inclined plane to the river. The stone was sometimes drawn by men who were condemned to hard labour as a punishment. Beyond a few pictures of this nature, we have no information as to the mechanical methods adopted in the removal and transport of the stones employed in the temples. Some of these were immensely large. The obelisks transported from Syene to Thebes are from seventy to ninety feet in length, and the one at Karnac weighs about two hundred and ninety-seven tons. These obelisks are small in comparison to the size and weight of the colossal statues. The colossi in the plain of Quorneh are reckoned to contain each eleven thousand five hundred cubic feet, and a statue at the Memnonium, or rather the Ramessium, weighs upwards of eight hundred and eighty-seven tons, and must have been brought one hundred and thirty-eight miles. There is also the temple mentioned by Herodotus at Buto in the Delta, about which he says that it was brought from Elephantine, and that it was a monolith, one solid temple, and according to the most moderate calculation of the dimensions he gives of it, it is reckoned to have contained five thousand tons in weight. From these facts it appears almost certain that the Egyptians were in possession of mechanical knowledge to which the moderns have not yet attained, and although ours is the age of the railroad and the electric telegraph, the ancient wisdom of Egypt probably embraced secrets which yet remain hidden from us.

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Bellows and siphons are amongst the inventions with which Egypt was familiar. The latter it is said were used for tasting wine, and for draining and watering the lands.

The use and practice of medicine was well understood. Each branch of the medical profession was restricted to those who professed it. One took charge of diseases of the eye, another of those of the bowels, and another of those of the head. Accoucheurs were mostly women. Doctors were paid by the state, and care was taken that their patients should not die under their hands from neglect or improper treatment. The majority of diseases were held to proceed from indigestion and excessive eating, and medical advice consisted principally in attention to diet and regimen. Physicians and drugs were numerous, and the reputation of Egyptian skill in the healing art extended to foreign nations. When medicine failed, they had recourse to magic, dreams, and religious vows, and did not forget, on recovery, to present offerings at the shrines of the gods, often in ivory or precious metals, of the limbs which had been disabled or diseased.

As dress, the Egyptians, especially the lower orders, wore a sort of apron or kilt about the loins, and sometimes short drawers. Over these the higher classes cast a dress of linen, reaching to the ankles, having large sleeves, and secured by a girdle. The princes had a badge at the side of the head descending to the shoulder, and ending in gold fringe. The king

wore the crown of the upper or lower country, or the pshent, the union of the two, and it was not unusual for the crown to be worn even in battle. The Egyptians shaved the head, and wore wigs of various sorts, and to have the hair of the head and the beard long was a sign of carelessness and mourning. The priests shaved the whole body every three days, as before mentioned. In shaving the heads of young children, the locks at the front, sides, and back were often left, and, according to Herodotus, the weight of hair cut off was given with an equal quantity of silver to the temple of one of the gods. Young children were decorated with the bulla, or charm, supposed to defend the wearer from the evil eye, and to prompt him to acts of goodness and virtue. The sandals varied in form, some being turned up at the end like our skates. They were made of papyrus stalks or palm leaves, or of leather lined with cloth. The dresses of the women were the loose robe or skirt reaching to the ankles, and over this a petticoat fastened to a girdle; the petticoat was of great variety of pattern, according to the rank and taste of the wearer. Ladies wore their hair long and plaited, bound by an ornamental fillet. Rings, earrings, signets, armlets, anklets, bracelets, and necklaces, were plentiful, though there is no proof of the custom of the wedding-ring. The ladies wore combs, stained their eyelids and eyebrows, used pins and needles, and were fond of pretty round mirrors made of metal.

CHAPTER VII.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BIBLE, AS DERIVED FROM THE EGYPTIAN MONUMENTS.

Testimony of the monuments in verification of the Mosaic records-Alleged difficulties and objections-History of Joseph and his brethren-Oppression of the Israelites in Egypt-The ten plagues and the deliverance-Construction of the tabernacle-Murmurings in the desert-Nations conquered by the Israelites-Comparison of ancient and modern civilization, and conclusion.

In the course of the preceding chapters, many instances cannot fail to have presented themselves to the reader, in which the narrative of the Scriptures receives valuable illustration from the events of Egyptian history, or the manners and customs of the people. A very large portion of the earlier books of the Old Testament is intimately connected with Egypt, and some knowledge of the country and of its inhabitants is absolutely necessary, before we can understand the references and details which the Pentateuch more especially contains. Next to the land of Palestine, Egypt holds the most conspicuous place in the volume of inspiration; and the more we become acquainted with the existing memorials of its ancient condition, the more shall we admire the simplicity, truthful

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ness, and beauty of the Biblical records. this chapter, it is proposed to present some instances of agreement with the Scriptures from the materials which Egyptian researches have given to us.

The first use to be made of these materials, is to remark the strong corroboration they afford of the genuineness and authenticity of the books of Moses. The statements which these books contain about Egypt could not have been furnished except by one who had been in Egypt, and had lived and taken a part in the very scenes which he so vividly and accurately describes. Modern researches thus enable us to apply to the books of Moses the same kind of proof with which we have been long familiar in reference to the Gospels of the New Testament. By the observations of modern travellers, it has been plainly shown that the writers of the Gospels were men who belonged to the country and race of which they bear testimony. By many minute and indescribable touches in their narratives, by local and other correspondences which cannot be the result of artifice, we have additional evidence of their fidelity and truth. Similar verifications of the early books of the Old Testament were in some degree wanting for a long time, and it did not appear likely that they would ever be obtained. The distance of time at which the books were originally published, and the still greater distance at which many of the events took place which they record, presented,