grand pyla were the peculiar pride of Thebes. Each monarch sought to shed lustre on his name by the erection of some enduring monument. Superstition seconded the aspirations for fame, and proved the active patron of architecture. Edifices were always erected in honour of one of the gods. But every reign could not produce an entire temple; most kings, therefore, contented themselves with adding to one already built; and as any number of these pyla might be annexed to a building without disturbing the symmetry of its design, a work of this kind was generally chosen. Thus these stupendous monuments were so multiplied at Thebes, that they became associated with its very name; and hence the well-known epithet 'the hundred-gated.' An avenue of colossal sphinxes appears to have been continued from Luxor up to the outer precinct of Karnak. The few of them that now remain are mutilated and half-interred; but how imposing the effect of such a vista, extending nearly a mile and a half over the plain, terminated by the great facade of Luxor! All these buildings formed parts of one magnificent whole. All were constructed of gigantic blocks, and most were covered with sculpture. In each block is seen the fruit of days or weeks of labour. How incalculable, then, the amount of toil and skill here expended! Pass through the successive courts and halls, ascend the pyla, and look down on the masses beneath; acquaint yourself with the general design and the decorative details; then place the symmetric whole before your mind's eye in the first glory of its variously-painted decorations; and the temple-palace of Karnak will appear 'the splendid lie' of an enchanter rather than a real edifice, the slow product of human hands. Yet such was the imperial abode of the Pharaohs when Europe was yet in primæval barbarism; ages before Romulus took his omen on the Palatine hill. The ruins are strewed in chaotic confusion over a sandy plain broken into shapeless mounds. Here profound silence reigns. A few camels about to journey over the desert are reposing peacefully in the area of the great quadrangle. An Arab boy may be seen stretched on the sand in the ruined sanctuary, sleeping away the noon-tide heat, his meek-eyed ass standing by as motionless as the statues near him. The mournful cooings of unseen doves are alone heard in halls that once resounded with Egyptian revelry; owls have established themselves in the obscure spots of the ponderous architraves, and as they sit mute and motionless they are mistaken for hieroglyphic figures; should they chance to move, the antique scnlpture seems suddenly endowed with life. You may seat yourself on a fallen column, and looking up to one of the great pyla, imagine an ancient procession defiling through its portal, the singers and the minstrels, the priestesses waving aloft their sistra (timbrels), the streaming banners, the clang of trumpets, and the acclamations of the Theban multitude;-then let your eye glance over the silent ruins around you, and no eloquence could so impressively enforce the trite lesson of the transitoriness of worldly grandeur. The three great pyramids of Gizeh are the chief of an assemblage of sepulchral works, once the cemetery for the rich and noble Memphis (comp. Hosea ix. 6), which lay about ten miles to the south-east. The farfamed group are based on a ledge of rock seventy or eighty feet high, rising out of a swell in an arid waste, just where it sinks into cultivated lands, and between five and six miles from the Nile. On leaving the village of Gizeh, on the river bank opposite Old Cairo, the pyramids rise before you, glittering white against the blue sky; but the flatness of the plain and the purity of the atmosphere deceive the eye as to their distance and their size. You ap pear almost at their base, while yet several miles intervene. As you advance, they gradually unfold their gigantic dimensions; but you must have been some time ou the spotyour eye must have repeatedly travelled along the Great Pyramid's 740 feet of base, and up its steep, towering angles-before you can fully understand its immensity, and the untold amount of labour involved in its erection. Thousands of enormous stones, all accurately squared, are here elevated bundreds of feet above the ground: each was hoisted step by step up the sides till it reached its bed. One can scarcely view these buildings without the conviction that they are the work of an enslaved and driven race. In their erection, little else was required of the artificers than physical exertion and obedience to the taskmaster. Yet these creations exhibit a sublime simplicity of conception, and a dauntless hardihood of enterprise, which, when fully appreciated, take possession of the soul. The dimensions of the Great Pyramid have been differently stated, the mounds of rubbish round the base rendering it difficult to obtain accurate measurements. Those taken during Colonel Vyse's operations in 1837, are-original base, feet, 764; original inclined height, 611. The original perpendicular height, therefore, supposing the pyramid to have been carried up nearly to a point, was about 480 feet, or 43 more than St. Peter's, and 100 more than St. Paul's. The area covered was almost thirteen acres and a half. The mighty mass may be described by the familiar illustration of a solid pile, occuping the whole area of Lincoln's Inn Fields, and ascending to a point one hundred feet higher than the top of St. Paul's. According to Pliny, 366,000 men were employed on its erection for twenty years; and Herodotus tells us, that an in scription on the exterior stated that the expense of providing them with onions and other roots amounted to 16,000 talents. Col. Vyse estimates the masonry of the Great Pyramid at 6,316,000 tons. Though whole mosques have probably been built out of its spoils, the integrity of its form remains unimpaired, and from a distance you perceive hardly a trace of violence or decay. The present entrance is a small opening to the north front, about three feet and a half wide, and rather more than four high. This is the mouth of a long low tunnel, of the same contracted dimensions, descending at a steep slope into the heart of the edifice. Wathen has thus described his visit to the interior:'Two peasants accompanied me; one leading the way with lights, and another following in the rear with a supply of water, without which you go nowhere in this thirsty land. As we proceeded, the glimmer from behind grew fainter till it was quite lost. Now descending, now ascending, we made our way through narrow passages, winding communications, and gloomy, bat-infested chambers, till I had lost all clue to our real position. Before and behind was black darkness; our wax lights threw a fitful flicker upon the near objects; and as we moved on, our footsteps and voices awoke the echoes and startled the genii of the place. At last, after ascending a long and very lofty passage, we came to the central sepulchral chamber, the inner shrine of this vast mansoleum. Here, walls, floor and roof, are al formed with massive blocks of polished red granite, reaching from floor to ceiling, and stretching from wall to wall. A large granite sarcophagus stood at one end of the apartment-its sole contents being rubbish and dust, not a single hieroglyphic upon it or the walls of the chamber. The massive granite floor had been torn up, probably by some greedy searcher for hidden treasures: the gloomy walls were blackened with innumerable inscriptions. Such is the fate of the jealously-guarded tomb of the tyrant Cheops! its secret chambers the abode of bats, and scrawled with the names of strangers of all lands; the era of its foundation and the intricacies of its interior, problems for the chronologist and the explorer. How admirably adapted would have been these mysterious penetralia to the purposes of a crafty priesthood in imposing on the credulity of superstitious devotees! How exactly fitted for the performance of their initiatory rites with awe-inspiring effect; for bodying forth the allegoric doctrines of their mystic faith, or enacting the fables ascribed to their gods!" (Arts and Antiq. of Egypt, p. 151.) In other chambers, Colonel Vyse discovered a few rough hieroglyphics on the walls, which were the first traces of writing found within the pyramids. Though probably nothing more than the chance scribblings of Cheops' ma sons, they are very interesting. Among them appeared the name of Shufo, who is held to be the Suphis, or Cheops, to whom Manetho and Herodotus respectively ascribe the erection of this extraordinary structure. In the third pyramid also, Col. Vyse found the name of its alleged builder, namely, Mycerinus. The amount of labour employed in the construction of the pyramids exceeds all imagi nation, for they were numerous in Egypt. A tabular view lying before us gives details of not fewer than thirty-eight, of which remains still exist. The pyramids about whose purpose and use so much has been written, were, with other stately edifices, designed for mausolea, or tombs, the aim being to enshrine the corpse deep within the earth or mass of masonry, far from the stir of the living world. Egyptian tombs are never found in cultivable or inhabited parts-always in the desert, on the skirts of the alluvial plain. In the pyramids the sepulchral apartment is either in the centre of the solid building, or THIRD PYRAMID. View of the sepulchral chamber, showing the sarcophagus or comin of its builder, Mycerinus. in the rock beneath it. In the built tombs near the Gizeh pyramids, a deep well was sunk, and the mummy deposited in a cell at the bottom. In the tombs of E'Siout, not content with a chamber hollowed out of the face of the cliff, they sunk shafts, and formed more secluded cells within the mountain. For the royal sepulchres of Thebes they first selected the loneliest ravine; for each tomb they carried a gallery deep into the hill, and then placed the corpse in the remotest part. No pains was too great to express the concern the Egyptians felt towards the dead, agreeably to the touching sentiment which Sophocles puts into the mouth of the daughter of Edipus: 'Our latest, longest home Is with the dead; and therefore would I please The pyramids of Gizeh, however, ill answered the purpose indicated in these lines. The bones of the two oppressors (Cheops and Chephren, builders of the first and the second), who for two generations,' we cite Bunsen ('Egyptens Stelle,' ii. 178), '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. Nay, Diodorus relates an Egyptian tradition, according to which both of these kings, owing to the apprehensions which were entertained of a violent outbreak of popular fury, were silently deposited in humble graves, and never occupied the pyramids. 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 restingplace 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 people. The body of Mencheres (Mycerinus), however, now rests more securely than it did 5000 years ago-in the worldruling island which is protected by the might of freedom and civilisation, still n.ore than by the waves which encircle it-amid the treasures of every realm of nature, and the most sublime remains of human art.' For the explanation of the latter part of this passage it is necessary to add, that though the sarcophagus of the good Mycerinus, discovered by Vyse in the third pyramid, was itself lost off the coast of Spain on its voyage to England, the lid, with its inscription, and the body of the king, are now in the British Museum. The view at sun-rise from the summit of the Great Pyramid is striking and impressive. The shadows of the three gigantic structures lie stretched beneath over the mouldering memorials of long-forgotten ages. Westward, an undulating desert plain extends to the white hills, which from this point southward shut in the Egyptian valley, now approaching the river, now sweeping off inland; the eye can follow no further westward, but for many a hundred leagues beyond stretch the silent solitudes of the great African desert. To the north-east and south you look down on the fertile fields of Egypt, here emerging from its long narrow valley, and spreading into the expanse of the Delta. Through the midst of the plain 'prolific Nile pours along his earthy tide,' borne from the far-off regions of Central Africa, and now soon to mingle with the blue waters of the Mediterranean. Beyond the river, and backed by the Mocattam hills, are seen the tall minarets of the modern capital. Villages nestled in groves of palms are scattered over the plain, or during the inundation rise like islands out of the lakes. To the south-east, the pyramids of Sakkara are seen glistening in the sunshine. Above spreads the same cloudless azure that canopied the court of the Pharaohs. The historic recollections of the scene are also full of interest. Within a few leagues are the sites of Memphis, the second metropolis of Egypt, and of On or Heliopolis, the city of Joseph's father-in-law, Potipherah, and, it may be, the scene of his temptation, his captivity, and at last his greatness. It was through the defiles of the mountains to the east, behind Cairo, that the vast host of Hebrew slaves marched out with a high hand under their enterprising leader, and began to unfold the roll of their national destinies. The early history of Egypt is a subject which is still involved in difficulty, though Bunsen may be considered as having rendered it probable that it extends much farther backwards than the ordinary chronology allows. One of the most forcible of Bunsen's arguments, namely, that the earliest state in which we find Egypt as made known by the monuments and other sources of information, implies the lapse of an anterior period of considerable duration, since such a period was indispensable as a precursor to the then existing state of civilisation, is not without corroboration in the sacred record; for in the earlier days of Abraham (cir. 1920) the Scriptures represent Egypt as already the granary of the surrounding countries, and in possession of a regularly organised government, under princes and a monarch who had his harem, which, after the manner of eastern despots, he was wont to replenish by arbitrarily taking the beauties that were brought under his notice, and who abounded in such wealth as cattle, silver, and gold' (Gen. xii. 10, seq.). Now the interval which the ordinary chronology puts between the flood and Abraham's descent · into Egypt, is much too short to have ad. mitted of this development of the arts and resources of life, whatever remains of former civilisation we may suppose to have survived the submersion of the earth; though, if the flood was in reality but partial in its prevalence, the argument loses some of its force, and the ordinary chronology is not so incapable to solve great problems in the history of civilisation. The original of the Egyptian people is also attended with questions which it is not easy to answer. Whence were they? Did they descend the Nile from the southern districts of Nubia or Abyssinia? Did they proceed at once from the high lands of Armenia into the valley of the Nile? Did the first fathers of the nation, on quitting Armenia, migrate into eastern lands, and only after some ages return towards the west, and fix themselves in the longitudinal basin on the eastern limits of Africa? To which of the stems, that of Shem or that of Ham, are they to be referred? If, originally, Egypt was settled by Hamites, as the Scripture clearly implies (Gen. x. 6), may not an Asiatic people, descended from the superior tribe of Shem, have taken possession of the country, expelling or destroying its aboriginal possessors? These are points into which our space forbids us to enter. We may, however, remark that Bunsen finds, both in the religion and the language of the Egyptians, such as the remains of their civilisation present them to us, evidences that they had their origin in Asia, if not in the high lands of Caucasus and Armenia. In confirmation of this opinion may be quoted the authority of the Quarterly Review (cxlv. p. 153), which says, 'No one who has studied the subject, can doubt that the Egyptian language may claim an Asiatic, and indeed a Shemitic parentage. We are disposed to go further in this opinion than M. Bunsen; and we hold that the Egyptian language was not only Shemitic, but is presented to us in the same condition as the Hebrew,—perhaps somewhat less disorganised, but exhibiting traces of the same original mechanism, defaced by nearly the same corruptions.' Bunsen divides the general history of Egypt into three kingdoms-the ancient, the middle, and the new. Of the ancient, Menes was the first king, who, in the year 3643 A. C., descending the Nile from This, his original settlement in the Thebais, became the founder of Memphis and of the sole monarchy. The dynasty of Menes lasted for 190 years; and while one branch of his family continued the succession in Upper Egypt, another, the third dynasty as it is called, reigned for 224 years at Memphis, and carried forward the process of social development which Menes had begun, introducing a symbolical worship, improving the system of writing and founding a class-division of the Egy tians. The fourth dynasty also reigned at Memphis 155 years over the united kingdom. It was again divided between an Elephantine and a Memphite dynasty for 107 years. Two Memphite dynasties succeeded, the seventh and eighth, and a Theban, the eleventh, for 166 years; but contemporaneous with these were two dynasties of Heracleopolis in Lower Egypt, the ninth and tenth. The twelfth was Theban, and lasted 147 years. In the reign of the third king of the thirteenth dynasty, and after the house had ruled Egypt 87 years, the invasion of the Hyksos overthrew the old monarchy 1076 years after Menes, and 2568 years A. C. The coexistence of two sovereignties in the same land is, however, unsupported by any documentary evidence, and hardly reconcileable with the jealousy which neighbouring monarchs are apt to entertain. But if future inquiries should invalidate this theory, the lengthened chronological period assigned by Bunsen must lose a great support, and can meanwhile be in no way regarded as established irreversibly. The domination of the foreign dynasties of the Hyksos or the middle monarchy, according to Chevalier Bunsen, terminated, after a period of 929 years, in 1639 A. C. Who the Hyksos were (we give the substance of Bunsen's observations), Manetho distinctly declares. They were, according to him, either Phoenicians or Arabs, that is shepherds, who pressed into the country from the north or the north-east. The hypothesis that they were Scythian herdsmen needs no serious confutation. They were inhabitants of Canaan, apparently connected with North-Arabian Bedouins. After an interval of nine centuries, the ancient line of the Pharaohs issued from their retreat in the Thebais, drove the Hyksos first from Memphis, and finally from their stronghold in Lower Egypt, and founded the new monarchy, which was prolonged through thirteen dynasties. The Hyksos were expelled by the eighteenth dynasty, which reigned for 229 years. The next dynasty, which ruled Egypt for 112 years, is distinguished by the well-known name of Rameses the Great, called also Sesostris. In regard to the new monarchy it has been well remarked, the names of the principal monarchs, and the great facts of their reigns, are subject to no doubt. We still see the nations of the earth bearing their tribute to the third Thothmes,-the gold, ivory and ebony of the south, the apes of Western Africa, the precious vases of Sidonian workmanship, the horses and chariots, it may be, of Media. We see Rameses driving before him the flying hosts of his enemies, trampling them under the feet of his horses, or crushing them beneath the wheels of his car; attacking their fleets and storming their towns. We can even follow him into the recesses of his harem, and distinguish the game with which he amused himself in his hours of relaxation. Nor is it the sovereigns only, their pompous titles, their splendid ceremonials, their victories and their sports, that the imperishable works of the Egyptians have preserved to us. The whole life of the people is portrayed in the paintings with which they have adorned the walls of the tombs, which they regarded as their everlasting habitation' (Prospective Review, p. 28). With Abraham commence the scriptural notices of Egypt. Thither, under the goad of famine, that patriarch descended, and there he acquired great wealth (Gen. xii. 10, seq.). His journey implies that already the land and its characteristics were known in Palestine; and one consequence of his visit was, to render the relations of the two countries more intimate; for we find Sarah, Abraham's wife, in possession of an Egyptian slave, whose name was Hagar, of whom the patriarch had a son, Ishmael, the founder of the Arab tribes. The possession of an Egyptian slave in Abraham's family gives reason to think that the Hebrews were at this time socially superior to the Egyptians; while the fact that an Egyptian slave became his concubine, renders it probable that there was no distinction of race, perhaps not much of conformation or colour, between the two peoples. From this early period intercourse was maintained between Egypt and Palestine, down to the fall of the Jewish state. Of this intercourse the Bible, referring to that land more than two hundred times, contains striking and important, though irregular and unconnected notices, which, in a more or less decided degree, accord with what is known of the country and its history from independent sources. A more minute inquiry than can be here instituted would end in showing, that both in what he enjoined and what he forbad, in much of the general tenor of his legislation, Moses had a view to things to be learnt, but far more often to things to be avoided, in Egyptian laws and usages. The influence of Egypt on Palestine, and reciprocally of Palestine on Egypt, was during many centuries immediate and considerable. The general connection of the two lands with their inhabitants and institutions, as that connection appears in the sacred record, is in harmony with what other authorities would lead us to expect. unparalleled discoveries of recent days have tended to corroborate the general train of the Biblical history, and to throw light on its import and on the observances of the people who penned its narratives. Had not the substance of the sacred record been his torically correct, the disinterring of Egyptian life which has of late taken place could not have failed to explode its pretensions; while The |