The first traces of every history were rude and imperfect, which renders the office of the antiquarian of the utmost im portance to the faithful and diligent histo rian. Better methods of preserving facts succeeded. The unehsiselecl stone, or the rudest hieroglyphic, accompanied the songs of the bards, to perpetuate the achievements of a whole nation, or a few individuals; till the use of letters, and the complicated transactions, claims, and in terests of men, taught them to multiply memorials, and draw them up with more skill and accuracy.
The history contained in the Old Tes tament is unquestionably the most ancient Nvell-authenticated collection of facts, that has come down to the present times. These records go much beyond the flood, the boundary to the annals of every other nation that-Jays a just claim to credit. The Jews, who are closely connected with this part of history, trace back their an cestry to the common parents of the hu man race. The antiquities of this won derful nation have been treated of by nu merous writers, whose works are monu ments of great learning and indefatigable industry; and it will be admitted, that the fate of a people scattered over the globe, who have been subject to persecu tions, more or less severe, for so many centuries, who have never amalgamated, if we may so speak, with any other nation under heaven, but have remained distinct, for wise and important ends, cannot but interest the curious inquirer. The history of their origin, ordinances, and vicisst tudes, previously to the Christian xra, is to be had in the Old Testament : their subsequent ruin and dispersion are pre dicted by Christ in the New Testament, and treated of at large by Josephus, who flourished at Rome under Vespasian, Ti tus, and Domitian, and who published his great work on the Jewish Antiquities during the life and reign of the latter. On the same subject we have a multitude of more modern writers, from Ugolinus' Thesaurus, consisting of more than thir ty volumes folio, and comprising all the best works written previously to the mid dle of the last century, to the octavos Dr. Jennings evidently intended as a mere in troduction to the subject. Thc antiqtuties of the Jews are supposed to be connected with those of Egypt, since Moses, their great lawgiver, was educated in the schools of Egyptian learning, and was deeply conversant in all their sciences. Many of the metaphors and other allu sions, found in the first five books of the Bible, are supposed to have some refer ence to the symbols of the Egyptian priests. If we were, therefore, able to come at a faithful account of the antiqui ties of Egypt, we might hope to attain an illustration of many things which are still obscure and dark, belonging to the Jewish economy, both civil and sacred. Of Egypt, alas ! once renowned for its laws, the commerce of her cities, the grandeur of her buildings, and the fertility of territo ry, little is left to gratify the laudable curiosity of moderns. Those who have
spent much time and labour, in appreci ating the worth and merits of the ancients, admit that the earliest nations of the world were fed with the produce of Egyp tian soil, and enriched with the wealth and wisdom obtained in that portion of Africa. Upper Egypt furnished the mate rials of marble and porphyry, with which the most supendous works of art were reared : and to Hermes Trismegistus, or, as he is sometimes called, Thoth, are ascribed, among the Egyptians, the inven tions of chief use in human life. Their priests maintained, that from their hiero glyphic characters upon the pillars which he erected, and the sacred books, all the philosophy and learning of the world has been derived.
Egypt seems itself to have been indebt ed for its original population to the northern parts of Arabia and Syria, the Egyptians and Abyssinians having been always wholly distinct from the native na tions of Africa. The Copts, or original inhabitants, it has been observed by tra vellers, have no resemblance whatever of the negro features or form ; but a strong likeness may be traced between the make of tie visage in the modern Copts, and that presented in the ancient mummies, paintings, and statues. Their complexion, like that of the Arabs, is of a dusky brown. It is represented of the same co lour in the paintings which may be seen in the tombs of Thebes. The chief anti quities are, the pyramids, and the tombs near Thebes, recently disclosed, with ma ny ruins of temples, and other remains of ancient cities. Dr. White, in the " Egyp tiaca," a work which coatains much valu able information on the subject, says, the celebrated column ascribed to Pompey ornamented a space opposite the temple of Serapis, in which was a great public library. Besides the ancient remains al ready noticed, we may mention the co lossal sphynx ; Cleopatra's needle ; the marble' Sarcophagus, reputed to be Alex ander's tomb ; and the triple inscription from Rosetta, in the hieroglyphic, the ver nacular Egyptian, and the Greek charac ters. The writers on Egyptian antiquities are very numerous. Among the ancients may be noted, Herodotus, Pausanias, Stra bo, Diodorus Siculus, and Plutarch. He rodotus, Thales, and Pythagoras, were initiated into all the mysteries of the Egyptian priests. The mythology of the country is fully explained in Joblonski's " Pantheon Egyptiacum." On the Egypt of modern times we have the works of Pocock, Niebuhr, Sonnini, and Denon, which may be consulted with advantage. Greaves and Nordon have written on the pyramids, and the mummies are described by the celebrated Kircher.