of the south, closes the ceremony. As this representation can scarcely be accounted for but on the supposition that it depicts an historical fact, we may conclude that we have here a striking exhibition of the wide range of Egyptian power and influence at this period.

But if any doubt be entertained as to the strict historical character of this representation, there can be none as to the monument which is known as "The Statistical Table of Karnak.” This document is of the reign of Thothmosis III.; and the inscription placed above it declares its object to be-to record the victories of this sovereign. It seems to be the identical tablet which the priests exhibited and explained to the Roman Germanicus, when he was at Thebes. (Tacitus, Annales, lib. ii, cap. 60.) It records a series of successful expeditions into different countries, with a particular enumeration of the tributes levied on them respectively. Although it is scarcely possible to do more than guess at the nations intended to be specified, several parts of the tablet having been mutilated, and the geographical terms which remain being exceedingly obscure and difficult of application; yet the enumeration of the tribute levied on those subject nations is most precisely given. As Tacitus observes, "The inscription further stated the tribute paid by the conquered nations; the specific weight of gold and silver; the quantity of arms, the number of horses, the offerings of ivory and of rich perfumes, presented to the temples of Egypt; the measure of grain, and the various supplies, administered by every nation ; making altogether a prodigious revenue, no way inferior to the taxes of late years collected either by Parthian despotism, or the authority of Rome."-Annals, book ii, chap. 60.

Whether Thothmosis III. carried on these successful warlike operations in person or by his generals, cannot now be ascertained; but that at this period Egypt held many surrounding countries in tributary subjection, and was greatly distinguished among the nations for wisdom and power, must be received as an undoubted fact.

Another remarkable monument of this age is that which is known by the name of "The Tablet of Karnak." It is found in the interior of a chamber, evidently built for the purpose, in the palace of Karnak at Thebes; and represents Thothmosis III. offering gifts to a series of sixty-one kings, disposed in four lines around the walls. But, after all, probably the most interesting remnant of sculpture relating to this reign which has been preserved to our time, is a tomb, at Thebes, of a person named Peksharé, who is said to have been "a superintendent of great buildings" under Thothmosis III. On the walls of this tomb the singular representation is found which

is spoken of in a preceding volume, (Hebrew People, p. 30,) and which describes the labours of the Hebrews under their taskmasters, while employed in making bricks. In that passage, the certainty of this application is fully proved; and we have here an undoubted evidence of that cruel bondage which Israel suffered in the land of Egypt. This fully accords with the date ascribed in this work to the Exodus, as may be seen by referring to the Appendix, notes 5 and 7.

It is worthy of observation, that although our arrangement gives but twelve years and nine months for the reign of this sovereign, some of the monuments speak of the thirtieth and thirty-first years of his reign; while at the same time the monumental allusions to Amense have been frequently defaced. Different theories have been propounded for the purpose of solving these difficulties. Bunsen and Lepsius suppose that Amense was daughter of Thothmosis 1., and sister to the second and third sovereigns of this name; and that she exercised the powers of a regent during their minority. Champollion-Figeac and Osburn, on the other hand, maintain that she was sister of Thothmosis II. and mother of Thothmosis III., which seems the most reasonable hypothesis. In that case it becomes likely that the monuments were, after the accession of Thothmosis III., altered so as to make his reign begin with his birth, thus cancelling all that portion of the reign of Amense after the birth of her son, and appropriating all this period to him.

But whatever disputable points may stand connected with the chronology of this reign, we are fully entitled to regard it as identified with the hard and cruel bondage of the Israelites. This was the king that "knew not Joseph," the Hebrew ex-governor having died three years before his mother ascended the throne. Thothmosis III. either originated, or greatly increased, that violent persecution of the Hebrews which terminated in the Exodus.

AMENOPHIS II., the son of the preceding monarch, succeeded his father on the throne. His symbolical title was, "Pharaoh great in all Lands;" his regal name," Amenophis (II.,) Ruler in the pure, just Land," that is Egypt. We know but little of the events of his reign, which lasted nearly twenty-six years. The obelisk at Alnwick Castle, brought from Egypt by Lord Prudhoe, is inscribed with his name; but it simply records the fact of his having erected two obelisks to the god Kneph. A sculptured representation of him is found in an excavated chapel at Ibrim, where he appears seated with two princes or great officers. One of them, Osorsate, presents to him the animal productions of the southern regions,lions, jackals, and hares; an inscription above specifying their num

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bers. He also added to the erections at Thebes; but most of his works there have perished.

THOTHMOSIS IV., son of Amenophis II., succeeded his father. He assumed as his title, "Pharaoh, Edifier of all Lands;" and took for his name, "Thothmosis (IV.)" He reigned nine years and eight months. The hieroglyphical inscriptions of this reign, which are very beautifully executed, record the victories of this prince. over the people of Ethiopia; and a stele, engraven on a rock of granite on the right bank of the Nile, opposite to Philæ, mentions a victory gained by him over the Libyans in the seventh year of his reign. He also appears in the tomb of an officer at Quorneh, seated on a throne; on the base of which are nine foreigners, apparently Asiatics, bound in the manner in which captive nations are represented on Egyptian monuments.

During the reign of this prince the persecution of the Hebrews was at its height. It is more than probable that he issued the sanguinary decree for the destruction of the male infants, as Moses was born in the seventh year of his reign.

AMENOPHIS III., son of Thothmosis IV. and his queen Manthemoa, next ascended the throne. His title was, "Pharaoh, Lord of Justice;" his regal name, “"Amenophis (III.)" He reigned thirty years and five months, and was one of the most distinguished princes of the eighteenth dynasty. We have no evidence, prior to this reign, that Egypt had any permanent occupation of Nubia higher up the Nile than Semneh; but the temple of Soleb, which stands a degree farther south, contains proof that "under Amenoph III. the boundary of the empire extended thus far."-Kenrick's Egypt, vol. ii, p. 254. This sovereign appears to be the same as the Memnon of Manetho and Herodotus. If there be any truth in the tales which have come down to us respecting the exploits of Moses at the head of an Egyptian army against the Ethiopians, they must have been achieved in this reign. However this may be, it was under the government and patronage of Amenophis III., the brother of the princess who had adopted the persecuted infant, that the future leader and legislator of the Hebrews was brought up and taught "all the wisdom of the Egyptians," and became "mighty in words and deeds."

As this portion of Egyptian history was the period of Hebrew persecution, and the precursor of the Exodus, it may be important. to show-as there is ample opportunity for doing-the extravagant, superhuman assumption which the sovereigns of Egypt at this time carried to such an extent as almost, if not fully, to amount to the claim of proper divinity. In the case of Amenophis III., there is

reason to believe that this pretension was advanced in the most prominent and imposing manner. It was stated in the first volume of this work, (Patriarchal Age, p. 475,) that "a small edifice was erected by the side of every temple, the entrance of which was through the adytum or 'sanctuary;' so that it was, in the estimation of the people, the holy of holies, the perfection or crowning mystery of the entire worship." The reason for this is found in the prevalent doctrine that God created all things at first by the primary emanation from himself,—his First-born. And in perfect accordance with their principles of metempsychosis, this Divine Being was expected to become incarnate, and appear as an infant in this world. As such, he is always represented as the third person in the trinity of Egypt.

There can be no doubt that all this arose from a corrupted tradition of the primitive promise of a Redeemer, preserved among the early settlers in Egypt, and transmitted by them to their descendants. In the application of these doctrines, a practice at this time obtained of representing the Egyptian triad by the figures of the royal family. Thus the first person in this trinity is frequently exhibited by the sculptured representation of the Pharaoh who built the temple; the second person, or the Divine Mother, by that of his wife, the queen; and consequently their first son would assume the character of the Divine Word, the promised Seed. This was the case in a most remarkable manner in the instance of Amenophis III., the son and successor of Thothmosis IV. Prior to the birth of this prince, the queen is represented in the character of the goddess. Athor, in the presence of the god Thoth, who, holding a roll of papyrus, is, as the Egyptian Hermes, supposed to be addressing her on her approaching maternity. In the next scene, the queen is conducted by the god Kneph into an apartment called ma-en-misa, or "the birth-place," the same appellation as is given to the most sacred part of the temple before described,-while the goddess Athor, who stretches toward her the key of life, leads her to the bed. Here attendant goddesses await her; and the scenes describe the mystical character of the place which is regarded as the birthplace of the infant god. In the next sculpture, Amunre is seen holding the youthful prince, whom a hawk-headed god has presented to him. He is addressing the child, and declares that he bestows upon him life, stability, purity, and happiness, magnanimity, and dominion on the throne of Horus. Afterward follow scenes describing the purification and inauguration of the young prince.

In this manner the birth of the Pharaoh is described who sat upon the throne when Moses was brought up at the Egyptian court.

By these significant ceremonies he is associated with divinity, and not very obscurely identified with the promised Seed, the incarnate Redeemer.

HORUS, son of Amenophis III., succeeded his father. His hieroglyphic title was, "Pharaoh, Director of the Worlds, approved of the Sun;" his regal name, "the beloved of Amoun, Horus in the Assemblies." It is not likely that this prince made less pretensions to divinity than his father. A sufficient proof of this is found in the regal name which he assumed, Horus; this being the title of the infant deity who, in the mythology of Egypt, slew the great serpent by piercing his head; on which account he was identified with the Grecian Apollo, the Indian Chreeshna, and the Scandinavian Thor. This prince reigned thirty-eight years and five months. In a grotto near the Second Cataract, he is represented in the form of the youthful god Horus, suckled by the goddess Anouke. The principal monuments, however, of this reign are in the quarries of Silsilis. He here appears seated on a throne, carried on the shoulders of twelve military chiefs, while two others shade him with fans attached to long spears, and an attendant, keeping his face towards the king as he walks, scatters grains of incense on a censer which he holds out towards him. It is evidently the celebration of a military triumph, for a victory which he gained over the Africans.

It was in the seventh year of the reign of Horus that Moses interposed, in the hope of rescuing his kindred from their bondage, and was in consequence obliged to flee into Midian.

The successor of Horus was RAMSES I. His title was, "Pharaoh, inexorable Avenger of Upper and Lower Egypt;" his name, "Ramses (I.)" It is a remarkable fact, and one which strikingly corroborates the arrangement which I have made of Egyptian history, that we are here, for the first time in this dynasty, puzzled with a discrepancy between the lists and the monuments. Little is known, too, of the reign of this prince. His tomb has indeed been found covered with rubbish, and utterly destitute of sculpture, but decorated with paintings, which show that it was erected, and that some of these were executed, during his lifetime. There is, indeed, no evidence that any monumental or other inscription to his memory was made after his death. His whole case is in perfect agreement with his being the Pharaoh who perished in the Red Sea. This prince sat on the throne when Moses returned from Midian. He was the subject of the plagues, and fell a victim to his insane resistance of almighty power. After this terrible calamity to the Egyptian state a new monarch ascended the throne,-