LECTURE VI.

Continuation of the same subject-Ramesses the Great-The Sesostris of the Greeks-Rames-Mei-moun-Legend, exhibiting the name and mystic titles of this Pharaoh round the cover of the Sarcophagus existing in the Museum at Cambridge-Explanation of the legend-Antiquity of the monument-Tomb of the Pharaoh Ousirei opened by Belzoni-Legend of his mystic titles and historical name-Reflexions on the chronology of the Septuagint and the Hebrew textTable of Abydos-Discoveries made by Champollion, confirming the canon of Manetho-The Hyk-shos, or the shepherd kings-Reflexions-Plan of an expedition-Important results that might be expected from it-Extract from Dugald Stuart.

We have already made some progress in ascertaining the high antiquity of phonetic hieroglyphics; and we must now go back a little and resume the reading of the inscriptions expressing the names of the Pharaohs. Amongst these inscriptions, containing a royal name, we have mentioned one which, more than any other, is found engraved, and, with some little variation repeated upon almost every ancient monument existing, wherever the Egyptians extended their empire. You remember that it is seen scattered through the whole of Nubia, in that tract of land which lies between the second

cataract of the Nile, and the temple of Philæ; and it is found painted or engraved all over the walls of the great buildings at Isamboul, Calabsché, Derry, Ghirché, and Ovady, as well as at Esse-boua. It is exhibited and repeated all over Egypt, from Syene to the Mediterranean sea; on several places of the palace of Karnac; on the great pillar, and throughout the temple of Louqsor; all over the tomb of Osymandias; and, lastly, fills a whole line of the table of Abydos. It is also to be seen on almost every obelisk of ancient date, whether still in Egypt, or removed to a foreign land, as well as on the inscription in two languages or characters existing in Syria, at Nahhar-El-Kelb; in short, throughout the Egyptian world.

This legend, so many times and so variously repeated, was intended, as we mentioned in a former Lecture, to immortalize the name and the memory of two or three of the greatest Pharaohs that ever held the sceptre of Egypt. Their name was Rameses, or Ramses, of which I offered you the reading in Table 3. fig. 5, b, and fig. 7, a.

The name of Ramesses seems to have been a favourite name with the Egyptians; even before the period of which we are now speaking, they gave it to one of the cities which the Pharaoh of the Scriptures granted to the Israelites, as it is recorded in Genesis xlvii. 11. "And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded."

This city, therefore, must have been already in existence at the time of Joseph, and it is not to be confounded with the other of the same name, which one of the Pharaohs compelled the Israelites to build during their captivity. This last circumstance is also recorded in the Bible, Exodus i. 11. and, therefore, they did set over them task-masters, to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure-cities, Pithom and Raamses."

66

The ruins of one of these cities are still to be seen near the village called Schleimi. It formerly stood on the border of a great canal, which carried the water of the Nile into the lake Mariotis. With regard, however, to the Pharaohs who bore this name, it is curious to observe that the cover of the sarcophagus, which held the remains of one of these great princes, now lies at the Museum in Cambridge. The mummy itself may be perishing, it is impossible to say where: it may be meeting the careless gaze of the vulgar, or attracting the reflection of the intelligent, but without a name, and no longer perpetuating the memory of the mighty monarch, who in his lifetime had been styled the Destroyer of his enemies, and the Conqueror of distant nations, who had been honoured by the still more affecting title of the Father of his people, though no doubt, like all other conquerors, he ought rather to have been termed the scourge of mankind. Such is the brief immortality that can be bestowed even by all the genius that is

displayed by the fine arts, even by all the wonders that can be performed by the mere mechanical power of man. This was felt by a mortal of a similar description, the once formidable conqueror of our own times. Buonaparte had been admiring for some time one of the best pictures of Guercino, in the palace of the Louvre, when turning to the Baron Denon, who was attending him, "Que ce tableau est superbe, Denon!" "Oui, Sire; c'est un ouvrage immortel." "Immortel !" cried Buonaparte: Oui, Sire, immortel." "How long do you think it will last?" "With care, five hundred years." "And how long do you think a statue may last?" "Perhaps two thousand.” "Eh bien, Denon, do you call this immortal?"

66

We now return to the great Egyptian potentate we have just alluded to. The man, the monarch, whose remains were covered by the lid of this sarcophagus, and to whom most of these inscriptions refer, we are informed by history, was a warlike prince, for his image is engraved in relievos, representing sieges, battles, marches, and congresses. He also carried his victorious arms against distant countries, since upon some of the monuments he is represented receiving the homage of the nations he had conquered; their dress and complexions are very different from those of the Egyptians, whose images are equally engraved in the same relievos. From the presents he receives of animals and other productions peculiar to Africa, this prince must have advanced deeply into the interior of

that vast continent, so little now known to us. From the inscriptions of the several temples which have been dedicated to him, it is evident that he was their founder, or their restorer; and we may consequently judge of his power and of his riches.

According to M. Champollion, whose train of reasoning is much too long for a lecture of this sort, the name of this prince was Rameses Mei-amoun, great grandfather of Rameses the Great, the Sesostris of the Greeks, who, according to Manetho, made the conquest of Syria, Phenicia, Babylon, and Media; and was considered one of the greatest princes that ever sat on the throne of Egypt. He received the surname of Great, to distinguish him from other Pharaohs, who bore the name of Ra

meses.

From the chronological canon of Manetho, it appears that the reign of our Rameses Mei-amoun, was very long, more than sixty years, which seems to correspond with the military expeditions, an account of which is engraved on his palace at Medinet-Habou. The tomb of this prince exists still in the valley of Biban-el-Malouk, to the west of Thebes, which Strabo records to have been opened before his time. This superb excavation resembles greatly that of the Pharaoh Ousirei, which was opened by the labours of the indefatigable and unfortunate Belzoni, the model of which was exhibited for a long time at the Egyptian hall, and which has been mistaken by some for the tomb of Necao, and by others for that of