Lesley.] 4:Z(J [May, 



age of 68 (664 B. C); having reigned 60 years, a longer reign than that of 

 any other Hehrew monarch. 



"Amon his son reigned in his stead." 



Nothing more can be asked in demonstration of the Egyptian name of 

 the royal father ; the royal son bore the most sacred of all the divine 

 names of the Egyptian Pantheon, AMjST, Ammon Ra. Consequently he 

 "walked in all his father's ways and served the idols his father served, and 

 worshiped them ; forsaking Jehovah, god of his fathers, and walking not 

 in Jehovah's ways," — but only for two years ; for at the age of 24 his ser- 

 vants slew him ; and the populace slew the conspirators and placed Josiah 

 on the throne. 



Josiah, the 8 year old son of the murdered Amon, was a pious boy, and 

 a staunch Jahvist King, no doubt througli the influence of his mother, 

 Jedidah, daughter of Adaiali of Boscath. Her name hT'T, Idide, "the 

 beloved one," curiously resembles in spirit that of Manassali's mother, 

 Hephzibah. 



Its resemblance to the pet name of the little Solomon, nnn\ Ididie, 

 "the beloved of Jah, " is equally remarkable, especially in view of the 

 likeness which this last bears to such Egyptian names as Meri-n-Ba, Meri- 

 n-Amun, Meri-n-Ptali, &c. 



The difference between Idide and Ididie, may indeed not have been an 

 actual one ; or, may have resulted from the difference of sex. It is, how- 

 ever, very noteworthy that the heathen Avion' s wife's name does not seem 

 to have included the Jahvist element, any more than did Hephzibah ; and 

 therefore, we are left to conjecture that it was bestowed upon her by her 

 loving spouse. 



The name of their son Josiah, LXX 'jwfft'at, in'tyx% Jas'ieu, "whom Jah 

 healed," if this be its correct etymology (from tyj^i healed), refers directly 

 to Jehovah ; and the wonder is that Amon should have given such a name 

 to his child. It is quite possible, however, that the boy was saved from 

 some serious infantile disease by a priest-physician of the native religion, 

 and that the infidel father was superstitious enough to give the national 

 deity the credit of the cure. 



On the other hand, great obscurity hangs over the true etymology of 

 proper names ending in U.* And if the Mosoretic pronunciation Joshiahu 

 be accepted, another very disturbing Egyptian element enters the name. 



*Sonie of the Egyptian names ending in U seem to have been considered (at 

 least by the scribes of the XVIII XIX Dynasties) as plm-als, because they re- 

 peated the previous letter three times, or followed it by three strokes (both 

 signs of plural); as in the case of Ra-aa-/eper(u) 71st on the Tablet Abydos; Ra- 

 men-/eper(u) 72nd; Hor-men-Ka(u) 31st; Ra-...Ka(u) 53rd: Ra-neferKa(u) 

 54th; Hor- nefer-Ka(u) 54th; Ra-nub-Ka(u) 61st: Ra-sha-K:a(u) 63rd. 



But in Ra-nefer-Ka-shu-tu, 45th ; Ra-nefer-Ka-n-nu, 52nd; Ra-ma-ma-jfer-u, 

 65th (a very remarkable name, involving the symbols of justification, from 

 which, as I have elsewhere shown, the Greeks got ih.e\v iJ.ay.aploq^ blessed) 

 the final U is a distinct literal element of the name, or seems to be. 



