one body, and composed a nation or state. In the new community, which generally formed a kind of rude republic, some man of superior sagacity in council, or superior prowess in war, never failed to acquire the ascendant; and when those qualities happened to be combined in the same person, he was not only intrusted with the command of the forces of the state, but took the lead in all public deliberations. With or without the forms of election, he was constituted chief magistrate and captain-general, for life. A portion of the respect for the father was necessarily transferred to the son. He usually possessed the same elevated station 109, With office, wealth and influence accumulated, and chief magistracy became hereditary. Thus was one family raised above others, and monarchy gradually founded. When monarchy was established in Egypt, or by what means Menes acquired the sovereignty of that ancient kingdom, history has not informed us: nor do we know, with any degree of certainty, the age in which he reigned". We are only told, that beside imposing upon the Egyptians the restraints of law, and the offices of religion"2, he diverted the course of the Nile, which had hitherto washed the foot of the sandy mountains 109. Vid. Polyb. lib. vi. Excerpt. i. "The people," says this profound politician, “not only confirmed these leaders in the possession of "the powers to which they have been exalted, but preserve it to their "children; being persuaded that those, who have received their birth "and education from illustrious parents will resemble them." Id. ibid. 110. Polyb. ubi sup. 111. The reign of Menes is com. monly placed by modern chronologers about 2200 years before the christian æra. But the Egyptian chronology, until the reign of Psammitichus, is a mere chaos; and all attempts to elucidate it have hitherto proved fruitless. 112. It was reserved for modern scepticism to call in question the necessary connection between religion and government, and the salutary influence of the former upon moral conduct. All ancient legislators interwove religion with their civil and political institutions; and the philosophers LETTER I. PART I. mountains on the frontiers of Lybia113; founded Memphis, within the former bed of the river; and built the magnificent temple of Vulcan, in that city11. The history of Egypt, from the reign of Menes to that of Sesostris, is involved in impenetrable obscurity. During this long and dark period, is supposed to have happened the irruption of the eastern, or Arabian herdsmen, UKsous, or king-pastors; an event which has afforded modern antiquarians and chronologers philosophers recommended it, as the true basis of legislation. Even "In order to add terror to reverence for the gods," proceeds Critias, "our politician said they inhabited that place, where swift corrusca"tions of enkindled meteors, accompanied with horrid bursts of thun"der, run through the starry vaults of heaven, the beautiful fret-work "of that wise old architect, Time!-where the consociated troop of "shining orbs perform their regular and benignant revolution, and "whence refreshing showers descend to saturate the thirsty earth. "Such was the habitation he assigned to the gods; a place most proper “for the discharge of their function !—and such the terrors he employ"ed to repress secret mischief, stifle disorder in the seeds, give laws "fair play, and introduce religion, so necessary to the magistrate." Frag. Critias, ap. Sext. Emperic, Advers. Phys. cap. ix. sect. liv. 113. Herodotus, lib. ii. chap. xc. 114. Id. ibid. This temple, adorned with porticos and statues, by the piety and munificence of succeeding monarchs, as we shall have occasion to see, was the most superb monument of superstition in Egypt (Herodot. lib. ii. passim.); but antiquity has left us no description of it. great 1 115 1. !'s great field for speculation and conjecture. These LETTER rude invaders are said to have conquered all Lower and Middle Egypt, to have established their dominion at Memphis, and to have maintained it with an iron sceptre for two hundred and fifty-nine years 116; after which, their power being broken by a king of Thebais, or Higher Egypt, they retired according to treaty, with their families and goods, and settled in the country afterwards known by the name of Palestine, where they built the city of Jerusalem 7. But this singular invasion, upon which so much learning has been wasted, I shall forbear to rank among the revolutions of ancient Egypt; not merely because no notice is taken of it by Herodotus or Diodorus, but because the passage in which it is related (said to be extracted from Manetho), bears strong marks of forgery. That passage is professedly quoted by Josephus, to shew the antiquity of his own nation, and obviously to induce a belief, that the king-pastors were the Israelites. He declares he transcribed it faithfully from the Egyptian historian: but it is impossible to give him credit for his assertion. For the pretended Manetho not only says, that the king-pastors, after their departure from Egypt, took possession of Palestine; but, in order to render the story more applicable to the ancient countrymen of the Jewish historian, he observes, that in books of great authority he finds these people distinguished by the name of captive pastors118. Admitting the extract, however, to be genuine, notwithstanding these indications of its being spurious, it can but be considered, at best, as a fabulous account of the descent, sojourning and exodus of 115. Sir John Marsham, Perizonius, sir Isaac Newton, Greaves, Bryant, &c. 116. Maneth ap. Joseph. Cont. Apian. lib. i. 118. Maneth. ap. Joseph. ubi sup. 117. Id. ibid. the PART I. the Israelites; which your lordship will find very differently related in the book of Moses119. In the obscure period, between Menes and Sesostris, are placed the reigns of five kings, whose names were famous in antiquity; Busiris II. Osymandes, Uchoreus, Egyptus, and Maris. Busiris II. the eighth in descent from the first of that name (commonly represented as a cruel tyrant), is said to have built, or much enlarged, the celebrated Egyptian Thebes 20, the chief city in Higher Egypt, and the seat of the first Egyptian monarchs, which was one hundred and forty stadia, or seventeen miles 119. See Genesis, chap. xl. et seq. Exodous, passim. Conformable to the writings of the sacred historian, Diodorus affirms, That Egypt had never been conquered, unless by the Ethiopians, before it submitted to the Persian power (Biblioth. lib. i. p. 41. edit. ubi cit.); and his testimony is corroborated by the narrative of Herodotus, (lib. ii. iii. passim). I am sensible Mr. Bryant (Analysis of Ancient Mytbology, vol. iii.) endeavours to throw new light upon this subject; and that, in consequence of his theory of deriving all learning and civility from the Cutbites, he places the invasion of the king-pastors before the foundation of the Egyptian monarchy; makes them the builders of the pyramids, the raisers of the obelisks, and of all the other magnificent works in ancient Egypt. But this theory is as romantic as that of Gale (Court of the Gentiles, vol. i. ii. passim.): who attempts to prove, that the Egyptians borrowed all their arts, learning, and even their religion, from the Israelites! 120. Diod. Sicul. lib. i. p. 42. The same historian had before said, that the founding of this city was ascribed to Osiris, the tutelary god, and one of the fabulous monarchs of the Egyptians: but that, on this subject, not only Grecian authors, but the Egyptian priests themselves were divided (Diod. Sicul. lib. i. p. 14.). In a word, the founder of Thebes was so utterly unknown, that his name had not been distinctly preserved even by tradition. Diodorus afterwards insinuates (p. 79.), that the Egyptians never had any king named Busiris. Such is the uncertainty of this portion of history !-Yet he tells us, in a subsequent book (lib. iv. p. 225.), that Hercules, after he had killed Antæus, went into Egypt, and slew the tyrant Busiris. and .I. and a half in circuit. That ancient capital, called LETTER latterly Diospolis, or "the city of Jupiter," was distinguished in early times, for wealth and power, beyond all others known to the Greeks 22. And its ruins, and hieroglyphical inscriptions, continued long to attest its former greatness123. In Thebes stood four temples of singular beauty, and astonishing magnitúde124; one of them being above a mile and an half in circumference125. But of all the structures at Thebes, or in its neighbourhood, where the ruins of many grand buildings are still to be seen, the most superb was the mausoleum of Osymandes 126. This king is reported to have been a mighty warrior127. To his exploits, however, as embellished by Egyptian vanity, no credit can be given: nor can we admit the description of his monument, as transcribed by Diodorous from Hecatæus, among the number of historical facts128. We might as well ingraft into the page of history, what is copied by the same historian from Ctesias, concerning the wonderful works of Semiramis 129; to which those ascribed to Osymandes bear a striking resemblance:30. Uchoreus, 121. Id. ibid. In speaking of miles, I wish it to be understood, that I always mean English miles; and, in like manuer, of all long measures common to modern nations, unless when particularly expressed. 122. Homer's Ilias, lib. ix. ver. 381. 123. Strabo, Geog. lib. 124. Diod. xvii. p. 815, 816. Tacit. Annal. lib. ii. cap. lx. 125. Id. ib. 127. Id. ibid. lib. i. p. 44, 45, 46. 126. Diod. Sic. lib. i. 128. Hecatæus, ap. Diod. Sic. 129. Ctesias, ap. Diod. Sicul. lib. ii. p. 97, 98, 99. et seq. 130. Compare Hecatæus and Ctesias, ubi supra. The circle of gold, one cubit thick, and sixty-five cubits in circumference, with which the tomb of Osymandes is said to have been surrounded, is surely as little credible as the smoothing of the rocky side of mount Bagistan, two miles in height, on which was represented VOL. I. |