indicating the town or district which he represents. One of the figures, with a pointed beard and a physiognomy unmistakably Jewish, bears on his oval certain characters which, on being deciphered, were found to signify the "kingdom of Judah." intimately connected with the elder divinities. After Menes the government became a pure hereditary monarchy, though in cases of emergency a new sovereign was elected out of the priests or soldiers, and inaugurated amidst the acclamations of the people. The king was At a later period, however, a sense of com- surrounded with a stately ceremonial, hallowed mon danger from the power of the Assyrian by primeval tradition. The most minute empire induced the Egyptians and the Israel-regulation as to dress, diet, hours of business, ites to cultivate friendly relations with one repose, and religious worship, were solemnly another; and about the year B.C. 730, Hoshea, prescribed to him-orations from the books of king of Israel, refused to pay the usual tribute Hermes on the duties of royalty and the functo the king of Assyria, and entered into an tions of legislator and judge were daily chanted alliance with So, king of Egypt. In conse- to him. His power, however, was unbounded. quence of this defection the Assyrians took A priest by formal initiation, and a military Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria commander in virtue of his elevation to the (2 Ki. xvii. 6). The Egyptian alliances, so throne, this combination of the mitre, crown, fondly and so constantly coveted, led to the and sword, in one who was regarded as a ultimate overthrow of the kingdom. In the last "mortal god," enabled him to compel submisyear of Josiah (B. C. 609), Pharaoh Necho, an sion to regal edicts, where it might have been enterprising and warlike prince, marched against justly withheld. The populace seem to have the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates, had no franchise, though their lives and proand the king of Judea having gone out against perty were well guarded. The immense armies him, was defeated and slain at Megiddo. The which were levied, and the stupendous national victor then dethroned Jehoahaz, the successor works which were executed, prove that the of Josiah, after a brief reign of three months, masses were drilled and laboured without made his elder brother Jehoiakim king, and much regard to personal comfort or social imposed on the country a heavy tribute. But relations. But though the people could not the end of his reign was unfortunate; for control the living sovereign, their forced pasNebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, having sivity was compensated at his death. They marched against him with a mighty army, sat in review upon the actions of his career, the Egyptian monarch was overthrown with and decided whether the rites of royal sepulture great slaughter, and Nebuchadnezzar became should be awarded to his corpse. master of all the country as far as the gates of The royal cognomen was Pharaoh for many Pelusium. His son, Psammeticus II., en- ages. The Egyptian word is Phra-denoting deavoured to recover the lost provinces, but the sun. As the sun in the sky, so was the without success. But his successor, Apries, monarch among his subjects. Usually each the Pharaoh-Hophra of Scripture, a martial king represented on the monument has two prince, was more fortunate, and met with oval rings or cartouches, one of which contains great success in the beginning of his reign. his distinguishing title and the other his proper It was probably this circumstance which in-name-such as Pharaoh, son of the sun-sun duced Zedekiah, king of Judah, to enter into an alliance with him against Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. The unfortunate result of this alliance was distinctly foretold by the prophet Jeremiah; and the Jews soon found that they were "trusting upon the staff of a bruised reed, on which if a man lean it will go into his hand and pierce it;" for when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, Hophra marched from Egypt to relieve the city; but on the approach of the Babylonish army he immediately retreated, leaving the Jews exposed to the mercy of their enemies. In consequence of this cowardly or treacherous conduct the city was taken, and its inhabitants carried away captive to Babylon. In less than a century after this event Egypt became a Persian province. It fell into the hands of Alexander, B.C. 332. After his death the Ptolemies for a long period reigned over the country, but their dynasty came to a termination at the battle of Actium, when Egypt became a province of the Roman empire. The original form of government in Egypt seems to have been a kind of theocracy. At least, prior to the age of Menes, the supreme power was lodged in a hierarchy, which claimed to be offered to the world; Pharaoh, avenging lord of Upper and Lower Egypt; Pharaoh, vigilant in justice, son of Sethos. After the union of Memphis and Thebes the king wore a double crown, and was installed with vast magnificence, anointed with great solemnity, and put in possession of the emblems of majesty from the gods. The country was divided into thirty-six nomes, and each had its governor; the lands were under his charge, and the taxes were levied by his direction. The soil was possessed by the king, the priesthood, and the soldiery. The husbandmen who cultivated the farms paid a portion of the produce as rent. Prior to Joseph's time the people appear to have been independent yeomen, but the crisis of famine prompted them to renounce their rights, and yield their lands to the crown, paying as rent a fifth part of the produce. The proportion thus paid as rent was not exorbitant. The priesthood, however, retained their lands, being too strong to be compelled or tampered with, as they could easily secure the dismissal of a hostile adviser, or even the deposition of his royal master. Laws were administered by the judges of the various provinces, the king being supreme dispenser of equity. In particular, thirty judges were chosen from Memphis, Heliopolis, and Thebes, ten from each of these cities formed a high bench of judicature. It is probable that many of these officers belonged to the sacerdotal order. Justice was administered free of charge to the suitors. Oratory was forbidden in their courts, and the whole procedure was in the silent form of writing. The presiding judge wore a chain of gold and precious jewels, having attached to it an image of the goddess Thmei, to which the Hebrew Urim and Thummim has sometimes been compared. The laws of Egypt were an object of veneration to many ancient legislators. Circumcision was generally practised as among other oriental nations, and was indispensable to initiation into the sacred mysteries. The I want of it is called in Joshua "the reproach of Egypt," a phrase implying two thingsthat circumcision was regarded in Egypt with peculiar honour, and that the Hebrew slaves, for their neglect of it during their servitude, were spurned as a race of impure and degraded foreigners. The first and highest order in the land was the priesthood, which possessed a mighty and ramified organization. The key of authority was with them. They were the bards who, from trained and retentive memory, recited ancient lore-the historians who composed the annals of the king-| dom-the oracles of law, and at the same time the repository of medical and philosophical science. Their power was unbounded, and their possessions were immense. They claimed and occupied the largest portion of the country, and they paid no taxes. The chief pontificate seems to have been hereditary, for the priests affirmed to Herodotus that they had a list of their sacred chiefs-son succeeding father-for 340 generations. The military order ranked next in importance. Each soldier possessed six acres exempted from taxation. The army was prohibited from following any trade, but allowed, of course, to cultivate their lands. The rest of the population was unenfranchised, and constituted the general industrial class. A numerous peasantry tilled and reaped the soil, and as many more were employed in the extensive meadows and hills as herdsmen. The swine herds were a race of outcasts, universally despised, denied admission into the temples, and only allowed to marry among themselves. The pilots and boatmen of the Nile were leagued together by similarity of habits and occupation. Finally, after the ascendancy of the Greeks, there sprang up a class of interpreters, a species of bilinguists, in whose families, as a natural consequence, the gift of tongues would descend. But besides these classes there must have. been a large town population in Egypt, composed of artizans and tradesmen-such as architects, masons, weavers, painters, sculptors, embalmers, with workers in metal, leather, and wood. The dress of the common people was scanty, for the climate did not require heavy clothing. The labouring men wore a sort of apron or philabeg round their loins, and some had a species of short drawers which did not extend more than half way down to the knees. The Egyptian Burden-bearers. garment of the women of the lower class consisted of a long loose robe that reached to the ankles, and was fastened at the neck; over it they wore a petticoat clasped to their waist with a girdle. The men of better rank wore above the apron a wide dress of linen with ample sleeves. Cotton was sometimes worn, but linen was preferred. Herodotus describes some dresses as having fringes and as being named Calasiris, over which was thrown a white woollen cloak which was laid aside when they entered a temple. Priests and persons of high condition wore a similar dress-to wit, the apron, and the spacious robe which covered it, which was so made that the right arm was exposed and ready for action. The men shaved their heads and wore wigs-a custom which gave coolness to the head, and excluded the injurious effects of the sun. These wigs were made with great taste and care, usually of curled hair with plaited locks down the sides. They were used on all occasions, and only in seasons of mourning did the Egyptian men allow the natural growth of the beard and head. Their ear-rings-large and massive hoops of gold-were sometimes wrought into elegant and fantastic forms. Both sexes wore numerous finger rings, especially on the left hand; and the third finger possessed peculiar honour and pre-eminence. The Egyptian toilet was distinguished by its metallic mirrors. These, generally made of bronze, were round in form, fixed into a handle of wood or stone fancifully carved, and their smooth surfaces were beautifully polished. Some of the Israelitish women, who seem to have formed themselves into a sisterhood of divine service, gave their mirrors to Moses; and out of them he formed the "laver" and its pedestal. The armoury of the toilet consisted of combs, vases, and phials, for holding ointments and cosmetics. Boxes are also found, made of ebony or other precious wood, and of various fantastic forms, such as birds and fishes. The combs were 4 inches long and 6 deep, and were usually of wood, with teeth on each side, the one row being of larger and the other of smaller dimensions. The Egyptians were very fond of ointments, as are all inhabitants of warm countries, for the lubricated body resists the oppressive heat, and the skin is preserved in smoothness and freshness. The use of such perfumes is refreshing to the exhausted traveller, and oils, extracted from various plants, and different preparations of animal fat, were employed for this purpose. Egyptian ladies also stained their eyelids and brows with a preparation named stibium or kohl. Many bottles for holding this dark powder have been found in Egypt, some having four or five compartments, evidently meant to contain varying shades of the colouring material, which was applied to the eyebrows with a bodkin. These essential implements, needles and pins, were of considerable length, and made of bronze. Specimens of all these articles are found in the museums of Europe. The British Museum in particular contains cups, vases, jars, goblets, pots, spoons, ladles, trinkets, with bijouterie made of alabaster, basalt, porphyry, ivory, bone, earthenware, gold, silver, bronze, and iron. (See LOOKING-GLASS.) The Egyptians were fond of social entertainments, which were often of great variety and sumptuousness. They sat at their meals not reclining like many eastern nations-and their round tables were raised but a small distance above the ground. The guests were of both sexes--female seclusion was unknown in these ancient times-and at their repasts they used spoons and ladles, but were strangers to the luxury of knives and forks. The principal food of the lower classes was vegetables, which Egypt produced so freely. This diet was highly relished by the inhabitants. The Hebrew tribes during the privations of their march through the desert remembered "the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic." In some parts of the Delta, the inhabitants subsisted almost wholly upon a fish diet. We remember, said the Israelites, "the fish that we did eat in Égypt freely" (Num. xi. 5). Not only were they found in the Nile and lake Moeris, but they were also fed in artificial ponds, and were caught with line, net, and spear. (See FISH, NET.) The occupations of the people were manifold both in town and country. The prime business of the rustic population was agriculture. The houses of the people were usually built of crude bricks, a species of material suited to the soil and climate. Brickmaking was thus an employment for thousands, and the manufacture seems at length to have become a royal monopoly, for the royal signature is usually found upon the cubes. (See BRICK.) The houses in towns seldom exceeded two stories, and were, as in oriental style, surrounded by an area or court. The ground floor was the scene of all culinary preparations: the work of the butcher, baker, and miller was done in it. Female slaves were usually employed in the drudgery of these apartments, and she of the lowest occupation is called in Scripture the "maid-servant that is behind the mill." (See MILL.) The processes of metallurgy are often found on the monuments-the bellows being worked with the feet; and plating, gilding, moulding, beating, were well understood and executed. (See IRON.) These arts, so prominently displayed in the furniture of the tabernacle, the Israelites must have learned also in Egypt. Specimens of excellent cabinet work are preserved in the British Museum. The carpenters' tools did not differ much from the modern implements of the craft, the adze, however, supplying the place both of a plane and a turning-lathe. Veneering and inlaying with ivory or precious wood were common among the Egyptian joiners and cabinetmakers. The manufacture of glass, porcelain, and pottery was upon an extensive scale in Egypt 3,000 years ago (see POTTER); and the numerous tints and colours employed prove the workers to have been acquainted with the properties of metallic oxides. A purse has been found knitted with small glass bugles; and ladies of high rank are seen in the act of stringing beads. The Egyptian artist could successfully counterfeit precious stones, such as the emerald and amethyst. The cutting or engraving of precious stones was executed with delicate beauty and precision; and the tasteful vases and urns used for a variety of purposes have commanded intense admiration, equally with those of the best epochs of ancient Greece. In their common merchandise the Egyptians used rings of gold and silver, and the value of the money was ascertained by weight. They had no extensive commerce by sea. In earlier times they had no ships for foreign traffic, but the busy inland navigation was characteristic of the country. Barges and boats were seen everywhere on the Nile, and their solemn processions were generally made on water. The richer citizens seem all to have kept their pleasure wherries, the sails of which were sometimes painted and embroidered. (See SHIPS, SOLOMON.) The majority of these characteristic Egyptian occupations are grouped together by the prophet Isaiah in his picturesque oracle, significantly named the "Burden of Egypt," xix. 3: "The spirit, too, of Egypt shall fail in her; And they will seek to idols and mutterers, The meadows of the river, by the river's mouth, All that throw hook into the river shall mourn, The flax-dressers shall be confounded, Her pillars are shattered, And all her hired labourers are grieved in soul." When an Egyptian was seized with sickness, a host of physicians were at his service. "Every place swarms with doctors," says the Greek historian; and we know that Hermes wrote six books on medicine. Whatever the nature of his malady, some medical man had made it his special study. The physician was allowed to practise only in one branch of his profession; the business of the aurist, oculist, dentist, surgeon, and druggist, as well as the curing of diseases in the heart, stomach, or any other organ, was carried on by distinct and separate practitioners. Accoucheurs were almost always women. That the famous Egyptian columns were copied from the form of certain trees is probable, not only from their appearance, but from the testimony of Herodotus, who says, that King Ammasis actually caused columns to be made resembling palm trees. They are without bases, or have only a plinth, and that is frequently circular. The capital is generally of the bell-shape, and is either quite plain, or is ornamented in several varying modes; frequently it is surrounded by rows of lotus leaves, either simply marked by lines or sculptured in relief; in the latter case the capitals resemble some of those of the Corinthian order. (See PALM TREES.) The obelisk is a frequent characteristic of Egyptian architecture. These "needles" were made of exquisite proportions and of stupendous dimensions, and the red granite of Syene furnished a hard and durable material. They were generally placed in pairs at the entrance of the public edifices. (See PILLAR.) (For hieroglyphics, see WRITING.) The pyramids are another striking characteristic of ancient Egypt, and have been recognized as one of the wonders of the world. These earth-giants are immense structures, presenting a form of building which is the feast liable to decay. According to De Sacy, one of the best Oriental scholars, the name comes from the Egyptian word "Pehram," denoting "the sacred"-a name converted by the Greeks into Pyramis. The old Greek historian, Herodotus, gives a long account of these amazing edifices, which we have not space to transcribe. The pyramids of Ghizeh stand on a rock in the edge of the desert, but close to the valley of the Nile, above which their base may be elevated 150 feet or more. This rock rises abruptly from the plain, which for some 50 or 60 rods towards the Nile is covered with drifting sand, and it is ascended by stone steps. Half-way up the cliff some tents are pitched for the accommodation of travellers. When these are insufficient, some ancient tombs, excavated in the rock near by, are occupied as lodging places. The largest of the pyramids, that of Cheops, is 732 feet square, and 474 in height. It covers a little less than 13 acres of ground, and is composed of 202 tiers of square blocks of limestone, varying in thickness from less than 2 to 4 feet. Each ascending series recedes about 2 feet from the exterior side of the one below it, the whole forming a succession of terraces. These are the steps by which the ascent of the pyramid is made. It is very laborious, but practicable to persons of common strength, and perfectly safe. This pyramid is supposed to have been built more than two thousand years before Christ. Some of these vast edifices have been entered-rooms exist in their very heart-and they seem to have been designed as royal funeral-places. With reference to the pyramids of Ghizeh, Bunsen says, "The bones of the two oppressors (Cheops and Chephren, builders of the first and second) who for two generations tormented hundreds of thousands day after day have been torn from their sepulchral chambers, which were destined to defy the curiosity and destructiveness of men, and preserve their bodies for ever from the annihilation which they dreaded. But the good and philanthropic king (Mycerinus, builder of the third), who put an end to the inhuman oppression of the people, and in consequence of this lived in poetry and song, even to the latest times, as the people's darling, has, even to our days, although his coffin has been broken open, remained in his own pyramid, and has now, rescued from the mass of ruins, found a resting-place worthy of him.* A notable destiny! The old monarchy of the Pharaohs, of which he was the eighteenth ruler, has passed away; two other monarchies have followed it, and the destroyers of the most ancient have also made their exit from the stage of history. The gods of Egypt have crumbled into dust: son of the Pharaohs' is a name of reproach in the Pharaohs' land; even the language has grown dumb among the The body of this king is now in the British Museum. people. The body of Mencheres (Mycerinus), however, now rests more securely than it did 5,000 years ago-in the world-ruling island which is protected by the might of freedom and civilization, still more than by the waves which encircle it-amid the treasures of every realm of nature, and the most sublime remains of human art." Prof. Piazzi Smith has in two works essayed to show that the pyramids, in shape, position, and angles, were built on astronomical principles, and that they contain original standard measures of quantity and length for all nations. The sphynx is another curious structure. This composite symbol, with its great calm eyes and a quadruped body, belongs to the same class of early religious emblems as the Assyrian human-headed bulls and lions, and the Hebrew cherubim. It guarded the portico of the temples, and was closely associated with the national worship. (See CHERUB.) The temples of Luxor, Karnak, Esneh, Edfou, and Syene, are famed for their vastness and symmetry. Their ruins are sublime; their tall imposing columns are a magnificent spectacle,-"their grandeur awes, their beauty wins the soul." In short, the architecture of Egypt_overawes the world, and defies imitation. The "wisdom of the Egyp tians" was also famed in ancient times, and attracted inquisitive minds from surrounding countries. In many arts they far excelled the modern world. Colours which they laid on 4,000 years ago are as fresh as if they were only of yesterday; and the mechanical powers by which they raised such ponderous blocks of stone to the altitudes they now occupy in the temples and monuments are not known to modern engineers. Yet, amidst all this splendour and taste, how debased their superstitions! Animals and herbs were objects of |