, the very glorious Sut[ekh]. 
Oh .... of Earth, belonging to the food and labour of the Sim, watch ye over 
him who is in his nest, the babe who comes forth to you." The name of the god 
Atum in this inscription is very unusual, the two last signs replacing the usual 
hemisphere and sledge. -:\jnongst the principal varieties of expression which 

occur in the seventh line are the "7 head of the goose, to designate the cipher 
" 20," and the head of an animal ^ for Aaw, or hru, the day, which first appears 
at this late period ; while in the thirteenth line will be seen the sickle y for 
"9," being in fact the corresponding hieroglyph for the hieratic form. It is 
indeed one of the peculiarities of the later times, when a new system of phonetic 
numerals came into use. The head, usually pronounced ta or Apt, was used for 
"7;" the star 5'e6for"5;" the sickle J/a for "9;" the syllable (Sctj, brother, 
for " 2," probably its phonetic form Snau." The expression in the eighth line is 

not clear, but the character Jx^, which is often at the sides of thrones, means 
" to unite the upper and the lower country," and is occasionally found in the 
texts in the sense of union.'' The expression after " great ocean" is also exceed- 
ingly difficult to explain ; it apparently refers to the place at the side of the sea 
where the kings came.' It should read at Ma-semh-ru, the final character 
JJ' occurring as the determinative of n*, a "mouth" or "gate."' Aa the 
word ru is particularly applied to the mouth of the Nile, it may refer to the city 
of Alexandria, and be read jixst (maj at the western mouth ; or, as the name is, at 

' Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pt. 106, 4. 

" According to Dr. Hincks. Cf. the statue of Senmut, Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pi. 107, 1. 26—31. 
° Mr. Hajria, id 1855, bad recognised this form, which I have found in this sense in the Rhind Papyri. 
* Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pi. 23, 1. 2. Lepaius, Denkm. Abth. iii. 174. 

" Mithradatea, King of Pergamus, and Antipater, with 3,000 Jews, came to Pelusium a c. 48. 
Pap, Ath. 1078, 4, B. M.; Lepsius, Todt. sv. o. 28, 4. 



16 Tico Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period. 

Ra-kat, " Racotis." It is here that the king was said to be crowned in his palace^ 
and hence that he proceeded to the temple of Isis, which was in the Bnichion, 
or royal quarters of Alexandria; hence he went "to the ha," perhaps the 
temenos of the temple." In the tenth line the triple viper after the word 
" king " has some difficulty, although the context seems to show it to be the 
initial of the word gesf, " self," thrice repeated, as it is sometimes, to express 
the well-known word gefa, " food " or " grain."'' In this inscription the eleventh 
line reads " His majesty was approaching the White Wall daily ; he sailed and 
navigated to see the cities of ....," in which the two eyes express the idea of 
sedng, and the two cities are clearly two situate on the banks of the Nile, 
between Alexandria and Memphis. What follows is more diflBcnlt to understand, 
but it seems to be when he navigated mna t to the " pool " Shet, or " canal " of 
the life of the Upper and Lower Egypt, " he went to my house," supposing 

the form s=±i to represent the first person in this inscription, which it will 
evidently bear in several places of this inscription. After the expression " seated 
in the boat," along with "passing," the subsequent hieroglyph, the 22?, bird's 
nest, is obscure. At the earlier period it expresses the word sesh, " nest," and 
at a later, with the determinative of the heart and bar, j' »»«*>' " fulness of 
heart," or "satisfaction;" while with the determinative of the sail, meh, "the 
north wind;" it has also sometimes the determinative of flowers ■^^ for the 
idea " crown," meh.* At the earlier age it expressed also the places where the 
nests of the birds were, in which the Egyptian aristocracy fowled the " lakes " 
or "marshes."' The meaning seems indeed to refer to the hunting or fowling 
of the king, and may read, " I sat at the fowling and bringing of the nests,'* 
alluding to the personal friendship shown by the monarch to the priest. In the 
twelfth line he states that he " was a chief rich in all things ;" the word " rich," 
or " provided," being expressed hy - - ahepep. This form is a variant of 5 y •* * 
word frequently recurring in the composition of names, or having the ^, eye,'' 



■ Cleopatra built a monument near this temple. Plutarch, Vit. Ant. ; Sharpe, Eg. Hist. p. 6 
" It might be, " 8idd his majesty," supposing the serpent to be used for get " say." 

' Tablet, Eg. GaU. Brit. Miis. No. 379. ' Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. No. 3 

■ Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 23. ' Lcpaius, Denkm. Abth. ii. 130. 
B ChampoUion, Not Descr. p. 275. ■■ Sharpe, Eg. Inscr, 10, 12. 



..u. 



Two Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period. 



17 



or ^ * head, for a determinative, in the sense of " to hide," or " grieve." It 
may indeed be the equivalent of ^^, which occurs equal to 2 khep, at an 
earlier period." But this verb, " to receive," is used actively ; the context, 
however, shows that it must mean "provided." Although the sense of the 
subsequent phrase is clear, the means of deciphering it is by no means so. 
The writer of the inscription clearly intended to express either that the 
family of Pasherieuptah was composed of girls, or that he had married again. 
It is possible to read " although there was to me an excellent house," or 
" family of girls." In his case the vcord ® i-^p', khemm, with the head 
of the calf instead of the coil or lituus, is employed for female children. In 
many passages the same word is found in the sense of babe or child, with the 
determinative of a seated child holding its finger to its mouth j*^ sometimes in 
the simple phonetic form khen,^ especially in the compound form of Mes-khen' 
or " place of new birth," the Egyptian wheel of the Metempsychosis, and which 
has a variant apparently reading Meska, but probably only a variant of mes khen,^ 
as explained by the head of the calf in this word khennu, as occurring In this 

tablet. The form J , an, which foUowa in this line, is an unusual form of the 
Terb AN, "to be," used as the auxiliary preformant of the imperfect or aorist, 
instead of its phonetic equivalents ^^ or "I" . This first-mentioned group is 
usually employed for the instrumental " by " or " from," and elliptically as the 
verb " said by," — A-eN in the texts, but is here used as the auxiliary verb " to 
be." The god Imouthos, who appears as the last of the deities on the tablet, is 

said to have —j°^^>fak, "rewarded," Pasherienptah with a son. This word 
fak, determined by a cake of bread, is the Coptic &eKe or &6^6, and occurs often 
in the inscriptions in this or a similar sense. In the reign of Amenopbis III. 
there appears to have been some extraordinary event connected with the harvest, 
and the monarch is seen seated on his throne, receiving a deputation of several 



■ LepsiuB, Denkm. Abth. ii. 105 b. Select Pap. civ. 1. * Lepaius, Denkm. and Todt. Kviii. 39, 2. 

"^ See Lepeius, Denkm. Abth. ii. 125 d. 188; Eoselliai, M. d. c. xlix. The Papyrus Brit. Mua. 9900; 
Lepsius, Todt. i. p. 3, has thennu, with the head of a calf as determinative. 

" Eoaellini, M. d. c. xviii. ; in the passage, Lepaiua. Todt. i. 1, 3. According to M. Deveria, Rev. 
Arch. 1863, pi. ii. p. 13, it means recluses or Pallacidea. 

" Lepaiua, Todt. 110 ; Champollion, Diet. 229 ; Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 26 a. 59, 79. 

' Chabas, Pap. Mag. d'Harris, p. 223 ; Lepsiua, TodL xsxvi. 99, 15, 30. 



18 JSeo Egyptian Taiileta of the Ptolemaic Period. 

high fanotionaries. The text reads that the monarch is "seated on his great 
I throne at the rewards (fak) of the chiefs of the Upper and Lower Egypt;" and 

that the scene represents " the rewards CfakJ of the superintendents of the houses 
of the magazines of the court, and the presidents of Upper and Lower Egypt, 
when the chiefs of the granaries told them they should give the account of their 
measure of the thirtieth year." The explanatory scene represents them invested 

with gold chains and other honours.' Li the same line will be found ^pnx, iem,*' 

generally employed for the negative in the unusual sense of "to declare" or 

» " announce," and its phonetic equivalent , tern, "to call," or "name;" the 

reading of this portion of the text being " I gave hi» name to be Aiemhetp ; he 

I was called or surnamed Pethesi." This latter form of Tern, with the deter- 

minative of a sword or papyrus, is known, and has been recognised, as having the 
sense " to announce." It is the Coptic taiie, " to announce."' 
L The most remarkable expressions in the thirteenth line are the short and con- 

cise form of the seal to express eahu, " mummy," and the mallet for numkh, " pre- 
pared," the pyramidal or mausoleum form for tombs, in shape of a step-formed 
' pyramid, usually the determinative of the phonetic group adr or ari* supposed 

to mean " staircase," but also " hall."' The expression after the twelfth Thoth, 

^ 0> replaces the well known ha, " time " or " duration." It consists of two 
parts, the first consisting of the two horns often found in the designation of a 
festival celebrated at the commencement of the Egyptian year. In the Ptolemaic 
texts this expression Ap ter is determined by two budding shoots placed on 
circles ; also to give " a time for determining years, making months."' In one 
instance it is preceded by Shaa, "commencement," as if the period was the 
commencement of the year, in distinction to the head or first, which also occurs. 
But in certain texts the usual meaning of Ap will bear interpreting " was," or a 
similar phrase, and the two last hieroglyphs the lock of hair and solar disc. In 

fact ^ ka has the sense of "time," or "duration," at the Ptolemaic period, 
and Chons says to Euergetes II,, " I consecrate to thee the title, and reckon 

* Priase, Mon. pi. xxxix. Cf. also for this word. Tablet, Eg. Gall. No 282; Lepsius, Todt. xl. 109, 12; 
vi. 16, 4S. Mr. le Page Kenouf, Notes on some N^ative particles, 8to. Lend. 1862. 

» Bunsen, Egypt's Place, i. p. 589. 

■= Cbampollion, Diet. Egypt, p. 95; Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. No. 188, with the Papyrus Roll. It 
also means " created." 

•> LepsiuB, D>^nkm. Abth. iii. 203, 11. ' Lepeios, Todt. Ix. c. 144, title. 

' Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 9. 



Tuso Egyptian Tablets of the Ftolemaic Period. 



19 



their tim-e."" The fourteenth or last line presents many difficult expressions. 
" The divine neferu," if not an erroneous form for jtArw, or " -words," of which it 
is more likely that it is the correct form, and mistaken hy the copyist, must 
refer to the ornament or decorations of some kind, the khakeru, a synonym of 
the neferu, " beauties," or " glories," of the gods. The form aa kesit, " chief of 
subjects," has lately received a new interpretation'' of "recompensed;" but it 
does not appear to suit all the conditions under which it is repeated in the texts. 

The espressiou ^~ Tn"r' '^"'*"> is one the difficulty of which is recognised ; 
but it here receives some illustration from the context, as Aiemhetp or Imouthos 
was " governor of the hidden (one or place) of the throne." In more passages 
than one this word Tanu t will bear this meaning.'^ In the eighteenth chapter 
of the Ritual, referring to the Cosmogony, it is stated that the throne or seat is 
" the couch of Osiris ;"'' for I would read " he has made the chaos ^ of matter in 
the seat of Osiris ; the chaos of matter in the seat is the heaven and earth, or 
the pounding of the earth hy Shu in Suten Khen." Matter^ is the eye of Horus. 
There are two other expressions in this line of great difficulty ; one appears to be 
a form of the verb ahat, " to cut :" the other, a disc with two ursei, is thought 
from the context to signify " father-in-law," but it is not possible to explain the 
reason why it does so. 

The second of these tablets is in the British Museum, and was obtained from 
the collection of Mr. Salt. It came also from Memphis, and has been several 
times published.* It was made for Taiemhetp, the wife of Pasherienptah, and it 
is more important and interesting than the preceding, and throws BtUl further 
light upon the proceedings of the Egyptian hierarchy. Like the preceding, it 
has a rounded top, and has above the heaven supported by two sceptres, with the 
head of the kukupha, the gam, which are each entwined by a urseus, round the 



* Lepsiua, Denkffl. Abt. iv. bl. II, 2. Cf. iv, 17 b. a time, tiud ir. 22 b. for cycles. From the passages 
ir. 45 c. and 46 a. 10, where it is used in the word r«i, ihe value of the h^ seems to be K. 

'' Deveria, Mem. Biogr. de Bakenson, p. 41. 

' Burton, Exc. Hier. pi. lyi.; Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus, 243; Lepsius, Denkm. iii. 5. 

1 Lepsius, Todt. x. 17, 23. 

■ The word met in this passage, with the determinative of darkness, aeema to mean obscurity, " chaos." 
The reduplicated form nws-mes, Select Papyri, Chabas, Pap. Mag. d'Harris, p. 223, raeana confiision, 
" There is confusion in the street," There is also " a place of confiision " in the Ritual, Lepsius, Todt. Ixvi. 
146, 18. 

' ToAr is soue substance ; it b difficult to say what. A gate is made of it. Lepsius, Todt. Ixvi. 1-tG. 2C. 

« Lepsius, AuBwahl, taf. xvi. ; Shorpe, Eg. loser, pi. it. ; Prisse, Mon. Eg. pi xxvi, (bis). 

c2 



20 Tmdo Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period. 

neck of which is slimg a symbol of life (ankh). The space immediately beneath 
the heaven is filled up with the winged disc entwined by two ursei, tlie so-called 
" Hut, the great god, lord of heaven, with varied plumes emanating firom the 
horizon." This is twice repeated. The se^e beneath represents Taiemhetp 
standing, fitcing to the left, wearing a fillet round her head, and bracelets on her 
arms. She raises both hands in adoration to a train of Mempbian deitiea. The 
inscription above calls her "the Osirian good assistant Taiemhetp, justified, bom 
of Herankh." Behind her is " all life, stability, strength, and protection ;" and 
before her is " Adoration — four times." Before her is a small but elegant altar 
covered with loaves of bread, vases, a trussed water-fowl, and a bunch of onions. 
Beneath are a jug and basin of water, and an amphora of Greek form upon a stand. 
The deities aU stand facing the worshipper. The first, Osiris, under his usual 
attributes, holding the crook, whip, and sceptre, stands upon a pedestal in form 
of a cubit. He is called Socharis Osiris in Bu-kat or Bacotis ; and he says to 
Taimhetp, " I give thee a good funeral in Rus-ta." He is followed by Sapi or 
Apis, bull-headed, holding a tall crook and whip, and wearing a collar, uakh, 
bracelets, menne/er, and tunic, ehenti. He is called " Hapi-Osiris, who dwells in 
the "West ; great god ; king of the gods ; ruler of many days ; lord of eternity." 
He says, " I allow thy soul to be united in thy body." Behind them follows Isis, 
wearing the disc and horns, a collar, armlets, and bracelets, a long tunic, round 
which are wrapped her wings, and a vulture attire on her head.. In her right 
hand she holds a symbol of life ; in her left a papyrus sceptre. Her legends call 
her " Isis, the great mother goddess, the eye of the sun, the mistress of the 
heaven ;" and she states, " I have given to thee to receive the rays of the sun." 
She is followed by Nephthys, draped like Isis, but wearing her name above the 
disc and horns She is styled " Nephthys, the sister goddess, protectress of her 
brother ;" and she says, " I have given thee the delicious wind of the north to 
thy nostril." Behind them stands Horus-Harsiesis, hawk-headed, wearing the 
pachent ; a collar, tiskh ; a tunic, shenti ; and holding a sceptre, gatrty and 
emblem of Ufe. He is called " Har, the avenger of his father, the great god in 
Bu-kat, or Racotis." He says appropriately, " I let thy son remain in the place 
of his father." Anepu or Anubis, jackal-headed, draped as Horus, follows, 
holding a sceptre and emblem of life. He is styled "Anubis, who is upon the 
hill ; who dwells in the divine abode ;" and says, " I give to thee all the good 
things belonging to me." The scene is closed by a personification of the West, 
the region of the tombs and of departed souls, represented here by the standard 
of a hawk wearing a feather on its head, entitled "the land of the good West. 



Two Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period. 21 

It receives thee in peace in the ark, with the spirits and souls.** The 

text of the tablet consists of twenty-one horizontal lines, deeply engraved. It 
reads, "A royal oflfering given to Socharis Osiris, who dwells in Ptah-ka, to 
Socharis the great god of Ru-kat (Racotis) ; to Hapi-Osiris, who dwells in the 
West, king of the gods, guardian of ages, eternal ruler ; to Isis, the great mother 
goddess, eye of the sun, mistress of the heaven, regent of aU the gods; to 
Nephthys, the sister goddess ; to Horus, the avenger of his father, great god in 
Ru-kat (Racotis) ; to Anup, who is upon the hill, and attached to the embalming, 
resident in the divine pylon ; to all the gods of the land of the happy West, which 
is Ptah-ka, who have given meals of food and drink, oxen and geese, frankincense, 
all good things which come from their altars ; to the Osirian lady, chief of the 
adorned; greatest of subjects; lovely, excellent, and envied; beloved in the 
mouth of men ; greatly praised by her seniors ; the young person found adjustiag 
her mouth; sweet- worded ; whose thoughts were bright ; Taiemhetp justified ; the 

daughter of the beloved of God the priest of Ptah, priest of the gods of 

the White Wall, priest of Elhem, lord of Sennu, of Khnimiis, lord of Baenhar, 
priest of Horus, lord of Khem, governor of Aatuta, governor of Skhem, Ait-hapi 
living ; she was the daughter of the assistant priestess of Ptah, who is the 
rampart of the South, the living lord of the Upper and Lower World, 
Herankh." She says, " Hail, priests, scribes, mummies, spirits who approach 
this chamber 1 hear 1 the ninth year, the 30th Choiak, of the reign of the lord of 
the Upper and Lower Country, the god, father-loving and brother-loving, the 
young Osiris, the son of the Sun, the lord of diadems, Ptolemaius, beloved of 
Ptah and Isis, was the day on which I was bom. The twenty-third year, the 
1st Epiphi of the reign of that lord of the world, my father gave me to be the 
wife of the prophet of Ptah, the sacred scribe of the place of registers; the 
prophet of the two gates (?) ; priest of the gods of the White Wall ; superin- 
tendent of the prophets of the gods and goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt ; 
eyes of the king ; ears of the king ; second of the king at his setting up ; wand. of 
the king ; leading him in the temples ; lord of the throne of Seb ; minister of 

the second Thoth ; first of the soul hastening to the eye at the great 

moment ; beholding the great god coming forth from its bebig ; the chief 
attendant, Pasherienptah, son of Pet-bast, a similar functionary, justified ; bom 
of the assistant priestess ; the greatly adorned ; the cymbalist of Ptah, the rampart 
of the South, the living lord of the Upper and Lower World, Herankh, justified. 
That chief attendant was grieving very much that I should bring him sons, for 
I had not borne him a male, but only daughters ; I made a vow with the chief 



22 Ttoo Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period. 

attendant to the person of that noble god, the great in continual rewarding, to giTe 
a son to him who had not ; Aiemhetp, the son of Ptah, he listened to his tows, 
and attended to Ms wishes. The person of that god came at night to that chief 
attendant in a dream. He said, 'Let there he made a great couch in the hall of the 
lord of the Upper and Lower World, in the place in which his form is hidden. 
I will give to you in return for it a male child.* When he awoke he did so. He 
thanked that great god, he gave them in presence of the prophets, the governors, 
the priests, and the artificers of the gold place at once. He ordered them to 
make the construction in the shrine. They did as he ordered them ; he made a 
dedication to that noble god ; he made a great feast of all good things ; he 
rewarded the artificers of the image ; that great god, he delighted their hearts 
with all things ; he rendered me pregnant of a male son ; I gave birth to hiyn on 
the 6th year on the 16th of Ghoiak, on the .... hour of the day, of the reign of 
the ruler, the mistress of the two worlds, Cleopatra, the living. On the festival 
of the ' things on the altars,' when that god Aiemhetp, the son of Ptah, receives 
the ceremony of investiture of son of the Southern Wall, which is performed to 
him by those of the White Wall, 1 gave to b irn his name to be Aiemhetp ; I 
sumamed him Petbast; aU rejoiced. In the lOtb year, the 16th of the month 
Mechir, was the day of my death. Then placed me my husband, the priest of 
Ptah, priest of Osiris, lord of Rus-ta, priest of the lord of the world Ptolemaiua the 
justified, governor of the house of Ptah, governor of the gate, of the Rus-ta, and 
of Ru-kat (Racotis), the chief attendant, Pasherienptah, in the great quarter ; he 
made to me the whole preparations of the prepared dead ; he gave me a good 
embalment ; placed me a bier in his sepulchre behind Ru-kat. Oh, brother, 
husband, relative, instructor, chief attendant, may you never cease eating and 
drinking the food and delicious liquor, making festival ; may your heart always 
follow you ; may you fulfil the wish of your heart as long as you are on earth. 
For the West is the land of visible darkness ; the prison of those who are seated in 
it,- figured in their forms. They do not awake to see their brethren ; they do not 
see their fother or their mother ; they forget their wives and children. The Uving 
water, which is destroying all in it, is thirsted for by me ; it comes to all who Uved 
on earth. I have thirsted for the stream ; I do not know where I am ; when I 
approach that valley I wept for the waters flowing to me ; I said, * Let me not go to 
the water;' I wept for the north wind on its bank, that it should refresh my heart in 
its affliction. I [hear] the one who comes at his name, who calls everyone to him ; 
they come to him offering their hearts vanquished by the fear of him. He does not 
regard them as the great gods ; he treats them as little ones ; he does not turn back 



2\oo Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period. 23 

the faces of any who love him ; he has separated one from another, giving 

them to the old one who goes his round ; terrifying all who are beseeching before 
him. He has not shewn his countenance to those who have gone to his call, 
or listened to his address. I do not see him ; I give to him abundance of all 
things. Hail, all who come to this tomb 1 I have offered burning incense and 
libations in aU the festivals of the West ; giving life, the royal scribe, the 
governor of the house of the shrine in the temple; the prophet of Horus, 
Aiemhetp, son of the prophet Hapi justified bom." 

This tablet was made for Ta-aiemhetp, the daughter of Her-ankh and Pasherien- 
ptah, who adores the same divinities as those on the tablets of her mother's 
previous husband. She was the daughter of Her-ankh, herself a priestess, and 
of Hapi, a priest of Ptah, of the same rank as her former husband, probably a 
relation, it being usual to intermarry in the high families for the sake of retaining 
the offices and their emolimients in the great families of Memphis. The text of 
this tablet affords the following additional information to the preceding tablet. 
After the death of Petbast, the father of Pasherienptah, the priestess Her-ankh 
married her second husband the priest Hapi, by whom she had a daughter 
named Ta-aiemhetp, who also held the same rank, and Aiemhetp, who became a 
priest and scribe, who survived his half-brother and sister, and set up both their 
tablets. The inscription commences with the usual sepulchral formula, and then 
proceeds to state that Ta-aiemhetp, on the 30th of Choiak, the 9th year of 
Ptolemy Neos Dionysos, or B.C. 72, on the Ist of Epiphi, the 23rd year of the 
same reign, B.C. 58, or in the fourteenth year of her age, was married to her 
half-brother Pasherienptah, and, having passed twelve years without giving birth 
to a son, she made a vow with her husband to the god Aiemhetp or Imouthos. 
That god appeared to him in a dream, and ordered him to make a certain con- 
struction in the temple of Ptah, in the Asclepeium, or temple of Ptah, for it is 
not distinctly stated which of the two is meant. After performing the orders of 
the god, she gave birth to a son on the 16th of Choiak, the 6th year of Cleopatra, 
46 B.C., just twelve years after her marriage. He was named Ai^i^OLhetp-Petbast, 
the first name having been given him in honour of the god Imouthos or 
^sculapius, on some especial festival of that god. On the 16th day of Mechir, of 
the 10th year of the same reign, B.C. 42, she died. Finally she addresses her 
husband from the Hades, and describes to him the misery and discomfort of the 
region of the dead; and the inscription terminates by stating that the tablet 
was erected to her by her son Aiemhetp or Imouthos.* The chief iiite«»«<-- of 

* See Dr. Hincks on the Egyptian Stele, Trans. Roy. Irish Acad. voL ziz. pt.iL: 
p. 6; Lepsins, Ueber der Ptolemaergeschichte, 4to. Berlin , 1858, p. 23. 



24 TuH) Option Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period. 

the tablet, independent of the historical information it affords by showing that 
Ptolemy XIII., or Neoa Dionysos, was not married in his ninth year, and that 
Cleopatra VI. was sole ruler in her sixth, is the light it throws upon the former 
tablet, and the appearance of the god Imouthos to Pasherienptah in a dream. 
It appeal's &om hieroglyphical and other inscriptions that Imouthos particularly 
aided the fecundity of women. Thus at Philae he says to Ptolemy Philopater I., 
that he has come and announced the gift of life to men, and confers a sotmd 
life on the monarch.' The god informs Ptolemy V. or Epiphanes, " I am the 
great son of Ptah, a created god engendered of Tanen " (a title of Ptah), " issue 
of his loins, coming behind thee, [giving] children to men and women. I give 
thee things created." '' At Philae an Asclepeion, or temple of this god, is dedi- 
cated to him by Ptolemy V., or Epiphanes, and Cleopatra, and by their uewly- 
bom son Philometor, on account of their having obtained an heir." The god is 
here called Aiemhetp, or Imouthos, son of Ptah and Khn w Tr i, who dwells in Abu 
(or Elephantine). The prayer of the king not only identifies or assimilates bjm 
to Khnumis, the Ammon-Chniimis or Ammon-Chnebis, but also compares him 
to the Sun. " Thou fliest to the heaven to the hawk ; thou goest to the great 
Nycticorax (phcenix) ; thou goest as a divine hawk, as those who are never at 
rest ; thou receivest the food in the ark as the incorruptible ; thou passest right 

to the "We behold thee ; make me behold the light ; he has opened to 

thee the door of the path of the fammehj doorway ; thou hast the 

of Osiris coming, receiving the bari before him, for ever like the hawk." ^ The 
meaning of this obscure passage seems to refer to the Pantheistic notions which 
prevailed at a later period, and which identified him with Osiris and Horns. In 
other texts he is said to have shown his power in all lands, " rejoicing the day 
that he lived." He is said elsewhere to heal all maladies." The worship of 
Imouthos in connection with that of Serapis, with whom indeed he is sometimes 
confounded, is proved by the fact of the Asclepeion or separate temple in which 
he was honoured at Memphis being close to the Serapeium, or forming part of it. 
This temple was called the Great Asclepeium at Memphis ;' besides which, there 
were stone altars sacred to him in the Serapeium itself, on which libations were 

* LepaiuB, Denkm. Abth. iv. 15d. *■ Lepsius, Deokm. Abtb. iv. IS. 

<= ThededJcatioii nina, wai nroXtfialoc iios 'AaxX^irift. Lepsius, De&km. A.bth. iv. bl. 18 ; Cf. Bockh, Corp. 
InBcr. No. 4694. ; Partbey. 1. c 

' SimUar cxpreaaions will be found, LcpsiuB, Deokm. iv. 25. 

' LepniuB, Denkm. Abth. iv. 32 c; nt m«n em haak, " heals evils in tb; limbs." 

' rh vpbt Mifif tv fuyii 'AtriXiiiniiiv. Pap. Briu MuB. zil. xiii. Gat. D. O. ; Leyd. £. 0. ; Bookh, Corp. loser. 
xii. pp. 304, 305. 



TtJDO Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period. 25 

daily offered to the god.* The Serapeium, in fact, contained a Pantheon in 
itself, as an Apeion, or temple of Apis, and an Anubeion, The Asclepeion was 
more particularly connected with the Serapeium, and is even, supposed to have been 
under the same administrator.^ The worship of Osiris and the other gods is 
associated in this tablet with that of corresponding divinities of Ru-kat or 
Rhacotis, where a chapel had been anciently consecrated to Osiris and Isis, which 
afterwards became the celebrated Serapeium of Alexandria. 

The next point for consideration is the appearance of the god in a dream. Such 
manifestations are not uncommon in the traditional history of Egypt : thus the 
Sethon of Herodotus laments at the statue of the god Ptah, and, overcome by 
sleep, sees in a dream the god standing by him, and exhorting him how to resist 
Sennacherib.*' The dream of the king of the Bakhten has been already mentioned, 
and is recorded as an actual revelation. In the same manner the Nasamones 
took oracles by sleeping amidst the sepulchres.^ The oracles of Serapis at 
Babylon, probably imported from Egypt, were rendered by dreams.® The influ- 
ence of dreams afterwards passed into the province of the magician, and the 
receipt for obtaining them was to paint or draw the figure of the ibis-headed 
god Thoth or Asten on a piece of byssus with the blood of a quail, and invoke 
the god in the name of his father Osiris and mother Isis.^ The same superstition 
as to dreams prevailed amongst the Greeks, some of whom believed them to be 
divine existences sent by the gods ;^ and the Theban oracles of Amphiaraus^ at 
Oropus, and that of Apollo at Telmissus, were given by dreams. In one remark- 
able instance the dream Mnrote the response in hexameters on the hand of a 
philosopher.^ In the memorable story of Decius Mundus and Paulina the wife 
of Satuminus, the former seduces that lady through the priests of the god 
Anubis, who send a message to the lady to come into the temple of Isis to partake 
of a feast, and pass a night on the couch of the divinity ; a story which bears a 
remarkable similarity to the present,^ a couch being in this instance also ordered 
to be placed in the temple. 

* o 'AffKXriirioQ ix^i \i9iva ffwovitia Avta Iv rtf XapawtUff. "EOoq hrt ffwMtiv rif * AdKKiiieuf Kaff i^ftipuv, 

Bmnet de Presle, M^moire sur le Serapeium, 4to. Paris, 1852, pp. 14, 15. 

^ Reuvens, Lettre iii. p. 88. « Herod, ii. 141. * Herod, iv. 172. • Quint. Curt. 

^ E^uvens, Lettre a M. Letroone, 4to. Leide, 1830, p. 9. 

« Cicero, Nat. Deor. iii. 17, 37 ; Ovid. Met. xi. 33 ; Virgil, Eel. viii. 55. 

^ Pausan. i. 34, s. 4. The worshippers abstained from wine, fasted for twenty-four hoUfi ttid slept on 
the skin of the sheep offered. ' Eunapius, Not. Oldesii 

^ Kal i^pdZii irpbg dvSpa diiwvov rt airy nal f vvi)v tov 'AvovjSi^ol tXg fiyytXBai* JOMJpih* X* 

D 



26 2W ^ptian Tahleta of the Ptolemaic Period. 

The order of the priesthood would reqiiire a long and separate dissertation* 
and the rank which they respectively held has been already shown from the 
statue of Bakenkhons.' At the Ptolemaic epoch the prindpal ranks were the 
prophets of Pasht, Ptah, especially as {?od of the White Wall/ of Mut," of Osiris "• 
and of his temple in Rusta,' of Horus,' of the place of registers," and of the 
crown house '' and other portions of the great temple at Memphis. Besides the 
priests of the actual gods, there were some .of the deifled monarchs of the old 
Memphite dynasties, such as Seneferu of the third, Khufu and others, of the 
images of Menephthah of the nineteenth,' and the chapel or palace of Rameses III. 
iu Memphis.^ Besides the older kings, there were in the temple of Ptah priests 
of the father and brother-loving gods attached to the cult or worship of the 
deceased or living Ptolemies ;' a prophet of the royal sister, daughter, and wife, 
child of Amen Ka, and mistress of the world, Axsinoe,'" and of the royal sister 
Philotera." Some of this numerous body exercised their functions monthly/ 
Beside the prophets were other priests, ab, principally of Ptah, the gods of the 
White Wall,p and Horus lord of Khem, the at neter, or " divine fathers," and 
scribes both sacred and royal, who attended to the administration of the dues, 
the work, and other accounts of the temple and of the treasury. Besides these 
were the superintendents or governors of the different temples, and numerous 
minor functionaries connected with the civU administration or religious worship. 

The title of the " Young Osiris," or the Neos Dionysos, assumed by Ptolemy 
XII., is here remarkable ; his fall titles, however, occur in Greek, in an inscrip- 
tion at Philae.4 The festival of Imouthos is mentioned elliptically as that of 
" the things upon the altar," a nocturnal festival, of which name is mentioned 
in the ritual ' in the Litanies of Thoth. In the final part of the inscription the 
doctrine enunciated does not correspond with the state of the blessed in the 
Egyptian Hades, but rather with that of the wicked, who, imprisoned in their 
caverns, do not see or hear the sun ; it rather coincides with the ideas of the Greek 
philosophers, especially that of Plato, who, however, seems to have derived his 
doctrines from Egyptian sources. Reference seems, indeed, here to be made 

» Deveria loc. oit.; Baillet, Ker. Arch. 1863, p. 44-51. These priesthoods were not for life, but for a 
term of years. 

^ Sharps, Eg. Inacr. pi. 48, 1 . « Sharpe, Eg. Inacr. pi. 48 a ; Tablet, Eg. Gall. 378. 

'J Sharpe, Eg. Inacr. 48 a. • Ibid. * Ibid. » Ibid. » Ibid. 

' Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. 48 a. ; Tablet, Brit Mus 378. ^ Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mub. 379. 

' Sharpe, E. I. 48a. » Tablet, Eg. Gall. 879. " Ibid. 

° Tablet, Eg. Gall. 378, f Young, Hieroglyph, xlviii. 

4 Letronne, Recherches, p. 13-4. ' Lepsius, Todt. xi. 18 a. 2. 



Two Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Feriod. 



27 



to the forgetfulneas caused by the drinking of the waters of the Egyptian Lethe ; 
and the lady addresses her husband from the other side of the Styx. The 
oflFering of fire and water in the festivals refers to that performed in the temple of 
Berapis, as in the great temple of the god at Alexandria ; the bard or singer 
every day, when he opened the doors of the temple, poured water upon the steps, 
and held out fire to the multitude ;■ occasionally fire and water are represented 
as being offered in the reliefs of the temples. 

The text of this tablet is, if possible, more difficult than that of the preceding, 
being filled with idioms and expressions peculiar to the Ptolemaic period. Some 
of these are almost untranslateable, and many of rare occurrence ; others are only 
older forms of expression, disguised by the use of characters not employed 
previous to this age. 

The first word to remark upon is the so-called Mut, the reading of which 
appears uncertain from the variations of the same word in speaking of the tables 
or altars of viands at the twelfth dynasty, the hand being indifferently written 
in the first or second place,'' while in the same word hut, or "table," as it is 
supposed to be pronounced, is written phonetically tahu," or iebhui t,'^ probably 
only another form of teba,' or tebhu,' " box," or "ark." 

The same word as the hul has also the determinative of throne,* or palanquin/ 
in the sense of seat or throne. That the hut or tebhut had a specific meaning, 
independent of the local idea of Apollinopolis, will appear from the inscription at 
Philae, where it says, " Akh-f-en-ta-ta-naf-hut-f." He is suspended over the 
earth ; he has taken hia " seat,"' or " ark." The fullest account of this mystical 
emblem, however, is on the pylon of Ptolemy VII., or Philometor II. at Philae.'' 
It is there, as elsewhere, divided into a dual principle, the one presiding over the 
North, the other over the South. The texts here call it the " hut" or " tebut, 
great god ; lord of the heaven with variegated plumes ; coming forth from the 
horizon ; dwelling in the southern quai-ter ; the god with life and power ; creating 
all divine beings in his shape, eternal ; giver of eternal life :" and then an 
inscription facing in another direction, but which seems to refer to the same, 
calls it "A great transformation of the sun, giving life to his souls in their 



• ChtcremoD apud Euseb. Prep. Evang. iii. 4. 
< LepBins, Denkm. iii. 84. 

• Saro. of Nekhtherhebi, Eg. GaU. 10 r. aide. 

* Prisse, Mon. xxi. 

" I.epsiuB, Denkm. Abth. i*. 11 c.j Cf. Bruggch. Mon. Eg pi. Isl. I. 7. 

* Lcpsiua, Denkm. iv. 17 a. * Lepsius, Denkm. 

d2 



" Cf. Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. 436. 

" Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 3. 

' Kosellioi, M. c; CfaampoUion, Mon. c< 



28 Two Egyptian Tablets of the Ftolemaic Period. 

prison; the noble flying orb (op),' shining in heaven; the great prevailer over 
lands and countries/' The other " hut," or " tebhut," is called " the hut ; 
great god ; resident in the northern quarter ; lord of Tentyra ; the great disc 
shining in heaven ; the gods behold him ; giver of life for ever ;" and again, in 

another portion, " the avenger Horus, lord of Hut,'* or, ** Abut ; great 

protector of their places ; the great flying orb, op, which iUumines the world ; the 
goddesses see him the lord of countries." The fact of this representation being 
placed upon tablets, dated at all periods, prevents any idea of its being supposed 
to be the sun, connected with any particular phase of the sun in the summer and 
the winter solstice. In the legends descriptive of the scene there is not much to 
remark; the star, hatchet, and jackal represent the usual Neter sbau, or tiau^ 
" adoration ;" the jackal apparently determining the idea adoration, or else 
replacing the form sep^ " times," usually represented by a cake or other object ; 

the form ^^^ ftu is the phonetic form of " four " at this age, and indicates that 

the adoration was four times repeated, according to the well-known formula. 
The jackal also at this period represented many ideas, as will be subsequently 

seen. There is a very unusual j^K\^ hieroglyph here, of an ape gradient, 

which is used for the word Nefer^ or " good,'* the common title of the West. 
The standing cynocephalus raising its hands is found in a Ptolemaic text,^ deter- 
minative of Nefer^ in the sense of " to make good," or " bless," and corresponds 
with the idea of good or blessed here applied to the West. This same sense of 
" good " is again applied to the ape in line 2, where the formula speaks of the 
good things which come off the altars of the gods. There are some other 
peculiar expressions in this portion of text, but they scarcely deserve serious 
discussion. The rest of the text of the tablet commences with the usual sepul- 
chral formula of an act of homage or dedication to the deities. This act of 
homage was always made in the name of the king, as stated by Diodorus, and 
the commencement of the formula is the same at all epochs, the only difference 
being in the position "^ of the words ta^ " given," and hetp^ " peace " or " homage ;" 
but on some tablets the form Suten^ **king" or "royal," is written in full,** 

■ The word ap is sometimes determined by a flying scarabaeus, as ■ ll^^l> ^P*» ** flyinir.'' 
Eg. Room, Brit. Mus. No. 69G5; and ap on the sarcophagus of NekhtherhebL Brit. Mus. Eg. Gall. No. 32. 

^ Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 23 f. This meaning of the ape does not appear amongst those given bv 
Horapollo, lib. i. c. xiv. — xvi. The ape also means to " watch " {raa). Lepsius Denkm. iv. 82 e. 

c Dr. Hincks on the Egyptian Stele or Tablet, 1 c. ^ Champollion, Gr. Egypt, p. 66. 



Tico Egyptian Tablets of the Ttolemaic Period. 29 

showing that the phrase must be read " a royal welcome given to," or " the 
king gives homage to," and that the pronoun au, or " it," is not intended. Thia 
formula all who approached the statue, tomb, or monument were invited and 
adjured to pronounce, as a kind of orate pro animd of the deceased, and in some 
instances were called upon to touch the statue. At the end of this formula, 
in the second line, the collar, generally used for nub, or " gold," is obviously 
employed for neb, "all," as the ape for »e/'er, " good;" and it closes AAe^ »eA 
nefer her her kkau sen, "all good tldngs which come off their altars." In the 
third line, amongst the titles and epithets of Taiemhetp, she is said to have 
been very obedient to her ^„„,„^ ,„ [^ khenema. This word, which is written 
with many varieties in the texts,* seems to be either a relationship or office, and 
the context here would imply that it should be "master," or "superior," — she 
was praised by the mouth of all on account of her docility to her instructors, ov 
her obedience to her superiors. The end of this phrase seems to read that she was 
sapt-rJ!. " a careful mouth," anatem khru a, " whose words were sweet ;" khu s ««, 
" her intelligence*' thoughtful." The title preceding these, reading hilnnut am t," 
the " inventive " or " clever " child, completes the endearing epithets bestowed 
upon her by her bereaved parents, and shows the early age at which she died. 

In the fifth line, the persons who approach the sepulchre are invited to Usten 
to the narrative which is afterwards detailed. The order in which the passers-by 
are addressed is apparently arbitrary, or at all events varied, at diiferent periods. 
At the oldest, all living on earth were always evoked, but at the twelfth and subse- 
quent dynasties the orders of priests and scribes ; thus a tablet of the twenty- 
ninth year of Amenhena II. invites " the prophets, prophetesses, and priests."'' 
On a tablet of a subsequent dynasty the scribes are first named, then the priests 
(ab), ministers fkorhebj, and spondists, and finally all mankind, the prophets 
being altogether omitted ; but this is on the shrine of a scribe." Another monu- 



• Cf. Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. 204, with Lepsius, Denkm. iii. C ; Todt. xxx. 78, 39, in Tabl. 204, with 
the determinative ^i- 

" For the pylon, determinative of ua-uo, "to meditate," see Chabas ; Pap. Harris, p. 117, Inscription 
Historique de Seti I. p. 12, note 40; and De Rougfc, Jout: Asiat. 1856-8, pp. 357, 555. 

* This word ia written i^^ ara; Lepaius, Denkm. 237 c; Cf.Salvolini, Analyse Gramm. pi. A. No. 33. 

U means to " find, discover, invent," as already pointed out by De Boug6. 

" Sharpe, Eg. Inacr. pi. 89. ' Sliari>e, Eg. loser. 94. 1. 1—2. 



30 Two Egyptia/n Tablets of the Ftolemaic Period. 

ment of the twenty-sixth dynasty places the priests r<^J before the prophets.* On 
the pedestal of a statue of an officer who lived during the close of this dynasty 

the order is the same as this tablet, the ^>^ ta neter, or " divine fitthers,'* 

being first invoked, showing that the jackal is here used in the sense of that 
dignity; then the rekh-khet, or "magi,'* the knowers of things,*' giving the 
equation of the well-known form rekh, "to know," for the cynocephalns, the 

whole detenmned by a man with a wand J ^/jj^- ^^^ gazelle with a symbol 

or seal round its neck has usually the phonetic group sdh,^ sah^^ or sddhy^ before iU 
in the sense of " mummy," " ancestor," or " family." Thus, on a tablet of the age 
of Amenhema II., the deceased is said to be hesfem khetfen semhu en Keshar em 
hat sahu^ " seated in fetce of the West, m front of the mummies or eidola ;"' but, 
as the sahu are here invited to listen to what follows, it is clear that they must 
be living personages ; and a functionary named Mentunasa, who was nomarch 
(Aa), chancellor {mer kheb), sole counsellor {sab ua), and chief of the priests of 
Mentu, is called ur em oat f aa em sahuf ** great in his dignity, great in his 
family;"** so that the sense here probably requires " all the families " or titularies 
of some kind, as the last-mentioned. The plover stands for the repa, or " mortals," 
who in some inscriptions are invoked, with others, to repeat the sepulchral 
inscriptions or formulas. The date of the year is not the tenth, as has been 
conjectured, but the ninth, the symbol put being here employed. The rays of 

light Jt^ are here used for a niuneral, the value of which there are no 

means of determining; and on a tablet belonging to Sir Charles Nicholson, 
dated in the reign of Amasis II., the date is expressed by the same symbol, 

f/fi 1 1 iSTiv^"^"' " *^® y®^ 1st of the month Mechir, the day of the 

great manifestation (?)" The seventh line is full of obscurities similar to those of 
the first tablet. The title of the officer is that he was repa, a high title, express- 
ing the idea of " lord," or some similar expression, " of the throne of Seb," and 

> Clarac, Muse^ de Sculpt, pi. 243, No. 879 bis. 

^ Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. 112, 1. 7. See HorapoUo, lib. i. xxxix. ij wpo^rirfiv xiva Kuypa^vcriv, 

^ Of. De Roog^, Journal Asiatique, 1856-8, p. 145 ; D'Orbiney, Pap. p. xi. 1. 4. 

^ Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pi. IxxviiL L 16. * Lepsius, Denkm. ii. 125 d. 191. 

' Hosellini, M . C. cxxxiv. ; Ghampollion, Not. Descr. p. 474. 

s Sbarpe, Eg. Inscr. 78, 1. 16; De Boug^, M^moire sur le Tombeau d'Ahmes, p. 93. 

^ Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pL 84. 



Two Egyptian Tableta of the Ptolemaic Period. 



31 



karheb, another kind of *' minister," eni hat tat, " on " or " of the throne of the 
god Thoth," which apparently refers to the monarch, or to some ceremonies per- 
formed hy him when he entered the temple. The expression which follows is 
extremely difficult, reading ^a ne^n shaa en Ba ta-uta — " the second," which may 
refer to Thoth ; " the first of the soul of the eye " referring to the symbolical eye 
of the moon, over which Thoth presided. The remainder of the phrase has hcen 
already discussed in the previous part of this memoir. The same line gives a new 
female sacerdotal title, "great musician a ,^.» J tekken of the god Ptah," 
determined by a female holding a tambourine. The word tekhen in another form, 
in the same sense, and also " to behold," occurs in many passages." What follows 
reads kkepsh hat hur ha ub pen er a ur aur na nafern sti, " the heart of that officer 
was very strong that I should conceive for him with sons ;" the jackal being here 
used in the sense of su or aef, " a son." There seems to be here an allusion in the 
expression which follows " not giving birth to a son," ap su satt, " only daughters." 
Now what follows in the ninth line is of great interest. That god came at the 
close of day, (kar enta,) to the officer io a dream, Jkjf/1 > ap ma^ as is evident from 
what follows; for in the 10th line it stated "that when he awoke," which imphes, as 
in the ease of the tablet of Ramesos X., that the god appeared in a dream. What the 
god ordered is not so clear, it seems to have been wf, " a great [eouch]," to be 
made in the hall of the Hephsesteium. It wHl be observed from what follows that 
prophet ordered the work to be done in the private haU, and that upon the 
occasion he regaled the sculptors of the eem, or image of the god. A kind of 
gloss, indeed, is given, by stating that " it is the place in which the body of the 
god was hidden," as if it were a kind of shrine. 

The bee or wasp, for the two are not very clearly distinguished in the sculp- 
tured texts, appears in various senses. The wasp, which was called khab, when 
placed alone signified a superintendent," the king of Lower Egypt, the North 
or Lower Country ;" also at the Ptolemaic period the word rnena, which will be 

subsequently discussed. Bees were called \\kC ^^\- ^f"" «*^«»i "honey 



■ Lepaius, Todt. c. 165, title ; Cailliaud, Voyage a Meroe, pi. Ixvii; Eoaellini, M. R. cxxx. Brugsch, 
Man. it. pi. Ixzii. 1, duteniiined by a harpist. 

'■ This expression for dream has been recognised both by myself and Mr. Goodwin, who also finds it 
repeated in the second Sallier Papyrus, which, at the opening, gives an account of the dreams of Ameneniha I. 

■= De Roug^, Bull. Arch. 1863, p. 195. 

' Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 77 a. 77 c. 



32 TfJDO Egyptian Tablets of the Ftolemaic Period. 

flies/** or even possibly £a or Baba^^ a word also perhaps applied, as the product 
of bees, to honey itself/ The bee or wasp, indeed, is found as determinative of 

the word 1r ^h^^** ^'^^^ '> "bier," or "couch," or "habitation," JuoftH, 
at a later period, and a construction of this kind may be intended. A papyrus 
gives \i(^^9 ^J^f as the variant of Aft, a "place" or "abode."* In the 

subsequent line 11 it states that he ordered "the work to be made in the haU." 
In the eleventh line the word fak, " to reward," recurs ; and at the beginning 

of the twelfth line the indistinct word is \^ , the saw and owl, sem, " form " or 

"image." The form ^^Jts ««^j literally "flesh" or " substance,"' and used in 
the texts in connection with the birth of persons, here refers to the birth of his 

son, which is subsequently mentioned. The word \^ j , op rw, in this 

passage means a " consecration."*^ It is also found with <^ as a determinative 
in this last sense.** The context here refers to the dedication of the completed 
work to the god. The nimieral ^jly am t, here used for the hour of the day, is 

as yet undetermined, but it is remarkable to find at this time the note made of 
the hour of birth, probably in reference to the horoscope* of the deceased. In 

the thirteenth line is T J j ab, a word of uncertain meaning and rare occurrence 

in inscriptions, as where Cleopatra is called " the ruler, the daughter of a ruler, 
the excellent, likeness {ab), of the one who was her father ; er pent tef «, the 
incomparable,"^ It is indeed apparent from the context that it was a day on 
which some peculiar honours were rendered to Imouthos, as son of the southern 
rampart, or the god Ptah. The year of her death is supposed to be the tenth ; 

* Coffin of Nekhtherhebi, Brit. Mas. Eg. Gal. No. 10, r. side. 

^ Pap. Brit. Mus. 9900, loco ; Lepsius, Todt. xxviii. c. 76, 1. 1, as the determinative of the word 
Ae% « to fish." 

® Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 8 a. * Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 41 c, 47 a. Lepsius, Todt. x. c. 17, 1. 8. 

* Pap. Barker 217, British Museum, in the place Lepsius, Todt. c. 77, 1. 2. 

^ See the base of the Kamak obelisk, Prisse, Mon. xviii. Est. Ta nafheka ham teshr em au art: ** He 
has given me to rule Egypt as a guardian son." Papyr. Brit. Mus, 9900, loco. Lepsius, Todt. 112, 2, gives 
it as the determinative of asu. So also the Bosetta Stone, Brugsch, Ins. Bos. 1. 5. 

^ In some passages it seems to mean "except," Goodvrin, Rev. Arch. 1861, p. 134; or "opening of the 
mouth,'* Chabas, Pap. d'Harris, p. 207. 

^ Lepsius, Todt. xxxv. 64, 34; Tablet, Eg. Gall. Brit. Mus. 150. 

* Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iv. 65 a. and iii. 194-6. 



Two Egyptian Tablets of the Ptolemaic Period. 

but the hemisphere beneath this cypher shows that a higher number ia intended, 
probably the twelfth, as there is reason for believing the ^^ to be " two." The 

word , rer,' seems here used for " to place," the ordinary form of ra or 

^^ 
ra.t, and it is followed by the Ptolemaic preposition au, which replaces r at this 
time, showing that her husband had placed her in the amkur, or cemetery of the 
Serapeiimi. The word nem in the sixteenth line, accompanied by the deter- 
minative of an eye, expresses the usual idea of " to perceive;" and the remarks 
which follow belong rather to the Greek than the Egyptian mythology. The 
West is not spoken of as tlie retreat of happy souls, but the I rJi In' '^" 
sanien, or "place of account" or "affliction" of those who are seated in it. 
This word tensamen, which is found in hieratic, seems to have the sense of 
"afflict."" The portion referring to the waters in the Ilades is obscure, owing 
to the unknown force of the verb >^^^> which is probably a late form of the 
verb abU't, "to thirst,"" or else of the verb sau, "to drink;" and in the 
eighteenth line it appears as if she thirsted for the waters wliere she is er-ma. 
There is another expression of great difficulty in this portion — the word 
•«=>-^i^li T . rmnai, resembling the well-known word remi, " to weep," hut deter- 
mined here by the face, and used in the sense of " to long," or " desire," or 
" weep for," the waters, and for the North wind, which she no longer received. 
S'V i^\ , tiiahu, is evidently the " appeal " or " call " which the god makes to 
the dead when he has called all to him.'^ The tortoise in the last line, ^^, is th<; 
determinative of , shet, in several passages.'^ Here it expresses either 

" incense," ahen, or " flame," khet, which is also designated by the cross. 

Throughout this text the name Hapi has for its initial the usual sign of SH. 
at an earlier time. This, wliich has been generally supposed to be a diadeni, 
appears upon a late Roman monument as the corslet and forelegs of a -(^ 
scarabteus, which this sign represents.' 

' The thigh is also found with ihe vahie of A in the word luk nw, '■ true or real cedar;" Brugsch. 
Mon. li. Uxiv. I. 

•> Sclfot Papyri, ])!. xliv. 5, Ixxviii. 8; Cf. Eoseilini, M. C. ox. 1. 

' Also determined hy a lumb or alieep, which is t]ic animal here; or else the sheep, so or aau, and then in 
tlic sense of drinking the living waters of all the pools or rivers in it (ihe Hades). 

■■ Perhaps the Coptic moihi, " wonder." In Bnigsch. Mon. Ixviii. g. it appears in u musical aceno orer u 
female clapping hands. 

> Lcpsius, Todt. xsxi. c. 83. 2. ' Compare Lepaiua, Denkm, iv. On and 90 «. 



THE ANNALS 



OF 



THOTHMESTHE THIRD, 



AS DERIVED FROM 



THE HIEROGLYPHICAL INSCIUPTIONS. 



COMMUNICATED TO THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES BY 



SAMUEL BIRCH, ESQ. 

ASSISTANT KEEPER OF THE ANTIQUITIES IN THE BRITISH MUSEL'M. 



LONDON: 

PRINTED BY J. B. NICHOLS AND SONS, 25, PARLIAMENT STKEKT. 

1863. 



FROM THE 

ARCHAEOLOGIA, 

VOL. XXXV. pp. 116—166. 



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I 



THE ANNALS OF THOTHMES THE THIRD. 



The appearance of the magnificent work of the Chevalier Lepsius, containing 
such vast materials for the history of Egypt, a copy of which has been presented by 
the King of Prussia to the Society of Antiquaries, compels me to resume my labours 
upon the annals of the Egyptian monarch Thothmes III. I had formerly given 
some account of this reign, perhaps the most glorious for Egypt, in translating 
the so-called statistical inscription of Kamak ;* but the publication of four other 
inscriptions, all having relation to the same subject, renders it necessary to give a 
translation of the entire five, and to show their corresponding relation to each other. 
Unfortunately, the mutilation of this monument, either by the incursions of time, by 
fanatical heretics of the oldest period of Egjrpt itself, or by other barbarian hands, 
renders the text considerably interrupted and mutilated. Yet the careful reader 
can still follow the thread of the narrative, and study this fragment of the old 
colossal history of Central Asia and civilized Africa. Not, however, to dilate here 
too much on the historical portion, but merely warning the inquirer that the 
apparent incoherence is caused not so much by our ignorance of thehieroglyphical 
writing as by the great lacunae in the text, and also observing that the philological 
observations are thrown into the notes, in order not to encumber the general 
remarks, I will proceed to the interpretation of these five inscriptions in their 
historical order. They occur on the wall of the great temple of the god Amen Ra, 
at Kamak, one of the quarters of Thebes, close to the granite sanctuary at Thebes, 
which was built by Thothmes III. and restored by the monarch Har-em-hebi, or 
Horus, of the eighteenth dynasty. About one half of the text is wanting. 

[^Fragment. Lepsius^ Denkmdler, Abth. iii. BL 31b.] 

Left. 
(1, I.) the Horus, the living Sun, the powerful bull, crowned in Gam, the lord of 
diadems ** [whose kingdom has increased like the sun in heaven] . 

* Trans. Roy. Soc. Lit. New Series, vol. ii. p. 317 and foil. 

*• For the urseus and vulture having this meaning, cf. M. H. Briigsch, Uebereinstimmung einer Hiero- 
glyphischen Inschrift. 8vo, Berlin, 1849. PI. i. No. iv. 



4 The Annals of Thothmes III. 

(1. 2.) King of Upper and Lower Egypt, lord of the earth, the Sun placer of 
creation, the son of the Sun Thothmes (may he live for ever !) 

(1. 3.) his majesty ordered to be placed on the wall the extent of his 

power • 

(1. 4.) a tablet at this temple which his majesty made for 

(1. 5.) the expedition in her name, together with the tribute** brought to her . . . . 



(1. 6.) all [which] he gave to his father the Sun. On the ... . day of the 
month Pharmuthi of the 22nd year of his reign [his majesty proceeded from the 
city] 

(1. 7.) of Failu*^ (Pelusium) in his first campaign to extend the 

(1. 8.) frontiers of Egypt, through the victory"* [which his father. Amen Ra, had 
promised him], 

(1. 9.) when it was the time appointed® for [meeting] 

(1. 10.) hastened^ each [to take ... to] 

(1. 11.) then .... the warriors? and the men . . . who were 

(1. 12.) in the fortress of the land of Sharuhana, commencing*^ from luruta. 

(1. 13.) continuing to the seats of the country coming to rebel against his majesty .* 

On the 2nd of Pashons, the day of the festival of the royal crowns, at the 

^ See the fourth inscription, horizontal line. Necht is ** power." Anastasi Papyrus. In the Select Papyri, 
pi. Ixiii. is a poem entitled ha em s-gut nechtu nb Kam, '' the beginning of declaring the powe7' of the lord 
of Egypt." 

^ It is doubtful if the vase on two legs, Bunsen, 388, No. 88, should be read £N. The little vase 
replaces the syllable Chen (Champollion, Diet. p. 415) in m chn " within." It may be mas. 

"■' The flying nestling (Bunsen, Egypt's Place, p. 56) is replaced in the Papyrus of Ten-hesi (Brit. 
Miis.) by fig. 1, or fig. *2, in the places (Lepsius, Todt. xlvii. c. 125, c. 21, xlviii. c 43), reading GAMI or 

GAI, in the sense of ** to steal," 3tlOY6. Hence this city may be GA-RU or GAMIRU. Cf. Prisse, 
Mon. fo. Paris, 1847, p. 2, note. 

^ The group kn, usually read *'to conquer," on a tablet, Brit. Mus p. 248, is determined by the rowing 
arms. Bunsen, Egypt's Place, p. 372-9. Apparently for KIN, to move. 

^ Ha nuy the group is (Lepsius, Abth. K. Akad. Wissensch. Berlin, 4to, 1851, s. 42, note), Coptic It HI 
ftHY (fig. 148), and means, according to its determinatives, "• order, rank, time, water." 

** (Fig. 4), perhaps hag, gOX to "compel." 

^ The group here should be restored mahur " the warriors." See Rosellini, M. R. cii. for the mahuri of 
the Khita. On one of the Alexandrian obelisks (Burton, Exc. Hier. xl.) Rameses II. is called " the warrior,'' 
ttiahur, determined by a youth, (as, be it observed, is also the word KeJasher on Lady Tennyson's papyrus) 
of Anta or Anaitis. Burton, Exc. Hier. pi. xl. It is probably the Chaldee id. 

** *S^[<] shaa with the antithetic neferL See Trans. Royal Soc. Lit. vol. iv. pt. ii. p. 221, note 13. 

^ (Fig. 3) shabtj sometimes written basht ; cf. Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. bl. 32,1. 19; generally applied 
to hostile lands; cf. 1. 29» heru ; "besides, numerous." 



as derived from the Hieroglyphical Inscriptions. 5 

(1. 14.) fortress made by the ruler of Katatu 

(1. 15.) on the 5th of Pashons entering the place in triumph 

(1. 16) with defence, and justification to overthrow the vile enemy, to extend 

(1. 17.) the confines of Egypt, as his father. Amen Ra, [had predicted to him.] 

(1. 18.) Taking' his way on the 16th of Pashons of the 23rd year to the fortress of 
luhem, proceeded 

(1. 19.) discoursing ** with his brave troops to tell the vile [enemies] 

(1. 20.) of Kateshu to come and enter Maketa ; it is [built] 

(1. 21.) as the place of the hours. He reviewed "^ for him the chiefs of the coun- 
tries [who were] 

(1. 22.) of the race of Egypt,^ with the princes of Naharaina [of the Khita], 

(1. 23.) the Charui, the Katu, their horses and their army 

(1. 24.) inasmuch'' as he has said, for I stand at^ [the fortress which is] 

(1. 25.) in Maketa I have told you* 

(1. 26.) they say in reply ^ to his majesty, what* is it like going on this ro- 

* (Fig. 5) ti " to take ;" Champollion, Notice, p. 105, ti m' pch tu nb, *' takes by his power all countries." 
^ Read net or neg (Bunsen, £gypt*s Place, p. 587. No. 27) ; but, as the httle vase is often suffixed, perhaps 

rather GN. It is equal to fig. 6. Rosellini, M. C. Iviii. 6. See Archaeologia, toL xxxiv. p. 364, note d. 
M. De Roug6 (M6moire sur le Tombeau d'Ahmes, p. 63) reads ANeT. See Champollion, Notice, p. 427. 
An office is called gne-ut ru akar gut-hr n sutn (Champoll. Notice, p. 492), quick-mouthed, clever, saying 
what pleased the king. 

^ (Fig. 7) shiu, — Cf. Kamak Tablet, 1. 9. This phrase again occurs, as the Papyrus roll is sometimes 
determinative of ideas connected with books, such as rechf <* to know ** or reckon, ap, '* to add," &c. probably 

the Coptic COOVge, to verify, collect, &c. 

^ Probably out of the waters of Egypt, i. e. all the chiefs from the " torreus iEgypti," which was at the 
frontier ; yet the three water lines are placed for blood or issue, as in the titles of prince, Shaemgam, at 
Beitoually " the divine issue." Champ. Mon. PL Ixxi. ; Rosellini, M. R. No. Ixxiv. ; Champollion, Mon. Notice, 
p. 39 1 , " the princess issue of his body.'* 

® Hna shar, "and" or "with** the shar of Naharaina. Shar is perhaps fbr la^, sar, "a prince,* such 
Aramaean words being introduced ; as, at later times, Srisj for Eunuch. — Proscynema of Persians at Kosseir 
Road, Burton, £z. Hier. pi. xxiv. 

^ (Fig. 8) r-ntiy " now,** commences epistolary correspondence. *S'tt is the detached pronoun of the third 
person masculine. — Cf Champollion, Gr. p. 66. 

* Or Gut tn na, " tell ye to me." There is always an ambiguity about these phrases. Generally the nomi- 
native is close to the verb, and the accusative most remote, but in some sentences the N" of the preterite 
seems to show that the accusative is nearest beside the verb ; gut or gu has either the preposition SHR 
(Champollion, Gr. p. 180), or N (Ibid. 182, 311). 

^ Chefii here probably " facing," as M . De Roug6, M6moire, p. 69 ; and following from the place (Lepsius, 
Denkm. iii. bl. 31), and that cited by M. De Roug6 (R6v. Arch. 1853, p. 653), it evidently means 
" inclusive." 

* (Fig. 9) ach or c?ui. Champollion, Lettres Ecrites, p. 347, reads " turn " in the speech of the birds. 



6 The Annuls of Thothmes III. 

(1. 27.) -ad which leads along to • It has been 

(1. 28.) say the enemy let stand on 

(1. 29.) supernumerary,** when the horse does not go behind 

(1. 30.) men also. We were 

(1. 31.) belonging, to fight"" the enemy standing at the main^ road* 

(l 32.) of Naaruna; they will not fight. Now [as to the course] of the roads ;^ 

(1. 33.) one of the roads, it leads us 

(1. 34.) of the land of Taanaka,* the other leads to 

(1. 35.) the north road of Gevta. Let us^ proceed to the north [of] Maketa. 

(1. 36.) Howi will our mighty lord march on [the way] his heart. 

Were 

(1. 37.) us go on that winding road. Were 

(1. 38 ) the guides to overthrow [the vile enemy.] 

(1. 39.) they had spoke as before ; the words of his majesty, I am** 
(1 40.) the beloved of the Sun, praised by Amen, renewed by the Sun 

Apparently the form of a verb, " they as how go ? " iDterrogativc. Cf. Papyrus Sallier, No. 3 ; Select 
Papyri, pi. xxxv. I. 5, 10. Who is he like going on this road. Which, what. 

'^ Au tu, has been, or was. The paddle (fig. 10) is not tu, as hitherto read, but chr. A little tablet (Brit. 

Mus. No. "246) gives (figs. 11, 12) hr-er chru for the usual %^f% feast of the dead. Lepsius, Einleit. 
s X.; Cf. Brugsch, Lib. Met. 16; Lepsius, Todt. ; and Tablet, Brit. Mus. 162; Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pi. xvii. 
1. 2. — Hence it is not ma-tu^ but ma cheru ; perhaps the origin of the Greek MuArap-cos, " blest." 

'* See 1. 18, hr with the lizard as a determinative. 

'' (Fig. 13) amii '< belongring,** as an adjective occurs frequently in these inscriptionb, according to the 
usual syntax, afler the pronoun, which has before it the substantive. — See Lepsius, Denk. Abth. iii. bl. xxxii. 
1. 28-30. . 

*' iVoa, the usual word for great — Bunsen, £gypt*s Place, p. 336. 

^ Is here determined by a road Ttr* 

'' (Fig. 15) maksu, apparently "to adjust it.** — See Roscllini, M. C. cxxiii. b. cxxiv. ** adjust it [the 
flogging] to the ta n hatj < world * or * place of his heart.* '* Mak, " to make,'* is a separate independent 
word, as mak kam^ watcher of Egypt. Beitoually, Rosellini, M. R. 

* Ta-a^na ka. The Hebrew ^jyn, Taanach. — Judges, v. 19. 

•' Here it must be read, hr na r mh Maketa, "I have proceeded to the north of Maketa (Megiddo)," 
which seems most correct ; it might, indeed be r mh maten, " to tlie north of the road ;** but the first reading- 
is preferable. 

* Cha gu. See 1. 26. 

^ (Fig. 14) satp'Sa. — Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. bl. 39, 6, and 50 b. 74 c. " Coming in peace behind,** or 
" beside the health,** *. e. the king. Restore here the detached pronoun nuk " I." — ChampoUion, Gr. Eg. 
p. 283. 



as derived from the Hierogljfphical Inscriptions. 7 

(1. 4 1 .) with life. I will go' on this road of Na- 

(1. 42.) runa, if there is any going on it.** Be ye on 

(1. 43.) the roads ye mention if ye can go on them.*' 

(1. 44.) Ye can follow me, lest they feel as the 

(1. 45.) abominable opposers of the Sun. Because^ his majesty proceeds in 

(1. 46.) another direction he fears* us. They call out, 

(1. 47.) saying to his majesty, " Thy father Amen Ra, lord of the foundations of 
the earth, who dwells in Thebes, has made thee ; 

(1. 48.) let us follow thee, wherever^ thy majesty goes. 

(1. 49.) let us serve behind [thee] 

(1. 50 ) in face of the entire army to 

(1. 51.) its roads leading to 

(1. 52.) alive to say. I do not 

(1. 53.) before his majesty in 

(1. 54.) coming forth himself before his troops, giving [marching] 

(1. 55.) on foot, there being ahorse walking behind [him]. His majesty marched 

(1. 56.) at the head of the army. On the 19th Pashons of the 23rd year of his 
reign was « pitched 

(1. 57.) the king's pavilion at the fortress of Naaruna. His majesty proceeded 

(1. 58 ) along. I have come bearing the commands of my father Amen Ra, lord 
of the thrones of the earth 

(1. 59.) before me, oh Sun of the two worlds 

(1. 60.) power and force 

(1. 61.) over me proceeding. I have come** 

(1. 62.) with much devastation 

(1. 63.) the southern tip' from Ta[anaka] 

» Au gu ay "I will go" — Champollion, Gr. Eg. p. 414. 

^ Amm, the optative prefix ammi^ a variant of mau — Champollion, Gr. Eg. p. 23, amm shru nti hr j\ 
** should there be a passage which is on it," t. e. *' should it be possible to go on it." 

^ Amm iu nti hrf. The same, — ** should there be any coming on it,** ». e» " should the road be practicable.'* 

^ Afiy in the sense of <* that, for ; ** quod — occurs in many texts. 

« The word here is hr. See 1. 13, 19. 

^ M hu (mnu) nb, in all places, u e, every where. See Transact. Roy. Soc. Literature, vol. iv. p. 243. 

^ (Fig 16) r8 or Isj Coptic pO£IC^ vigilance, or to watch with the open eye, determinative of such ideas 
as ptar^ " to explain.*' — Lepsius, Todt. Rubric, c. 17 ; and Bunsen, Eg. PL p. 540, No. 50. 

** (Fig. 17) a occurs in 1. 62; and apparently in the sense of " hailed.** — Cf. Abth. iii. bl. 31, 1. 58, 
*^ said his majesty. Amen, &c. is before me.'* 

Tehy " the horn,** wing of the army, cornuy as amongst the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans. 



8 The Annals of Thothmes III. 

(1. 64.) the northern tip from the southern angle' 

(1. 65.) his majesty in its power in 

(1. 66.) they will overthrow the enemy 

(1. 67.) [The lines which are placed inversely to these are unfortunately 

too much mutilated to give any connected sense. They seem to refer to the spoil of 
the Rutennu.] 

(1. 1 .) The speech. Has been set aside 

(1. 2.) from the account of the Rutennu. 

(1. 3 ) dwellmg [in Thebes] 

(1. 4.) ... 

(1. 6.) ... 

(1. 7.) ... 

(1. 8.) bearing tribute 

(1. 9.) the awe of his majesty in [their hearts] 
(1. 10.) to remain in the mouths of the living . 
(1. 1 1.) of* all countries, repulser of . 



[^Fragment. LepsiuSj Denkmaler, Abth. iii. BL 32.] 

(1. 1 .) Naaruna, the troops of his majesty followed to the valley 

(1. 2.) Naaruna, the van coming forth to the valley [of Naaruna]. 

(1. 3.) they filled the gap'' of that valley, and were saying to his majesty 

(1. 4.) would his majesty proceed with his valiant archers who fill [the gap of 
the valley] 

(1. 5.) let us listen to our powerful lord in the 

(1. 6.) let us guard our great lord : his troops and men followed^ 

(1. 7.) [after them]. The army advanced to the front, calling to fight 

'^ Kahuy probably KA.gl, earth, land. In line 17, Abth. iii. bl. 32, sgar ni'Stesi cha rami m kakuj 
" topsy-turvy, like fishes on a floor,** or *< on the ground.*' See also Archseologia, toI. xxxiv. p. 369 ; and 
Prisse, Monumens, pi. xxi. 1. 31. 

'^ Chasy the form here is imperfect ; part of the word S'chat, follower. 

"^ Peka, the gap or mouth of the valley. — Cf. Dr. Hincks's Roy. Irish Acad. vol. xxxi. pi. No. 43, 44. 
This word is subsequently used for a measure of honey (fig. 88). 

** The hind quarters of the lion ; Bunsen, Egypt's Place, p 644, No. 78, accompanies verbs of violence, 
as " chasing,*' kfa, taking, rushing. 



ds derived from the Hieroglyphical Inscriptions. 9 

(1. 8.) at the valley of the enemy call we are not,' we attend 

(1. 9.) our troops firm. His majesty entered on their route ^ 

(1. 10.) whence guarding the advance of his valiant troops, when the capt- 
(1. 11.) ains** advanced coming forth on that road; it was the time of 
(1. 12.) noon^ when his majesty reached the south of Maketa* on the shore of the 
waters of Kaina, it being the seventh hour from noon. His majesty pitched [his tent] 
to make a speech before his whole army, saying,^ Hasten ye, put on your helmets, 

for I shall* fly to fi^ht with the vile enemy directly.** because I 

(1. 13 ) at rest at the lintels of the king's tent,* made by the of the 

chiefs of the followers to open ; the watch of the army, who say. Firm, firm, 

watch, watch, watch actively at the king's pavilion The land of Meru,^ and the 

bom of the south and north, have come to address his majesty. Moreover 

on the 22nd day of the month Mesore, the day of the festival of laying ^ the royal 
crown, then in presence of the entire army to open [the watch] 

* (Fig. 18) ka here and in the next line looks like a grammatical form ; the army rushed forward, as, 
ka-kar sn, they would fight; ka turn n, we would not. Cf. 1. 46, Lepsius, Ahth. iii. bl. 31, ka sngut sn, 
*^ would they say to his majesty.'* 

^ (Fig. 19) bnr^ here and in 1. 22. Lepsius, Denkm Abth. iii. bl. 32, determined by the house, ''the 
(bener) dromos behind this wall.** In the Sallier Papyrus IIL; Select Papyri, pi. xxiv. 1. 9, determined by 
the road. Bunsen, Egypt's Place, pp. 546, 100, "on his course to the pursuit of all the warriors of the 
Khita,** &c. 

^ Restore here haut either " leaders '* or " guides," 

^ Mr m muy the going round of light ; Coptic iUtCpi, '* nitfre-dies,*' which is the more probable, as there 
are expressions already known, such as uhn for sunrise, hetp for sunset. 

* (Fig. 20) chnuy kinnuy or hnnu : the doubt is whether this means a river, brook, or lake ; either the 
river Kanah, or else the lake of Gennesareth, in Egyptian Kin-ruta. Chen means literally '* within " 

' R tgu kar tn, '< to tell you to hasten ;" kar is to do a thing secretly, lie in ambush. 

^ (Fig. 21 ) sspt, to supply, adjust; Cf. Champollion, Gr. Egypt, p. 356 ; applied to the adjustment of horns. 
The word sfuiUy *' crowns*' or armour, has the determinative of iron ; (Champollion, Gr. Eg. p. 90), which is 
placed after various portions of armour. See below. Au tu, shall I (?)> see Archseologia, vol. xxxiv. 
p. 365. Champollion (Mon. t. iii. pi. ccvi.), Tu cha MentUy '^ I am like Mentu.** 

^ (Fig. 22) sba, with the preposition m-sba, the Coptic iUt COY COY. 

* (Fig. 23) pK, aun, " the quarter," the place where the king*s tent was pitched; see, however, the left 
and right lintels of the door. — Lepsius, Todt. xlix. 125, 1. 54, 55. 

J Or else, restore meru n st tn^ the chiefs of that country. 

^ The group wanting here is ut, which occurs in inscription, Lepsius, Abth. iii. bl. 32, 1.21, as applied 
to the building of a wall. See also Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. bl. 29, d., <* surrounding the gate of this 
temple with a wall laid n-ti^/ with carved stone-work.'* The determinative is two fingers, which also occurs 
after the word utir or cJietr, which has some such sense as to place, dispose. — See Archsdologia, vol. xxxiv. 
p. 365, note b. 

B 



1 The Annals of Thothmes III. 

(1. 14.) His majesty proceeding in his chariot of gold, distinguished by the deco- 
rations of wood,*" like the terrible Horus the lord who makes things, like M entu lord 
of Gam, like his father A.men Ra through the might of his arms, the south horn of 
the army of his majesty was at the shore [of the lake] of Kaina, the northern horn 
[extending] to the north-west of Maketa, his majesty being in the mid<t of them, 
the god Amon being in his limbs [wounding them with] ^ 

(1. 15.) his arms. His majesty prevailed over them before his army. They saw 
his majesty prevailing over them, they fell prostrate on the [plains] of Maketa on 
their face through terror; they left"" their horses, their chariots of gold and silver 
drawn by them, and fled ^ in their clothes to that fortress. The men shut up in that 
fortress took off 

(1. 16.) their clothes to haul them up to that fortress. Then the troops 
of his majesty took no heed of capturing the things of the fallen. The (^army 
reached] Maketa at the moment * when the vile enemy of Kateshu and the vile 
enemy of the fortress were crossing to enter the fortress. His majesty frightened 
[them] 

(I. 17.) their arras, he prevailed by his intelligence' over them. Their 

horses and their chariots of gold and of silver were captured, were brought [to his 

majesty] their [dead] lay in ranks « like fishes in ditches. The army of his 

majesty turned away from counting the things captured. Then the camp was 
captured in which 

* (Fig. 24.) The king here is described ns standing in his war-chariot, sab m shau nu-ru-a-^ha ** distin- 
guished with his ornaments of . . . ." It occurs in another form (Lepsius, Auswahl, Taf. xii. 1), << their 
ornaments of . . . ." What this substance was is not known. — Select Papyri, xxiv. 1. 2. 

^ (Fig. 25) rutaij add sen, ** they ;" probably ^CX)CX)T"e, to wound.— Cf. Champollion, Mon. p. i05. 

^ (Fig. 26) chaa, KA., to leave, relinquish ; here it is eyident that the account refers to the flight of the 
armv. 

^ The word athu is applied, Lepsius, Denkm. Abth iii. bl. 7, 1. da, to the *< drawing" of the stone from 
the quarries by oxen. See also Champollion, Notice, p. 1 05 ; mn athu ptfm mshfm hk sty not drawingr his 
bow to his troops, to the chiefs of countries. The word th th (fig. 27) seems here to mean << hauled,'* as it is 
said in the next line that the garrison let down their vesture, r th tb, to haul them up to the fortress. 

® m, " in;" ta, " the ;" at, ** moment." The last word is that in Lepsius, Einleit. s. 127. 

^ Pechm chut fam sn, " his spirit prevailed over them ;** or even, possibly, " the lustre of his diadem pre- 
vailed over them." 

^ Sgal m-sts : these two words are generally applied to burials ; here, each has a man laid on his back as 

the determinative. The first group (fig. 136) s-gal has generally as determinative a man laid on a couch 

Bunsen, Egypt's PL p. 541-547 ; Champollion, Gr.p. 26, p 426. The second (fig. 137) stsi is also generally 
used for the transport of the dead, Lepsius, Todt. taf. i. c. 1, horizontal line, *' the commencemeut uf the chap- 
ters of the procession on the day of transporting the beatified into Hades." This has been read '* manifestation 
to light,'* which is wrong, as hr, to come forth, has m\ from, and r\ to, after it. 



as derived from the Hieroglyphical Inscriptiotis, 1 1 

(1. 18.) was [his] son of his whole army for mercy or ordering. His 

majesty ordered should be given to his son [the troops] of his majesty, 

praising his power. They were bringing the spoil they took of hands, living captives, 
horses, chariots of silver and gold of 

(1. 19.) of his troops* in your power give ye 

the Sun upon that day, inasmuch as every chief of the countries and places came 
submissive into it, inasmuch as the fullness of a thousand fortresses, is the fullness 
of Maketa, the fullness worked** by the Sun [in heaven] 

(1. 20.) the chief of his troops*" to return all .. his place . . they 

measure the fortress in (or of .)^ laden * with the green wood of 

their beautiful woods.' His majesty himself went into the eastern citadel of the 
fortress to watch 

(1. 21 .) « with the wall of the ** his which he made in the 

name of Sun placer of creation .... of the plains' of the North East, giving persons 
to watch at his majesty's tent, saying to them. Steady, steady, watch, watch. 

(1. 22.) them at the road which is behind this wall, guiding them to come 

forth to ^ attack the gate of their citadel. For his majesty strengthened * this 
fortress against the vile enemy, and his vile troops placed on the day, in his name in 
the name of the port" 

(1 23.) their placed on a roll of leather ° in the temple of Amon, on that 

day when the chiefs of that land come, bringing the usual tribute, adoring the spirits 

* Apparently utlh; see Lepsius, Ausw. taf. xii. 2 : tha n utb^ " food of .... for the army.** 
^ Gal, *' work,** applied to carpentry and gemsy M. De Roug6, M6m. p. 78, the work of the sun. 

^ (Fig 28) fnenfi •* soldiers,'* or *' a division of troops.'* — Champollion, Mon. t. ii. ccxviii. 
^ M'shH, probably niv, shedah, the plain. — Bunsen, Egypt's Place, p. 573, No. 5 ; ibid. p. 561, No. 1, 
and p. 541, No. 53. 

® (Fig. 29) anhu is applied to driving or leading horses. — Select Papyri, xxiv. 9. 

' N shau sn bnr. The last has only its determinative. — Trans. Roy. Soc. Lit. vol. iv. p. 249, note 101. 

' Remains only ... h of a verb. 

^ M shti nut, *< in the wall placed ;" the object below ought to be the tips of the two fingers. See note f. p. 10. 

* (Fig. 30) phonetically, anana. — Lepsius, Denkm. ill. bl. 10, a.e. (fig. 31.) It seems to mean the plain, 
cf . 1 31. The '* amount of com bought from the tract or plain, tmana (fig. 30) of Megiddo was,** 
&c — Lepsius, Denkm. Abth iii. Bl. 30, a. 

^ Abb, to butt, to offend 

' Here the group for wood. — Champollion, Gr. Eg. p. 44, 203. 

™ A doubtful group, mnna, 

° Although written hr arii n t , r, it is necessary to correct to ark, roll, fold (fig. 32), aiK, areg ; the 

following word fh)m the determinative of skin must be leather. Bunsen, Egypt's Place, p. 543, No. 72. 
M^y ; and the obliterated hieroglyphic, is an h. See the leather Mr, bucklers, and quivers, Lepsius, Abth. iii. 
bl. 64 a. 



i 2 The Annals of Thothmes III. 

of his majesty, asking breath to their nostrils of the greatness of his power and the 
importance of his spirits 

(1. 24.) come to his spirits, having their tribute, of silver, gold, lapis lazuli, 

and copper, bearing vessels » of wine to the army of his majesty, making ^ the 

prisoners bear the tribute in the galley,'' when his majesty faced the chiefs as afore- 
said of 

(1. 25.) living captives 240, hands 83, mares 2041, fillies 191, 6,*» 

plants chariots plated with gold, I gold ark * of the enemy, an excellent 

chariot plated with gold of the chief of 

(1. 26.) 882 chariots of his vile army, total 924 ; 1 excellent suit ^ of brazen armour 
of the enemy, a brass suit of armour of the chief of Maketa, 22 suits of armour of his 
army, 502 bows, 8 poles « of the pavilion of the enemy plated with silver, when the 
army took 

(1. 27.) . . 296, bulls 1,949, black goats »> 2,000, white goats 20,500. 

The total amount of things led behind by his majesty from the power of the enemy 
[who was in the land of the lluten], from the fortress of Nunaa, from the fortress of 
Anaukasa, fi'om Hurankar, with the things which belonged to the fortresses placed 
in the waters brought by 

(1. 28.) 38* of their family, 87 sons of chiefs of the enemy and of the leaders 

* This group of the twisted cord and the block for stone is probably a variant of get. — ChampoUioD, Mon. 
t. iv. pi. cccxxii ; ges'bakn, an earthenware altar, gea-mcht m gi ah ntiputy *< earthen vessels filled with oil 
of the daimons." 

^ Ta at Katu, the enemy of the Katu. 

° M. de Roug6, Rev. Arch. 1853, p. 679, reads went for " a galley," as '* keeps the wicked of the Sun out 
of his boat or barge;" however, rather *' sailing,** senti; for on the Fiaminian obelisk, sen-sen is <* to 
sail.** — Tr. Roy. Soc. Lit. vol. ii. new series, pi. xli. The determinative boat generally, but not always, has 
the sails set. Charopollion, Notice, p. 407, sm h au m sn tij the boats watering and sailing — Rosellini, 
m. c. civ. cv. 2, cvii. 

^ (Fig. 33) abru or abelu^ some animal, cattle, horses (?) There is an oil called abru, — Lepsius, Todt. 
Ixii. 145, c. 19. Sel. Pap. xcviii. L 9, 'Hhe*' chief abru of the Khita are mentioned with good bulls produced 
in Saenkar and other animals of Arsa. l«nH is a strong horse or bull. 

® (Fig 34) ibui a box, XA.IA8. See 1. 33, probably some part of a chariot, as always mentioned with 
them and counted in as a part of them 

^ mss ; Bunsen, £gypt*s Place, p. 564, No. 13, determined by the skin. Ibid p. 543, 1. 72, literally a 

good brass meiSj " strap,*' " girdle,*' Coptic JULOYCC, " for fighting." 

' Ucha bk m hut n arnm, ** poles plated with silver of a pavilion.*' See Rosellini, M. R. cii. " in the fifth year, 
second expedition, then his majesty is in the pavilion." 

^ It is uncertain what hieroglyph comes after *' goats,*' possibly ur, *' great goats,*' or mui, '* she-goats.*' 

* Ami, " to them belonging.** See note e. p. 6. (Fig. 13 ) 



€is derived from the Hieroglyphical Inscriptions. 1 3 

with him,' 5 others, slaves male and female, including *» children, 1796, pri- 
soners starved out® of that chief 103; total 2503; besides gems, gold dishes,*^ and 
polished vases • 

(1. 29 ) a cup' the work of the Kharu, dishes polished vases, an 

ewer * for great ceremonies of washing, 97 swords weighing 1784 mna, gold in rings'* 
fashioned by the hand of the workman, and silver in rings 966 mna, 1 kat,^ a silver 
statue made 

(1. 30 ) the head of gold, waggons *" of men of ivory, ebony, and 

cedar,* inlaid with gold, chairs" of the enemies 6, footstools ° belonging to them 6, 
6 large tables of ivory and cedar inlaid with gold and all precious stones, a stick"" in 
shape of a sceptre of that chief, inlaid with gold throughout, a statue 

^ Mrui, perhaps '^ lords," id mart *' to them beloDging," ami 

^ ' Chfit " inclusive." See note b. p. 6. 

^ Hetpi am hrt n hkar, <' those who gave up and came out through starvation." 

^ (Fig. 142) tt tf the determinative, is a dish or patera, bowls. 

« (Fig. 79) un occurs as a measure of a quantity of bread ; here an adjective after dish, " polished.** 

^ (Fig. 85) akenay a two-handled cup. Judges, iv. 11, pH HJJH. 

^ Sariy an ewer. Among the donations made by Thothmes III. to this temple, Champollion, I. Mon. pi. 
xxxvi. is seen a silver sari or ewer. 

^ 8'sht a ring (fig. 122). Vide Lepsius, Auswahl, Taf. xii. I. The expression here used coincides with 
that on the Lateran obelisk. — Ungarelli, Int. Ob. I. Mus. Class. Arch. iii. p. 217. 

* From the new value of this character, which was supposed to be of /. (Trans. Uoy. Soc. Lit. vol. ii. 

p 367), it appears that it must be read kat; probably ICI*TC, a drachm. The highest number mentioned is 
15 ; if it be, mna is the mina or half talent, then the kat is the pound. The mina or mnahy which was -^ 
of the talent, = 1 lb. 9 oz Troy, or, taking gold at 4/. per ounce, = 7/. sterling, for the gold mnah, and the 
silver mnah at SL 5«. nearly, which will convey some idea of the immense tribute to the empire. Hussey, 
Anc. Weights, p. 87. 

^ (Fig. 36) ma^ht [M] m^ " going waggons ; " perhaps some article of furniture, such as high-backed 
chairs, which are found in the tribute of .Ethiopia. 

* (Fig. 37) M, some kind of tree or wood ; the determinative being a pod like the mimosa. Tables were 

made of it. In Coptic there is CSI^ *' cedar,'* and CA.COY9 *' oak;** besides in Africa a wood called xesso 

wood. See Lepsius, Abth. II. bl. 7o. snt^ COft'x'» ^^® pi^^^ ^^ possibly acacia, so called by the Arabs, which 
this group may be, in which case a^h is the cedar. 

^ (Fig. 38) kna^ a chair. The ritual of Penra.— Salt, Papyrus, B.M 1261, calls that officer, Ar, ahuy 
knay (fig. 39) << over the priests of the sella gestatoria." 

° (Fig. 40) ht mn ami, ** the foot-stools to them belonging." The water lines here are determinative of 

the sound ^OX^ " scala nautica,** or ATCVT. 

^ Ha m scher n karkar. See ha^ ** a stick,'* Lepsius, Todt. IxL 145, c. 1. 4, in likeness of a karkar. — 

Champollion, Notice, p. 279, has the word karkaru as a standard with arms, and some uncertain object, 
perhaps a cylinder. 



U The AnnaU of Thothmes III. 

(1. 31.) of the fallen chief, of ebony inlaid with gold, of which the heads are of 

gold that Teasels of brass, an infinite quantity of the clothes of the 

enemy. When the fields of the district' were taken to calculate"* their produce to 
the king*8 house, to lay down their quota, the total of the quantity brought to the 
king from the [plains] of Maketa was' 2,800,000 bushels of com, 

(1. 3'i.) besides what was cut and taken away. His majesty's army came 

the tribute of the Ruten on the 40th year, brought by the chief of As-suru, I ^reat 
stone of lapis lazuli, weighing "^ 20 mna 9 kati, 2 stones of true lapis lazuli, total 3 ; 

30 mna of - total 50 mna 9 kati, good lapis lazuli of Babel, 3 heads,* vases 

of Assuru of stone [?] 

(1. 33 ) very many, the tribute of the chiefs of the Rutenu, the daughter of a chief 

silver, gold, lazuli lapis of the country, . . . persons ... 30, the slaves 

uf his tribute 65 100, 4 boxes of gold, a chariot of [silver inlaid] with pure 

gold with boxes of» . . - . 5, total 10; bulls'* and steers 45, bulls 30O, 

1200 

(1. 34.) which could not be weighed,' silver dishes with cover) 104 mna, 5 kati, a 
gold makargina ^ inlaid at the border with lapis lazuU, a brass harp' inlaid with gold 
.... a brass numerous suits of armour, 

(1. 35.) 823 mna of incense, I7l8 mna of sweet" wine, numerous cut and 

* TheplaiDB. 

" avau, De Roiig4, M^oire. p \9-l, " to infest." here like AOVUl, " a pledge.'* 

' The faierogljph here (fig. tlO), Bunsen, Egypt, p. &&1, No. 147, is detenninatife of seven) measures. 

' Ghetbut IB n blue gem, turquoise, lapis lasuli, or smalt. — M. de Roug^ R6t. Arch. 1663, p. 395. 

* Face, two semicircles and ring, probably refer* to the material of which the vases were made ; and here it 
is to be obBPrved, that, although the genius of the language requires the adjective after the substantive, in 
certain cases, as when applied to precious metals, it is placed firsi. 

' Gerv nu ru artha. Cf. 1. 14. 

■ (Fig. 41), akat or kat, some metal or stone, perhaps the achat-es or agat«, called 1313, chadchod, by 
the Hebrews. Lepgius, iii. bl. 25, occurs as an edible fhiit. 

" Tepa or tepau (fig. 42), or even perhaps THY, " the wind," or " to sniff.*' Rosellini, M. R. Iriii. 
' (Fig. 43), thai, determinative a finger, ^|, >to measure. See 1. ItO, thej measured, thait m. 
1 Knkn, " cover," bowls and covers, 

^ (Fig. 44). Makarugina or kamantgina, some part of armour, an Aramean word like Makatulu 
(migdol), Makarula, Itosellini, M. R. Iv. 

' Chtner, or chenel, QtnA.p, a " belmet." There is an animal called ehtner, but what is uncertain, 

■ The 3^ here is '' honey" or "sweet." 



as derived from the Hieroglyphical Inscriptions. 1 5 

set agate stones, ivory and cedar a vast quantity of wood ' for burning of 

that ^ country 

(1. 36.) by all the places which his majesty went round, given in his camp. The 
amount of the tribute brought by the spirits of his majesty from the land of the 
Ruten, the tribute of Assuru was h [orses] 

(1. 37-) bracelets'' of * bandlets * of ' of a chariot with 

the heads of wood 170 shekels * 

(1. 38.) ^ 343, 50 cedars, 190 mulberry trees,* 205 340, 20 

(1. 89.) of willows '^ 3000 poUshed vases. 

[Fragment. Lepsius^ Denkmaler^ Abth, iii Bl. 30.] 

(1. 1 .) from the land of the Ruten, from the station J built by his majesty 

belonging to him. The chief of the Remenn was pleased that its name should be 

that of the Sun placer of creation (Thothmes III.) chastising the^ Then*' 

approached the chiefs of the cities 

(1. 2.) the land."" I will celebrate to him ° the festival of the campaign also, 

when I come from the first campaign from overthrowing the vile Ruten, and ex- 
tending the frontiers of Kami. 

• Kat geru, bored or cut agates. 

^ (Fig. 45), peskay logs, itt^D, pascha^ '* to divide," wood chopped up and ready to bum. 
^ Meskut. If this is not a bracelet as supposed (Trans. Roy Soc. Lit. vol. ii. p. 326), it must be a colly- 
rium pot. 

^ Mska, a kind of stone ; can it possibly be musk ? 

^ n^MachUf determined by a skin (fig. 46). 

^ M'Sshta^ of the plains ? Doubtful if to be distinguished from shta^ space. — CbampoUion, Notice, p. 46, 

'' his [the serpent's] head is in darkness, his tail in space," vacuum, }^OYCI*T (fig. 47). 
K Restore, shekaru or shakaluy a word very like '* shekels,** weights (fig. 48). 
»» NOfi'kanaka (fig. 49). 

* Mrauy a kind of tree, possibly the morusj mulberry 

J Mnnu, " a station.'* — ArchsBol. XXXIV. pi. xxvii. p. 389. 

^ Final part much mutilated, perhaps reading meruh shepherds. 

' Restore, as J mnau uru n bak nb. — See Lepsius^ Auswahl, taf. xii. 1. 13. 

°^ Dahy to add. — M. de Rouge, R^v. Arch. 1849, p. 560. — '* I gave in addition a festival for the victories." 

^ uah n nfchr a, the general rule of the syntax is that the nominative case is nearest the verb, the objec- 
tive most remote ; but there appears in this inscription to be a great ambiguity, as the sense requires that the 
gifts are from the King to the god, especially as Ammon is called " my father" (see 1. 7) ; whence I connect 
the first n with c^r-o, and read uah n chr a nfi^'l gave in addition to him,** although following the strict 
syntax it could be read *< he [Ammon] has given to me [the King] ** throughout. See also the resolution of 
this group in I. 12, <* I will order to him," I. 13, *' I have given him.** 



16 The Annals of Thothmes III. 

In the 23rd year of power/ I [celebrated] to him 

(L 3.) [the festival, making it to] coincide^ with the first festival of Amen 
Ra, performing*" it for 5 days. The second celebration of the festival of the 
campaign occupied one day of the god, corresponding with the celebration of the 
second festival of Amen, making the performance for 5 days. The third festival 
qf the campaign coincided * with the fifth festival of Amen Ra, giving life 

(L 4.) a a great sacrifice for the festival of victory which I his majesty made 

as aforesaid,® of food and drink, cows, calves, bulls, geese, white antelopes, gazelles,^ 
oryxes,* incense, wine, fruit,** white food, bread, and all [good and pure] things 

(1. 5.) year .... on the 14th day of the month Choiak, when the person of 

that noble god is drawn out of Southern Thebes. I made to him a great sacrifice 
on the day when he returned to his southern quarter,* consisting of food and 
drink, cows, calves, bulls, geese, frankincense, and wine 

(1.6.) on the first campaign he let me fill J his tabernacle,'^ for his beloved 

to make to him fine white* linen, warp and woof™ and for stocking 

for working the plains to make to fill the press of his [temple ] . 

(17.) me his majesty on the good path The number of doorkeepers, 

male and female, which I gave to my father Amen Ra, beginning on the 23rd year 
[of my reign] and terminating on the setting up of this tablet, filling the cells, 
amounted to 878. 

a M nechtu, perhaps the year belonging to him. See Prisse, Mon. pi. vi. No. 5. The years fnechtj ** of his 
power," in a date of Apappus. 

»> See 1. 2. 

^ Cheper, performing it. See my note, Trans. Roy. Soc. Liter, vol. iv p. 235 ; and M. de Roug6, R6v. 
Arch. 1853, pp. 677, 682. 

^ Sak, or s-ka^ '' to make to go,'* here evidently leading or accommodating one festival to the other. 

« (Fig. 50.) ''M-mat;* "in the midst."— Lepsius (Abth. ui bl. 8J, I 24), "his Majesty then confronts 

the chiefs in the midst *' The taking of bricks, to build the enceinte (haha) in the midst (m-mat) 

of Thebes. — Lepsius, Denkm. iii. bl. 40 

^ (Fig. 51.) A kind of gazelle, perhaps a variety of kahs* — Rosellini, M. C. xviii. 

« (Fig. 52.) Nahdsh, the dorcas. 

^ (Fig. 53.) Tekar, fruit— 'Eprw<T4, Cedrenus, i. pp. 295, 296. 

* Ap.t, the same as the name of Thebes. — Champollion, Notice, p. 76; "great God, Lord of Heaven, 
who dwells in his shrine [a/?, t./iy 

J The difficulty of distinguishing between mh " to fill" and sht " to make, to work," is so great as to render 
it doubtful which is intended ; probably the first. 

^ Heba. Vide supra. 

' St thread, pk prepared, hut white. 

" Mncharuy woof? ut Q^^JT^^^ warp. 



as derived from the Hierogl^pkical Inscriptions. 



\7 



(1. 8.) north and south, two milch" cows of cattle of the Tahai, one milch 

cow of the cattle of Kush, total four milch cows, to supply* the milk kept in pails of 
gold' at sun-set daily substances 

(1.9.) I gave to him three fortresses of the Upper Ruten ; Anaukasa '' is the 

name of one, Nenunaa " the name of another, Hurankar ' the name of another ; com- 
pelled ^ to supply a yearly contribution for the sacred food of my father Amen Ra. 

(1. 10.) all [the work] of silver, gold, lapis lazuU, and copper. I gave 

to him gold, silver, lapis lazuli, copper, brass, iron, lead, colours, and very many 
to make the monuments of my father Amen Ra, 

(I. II.) also I gave him goslings of geese'' to fill the lakes, to supply 

the sacred food daily, for I have given him two trussed' geese at sun-set daily, a 
charge to remain for ever. 

{I. 12.) of bread H)00 portions. I will order this offering of sacred food 

of 1000 portions to be doubled" when I go to attack the Rutennu in the first 
campaign, rendering thanks in the great temple of the Sun, the placer of creation 
(Thothraes III.), the splendour of edifices. 

(I. I 3.) 632 portions of bread in loaves for the daily festivals, besides what 

was before.' I assigned" to him very many fields and cultivated gardens" selected 
from the north and south to make a tract" to supply corn ^ 4. 



* (Fig. 54.) AlltU or arit, the beuds as milk, but determined by a cow. 

'' (Fig. 55.) S-char, to throw it down, to railk. See this same word, Lopsius, Todt, taf. xlin. c. 123, 

I. 65, " when thou hast made thia passenger written on a pure ground of throw, tchar, it on n 

field in which no horse has trod," Cf. Dr. Hincka's Cat. Pap. Trin. CoU. p. 30. 

° (Fig. fl6._) Hr, a pail or vase for holding milk, 

" (Fig. 140.) ' (Fig. 139.) ' (Fig. 141.) 

* Hlar (fig. 57), Mar m bak n kar renpa, is charged, levied on the work of the yearly tribute. Cf. the 
Samneh Inscr. Lepsius, Deiikin. iii. 55. 

■' (Fig. 58.) Alar utch, a kind of goosie ; it does not occur again : from the antithesis of uach and ahet. 
applied to birds in these inscriptions, it appears that male and feinnle are intended. 

' (Fig. 59.) Sli'ii applied to embalming, also to roasting. — Lepsius, Todt, sxiii. c. 86, 1. I. 

* For the doubling of offering. Cf. Champollion, Mod. t. ii. cxvii. 

' (Fig. 60.) M-hau wb / m iha, on the above, of being before, 1. 16, 17, 19. 30. 

'" Hnbu (fig. 61), thia word is determined hy a plough, — Sarc. Amyrtteiis, B. M. 10, horizontal band, as if 
some agricultural operation. 

" (Fig. 62) chentu, delermined by a square block, apparently the shape of a plot of ground. After this is 
cheliiu, " worked, dug " (fig. 63). 

" Anana. the plain.— Lepsius, loc. cit. See fig, 30. 

"' (Fig. 0-l)c/ii-;), rt'. 1. 19, used in the sense of ■' to conaecnile ;" with the seeptri-, <IpHni> « sceptre, appa- 
rently " to manifest" or show; flo?sn. here followed* hy the determinative of clothes. 



1 8 The Annals of Thothmes III. 

(L 14.) during the year, of food and drink, cows, calves^ bulls, geese, 

incense, wine, fruit, and all good things charged on the yearly produce. I augmented 
the food " and drink as father Amen had ordered at sun-rise. 

(1. 15.) I gave him divine offerings of food and drink to do what had been 

ordered on the festival of the 6th of the month, at sun-set daily, as was done on the 
when I took to plough the com*> [in the fields] 

(116.) I added sacred offerings of food and drink to the four great 

obehsks which I made as a gift to my father [Amen, consisting] of 100 rations of 
bread and 4 draughts of water, of which each obelisk had 28 portions of bread and 
1 draught of water. I increased the sacred food of the statues of 

(1. 17.) placed at the threshold of the door. I increased the offerings to him at 
night [consisting] of food and drink, geese, incense, wine, white food, breads and 
all good things offered at sun-set daily. I gave more than was before. 

(1. 18.) I augmented to him the offerings at the festival of the bringing 

forth of Khem, [consisting] of bulls, geese, incense, wine, fruit, and all good things ; 
the things offered amounted to 120 things*' on behalf of my health. I ordered that a 
great hin * of wine should be added 

(1. 19.) charged on the yearly revenue beyond what was before. I also 

made for him a meadow to be planted * with all kinds of excellent trees whence to 
procure vegetables for the sacred meals daily. I augmented the gifts beyond what 
was before. 

(1. 20.) in my benefits for the entire earth, when I made all the monu- 
ments, temples,' erections,* which I gave to Amen Ra, lord of the foundations of the 

earth, who dwells in Thebes.^ I know his spirits, I* his opposers 

being at rest in the midst of the body. I know 

(1. 21.) he has ordered to be done, all things he has wished done, according 

• (Fig. 64) tn mpu, the annual produce — Cf. De Roug6, M6moire, p. 48, here "produce.** 
^ (Fig. 66) shVf com. '* His majesty thought of ploughing com.** 
Ha n utn kr m cht nby (fig. 67) the numher of the total offering in all pieces was 120. 

^ (Fig. 68) hbrif a vase ; this gives the equation of the UmpL = FD j ^= ^V^ = ® J ^^* — ^^ !• 32, 

Lepsius, Denkm. iii. 

^ (Fig. 69) hrti evidently a kind of kitchen garden in the midst of it. 

^ (Fig. 70) hp OT hu; Amenophis III. calls himself in his diadem title, placer of hu, houses, palaces. 
M . de Roug6, M6moire, p. 77, reads " laws." Cf. Champollion, Mon. t. i. pi. cxvii. 

« (Fig. 71) api or ga. See the great Kamak obelisk, Lepsius, Denk. Abth. iii. bl. 28, o. " vowed (?) 
to pUtce the obelisk.*' 

** ffr n nuvy r, perhaps " I have adored,'* or ** assented to " his spirits. 

> (Fig. 72) sahu. 



as derived from the Hieroglyphical Inscriptions. 1 9 

to the intentions of his mind,' my heart prompting my arm to act for my father. I 
devise to make all things ^ for my father 

(1. 22.) I creating all things, enlarging the monuments, placing, 

increasing in proportions,*" purifying, erecting, dedicating, and suppljdng* this temple 
of my father Amen Ra, lord of the foundations of the earth, who dwells in Thebes* 
in all directions . ' 

(1. 23.) to him daily when I came to supply the festivals from the 

beginning of the year to the end of the year, to open* the court' of my father Amen 
Ra, who dwells in Thebes, when I directed that the things should be prepared for 
the libations and incense. 

(1. 24.) charged on the yearly revenue.* I do not say the contrary ** to 

boast of what I have done, saying that I have done more when I do it not, so causing 
men to contradict it.* I have done the things appointed by my father^ [Amen Ra]. 

(1. 25.) declaring works which have not been done to him. Inasmuch as 

heaven knows it, earth knows it, the whole world sees it hourly. I have lived beloved 
of the Sun, praised by Amen Ra, my father. My nostril is renewed with life. I 
have done what is proper [to him.] 

(1. 26.) be awake on guard squatting on all your heart, close your 

mouth,'' each looking to his foot ; ye priests and sculptors of divine things, come ye 
along 

(1. 27.) ordering my images to be carried in procession across the monu- 
ments I made. I sent to you (oh ! images) to come before, celebrating the festival 
at the door of his house ; clothing ' my images with clothes. Likewise I filled the 
treasuries with 

• 

* (Fig. 73) kar not ka^ as hitherto read. For the equation, see Chamj^oUion, Notice, p. 440, prohahly 
<< mind," — all that his mind wished. 

^ (Fig. 74), prohahly chut^ things ; compare I. 21, ar chut nh n atfa, doing all the things of my father ; 
snam cht nbj taking all things. 

^ (Fig. 75) m-nta; here nta is a verh with m participial or gerundic hefore it. It is applied to revenue. 
Trans. R. Soc. Lit vol. iv. p. 230 n. 33. 

^ *^8fay ^ purify with icv^t, or rather " supplying.*' 

• M apt (or go) tru (or renpa) m-kar tru (or renpa). M. de Roug6, R6v. Arch. 1853, p. 674. 
' Amm chnUi the Sanctuary ; cf. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lit. vol. iv. p. 237. 

K The phrase is htar n tnnu ter; cf. the end of the dotation of corn hy Thothmes IIL to Usertesen II. 
Num, and others, where the same phrase occurs. Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. bl. 55. 
^ Abih to butt or oppose. Cf. Rosellini, M. R. Ivi. 1. 
i Chnnu^ or sit ye in your attention clean and anointed. 
J nny " kind,' or ^* order." 

^ 7\im-ru, eoiiUtpUJ be dumb. 
^ Mnty clad in linen. 



20 The Annals of Thothmes III. 

(1. 28.) I have presented with all kinds of vegetables ; likewise I c 

aforesaid meadow. I stocked ^ the selected fields^ which I charged on the revenue 
with cattle. I filled the altar with milk, frankincense [infinite] . 

(1. 29.) tables of silver and gold to sacrifice "" to my images, when I 

took ^ my male issue® to bring forth my statues the day of canying my images in 
procession ; ^ asking my father to count the works f^ which I had made in 

(1. 30.) bread as aforesaid at sunset daily beyond what was before^ 3305 

rations ^ of bread for the sacred food ; 1 32 draughts ^ of drink, 2 ^ of tahut 

of com, 2^ 2 of palm dates' geese." 

(1. 31.) geese, pigeons,*" 5 aab of incense, 2 jars of wine, 4 pecks of honey,® 

fruit,p white ** beer, 3 flour and bread to the amount of 1 5 bushels, green «■ 

flesh' 

(1. 32.) 2 oryxes, 6 gazelles, 9 goats, 125 geese, 1100 geese of another 

kind, 258 pigeons, 5237 pigeons of another kind, 1440 jars of wine, 4 obelisks of 
incense, 319 pyramidal piles of food, incense. 

(1. 33.) 103 bushels of incense, making 314 pet^ of incense, 31 mna of 

* (Fig. 76) hank^ I have offered. Ch. Cliampollioii, Mon. xxxviii. 1. 20, to proffer (hank) their children. 
^ Ata-na^ I have . . . .; restore aha satp "the select" or '< choice fields.'* 

^ Uthuy the table with service of vases ; restore r kah atnn^ " at the shoulders," or possibly skarhy •* to 
sacrifice." Brugsch, Ros. Inscr. Tab. vi. 1. xii. 32. 
^ Snm (fig. 77), snam, to take, to eat. 
® Au kauy my bulls, or my male ; all this is very obscure. 
' M-hkn, in adoration, discourse. 

« (Fig. 78) rugay T^iDiXTTB the works. 

^ (Fig. 79) un, same as applied to dishes ; some measure of, or baked bread. 
' (Fig. 80) to, a bottle. Champollion, Notice, p. 873. 

J (Fig. 81) tahut, literally " white bread," but appears to be the cake called Pyramid : see Athenaeus, lib. 
xiv. p. 647. Et. Mag. 697, 28. Champollion, Notice, p. 278. 

^ (Fig. 82). Ah-nga, apparently a weight. — Champollion, Notice, p. 273. 

* (Fig. 83) hnvy palm-dates. (Fig. 84). Nga, a weight or measure. 

^ (Fig. 84) chena-shtu. Cf. 1. 32, where there are chena-shtu and (fig. 85 ) — Champollion, Notice, 
878. 

n (Fig. 86.) Nash^ht, and (fig. 87) nosh usch, — Champollion, Notice, p. 873. 

o (Fig. 88) peka, a "peck." [?] 

p (Fig. 89) perhaps dah or hu, com. 

q White men, [manna?] (fig. 90.)— Or 5 ephahs. — Cf. Champollion, Notice, p. 373. 

' The tna measured incense and tekar, fruit; the hept measured hu, corn ; aak, rushes; renpe, flowers. 

■ Sht (fig. 91) ashr (fig. 92), slices ; ashr n af, slices of flesh. 

* (Fig. 93)/>/. "abow." 



CIS derived from the Hieroglyphical Inscriptions. 2 1 

green frankincense, 5 bushels of stones,'' 236 meals of bulls, 258 meals of geese,^ 

26 obelisks of food, 562 pyramidal cakes 

(I. 34.) The restoration of this monument was made by the Sun, distributor of 
creation, whom the Sun has chosen [Horus] to his father. Amen Ra, lord of the 
earth's foundations ; may he live for ever ! 



[Fragment. Lepsius^ Denk. Abth. iii. Bl. 30a.] 

(1. 1.) of the Asi, 2 tusks ^ of ivory, 40 bricks of iron, 1 brick of lead, the 

tribute 

(1. 2.) [of Kush] that year, 144 mna, 3 kati of gold, 101 negro slaves, male and 
female, bulls. 

(1. 3.) 35 steers, 54 bulls, total 89, besides boats laden * [with 

(1. 4.) 2 mna, the amount of tribute of the chief of the Ruten brought by 

his majesty's spirits [in that year] . 

(1. 5.) 40 bricks, falchion of* steel,' brass spears.^ 

(1. 6.) 18 tusks of ivory, 241 mares, 184 bulls, goats. 

(1.7.) incense ; also the tribute of the great Khita in that year was gold. 

(1. 8.) 93 mna, 2 kati, 8 negroes, 13 eunuchs,^ for servants, total 21 ; bulls. 

(1. 9.) 3144 mna, of gold 3 kati, 35 steers, moreover boats laden with 

ivory. 

(1. 10.) his majesty went on the road of [towards] the sea, destroying the 

fort of Arantu, and the fortresses of 

(1. 1 1.) Kanana, laying waste the fort with its mound ;^ approaching the land of 
Tunp, he laid waste the fort, took ^ its com, cutting down its groves. 

(1. 12.) .... those alive of the troops, bringing them along in peace, approaching 

^ Anay or ona, probably somethiDg eatable. 

^ Ska ktti food bulls, and sha ru, food greese ; perhaps biscuits made in the shape of bulls and geese. 

^ (Fig. 94) nghJy ftA.A.tfC. 
<* Atpi or apt. Hebrew, 'aw. 

T 

• Chepsch.-~CL Champollion, Gr. p. 322. 

^ (Fig. 95.) <* ^teel ?'* Champ. Notice, p. 373. A pig is called aphuy or pahu, <' sharp, to cleave.** 

9 (Fig. 96) hni, a mace, or spear. 

*» (Fig. 97) gaif >tlOV€ ; as gai is to steal or deprive, as well as to carry. — Champol. Gr. 68 ; Diet. 140. 

* (Fig. 98) u gOI, " a heap, mound," or « distance." 

^ (Fig. 99) uha. Lepsius, Denkm. iii. bl. 71 a, r uA anr hut nfr^ to cut down the good white stone. 



22 The Annals of Thothmes III. 

the mound of Kateshu, taking the fortresses in it. The number of captives led 
thence 

(1. 13.) of the vile Naharaina, who were given up with their horses^ 391 

slaves, 39 hands, 44 horses. 

(1. 14.) in that year 295, male and female, 67 horses, 3 gold dishes^ 3 silver 

dishes, 3 craters, a table with silver 

(1. 15.) 47 bricks of lead, 1 100 mna of lead, colours, emeralds,* all the 

gems of the country, brass sviits of armour, wood ** 

(1. 16.) all the excellent wood of that country. Then came every city contributing 
all good things according to ** their yearly produce. The quota of the country of 

(1. 17.) with dishes, head of bulls, weighing 341 mna, 2 kati, 

true lapis lazuli, I stone weighing 42 pounds, a good waggon,* iron, of his 

country. 

(1. 1 8.) of Tanai, a silver jug • of the fabric of the Kefau, with vases of iron- 
stone/ with silver handles, 3, .weighing 56 mna kati, 

(1. 19.) with all the good things of the quota* of the vile Kush; also the work of 
the Va in that year was 2374 mna 1 kati. 

(1. 20.) Va. Then his majesty ordered that the extent of his power which 

he had made, commencing in his 29th and continuing to his 32nd year, should be 
recorded, and this tablet was set up at the sacred gate ; may he live for ever ! 

Two scenes are here represented. I. Thothmes standing and receiving life from 
the goddess Mut or Sati, with his titles. " The lord of the earth, the Sun esta- 
blisher of creation, the beloved son of his race, Thothmes, the good being, may he 
live in health, crowned on the throne of Horus like the Sun immortal!" The god- 
dess's name is erased ; she is called Mistress of the heaven, and part of her speech, 
" [I give life] to thee, O perfect god," refers to the action in which she is represented. 
Between her and the king is, " the reparation of his monument was made by the 

■ (Fig. 100) probably the tr/xvpiSf or diamond stone ; from this word however occurring after colours, it 
may be an adjective signifying " diverse, various." 

^ than nu rua sha, in the Inscr. Lepsius, iii. bl. 63, called " wood," or " trees of ... . work, of worknaen/* 
apparently a fancy work. 

^ Cha anta ; see fig. 76. 

^ Conf. Mtuih* t ; vide supra. 

^ (Fig. 1 01.) One of the gifts of Thothmes I. to the person at Samneh was a gold shuabti and a pair of 
gold bracelets. — Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. bl. 47, c. 

f (Fig. 102) ha. 

» (Fig. 103) she^ " measure." — Cf. Prisse, Mon. pi. xxxix. The chief of the granaries told them to give 
the heaps of their bushels of the 30th year. 



as derived fram the Hierogltfphical Inscriptions. 23 

king the Sun, who arranges creation [Horus] , to his father Amen Ra." In the second 
picture the king^ crowned in the cap of Lower Egypt, teshr^ stands before Amen Ra, who 
also gives him life. Before the king is " the Sun, the lord of the earth, the Sun who 
establishes creation," and part of the speech of the God, '* I give thee a sound life." 

[LepsitiSy Auswahly taf. xii.] 

The living Horus, the powerful Bull^ crowned in Gam,* the king, lord omnipotent. 
Sun placer of creation, son of the Sun of his body, Thothmes. His majesty orders 
that the powers which his father [Amen Ra] gave him, should be placed on the stone 
wall at the temple which his majesty made alone \to his father Amen Ra, lord of the 
foundations of the earth^ together with the captives presented by his majesty to it, 
making it to^ be like 

(1. 1.) The 29th year, then his majesty was in the land of the Tahai, razing*' all 
the hostile lands of it. His majesty then in his fifth expedition took the fort of 
Ua ru [sha sha] 

(1. 2.) power [in place of] his son. They being very good, his majesty 

preferred them to all things. After * that his majesty went to the chamber of oflFer- 
ing and gave a pure offering to Amen, of bread,® of bulls, of steers, geese 

(1. 3.) bom of the vanquished of the country, I chief of the fortress, 329 warriors,^ 
100 mna of gold, 100 mna of silver, lapis lazuli, copper, vessels of brass ^ and iron. 
Then were filled boats 

(1.4.) all good things. Then proceeds his majesty** sailing to Egypt (Kami) 

in triumph.* After that his majesty took away the com of the fort of Arutatu, 

cutting it up in all directions. Then traversing the land of the Tahai 

through its length 

(1. 5.) their wine ^ of their waters, likewise they shipped their corn, and heaps* of 

* There is some difficulty about this name of the Thebaid. 
^ (Fig. 104) antUi probably a variant of the cha antu, 

^ Sek sek^ ** to sack, destroy." — Cf. I. 4. Cf. Champollion, Mon. Notice, 348, No. 8, the Ua sha sha. 
^ (Fig. 105) msht nn, evidently a granunatical form. — Cf. 1. 4 ; after things. 

* Perhaps chuiy «* things,'' (^g. 106.) 

^ Possibly mahuTf " warrior," or rut, " men." 

« (Fig. 107) > here certainly not polished, for the genitive prefix distinguishes it. 

*» Sentij " a galley ;" vide supra, 

* Mshu " in triumph." 

^ Uah m na^n timut *' added from their lakes'* or " wells." 

> (Fig. 108.) Cf. the word Aa, '< the heap of gold which is placed in this balance weighs 36,392 mna."-^ 
Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. Bl. 39 d. Ibid. ii. bl. 49. 



24 The Annals of Thothmes III. 

their numerous grain" to supply the troops with things necessary.'' The tribute 
brought by his majesty from the land of 

(I. 6.) frankincense, balsams, 490 mna of honey .'^ 6428 mna of wine, iron, lead, 

lapis lazuli, antimony,'' 618 bulls, 3636 goats, rana of bread," com, 

flour ' all the good things " of that country sunset 

(1. 7-) daily as it is on the panegyries of Kami (Egypt), " In his 30th year his 
majesty was in the land of the Ruten in the sixth of his great expeditions, ap- 
proaching the fortress of Kateshu, laying waste and destroying its groves,"" and lay- 
ing waste the corn. Coming into the land of .... tu. approaching the fort of. ... . 

(1. 8.) brought by his majesty's spirits in that year from the chief of the Ruten ; 
their children bringing their children and brethren to be hostages ' in Egypt. If 
any of them was liliely to die, his majesty lets'' his son be in his place. The reckon- 
ing of the number of the relatives of the chief of the Ruten was 

{1 9.) 40 (chariots) inlaid with gold and silver, and painted." On the 3rd of 
Pashons of the 31st year there was a re\ision of the captives taken in the fortress of 

Petnit on the shore of the Mer-na, 490 captives returning ' to the son of the 

enemy for 

(1. 10.) all their" ornaments of wood " His majesty took it like 

the mound of the hour, seizing" all its things and leading them captive. The 
presents of the chiefs of the Ruten who came to adore" his majesty in that year, 
were, slaves 

(1. 11. J the ornaments of the wood"" of , wild bulls 10), calves of 

bulls 172, total 276, goats 4622, 40 bricks of iron of Ms country, and bricks 

of lead 

' Umam, some kind of com, at hr umam, &c. 

" R aha m vUb After thb is hr bak htar, nhich correct to art r sntp. 
' Or, sweet bak, honeyed bak. 
" (Fig. 109) or felspar. ChampoUion, Gr. p. 90. 

■^ (Fig 110) (a jom ub,— Cf. I. 12; m ta *am un, loaves of prepared bread. 

' Neg or Gne, tul gne, " ground corn," (fig. 1 1 1.) Cf. the scene of kneading. — Rosellini, M. C. ItiU, 
" Or, (fig. 53,) lekai- neb ntfer, •' all the good fruit ;" hence Epraim. Parthey. Vor. Copt, p, 558. 
'' (Fig, 1 12) win, perhaps a pasturage- 

' M nech ut hr Kam, " to his power in Egypt." " Or " causes." 

' (Fig. 113) An (a, turning back, " do not turn back; they come lo the waters" — Lepsius, Denkm. iii. 
13, I. 6. 

" (Fig. 1 14.) Perhaps geru s» m »ha n ru asha, in their adornments of trees or wood of ... . 

" Sh.ar-au. 

" Sen-tn naf, who breathed ; rather bau « chrf, " to adore his majesty's spirits." 

P See note a. p. 10. 



as derived from the Hieroglyphical Inscriptions. 26 

(1. 12.) with all the good woods of that land. Every land hastens as his majesty 
approaches it, supplying prepared bread, quotas of balsams, incense, wine, honey • . . . 

(1. 13.) they are placed on the register ' of the palace; they are not given, in order 
to avoid a multiplication of words, to make their account ** in the place, making 
them 

(1. 14.) bushels of com, barley ,*" frankincense, green balsam, wine, fruit, and all 
the delicious things of the country, which were to be enrolled at the treasury,'* like 
the account of work of the [Naharaina] 

(1. 15.) of a table ® of [gold] ...... [and all the] good [wood] of the country. 

His majesty approaching Eg)rpt (Merter), the envoys of the^ come bearing 

their offerings of ana * and gum ^ 

(1. 16.) 113 calves, 230 large bulls, total 343; besides boats laden vrith ivory, 
ebony, panthers' hides,* and [all] the products ^ [of that country] 

(1. 17.) besides boats laden with all the good things of that land, the quota* of 
the Va-vat also. In the 33rd year, then his majesty was in the land of the Ruten, 
[approaching the fort of] 

(1. 18.) the king, the Sun, greatest being in existence (Thothmes I.), then his 
majesty proceeded capturing the forts, and laying waste the lands " of the van- 
quished of the vile Naharaina 

(1. 19.) before him on his path° springing like** a lion in the land of goats. 
The horses were frightened ^ 

* (Fig. 116) hruL Cf. fig. 115, ar n thavy the roll of leather. — Lepsios, Denkm. Ahth. ill. bl. 23, 82. 

** (Fig. 117) /far /, havings, bearings. 

^ /S'u . / is '' com," wheat. See Rosett. Ins. I. 6. Bot is probably barley ; at all events beer {hek) was 
made of it. 

^ They are to be turned to the treasury as the " sum " or " account,** Apy fig. 1 18. — Lepsius, Denkm. iii. 
bl. 74. Ap. heku, " the number of slaves." 

c The word uthu here has for determinative a " fire." — Cf. Champollion, Gr. p. 99, as if a << lamp." 

^ (Fig. 119) kanbut, determined by hair. — Cf. Burton, Exc. Hier. pi. xxvi. 1. ^ ^l^rlP? probably 

kanhut are some kind of troops. Cf. Lepsius, Abth. ii. bl. 124, 136, c. 138 a. 149. 

' Anay stones, pearls ? — Champollion, Gram. p. 90 ; Diet 87, measured, however, by bushels. 

^ Or kam^ brown jasper. — Champollion, Gram. p. 90. 

^ (Fig. 120) a panther, see the tablet, Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. bl. 66 a; Champollion, Notice, p. 105, 
niM. ^ Moy substances — materials. 

^ She seems to mean a quota (see Prisse, Mon. loc. cit); not rice, milion, as some have thought. 

™ The word here, uhuty is uncertain. ° Restore here hr main, on the path ; see above. 

^ (Fig. 121) havy like a lion in a land of goats. The usual words for lion are labu and mau. Ramses 
says, Champollion Mon. III., ccvi., ** I intend to spring on them like a bull on goats.*' 

P Shershu ; uncertain what it means. 

D 



26 The Annals of Thothmes III. 

(1. 20.) their women 30, 80 men taken prisoners, 606 slaves, males and females, 
with their children, surrendered ' men and women 

(1. 21.) Ninii sailing,^ when his majesty comes he sets up a tablet in Naharaina, 
in order to enlarge the boundaries of Eg3Tpt 

(L 22.) 513 slaves, male and female, 260 horses, 47 mna, 9 kati of gold, silver 
vases of the work of the Tahai 

(1. 23.) 28 calves, 504 bulls, 5323 goats, 828 jars of frankincense, . . . jars 

of balsams 

(1. 24.) the cities came supplying everything which they ought, as it were, 
according to their annual revenue with the manufactures of Ermenn, in proportion 
to their annuaP produce, and the chiefs of Ermenn 

(1. 25.) of that land when all things were inspected d which were brought by the 

chief of Saenkar mna of lapis lazuli,*^ 24 mna of prepared lapis, good lapis 

of Babelu 

(1. 26.) 15 kati weight, and vases brought by the great land of Khitaf 

on that year, 8 silver rings * weighing 30 1 mna, 1 great white stone,** a faka 

wood [chariot]* [his majesty erected a tablet in] 

(1. 27.) Naharaina, on account of having extended the frontiers of Egypt. Quar- 
ried stone was brought to his majesty from the land of Pant in that year, pearls 
1685 bushels.^ 

(I. 28.) 114 calves, [305] bulls, total 419, besides boats laden with ivory, ebony, 
and panther skins, all the good things of that country [44 calves.]] 

(1. 29.) 60 bulls, total 104, besides boats laden with the good things of that country, 
the quota of the place ...... The 34th year his majesty was then in the land of the 

Tahai 



<" Cf. I. 28, bl. 82, and note. hetp. 

^ M ienth *^ in a galley/' or <^ sailing ;" perhaps a sailing-ship. 

^ Cha nta tn mpa^ see No. 75, nta ; it is accompanied by m, hr, and cha. 

^ Difficult sentence, cu-st hr nb. — Cf Inscription I., 1. 

^ Chesteh ma, ** real lapis lazuli." — Cf. Champollion, Notice, p. 294, " a door (m ash ma) of true or r / 
acaciay surrounded with brick walls." De Roug^, M^moire, p. 86, and R6v. I. c. 

' Vide supra. The Great Khita also occur elsewhere. Vide supra. 

« Sesh (fig. 122^, a shut or inclosed circle, " a ring " or " ingot" The finger-ring was tebu, and the rinip- 
handle of vases also had another name. 

h An or da het^ perhaps "a pearl." 

• (Fig. \22)fakuy beech (fagus) or fig (Jicvs). 

^ For this measure, see M. de Roug^, R^v. Arch. 1853, Mars, p. 25. 



CIS derived from the Hieroglyphical Inscriptions. 27 

(I. 30.) fortresses captured in that year 2, forts surrendering on the hills of the 
land of Anaukasa 1 ; total 3. The prisoners brought by 

(I. 31.) with their children, 40 [brood maresj 16 chariots inlaid with gold 

and silver, gold vases, gold in rings weighing 50 mna 8 pounds, gold of the country 
in rings, making 1 53 mna ; bricks of iron 

(1. 32.) wood, gum,' a cedar chair with footstools ^ with the poles of a 

pavilion plated vrith brass and inlaid vrith precious stones and all the good wood 
of that land. The tribute of the Ruten in that year was, brood mares 

(I. 33.) of the manufacture of the country, mna, 6 kati gold and silver 

vases, breccia,^ all kinds of stone vases, 80 bricks of iron of the country, 1 1 bricks of 
lead, 100 mna of colours, pearls, felspar, emeralds,** 

(I. 34.) the delicious balsam made out of green balsam 2080 measures^ of wine 

308 measures, /aA:a wood« chariots, acacia 'all the wood of that land. Then 

came all the cities supplying all good things for his majesty to receive 

(I. 35.) great » of to his majesty. The tribute of the chief of 

the Asi in that year was 1 08 bricks of iron, 2400 mna of bitumen,** 6 bricks of lead, 
1 200 nets of lead, 1 10 mna of lapis lazuli, 1 tusk of ivory ; 

(1. 36.) total 84 ; bulls 105, calves 170, total 275 ; moreover, boats laden with ivory 
and ebony and all the substances of that land measured by Kush also ; the tribute 
of the Uauat also mna of gold 

(1. 370 ^ ^^ good things of the country, the quota of the Uauat also. In the 
35th year, then his majesty was in the land of Tahai in his 10th expedition ; his 
majesty approached the fortress of Aruana. Then the sum of the vile enemy 

(1. 38. J of the ends of the earth,* their infinite number going along to fight with 
his majesty. Then his majesty flew to fight with them. The army of his majesty 

» (Fig. 124) ham. See Trans. Roy. Soc. Lit. vol. ii. p. 360. 

^ Ses kna. Vide supra, acacia or cedar chairs or beds, palanquins. 

® Men, — Cf. M. Bunsen's Statue ; Lepsius, Auswahl, taf. ix. b. c. a kind of breccia. 

^ Sesem, In the tomb of Rekshara, this word is written over a heap of green gems in a basket. Cham- 
pollion, Notice, p. 508. 

® Fcika (^g, 123), of faka wood ; perhaps birch wood. The car at Florence, described by Rosellini, is prin- 
cipally of birch wood. Else of birch or fig-tree wood. 

' (Fig, 125) ses kenkuty some object or thing made of ses or sont wood. 

8 N-nuigh As this group is half destroyed, it is not possible to determine its meaning. It occurs 

in a title. Champollion, Notice, p. 509. 

^ Sefi. See Trans. Roy. Soc. Lit. vol. ii. p 862, still so called at His. See Rich, Memoir on Babylon, 
p 64. 

' <* Of the numerous things " or '* chosen of the country." 



28 The Annals of Thothmes III. 

made a delay ' for the purpose ^ of collecting their spoil. His majesty was preyailing 
against them. 

(1. 39.) of Naharaina, 

They were defeated, overthrown one after another before his majesty .*" The number 
of captives brought by his majesty himself from the land of Nen, captives «> of 

Naharaina 

(1. 40.) 2 brass suits of armour, a helmet weighing mna. The amount of 

the things taken by the army of his majesty from [the land of Naharaina] was 1 
prisoners, 180 horses, 60 chariots. 

[Lower part, but of same wall as preceding] : — 

(1. 4 1.) Bordered helmets?® 15 brass suits of armour,^ 5 iron « casques for the 
head, 5 bows of the Sharu. The captures made by the 

(1. 42.) 226, chariots inlaid with gold 1, chariots inlaid with silver and 

gold, 20 

(1. 43.) 8 1 mna of frankincense, 989 jars of balsams 

(1. 44.) the manufacture of 

[As the part of the lines numbered from 42 — 54 is by no means the upper part 
which joins on to number 41, it is necessary to detach them and proceed with the 
tributes and events of the annals line by line. It is quite uncertain to what years 
they refer.] 

(1. 42.) shekels ^ *, ^ essence of acacia' 

(1. 43.) boats laden with ebony and ivory, and all the good products of that land 

(1. 44.) In the 38th year then his majesty was in his 13th campaign, his majesty 
was lapng waste [the land of the Tahai.] 

» Ht hta (fig. 126) perhaps gCUT " should."— Cf. Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. pp. 63, 64, vertical line, or 

^OT^GT, " to investigate." 

^ (Rg. 127) chn . su, to rest or alight — Cf. description of a bill, Lepsius, Todt. Ixx. 149 d. 13, "heaven 
rests on it." 

*^ Cf. Rosellini, M. R. cii. " one after another into the Arunata" or Orontes. 

^ At (fig. 128), a multitude. 

* A chener sama. 

^ Muss (fig. 129), brass girdles. 

8 (Fig. 130), straps. 

*» Shdkaruy " shekels ;" vide supra. 

* (Fig. 76 is the complete form hank) ma, some substance, or a quantity. Cf. Lepsius, Ausw. taf xiv. 
^ Ahhch some kind of stone. 

^ Mstm n ashy essence of acacia, perhaps gum arabic. 



M derived Jrom the Hieroglyphical Inscriptions. 29 

(1. 45.) of* men surrendered on the frontiers of the Anaukasa. 

(1. 46.) heads of goats, the head of a lion, of all the work of the Tahai 

(1. 47.) 5 tusks of ivory, tables^ of ivory and of sont wood, 18 mna of 

(1. 48.) likewise the quota of the Tahai of com, flour, incense 

(1. 49.) 240 bushels of stones, the work of the vile Kush, 100 mna of gold 

(1. 50.) 16 negroes, 77 bulls, besides [boats laden vnth ebony, ivory, and all the 

good things of that country.] 

(1. 51.) 229 brood mares, 2 gold dishes with rings, 12 mna in weight 

(1. 52.) white stone,** natron one mna, the polished^ stone of the country 

(1. 63.) the linen of the country, and all the products of the country. Then came 

all the cities supplying things for his majesty to receive 

(1. 54.) of the Tahai, of com, incense, and balsams 

(1. 55.) bulls 246, white goats 40, .... goats 

(1. 56.) [chariots] inlaid with silver and gold, and colours ; 30 slaves 

(1. 67.) 13 steers, 630 bulls, 80 asses, brass 

(1. 58.) the Tahai of ash wood capturing the « of their 

(1. 59.) waggons the work of the vile Kush, 300 mna of gold 

(1. 60.) 254 slaves male and female, 10 negroes, steers 

(L 61 .) ; of Naharaina, horses, men, and slaves 

(1. 62.) the leaders to his majesty's spirits 

[Lepsius, Denkm&ler, Abth, iii. bL 31 a.J 

(1. 1.) 

(1. 2.) horses of the country, wood for burning, the work of the vile 

Kush ; 80 mna 1 pound of gold, ... male and female slaves steers 

(1. 3.) ...... 34 negro slaves male and female, 94 bulls and steers ; moreover 

boats laden with all good things, the quota of Vavat 

(1. 4.) the mound of Anaukasa. The number of the prisoners brought by 

his majesty's army from the mound of Anaukasa, 50 living prisoners mares 

and chariots of 

(1. 5.) the tribute brought to his majesty's spirits in that year was 328 

* Nh ru a sha. 

^ For tables of 88y cedars and ivory, see note ^ p. 18. 

^ (Fig. 131) menchy things fabricated or made, or men htf white stone '< alabaster." 

d Workable. 

« (Fig. 132) kefu, ^ perhaps the kufa boat ; the next (fig^ 133) is to me miknown. 



(? 



30 The Annals of Thothmes III. 

horses^ 522 slaves male and female, 9 chariots inlaid with gold and silver, 3 1 painted^ 
total 40» a collar of lapis lazuli a cup, dishes 

(1. 6.) 2821 mna 3 kati, 276 bricks of the iron of his country, 47 bricks of lead^ 
656 pints* of incense, 3 jars of delicious balsam, 1 752 jars of bitumen, 1 56 jars of 
wine, 1 2 bulls, 86 asses, deer ^ 

(1. 7-) II spears,*' shields^ and bows, all the excellent wood of that 

land, all the good products of that country. Then came every city supplying all good 
things according to their yearly produce ; of a galley ,e the work of the Remenn .... 

(1. 8.) the tribute brought by the chief of Asi was, iron of his country [ 

bricks], horses. The tribute of the chief of Arurech in that year was 6 male 

and female slaves, and 2 bricks of the iron of his country, 65 canes of sont wood, 
and all the delightful wood of his country .... brought by the spirits of his majesty 
from the land of P^t. 

(1. 9.) . . . 36 negro slaves male and female, 1 1 1 young bulls, 185 bulls, total 306 ; 
besides boats laden with ivory, ebony, and all the good products of that land, with 
the quota of that land, the work of the Vavat, 3645, male and female slaves, 

(1. 10.) . . . [boats] laden with all the good products of that land. 

In the 39th year his majesty was in the land of the Rutennu, in his 1 3th campaign, 

and goes [to attack the] people Shasu. The amount of tribute brought by the 

was 197 male and female slaves. 

(1. 1 1.) 30 mna of true [lapis lazuli,] silver dishes, a cup, a vase in shape of 

a bulFs head, 325 polished vases, and silver in rings weighing 1 495 mna 1 kati, 
a chariot making 

(1. 12.) frankincense prepared, and fresh balsams, pitch, and honey' . . 465 

jars, 1405 jars of wine, 80 bulls, 1193 kids 

(1. 13.) of all good things according to the rate of their yearly products 

navigating the horizon, likewise the quota of 

These inscriptions will be found on examination to consist of two portions — the 
first the narrative of the campaign of Thothmes III. personally into Palestine, under- 
taken during the 22nd and 23rd years of his reign, and which ended in a most suc- 

^ Hbn, here the plough = hb or chb. 

^ (Fig. 134) hnny deer. Cf. Rosellini, M. C. 154. 

^ Hanniy perhaps a mace ; vide supra, (fig. 96.) 

^ Akamy a buckler. Cf. Champollion, Gr. Eg. p. 77. 

• Or « sailing." 

^ Possibly the wasp here is =s hb in hbn " vases, jars," a measure. 



^^ 



as derived from the Hierogltfphical Inscriptians. 3 1 

cessful attack upon certain places in Canaan and the seizure of a very large spoil, 
recorded in a dramatic manner. 2nd. The king's own account of the enormous 
gifts and revenues which he conferred upon the great temple of Amen Ra, in the 
Kamak quarter of Thebes, in consequence of the aid rendered him in his expeditions 
by his tutelary deity. 3rd. The annals which the king caused to be placed on the 
wall of the temple, and which comprise the history of the empire and its tribute 
roll from the 29th to the 40th years. 

Much difficulty exists in unravelling this part of the history of the eighteenth 
dynasty, owing to the political confusion of the period. Thothmes I. had, upon his 
death, been succeeded by Thothmes II. who was not his son. Upon the accession 
of this monarch he had married, or been placed under the tutelage of his cousin, the 
regent Hatasu ; for it appears from several inscriptions that Thothmes I., who had 
married his sister, had by her a daughter, who did not survive him. Some other 
memorials of the early part of this reign, and of the unhappy distractions of the 
family, are shown by the monument of the El Assasif.* Upon the granite propylon 
is a joint dedication by the Queen Regent and Thothmes III , who shared the 
sovereignty in an inferior degree.^ It had, however, been commenced by the Regent, 
for it is expressly stated, ** that she made it as her monument to her father Amen Ra, 
lord of the foundations of the earth, a great pylon of Amen^^ has been made to him, 
placing monuments of granite. May she live for ever ! " In these dedications the 
name of the Regent has been chiselled out and replaced by that of Thothmes III. 
In another place, a small chamber"^ of this temple of Amen Ra, the dedication of the 
gate made in the joint names of Thothmes III. and his sister has been also cut out, 
and the name of Thothmes II. inserted in her stead. Unfortunately a great granite 
tablet, which might have thrown much light upon the subject, has been destroyed. 
In the inner halP the regent Hatasu kneels in adoration to the ark of the god Amen 
Ra or Num Ra, the ends of which are adorned with heads of rams, surmounted by 
the cap called atf, followed by Thothmes III., who is also on his knees ; 1*2^ 
and both offer milk to the god. Behind them stands '^ the princess 
whom he loves, the wife of the god [Amen] Ra neferu " or " Ra nane." 
At the other side of the ark is Aahmes, the sister and wife of Thothmes I. 




^^ 



* Champollion, Mon. Notice, p. 572 ; Litres Ecrites, p. 292 ; Lep'sius, Denkm. Abth. iii 20 c. 
^ Chainpollion» Mon. Notice, p. 573. 

^ Champollion, Mon. Notice, p. 573 ; A ar t nf tb naa Amn tr mnnu m mat ; *a curious phrase if 
-correct. 

^ Champollion, Mon. p. 574, 575 ; Cf. 572, ch. t. 

® Chamber o. ; Cf. Champollion, Mon. t. ii. pi. cxcii. 3 ; cxciv. 1, 3. 



32 



I%e Annab of Thothmes III. 



Wf*it/k 




in 



and " the princess Chebnefru,*'' who had been assumed into the empire. All, 
however, at this time were dead. The precedence of the female line is here 
shown, and it appears probable that both Thothmes I. and Thothmes III. had 
married their sisters or half-sisters ; that the first had by his wife the prince 
Chebnefru, upon whose death Thothmes II. had come to the crown ; and, after 
a comparatively short rei^, that the queen regent Hatasu, the elder sister, 
succeeded to the crown, but that forced by political considerations she had married 
Thothmes III., and that the fruit of their union was the princess Ra-nefru, who was 
assumed into the empire, but who had survived the queen regent ; that she however 
hnd subsequently died. As in an upper division of the same chamber Thothmes III. 
and this princess are seen unaccompanied by the Regent, it is clear that her political 
power ended first ; and in the Eilethyian inscription the princess is mentioned last. 
According to some,^ Thothmes I. married Aahmes-Arinefer, the widow of Amosis I., 
had a son Amenhept, who died before him, and was step-father of Amenophis I., 
who had in vain assumed into the empire his daughters Amen-sa.t and Amen- 
meri,^ the prince Paaru having died before him, and that Thothmes II.— III. and 
Hatasu were the children of Thothmes I. 
This tablet reads ^^ commencing with the reign of the king, the Sun, the glorious 

lord (Amasis I.), the justified the king, the Sun distributor of existence 

(Amenophis I.), justified; continuing to the Sun, greatest being in existence 
(Thothmes I.), the justified; and the king, the Sun, the greatest of creations 
(Thothmes II.) ; the justified, continuing to the Sun placer of creation (Thothmes III.), 
may he live for ever!* I followed the good chief, I was living in the king^s reign, I 
waH among the subjects of their majesties, I was attached to the side of the monarch. 
Again, I acted for the divine wife, chief of subjects, the elder queen Ra-ma-ka (the 
rff((cnt Hatasu Num-t Amen), justified. I brought up her daughter, the elder, the 

priru^^Hs Ra-neferu, justified. She was in the director of objects taken .... 

Aahm^TH, surnamed Pen-neneb." This refers to the services of the functionary 
\it\\mi*M^ Hurnamed Pen-neneb, who held the same offices as the one mentioned in 
tifir iriM.fiption of the Louvre. Now it is evident from this inscription that the prin> 
/f^M lla-ri'?f<'ru was the daughter of the Regent, and that she had been assumed into 
M^r (^ov^TfirrMTit by her mother. She is not mentioned in the direct succession. That 
»h<' vtM f hi! daughter of Thothmes III. will appear from the temple of the El Assasif. 



• I Umw\tti\httu, Mofi. t ii. pi. cxcii. and cxciii. 2. Lepsius, Einleit. s. 307, gives the correct meaning- of 
' fttft nf n ^tH\ ;" iht* ffioflurr of Aahmes I., on a tablet, Brit. Mus. No. 446, is called ^ lii A^wyv^l myi ^^^ 
nhtil Amni, t\\sm* wif«? of Amen, ifaWaKu Atos. Lepsius, Denkm. iii. 4 e. I ^ ^ I^^^Ma^ 

" \U MmmIki. ^ Lepsius, Auswahl, taf. xi. ^ Lepsius, Abth. iii. bl. 40. 



(zs derived from the Hieroglyphical Inscriptions. 33 

That the reign of the Queen Regent had no political or d}mastic value, and was 
comprised in that of Thothmes II. and III., is not only evident from the absence of 
her statue in the ancestral processions, and the omission of her name from the tablet 
of Abydos, but also from the inscription of the officer who had charge of the spoils 
of the army of the kings, whose sepulchral tablet or tombstone is in the museum of 
the Louvre.* This, which is mutilated, had the usual formula : " [Peace ^ be to Osiris, 
who dwells in the west, who gives meals of food and drink, oxen and geese], to be 
clad in linen,^ incense, wax, substances, plants, all perfect and good things to the 
nomarch Penneneb." 

The whole of A then reads thus : — 

(1. 1 .) the nomarch, a counsellor of the mind of his master, seal-bearer, 

(1. 2.) chief over the captured objects, Aahmes, who has been named Pen-neneb, 

(1. 3.) says : I served the king, the glorious lord (Aahmes I.), whose word is true, 
taking for him out of the country of [Kush] 

(1. 4.) one live captive, one hand; I served the king, the Sun who distributes 
existence (Amenophis I.), taking for him out of Kush 

(1. 5.) one living prisoner \^ a second time I acted for the king, the Sun who dis- 
tributes existence (Amenophis L), whose word is true, taking for him out of the 
north of Amu- 

(1. 6.) -kahak, three hands; I served the king, the Sun, greatest of created 
existences (Thothmes I.), whose word is true, taking for him out of Kush 

(1. 7.) two living captives : moreover the living captives I have brought out of 
Kush I do not reckon them ; 

(1. 8.) a second time I acted for the king, the Sun, greatest of created existence 
(Thothmes I.), whose word is true, taking for him out of the land of Nahairu- 

(1. 9.) -na 21 hands, I horse, I chariot. I served the king, the Sun, greatest of 
creators (Thothmes II.), whose word is true ; 

(1. 10.) I led out of the land of the Shasu very many living captives: I do not 
reckon them. 



* Lepsius, Auswahl, taf. xiv. Zwei Steine im Louvre; Cf. Denkm. Abih. iii. bl. 87. 

^ The phrase at the commencement of this formula, readmg directly su ma hep. t or ma mtn hep. t has its 
difficulties. Some see in it the offering which always ran in the name of the king (n«M) ; others a thanks- 
giving. It appears, however, in lists as something substantial, connected with food. 

® This contracted form occurs in full, Leemans, Mon. viii. 652, f. mnch m ane. 

^ I had formerly connected the word gam with anchy as they occur united after the names of living per- 
sons, — ChampoUion, Notice, p. 80. Gam^ however, sometimes means " second,*' as pointed out by Dr. Hincks, 
hence ** again — a second time." 

vol.. XXXV. IS 



34 The Annals of Thothmes III. 

The second inscription, B, requires still more correction. The three first lines, 
which are tlie end of some praise of the officer, are unfortunately much mutilated. 

(L 1 .) king of Upper Egypt instructing the king of Lower Egypt 

(1. 2.) of the works remaining or placed of the palace, a most 

obedient person in the of the king 

(1. 3.) superintendent of things 

(1. 4.) captured. Aahmes, who has been named Penneneb, who says, 

(1. 6.) Blessed be the ruler ! may he live for ever I I never ceased ' my exertions 
for the king, commencing from 

(1. 6.) the Sun, the glorious lord (Aahmes I.), whose word is true, contiiiuing to 
the Sun, the greatest object of creation (Thothmes II.), whose word is true. I was . . . 

(1. 7.) of the reign of the king ; until the Sun placer of creation (Thothmes IIL), 
may he live for ever ! I received of the king, the Sun, who distributes existence 
(Amenophis I.), whose word is true, 

(1. 8.) a pair of gold bracelets, 2 collars, an armlet, a poignard, a crown inlaid 
with enamel. 

(1. 9.) I received of the king, the Sun, the greatest object of creation (Thothmes I.) 
a pair of gold bracelets, 4 collars, a , a poignard with heads 

(1. 10.) of lions, 2 gold hatchets. I received of the king, greatest object of creation, 

(Thothmes II ) a pair of gold bracelets, 6 collars, 3 bracelets of enamel silver 

hatchets. 

Probably one of the earliest monuments of the joint reign of Thothmes III. 
and his sister is the tablet of the Vatican. This has been very indi£Ferently pub- 
lished.^ Its object is to record a dedication of the Tuthmoseium or temple of 
Thothmes I. to Amen Ra. At this period Thothmes III. appears in a state of 
complete tutelage. Ha-t-asu advances towards the god Amen, who has the titles 
of ^^ lord of the foundations of the Earth.'' The Regent wears the red cap (tesAr) 
or crown of the Lower parts of Egypt, while her brother wears the white crown 
(hut)f emblem of dominion over Upper Egypt, and intended to show the division of 
the kingdom between them. Behind them stands the goddess of the West, turning 
her face in the other direction ; she is called the goddess whose ^^ head is averted 
{che/t'hr)f mistress of the West;" what this is intended to convey does not 
appear from the text. The tablet is in the name of the Regent, as, '^ The living 

* What this means is obscure — it reads Uh or sh$. Cf. Sharpe, Eg^Inscr. 95-6, conducting him safely (?) 
Hence Lepsius, Todt. i. 1. 6, I was with Horus the day of clothing the destitute (?) (sht) to open the door 
[of the Nile], &c. 

b By Pistolesi, II Vaticano descritto ed iilustrato. Fol. Romse, 1829, vol. iv. tav. Ixiii. 



as derived from the Hierogl^phical Inscriptions. 

Horus, the supplier of existences, the lord of the upper and lower diadem, defender 
of years, chief of defenders, ruler of the South and North, tlie king, the Sun, the 
truth of existence, the son of the Sun, of whom he is beloved, [issue] of his body. 
Ha. t asu whom Amen directs ; he has made it as a memorial to his father Amen 

Ra, he has set up embellished with constructions for ever depicted 

for the first time ; never was anj-thing done like while the earth has been." Her 
majesty has made it as she wished to her father Amen Ra, king of the gods, that she 
may live like the Sun for ever." This indeed may refer either to the granite temple 
at Kamak, which was commenced by the kings of this dynasty, continued by the 
Regent, and finally completed in the most magnificent manner by Thothmes III., or 
else to the temple of the El Assasif, which was also commenced by the Regent and 
finished by Thothmes. But the most interesting of these monuments is the tablet 
set up by the Queen in the temple of Athor. mistress of the copper lands at the 
Wady Magara, dated in the 16th year, the last known date of their joint reign. 
It is unfortunately too much mutilated to throw much light upon its purport. 

The statue of the Prince Anebta in the British Museum was also executed at this 
time. The inscription on it states, that " it was made by order (A«) of the perfect 
goddess, the Sun, the truth of existence {Ha. t asv), living and enduring like the Sun, 
and of her brother, the perfect god, the lord who makes things ; may he live like the 
Sun for ever ! 

" Peace be to Amen Ra, lord of the foundations of the Earth ; to Osiris the eternal 
ruler; to Anepu, who dwells in the divine gate [of the Sun], who belongs to Tu, 
[This,] lord of the space, who give meals of food and drink, oxen, and geese, to be 
clad in linen, incense, wax, good and pure things, all things which appear on their 
tables at sunset daily, to drink the water out of the streams of the river, to breathe 
the delicious breath of the north wind, to go in and out of the double gates to the 
wise one, praised to his god, doing the will of his master in his works, following his 
lord at his footsteps in the South and North, prince over the bow, over the wood of 
the king, Anebta, justified like the great daimons.'"" 

At the temple of the El Assasif there is a gate on which the name of Thothmes is 



Tr pt ta, "during the balaociiig of the earth, or while the earth runs [put]." The 
same phrase occurs in the Kamak obelisk, Lepsius, Denkm. Hence " I appointed their course (jtvi) af food 
and drink." lb. U. 124. The object itself is an hypocephalus ? Ifa. bl. 148. Thit word seemi alao to 
mean "gods." Lepsius, Todt. ixiiii. 277. Coptic (|>'|-. [?] 

" Lepsius, Auswahl, xi. The Ru-sta, " entrance of the fields," inentioDed here is the meridian. Mu tu thr 
put naa. It appears to nc that chr may mean " like," that the deceased was justified, ai OsiriB, Ra, and 
the other gods had been, against the " slanderers " [chefl]. 



36 The Annals of Thothmes III. 

erased/ and another on \?hich he appears along with Thothmes I. and the regent 
Hatasu.^ 

The gates of the smaller temple of Medinat-Haboo'' bear the joint names of 
Thothmes II. and III. ; signifying either that the two brothers occupied the throne 
conjointly^ which is far from impossible, as the political condition of the period can 
only be compared to that at the time of the Ptolemies, or that the edifice was 
completed after the fall of the Regent. 

The southern propylon of Kamak was also erected during the contemporaneous 
reign of Thothmes II. and III.* 

It appears that the great obelisk of the Regent at Kamak was not erected till 
the association of Thothmes with her to the royal dignity. The south and west fieu^es 
indeed have only the single large line of hieroglyphs containing the dedication oi the 
Regent, but on the north and east faces two lateral hues of vignettes are added, in 
which the Regent and Thothmes are seen adoring the god Amen Ra in his various 
characters or attributes.* 

In the little palace of Medinat-Haboo, under the gallery, Thothmes III., wearing 
the atf, is represented hoeing the ground before the god Khem. ' In another picture 
he is represented seated on a throne holding the pat « (sceptre) ; he is called, beside 
his usual name and titles, ^^ smiter of the rulers of countries.'* Behind him, wearing 
the head attire of Athor, is " the great royal lady Hatasu, beloved of the Sun.'*** She 
had then fallen in political importance. 

There is also a gateway built into the Ptolemaic ' constructions at Ombos, which 
was probably finished by Thothmes III. soon after he rose to be independent of the 
queen. The whole of the six scenes, four of which are above and form a kind of 
frieze, represent Thothmes oflFering to the parhedral and local gods of Ombos ; but 
on each side below are two lines, " The gate which the Sun, the truth of existence, 
(Hatasu) intended to place in the house of Sebak." 

Now the temple of Samneh appears, from the inscriptions recently published by M. 
Lepsius, to have been commenced very early in the reign of Thothmes III. ; for it 

* Lepsius, Denkm. iii. bl. 20. ^ Ibid. bl. 21. 

^ Lepsius, Denkm. iii. bl. 7 ; Champollion, Notice, p. 324, and following. 

^ Lepsius, Denkm. iii. bl. 16, d. g. « Champollion, Mon. t iv. pi. cccxv. 

' Champollion, Mon. t. ii. pi. cxcv. « The chrp, or consecrator. Vide supra. 

^ Champollion, Mon. t. ii. pi. cxciii. 

' Rosellini, M. d. C. xxviii. It reads, fj^f Q ^MHl! S"^ J^fvTff^ Chan.polUon, 
Notice, p. 232 



is found on the outer wall that the prince of Ethiopia, Nehi, caused the representa- 
tion of the offerings made to the temple by the King to be engraved on the 7th of 
Payni, in the second year of the reign,* giving several hundred bushels of corn out 
of the quota of the Vava-t, and a few cattle ordered " to be charged upon the yearly 
revenue for ever.' Here also the Regent's name does not appear. 

It appears from the calendar of Elephantine, set up by Thothmes III., that the 
heliacal rising of the dog-star during his reign occurred there on the 28th of Epiphi.'' 
This has been supposed to raise the date of the reign to b.c. 1444, and it will be 
necessary again to allude to it. 

M. Lepsius it appears reconstructs in some new manner the history of the period. 
From Amasis I. to the regent Ha. tasu he makes the 17th dynasty of Manetbo.'^ 
With Thothmes HI. he commences the IStb.'' Yet Thothmes appears to have been 
her brother; and till this savant's views are developed it is difficult to know on what 
grounds the proposed new arrangement is based. Independent of the tablet of the 
annals of Kamak, some isolated monuments show the extinction of the tiueen's 
power. On a mutilated tablet at the Sarabut El Khadem the monarch is seen alone 
adoring Athor, while a functionary records the subjugation of the country.' .\nother, 
which he set up at Heliopolis, records the dedication of the peribolos of the pylon to 
Ra or Helios.f The tomb of one Amenemha, a remarkable name to find in the 18th 
dynasty, who was scribe of the granary of the divine food of Amen Ra, and super- 
intendent of cakes, is dated in the 28tb year." 

About this time dates the temple of Kummeh, dedicated also to Usertesen III.," 
Chnumis, and Athor, and built " of the good white stone of Sbaa." The works of 
the prince Nehi are also found on the island of Sai ' 

Although no other monument of Egypt is extant of the extent of these tablets, 
giving so full an account of the history of the period, and bearing so great a resem- 
blance to the inscription on the Nimrud obelisk, it was the custom for the kings of 
Egypt to inscribe at the various temples which they raised, repaired, or endowed, 
historical records ; and it is to sacerdotal gratitude that the history of Egypt owes 
what remains of its mutilated form. It has been indeed supposed that the word 
translated inscription may mean picture, and that the whole subject-matter refers to 

' LepaiuB, Denkm. iii. bl. 55 ; M. de liouge, Kflv. .\rcli. 1853. pp 074, 675. 

" Young. Hieroglyphics, PI. ; Lepsius. Ueiik. iii. bl. 43 ; M. de Roiig^. R6v. Arch. 1853, p, 6fi8 ; M. Hioi. 
Athenstim Fran^aia, Fev. 1853, p. 192. nnd following, makes this date 1444 b. c. 
■^ Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. bl. 16, 17. '■ IbiJ. 17, and following. 

' Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. bl. 23. ' Ibid. bl. 29, b. 

' Lepsius, Denkm. .\bth. iii. bl. 38, a— g. " Lepsius, I. o. 57. 

' Lepsius, I. c. 59. 6. 



38 The Annals of Thothmes III. 

certain sculptures placed on the back of the wall ; but pictures of the nature 
described in the text do not exist anywhere in Egypt. The only approach to such 
are to be found in the sepulchres of the functionaries of the period entombed at 
Goumah, to one of which, that of Rekhshara, it will be necessary to refer. 

It is highly probable that Thothmes III. when he first was placed on the throne, 
was extremely young, similar to his descendant Rameses II. who is al^irays mentioned 
in the early inscriptions as ^^ the youth.**'' Hence it was not till his 22nd regnal year 
that he was able to undertake military service, and he is represented as marching 
out of the city of Failu, the supposed Pelusium, which had a citadel fchatemJ on its 
left bank, the Pelusiac branch of the Nile. It was the frontier town during this as 
well as the subsequent dynasty; and the high priests and nomarchs await with 
triumphal branches and flowers Sethos I. on his return from the campaign against 
the Ruten in his first year.^ In this picture the position of Pelusium in the marshes 
is shown by the reeds on the side of the river ; while the whole frontier of Egypt 
seems intended by the places called the Place of the Lion, or Leontopolis, and the 
Magadula,^' or Migdol of Sethos— the Sea and the Lakes. It appears from the frag- 
mentary expressions that can be made out, that both the enemy and the monarch 
met in the plains of Sharuhana, or Sharon."^ As early, indeed, as the *reign of 
Aahmes I. this fortress had been captured by the Egyptians for Aahmes Penneb, as 
his tomb states : " When I was seated in the land of Sharuhana,® in the 3rd year, and 
his majesty took it ; I led thence two female captives and a hand. I received gold for 
my services ; the captives were given me for slaves." This country can be no other 
than the celebrated plains of Sharon, into which, as the entrance of Palestine, the king 
had marched. Homage had been rendered to the monarch by all the immediate 
neighbouring Canaanitish princes from Juruta, or Juruga, or the well known city of 
Jericho.' From thence he passed to the fortress of Katatu, or Kadd, which he 
entered in triumph on the 1 6th Pashons, while the homage was received on the 2nd, 
the day of the coronation, or the vernal equinox. The King marches on the 23rd to 
Juhem, with the intention of attacking Megiddo, with whose chief were confederated 
the prince of Naharaina, or Mesopotamia, the Khita, the Kharui, and the Katu ' or 

* It appears from the Tablet of Kouban, Prisse, pi. xxi. I. 17, that Rameses III. was only 10 years old in 
his third regnal year. 

*» Rosellini, M. R. No. L. 

^ Not the South Watch-tower, as erroneously read by Rosellini, torn. 3. pte. i. p. 359. 

^ ^apiav or 2af>aias.—- Cf. pntt^, Isaiah, xixiii. 9; xxxv. 2 ; Ixv. 10. 

^ Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. bl. 7. 

f Joshua, ii. 1, 2, 3 ; I. Kings, xvi. 34 ; Pliny, N. H. v. 15 ; Tacit, v. 6 ; Luke, x. 30. 

< This may be a variant of Kadesh. Cf. Rosellini, M. R. xci. 



as derived from the Uieroglyphtcal Inscr'tptiom. 39 

Kadesh ; and the King discourses about the route they should take, whether the main 
road of Aaruna,' or Ajalon, the other to Taanaka, or Taanach,'" a dependency of 
Megiddo, and another branching off to Gefta," or Gabbatha. On the 1 9th of the 
month the King pitched his tent at Aaruna. From the expressions here it appears 
that during the campaign the King had marched on foot, his horse led behind him. 
About noon the King reached the waters of Kaina, apparently the River Kannah, 
between whose sources and the sea of GaHlee Megiddo is placed ; and after an order 
to the army to watch the camp, and subsequent arming and preparations for battle, 
the enemy was totally routed in the plain of Megiddo, abandoning their horses, 
chariots, and baggage, while the Eg}'ptian army pressed forward to Megiddo and cut 
off the retreat both of the army of the town and that of Kadesh, which was united 
with it. The camp of the enemy and the son of the King of Megiddo were taken, and 
an immense booty. The King of Egypt subsequently took the citadel, and the spoil 
was counted and registered upon the roll of leather which was kept in the royal 
treasury. 

This portion of the inscription also embraces an account of the spoil brought from 
the Upper Ruten, from the fortress of Nunaa, or " Great Lake," which was subse- 
quently attacked by Sethos I." the fortress of Anaukasa, and that of Hurankar. 
Unfortunately these names do not throw much light upon the locality of the Ruten, 
the name probably given by the Egyptians to the people lying south and north of 
the Taurus, and with whom the Egyptians at this period were continually at war, as 
were subsequently the Assyrians, their great rivals. The products of these people, 
indeed, show that they must lie as far north as Syria, and it is remarkable that here 
again is mentioned with them the tribute of the king of Assyria, who brings the 
good lapis lazuli, or the blue paste imitation of it manufactured at Babel. After this 
there can be no hesitation in admitting that Babilu is Babel, although it does not 
appear as a necessary consequence to be under the dominion of Assyria, since In 
the so-called statistical tablet the chief of Saenkar (Shinar or Singara) also offers the 
same substance. 

The chief of the Ruten also offers to the monarch his daughter, who probably 
passed into the harem of the Pharaoh. At a subsequent period in the reign of 
Rameses II. the chief of the great Khita brings with the usual tribute, or " presents. 



■ Or Naaruna, Nairn. 
> -yisn. Judges, i. 27, t. 19; II, 
= This word much resembles the n 
' Rosellini, Mon. Stor. No. tlW\. 2 



ngs, \x. 27. 

e of the Khefu. but ii 



40 The Annals of Thothmes III. 

his daughter,^' bringing her forward, that she should please his majesty/* Under a 
later Rameses a chief of Bakh-ten, or Bahten, probably Batanaea, makes exactly the 
same offer, and this alliance produces an extraordinary religious mission from Egypt 
to that country.^ 

There can be no doubt as to the position of Maketa, which is clearly the celebrated 
town of M egiddo,'' Magedde, or Magaddai, which belonged to the Kanaanites, and 
which was situated in the plains of Jesreel, with a plain belon^ng to it exactly as 
mentioned in the inscription, called the plain of M egiddo/ and near it were the waters 
of Megiddo."* It was subsequently fortified by Solomon as the key of Palestine from 
the sea/ It appears amongst the concjuests of Shishak.^ 

The second inscription is of an interest equally great with the first, and was 
evidently connected with it,— the scope being to record the dotation of the temple. 
It commencei< with a mention of the return of the monarch from an expedition 
against the Ruten, and the building of a fortress in that territory by the king of 
Egypt, and the change of its name into that of Thothmes by the chief of the Remenn. 
This nation formed part of the greater people of the Ruten. These people, supposed 
to be either the tribe of the Lebanon or else of the neighbouring chain of the 
Hermon, are mentioned in a subsequent part of the inscriptions as contributing '^ a 
galley " to Egypt. In the campaign of Sethos I.** they are seen cutting down their 
woods to float a fleet upon the river, whether the Jordan or the Euphrates would 
depend on the direction of the supposed march or conquest of the King. The want 
of wood in Egypt was as much the reason of the Egyptians not using a fleet as its 
abundance in Syro-Phoenicia aided the maritime enterprises of the Phoenicians. In 
the statistical tablet the King of Egypt is stated to return thither in a sailing-vessel, 
and it appears from the poem detailing the campaign of Rameses 11.^ against the 
Khita that the monarch had used galleys. Rameses III., who had to contend with 
the people of Palestine, also had a fleet, probably manned by his allies, the Sham- 
tana of the Sea. Still the use of ships of war was extremely rare, especially if sea- 
going, and Egypt was by no means a maritime power. 

* Champollion, Mon. t. i. pi. xxxviii. 1. 25. 

^ Trans. Roy. Soc. Lit. vol. iv. p. 211. Her name waR changed to Raneferu^ that of the daughter of 
Hatasu (Prisse, pi. xxiv. I. 6) ; for the word chh means << to change." When Cambyses changred kis name to 
Ramessu the same word is used, *Hhe change was made to the name of the king Ramessu ** (Visconti Mus. 
Pio. CI. vol. V. T. A. 1, 1. 7 g). The same phrase occurs on the Barberini Obelisk in mentioniDg- the change 
of the name into the name of Antinous (Ungarelli, Int. Ob. Tab. vi. iv.) 

^ Joshua, xvii. 11 ; Zacharia, xii. 11. ^ Chron. xxxv. 22. 

e Judges, v. 19. f 1 Kings, ix. 15. 

^ Rosellini, M. R. cxlviii. iv. br. ^ Rosellini, M. R. xlvi. 1. 

^ Select Papyri, PI. xxiv. last I. PI. xxvii. Ist line. 



as derived from the Hieroglyphical Inscriptions. 4 1 

The celebration of a festival on the return from the campaign was probably a 
matter of course, and its adjustment to the festival of Ammon can only be considered 
as an extra honour to the Theban god. 

When these festivals of Ammon fell is by no means clear from this inscription, 
nor does the calendar of Medinat-Haboo ' much aid us, as they commenced with 
the fixed year, 1st Thoth, and continued on successive days. Nor does the exit of 
the god from Southern Thebes on the 14 th Choiak either appear of much chrono- 
logical import, as it may refer either to the annual visit to Ethiopia in his rich barge, 
or to the " manifestation,'* as it is called, of Khem. The contributions of the King 
attest his piety, and are of the most magnificent description. Slaves, probably 
negroes, to open the doors; three fortresses of the Ruten, — ^just as the Lake 
Mceris and the town of Anthylla supplied the pin-money of the queens of Egypt. 
Linen of various sorts, gold, silver, lapis lazuli, copper, brass, iron, lead, colours for 
the monuments, bread, loaves of various kinds of food, cattle, geese, gazelles of 
different kinds, incense, wine, frankincense, offerings to the statues, to the obelisks ; 
fields, meadows, and ponds, stocked with cattle, waterfowl, and pigeons, complete 
the long list of donations of particular things for their benefit. It is probable that 
these went for the daily dinner of the god, which is stated to have taken place at 
sunset daily, and with which Amen Ra or his priesthood were duly fed ; for many 
of the sacerdotal class do not fail to record in their sepulchral inscriptions that they 
took the cakes which came on or o£F the tables of their gods. The Theban func- 
tionaries especially allude to this fact. The King perpetually states that these were 
given in addition to what was before, and also that there were charged upon the 
yearly revenues of the state a mode of providing for the temples which continued at 
least as late as the Ptolemies. This illustrates in a remarkable manner the mode in 
which the priests were maintained by the monarch out of the annual produce, as 
well as the alienation of the taxes charged to supply the food. The administration of 
the Persian empire, which was conducted on Assyrian and Egyptian principles, also 
has instances of the assignment of the revenue of particular cities for special pur- 
poses, the contributions of the provinces being adjusted to a particular standard. 
It appears in Egypt that the monarch was sole proprietor of the soil, from which he 
derived a rent or tax paid in kind of 2-lOths, or 20 per cent., the whole having been 
originally a decimal or tithe similar to the Hebrew endowment of the priesthood. 
Land was, however, clearly granted in perpetuity to the temple, and apparently to 
individuals, for Aahmes-Penneb received of the monarch he served sta or stiohe of 

* Champollion, Notice, p. 818, 

F 



42 



The Annals of Thothtnes III. 



land. Judging, however^ from the Aramaean religions, a daily feast was prepared, 
at the King's charge, for the dinner either nominally of the god himself, or else for 
the sake of the local hierarchy ; and the personal nature of the god of Thebes was 
kept up by the ^' divine wives " attached to his temple, and his journeys in the sacred 
arks and barges floated on the river ; not to instance the type of the god and the 
oracular responses which he gave to his worshippers." 

The gifts which are recorded in the inscription of Kamak are represented in one 
of the bas-reliefs of the granite sanctuary. Thothmes stands crowned in the 
pschenty wearing a tunic, and elevating in his right hand the sceptre called the pat^^ 
while in the left he holds a mace (het) . Above the monarch are part of his usual 
name and titles^ and an indication that he is beloved of Ammon, who is resident in 
the great house, the sanctuary that Thothmes has built for him. The King is accom- 
panied by his A:ar,« (fig. 73,) called " the king's living existence," which holds up the 
so-called square title in which are his names as the Horus. Before him is inscribed, 
*' He provides "* the monuments of his father Amen Ra ; may he hve like the Sun, 
for ever." 



1. 1 box. 
1 ditto. 

1 box of gold. 

2 ditto. 
1 ditto. 

1 ditto, smaller. 
I ditto. 
II. The great altar {shau 
naa). 
1 lily of gold. 
I palette. 
1 mirror. 
1 dish {tet). 
1 pool of gold {nub 
chenem) . 



III. 



1 gold shrine. 
1 ditto (ptonhh). 
1 vase. 
I gold jug. 
3 gold cups. 

1 with handle in 

shape of an arm. 

2 gold in lumps and 

rings,and613lbs. 

3 ounces of gold 

in ore. 
1 stand [gold?]. 
1 stand [silver]. 
1 ditto, another 

shape [gold?]. 



1 ditto [silver?]. 

2 vases, with stands 

and covers. 
4 ditto. 
1 amphora. 

I gold 

4 

4 baskets of some 

substance. 

1 buckle. 
32 sceptres. 

IV. 2 collars. 

2 ditto. 

2 crowns. 
4 collars. 



a Cf. Hengstenberg, Egypt and the Books of Moses, 8vo. Edinb. 1845, p. 60. 

^ It is probable that this sceptre is the cherp, of which it sometimes appears to be the determinative. 
*^ The phonetic value of this is kar or gar, not ka as hitherto supposed. Cf. Champollion, Notice, 
p. 440. 

'^ Chrp, (fig. 64,) 6aJ?\n, " he shews or exhibits." 



as derived from the Hieroglyphical Inscriptions. 



43 



^ 


4 collars. 


1 ditto, stability man 


VI. 1 RtAnd. 


» 


4 ditto. 


holding sceptres 


8 ditto. 




1 ditto, with pec- 


(^ams). 


1 chapel shrine of 


1 


toral plate. 


1 box. 


King. 


1 


6 stands of vases. 


4 stands. 


1 Nile. 




4 ditto, libation. 


3 other (object 


1 ditto. 




4 boxes. 


erased). 


3 altars. 




1 armlet and chain. 


2 palettes. 


3 others. 




1 table of vases [gold]. 


1 vase, having on the 


2 dishes. 




2 ditto [silver]. 


cover, shrine, cha- 


2 dishes and ladles. 




1 crook. 


riot, vases, and 


40 bowls [gold?]. 




1 sceptre. 


covers. 


74 other bowls. 




1 rod. 


1 ditto, birds. 


1 silver goblets. 




2 ditto. 


1 ditto, flowers. 


6 ditto, with human 




2 fly-flaps. 


1 ditto, birds. 


arm handles. 




1 vase, ornamented 


1 box. 


10 diotae. 




with a man and 


1 shrine. 


2 flower-shaped 




water-plants. 


1 box. 


dishes. 




37 vases, with lips of 


1 ditto. 


52 amphora;. 




flowers. 


1 ditto, another 


1 silver cup and 




1 gold chair-back 


shape. 


stand. 




{sa ). 


1 ditto, chest for 


1 situla. 




1 gold ditto. 


clothes. 


8 gold mats for the 




1 ewer. 


3 gold chains. 


gods. 




U^g- 


3 ditto, different 


1 silver jar. 




1 Rt^nd, with sta- 


4 gold bracelets or 


1 ditto, vases, with 




bility and life. 


armlets. 


stand. 




34 sceptres. 


3 ditto. 


52 bowls. 




3 baskets of bread? 


3 solid ditto {meska). 


7 ditto, deep. 




2 plain armlets. 


6 armlets, solid 


4 jugs. 




1 thick armlet 


[silver] . 


248 dishes. 




{meska). 


3 ditto, solid. 


2 jars. 




4 anclets of different 


8 ditto, smaller. 


VII. 4 stands. 




kinds. 


4 armlets, orna- 


a table, with service. 




V. 1 vase, head of Nnm, 


mented. 


1 box. 




in shape of sym- 


2 ditto, chain| q^ 


2 tables, with jars 




bol of life. 


1 ditto, collarjbeads. 


for water. 



44 



The Annals of Thothmes III. 



VIII. 



4 bottles. 
1 standi shape of 
flower. 

1 lotus-shaped urn. 

2 large vases^ one 

with lotus. 
1 jar. 

1 amphora. 
1 balsamary jar. 
300 dishes. 
I chest. 

3 stands. 

7 situlse on a stand. 
I amphora. 

1 lecythus. 

7 circular and square 
vessels. 

2 heaps of gold in 

ring and ore. 
a basket. 
I lotus cup. 
1 ditto. 
1 amphora. 



21 bottles. 

I jar on a stand. 

1 3 baskets of gems. 

I I other ditto. 
IX. 1 cartouche. 

1 King and Horns. 
I altar for libation. 
1 ditto. 
30 dishes. 

1 jar chest. 

2 stands, with car- 

touches. 
30 dishes. 
4 stands. 
1 stand, some object. 

1 vase^ on a stand. 

2 tables, with bread 

vases. 
2 ditto, with palette. 
8 square pyxides. 
23 tables. 
41 altars. 



X. 1 jar. 
2 stands. 
4 doors. 
15 ditto. 

4 ditto. 
1 table. 

1 chest. 

2 jars. 

2 ditto, on a stand. 

1 ditto^ with flowers. 

2 ditto. 

2 goblets. 

2 ditto. 
1 altar. 

3 jars, balsamary. 
3 jugs. 

1 goblet. 

5 ditto. 

1 jug. 

1 ditto. 

2 goblets. 
1 jar. 



On the other side. Amen Ra, and part of an incomplete inscription, in which the 
god announces that he has given all the countries to the king. The most important 
gifts were the two obeUsks of syenitic granite, which the inscription states to have 
been set up by Thothmes at the divine gate ; but their inscriptions differ from any 
yet known, and they have probably disappeared in the removals which these great 
monoUths have undergone. 

The third inscription again continues with the history of the tribute, and the 
Asi — the people of Is, mentioned in the statistical tablet — again appear ; in the 
10 — 12 line a transition takes place to another campaign against the fortress of 
Aranatu, that of Kanana, and the land of Tunep ; ^ Kadesh was once more attacked 

^ Tanpu occurs in the list of conquests of Amenophis III. at Soleb. Lepsius, Denkm. iii. bl. 88 a. In 
the first campaign of Rameses II. the Shasu complain to the king " that the host of the Khita is seated in the 
Chirubu [Chabour] to the North of Tunp." Charopollion, Mon. t i. xxix. 7. 



ns derifed from the Ilierogltfphical Inscriptions. i S 

and the campaign extended to Naharaina or Mesopotamia. The Tanai, a Philisiine 
tribe who were conquered by Rameses III. with their cognate allies, the Pulusata or 
Philistines, and the Gaklil ' or GaHIeeans, also contributed to the rent-roll, and the 
" silver jug of the work of the Kevau " refers to the celebrated metallic works of 
the Cyprians. It is evident that the influence of Egypt had penetrated into the isles" 
of the Mediterranean, and the gods, who often ^ve to the kings the north, south, east, 
and west, do not fail to add besides the isles in the midst of the great pond or sea. 

The fourth inscription contains an amended version of the statistical tablet of 
Karnak, commencing with the twenty-ninth year, embracing the campaign against 
the Tahi " or Gahi and the capture of one of its walled cities Uarushasha, the sack of 
Arutatu (Arad), another march against Kedesh undertaken in the thirtieth year, that 
town existing almost unconquered till the campaign of Rameses III. Considerable 
quantities of tribute continued to be paid by the Ruten, and from Naharaina, the 
chief of Saenkar, or the Singara, bringing the blue stone of Babel. The King had 
perhaps reached Nineveh. In the meantime the Kushile provinces contributed 
their quota; and in the thirty-fifth year is mentioned another campaign against the 
fortress of Aruana. Intimately connected with these inscriptions are the historical 
scenes in the tomb of Rekhshara, which have been twice published, with the inscrip- 
tions unfortunately much mutilated, and requiring a great deal of correction to 
render them intelligible. They represent " ihe reception of the tribute brought from 
the lands of the South and North, Kush, Pant, the Rutennu, and Kefa,"'* which is 
carried by deputations to Thothraes III. and registered in his presence by scribes. 

These are divided into four grand ethnic divisions, two of southern people, two of 
northern. The south are Pant and Pet or Phut. 

I. Pant' or Punt, the Libyans, the natives of the south- eastern confines of Egypt. 
They bring gold rings, gems (ana), gold dust {gam), gum {kam), various kinds of 
stones, ostrich eggs, two granite obelisks, vermilion, panthers' skins, tusks of ivory. 



a of the reign of Uakhcaateii, . 



* Champollion, A 

'' Cf, the [ni«ript 
M. R. cKiv. 

'^ They occur among the prisoiicrti al 
natcly not geographical, for it runs . . . e 
the Elymais), Trtktu (Thrace), Suaih ( 
Gaha or Taha, which last some suppose 

' Cf. Lepaiua, Denkm. Abth. iii. Bl. 39 b. 

' Hoakins, j^lhiopia, Tomb at Thebes, p 
14 ; vol. i. pp. 364, 374 ; Mr. Osbum, Egypt' 



in, Exc. Hier. pi. vi. and of Rameses II., Rosellin 



Eenah of Ptolemy Euergetes 1. The order of the series is unfortu- 
rui, Maknlen (Macedon), Perm (Persia), Arama (Mesopotamia, or 
jusa), $A«6u (Sheba, the Sabsi), £«-«(, Uarahi, Shaatu (Arabia), 
D be />a-meshek, or jDonuiscus. Champollion, Notice, p. IH5. 

8 ; Sir G. Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, ii. pi. 76, i. 
estimonv. 8vo, Loud. 1846. pp. 82. 88, 137. 



46 The Annals of Thothmes III, 

cynocephali, the ibex, ebony, panthers, ostrich feathers, trees. In the ethnic tables 
Punt occurs among the southern and also the northern people. The northern Ptot, 
which is represented as a fortified or walled city, some writers have supposed to be 
Penne ; but the Punt was clearly a negro land, as has been already observed.^ 

The other race of the South which is seen in this picture is that of the people of 
the South, Peti-Sent-han-nefer.* This country, it appears from the inscription of 
Aahmes Penneneb, had been invaded as early as the commencement of the eighteenth 
dynasty. It was apparently south of the First Cataract, and their products are similar 
to that of Punt, consisting of ebony {abu) and ivory, gold in rings and ingots {nub), 
gold dust in purses (gam), silver {hat), panther-skins, vermilion (hfnkai)^ emeralds 
(sesemt), leopard*s skins, apes, panthers, a camelopard, hunting-dogs, oxen, ostrich- 
feathers, and eggs. Most of these objects came by the way of commerce from the 
interior, and at the present day the camelopard is not found higher than 10^ S. 
latitude, near the White River or Sixth Cataract. 

The tribute brought by the third race, called the Kefa or Kheva, ^m^ W^ -^^--i 
'' the isles in the midst of the Great Sea" or Mediterranean, and in ®" ' W 1 1^^ aam^ 
whom are to be recognised the ancient inhabitants of Cyprus, with their hair curled 
like horns on their heads, whence the Greeks called them sphekes^ or wasps, consists 
of various vessels of gold and silver, some of them rhyta, gems, blue objects, and 
inlaid blue colour, probably the xuavor Kurpior,*' mentioned by Theophrastus, and a 
tusk. It is remarkable that these people offer no copper, as might have been sup- 
posed ; but their excellence in metallurgy is too great to suppose that they come 
from any isles to the east of Egypt. They are again mentioned in the list of the 
prisoners of Amenophis III. at Soleb.^ It is probable that the part of the statistical 
tablet in which is mentioned vases in shape of the heads of lions and gazelles refers 
to the tribute of the Khefa. 

The last race on the picture are the Rutennu, who are said to lie to the north of 
the Great Sea; they are remarkably like some of the prisoners of Sargina at 
Khorsabad. They have already been repeatedly mentioned in the texts ; they 
bring gold ingots, rings, and vases, silver ingots, rings, and vases, some gems a 
substance called " heart of acacia,*' {ha t n ash); another called /uit n mestem, (heart 
of stibium), perhaps paints; bitumen {sef. f), frankincense {sen ntr), and wine 
{arp)j and some kind of fabric {men); tusks of ivory {abu), logs of wood, clubs, bows 

* Vide ArchsBologia, vol. xxxiv. p. 857. The first character is probably Sen rather than Pen» 
^ Sphecea, Lycophron, Cass. v. 447. Plin. N. H. vi. 31. ^ De Lapid. c. 98. 

** Lepsius, Denkm. iii., bl. 88, column a. Khefa (Cyprus), Khita (Khettiaei), Naharaina (Mesopotamia) 
Saenkar (Singara), Kadeshu (Kadytis), Akar (rita). 



as derived from the Hieroglyphical Inscriptiotis. 4/ 

amphorae, bows, clubs, chariots, white and bay horses, a white bear, and an elephant. 
They seem to be the inhabitants of Northern Syria. 

The fifth inscription is remarkable for the tribute of Arurech or Erech on the 
confines of Susiana and Babylonia, and for the mention of the Shasu or Shds. 

From every country were brought hands, when a campaign had been carried on, 
to show the number of the dead. Slaves were contributed in great abundance, 
eunuchs for servants, and nahsi or negroes for doorkeepers, from ^Ethiopia. But it 
does not appear that all prisoners of war were reduced to the condition of servitude. 
Chiefs and their families were retained as hostages, and those who surrendered 
are carefully distinguished from slaves ; yet it is evident from the Eilithyian in- 
scription that prisoners of war were reduced to the condition of slaves.* 

The animals brought to Egypt were apparently for purposes very diflFerent ; some 
for religious purposes — such as the cynocephali (aam), which recruited the corps of 
those animals in the temple of Chons ; the lions (maati), which belonged to Bast or 
Horus; the jackals (sabu), to Anubis: while the camelopard** (ser), the elephant*^ (abu) 
— the Asiatic variety only, the leopard (abu), the bear had no religious import, 
and stocked the paradeisoi or parks of the Pharoahs. Tame monkeys** (kef) indeed are 
often seen seated by the chairs of their masters, like cats, equally favourites of both 
sexes. More important and more useful were the hunting-dogs, which chiefly came 
from the southern frontiers. Asses were of great use, and came from the northwards, 
from some of the Syrian people. It is uncertain whether mules were known. 

The name of the horse in these inscriptions is written sesy or ses mu, undoubtedly 
the Semitic word am*, did, which has more connection with Egj'pt than at first 
appears. The word for " charger " is Afar, and is constantly mentioned in the de- 
scriptions of war, which is also found in the Assyrian inscriptions. In the Biblical 
descriptions of Egypt, even in the oldest books, the horse is classed with the usual 
cattle. Thus, Joseph suppUes bread in exchange for them ; e they are afflicted with 
the murrain ; ^ and one of the express injunctions laid upon the future king is that he 
shall neither breed horses for himself, nor cause the people of Israel to return to Egypt 
for the sake of rearing horses ; * shewing the superiority of Egypt to Palestine, the ex- 

^ And g^ven to the captor for that purpose, see p. 38. 

^ Nahun i^thiopes vocant quare etain ovis ferae nomen invenit. Plinius, N. H. viii. 27. Ser is also 

the word for a sheep in Egyptian. Champollion, Gf. 233. 

^ Shen-Aa6-im, teeth of elephants, 1 Kings, x. 22, shews that hab or Ab was also its Semitic name. 

^ This is the same word as the koph, "ape,'* hrought to Solomon (1 Kings, x. 22) ; the cebi (Plin. N. H. 
vi. 29), or <c^7r-ot(Plin. N. H. viii. 19) as from Agatharcides, (Schmidt, Opusc. ]2mo. Carlsr. 1765 p 99>^ > 

« Gen. xlvii. 17. f Exod. vi 3. « Deut. xvii. If? 



48 TTie Annals of Thothmes III. 

cellence of the Egyptian breed, and the high value set on the animal. In the days of the 
Kings of Israel Solomon had 40,000 horses,* or, according to another version, 4,000.^ 
These he appears to have partly received in the way of tribute, as it is stated of the 
neighbouring petty princes, — " and they brought every man his tribute ; vessels of 
silver and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses and mules, a rate year 
by year;***" a mode of expression exactly like that of the tablet. From Egypt they appear 
to have principally come, although they were also brought from other lands.<^ From 
Egypt, Syria and the Hittites were supplied with horses, each being worth 1 50 talents 
of silver, while a chariot cost 600 talents. Togarmah,' however, or Armenia, chiefly 
supplied the market of Tyre with horses, horsemen, and mules. The Ruten Assuru and 
Naharaina were the principal exporters of horses to Egypt. Cilicia sent annually 360 
horses to the Persian king/ Armenia supplied annually 20,000 horses to Mithridates;' 
Media paid a tribute in the horses of Nisaii.** The horned cattle, on the contrary, 
chiefly came from the South, and their varieties were — bulls {ka usch)^ steers {ka vnu)^ 
milch-cows {ar-ru-t)^ and a peculiar species called tepa-kau, or kau-tepa^ or kau hr tepa^ 
and aftir,perhaps buffaloes. Kush, indeed, sent large herds as its tribute ; but theTahai, 
a northern people, also supplied much cattle. The valuable herds of cattle in iSthiopia 
were by no means unknown to the Greeks and Romans. Of smaller animals of this 
genus the large white antelope (mahut), the ibex (aZ), the gazelle {nahash)^ the 
oryx {kahfi)j came both from the ^Ethiopian and Syrian frontier ; and goats (ba) both 
of a white and brown colour. There are some other animals mentioned, but their 
species is not distinct. Of animal products, ivory (abu) entered Egypt both from the 
North and South ; panther-skins {anm m abu) from ^Ethiopia ; the ostrich, its eggs, 
and feathers from Punt or Libya and Senthannefer. Various trees were introduced, 
and several kinds of wood, chiefly ebony {haben\ ses or sonty probably cedar, or 
the mimosa, and the ashy or ac-ac-ia ; the latter from the North, the first from 
^Ethiopia; gum (kam) and pitch {seft) belong to this division. Com {su) and 
barley {but)y frankincense, senneterj complete this portion of raw products. Honey 
came from Syria. Of mineral wealth, silver and gold from all countries Ijang north 
and south ; copper and iron from the North, brass and lead from the same direction. 
All this was registered by its weight : the noble metal in talents, the minse (mna), 
or pound, with a subdivision called kat or kite, the ounce, 16 of which at least 

» 1 Kings, iv. 26, 28 ; Heb. ver. v. 5. ^2 Chron. ix. 24. 

<^ 1 Kings, X, 25 ; 2 Chron. ix. 24. ^ 1 Kings, x. 28 ; 2 Chron. i. 16, 17. 

* Ezekiel, xvii. 24. ' Herodot. vii. 40. ^ Strabo, ed. Cas. p. 530. 

^ Strabo, p. 528. See the Memoir of Count Wenceslas Rzewuski in the Fundgruben des Orients. Fol. 
Wien, 1816, p. 333, etseq. 



ax derivt'dfrom The Hi^rogltfpfiical Inscnptioii.t 49 

went to a nana: the inferior metals were weighed by teb, bricks, perhaps like the 
modern hundred-weight ; once lead is reckoned by a weight called was. The pre- 
cious stones are more difficult to determine ; blocks of syenitlc granite came from 
Punt, from whence also black jasper (kain), pearls or gems (ani), lapis lazuU (c/iesbet) 
from the Ruten and Naharaina, that of Babylon being most celebrated ; agates {aket), 
the smaris-stone (asmer), and emerald (sesem), from the northern and southern 
frontiers ; colours from the same directions. These were measured by bushels and 
pints, like cum, which was also reckoned by a larger capacity, the tena or quarter. 

But the manufactured objects carried into Egypt at this period are by no means 
less remarkable than the materials, consisting of vessels of gold, silver, iron, copper, 
and brass, artistically worked, chased, and inlaid with lapis lazuh, and gems, dishes, 
beakers, cups in shape of animal heads, and services of plate (uthu). These came 
principally from the Kefa or Cyprus, and from the Gaha, perhaps Gaza. Assyria 
also suppHed vessels of metallic work, and so did the Ruten or Lud-im. Various 
parts of armour, such as helmets, girdles, a part called makargina, bucklers, swords,' 
maces, also came from Palestine or central Asia. Chariots of faka or beech-wood, 
and oi seat, plated gold and silver conjointly or united, and inlaid with agates, came 
from the Ruten and Naharaina; poles for pavilions, plated with brass, and some 
other objects difficult to make out. Palanquins, chairs, and footstools, tastefully 
inlaid, also from the north : but the south was not quite destitute of manufactures ; 
and the suppused waggons, maschu . t, the amaxa of the Gieeks, and cut logs {peska), 
came from Kush or /Ethiopia; armchairs, also, were made by the Nigrilic tribes. 
The tables of cedar wood, inlaid with gold and ivory, which are mentioned as coming 
from the Ruten. are probably the beds of ivory, iiu mao {mitut sAn) .■ and the couches, 
DBif n»3 (nar shitam), in use in the later days of Israel, introduced by the Phce- 
nicians.'' Essences and perfumes, also, were prepared by the northern people. 

After all, this gives by no means the extent of the Egyptian commerce, which 
would'Vequire still further space to illustrate. The drink of Kadesh, the wine of Charu 
or Haleh, the fish of the Euphrates" and of the Halys,'i contributed to the sustenance 
of ancient Egypt ; and several fabrics also, although the tapestries of Babylon were 
excluded. 

This period must be regarded as the culmination of the power of Egypt, and the 



• Sword, seft, Coptic CHqi f|D, t—JiJ^. saif, iiip-oi. 

• Dr. Hincka, Trans. Brit. Arch. Assoc. 1846, p. 236. 
I. 7. 0. For many aubaUoces of different rivers .ind places 

<■ LepsiuB, Denkm. Abth. iii. 45 e. 
VOL. XXXV. 



Select Papyri, pi. Uiv. 
tee Select Pap. xcvi. 



50 2'he Annals of Thothmes III. 

reign of Thothmes the most remarkable in the whole of its annals. Later, how- 
ever, than his fortieth year there are few materials of historical import. 

A mutilated tablet discovered at El Bershel/ dated on the second day of Mesoie, 
in the thirty-third year of the monarches reign, containing the proscynema of a 
functionary, calls this year *' the commencement of millions of festivals," and alludes 
to their inscription upon the noble persea (asht-as) or tree of life. This coincides 
with the commencement of the Kamak statistical tablet ; but the calendar at 
Elephantine shews that it has no relation to the Sothic cycle, and it cannot be the 
commencement of the triakonteris, which fell on the thirtieth year, but of which the 
ten subdivisions were celebrated at regular intervals.^ 

There are few other memorials of a true historical character at this period. 

In his forty-second year were erected the colossi of the third propylon placed on 
the south side of Karnak.*" Another tablet at EUesieh, dated in his forty-third year, 
contains a proscynema to Horus and Sati, but is of no great historical import. 

At Ibrim the temple is sculptured with a representation of the tribute rendered from 
iEthiopia, which is led up to Thothmes by the prince Nehi, consisting of gold, ivory, 
and ebony.^ The obelisk of Constantinople records the conquest of Mesopotamia/ 

A part of the temple of the Wady Haifa was built by Thothmes III / and near 
Mashakit is also the proscynema of Kar-gai, scribe of the treasury or of the slave- 
house of the king in the land of Nubia or Kenus.* 

He also built the tenip(e of Ra, or the Sun, at Amada, two bas-reliefs of which are 
figured.** In both Thothmes wears the casque {cheprsh). On the first, taken from 
the right of the door of the sanctuary, Isis tenderly clasps him round the neck. The 
legends read, " Tlje king, the sun-placer of creation, may he live well like the Sun for 
ever. Isis, the mother goddess, gives peace to his heart —she gives a life as good as the 
Sun ! " The other, taken from the left of the door, represents Thothmes received 
by Ammon on his throne. The legends of this read, '* The son of the Sun, Thothmes, 
the best of created beings, may he live like the Sun. Ammon, who gives peace to 
the heart." The vulture of Neneb, which soars above, is called, *' She who gives life, 
mistress of Heaven." As the first hall is of the age of Thothmes V. these are clearly 

• Sharpe, Eg. laser. 2nd ser. pi. 87. 

b Cf. ChampoUion, Mon. ii. pi. cxvi.-cxviii. The first festival was on the SOth, the second on the 84th the 
third on the d7th, the fourth on the 40th, year of Rameses II. A sixth is mentioned on the 45th year. 
Ibid. cxix. 

^ Rosellini, M. St. Pte. I. torn. iii. pp. 125, 126, tav. ann. fig. 2. Lepsius, Denkm. iii. bL 16. 

^ Champollion, Mon. Notice, pp. 79, 80. ® Champollion, Mon. Notice, p. 57. 

^ Lepsius, 1. c. ^ Ibid. p. 40. *» Champollion, Monumens, torn. i. pi. xIt. 



fis derived from the Hieroglypkical Inscriptions. 



51 



in the latter days of Thothmes III. In the left hall, Thothraes III., called the king, 
the lord of the earth, is represented offering a bunch of papyrus and lotus flowers to 
Ra. He is called the king, the lord of the earth, the lord doing what is right, the 
Sun placer of truth. The legend says, "that he brings (tenmi) ducks (cAnewt), he 
gives flowers (reitpn). Ra in reply says, " I give thee a good life as wished." Athor 
comes behind him, holding a sistrura and collar. Says Athor, " mistress of the 
Heaven, beloved son of my body, Sun establisher of creation, I am beside thee — my 
arras at thy head, with good life!" 

At Amada the dedication runs in the name of Thothmes III. alone, for it states 
that the good god, the king. Sun placer of creation, the son of the Sun, beloved issue 
of his race, Thothmes the true ruler, has dedicated it to the god Ra, lord of the east 
and western horizon, he made the temple of sandstone, may he live for ever 1 ' 

Another of the scenes at Amada, taken from the left-hand wall, represents one of 
those actions of which it is so difficult to divine the real meaning.'' The king, 
crowned in the teshr, advances rapidly to the god Ra. In his right hand he holds 
awhip, in his left a cylindrical object. Before him is inscribed — "fields (four times}." 
Above the king is the urseus of Subn or Neben. Behind him ia the initial hie- 
roglyph of the word Orbit of the Sun ; then the two halves of the Heaven and the 
Sun's orbit ; then a scorpion, tied down to the Sun's orbit ; then a pool, supported 
by a Nilometer, and held up by two arms; finally, three semi- ovals. Behind him 
is the son of the Sun, Thothmes, being crowned upon the throne of Turn "^ (Tomos) 
triumphant as the Sun for ever. Ra, in the usual form, thus apostrophises the Sun, 
" Says the Sun-lord of the two horizons, great god, lord of the heaven, welcome in 
peace beloved son of my body, Sun placer of creation, I give thee a sound life, like 
the Sun." A similar scene represents the dedication of a temple, with its peribolos.'i 

There are two other objects represented in the pictures of Amada First the 
king holds a stick, while the goddess Safch, the lady of hieroglyphs and words, who 
gives a perfect life, holds another. The act is called " stretching the cord of the 
temple of the Sun." Thothmes has his usual titles of " good god, Sun establisher of 
creation, son of the Sun, Thothmes, may he live like the Sun."* 

To this reign also belongs the celebrated genealogical and historical picture, called 
the tablet of Karnak, in which Thothmes represents his ancestor who preceded his 





Monu 


mens, t. 


pi. xtv. 8, 




MonumenB, pi. 


xlvii. 2. R 


' 7-um is called T-V 


D the lis 


of file dee 


artas in Nubia 


Tifios. 


Letronne, Ilfichercht 



lide face of the lintels of the entrance gate. 
KogelUni, M. R. xxxv. 2 torn. iii. pte. t. p. 171. 



VOL. XXXV. 



, p. 483. 

' Champollio. 



1. pi. ilvii 



52 



The Annals of Thothmes III. 



dynasty, and to whom he presents sepulchral offerings, and which, in all probability, 
formed part of the gifts made to the temple of Ammon.* 

The great temple at Karnak has many religious scenes. ^ A granite block at the 
bottom of the sanctuary of Karnak, much mutilated, represents an act of adoration 
to Amon Ra in his character of Khem. The figure of the god, and part of bis name 
and titles only remain. Below is the head of an inventory of the offerings made to 
the shrine, two of which were of gold.*' 

It is by no means necessary to give a detailed account of the numerous edifices 
erected by Thothmes III. throughout Egypt, the remains of which have been found, 
from the temple of the goddess Athor, at the Sarabout el Khadem,* to the Wady Halfa^ 
Thus the temple of Samneh, already mentioned; ' the second and third naos at Ibrim;« 
Amada already detailed ; ^ the sekos at Ombos ; * at Gebel Schelet ;J the temple of 
Sebak atEilethyia; ^ remains atEdfoo; * the temple at Medinat-Haboo, erectcni after his 
independence ; °» and El at Assasif, which was commenced under his joint reign and 
that of his sister ; ° the sanctuary of Karnak ; ° another edifice in that quarter ; ^ part of 
the Speos Artemidos,"* and Heliopolis attest the grandeur of his reign in Egypt. One 
of the latest memorials is the statue erected at the southern quarter of Thebes, on 
the 22nd Thoth of the 42nd year of his reign/ Of the monuments out of Egypt, 
the most important are the great obelisk of St. John of the Lateran, which Thothmes 
did not live to complete, but which Thothmes V. set up after it had remained 35 
years unfinished in the south quarter of Thebes.' The other obelisk, that of Con- 
stantinople, which has no additions by any other king, records the extending of the 
power of Egypt to Naharaina, and that the king went round the great river of 
Naharaina or Mesopotamia '^ before his army,"' as described in the campaign against 
Megiddo. A statue of grey granite of this king is in the museum ** of Turin. It is 
remarkable that, amidst all the numerous memorials of this reign, there are no traces 

a Prisse, Mon. pi. i. Lepsius, Auswahl, Taf. i. Rosell. Mon. Stor. pte. I. torn. iii. p. 188. 



^ Champollion, Mon. t. iii. pi. cccxi. 1. 

^ Laborde, Voyage dans L' Arabic Petree. 

^ Rosellini, Mon. Stor. pte. I. torn. iii. p. 170. 

b Ibid. pp. 171, 180. NoUce, p. 102. 

3 Ros. 1. c. p. 180. Notice, p. 232. 

' Ros. 1. c. 181. 

" Ros. I.e. 183. 

J» Ros. p. 189. 

^ Rosellini, Mon Stor. torn, iii, pte. 1. Tav. ann. 123, 2. 



^ Lepsius, Denkm. Abth. iii. bl. 33, 34. 
^ Champollion, Notice, p. 57. 
f Ibid. p. 171. Notice, p. 79. 
* Ros. 1. c. 180; Mon. d. c. xxxviii. 
^ Ros. I. c 181. Notice, p. 206. 
°» Ros. 1. c. 182. Notice, pp. 327, 334. 
® Yong. Hieroglyph, p. 81. 
'» Ros. 1. c. 190. 
This date is however referred by Lepsius to 



Thothmes 1. 

* Ungarelli, Int. Ob. tab. i. It is not quite certain what this means, whether the thirty-five years are to 
be measured from the death of Thothmes III., or if it is the regnal year of Thothmes IV. 

* Lepsius, Donkm. iii. BI. GO, w. " Hosellini, pte. I. torn. iii. p. 190. 



as derived from the Hieroglyphical Inscriptions. 



53 



of the family of Thothmes III. The Princess Ra-neferu, whose name is the same as 
that of the Princess of the Bakhten^ died early in the reign of Thothmes. Ame- 
nophis II. is said to be his son and successor^ and his mother the Queen Ra-meri 
Ha-t-as^ or Ta-ha-as,* whose name is constructed like that of his regent sister, ap- 
pears, from the temple of the El Assasif, to have been the wife of Thothmes III. Pro- 
bably in his later days Amenophis II. was associated with him in the empire, as their 
names occur conjointly on the lintels of the door at Amada. 
Such are the monumental remains of the great Thothmes. 

* Rosellini, i. p. 284, pi. viii. 104, d. Lepsius, Denkm. iii. Bl. 62 b, who ia Ibid. 65 a, has restored the word 
father before the name Thothmes. 



REFERENCES TO THE PLATE. 



Fig. 1, p. 

2 

3 

4 

5, p. 

6 

7 

8 

9 
10, p. 
11 
12 
18 
14 
16 

16, p. 
17 

18, p. 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 

24, p. 
25 
26 
127 

28, p. 
29 
30 
31 
32 

33, p. 
34 

35, p. 
36 
37 
38 



117, note *. 
„ note ^. 
„ note ^ 
„ note '. 

118, note*. 
„ note ^. 
„ note *^. 
„ note '. 
„ note K 

119, note •. 
„ note •. 
„ note •. 
„ note *. 
„ note •*. 
„ note '. 

120, note t. 
„ note ••. 

122, note *. 
„ note ^. 
„ note *. 
„ note '. 
„ note *•. 
„ note *. 

123, note •. 
„ note •». 
„ note «. 
„ note "*. 

124, note «. 
„ note *. 
„ note '. 
„ note *. 
„ note ". 

125, note «*. 
„ note *. 

126, note '. 
„ note *'. 
„ note *. 
„ note ". 



Fig. 39, p. 
40 

41, p. 
42 
43 
44 

45, p. 
46 
47 
48 
49 

50, p. 
51 
52 
53 

64, p. 
56 
56 
57 
58 
59 
60 
61 

62 
63 
64 

65, p. 
66 
67 
68 
69 
70 

71 
72 

73, p. 
74 
75 
76, p. 



126, note". 
„ note ". 

127, note f. 
„ note *. 
„ note *. 
„ note •*. 

128, note «. 
„ note •. 
„ note '. 
„ note V. 
„ note **. 

129, note «. 
„ note '. 
„ note 8. 
„ note ••. 

130, note •. 
„ note ^. 
„ note *. 
„ note r. 
„ note *". 
„ note K 
„ note K 
„ note ■*. 
„ note ". 
„ note ». 
„ note P. 

131, note •. 
„ note *. 
„ note '^. 
„ note •*. 
„ note <^. 
„ note '. 
„ note 8. 
„ note '. 

132, note *. 
„ note ^. 
„ note •■'. 

133, note \ 



Fig. 77, p. 

78 

79 

80 

81 

82 

83 

84 

85 

86 

87 

88 

89 

90 

91 

92 

93 

94, p. 

95 

96 

97 

98 

99 
100, p. 
101 
102 
103 
104, p. 
105 
106 
107 
108 
109, p. 
110 
111 
112 
113 
114 



133, note •». 
„ note '. 
„ note ••. 
„ note ^ 
„ note J. 
„ note •*. 
„ note K 
„ note ■*. 
„ note ". 
„ note ". 
„ note ■. 
„ note ". 
„ note P. 
„ note *>. 
„ note •. 
„ note ^ 
„ note S 

134, note <". 
„ note '. 
„ note t. 
„ note ••. 
„ note '. 
„ note *'. 

135, note *. 
„ note **. 
„ note ^ 
„ note f. 

136, note •». 
„ note *=. 
„ note *. 
„ note '. 
„ note '. 

137, note •*. 
„ note '. 
„ note '. 
„ note ••. 
„ note '. 
„ note ". 



Fig. 115, p. 
116 
117 
118 
119 
120 
121 
122, p. 
123 
124, p. 
125 
126, p. 
127 
128 
129 
130 
131, p. 
132 
133 

134, p. 

135, p. 
136 
137 

138, p. 

139, p. 
140 
141 

142, p. 
143 
144 

145, p. 

146, p. 

147, p. 

148, p. 

149, p. 

150, p. 
151 



138, note *. 
„ note *. 
„ note *. 
„ note *•. 
„ note '. 
„ note K 
„ note •. 

139, note '. 
„ note •. 

140, note *. 
„ note '. 

141, note V 
„ note *». 
„ note ''. 
„ note '. 
„ note t. 

142, note ". 
„ note «. 
„ note «. 

143, note »». 
123, note ". 
„ note f. 
„ note f. 
121, note •. 
180, note «. 
„ note *. 
„ note ^ 
146, note '. 
„ note ®. 
„ note •. 

127, note '. 

128, note K 
120, 1. 50. 
127, 1. 21. 
134, 1. 10. 
138,1. 18. 

1. 19. 



it 



ON A HISTORICAL TABLET 



REIGN OF THOTHMES III. 



DISCOVERED AT THEBES. 



COUHUNIOATED TO THB SOCIETY OP ANTIQUARIES 



BY SAMUEL BIRCH, ESQ., F.S.A. 



LONDON: 

PRINTED BY J. B. NICHOLS AND SONS, 26, PABUAMENT STREET. 
1861. 



FROM THE 



AECH^OLOGIA, 



Vol. XXXVIII. 



ON A HISTORICAL TABLET OF THE REIGN OF THOTUMES III. 
RECENTLY DISCOVERED AT THEBES. 



I AM enabled by the kindness of Mr. PciTy to lay before the Society an 
impression in paper from a large tablet, dated in the reign of Tbothmes III., 
which has been recently discovered at Thebes. The impression of it was made 
by Lord John Hay, when on a visit to Thebes, and has only just reached this 
country. The tablet contains a text of twenty-four lines of hieroglyphs, accom- 
panied by a scene representing Thothmes in adoration to the principal Theban 
deities. The purport of the text is religious, announcing the benefits conferred 
by the god Amen Ra on the monarch, but it contains several historical allusions 
of importance to the history of this reign. As it helps to complete the " Annals 
of Thothmes III." of wliieh I have already given some account to the Society, 
I trust the short accompanying notice of the inscription and its contents may 
prove acceptable. 

The tablet is of the usual rounded Egyptian form at the top, called in the 
hieroglyphs hai, or Hutu. Above is the winged disk, the supposed Siitu, or Sun, 
as the Lord of Edfu, with the ordinary title of " great god, lord of the Heaven." 
On the right side stands Amen Ra, with bis usual type and attributes; and 
before him is Thothmes, wearing an uncus on his head, and offering two small 
globular vases, containing, no doubt, water, as the inscription below states that 
he " gives water." Above the bead of the monarch are his titles, " the good god, 
lord of the earth, lord of diadems, Sun establisher of creation, Thothmes giver of 
life." Immediately before him is part of another inscription, " Who gives life 
like the Sun." Behind Thothmes stands the goddess of the West, wearing the 
emblem of that region on her head, and holding five arrows in her left hand and 
a bow in her right. This goddess was an especial protectress of Thothmes. Slie is 
called " Keft, the Mistress of the West." This scene is divided from the next by 
a vertical line of hieroglyphs, containing the usual Pharaonic titles, " Giver of 
life, health, like the Sun," applying to both scenes. The second scene exactly 
resembles the first; the only difference being that Thothmes "offers incense," 



2 On a NeuD Historical Tablet 

represented by two vases with fire, instead of water. The name of the god "Amen 
Ra, king of the gods, lord of the Heaven/* remains, and the name of the goddess 
is encircled by a representation of a square-walled enclosure, as if she were 
resident in some precinct belonging to this monarch. 

The text reads — 

(1.) Says Amen Ra, lord of the thrones of the world, Come rejoicing; behold 
my goodness, my son, my defender, Sun establisher of creation, ever living ! I 
shine as thou wishest, my heart 

(2.) dilates at thy good coming to my temple, directing thy arms Tvith life, thy 
rejoice to my 

(3.) I am set up in my hall, I reward thee, I give to thee victory, and power 
over all foreign lands. I give thy spirits and thy terrors in all lands, thy terrors 
over all 

(4.) up to the props of the Heaven increasing thy fear in their hellies. I 
cause the roarings of thy majesty to turn back the Libyans ; all the chiefs of the 
evil lands are entirely in thy grasp. 

(5.) I stretch my own arms to tow thee, I subdue the Libyans {an put) for 
tens of thousands and thousands, the north by millions of 

(6.) I cause thy insulters to fall under thy sandals ; thou hast scared and turned 
back the cowards ; likewise I ordered for thee the earth in its length and hreadth, 
the west and east, under thy seats. 

(7.) Thou treadest in all lands elated, no one can resist before thy majesty. I 
am leading thee and making thee approach to them, thou hast gone round the 
great river 

(8.) of Naharana with power and strength. I have ordered to thee that they 
listen to thy roarings, going in their recesses. I have deprived their nostrils of the 
breath of life. 

(9.) I have made the victories of thy majesty turn their hearts ; my light is 
on thy head dazzling them, leading captive the wicked shepherds ; 

(10.) it bums all those who belong to them with its flame, decapitating the 
heads of the Amu ; none of them escape, their children fall into its power. 

(11.) I allow thy force to go round all lands ; my head shines on thy hody ; 
thou hast no weakness at the orbit of heaven; they come bearing tribute on 
their backs, beseeching 

(12.) thy majesty as I have ordered them. I place the weak bound before 
thee, their hearts and their limbs burn [or roast] led along. 

(13.) I have come; I give thee to afflict the chiefs of the Gaha; I place them 



of the Beign of Tkothmea III. 8 

I Tinder thy feet; the foreign lands turn back. I let them see thy majesty as their 
lord ; thy light gleams above their heads as my image. 

(14.) I have come. I grant to thee to afflict those who belong to the Senktt, 
to lead captive heads of the Amu of the Rutcn. I let them see thy majesty 
equipped in thy decorations, taking thy weapons, fighting in thy chariot. 

(15.) I have come. I grant thee to afflict the East; thou treadest upon those 
who are in the confines of Taneter [the Holy Land]. I let them see thy majesty 
like a burning star, shedding the heat of its flames, giving its stream. 

(16.) I have come. I give thee to afflict the land of the West, the Kefa, the 
Asi under thy sandals (?). I let them see thy majesty as a yoimg bull, resolute, 
pointing his horns, irresistible. 

(17.) I have come. I give thee to afflict those who are in all the submissive 
lands of the Maten, dragged under thy terror. I let them see thy person in all 
fearful wrath, as a stream that cannot be checked. 

(18.) I have come. I let thee afflict those who are in the isles of the ocean 
with tliy roarings. I let them see thy majesty as a sacrificer raised on the back 
of his victim. 

(19.) I have come. I let thee afflict the Tahnu, the Rutennu, as thy spirits 
prevail. I let thy majesty be seen as a vexed lion leaping on their bodies, 
raging in their valleys. 

(20.) I liave come. I have let thee afflict the ends of earth, and the confines 
of ocean are bound in thy grasp. I let them behold thy majesty as a swooping 
hawk, taking at a glance what it chooses. 

(21.) I have come. I let thee afflict those who arc before; thou bindast the 
Herusha, (those in the midst of tlie desert,) as captives. I let them behold 
thy majesty as a southern jackal, which has doubled and escaped a great 
hunter. 

(22.) I have come. I let thee afflict the Libyan, the Remen of ... t are in 
thy grasp. I let them behold thy majesty like thy two brothers. I have joined 
their hands to thee in 

(23.) thy two sisters, I let them place their hands over thy majesty behind 
for protection, terrifying the evil. I made them protect thee, my beloved son, as 
the mighty bull rising from Western Thebes. I have begotten thee as the King 
of Upper and Lower Egypt. 

(24.) Thotlinies, the ever-living, I have done all my will wishes; my hall 
thou hast set up with eternal constructions, elongated and made broaijer than 
ever, where is a great gate 



4 



On a New Sistorical Tablet 



I 



(25.) all best. . . Amen B;a, greater giver than any king, doing what 

I ordered thee, taking thy delight in it, set up on the throne of millions of years, 
thou passest a life 

It will be seen from the above translation that the text of the new in- 
scription found at Kamak contains several points of historical interest of a 
nature similar to those already detailed in the "Annals.'* The whole is the speech 
of the god Amen Ha, the Theban Jupiter, who in measured language of a poetic 
nature, resembling that of the Hebrew prophets, announces to the king the 
various benefits and conquests he has conferred upon him. The contents of the 
speech of the god are a sacerdotal bulletin of victory addressed to a victorious 
monarch on his return from a career of conquest. Comparing it with the his- 
torical tQxts in the vicinity of the granite shrine, it appears to have been placed at 
a late period of the king's reign, probably as late as the fortieth regnal year — cer- 
tainly later than the erection of the obelisk of the Atmeidan, although close upon 
that period, as the first fact mentioned on the tablet is the passage of the 
Euphrates. Undoubtedly this was the extreme point reached by the arms of 
Egypt, which alone accounts for its constant repetition in the inscriptions of the 
period. The arms of Aahmes, the founder of the dynasty, had been directed to 
the expulsion of the Shepherds from Avaris : the regent Hatasu had recovered the 
ancient mines of the Wady Magarah in Arabia Petrsea, but it was reserved for 
Thothmes III. to transport the arms of Egypt to the Euphrates, and extort a 
tribute from Nineveh and Babylon. The other people, who are subsequently 
mentioned, are the Amu,* or Asiatics in general, or, at all events, so large a 
geographical extent of territory, or of races, that they cannot be identified with any 
particular people or tribe. It will, however, be seen from the 14th line, that they 
are called the Amu^ or nation of the Ruten. In the Amu it is now generally 
agreed to recognise the Gentiles, or Gojim of the Hebrews. The name is 
already well known as designating the Asiatics in the ethnic representations of 
the four races in Hades. 

In the 13th line the king is reminded of his conquest of the Gaha. At 
one time I had thought that the Gaha, or Taha, meant the Scythic people of the 
DahaB ; but, notwithstanding the supposed identification of the people of Gaza in 
another name, I incline to the notion that the Gaha are really the latter people. 
The first mention of them occurs in^ the fifth campaign of the twenty-ninth year 

» In one text they are mentioned, antithetic to the whole world, as " thou hast cut down the world thou 
hast smitten the AmUy or nations." Champollion, Not. Descr. p. 348. 
»> See Archffiologia, XXXV. p. 116, 140, 162. 



I 



of the Reign of Thothmes III. 8 

of Thothmes III., on which occasion the monarch attacked the land of Tunp and 
the city of Artut, or Aradus, and in his 35th regnal year the monarch a^in 
marched into the land of Gaha, and plundered the IbrtresB of Ar-ana, on his 
march to Mesopotamia ; and in the thirty-eighth, or a later year, the king was 
still in that district, and rarious objects, the work of that people, were received as 
tribute during the same reign. These people supplied works of art and cattle to 
Egypt, and this shows that they must have been an artistic as well as an agricul- 
tural people. Some, indeed, have thought to recognise in the Gahai, or Tahai, 
the people of Damascus, or Da-Meshek, especially as they continue to be men- 
tioned in the hieroglyphical texts as late as the Ptolemies.' At all events, the 
Gahai, are to be placed in Northern Palestine.'' 

In the 14th line are mentioned the Selnke]i, ^^ ^^ . , who in all the ethnic 
lists form one of the largest sub-divisions, and were evidently a great and powerful 
nation. They are mentioned as early as the twelfth dynasty in the Salher 
Papyrus, where Amenemha I. says, " I led the Ua, I took the Matai, I prevailed 
over Se[nk]ti who go like dogs {/«S(?m)."' This land has been placed amongst 
the southern neighbouring states of Egypt in connection with the An, or Annu, 
the People of the Plains, and is often preceded by the expression mena »«, 
the Shepherds, or Nomads, of the Senkett.'' The phonetic name of this region 
has now been determined : the hieroglyph represents a bracelet,* and is 
used in connection with a metal, supposed to be iron, in two passages ; one 
mentioning " a door of true acacia wood inlaid with iron," ^^^ /^S '^ ^'^'^ another 

saying fgH^^T^Myf. Tl^./.H -fiJ-'Zl— fl "thou hast 
consecrated to him many tables of silver, gold, brass, and iron. They repay thee 
with Ufe."K On a tablet of the British Museum '■ a serpent is called ^^^ — 
"iron-faced ;" and as the word for iron is ba, the root of the Coptic &EnfTini, 
perhaps the ba en pe, " heavenly wood," the probability is that this word was pro- 
nounced ba. It was not, however, by any means particularly a southern country, 



• SeeArclueologia.XXXV. p, 158; Brugsch, Die Geographic der Nuchbarlaender .-Egyptens, 4to. Leipzig, 
1858, ss. S5, St!; Champollion, Notice Descriptive, p. 158. 

^ The idea of the Date, the old name of ihe Daiie, Heri>dot. I. 125, does not appear to me to answer the 
geographieal conditions, and I therefore abRndon it. " Select Papyri, p!. si. xii. 

" Brugach, Geogr. ii. 5, taf xiji. 8. taf. xvii 1-8. 

= Rosellini, M.d. c. ii. 3; Rect. Sarc. Eg. Room, Brit. Mua. 6,665. 

' Brugsch, Geogr. iii. taf. xviii. 188; Lepaiua, Denkm. iii. 130. 

» Lepaiua, Denkm. iii. 111. " Egyptian Galiery, Brit. Mus. 808. 



6 On a New Sistorical Tablet 

for the Ruten are stated in the 13th line of the present inscription to belong to 
the race of the ^^^ , in which the word is determined by a pool, showing that 
its root is to be referred to the idea of plains, or marshes, while at a later period 
the goddess Anka, or Anucis, the Egyptian Hestia, appears as the eponymous 
goddess of the region ^^ @.' At a later period in the reign of Rameses III. 
the monarch is particularly mentioned as leading captive the 8e[nk]ti, and it was 
against them that the campaign was directed, and the Se[nk]ti were made to retreat, 
driven out of their evil lairs, and not going to Egypt itself. Many of the Egyptian 
monarcha attacked these people, and Amenophis III, is particularly described as 
smiting them.'' At Medinat Haboo, Rameses III. is said in the text to have 
"slaughtered the Mena en Se^iikyi" while the prisoners dragged before him are 
the Philistine Gakrru and the Rabu.'^ In the conquests of Seti I. at Karnak, the 
Mena nu Set precede the Khita in the sequence of prisoners ; and in his tri- 
umphal picture at Karnak the king is represented " smiting the chiefs of the 
Amu, the shepherds, mna, all distant, and numerous lands, the seats, hem.^ of the 
Mena nu Set, Shepherds of the Waste going round the Ocean.'' Here they are 
placed antithetic to the Sea, as if the other limit of conquest; all tending to 
prove their great distance from Egypt.'' This word appears to be Sail, the name 
of the goddess mentioned by Brugscb as Sati, mistress of P^n, or Phtcnicia,' of 
which country Bes was also the god. It wUl be remembered, that the goddess 
Anuka, or Anucis, who wears the same head attire as the Pulusata, or Philistines, 
is called the mistress of Sat, the land in question. From the variants of the word 
seta, the sun's arrows or beams, which occur on the later monuments, the phonetic 
value of Set had been already con-ectly deduced by M. Brugsch.^ The product 
of this land was especially hesii, or iron,*" with which the doors and other parts of 
religious edifices were plated. In the magical Papyrus of Harris, Shu is said to 
slaughter the Mena and the Setu.' 

» Egyptian Gallery, Brit. Mua. 370. 
•• Greene, FouillcB k Theties, pi. i 

* RoBellini, Mon. Real, cxxxiv. 
^ Rosellini, Mon. Real. Ixi. 

• Under Amenophis II. they fire dejcribed " as coming on horses," Brugsch, Geogr. toui. i. taf. viii. 307; 
and at a later period ideo titled with the Persians, ibid. taf. Ivlii. 

' Geographic, ii. taf. xvii. No. 32. » Geographie, iii. taf. xrii. No. 146, 14, 147a, a. 56. 

** Geographie, iii. taf. xvii. No. 158. It is remarkable that the Coptic for steel is stahli ; hetti might be 
read staJii; and thee, as in Bennippe, the li might be some qualificative added; but the word gtahUaeems 
borrowed from a foreign source. The form ba en pe, perhaps for " iron," occurs Lepsins, Denkm. Ui. 194, 10. 

' Chabas, Le Papyrus Mugiqae Harris, 4to. Chal. 18CU, p. 49, 50. 



i. line 4. Champollion, Not. Descr. 165. Tablet of Phils?, 
a subsequent part of the inscription the Sea and Isles an 



\ 




of ike Eeiyn of Thothmes III. 7 

In the series of inscriptions of the Ptolemaic period given by M. Brugacli, tlie 
Sat are mixed up with others, although not in any regular sequence. In the 
first they precede the lonians or Greeks,' the Tamahu or Nortliern Libyans, and 
the Ruten or Regines. In the second, the monarch is said to draw them by the 
hair of their head ;'' in the third the Menti, or Shepherds, and Sati are divided, 
as if distinct nations. Another gives a more distinct reference, which states that 
the Ptolemy " is on the throne, dwelling in the land of Ra, HeliopoUs, in Kenus 
[Derri], smiting the Setu, cutting the Mena, or Shepherds.""^ A still more 
important text, apparently the speech of a deity, states,** " I gave to him the 
valleys, an, of the Setu, they follow his breath ; I gave to him the Shepherds of 
Setu, they touch with their foreheads the earth before him." Repetitions of 
these tests afford no further information, hut the last quoted show that 
the Setu was a country of plains, occupied by pasturing nomads, and quite in 
accordance with the historical facts of the occupation of Palestine by the kings of 
Egypt. 

There is great reason for believing that it was pronounced Senk or S€[nk]H. In 
the interior of the cofEin of Ankhsensaneferhat, the wife of Amasis II., containing a 
long ritualistic formula of address to the gods, occur two parallel passages,* in which 
the word Senkti is phonetically substituted for this word. In the first it savs, — 

naham ten »u em kahab^ hat m^hni en Amu, Resu, Senkti-u neb en Kant. 

" Save ye her from the hardener of the hearts of the enemies, the Amu, the 
Hes, the Se[nk]ti, of Egypt." 

In the second passage the form occurs as usual. 



>J(*- 



',=*[ - f5i V*' ipi::^rii^-m^r 



men kakab hat en net en kam Amu, lies, Senkti, 

" Not hardening the hearts of the men of Egypt, of the Amu, the lies, and 
the Se[nk]ti to oppose her." 

Another phonetic variant of this word reads simply set, apparently in the sense 

■ Brugscb, Geogr. iii., vii. 3. '' BmgEch, Gcogr. iii. taf. vii. 4. 

• BrugBch, Geogr. viii. 6. '^ Brugsch, Geogr. ix. 10. 

" Brugaoh, Geogr. ii. s. 5. Eg. Gallery, Brit. Mus. No. 32. 

' This word kahtA, detenniiied either by an oryx or a horn, is probubly 3£H&t to Bharpen, liarden, render 
proud. It will be found in the Inscriptiou of Rameses II., Prissc, Mon. xxi., Kakab fu er ta Nehti, "Giving 
gharp words to the negroes;" and in two puasages of the liittml the nauie of the demon of the fitU) gate. 
Lepsius, Todt. Ixi. 145e, Ixviii. 147, 15, Nebt htr kahab hat, " Fumiug face, exciting time." 



8 On a New Sistorical Tablet 

of a cake,^ in a list of offerings ; and this tends to prove the following philological 
fact, the constant equation of sen and aet^ both of which had only the value of S ; 
and the determinative value of the bowl, or K, which has no phonetic value in 
certain words. The word 8[enk']H is, in fact, only ati, " sunbeams," the n not 
being pronounced, and the bowl k being a determinative.** 

The term " Shepherds," mena^ was also applied to other races, as in the inscrip- 
tion at Elephantine, " The collector of all the Shepherds of his Majesty of the 
Island of Elephantine.^ 

The next region mentioned which has its geographical position better defined ^ 
by this inscription, is Ta-neter, the Holy Land of Egyptian geography, here 
distinctly placed to the east of Egypt. In the conquests of Seti I. the legends 
assert that " the lands bring loads of silver, gold, lapis of Taneter, and all the 
excellent spices, cmta, and fine wood of Taneter,"^ or Holy Land. This name has 
been principally found in the inscriptions of Rameses II., but it is also men- 
tioned at this age in the statistical tablet. In an inscription, cited by Brugsch, 
Amon says to Rameses II., " I give to thee, that they shall bring their tribute 
loads of silver, gold, and lapis lazuli, and all noble stone of the land of Ta- 
neter.*' In a second inscription of the age of B/ameses X. the text declares 
that " he has conquered to the land of Taneter ; its road was never known before."* 
In the celebrated inscription of the reign of B/ameses XII., when the king was in 

Nehar or Naharaina, " the places offered tribute, each one outvying the other 

gold, silver, lapis, copper, and all the good wood of Taneter on their backs/* ^ In 
the inscription cited by Mr. Harris, the peculiar contribution of Taneter was 
kheabety or " lapis lazuli," a stone principally found east of the Euphrates in 
Persia and Cisgangetic India, and it appears hence highly improbable that 
Taneter can be a country so near Egypt as Kanana or Canaan, to ivhich the 
Phoenicians applied the term of the Holy Land. Nor could Rameses X. 
have been properly said to have been the first to arrive at the borders of 
Canaan, as that country had been often traversed by the monarchs of the 
eighteenth dynasty. 

* Lepsius, Denkm. ii. 19. 

^ Many examples show that in monosyllables the second consonant was not pronounced : thus the well- 
known ses-mu^ "mare," is written sem-sem in Lepsius, Denkm iii. 276 e, and repeated with the syllabic 
form sam-sam on a Ptolemaic monument, Clarac, Mus. de Sculpt, pi. 242, No. 369; and the word ba-ba the 
" roof," " cap," or " tip," of an obelisk, is indifferently ben-ben, Lepsius, Denkm. iii. 97 e, 24 w; or ber-ber 
Lepsius, Denkm. iii. 237; Brugsch, Greogr. xlvii. 1249-53. 

c Champollion, Not. Descr. p. 223. ^ Rosellini, Mon. Real. Ixi. 

Brugsch, Geogr. ii. s. 17. f Transact. Roy. Soc. Lit. vol. iv. 230. 



of the B^ign of Tkothmea III. 9 

The next regions are the Kefa and the Asi : these are placed by the 16th line 
'£o the west of Egypt, which corresponds with the position of Cyprus.' But 
the position of the Asi is unexpected ; for their product was pitch, or bitumen,'' 
which had given rise to the idea that they were the people of the ancient la in 
Mesopotamia, where naphtha springs are still found. The Asi must consequently 
have been situated in IJbya, perhaps in the northern part, or in the west ; either 
in the Cyrenaica, or beyond it to the west ; and we must probably recognise in 
their productions the kedrwn, supposed to be either the cedar oil or pjroligneouB 
acid used for the purpose of embalming. The name resembles in sound that of 
the Asii or Asians, but it is not possible to determine without further data the 
people intended to be described. 

In the 19th line are mentioned the Tahnu ^ • * ^ ^ ^ in an unusual form, and 
also the ^^"'V^ >... , Ruten nu. The three pools at the commencement, 
however, of the latter name are found with the phonetic Ru, *T* c^"^ or ^ '^, the 
mouth of a river, or valley ; for instance, ru a-n, a name applied to Eileithyia." In 
a Ritual, the form Bu, with the determinative of a drop, appears as the equivalent 
of the word She, a pond or pool, in the Turin papyrus/ The form of Rim seems 
also to replace, or be the phonetic name of, " isles " in the description of conquests 
of Rameses III.b In the word Bitten nu the initial form is written quite distinct 
from the usual word Ta, the earth, and is by no means to be confounded with it. 

In the 2l8t line, one of the people conquered by the monarch is called the 
.^.;S jf t '. > ^'*" ^^°' ^^^ ^^^ words composing which are known to mean " over 
the food ;" but, as such a sense is quite inadmissible in the present inscription, it 
must he intended for the name or position of a people. The first word, hru, 
besides the sense of " over," has often that of " in " or " among;" and the word 
shd is probably put for the Coptic jija), " sand " or Desert. One of the people 



* Cr. Bragach, Geogr. ii. 87; and Birch, M£moire sar une Patera Egyptieone du Louvre, p. 24. This 
pofition caonot be shaken by the Hat of a private tomb, such lists being often irregularly drawn up, 

^ Why Brugsch, Geogr. ii. 51, asserts that it is iron, I do not know; the word seft is both the ancient 
and modem word for pitch or bitumen, and appear in lists of substances as an oily, not mineral, substance, 
used in embalming (Leemana, Mon. x^ixviii. 15; Lepsius, IDenkm. ii. 12e.) See also the tefi em arp,"iees(?) 
of wine." Champ Not. Descr. 195. 

" Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 67 d. ' Eg. Gallery, Brit. Mug. 221. 

■ Cf. for example, Champollion, Not. Descr. p. 270; and Lepsius, Denkm. iii. 80 e- 

' Papyrus Salt, 828, loco Lepsius, Todt. c. 125, 1. 53. 

( Rosellini, Mon. Keal. cxxxti. 



10 



On a New Hiatorical Tablet 



hostile to Egypt are called the ^^^-l-> *Ao,' and the people of the Desert 
would naturally be conquered by the king. 

The last nations mentioned as conq^ucred are the An, or people of the Libyan 
and Arabian "valleys," and the ^—•^Aitu, Bewew, either the Armenians 
or the people of the Libanus ; the bird's claw ^ i being already known ia the 
ethnic lists as indicating the name of a separate people. The earliest appearance 
of this last form, followed by the eagle and purse, is in the ethnic lists of 
Thothmes IV.;'' it recurs in the list of captives of Sethos I.,"' while the 
Ennenn or Remonn are nientioned with the usual phonetic name.* The con- 
quests of Egypt in this direction were for the sake of the cedars which 
grew there, and which were used for various sacred purposes. At the time of 
Thothmes IV. the sacred barge of the god Amen Ra at Thebes was made of the 
cedar-wood, ash, cut by the monarch in the land of the Ruten," which comprised 
the Ermcnn. The name of Ruten corresponds with the Regines of Josephus, who 
are placed amongst the Asclianaioi,^ which connects them with the Assakanoi, or 
Assakeni of Strabo « and Arrian,'' and which correspond with the Ashenaz, called , 
by the Greeks " Regines," who are placed in Northern India, and may have been [ 
intended for the Raj-poots. The connection of the Remenn and the Herusha, or 
Helusha, perhaps the Elisha, is found as late as the Ptolemies, these people 
being mentioned together in the pylon of Ptolemy Philometor at Philse. The 
text asserts that the ** Nine bows are fallen, the Tamahu are cut up before Thee, 
the Kheta are turned back at my blows, the Sam have been decapitated, the 
Tahennu liave been chastised, the Herusha are at the block, the Uemen are 
annihilated, the Seti are destroyed by my sword." ' The form, indeed, may be the 

Remen of a^ if the last group is a separate word, in which case the phonetic 

value has still to be discovered ; for the bird's claw is limited to this name, and 
that of the Egyptian cm-t^a^ij, or " span," indicating that measure in several 
ancient cubits. There is some reason for thinking, however, that the span was 



• Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 52 d. 

<■ Wilkinson, Mat. Hier. pi. viii. 2 ; ChampoUion, Not. Descr. p. 486, Mon. clvu. 
" Roaellini, Mon. lii^l. Ixi. ^ Roaellini, Mod. Eeal. ccUi. 

* tJagarelli, Interpretatlo Obelisconim. Obel. Lateran, tab. i col. 2. 

' Tofiap6v hi Tpiuf iih/y yttofiivvv 'Affj^n^ntpjc ^iv 'Ao\avamf ^tiatt, ol viv Pity'if 
'EWitrvy taKoivrat. Josephus, Antiq. i. 67. 

( z7. 698. " Anab. iv. 50; Ind, i. 80. 

■ ChampoUion, Not. Descr. 207. 



of the Seif/n of Thothmes III. 



11 



called ermen. Mr. Edwin Smith has communicated to me the following passages 
from his index of the ritual, in which the group eemen occurs, followed by the 
determinative of one or two arms : Ch. 17, 1. 62, "Save me from that god whose 
form is secret, hia eyebrows are the arms {ermen) of the balance; the night of 
judging the spoiler." And again, in 1. 88 of the same chapter, " I have shouldered 
or touched millions." In the 71st chapter, 11th line, there is an invocation, " Oh, 
seven lords over," or "upon, the arms of the balance the day of judgment." The 
sense of " hand " seems to correspond with the same group in ch. 106, 1. 5, and 
the same sense will apply to ch. 12-i, 1. 4, 5. 

I shall now proceed to discuss the values of some new hieroglypbical groups 
which appear in this inscription, and which are interesting and important for the 
interpretation of this and other texts. The first word to which I shall refer is 
^*3j/"^^' <'*''""> or rather OH, "hall," " hypsethral court," which occurs in 
the 3rd and 2-lth lines.' It is doubtful in this group whether the two undulating 
lines are phonetic or determinative. On a tablet of the Xllth dynasty in the 
British Museum the same group, determined by three lines of water and a boat, 
signifies to " go " or " return." But in other inscriptions this word occurs in the 

form ^4j n n f^'^^i-^ ^ in the sense of a " hall " or " colonnade," or with the 
variant only of a cord for the bird in the same word.* This word may be the Coptic 
ovcrtT, or "recess," or £g,ovrf, "within" or "interior." A less correct and less 

full form of the same word is ^^NfTl auLt,"^ in which form it occurs on a 
tablet of Amenophis II. at Amada, to designate the great hypaethral court or 
colonnade, for the inscription states that the monarch "made a great propylfieon 

of hewn stone a hall of festivals in the great auit," or "a hypsethral 

court surrounded by columns of hewn stone," ^ a phrase which proves the mean- 
ing of the word. The next word to consider is J 1 1 ■jL^^'^. bait, which imme- 
diately follows it. This word appears to signify ' 'reward," as the reward of Victory, 
the Coptic ftAI. In one of the legends of Seti I. occurs the phrase Bat nak 
nakamu en neb neteru,^ "thou hast imparted joy to all the gods," which shows 
that bai had the sense of a " gift " of some kind. In the legends of the kings this 



•Deveria,SurIeBasilicogr8ianiateThouthouTeti,8vo,Paria, 1817, fonlie valued of the initial of this group, 
' Lepsius, Deokm. abtl). iii. bl. 65. ° Lepeius, iii. 73. 

" Sel. Pap. xis. 2. Tabl. Eg. GaUery, Bril. Mus. 589, has " let roe be like the dogs (du) of the court 
(dui-t)" Cf. De Rougi, D'Orbinej Pap. viii. 1. 8. 

• Champullton, Not. Descr. p. 106. ' RoKllini, Mon. Real. Ixi. 

b2 



12 On a Neto historical Tablet 

word occasionally occurs ; here the sense evidently requires " gift '* or ** present," 
and it is remarkable that in a ritual of the British Museum * this group replaces the 
form J^^ N, baa, apparently in the sense of "clod" or "matter," probably from the 

fourth character, the sledge, being the synonym of the material it transported. The 
next group to consider is ^M^ ^ MVk » ^^^» "*^ stretch," the initial hieroglyph being 
the variant of the calf, or A.^ The word is here determined by the man striking, a 
form of the verbal determinative common in the hieratic, but rarer in the hiero- 
glyphical texts. This initial occurs only in a limited number of words, and has 
till recently had the value KH attributed to it, from its appearing in later texts 
as the initial of khaui.t^ " altar.** ° It often occurs, determined by the heart, in the 
sense of "magnanimous'* or "generous," if not "all gracious;" the BASIAETS IIAr 
XAPH2 of the translation of Hermapion,^ being the NeB AuToi the hieroglyphical 

texts. The other forms with this initial are, f^ ^ JT^, , au.t^ some kind of "food" or 
" bread;"* and ^^^^ j^''*^ / ausu^ the " scale " or " balance," perhaps a form of the 
word J^.^\AT^> baksu^ which is used in the same sense. In the negative con- 
fession, the deceased says, nen uah her mu t enti afumi^ " I do not throw up the 
weight of the scale ;"» the word waA meaning " to throw,"^ to spoil, or to augment,* 
and alludes to the deceased either not weighing out unfairly from his balance, or 
being found wanting in the balance of the Great Judgment. In these texts the 
word "weight," nfmt is expressed by a vulture, according to HorapoUo a didrachm, 
and in the inscription of Fhilae the mut is a submultiple of the mna. 

The group ^^ ^ ♦Tl , khaku, is of frequent occurrence in the texts, 

and is apparently the Coptic ^uiou^e "to wound," or "hurt;" or possibly 
oux " fool," being always accompanied by the determinative of the heart, as in 

the text cited by Brugsch,^ ^^•*#' khak; and in the later inscription published 
b V Lepsius } ^\^ ^ V khak, where it is accompanied by the packet, determinative 
of a corpse ; and again, in the ritual °^ ^^ "^ " ^ t^ f ' ^*^ *^® determinatives 



* Determined by a block of stone. De Roag^ has giyen the same sense. 
^ Deveria, loc. cit. • Salvolini, An. Gram. 

^ Anunian. Marcellin. xvii. c 4, pp. 121-127. * Lepsius, Denkm. iii 135 a, 89. 

' Pap. Salt, Brit. Mus. 828, loco Lepsius, Todt. c. 145 ; in the corresponding place, Pap. £. R. 9900, the 
determinative of a branch of wood is replaced by a balance. 

« Lepsius, Todt. 125, 1. 8, 9. »^ De Roug^, D'Orbiney Papyrus, pi. L 1. 6, pi. x. 1. 1. 

^ De Roug^, St^e Egyptienne, Journal Asiatique, p. 241. 

^ Greographie, Taf. xxiv. No. xrii. ^ Denkm iv. 74 e. ™ Lepsius, Todt Ixii. 145, 20. 



of the Beign of Thothmea III. 13 

of the heart and body, and in all cases applied to the enemies of the Good, or the 
Egyptians. 

The monarch is said in some inscriptions "to strike oflf the heads of the khakay^ 
or foolish.' In the texts of the coffin of the Queen Ankhsensaneferhat, the 
khaka are classed with the mea betahj those bom depraved, and the^dai^^as, " Ye 
do not attack her ; ye do not do her ill ; ye do not prevail against her ; ye make 
the profane, the depraved, the foolish, the agitators fall to your faces. "^ The 
term is, however, too general to attach to it a special meaning. 

The word fl^J/^j* atma^ in the same line, " to make to grasp," is only 

remarkable for the - after the y , of which it forms a kind of non-phonetic 

adjunct, in the same manner as ^ , which in y^^ or (1^7^ simply expresses 

the form au^ " they ;" and for the W, usual ter^ "quiver," being here employed in 

a determinative and non-phonetic sense ^ as the equivalent of " the sword." This 
verb, in the same form, occurs on the Flaminian obelisk, and the determinative 
of the quiver is replaced by the trap fl- in the ritual,^ as determinative of the 
same word. 

In the 7th line occurs a variant of the word Uat-ur^ or Ocean, 

the Egyptian victories on which may be traced as early as the Xllth dynasty,® 
and continued till the time of the Persians,^ when mention is made of the defeat of 
the lonians, or Greeks, on that element. In the 8th line the king is said to go 

in, or approach the J^^J^^i^i > babau^ or caves. The word occurs in many 

senses, as Ji J^-J' * 6aba <, to exhale,* which is logically connected with the 
idea of depriving the enemies of Egypt of the breath of life. Another form 
J^^td'iw* *^*^>^ occurs in some rituals as the equivalent of the ordinary word 
J * , 6t*, " place," in which case it woidd mean " going in their places ;" while 
the circle is found attached as determinative to the word ^\#» «<*»* "a place." 
A form J '2r| iL^ |-^ baba t, found in the ritual,^ also has the signification of 

• Lepsius, Denkm iii. 128. ^Eg. Gallery, Brit.Mus. No. 32. 

® The verb tem, Ungarelli, i. iy. 16, 19; kheBr, to disperse, has the sword (Bosellini, Mon Real, cxxxiz.) 
and the quiver (Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 85 a) for its determinatives. 
^ Lepsius, Todt. xlvi. 124, 9. Cf. Oiamp. Mon. 223 c. 

• Lepsius, Denkm. iL 149 g. ' Brugsch, Geogr. taf. Iviii. 12, 13. 

9 Lepsius, Todt liv. 133, 3. ^ Papyrus Salt, 828, loco Lepsius, Todt. 149, 27. 

» Sharpe, Eg. Inscr. 28, B. * Lepsius, Todt. xvii. 88, 1. 



14 On a New Sistorical Tablet 

" place *• or ** cavern," and the name of the Destroying God appears under a similar 
form. The same line has also the unusual group ^i^'^ , ka^ " to deprive ;'* and 

in the following line is the form #j^^ > «**' or khut^ followed by the deter- 
minative of the serpent placed upon a basket ^, which expresses in the Bosetta 
stone the idea of " diadem ;" it is here placed after the head ^^ ^> ^i* ^ the 
11th line, and follows words expressing the head or its parts. In the same line 
is the word PP;^5ui» m<^9 "to bum," or "dazzle," the form fl R^m* •^^'Sv,* 
8*8annUs "torment," elsewhere occurring. In the groups following this expres- 
sion, the phonetic form ^MiJ-a^ " to twist," is probably the abridged 

^"^ TU^3s* ^*^*'* " *^^ twisted," or " depraved," as it occurs on the 
coffin of the Queen Ankhsenraneferhat ; ^ the sense here being twisting 
or catching in a noose, from its radical form nebt^ " plait " or " lock " of 
hair, which occurs in the Eomance of the Two Brothers,* and which is the Coptic 

itovRT. The following word, ^ ^ , katj^ expresses either the especial name of the 
foreign nation afflicted in this maimer by the monarch, or the confederates or 
subordinates — ^the ^^^^^ The unusual determinative of the ring or circle which 
accompanies this group occurs in another inscription,^ possibly in the same sense. 
The word P^^"^^^^^^^, s-tens, in the 11th line, is applied to the decapitation of 

enemies; it consists of the preformant 8 and the verbal root tensj the Coptic 
TOVit€, to " remove," and is literally " causing to remove their heads."* In the ex- 
pression " on thy body," the undulating line is interposed between the preposition 
and the verbal root, a common occurrence in the texts. In the following line 

;g5'5^^j, tekk-dtj a form which rarely occurs, apparently expresses "attached," 

or " bound; " it is similar to the verb ^^ ^^ , tek,^ often applied to the " attaching" 

or destroying the frontier of the lands hostile to Egypt. In the same line the 

•■ Of. Lepsios, Todt. xrii. 82, 10. ^ LepsioB, Todt. xriii. 40, 2. 

<: Egypt. Gallery, Brit. Mas. No. 32. 

* D'Orbiney Papyrus, ii. 10, xi. 3. 

* Brugsch, Mon. iii.; Lepsius, Todt. xxzyii. 100, 4; Lepsius, Denkm. iv. 52 a. Lately it appears 
M. Deveria reads this group Sat. 

' Lepsius, Denkm. ii. 106, 7. 

K The verbal root occurs in the Chapter of the Net, Lepsius, Todt. 153, 3. 

^ Lepsius, Denkm. iii. 129. 



of the Reign of Thothmea II J. 



IB 



verb "to lead along," P^*'^kV'*^» atau, has the unusual determmative of a 
vulture, as referring to victory and conquest. The expression ta ^«, T I , repeated 
in almost every line, is only a variant of the form, at at, to attack, or afflict." 
The form at at, in the sense of to "overthrow," is generally accompanied 
by the determinative of a man wearing the pschent, and holding in each 
hand a weapon, as in the exploits of Seti I. at Kamak, " overthrowing {at at) 
tlie Mena nu Set, trampling on tlie numerous lands, striking their chiefs 
dead in their blood, he goes among them like a flame of fire, making them 
no more."" In another test occurs the phrase, "the hour or moment of 
overthrowing," atat." Seek, in the same line, apparently in the sense of 
"to open," here corresponds to that of "to pass," as "I pass them under 
thy feet." " The word uu, which appeared to me formerly to be the " mounds," 
is evidently here in the sense of "the edge," or "border" of the enemies' 
countries. The king is compared in this same line to the star p**^'^F»s^*, aeaht, 
and in this case some particular burning or fiery star must be intended, such as a 
comet; the phonetic root of this word is already known as to "pierce" or " pene- 
trate,"andthepresent group may be only a variant of fl^*^ A isesht, "the orbit "of 
the sun, or its tropical path, of the inscription of Medinat Haboo,^ where it speaks 
of the monarch running like the planets in their orbits or " combustions," the 
Coptic CA.gT£. This sentence is again repeated in the speech of Amen Ea to Seti I. 
in the scene of his conquests at Karnak. The god there says, ta a niaa su snin 
k kha s'shet set hasf- e^n kket taf- attf-. " I let them see thy majesty, or person, 
like a comet shedding its heat of tire which causes its train."* This last word 
^ ^ iU, at-t, is probably synonymous with eiAT, dew, or ujt§, to knit, 
either of which ideas might be conveyed as the Egyptian expression of the 
comet's tail. In the inscription of Rameses III. at Medinat Haboo, the same 
form seskt is determined by a disk shedding its rays of light, and has been inter- 
preted "orbit" or "sphere." The king is said to be "a courser, strong on his 
feet, running like the stars in their course (sesht) on high,"^ But this interpre- 
tation does not correspond with the present passage, where the king is compared 
to the sesht itself. The final part of the inscription occurs in a speech of Amen 

* RoBellini, Uon. Beal. Iviii. *> Ibid. Ivii. ° Lepsius, Denkm. iii. 128. 

* Cbabaa; Greene, Fouillea, i. 3. • Eoaellini, Moa. Real. Ixii. 

' Greene, FoiulleB k Thfebw, p. 4, pL i. 3; M. de Roug^. L'Ath&i. Fr. 185C. The phrase is kha siu fur 
ittht, lilce atsTB in their combustion. 



16 On a New Historical Tablet of the Beign of Thothmea III. 

Ra to Seti I., in which the god again declares, " I let them see thy majesty as the 
flame of fire Pasht makes in her train.'*' 



The word fl*'^> «^^> *'to pour forth," is the earlier form of the same verb 
"^"/^ set. which is found at the Ptolemaic period.** In the 18th line occurs 

-H^-^V^ ama or mas^ " calf" or " victim;'' and in the 20th the form ^^^JL, 

tma.t^ " to swoop," foimd also in the inscription of the coffin of the Queen of 
Amasis.« 



* Rosellini, Mon. Real. Ixi. 
^ ChampoUion, Not. Descr. 183. 

^ Eg. Gallery, No. 82; Horus is also called the ttma nekht, the "powerful swooper," i.e. as a hawk. 
ChampoUion, Not. Descr. p 241. 



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