On the Orighi of the Pijramkh of Egypt. 293 



for which the Pyramids were erected ; and in this it is hoped we 

 mav succeed. If these were tlie only moiniments of the kind 

 belonging to the ancient world, and we had not the evidence 

 afforded bv the Soros in the principal pyramid, a greater degree 

 of difficMlty might oppose the undertaking. But in addition to 

 the testimony offered l)y this remarkable relique, we are enabled, 

 by collateral evidences derived from other countries, to establish 

 beyond all controversy the truth of their sepulchral origin. It 



has 



c.^nsiders the Eiyplian Afis as a symbol of the Patriorch. He Riipports liis opi- 

 nion by authority from RntRnus (Hht(,ricE Ecclesiastic^', lib. ii. cap. 3^-.) ; smi 

 derives evideiic:? from Aiigustin, {Script. Miroh.\. i.e. 15.) to prove t'lat the 

 Egyptian-; placed an ox near the sepulchre of Joseph. It, appears also fi-om Siiidas 

 (voce Taoecris), that .Afis was by some considered a symbol of Joseph.- " Qnn lit 

 magis inclinem facit," observes Vossius, " qitod Juwphus Dent. cap. penult, corn- 

 mate 17, bos vocttur, secundum codices Hehraros.^' Rut if Apis were the same as 

 Joseph, so must also he Seraihs (or Sarapis, as it is written by the Greeks) and 

 Osiris; fir these are but difieient names of the same mythological personage, 

 " Factiis est Joseph quasi rex totins JE^ypti, el vncaveJiiiit eum /}pis," says Kircher 

 {(Edip. JEsypt. torn. i. p. 196. Rom. 1652) ; and he gives us from Varro tlie rea- 

 son why he was called Serapis: " Quia Area (inquil Parr.) in qud pnsifus erat, 

 Greece seu Ms;yplice dicitur Sogo,-, unde togivi;, quasi Area Apis, deindc, uva lilerd 

 mutalA, "Si^nm; diclus est." Also accordins to Strabo, An* was the same as Osiris. 

 "Of timv ("At/p) S auri; xai '0'<r!(is (lib. xvii. p. 1 14. F.-!. Oxon.) Hence it may be 

 inferred, that as Joseph, together with the names of Ai'is and Seraiis, also bore 

 that of Osiris, the annual mournings which took phce in E:.-ypt for the loss of 

 Osiris's body, and the exhibiii.iri of an empty i'oro'? upon those occasions, were 

 ceremonies derived from the loss rfJoseph's I'ody, which had been caried away by 

 the llelnews when they left the country. Julius Finuicis, who fi'.iuri>heH under 

 the two sons of Conslantine, endeavours to explain the rf.-.son {De Error. Profaiu 

 Rrlig.) wl^y Joseph was called .Sfrapis. In opposition to the origrin assigned by 

 Varro, for the nnme Serapis, it may be observed, that Phitaich {De hid. ft Osir. 

 c. '29) derives a notion v/hich prevailed maintaining that Serapis was no Kod, but 

 a mere name for the sepulchral cliest where the bodv of Anis was deposited: 

 Oi« iivai 3-SM To» ^aj«5r/v, a>.X« Trw "An TAD'S 20r0M aiirca; ivofcat^ia-^ai. But 

 things which were rejected by the Greeks as inconsistent with their relii;io>i<: opi- 

 nions, may come much nearer, on this ^cvo'^"t, to truth and to our own. A very 

 popular opinion has lon-r been entertained, concerning an extraneous idol brought 

 to Alexandria, by one of the Ptolomies, from tlie eoa.>t of Ponius, which rpceived 

 the appellation of Sernpis upon its arrival in F.gypt ; but the word Serapis is 



purely Egyptian and JahlAnski has refuted the opinion, by proving that Senipis 



was worshipf)e(l in Memphis lone before the time of tlie Ptolomies, [Panth. Egypt. 

 lib. ii. c. 5. p. '2.31. Fr.ink. 1750.) and by showing from Eustathius that the 

 whole story of this Sinonic deity was derived from Sinopinm near Memphis. Thus 

 Tacitus, " sedem ex qua transieril [Serapis) Memphin perhikent, inclytrim nlim, et 

 veteris Egypti columen." Yet Gibbon seeni<"'o ituply (flist. c. 28. vol. v, p. 90. 

 Ixjud. 181)7) that both the nnme and I he idol were alike strangers to the pri sts of 

 Egypt ; and he sneers at the notion of Vossiu>;, that the patriarch Joseph had been 

 adored in the country as the bull Apis, and the cod Sempis. (Ibid, see note 36.) 

 The reader may consult the learned observations of Bochart nri'm this subject 

 {Ilierozoicon, torn. i. I. ii. c. 34, pp. 345, 346, 347, 348), and alsoof Jabionski, upon 

 wh'ich Gibbon may have grounded his scepticism, although lie has not nientionid 

 his authors, 'i'he following passage of Apollodorus, as cited by Bochart, proves 

 the name Sempis to be of ancient date in Egypt : " Apis, rcl/itus inter Dens, Serapis 

 fippellatus est." Upon the identity of Serapvi and Joseph many learneil writers 

 arc agreed. " Suvt qui Apim el ^n: > idtm unum numen puttixint, et per Serapidem 

 /'osr.piiUM iiitetlexeritit ; nec veritati comkaria videtur H.rc opinto." {Cun^us de 

 iicpub. Ileh. Annot. Niculai, c, 17. not. 14. Tkes. Jntiq. Sac. Ugolini, Vciict. 174.')). 

 T 3 Indeed 



