a short time; for, in the sixth year of his reign, a horde of foreigners, whom Manetho represents as Arabians, made an irruption into Egypt, and took possession of that part of the country which lies near the Mediterranean, and is called Lower Egypt, the capital of which was Memphis.

They formed a new dynasty, the seventeenth, which is distinguished by the historian by the name of Hyk-shos, or shepherd kings. It seems that they held the throne of Egypt for the space of 260 years; and though they assumed the title of Pharaohs, yet they are represented as perfect barbarians; rapacious and cruel, laying waste the country, pillaging and destroying temples and buildings, murdering all the men capable of bearing arms, and reducing to slavery the women and children. During the whole of this disastrous time, Egypt was divided into two different governments, or kingdoms. The one held by the Hykshos, at Memphis, the other by the real Pharaohs, who had retired to Thebes; though it seems, that at the very beginning of the invasion, these latter, unable to withstand the torrent, became tributaries to the usurpers.

The Pharaohs, however, did not remain idle at Thebes. Recovering their strength and courage, they began to attack the Hyk-shos, and, after a struggle which lasted for some time, the sixth of the Pharaohs, called Misphramouthosis, gained so decisive a victory over the enemy, that he drove them to their last refuge, the town of Aouaris.

This was a place of strength, a fortress, which the Hyk-shos had built against the attempts of the Assyrians, and where they had collected the remainder of their forces. But the Pharaoh Thoutmosis, son and successor of Misphra, now master of the whole of Egypt, brought up so many forces against them, that they, unable to defend themselves any longer, left the country, and retired into Syria.

During this period, the deliverance or departure of the Israelites from the land of Egypt is fixed, and not without reason, as I shall have it in my power to prove, hereafter.

This victory of Thoutmosis rendered him the chief of the eighteenth dynasty, undoubtedly the greatest that ever held the throne of Egypt; for among his several successors we find Rameses Meiamon, Rameses Sethosis, the Sesostris of the Greeks, and other princes equally celebrated for their wisdom and conquests. Of these princes I shall have occasion to speak hereafter, as the cover of the sarcophagus which once contained the remains of one of these mighty monarchs now lies in the Fitzwilliam museum at Cambridge.

Upon the whole, therefore, we must divide the whole period of the Egyptian empire into the five following periods.

The first begins with the first establishment of their government, and comprehends the time during which all religious and political authority was in the hands of the priesthood, who laid the

first foundation of the future power of Egypt, founding and embellishing the great city of Thebes, building magnificent temples, and instituting the mysteries of Isis, from Misraim to Menes.

The second period begins at the abolition of this primitive government, and the first establishment of the monarchical government, by Menes. From this time commences what is generally called the Pharaonic age, and ends at the irruption of Cambyses. This is doubtless the most brilliant period of the Egyptian monarchy, during which the whole of Egypt was covered with those magnificent works which still command our admiration, and excite our astonishment; and by the wisdom of its institutions and laws, and by the learning of its priests, was rendered the most rich, the most populous, and the most enlightened country in the world.

The third epoch, embraces nearly 200 years, and begins from the overthrowing of the empire of the Pharaohs by Cambyses, and ends at Alexander.

The fourth epoch embraces the reign of the Ptolomies. It begins at the death of Alexander, or rather at the elevation of Ptolomy Lagus to the throne of Egypt, 323 years before Christ, and ends at the death of the famous queen, Cleopatra, when that kingdom became a Roman province.

At this period, which precedes the birth of our Saviour by two years only, the fifth epoch begins,

and continues to the time, when about the middle of the fourth century, the Christian religion having become the religion of the country, the use of hieroglyphics was for ever discontinued, and the Coptic characters generally adopted.

During the first three periods, from the establishment of the monarchy under the priests, under the Pharaohs, and under Cambyses, the language used in the country was the old Egyptian, or Coptic; while during the last two periods, from Alexander to the abolition of the hieroglyphics under the Ptolemies and the Roman emperors, we find in many cases the Greek language used on public monuments; so that the same hieroglyphics which, during the hieratic, Pharaonic, and Persian government formed Coptic words, during the Grecian and Roman periods produced occasionally Grecian expressions, and Grecian titles. This, of course, was but the natural consequence of the nature of the different governments during these several periods. The priests and the Pharaohs were Egyptians, Cambyses and his successors Persians. But the Ptolemies came from Greece, and the Romans using the Grecian language which they had learned, preferred it to the barbarous Egyptian, as they called it, and of which they knew nothing.

We must now refer a little to the topography and antiquities of this extraordinary country. Every thing of this nature has a connection with the subject of hieroglyphics, for they are found in

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particular situations, in temples, and amid the ruins of cities that were long the admiration of the world. These cities, temples, and monuments of ancient grandeur, I shall have continually to refer to in the ensuing Lectures.

The whole of Egypt was divided into three large portions. The one more south, and nearer to the head of the Nile, was called Higher Egypt, the next was called Middle Egypt, and the last, near to the Mediterranean, was called Lower Egypt.

Originally, during the hieratic government, the whole of this great country had but one capital, and this was Thebes, which the Egyptians called Tsaky; but, after the Pharaoh Menes had built the city of Memphis, in Lower Egypt, and removed his court, and taken up his residence in that city, Memphis, though the second capital of the empire, became, in progress of time, the rival of Thebes, and, ultimately, the cause of its ruin; as both these towns have been very celebrated in history, a short account of their past magnificence and grandeur may not be uninteresting.

The city of Thebes is, perhaps, the most astonishing work executed by the hand of man. Its ruins are the most unequivocal proof of the ancient civilization of Egypt, and of the high degree of power which the Egyptians had reached by the extent of their knowledge. Its origin is lost in the obscurity of time, it being coeval with the nation which first took possession of Egypt; and it is sufficient to give a proper idea of its antiquity to say,