DR. I'OliTEK ON EGYl'T. 



Earliest liecords. 



In a temple situated amid the ruius of Abydos, or Thiuis^ 

 one of the largest cities of Upper Egypt, two remarkable 

 tablets were discovered a few years ago — one containing the 

 names of 130 deities, the traditional or mythical rulers of the 

 country in pre-historic times ; the other, the names of seventy- 

 six kings, arranged in chronological order. The first name on 

 the latter list is Menes, and the last Seti, who set up the 

 tablet in the temple he erected, and dedicated to Osiris, the 

 god of the dead. It is beautifully engraved and in perfect 

 preservation. It is unquestionably among the most important 

 historical tablets in the world. The time embraced is variously 

 computed; some making it only 1,500 years, others as much. 

 as 8,500. A similar tablet was found at Sakkarah, having on 

 it the names of fifty-eight kings, which correspond so far to 

 the list given by the historian Manetho, and also largely to 

 the Abydos tablet. On a papyrus roll now in Turin, but 

 unfortunately much mutilated, is an apparently similar list. 

 The date of Menes^ reign is estimated by Mariette at 

 B.C. 5004, by Bunsen at B.C. 3623, and by Wilkinson 

 at B.C. 2700. Recent researches among monuments and 

 papyri seem to indicate a far more remote antiquity for the 

 early Egyptian dynasties than was formerly thought of. We 

 have not yet sufficient data to enable us to frame a perfectly 

 satisfactory chronology. 



Menes, as I have stated, was founder of Memphis, the first 

 capital of Lower Egypt. The great city is now obliterated. 

 Its stones were largely used in the building of Cairo, and what 

 remain on the site have been loug since covered with the 

 deposits of the Nile. Nothing is visible save a mutilated 

 statue of Sesostris lying on its face in the bottom of a pit. 

 It formerly stood in front of the Temple of Phtah, father of 

 the gods of Egypt, and was 40 feet high. The name Phtah 

 means Architect or Creator, and in one of the inscriptions on 

 the Temple of Dendera he is called " The Lord of Truth, 

 who created all things,'^ thus apparently indicating that 

 the primeval Egyptians believed in one Supremo God, the 

 Creator. 



The successors of Menes in the early dynasties were famed 

 for their learning. One of them composed a treatise on 

 medicine, portions of which are still extant. In fact, it seems 

 that medicine in all its branches was studied and practised 

 n'ith no little success, Herodotus affirms that there was a 



