the city of Heliopolis. They were each one hundred and twenty cubits high. When Egypt became a Roman province, the emperor Augustus transported these obelisks to Rome; but he feared attempting the removal of a third which was of monstrous size, and had been erected in the reign of Rameses, and it is said twenty thousand men were employed in cutting it. Constantius, however, more daring than Augustus, caused it to be removed to Rome.

Every part of Egypt was ornamented with these obelisks, which were cut in the quarries of Upper Egypt, where some may still be seen half finished. The Egyptians had the art to dig, even in the quarry, a canal, through which the water of the Nile flowed during its inundation, whence they were afterwards enabled to raise up on rafts, columns, obelisks, and statues; and as the country was every where intersected with canals, they thus conveyed these huge bodies to different parts of the Egyptian empire.

THE PYRAMIDS.

A pyramid is either a solid or a hollow body, having a large and generally a square base. It differs from the obelisk in being angular, but like it, may be otherwise described as a pointed pillar. There were three pyramids in Egypt more remarkable than the rest, one of which was ranked among the wonders of the world; they stood near the city of Memphis.

The largest of these pyramids was built on a rock, it had a square base, cut on the outside as steps, and decreased gradually to the summit. It was built of stones of a prodigious size, and was covered with hieroglyphics. Each side was eight hundred feet broad, and as many high. The summit of this pyramid, which, to a spectator at the base, seemed a mere point, was a fine platform sixteen or eighteen feet long. A hundred thousand men were constantly employed for twenty years in building this immense edifice, the inside of which contained a vast number of apartments. Such were the famous Egyptian pyramids, which have triumphed over the injuries of time, as well as the ruthless onset of the barbarian. These huge fabrics were erected by several kings, and were intended as sepulchres. But few, however, were suffered to repose in these monuments of their pride and cruelty. The imposition of

such heavy tasks incurred the public hatred, and caused them to be buried in some obscure place to prevent their bodies becoming a prey to the vengeance of an infuriated populace.

THE LAKE OF MERIS.

As Egypt was more or less fruitful in proportion to the inundations of the Nile, and as the too great or too little rise of the waters was equally injurious to the soil, king Moris, to correct, as far as in his power, the irregularities of the river, called art to the assistance of nature, and caused a lake to be dug which afterwards bore his name. This lake was twenty-four miles in circumference, and of great depth. It communicated with the Nile by a canal four miles long and fifty feet broad. Great sluices opened or shut the canal and lake as occasion required. When the Nile rose too high the sluices were opened, and the waters, having a free passage into the lake, covered the land no longer than was necessary to enrich it. On the contrary, when the inundation was insufficient, water was conveyed from the lake through drains to irrigate the land. Thus the irregularities of the Nile were corrected, and hopes of plenty were afforded to the people.

THE LABYRINTII.

The Labyrinth was built at the southern extremity of Lake Moris. It was a magnificent pile composed of twelve palaces, which communicated with each other. Fifteen hundred rooms, interspersed with terraces, were ranged round twelve halls; and these structures, as well as the pyramids, were intended as burying places for the kings of Egypt, and also for keeping the sacred crocodiles, which this people worshipped as gods. To visit the halls and rooms of the Labyrinth, it was necessary, we may suppose, to take the same precaution as Ariadne made Theseus use when he went to fight the Minotaur in the Labyrinth of Crete.

THE NILE.

As it seldom rains in Egypt, this river, which waters the whole country by its regular inundations, supplies that defect; and the inhabitants multiplied its benefits by cut

cing numberless canals of a length and breadth, proportionate to the wants of the soil. The periodical inundations of the Nile are owing to the great rains which fall in Ethiopia, which swell the river to such a degree that it rises like a sea and overspreads the whole country.

EXERCISES.

Name the capital of Middle Egypt.
Describe some of the curiosities.

Give me a particular account of the Nile.

Relate the story of Theseus alluded to, and quote Virgil's lines on the subject.

CHAPTER III.

LOWER EGYPT.

This is the best cultivated, most fruitful, and the richest part of Egypt. Its chief cities (anciently) were Heliopolis, Heracleopolis, Naucratis, Sais, Tanis, Canopus, and Pelusium, and in later times Alexandria and Nicopolis. was in Tanis that the Israelites dwelt.

It

Heliopolis, or city of the sun, was so called from a magnificent temple dedicated to that luminary. The following beautiful fiction is told by many ancient authors regarding the phoenix and this temple. Of this kind of bird, they say, there is never more than one at a time in the world. He comes into being in Arabia, lives five or six hundred years, and is as large as an eagle. His exquisite shape and splendid plumage are much extolled. When he is old, and finds his end approaching, he builds a nest with wood and aromatic spices, in the midst of which he dies. From his bones and marrow a worm is produced, out of which another phoenix arises, whose first care is to solemnize his parent's obsequies, for which purpose he prepares a ball of perfumes as heavy as he can carry, makes a hole in it, in which he places his parent's ashes, and closes it carefully with myrrh and other odours. After this, he takes up the precious load, flies to the altar of the sun in the city of Heliopolis, and there burns it.

For

Alexandria, built by Alexander the Great, vied in splendor almost with the ancient cities of Egypt. It was formerly the chief mart of all the traffic of the East. the convenience of trade, a tower was built near Alexandria in an island called Pharos, where a fire was kept at night to light ships sailing on this coast. From this tower all

others, designed for the same use, have derived their name. It was built by order of Ptolemy Philadelphus, and was considered one of the wonders of the world.

In this city the arts and sciences were industriously cultivated. Here was a museum, in which the literati used to assemble, and were maintained at the public expense; and a fine library, which was considerably augmented by Ptolemy Philadelphus, and by the munificence of his successors, at last contained seven hundred thousand volumes. In Cæsar's wars with the Alexandrians part of this library, four hundred thousand volumes, was unfortunately destroyed by fire.

EXERCISES.

What were the chief cities in Lower Egypt?

For what was Heliopolis remarkable?

By whom was Alexandria built?

Whence originated the name Pharos, or light-house?

In what state were the arts and sciences in Lower Egypt?
What became of the Alexandrian library?

CHAPTER IV.

OF THE LAWS, RELIGION, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, &c.

The Egyptians were among the most early civilized of the nations of the earth, and had made great progress in the arts, while the rest of the world was involved in ignorance. The government of Egypt was monarchical, and the crown hereditary. The power of the sovereign was limited by the laws, which regulated even his employments and his meals.

Thirty judges were selected from the principal cities to dispense justice throughout the kingdom; who had revenues assigned them, that they might devote the whole of their time to the administration of the laws.

The halls of justice were open to all ranks of the people, and they obtained redress of grievances without incurring expense of any kind. The president of this senate wore a collar of gold set with precious stones, to which hung a figure, represented blind, called the emblem of truth. When the president put on this collar business commenced, and after the trial he touched the party with it who had gained his cause, and this was the form of passing sentence. Egyptians, from their earliest infancy, were nurtured in the strictest observance of the laws. A new custom was a sort of miracle, every thing went on in the old channel,

The

and their exactness in attending to trifles insured the observance of things of importance. Every one was obliged to enter his name, profession, and place of abode in a public register; and if he gave a false statement he was put to death. The penal code was extremely severehe who had it in his power to save the life of a fellow citizen and neglected doing it was punished as a murderer. Perjury was also punished with death, as the criminal trampled upon the majesty of heaven, by invoking the gods to a false oath. A calumniator suffered the punishment which the person he accused would have done had he been found guilty. To prevent the borrowing of money a law was enacted, obliging the borrower to give in pledge to the creditor the dead body of his father, which every one carefully embalmed, and kept in his house; and the man who failed to redeem so precious a pledge, was deemed infamous, and deprived of the usual funeral honors.

The Egyptians did not, like most other nations, consign the bodies of the dead to the grave, but embalmed them, and celebrated their obsequies with great pomp. When any one died, a court sat in judgment on the character of the departed; and if it could be proved that he had led a virtuous life, permission was given for the customary embalming and obsequies, but these honors were denied to those of bad character. Kings, even, were not exempted from this trial, but a rigorous inquest was held on them as well as on the meanest of their subjects; and we are informed that the memories of some of their kings were consigned to infamy by the judgment of this tribunal.

The Egyptians believed that death did not separate the soul from the body, and that as long as the latter remained unconsumed, the soul inhabited it; hence their care to preserve their dead from decay, and the practice of embalming.

The priests held rank next to the king, and had revenues assigned them; their lands also were exempted from taxes. Notwithstanding the superstition of the common people, which drew upon them the ridicule of all nations, the doctrines of the priests were simple, and some of them even rational. They believed in one Supreme Being who governed the universe, and that there were also inferior spirits, the ministers of his will and the guardians of mankind. They