ANTIQUITIES. 



of the Jews are supposed to be connected 

 with those of Egypt, since Moses, their 

 great lawgiver, was educated in the 

 schools of Egyptian learning, and was 

 deeply conversant in all their sciences. 

 Many of the metaphors and other allu- 

 sions, found in the first five books of the 

 Bible, are supposed to have some refer- 

 ence to the symbols of the Egyptian 

 priests. If we were, therefore, able to 

 come at a faithful account of the antiqui- 

 ties of Egypt, we might hope to attain an 

 illustration of many things which are still 

 obscure and dark, belonging to the Jewish 

 economy, both civil and sacred. Of Egypt, 

 alas ! once renowned for its laws, the 

 commerce of her cities, the grandeur of 

 her buildings, and the fertility of her ter- 

 ritory, little is left to gratify the laudable 

 curiosity of moderns. Those who have 

 spent much time and labour in appreciat- 

 ing the worth and merits of the ancients, 

 admit that the earliest nations of the 

 world were fed with the produce of Egyp- 

 tian soil, and enriched with the wealth 

 and wisdom obtained in that portion of 

 Africa. Upper Egypt furnished the mate- 

 rials of marble and porphyry, with which 

 the most stupendous works of art were 

 reared : and to Hermes Trismegistus, or, 

 as he is sometimes called, Thoth, are 

 ascribed, among the Egyptians, the inven- 

 tions of chief use in human life. Their 

 priests maintained, that from their hiero- 

 glyphic characters upon the pillars which 

 he erected, and the sacred books, all the 

 philosophy and learning of the world has 

 been derived. 



Egypt seems itself to have been in- 

 debted for its original population to the 

 northern parts of Arabia and Syria, the 

 Egptians and Abyssinuins having been 

 always wholly distinct from the native na- 

 tions of Africa. The Copts, or original 

 inhabitants, it has been observed by tra- 

 vellers, have no resemblance whatever of 

 the negro features or form ; but a strong 

 likeness may be traced between the make 

 of the visage in the modern Copts, and 

 that presented in the ancient mummies, 

 paintings, and statues. Their complexion, 

 like that of the Arabs, is of a dusky 

 brown. It is represented of the same co- 

 lour in the paintings which may be seen 

 in the tombs of Thebes. The chief anti- 

 quities are, the pyramids, and the tombs 

 near Thebes, recently disclosed, with ma- 

 ny ruins of temples, and other remains of 

 ancient cities. Dr. White, in the " Egyp- 

 tiaca," a work which contains much valu- 

 able information on the subject, says, the 

 celebrated column ascribed to Pompey 



ornamented a space opposite the temple 

 of Serapis, in which was a great public 

 library. Besides the ancient remains al- 

 ready noticed, we may mention the co- 

 lossal sphynx; Cleopatra's needle; the 

 marble Sarcophagus, reputed to be Alex- 

 ander's tomb ; and the triple inscription 

 from Rosetta, in the hieroglyphic, the ver- 

 nacular Egyptian, and the Greek charac- 

 ters. The writers on Egyptian antiquities 

 are very numerous. Among the ancients 

 may be noted, Herodotus, Pausanias, 

 Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, and Plutarch. 

 Herodotus, Thales, and Pythagoras, were 

 initiated into all the mysteries of the 

 Egyptian priests. The mythology of the 

 country is fully explained in Joblonski's 

 " Pantheon Egyptiacum." On the Egypt 

 of modern times, we have the works of 

 Pocock, Niebuhr, Sonnini, and Denon, 

 which may be consulted with advantage. 

 Greaves and Nordon have written on the 

 pyramids, and the mummies are describ- 

 ed by the celebrated Kircher. 



The illustration of the antiquities of In- 

 dia is more difficult, but discoveries are 

 still making in that vast extent of coun- 

 try. To that great patriot, philosopher, 

 and legislator, Sir William Jones, we are 

 greatly indebted for much valuable infor- 

 mation on this subject. Mr. Halhed, in- 

 deed, in 1776, gave the first specimen 

 which appeared of the early wisdom of 

 the Indians, and their extensive skill in 

 jurisprudence. In the year 1785, the 

 Bhagvat Geeta was edited by Mr. Wilkins. 

 The theological and metaphysical doc- 

 trines of this work were represented to 

 be of the prof oundest kind, and it was said 

 to contain all the grand mysteries of the 

 Hindoo religion, and laid claim to the an- 

 tiquity of 4000 years. Other works of 

 high reputation have succeeded ; among 

 these are the " Indian Antiquities,'* by 

 Maurice, which have, in a great measure, 

 cleared the ground for the student, and 

 given him a sort of clue for farther inves- 

 tigations. By his labours, the ancient geo- 

 graphical divisions of India, according to 

 the classical writers of Greece and Rome, 

 and of Hindostan, according to the Hin- 

 doos themselves, are reconciled; the ana- 

 logies of the Brahmanic with other sys- 

 tems of theology considered, and the 

 grand code of civil laws, the original form 

 of government, and the literature of Hin- 

 dostan, are compared with the laws, go- 

 vernment, and literature of Persia, Egypt, 

 and Greece. From Sir William Jones's 

 papers, published in the several volumes 

 of the " Asiatic Researches," much solid 

 information on Indian antiquities may be 



