PART I. Chephrenes, the brother of Cheops, who succeeded to the Egyptian throne, on the death of that prince, imitated him in his impiety, as well as in his tyrannical oppressions232. He built the second great pyramid near Memphis 233; equal to the first in height, but without any subterraneous chambers, and of inferior dimensions at the base234, All intelligent travellers, both ancient and modern, have considered these pyramids as sepulchral monuments, or mausoleums, for the kings by whom they were built25. But the learned antiquarian, Mr. Jacob Bryant, supposes them to have been temples; and conjectures, that from the top of the pyramids the Egyptians observed the heavens, marked the constellations; and there also "offered up vows and oblations236 ̧” This conjecture is ingenious, and consistent with Mr. Bryant's system of solar worship, but utterly void of probability; whether we consider the structure of the pyramids (without any door, by which they could be readily entered, or any stair-case, either within or without, by which they could be ascended) or consult ancient testimony concerning them. Herodotus, who early visited Egypt, and when the Egyptians were perfectly acquainted with the purpose of their public 234. Id. ibid. et Diod. Sicul. lib. i. p. 57. I have already observ. ed, that the first Memphian pyramid appears to have been coated with marble; and I have the authority of eminent travellers (Greaves, Thevenot, Lucas,) to say, that several Egyptian pyramids still are so coated. 235. Herodotus, Diodorus, Strabo, Pliny, Greaves, Pococke, Lucas, Thevenot, Maillet, &c. 236. Analysis of Ancient Mythology, vol. iii. p. 531. Mr. Bryant includes the subterraneous apartments among his arguments, to prove, that the Egyptian pyramids were solar temples. (Id. ibid.) The second pyramid, however, we find, had no such apartments, (Herodot. lib. ii. cap. cxxvii.) according to the information of the venerable father of history. Nor have modern travellers been able to discover any. buildings, I.. buildings, never hints at such an opinion. He mentions LETTER many Egyptian temples, and describes the sacred ceremonies, but not once insinuates that the pyramids had any relation to religious worship. And the numbers of pyramids, both in Higher and Lower Egypt, and in the neighbourhood of each other, seem to prove, that they were sepulchral monuments of the kings who reigned at Thebes and Memphis 237. Various conjectures, however, have been offered, concerning the motives that could induce the Egyptian monarchs to raise such enormous fabrics, for their place of burial. Ostentatious vanity, and tyrannic -policy, have been imputed to them238; and these might have their share in swelling the size of the pyramids. But as those monuments were erected by good, as well as bad princes, we must seek for other inducements; and these we find in the theological tenets of the ancient Egyptians. They believed, that the soul remained with the body after death, as long as the body continued entire139. Hence the care which persons of all ranks took in embalming the bodies of their dead relations, and in depositing them in places of strength and security 240. For they considered their habitations, 237. I have formerly had occasion to notice, that Thebes was originally the seat of the Egyptian monarchs, and afterward Memphis. And I shall here remark, that Egypt seems hitherto to have been under one king, notwithstanding the various co-ordinate and cotemporary dynasties invented by chronologers, in order to reconcile sacred and prophane history. Moses, Herodotus and Diodorus, knew only ONE Egyptian monarchy. 238. Aristot. de Repub. lib. v. cap. xi. Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. xxxvi. сар. хіі. 239. Servius, ad Virgil. Eneid. lib. iii. ver. 67. 240. The Egyptians had three methods of embalming the dead, which are particularly described by Herodotus; (lib. ii. cap. lxxxvi. -lxxxviii) one for persons of superior rank, one for the middling class, and one for people of low condition (Id. ibid). The first, and most perfect method, I shall relate : The " PART I. habitations, in this life, only as transitory abodes, while they gave to theirtombs, by a bold mode of expression, the name of perpetual mansions241 In a country where such opinions prevailed, we cannot wonder that kings were desirous of giving to themselves a kind of eternity in the tomb. For this end, it was necessary to erect cemeteries, which could long resist natural decay, and preserve their bodies from ex The men, who made embalming their employment in Egypt, and who were publicly appointed to that profession, proceeded in this manner. They drew out the brains, through the nostrils, with an iron hook; cut open the belly with a sharp Ethiopian stone, and took out the intestines. These they replaced, after having cleansed them, steeped them in palm-wine, and cured them with odoriferous drugs. Then they filled the belly with pounded myrrh, cassia, and all kinds of aromatics, except frankincense, and sewed up the incision they had made. They next buried the body in nitre for seventy days; and, after they had taken it out, and washed it, they swathed it in fine linen, and anointed it with gums. Herodot. lib. ii. cap. lxxxvi. Diodorus, who gives a similar description of the process of embalming, remarks, that when the body thus prepared, was restored to the relations of the deceased, the symmetry of form was perfectly preserved, and the likeness of features, even to the hair of the eye-brows, and eye-lids. (Diod. Sicul. lib. i. p. 82.) He also tells us, that many of the Egyptian grandees deposited the bodies of the dead in magnificent sepulchral monuments, and there delighted in contemplating the features of their ancestors, for centuries back; (Id ibid.) and that such Egyptians (of the middling class, it may be presumed) as had no familysepulchre, formed a tomb in their own houses; placing the embalmed bodies of their relations in a cell of the strongest wall. (Id. lib. i. p. 83.) And we learn, from the observations of modern travellers, that the public sepulchres of the ancient Egyptians were dry and deep pits, or caverns, generally toward the Libyan mountains or desert, where the bodies, though embalmed in the cheapest manner, as being those of the inferior classes, still remain entire; and whence they have been carried to various countries, under the name of mummies. ¡ 241. Diod. Sicul. lib. i. p. 47. They accordingly paid little regard to the structure of their houses, but spared no expence in augmenting the magnificence of their sepulchres. (Id. ibid.) Nor was the care of the Egyptians to prolong the continuance of the soul with the body, inconsistent with their belief of the immortality of the soul, which was connected with the doctrine of the metempsychosis; (Herodot. lib ii. cap. cxxiii.) a purgation that must have filled them with much horror. ternal I. ternal violence, and all moral contingencies. The py- LETTER ramidal form was accordingly chosen, as better calculated for durability than any other. And strength and magnitude appear to have been added to the pyramids, in proportion to the fears of the Egyptian monarchs, of molestation after death242; to the ambition with which they were actuated, of perpetuating their name, by such stupendous monuments; and to the desire of bending, with heavy task, to the controul of regal sway, the proud and licentious spirit of their people, nursed in bigotry, and fattening in peace. Mycerinus, the son of Cheops, who became king of Egypt on the death of Chephrenes, detesting the conduct of his father and uncle, ordered the temples to be opened243; the sacrifices to be renewed, and the people to apply themselves to their private affairs; releasing them from public tasks, and studiously attending to their happiness and prosperity 244. He built, however, the third Memphian pyramid245; which some Grecian writers have vainly ascribed to the famous courtezan Rhodopis, who acquired great riches in Egypt by the sale of her favours 246. Asychis, who ascended the Egyptian throne on the death of Mycerinus, built the grand portico of the 242. That the Egyptian monarchs, who governed oppressively, were in danger of such molestation, we have the authority of Diodorus to affirm (Diod. Sicul. lib. i. p. 66.). And Herodotus tells us (lib. ii. cap cxxviii.), that the memory of Cheops and Chephrenes were held in such execration, that their very names were condemned to oblivion. 243. Herodotus, lib. ii. cap. cxxix. Sicul. lib. i. p. 58. 244. Id. ibid. et Diod. 245. Herodotus, lib. ii. cap. cxxxiv. 246. Id. ibid. Herodotus not only ridicules this idea (ubi supra), but shews that Rhodopis lived in a later age; that she was fellow-servant with Esop, the author of the Fables, and contemporary with Sappho, the poetess. And she contrived, he tells us (lib. ii. cap. cxxxv.), such a memorial of herself as had never been before imagined; sending to Delphos an offering of strong iron spits; which, adds he (ibid.), still stand in the temple, behind the altar bequeathed by the Chians. temple He also erected a pyramid of brick, with an inscription to the following puport :-" Degrade not me by a compa"rison with the pyramids of stone, which I excel as "much as Jupiter the other gods 248 !"-And, in order to enlarge the credit of the Egyptians, among whom he found wealth imperfectly to circulate, he enacted a law, by which they were enabled to borrow money on the embalmed bodies of their fathers249; but with this restriction, that unless the debtor should redeem the sacred pledge before his death, neither he nor any of his descendants should be allowed funeral honours 250. PART I. temple of Vulcan, fronting the east 247. During the reign of Anysis, the successor of Asychis, Egypt was invaded by Sabaco, king of Ethiopia, at the head of a powerful army251. Sabaco ob 247. Herodotus, lib. ii. cap. cxxxvi. 248. Id. ibid. 250. Id. ibid. liged Ethiopia was bounded on the 251. Herodotus, lib. ii. c. cxxxvii. north by Egypt, and on the north-east by the Arabian gulph; but with its other boundaries, the ancients were utterly unacquainted. (Strabo, lib. xvii. sub fin.) The Greeks gave the name of Ethiopians to all people of a black colour. Hence they had oriental, as well as African Ethiopians; but Herodotus (lib. vii. cap. lxix.) discriminates the one from the other, by marks which continue to distinguish them. "The oriental Ethiopians," observes he, "have flowing hair; but those "of Africa, the most frizzled hair of any race of men.” (Id. ibid.) He also tells us (lib. ii. cap. civ.), that the Ethiopians were circumcised, like the Egyptians; but declares he could not pretend to determine which of the two nations first used the rite, though he was strongly persuaded, it had its origin in Egypt (ibid.). The Ethiopians, however, asserted, that they were the most ancient people in the world (Diod. Sicul. lib. iii. p. 143.); and as they believed, like many other nations, that men originally sprung from the earth, they not irrationally concluded, that those countries which lie nearest the sun, animated by his genial influence, must first have produced all kinds of animals (Id. ibid.). That they were a very ancient and powerful people is not to be questioned; but those on the frontiers of Egypt excepted (who seem to have profited by intercourse with their more polished neighbours, and to have been of the same stock), they appe ar |