1804.) 
pillas; but Turks only are permitted 
to enter it. Nor is it fafe for a Chriftian 
to come-near the walls; fo that nothing 
can be faid of it with certainty. They 
tell ‘us, indeed, that it contains a large 
edifice, almoft funk under ground, deco- 
rated with a multitude of cupolas fup- 
ported pillars. It is added, that in if is a 
CHEST which no man can approach, at 
leaft not open, there being inflances of per- 
fons, who in attempting it, bave dropt 
down dead; and hence it is, that the 
Turks keep a guard on the outfide of this 
building, and allow none to enter it on any 
account ; for we made avery handfome 
offer to be admitted, but-were refu/ed. 
“« The Fews, from whom we bad the 
above account, will have this to be an 
old temple built by Nicanor for the Fews, 
avho fled in multitudes to Egypt, fromthe 
cruelties of Nebuchadnezzar; and this 
they pretend to prove from a certain paf- 
fage in their Talmud. But with regard 
to the dangerous CHEST, they acknow- 
ledge themfelves entirely ignorant. Others 
are equally pofitive that 1t was a church 
dedicated to St. Athanafius.”’ 
This lat fentence, quoted from Van 
Egmont, proves the ‘* dangerous cheit” 
to be the identical Sarcophagus, at the 
Mufeum. It fhews how indiftinét its 
hiftery muft hen have been ; nor does it 
feem to have been cleared when Mr. Ir- 
win gained admiffion to the church. He 
merely fays—** In the area of the f{quare, 
is a {tone ciftern of very antique mould. 
It is infcribed on all fides with hiero- 
glyphics; and from a rail which inclofed 
it, appears to have ferved fome religious 
purpo‘e.”’ 
In my former letter I mentioned that 
Quintus Curtius was the only one among 
the ancient writers who fpoke of the reft- 
ing of Alexander’s corpfe at Memphis ; 
in this, however, I was wrong, as it is 
likewife mentioned by Paufanias in At- 
ticis, who, fpeaking of Ptolemy Lagus, 
writes thus—- 
Kas Maxedovay rove tax Sevrag roy Arezavdgoy 
VEHeOY ELS Atyag KOPASCEW, AVETELCEY AUTw Trapt 
Sovvas’ Hos Toy MEV VoLA TwY MaxEdovwy EDamTEY 
sy MEMOEI. 
and I am not certain that the fact is not 
alluded to by Lucan (x. 272): 
€¢ Summus Alexander regum quos MEmPuis 
adorat.”? 
The writers of the middle ages tco, 
who mention Alexander, feem to have 
been perfectly aware of the fubfequent 
removal of his body. A manufcript life 
of him, written at leaft as far back as the 
fourteenth century, has this remarkable 
% 
Aiewrniter’s Tomb. 
_ writer among 
7 
exprefhon: §* Tandem Jovis oraculum 
confulentes refponfum acceperunt, apud 
Egyptum eum fepeliri oportere. Nom 7 
MempPuis verum in illa quam ipfe fibi 
edificaverat urbe.”” 
The quotation from le Lebtarikh, made 
by a former correfpondent, is the only 
one, in my Judgement, which feems to cor= 
roborate the notion I have fo induftri+ 
oufly laboured to oppole. It was taken 
from Herbelot, but was hardly given fufe 
ficiently explicit ; as a fecond envelope- 
ment there faid to have been fupplied by 
Alexander’s mother, is defcribed as a co. 
vering of Egyptian marble; fo far, an- 
{wering to the beautiful Sarcophagus in 
point. ** Le Lebtarikh dit. qu’ Alex. 
andre le Grec batit les villes d’ Alexan- 
drie en Egypt, &c. et que fon corps fut 
porté aprés fa mort en Alcxandrie dans un 
cercueil d’or, gue fa mere fit changer en 
un autre fait de MARBRE D’EGYPT.”” 
But the fact itfelf is an infulated one; it 
agrees with no authority of ancient date ; 
and was probably invented by fome early 
the Arabians, who had 
either read or heard of that paffage in the 
mifcellaneous Hiftory of /@lion (1. xiii. 
c. 30), who tells us that, while the ge+ 
nerals were difputiag, Olympias, the me- 
ther of Alexander, was grieved that the 
body of her fon fhould have remained un- 
interred {o long. 
I may here add, that the gla/s coffin, 
which has been fo often mentioned on the 
authority of Strabo, could not have been 
the-tranfparent fubftance which we now. 
call gla/s, for that was totally unknown 
to the inhabitants of Egypt; it was ra- 
ther a vitrified fpecies of terra cotta, {uch 
as that of which the little figures are 
compofed that are ufually found enve- 
loped with the mummies. 
There is another faét, however, which 
may tend to make the mufeum Sarco- 
phagus ftill more worthy the attention of 
the curious, than if it was really proved 
to be the long jo& tomb. I am told, fir, 
that among its hieroglyphics, the hooded 
Serpent is frequently repeated ; and that 
the native troops of India, whom Gene- 
ral Baird commanded in the late cam-~ 
paign, feeing a fimilar reprefentation upon 
another monument, in the interior of 
Egypt, fell down and worfhipped it, ob- 
ferving at the fame time, that this their 
deity had been ftolen from them by the 
Egyptians. ; 
After every enquiry that has lain with- 
in my reach, Sir, I cannot but think that 
the impoffibility of afcertaining the point 
fo long queftigned is increafing. I have 
faucn 
