Before Chrifl 1350 — 1300. 



13 



Nile, whenever it rofe too high, which bears his name. That his fub- 

 jeds, the fartheft removed from the river, might partake of its benefits, 

 as well as thofe living on its banks, he conflantly employed great num- 

 bers of people in ialting the fifh caught in thefe waters. This is- the firft 

 account of curing filh by fait ; a bufinefs which has greatly enriched 

 the naturally-poor country of Holland, and might alfo enrich the poor- 

 efl regions of the Britifh dominions. 



Hitherto the Egyptians had avoided having any concern in maritime 

 affairs, being prejudiced againft the fea by their religious notions, and 

 their policy ; though they appear to have had a great paflive commerce 

 with the Arabians and Phoenicians, the later being the conflant carriers 

 of their merchandize upon the Mediterranean fea. 



I •500 — Egypt was now governed by Sefoflris, a prince who forced 

 political, and even religious, prejudices, to give way to his ambitious 

 views of extending his dominions. Having built a fleet of four hundred 

 ihips on the Red fea *, (probably by means of Phoenician workmen) he 

 fubdued fome part of Arabia, fome iflands, by the Greek writers called 

 Cyclades, and perhaps fome of the neighbouring countries f . He after- 



* The name of the Red fea, or Erythixan fea, 

 was given to the two gulfs on the caft and weft 

 fides of Arabia, and was alfo extended to the ocean 

 on its fouth fide. In this work the name will be 

 reftrifted to the gulf on the weft fide of Arabia. 



f Thefe four hundred vefl'els, fnch as they were, 

 conftituted the greateft fleet that ever was fitted 

 out by the native kings of Egypt. But, as the 

 event falls in the dark period of Egyptian hillory, 

 and the number is not mentioned by Herodotus, 

 confiderablc allowance muft be made for exaggera^ 

 tion. Some modern writers, however, have 

 amufed themfelves and their readers with a notion, 

 that the Egyptians were the moft antient navigat- 

 ors ; becaulc a nation fo wife could not be blind 

 to the advantages of commerce. We are morC' 

 over told, upon the fame authority of imagination, 

 that the glory of the difcoveries, hitherto afcribed 

 to the Phoenicians, • feems rather to belong to 

 ' the Eg)'ptians ;' and alfo, that the Hebrews, 

 who were fo long among the Egyptians, could not 

 be ignorant of their trade to all the countries of 

 tiie Eaft, and that, after they got themfelves fettled 

 in the land of Canaan, they could not be fuppofed 

 deficient in nautical and commercial knowlege, 

 when the port of Sidon was fo near to them. Such 

 are the moikrn difcoveries of the trade and naviga- 

 tion of the Egyptians and Hebrews, which were 

 utterly unknown to the moft antient authors. — So 

 very far were the Egyptians from being great na- 

 vigators and difcoverers, that they abhorred the 

 fea, and all fiOi that were bred in it, becaufe the 

 dead body of their god Ofiris was thrown into it ; 

 and they would not fo much as fpeak to fcamen, 

 who were an abomination in their fight, becaufe 



they gained their bread upon the fea. \_P!utarchi 

 Sympos. L. viii ; De I/'ide cl OJir.'] All antient au- 

 thors agree, that the Phoenicians were the earlieft 

 and the greateft traders and navigators in the weft- 

 ern world. \_Ifaiah, c. 23 — E^ekiel, cc. 26, 27, 28. 

 — Herodot. L. i, c. i; L. iii, c. 107. — Mela, L. i, c. 

 6. — Strabo, L. xvi,/i. 1097. — Vlin. Hi/}, nat. L. v, 

 c. 1 2. — fofeph. contra Apion. L. i, iffc. i3'c.'\ But, 

 for any merchant veflel belonging to the native 

 Egyptians having ever failed to any foreign port, 

 I believe no antient authority can be found. The 

 trade of the Egyptians was evidently conduced by 

 foreigners; and, if we may truft to Grecian writ- 

 ers, they were not very willing to admit them, 

 upon any account whatever, to enter into their 

 country. Before the reign of Pfammitichus all 

 Grangers (excepting, however, the Arabians and 

 Phoenicians — fee Genejis, c. 37 — Herodot. L, i, c. I.) 

 were prohibited from landing in Egypt : but the 

 Greeks, being notorious for their piracies, were 

 moft rigor-oufly debarred, (or were, perhaps in 

 truth, the only nation excluded) and thofe, who 

 had the misfortune to be driven by the winds upon 

 the coaft, were put to death, or made flaves ; and 

 from that favage cruelty, or fevere juftice, the 

 Grecian poets fabricated their fable of a king of 

 Egypt, called Bufiris, facrificing men upon his 

 altars. \Diod. Sicul. L. i, § 67 — Strabo, L. xvii, 

 pp. 1 142, 1154.J It may be objected to what I 

 have faid of the deteftation of feamen among the 

 Egyptians, that Herodotus [/,. ii, c. 164] men- 

 tions managers of vefiels as one of the orders, or 

 cafts, of that people. But from his defcription of 

 their vefTels, with hulls and mafts made of thorn 

 and fails made of paper, and sf their navigation, 



