144 On the Ancient HELLENES, 
life of Moses, after informing his readers, that this lepiflator 
had been inftru€ted, during his youth, in arithmetic, in geo- 
graphy, in hieroglyphics, adds, THIOE HAANY EyuUEAseey TOMES, x. 
zr. *, ‘ the remainder of the circle of fciences he learned from 
“the Hellenes ;’’ not I fuppofe from the Hellenes of Greece, 
who, if they did exift at that early period, were ftill a race of 
barbarians, if not abfolute favages; but from the Egyptian 
priefts of that denomination, who had actually by that time 
eftablifhed feminaries or colleges in feveral parts of Egypt, as 
early as the age of Moses. ‘The learned Jew was acquainted 
with the term Hellenes, but was ignorant of its import and fig- 
nification. He is indeed grofsly miftaken in his application of 
it; as is likewife CLemens Alexandrinus, who borrows it from 
him, and applies it to the fame purpofe f. 
Dioporus Siculus informs us, that the great OstrIs, return- 
ing from his travels over moft parts of the then known world, 
‘* inftituted religious ceremonies, and founded fchools of elo- 
“ quence in Egypt. Of thefe he appointed Hermes the Pre- 
“« £e@, who taught the Hellenes the rites relating to augury and 
“ divination t.” Thefe Hellenes could be none other than the 
priefts of Hel-En, that is, the Sun. The fcholiaft on Apoito- 
n1us’s Argonautics informs us from Dicearcuus, that “ SEsoNn- 
“ onosis, 7. ¢. SESOSTRIS, was a zealous imitator of the Hel- 
‘ lenic way of life §. The author’s meaning is no doubt, that 
he was an admirer of the auftere manner of life practifed by 
the Hellenes, or priefts of the fun. 
From the foregoing detail, we hope it will appear, that there 
were in the eaftern parts of the world people called Hellenes, 
many ages before the Hellenes of Greece were known or ex- 
ifted ; that this was originally not a Gentile, but a facred or 
religious name; that it meant.worfhippers of the fun, and 
. imported 
* Vol. ii. p. 84. ¢ Lib.i. p. 16. Edit. Stern. 
+ Vol. i. p. 443. § Lib. v. ver. 273. 
