52 Natural-Historical Collections. 



tirely unknown to antiquity. The alleged books of Hermes are evidently supposi- 

 tious, and were written by Greeks of the lower empire. 



All the books of the Egyptians are lost ; and thus, in tracing the history of 

 the sciences among them, we have perhaps still fewer resources than in the case 

 of the Indians. There remains a catalogue of the sacred books of Hermes, which 

 Clement of Alexandria has preserved to us in the sixteenth book of Stromata. 

 The books of Hermes were held in great veneration in Egypt. They were car- 

 ried in procession at the religious festivals, and each priest was obliged to 

 have by memory at least the part which related to the offices of his order. These 

 books treated of religious rites, arts, medicine, and several other sciences ; but it 

 is remarkable that there was none that related to history : so that it would ap- 

 pear as if the Eg}'ptian priests had the same repugnance as the Brahmins to pre- 

 serve in writing the memory of the events of which their country was the theatre. 

 We have, therefore, no annals of Egypt. We have, however, several lists of their 

 kings, preserved by Eusebius and other writers. These lists agree very ill with 

 each other. They may, however, be useful to be consulted, provided the cause 

 that probably introduced confusion in them be not forgotten ; for it would ap- 

 pear that, in ancient times, Egypt was divided into a number of independent 

 states. The names of the sovereigns of all these small kingdoms were preserved ; 

 but in place of presenting them in parallel series, they were placed in a single 

 line, as if there had been a regular succession from the one to the other. This 

 circumstance has led several modem writers into error, and has induced them to 

 refer to a very remote epoch, the origin of the Egyptian nation. 



The conquest of the shepherd kings abolished aU the little principalities, and 

 subjected Egypt to a single domination. After the expulsion of the conquerors, 

 the victorious dynasty became in its turn sole mistress ; and from this period 

 the union was definitive. By this union the Egjqjtian nation became really 

 powerful, and after this period only could it undertake great works. Of this 

 the labours of M. ChampoUion furnish an irrefragable proof. Having learn- 

 ed to read the names of sovereigns written on the monuments in hieroglyphic 

 characters, he found none that was anterior to the seventeenth and eighteenth 

 dynasties, that is, to those which expelled the nomadic invaders ; and it is even 

 probable that most of the buildings which bear the name of these princes, 

 and which appear to have been erected in honour of them, were not built until 

 long after their death. 



As, in the defect of books, it is especially in monuments that we can hope to 

 iind some particulars respecting the history of a nation, it becomes of importance 

 to determine their age, at least, in a relative manner. This can be done by com- 

 paring the style of their architecture, which from being simple and rude in an- 

 cient times, acquires elegance as we approach a more recent period. 



The pyramids, those imposing monuments, which yet evidently belong to the 

 infancy of art, are certainly anterior to the columnar edifices possessed of elegant 

 proportions. Now these pyramids, even according to Jlanetho, were not built 

 until after the reign of Sesostris, the vanquisher of the shepherds. It is at least 

 ceriain that they did not exist at the time of the Jewish migration, for the Scrip- 

 tures make no mention of them. It would even appear that, at this period, the 

 Egyptians used brick in their public buildings, as they employed the Jews in 

 manufacturing enormous quantities of them. Nor did the pyramids exist at the 

 time of the migration of Cecrops and Danaus, as the Greeks never imitated their 

 form. The first alhision to the splendid edifices of Egypt occurs in Homer, who 

 speaks of the hundred-gated Thebes, and, by tlie expression, undoubtedly desig- 

 nates the gigantic propylda placed before the temples, of which that city contain- 

 ed a great number. 



Most of the edifices with which we are acquainted must have been built sub- 

 sequently to the year 1000 before Christ. That, in fact, was the period of the 

 .^eatest prosperity of Egypt. Nevertheless, an exaggerated idea would be formed 

 if this country, were we to judge of it only by the number and magnificence of 

 the monuments which it has left to us. It must be considered that there was a 



