Chapter VI: Part 6

The lower part of _Egypt_ being yearly overflowed by the _Nile_, was scarce inhabited before the invention of corn, which made it useful: and the King, who by this invention first peopled it and Reigned over it, perhaps the King of the city _Mesir_ where _Memphis_ was afterwards built, seems to have been worshipped by his subjects after death, in the ox or calf, for this benefaction: for this city stood in the most convenient place to people the lower _Egypt_, and from its being composed of two parts seated on each side of the river _Nile_, might give the name of _Mizraim_ to its founder and people; unless you had rather refer the word to the double people, those above the _Delta_, and those within it: and this I take to be the state of the lower _Egypt_, 'till the Shepherds or _Phœnicians_ who fled from _Joshuah_ conquered it, and being afterwards conquered by the _Ethiopians_, fled into _Afric_ and other places: for there was a tradition that some of them fled into _Afric_; and St. _Austin_ [249] confirms this, by telling us that the common people of _Afric_ being asked who they were, replied _Chanani_, that is, _Canaanites_. _Interrogati rustici nostri_, saith he, _quid sint, Punice respondentes Chanani, corrupta scilicet voce sicut in talibus solet, quid aliud respondent quam Chanaanæi?_ _Procopius_ also [250] tells us of two pillars in the west of _Afric_, with inscriptions signifying that the people were _Canaanites_ who fled from _Joshuah_: and _Eusebius_ [251] tells us, that these _Canaanites_ flying from the sons of _Israel_, built _Tripolis_ in _Afric_; and the _Jerusalem Gemara_, [252] that the _Gergesites_ fled from _Joshua_, going into _Afric_: and _Procopius_ relates their flight in this manner. Επει δε ‛ημας ‛ο της ‛ιστοριας λογος ενταυθ' ηγαγεν. επαναγκες ειπειν ανωθεν, ‛οθεν τε τα Μαυρουσιων εθνη ες Λιβυην ηλθε, και ‛οπως ωικησαντο. Επειδη ‛Εβραιοι εξ Αιγυπτου ανεχωρησαν, και αγχι των Παλαιστινης ‛οριων εγενοντο· Μωσης μεν σοφος ανηρ, ‛ος αυτος της ‛οδου ‛ηγησατο, θνησκει. διαδεχεται δε την ‛ηγεμονιαν Ιησους ‛ο του Ναυη παις· ‛ος ες τε την Παλαιστινην τον λεων τουτον εισηγαγε· και αρετην εν τωι πολεμωι κρεισσω ‛η κατα ανθρωπου φυσιν επιδειξαμενος, την χωραν εσχε· και τα εθνη ‛απαντα καταστρεψαμενος, τας πολεις ευπετως παρεστησατο, ανικητος τε πανταπασιν εδοξεν ειναι. τοτε δε ‛η επιθαλασσια χωρα, εκ Σιδωνος μεχρι των Αιγυπτου ‛οριων, Φοινικη ξυμπασα ωνομαζετο. βασιλευς δε εις το παλαιον εφεστηκει· ‛ωσπερ ‛απασιν ‛ωμολογηται, ‛οι Φοινικων τα αρχαιοτατα ανεγραψαντο. ενταυθ' ωκηντο εθνη πολυανθρωποτατα, Γεργεσαιοι τε και Ιεβουσαιοι, και αλλα αττα ονοματα εχοντα, ‛οις δη αυτα ‛η των ‛Εβραιων ‛ιστορια καλει. ‛ουτος ‛ο λαος επει αμαχον τι χρημα τον επηλυτην στρατηγον ειδον· εξ ηθων των πατριων εξανασταντες, επ' Αιγυπτον ‛ομορου ουσης εχωρησαν. ενθα χωρον ουδενα σφισιν ‛ικανον ενοικησασθαι ‛ευροντες, επει εν Αιγυπτω πολυανθρωπια εκ παλαιου ην· ες Λιβυην μεχρι στηλων των ‛Ηρακλεους εσχον· ενταυθα τε και ες εμε τηι Φοινικων φωνηι χρωμενοι ωικηνται. _Quando ad Mauros nos historia deduxit, congruens nos exponere unde orta gens in Africa sedes fixerit. Quo tempore egressi Ægypto Hebræi jam prope Palestinæ fines venerant, mortuus ibi Moses, vir sapiens, dux itineris. Successor imperii factus Jesus Navæ filius intra Palæstinam duxit popularium agmen; & virtute usus supra humanum modum, terram occupavit, gentibusque excisis urbes ditionis suæ fecit, & invicti famam tulit. Maritima ora quæ a Sidone ad Ægypti limitem extenditur, nomen habet Phœnices. Rex unus _[Hebræis]_ imperabat ut omnes qui res Phœnicias scripsere consentiunt. In eo tractatu numerosæ gentes erant, Gergesæi, Jebusæi, quosque aliis nominibus Hebræorum annales memorant. Hi homines ut impares se venienti imperatori videre, derelicto patriæ solo ad finitimam primum venere Ægyptum, sed ibi capacem tantæ multitudinis locum non reperientes, erat enim Ægyptus ab antiquo fœcunda populis, in Africam profecti, multis conditis urbibus, omnem eam Herculis columnas usque, obtinuerunt: ubi ad meam ætatem sermone Phœnicio utentes habitant_. By the language and extreme poverty of the _Moors_, described also by _Procopius_ and by their being unacquainted with merchandise and sea-affairs, you may know that they were _Canaanites_ originally, and peopled _Afric_ before the _Tyrian_ merchants came thither. These _Canaanites_ coming from the East, pitched their tents in great numbers in the lower _Egypt_, in the Reign of _Timaus_, as [253] _Manetho_ writes, and easily seized the country, and fortifying _Pelusium_, then called _Abaris_, they erected a Kingdom there, and Reigned long under their own Kings, _Salatis_, _Bœon_, _Apachnas_, _Apophis_, _Janias_, _Assis_, and others successively: and in the mean time the upper part of _Egypt_ called _Thebais_, and according to [254] _Herodotus_, _Ægyptus_, and in Scripture the land of _Pathros_, was under other Kings, Reigning perhaps at _Coptos_, and _Thebes_, and _This_, and _Syene_, and [255] _Pathros_, and _Elephantis_, and _Heracleopolis_, and _Mesir_, and other great cities, 'till they conquered one another, or were conquered by the _Ethiopians_: for cities grew great in those days, by being the seats of Kingdoms: but at length one of these Kingdoms conquered the rest, and made a lasting war upon the Shepherds, and in the Reign of its King _Misphragmuthosis_, and his son _Amosis_, called also _Tethmosis_, _Tuthmosis_, and _Thomosis_, drove them out of _Egypt_, and made them fly into _Afric_ and _Syria_, and other places, and united all _Egypt_ into one Monarchy; and under their next Kings, _Ammon_ and _Sesac_, enlarged it into a great Empire. This conquering people worshipped not the Kings of the Shepherds whom they conquered and expelled, but [256] abolished their religion of sacrificing men, and after the manner of those ages Deified their own Kings, who founded their new Dominion, beginning the history of their Empire with the Reign and great acts of their Gods and Heroes: whence their Gods _Ammon_ and _Rhea_, or _Uranus_ and _Titæa_; _Osiris_ and _Isis_; _Orus_ and _Bubaste_: and their Secretary _Thoth_, and Generals _Hercules_ and _Pan_; and Admiral _Japetus_, _Neptune_, or _Typhon_; were all of them _Thebans_, and flourished after the expulsion of the Shepherds. _Homer_ places _Thebes_ in _Ethiopia_, and the _Ethiopians_ reported that [257] the _Egyptians_ were a colony drawn out of them by _Osiris_, and that thence it came to pass that most of the laws of _Egypt_ were the same with those of _Ethiopia_, and that the _Egyptians_ learnt from the _Ethiopians_ the custom of Deifying their Kings.

When _Joseph_ entertained his brethren in _Egypt_, they did eat at a table by themselves, and he did eat at another table by himself; and the _Egyptians_ who did eat with him were at another table, _because the _Egyptians_ might not eat bread with the _Hebrews_; for that was an abomination to the _Egyptians__, _Gen._ xliii. 32. These _Egyptians_ who did eat with _Joseph_ were of the Court of _Pharaoh_; and therefore _Pharaoh_ and his Court were at this time not Shepherds but genuine _Egyptians_; and these _Egyptians_ abominated eating bread with the _Hebrews_, at one and the same table: and of these _Egyptians_ and their fellow-subjects, it is said a little after, that _every Shepherd is an abomination to the _Egyptians__: _Egypt_ at this time was therefore under the government of the genuine _Egyptians_, and not under that of the Shepherds.

After the descent of _Jacob_ and his sons into _Egypt_, _Joseph_ lived 70 years, and so long continued in favour with the Kings of _Egypt_: and 64 years after his death _Moses_ was born: and between the death of _Joseph_ and the birth of _Moses_, _there arose up a new King over _Egypt_, which knew not _Joseph__, _Exod._ i. 8. But this King of _Egypt_ was not one of the Shepherds; for he is called _Pharaoh_, _Exod._ i. 11, 22: and _Moses_ told his successor, that if the people of _Israel_ should sacrifice in the land of _Egypt_, _they should sacrifice the abomination of the _Egyptians_ before their eyes, and the _Egyptians_ would stone them_, _Exod._ viii. 26. that is, they should sacrifice sheep or oxen, contrary to the religion of _Egypt_. The Shepherds therefore did not Reign over _Egypt_ while _Israel_ was there, but either were driven out of _Egypt_ before _Israel_ went down thither, or did not enter into _Egypt_ 'till after _Moses_ had brought _Israel_ from thence: and the latter must be true, if they were driven out of _Egypt_ a little before the building of the temple of _Solomon_, as _Manetho_ affirms.

_Diodorus_ [258] saith in his 40th book, _that in _Egypt_ there were formerly multitudes of strangers of several nations, who used foreign rites and ceremonies in worshipping the Gods, for which they were expelled _Egypt_; and under _Danaus_, _Cadmus_, and other skilful commanders, after great hardships, came into _Greece_, and other places; but the greatest part of them came into _Judæa_, not far from _Egypt_, a country then uninhabited and desert, being conducted thither by one _Moses_, a wise and valiant man, who after he had possest himself of the country, among other things built _Jerusalem_, and the Temple._ _Diodorus_ here mistakes the original of the _Israelites_, as _Manetho_ had done before, confounding their flight into the wilderness under the conduct of _Moses_, with the flight of the Shepherds from _Misphragmuthosis_, and his son _Amosis_, into _Phœnicia_ and _Afric_; and not knowing that _Judæa_ was inhabited by _Canaanites_, before the _Israelites_ under _Moses_ came thither: but however, he lets us know that the Shepherds were expelled _Egypt_ by _Amosis_, a little before the building of _Jerusalem_ and the Temple, and that after several hardships several of them came into _Greece_, and other places, under the conduct of _Cadmus_, and other Captains, but the most of them Settled in _Phœnicia_ next _Egypt_. We may reckon therefore that the expulsion of the Shepherds by the Kings of _Thebais_, was the occasion that the _Philistims_ were so numerous in the days of _Saul_; and that so many men came in those times with colonies out of _Egypt_ and _Phœnicia_ into _Greece_; as _Lelex_, _Inachus_, _Pelasgus_, _Æzeus_, _Cecrops_, _Ægialeus_, _Cadmus_, _Phœnix_, _Membliarius_, _Alymnus_, _Abas_, _Erechtheus_, _Peteos_, _Phorbas_, in the days of _Eli_, _Samuel_, _Saul_ and _David_: some of them fled in the days of _Eli_, from _Misphragmuthosis_, who conquered part of the lower _Egypt_; others retired from his Successor _Amosis_ into _Phœnicia_, and _Arabia Petræa_, and there mixed with the old inhabitants; who not long after being conquered by _David_, fled from him and the _Philistims_ by sea, under the conduct of _Cadmus_ and other Captains, into _Asia Minor_, _Greece_, and _Libya_, to seek new seats, and there built towns, erected Kingdoms, and set on foot the worship of the dead: and some of those who remained in _Judæa_ might assist _David_ and _Solomon_, in building _Jerusalem_ and the Temple. Among the foreign rites used by the strangers in _Egypt_, in worshipping the Gods, was the sacrificing of men; for _Amosis_ abolished that custom at _Heliopolis_: and therefore those strangers were _Canaanites_, such as fled from _Joshua_; for the _Canaanites_ gave their seed, that is, their children, to _Moloch_, _and burnt their sons and their daughters in the fire to their Gods_, _Deut._ xii. 31. _Manetho_ calls them _Phœnician_ strangers.

After _Amosis_ had expelled the Shepherds, and extended his dominion over all _Egypt_, his son and Successor _Ammenemes_ or _Ammon_, by much greater conquests laid the foundation of the _Egyptian_ Empire: for by the assistance of his young son _Sesostris_, whom he brought up to hunting and other laborious exercises, he conquered _Arabia_, _Troglodytica_, and _Libya_: and from him all _Libya_ was anciently called _Ammonia_: and after his death, in the temples erected to him at _Thebes_, and in _Ammonia_ and at _Meroe_ in _Ethiopia_, they set up Oracles to him, and made the people worship him as the God that acted in them: and these are the oldest Oracles mentioned in history; the _Greeks_ therein imitating the _Egyptians_: for the [259] Oracle at _Dodona_ was the oldest in _Greece_, and was set up by an _Egyptian_ woman, after the example of the Oracle of _Jupiter Ammon_ at _Thebes_.

In the days of _Ammon_ a body of the _Edomites_ fled from _David_ into _Egypt_, with their young King _Hadad_, as above; and carried thither their skill in navigation: and this seems to have given occasion to the _Egyptians_ to build a fleet on the _Red Sea_ near _Coptos_, and might ingratiate _Hadad_ with _Pharaoh_: for the _Midianites_ and _Ishmaelites_, who bordered upon the _Red Sea_, near _Mount Horeb_ on the south-side of _Edom_, were merchants from the days of _Jacob_ the Patriarch, _Gen._ xxxvii. 28, 36. and by their merchandise the _Midianites_ abounded with gold in the days of _Moses_, _Numb._ xxxi. 50, 51, 52. and in the days of the judges of _Israel_, _because they were _Ishmaelites__, _Judg._ viii 24. The _Ishmaelites_ therefore in those days grew rich by merchandise; they carried their merchandise on camels through _Petra_ to _Rhinocolura_, and thence to _Egypt_: and this trafic at length came into the hands of _David_, by his conquering the _Edomites_, and gaining the ports of the _Red Sea_ called _Eloth_ and _Ezion-Geber_, as may be understood by the 3000 talents of gold of _Ophir_, which _David_ gave to the Temple, 1 _Chron._ xxix. 4. The _Egyptians_ having the art of making linen-cloth, they began about this time to build long Ships with sails, in their port on those Seas near _Coptos_, and having learnt the skill of the _Edomites_, they began now to observe the positions of the Stars, and the length of the Solar Year, for enabling them to know the position of the Stars at any time, and to sail by them at all times, without sight of the shoar: and this gave a beginning to Astronomy and Navigation: for hitherto they had gone only by the shoar with oars, in round vessels of burden, first invented on that shallow sea by the posterity of _Abraham_, and in passing from island to island guided themselves by the sight of the islands in the day time, or by the sight of some of the Stars in the night. Their old year was the Lunisolar year, derived from _Noah_ to all his posterity, 'till those days, and consisted of twelve months, each of thirty days, according to their calendar: and to the end of this calendar-year they now added five days, and thereby made up the Solar year of twelve months and five days, or 365 days.

The ancient _Egyptians_ feigned [260] that _Rhea_ lay secretly with _Saturn_, and _Sol_ prayed that she might bring forth neither in any month, nor in the year; and that _Mercury_ playing at dice with _Luna_, overcame, and took from the Lunar year the 72d part of every day, and thereof composed five days, and added them to the year of 360 days, that she might bring forth in them; and that the _Egyptians_ celebrated those days as the birth-days of _Rhea_'s five children, _Osiris_, _Orus_ senior, _Typhon_, _Isis_, and _Nephthe_ the wife of _Typhon_: and therefore, according to the opinion of the ancient _Egyptians_, the five days were added to the Lunisolar calendar-year, in the Reign of _Saturn_ and _Rhea_, the parents of _Osiris_, _Isis_, and _Typhon_; that is, in the Reign of _Ammon_ and _Titæa_, the parents of the _Titans_; or in the latter half of the Reign of _David_, when those _Titans_ were born, and by consequence soon after the flight of the _Edomites_ from _David_ into _Egypt_: but the Solstices not being yet settled, the beginning of this new year might not be fixed to the Vernal Equinox before the Reign of _Amenophis_ the successor of _Orus_ junior, the Son of _Osiris_ and _Isis_.

When the _Edomites_ fled from _David_ with their young King _Hadad_ into _Egypt_, it is probable that they carried thither also the use of letters: for letters were then in use among the posterity of _Abraham_ in _Arabia Petræa_, and upon the borders of the _Red Sea_, the Law being written there by _Moses_ in a book, and in tables of stone, long before: for _Moses_ marrying the daughter of the prince of _Midian_, and dwelling with him forty years, learnt them among the _Midianites_: and _Job_, who lived [261] among their neighbours the _Edomites_, mentions the writing down or words, as there in use in his days, _Job._ xix. 23, 24. and there is no instance of letters for writing down sounds, being in use before the days of _David_, in any other nation besides the posterity of _Abraham_. The _Egyptians_ ascribed this invention to _Thoth_, the secretary of _Osiris_; and therefore Letters began to be in use in _Egypt_ in the days of _Thoth_, that is, a little after the flight of the _Edomites_ from _David_, or about the time that _Cadmus_ brought them into _Europe_.

_Helladius_ [262] tells us, that a man called _Oes_, who appeared in the _Red Sea_ with the tail of a fish, so they painted a sea-man, taught Astronomy and Letters: and _Hyginus_, [263] that _Euhadnes_, who came out of the Sea in _Chaldæa_, taught the _Chaldæans_ Astrology the first of any man; he means Astronomy: and _Alexander Polyhistor_ [264] tells us from _Berosus_, that _Oannes_ taught the _Chaldæans_ Letters, Mathematicks, Arts, Agriculture, Cohabitation in Cities, and the Construction of Temples; and that several such men came thither successively. _Oes_, _Euhadnes_, and _Oannes_, seem to be the same name a little varied by corruption; and this name seems to have been given in common to several sea-men, who came thither from time to time, and by consequence were merchants, and frequented those seas with their merchandise, or else fled from their enemies: so that Letters, Astronomy, Architecture and Agriculture, came into _Chaldæa_ by sea, and were carried thither by sea-men, who frequented the _Persian Gulph_, and came thither from time to time, after all those things were practised in other countries whence they came, and by consequence in the days of _Ammon_ and _Sesac_, _David_ and _Solomon_, and their successors, or not long before. The _Chaldæans_ indeed made _Oannes_ older than the flood of _Xisuthrus_, but the _Egyptians_ made _Osiris_ as old, and I make them contemporary.

The _Red Sea_ had its name not from its colour, but from _Edom_ and _Erythra_, the names of _Esau_, which signify that colour: and some [265] tell us, that King _Erythra_, meaning _Esau_, invented the vessels, _rates_, in which they navigated that Sea, and was buried in an island thereof near the _Persian Gulph_: whence it follows, that the _Edomites_ navigated that Sea from the days of _Esau_; and there is no need that the oldest _Oannes_ should be older. There were boats upon rivers before, such as were the boats which carried the Patriarchs over _Euphrates_ and _Jordan_, and the first nations over many other rivers, for peopling the earth, seeking new seats, and invading one another's territories: and after the example of such vessels, _Ishhmael_ and _Midian_ the sons of _Abraham_, and _Esau_ his grandson, might build larger vessels to go to the islands upon the _Red Sea_, in searching for new seats, and by degrees learn to navigate that sea, as far as to the _Persian Gulph_: for ships were as old, even upon the _Mediterranean_, as the days of _Jacob_, _Gen._ xlix. 13. _Judg._ v. 17. but it is probable that the merchants of that sea were not forward to discover their Arts and Sciences, upon which their trade depended: it seems therefore that Letters and Astronomy, and the trade of Carpenters, were invented by the merchants of the _Red Sea_, for writing down their merchandise, and keeping their accounts, and guiding their ships in the night by the Stars, and building ships; and that they were propagated from _Arabia Petræa_ into _Egypt_, _Chaldæa_, _Syria_, _Asia minor_, and _Europe_, much about one and the same time; the time in which _David_ conquered and dispersed those merchants: for we hear nothing of Letters before the days of _David_, except among the posterity of _Abraham_; nothing of Astronomy, before the _Egyptians_ under _Ammon_ and _Sesac_ applied themselves to that study, except the Constellations mentioned by _Job_, who lived in _Arabia Petræa_ among the merchants; nothing of the trade of Carpenters, or good Architecture, before _Solomon_ sent to _Hiram_ King of _Tyre_, to supply him with such Artificers, saying that _there were none in _Israel_ who could skill to hew timber like the _Zidonians__.

_Diodorus_ [266] tells us, _that the _Egyptians_ sent many colonies out of _Egypt_ into other countries; and that _Belus_, the son of _Neptune_ and _Libya_, carried colonies thence into _Babylonia_, and seating himself on _Euphrates_, instituted priests free from taxes and publick expences, after the manner of _Egypt_, who were called _Chaldæans_, and who after the manner of _Egypt_, might observe the Stars_: and _Pausanias_ [267] tells us, _that the _Belus_ of the _Babylonians_ had his name from _Belus_ an _Egyptian_, the son of _Libya__: and _Apollodorus_; [268] _that _Belus_ the son of _Neptune_ and _Libya_, and King of _Egypt_, was the father of _Ægyptus_ and _Danaus__, that is, _Ammon_: he tells us also, _that _Busiris_ the son of _Neptune_ and _Lisianassa_ _[Libyanassa]_ the daughter of _Epaphus_, was King of _Egypt__; and _Eusebius_ calls this King, __Busiris_ the son of _Neptune_, and of _Libya_ the daughter of _Epaphus__. By these things the later _Egyptians_ seem to have made two _Belus's_, the one the father of _Osiris_, _Isis_, and _Neptune_, the other the son of _Neptune_, and father of _Ægyptus_ and _Danaus_: and hence came the opinion of the people of _Naxus_, that there were two _Minos's_ and two _Ariadnes_, the one two Generations older than the other; which we have confuted. The father of _Ægyptus_ and _Danaus_ was the father of _Osiris_, _Isis_, and _Typhon_; and _Typhon_ was not the grandfather of _Neptune_, but _Neptune_ himself.

_Sesostris_ being brought up to hard labour by his father _Ammon_, warred first under his father, being the Hero or _Hercules_ of the _Egyptians_ during his father's Reign, and afterward their King: under his father, whilst he was very young, he invaded and conquered _Troglodytica_, and thereby secured the harbour of the _Red Sea_, near _Coptos_ in _Egypt_, and then he invaded _Ethiopia_, and carried on his conquest southward, as far as to the region bearing cinnamon: and his father by the assistance of the _Edomites_ having built a fleet on the _Red Sea_, he put to sea, and coasted _Arabia Fælix_, going to the _Persian Gulph_ and beyond, and in those countries set up Columns with inscriptions denoting his conquests; and particularly he Set up a Pillar at _Dira_, a promontory in the straits of the _Red Sea_, next _Ethiopia_, and two Pillars in _India_, on the mountains near the mouth of the rivers _Ganges_; so [269] _Dionysius_:

Ενθα τε και στηλαι, Θηβαιγενεος Διονυσου
‛Εστασιν πυματοιο παρα ‛ροον Ωκεανοιο,
Ινδων ‛υστατιοισιν εν ουρεσιν· ενθα τε Γαγγης
Λευκον ‛υδορ Νυσσαιον επι πλαταμωνα κυλινδει.

_Ubi etiamnum columnæ Thebis geniti Bacchi_
_Stant extremi juxta fluxum Oceani_
_Indorum ultimis in montibus: ubi & Ganges_
_Claram aquam Nyssæam ad planitiem devolvit_.

After these things he invaded _Libya_, and fought the _Africans_ with clubs, and thence is painted with a club in his hand: so [270] _Hyginus_; _Afri & Ægyptii primum fustibus dimicaverunt, postea Belus Neptuni filius gladio belligeratus est, unde bellum dictum est_: and after the conquest of _Libya_, by which _Egypt_ was furnished with horses, and furnished _Solomon_ and his friends; he prepared a fleet on the _Mediterranean_, and went on westward upon the coast of _Afric_, to search those countries, as far as to the Ocean and island _Erythra_ or _Gades_ in _Spain_; as _Macrobius_ [271] informs us from _Panyasis_ and _Pherecydes_: and there he conquered _Geryon_, and at the mouth of the _Straits_ set up the famous Pillars.

[272] _Venit ad occasum mundique extrema Sesostris._

Then he returned through _Spain_ and the southern coasts of _France_ and _Italy_, with the cattel of _Geryon_, his fleet attending him by sea, and left in _Sicily_ the _Sicani_, a people which he had brought from _Spain_: and after his father's death he built Temples to him in his conquests; whence it came to pass, that _Jupiter Ammon_ was worshipped in _Ammonia_, and _Ethiopia_, and _Arabia_, and as far as _India_, according to the [273] Poet:

_Quamvis Æthiopum populis, Arabumque beatis_
_Gentibus, atque Indis unus sit Jupiter Ammon_.

The _Arabians_ worshipped only two Gods, _Cœlus_, otherwise called _Ouranus_, or _Jupiter Uranius_, and _Bacchus_: and these were _Jupiter Ammon_ and _Sesac_, as above: and so also the people of _Meroe_ above _Egypt_ [274] worshipped no other Gods but _Jupiter_ and _Bacchus_, and had an Oracle of _Jupiter_, and these two Gods were _Jupiter Ammon_ and _Osiris_, according to the language of _Egypt_.

At length _Sesostris_, in the fifth year of _Rehoboam_, came out of _Egypt_ with a great army of _Libyans_, _Troglodytes_ and _Ethiopians_, and spoiled the Temple, and reduced _Judæa_ into servitude, and went on conquering, first eastward toward _India_, which he invaded, and then westward as far as _Thrace_: for _God had given him the kingdoms of the countries_, 2 _Chron._ xii. 2, 3, 8. In [275] this Expedition he spent nine years, setting up pillars with inscriptions in all his conquests, some of which remained in _Syria_ 'till the days of _Herodotus_. He was accompanied with his son _Orus_, or _Apollo_, and with some singing women, called _the Muses_, one of which, called _Calliope_, was the mother of _Orpheus_ an _Argonaut_: and the two tops of the mountain _Parnassus_, which were very high, were dedicated [276] the one to this _Bacchus_, and the other to his son _Apollo_: whence _Lucan_; [277]

_Parnassus gemino petit æthera colle,_
_Mons Phœbo, Bromioque sacer._

In the fourteenth year of _Rehoboam_ he returned back into _Egypt_; leaving _Æetes_ in _Colchis_, and his nephew _Prometheus_ at mount _Caucasus_, with part of his army, to defend his conquests from the _Scythians_. _Apollonius Rhodius_ [278] and his scholiast tell us, that _Sesonchosis_ King of all _Egypt_, that is _Sesac_, invading all _Asia_, and a great part of _Europe_, peopled many cities which he took; and that _Æa_, the Metropolis of _Colchis_, _remained stable ever since his days with the posterity of those _Egyptians_ which he placed there, and that they preserved pillars or tables in which all the journies and the bounds of sea and land were described, for the use of them that were to go any whither_: these tables therefore gave a beginning to Geography.

_Sesostris_ upon his returning home [279] divided _Egypt_ by measure amongst the _Egyptians_; and this gave a beginning to Surveying and Geometry: and [280] _Jamblicus_ derives this division of _Egypt_, and beginning of Geometry, from the Age of the Gods of _Egypt_. _Sesostris_ also [281] divided _Egypt_ into 36 _Nomes_ or Counties, and dug a canal from the _Nile_ to the head city of every _Nome_, and with the earth dug out of it, he caused the ground of the city to be raised higher, and built a Temple in every city for the worship of the _Nome_, and in the Temples set up Oracles, some of which remained 'till the days of _Herodotus_: and by this means the _Egyptians_ of every _Nome_ were induced to worship the great men of the Kingdom, to whom the _Nome_, the City, and the Temple or Sepulchre of the God, was dedicated: for every Temple had its proper God, and modes of worship, and annual festivals, at which the Council and People of the _Nome_ met at certain times to sacrifice, and regulate the affairs of the _Nome_, and administer justice, and buy and sell; but _Sesac_ and his Queen, by the names of _Osiris_ and _Isis_, were worshipped in all _Egypt_: and because _Sesac_, to render the _Nile_ more useful, dug channels from it to all the capital cities of _Egypt_; that river was consecrated to him, and he was called by its names, _Ægyptus_, _Siris_, _Nilus_. _Dionysius_ [282] tells us, that the _Nile_ was called _Siris_ by the _Ethiopians_, and _Nilus_ by the people of _Siene_. From the word _Nahal_, which signifies a torrent, that river was called _Nilus_; and _Dionysius_ [283] tells us, that _Nilus_ was that King who cut _Egypt_ into canals, to make the river useful: in Scripture the river is called _Schichor_, or _Sihor_, and thence the _Greeks_ formed the words _Siris_, _Sirius_, _Ser-Apis_, _O-Siris_; but _Plutarch_ [284] tells us, that the syllable _O_, put before the word _Siris_ by the _Greeks_, made it scarce intelligible to the _Egyptians_.

I have now told you the original of the _Nomes_ of _Egypt_ and of the Religions and Temples of the _Nomes_, and of the Cities built there by the Gods, and called by their names: whence _Diodorus_ [285] tells us, that _of all the Provinces of the World, there were in _Egypt_ only many cities built by the ancient Gods, as by _Jupiter_, _Sol_, _Hermes_, _Apollo_, _Pan_, _Eilithyia_, and, many others_: and _Lucian_ [286] an _Assyrian_, who had travelled into _Phœnicia_ and _Egypt_, tells us, that _the Temples of _Egypt_ were very old, those in _Phœnicia_ built by _Cinyras_ as old, and those in _Assyria_ almost as old as the former, but not altogether so old_: which shews that the Monarchy of _Assyria_ rose up after the Monarchy of _Egypt_; as is represented in Scripture; and that the Temples of _Egypt_ then standing, were those built by _Sesostris_, about the same time that the Temples of _Phœnicia_ and _Cyprus_ were built by _Cinyras_, _Benhadad_, and _Hiram_. This was not the first original of Idolatry, but only the erecting of much more sumptuous Temples than formerly to the founders of new Kingdoms: for Temples at first were very small;

_Jupiter angusta vix totus stabat in æde._
_Ovid. Fast._ l. 1.

Altars were at first erected without Temples, and this custom continued in _Persia_ 'till after the days of _Herodotus_: in _Phœnicia_ they had Altars with little houses for eating the sacrifices much earlier, and these they called High Places: such was the High Place where _Samuel_ entertained _Saul_; such was the House of _Dagon_ at _Ashdod_, into which the _Philistims_ brought the Ark; and the House of _Baal_, in which _Jehu_ slew the Prophets of _Baal_; and such were the High Places of the _Canaanites_ which _Moses_ commanded _Israel_ to destroy: he [287] commanded _Israel_ to destroy the Altars, Images, High Places, and Groves of the _Canaanites_, but made no mention of their Temples, as he would have done had there been any in those days. I meet with no mention of sumptuous Temples before the days of _Solomon_: new Kingdoms begun then to build Sepulchres to their Founders in the form of Sumptuous Temples; and such Temples _Hiram_ built in _Tyre_, _Sesac_ in all _Egypt_, and _Benhadad_ in _Damascus_.

For when _David_ [288] smote _Hadad Ezer_ King of _Zobah_, and slew the _Syrians_ of _Damascus_ who came to assist him, _Rezon_ _the son of _Eliadah_ fled from his lord _Hadad-Ezer_, and gathered men unto him and became Captain over a band, and Reigned in _Damascus_, over _Syria__: he is called _Hezion_, 1 _King._ xv. 18. and his successors mentioned in history were _Tabrimon_, _Hadad_ or _Ben-hadad_, _Benhadad_ II. _Hazael_, _Benhadad_ III. * * and _Rezin_ the son of _Tabeah_. _Syria_ became subject to _Egypt_ in the days of _Tabrimon_, and recovered her liberty under _Benhadad_ I; and in the days of _Benhadad_ III, until the reign of the last _Rezin_, they became subject to _Israel_: and in the ninth year of _Hoshea_ King of _Judah_, _Tiglath-pileser_ King of _Assyria_ captivated the _Syrians_, and put an end to their Kingdom: now _Josephus_ [289] tells us, that _the _Syrians_ 'till his days worshipped both _Adar__, that is _Hadad_ or _Benhadad_, _and his successor _Hazael_ as Gods, for their benefactions, and for building Temples by which they adorned the city of _Damascus_: for_, saith he, _they daily celebrate solemnities in honour of these Kings, and boast their antiquity, not knowing that they are novel, and lived not above eleven hundred years ago_. It seems these Kings built sumptuous Sepulchres for themselves, and were worshipped therein. _Justin_ [290] calls the first of these two Kings _Damascus_, saying that _the city had its name from him, and that the _Syrians_ in honour of him worshipped his wife _Arathes_ as a Goddess, using her Sepulchre for a Temple_.

Another instance we have in the Kingdom of _Byblus_. In the [291] Reign of _Minos_ King of _Crete_, when _Rhadamanthus_ the brother of _Minos_ carried colonies from _Crete_ to the _Greek_ islands, and gave the islands to his captains, he gave _Lemnos_ to _Thoas_, or _Theias_, or _Thoantes_, the father of _Hypsipyle_, a _Cretan_ worker in metals, and by consequence a disciple of the _Idæi Dactyli_, and perhaps a _Phœnician_: for the _Idæi Dactyli_, and _Telchines_, and _Corybantes_ brought their Arts and Sciences from _Phœnicia_: and [292] _Suidas_ saith, that he was descended from _Pharnaces_ King of _Cyprus_; _Apollodorus_, [293] that he was the son of _Sandochus_ a _Syrian_; and _Apollonius Rhodius_, [294] that __Hypsipyle_ gave _Jason_ the purple cloak which the _Graces_ made for _Bacchus_, who gave it to his son _Thoas__, the father of _Hypsipyle_, and King of _Lemnos_: _Thoas_ married [295] _Calycopis_, the mother of _Æneas_, and daughter of _Otreus_ King of _Phrygia_, and for his skill on the harp was called _Cinyras_, and was said to be exceedingly beloved by _Apollo_ or _Orus_: the great _Bacchus_ loved his wife, and being caught in bed with her in _Phrygia_ appeased him with wine, and composed the matter by making him King of _Byblus_ and _Cyprus_; and then came over the _Hellespont_ with his army, and conquered _Thrace:_ and to these things the poets allude, in feigning that _Vulcan_ fell from heaven into _Lemnos_, and that _Bacchus_ [296] appeased him with wine, and reduced him back into heaven: he fell from the heaven of the _Cretan_ Gods, when he went from _Crete_ to _Lemnos_ to work in metals, and was reduced back into heaven when _Bacchus_ made him King of _Cyprus_ and _Byblus_: he Reigned there 'till a very great age, living to the times of the _Trojan_ war, and becoming exceeding rich: and after the death of his wife _Calycopis_, [297] he built Temples to her at _Paphos_ and _Amathus_, in _Cyprus_; and at _Byblus_ in _Syria_, and instituted Priests to her with Sacred Rites and lustful _Orgia_; whence she became the _Dea Cypria_, and the _Dea Syria_: and from Temples erected to her in these and other places, she was also called _Paphia_, _Amathusia_, _Byblia_, _Cytherea_ _Salaminia_, _Cnidia_, _Erycina_, _Idalia_. _Fama tradit a Cinyra sacratum vetustissimum Paphiæ Veneris templum, Deamque ipsam conceptam mari huc appulsam_: _Tacit. Hist._ l. 2. c. 3. From her sailing from _Phrygia_ to the island _Cythera_, and from thence to be Queen of _Cyprus_, she was said by the _Cyprians_, to be born of the froth of the sea, and was painted sailing upon a shell. _Cinyras_ Deified also his son _Gingris_, by the name of _Adonis_; and for assisting the _Egyptians_ with armour, it is probable that he himself was Deified by his friends the _Egyptians_, by the name of _Baal-Canaan_, or _Vulcan_: for _Vulcan_ was celebrated principally by the _Egyptians_, and was a King according to _Homer_, and Reigned in _Lemnos_; and _Cinyras_ was an inventor of arts, [298] and found out copper in _Cyprus_, and the smiths hammer, and anvil, and tongs, and laver; and imployed workmen in making armour, and other things of brass and iron, and was the only King celebrated in history for working in metals, and was King of _Lemnos_, and the husband of _Venus_; all which are the characters of _Vulcan_: and the _Egyptians_ about the time of the death of _Cinyras_, _viz._ in the Reign of their King _Amenophis_, built a very sumptuous Temple at _Memphis_ to _Vulcan_, and near it a smaller Temple to _Venus Hospita_; not an _Egyptian_ woman but a foreigner, not _Helena_ but _Vulcan's Venus_: for [299] _Herodotus_ tells us, that the region round about this Temple was inhabited by _Tyrian Phœnicians_, and that [300] _Cambyses_ going into this Temple at _Memphis_, very much derided the statue of _Vulcan_ for its littleness; _For_, saith he, _this statue is most like those Gods which the _Phœnicians_ call _Patæci_, and carry about in the fore part of their Ships in the form of Pygmies_: and [301] _Bochart_ saith of this _Venus Hospita_, _Phœniciam Venerem in Ægypto pro peregrina habitam._

As the _Egyptians_, _Phœnicians_ and _Syrians_ in those days Deified their Kings and Princes, so upon their coming into _Asia minor_ and _Greece_, they taught those nations to do the like, as hath been shewed above. In those days the writing of the _Thebans_ and _Ethiopians_ was in hieroglyphicks; and this way of writing seems to have spread into the lower _Egypt_ before the days of _Moses_: for thence came the worship of their Gods in the various shapes of Birds, Beasts, and Fishes, forbidden in the second commandment. Now this emblematical way of writing gave occasion to the _Thebans_ and _Ethiopians_, who in the days of _Samuel_, _David_, _Solomon_, and _Rehoboam_ conquered _Egypt_, and the nations round about, and erected a great Empire, to represent and signify their conquering Kings and Princes, not by writing down their names, but by making various hieroglyphical figures; as by painting _Ammon_ with Ram's horns, to signify the King who conquered _Libya_, a country abounding with sheep; his father _Amosis_ with a Scithe, to signify that King who conquered the lower _Egypt_, a country abounding with corn; his Son _Osiris_ by an Ox, because he taught the conquered nations to plow with oxen; _Bacchus_ with Bulls horns for the same reason, and with Grapes because he taught the nations to plant vines, and upon a Tiger because he subdued _India_; _Orus_ the son of _Osiris_ with a Harp, to signify the Prince who was eminently skilled on that instrument; _Jupiter_ upon an Eagle to signify the sublimity of his dominion, and with a Thunderbolt to represent him a warrior; _Venus_ in a Chariot drawn with two Doves, to represent her amorous and lustful; _Neptune_ with a Trident, to signify the commander of a fleet composed of three Squadrons; _Ægeon_, a Giant, with 50 heads, and an hundred hands, to signify _Neptune_ with his men in a ship of fifty oars; _Thoth_ with a Dog's head and wings at his cap and feet, and a _Caduceus_ writhen about with two Serpents, to signify a man of craft, and an embassador who reconciled two contending nations; _Pan_ with a Pipe and the legs of a Goat, to signify a man delighted in piping and dancing; and _Hercules_ with Pillars and a Club, because _Sesostris_ set up pillars in all his conquests, and fought against the _Libyans_ with clubs: this is that _Hercules_ who, according to [302] _Eudoxus_, was slain by _Typhon_; and according to _Ptolomæus Hephæstion_ [303] was called _Nilus_, and who conquered _Geryon_ with his three sons in _Spain_, and set up the famous pillars at the mouth of the _Straits_: for _Diodorus_ [304] mentioning three _Hercules_'s, the _Egyptian_, the _Tyrian_, and the son of _Alcmena_, saith that _the oldest flourished among the _Egyptians_, and having conquered a great part of the world, set up the pillars in _Afric__: and _Vasæus_, [305] that _Osiris_, called also _Dionysius_, _came into _Spain_ and conquered _Geryon_, and was the first who brought Idolatry into _Spain__. _Strabo_ [306] tells us, that the _Ethiopians_ called _Megabars_ fought with clubs: and some of the _Greeks_ [307] did so 'till the times of the _Trojan_ war. Now from this hieroglyphical way of writing it came to pass, that upon the division of _Egypt_ into _Nomes_ by _Sesostris_, the great men of the Kingdom to whom the _Nomes_ were dedicated, were represented in their Sepulchers or Temples of the _Nomes_, by various hieroglyphicks; as by an _Ox_, a _Cat_, a _Dog_, a _Cebus_, a _Goat_, a _Lyon_, a _Scarabæus_, an _Ichneumon_, a _Crocodile_, an _Hippopotamus_, an _Oxyrinchus_, an _Ibis_, a _Crow_, a _Hawk,_ a _Leek_, and were worshipped by the _Nomes_ in the shape of these creatures.

The [308] _Atlantides_, a people upon mount _Atlas_ conquered by the _Egyptians_ in the Reign of _Ammon_, related that _Uranus_ was their first King, and reduced them from a savage course of life, and caused them to dwell in towns and cities, and lay up and use the fruits of the earth, and that he reigned over a great part of the world, and by his wife _Titæa_ had eighteen children, among which were _Hyperion_ and _Basilea_ the parents of _Helius_ and _Selene_; that the brothers of _Hyperion_ slew him, and drowned his son _Helius_, the _Phaeton_ of the ancients, in the _Nile_, and divided his Kingdom amongst themselves; and the country bordering upon the Ocean fell to the lot of _Atlas_, from whom the people were called _Atlantides_. By _Uranus_ or _Jupiter Uranius_, _Hyperion_, _Basilea_, _Helius_ and _Selene_, I understand _Jupiter Ammon_, _Osiris_, _Isis_, _Orus_ and _Bubaste_; and by the sharing of the Kingdom of _Hyperion_ amongst his brothers the _Titans_, I understand the division of the earth among the Gods mentioned in the Poem of _Solon_.

For _Solon_ having travelled into _Egypt_, and conversed with the Priests of _Sais_; about their antiquities, wrote a Poem of what he had learnt, but did not finish it; [309] and this Poem fell into the hands of _Plato_ who relates out of it, that at the mouth of the _Straits_ near _Hercules_'s Pillars there was an Island called _Atlantis_, the people of which, nine thousand years before the days of _Solon_, reigned over _Libya_ as far as _Egypt_; and over _Europe_ as far as the _Tyrrhene_ sea; and all this force collected into one body invaded _Egypt_ and _Greece_, and whatever was contained within the Pillars of _Hercules_, but was resisted and stopt by the _Athenians_ and other _Greeks_, and thereby the rest of the nations not yet conquered were preserved: he saith also that in those days the Gods, having finished their conquests, divided the whole earth amongst themselves, partly into larger, partly into smaller portions, and instituted Temples and Sacred Rites to themselves; and that the Island _Atlantis_ fell to the lot of _Neptune_, who made his eldest Son _Atlas_ King of the whole Island, a part of which was called _Gadir_; and that _in the history of the said wars mention was made of _Cecrops_, _Erechtheus_, _Erichthonius_, and others before _Theseus_, and also of the women who warred with the men, and of the habit and statue of _Minerva_, the study of war in those days being common to men and women_. By all these circumstances it is manifest that these Gods were the _Dii magni majorum gentium_, and lived between the age of _Cecrops_ and _Theseus_; and that the wars which _Sesostris_ with his brother _Neptune_ made upon the nations by land and sea, and the resistance he met with in _Greece_, and the following invasion of _Egypt_ by _Neptune_, are here described; and how the captains of _Sesostris_ shared his conquests amongst themselves, as the captains of _Alexander_ the great did his conquests long after, and instituting Temples and Priests and sacred Rites to themselves, caused the nations to worship them after death as Gods: and that the Island _Gadir_ or _Gades_, with all _Libya_, fell to the lot of him who after death was Deified by the name of _Neptune_. The time therefore when these things were done is by _Solon_ limited to the age of _Neptune_, the father of _Atlas_; for _Homer_ tells us, that _Ulysses_ presently after the _Trojan_ war found _Calypso_ the daughter of _Atlas_ in the _Ogygian_ Island, perhaps _Gadir_; and therefore it was but two Generations before the _Trojan_ war. This is that _Neptune_, who with _Apollo_ or _Orus_ fortified _Troy_ with a wall, in the Reign of _Laomedon_ the father of _Priamus_, and left many natural children in _Greece_, some of which were _Argonauts_, and others were contemporary to the _Argonauts_; and therefore he flourished but one Generation before the _Argonautic_ expedition, and by consequence about 400 years before _Solon_ went into _Egypt_: but the Priests of _Egypt_ in those 400 years had magnified the stories and antiquity of their Gods so exceedingly, as to make them nine thousand years older than _Solon_, and the Island _Atlantis_ bigger than all _Afric_ and _Asia_ together, and full of people; and because in the days of _Solon_ this great Island did not appear, they pretended that it was sunk into the sea with all its people: thus great was the vanity of the Priests of _Egypt_ in magnifying their antiquities.

The _Cretans_ [310] affirmed that _Neptune was the man who set out a fleet, having obtained this Præfecture of _his father_ Saturn; whence posterity reckoned things done in the sea to be under his government, and mariners honoured him with sacrifices_: the invention of tall Ships with sails [311] is also ascribed to him. He was first worshipped in _Africa_, as _Herodotus_ [312] affirms, and therefore Reigned over that province: for his eldest son _Atlas_, who succeeded him, was not only Lord of the Island _Atlantis_, but also Reigned over a great part of _Afric_, giving his name to the people called _Atlantii_, and to the mountain _Atlas_, and the _Atlantic Ocean_. The [313] outmost parts of the earth and promontories, and whatever bordered upon the sea and was washed by it, the _Egyptians_ called _Neptys_; and on the coasts of _Marmorica_ and _Cyrene_, _Bochart_ and _Arius Montanus_ place the _Naphthuhim_, a people sprung from _Mizraim_, _Gen._ x. 13; and thence _Neptune_ and his wife _Neptys_ might have their names, the words _Neptune_, _Neptys_ and _Naphthuhim_, signifying the King, Queen, and people of the sea-coasts. The _Greeks_ tell us that _Japetus_ was the father of _Atlas_, and _Bochart_ derives _Japetus_ and _Neptune_ from the same original: he and his son _Atlas_ are celebrated in the ancient fables for making war upon the Gods of _Egypt_; as when _Lucian_ [314] saith that _Corinth_ being full of fables, tells the fight of _Sol_ and _Neptune_, that is, of _Apollo_ and _Python_, or _Orus_ and _Typhon_; and where _Agatharcides_ [315] relates how the Gods of _Egypt_ fled from the Giants, 'till the _Titans_ came in and saved them by putting _Neptune_ to flight; and where _Hyginus_ [316] tells the war between the Gods of _Ægypt_, and the _Titans_ commanded by _Atlas_.

The _Titans_ are the posterity of _Titæa_, some of whom under _Hercules_ assisted the Gods, others under _Neptune_ and _Atlas_ warred against them: _for which reason_, saith _Plutarch_, [317] _the Priests of _Egypt_ abominated the sea, and had _Neptune_ in no honour_. By _Hercules_, I understand here the general of the forces of _Thebais_ and _Ethiopia_ whom the Gods or great men of _Egypt_ called to their assistance, against the Giants or great men of _Libya_, who had slain _Osiris_ and invaded _Egypt_: for _Diodorus_ [318] saith that _when _Osiris_ made his expedition over the world, he left his kinsman _Hercules_ general of his forces over all his dominions, and _Antæus_ governor of _Libya_ and _Ethiopia__. _Antæus_ Reigned over all _Afric_ to the _Atlantic Ocean_, and built _Tingis_ or _Tangieres_: _Pindar_ [319] tells us that he Reigned at _Irasa_ a town of _Libya_, where _Cyrene_ was afterwards built: he invaded _Egypt_ and _Thebais_; for he was beaten by _Hercules_ and the _Egyptians_ near _Antæa_ or _Antæopolis_, a town of _Thebais_; and _Diodorus_ [320] tells us that _this town had its name from _Antæus_, whom _Hercules_ slew in the days of _Osiris__. _Hercules_ overthrew him several times, and every time he grew stronger by recruits from _Libya_, his mother earth; but _Hercules_ intercepted his recruits, and at length slew him. In these wars _Hercules_ took the _Libyan_ world from _Atlas_, and made _Atlas_ pay tribute out of his golden orchard, the Kingdom of _Afric_. _Antæus_ and _Atlas_ were both of them sons of _Neptune_ both of them Reigned over all _Libya_ and _Afric_, between _Mount Atlas_ and the _Mediterranean_ to the very Ocean; both of them invaded _Egypt_, and contended with _Hercules_ in the wars of the Gods, and therefore they are but two names of one and the same man; and even the name _Atlas_ in the oblique cases seems to have been compounded of the name _Antæeus_ and some other word, perhaps the word _Atal_, cursed, put before it: the invasion of _Egypt_ by _Antæus_, _Ovid_ hath relation unto, where he makes _Hercules_ say,

_Sævoque alimenta parentis_
_Antæo eripui_.

This war was at length composed by the intervention of _Mercury_, who in memory thereof was said to reconcile two contending serpents, by casting his Ambassador's rod between them: and thus much concerning the ancient state of _Egypt_, _Libya_, and _Greece_, described by _Solon_.

The mythology of the _Cretans_ differed in some things from that of _Egypt_ and _Libya_: for in the _Cretan_ mythology, _Cœlus_ and _Terra_, or _Uranus_ and _Titæa_ were the parents of _Saturn_ and _Rhea_, and _Saturn_ and _Rhea_ were the parents of _Jupiter_ and _Juno_; and _Hyperion_, _Japetus_ and the _Titans_ were one Generation older than _Jupiter_; and _Saturn_ was expelled his Kingdom and castrated by his son _Jupiter_: which fable hath no place in the mythology of _Egypt_.

During the Reign of _Sesac_, _Jeroboam_ being in subjection to _Egypt_; set up the Gods of _Egypt_ in _Dan_ and _Bethel_; and _Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching Priest and without law: and in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries; and nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity_. 2 _Chron_. xv. 3, 5, 6. But in the fifth year of _Asa_ the land of _Judah_ became quiet from war, and from thence had quiet ten years; and _Asa_ took away the altars of strange Gods, and brake down the Images, and built the fenced cities of _Judah_ with walls and towers and gates and bars, having rest on every side, and got up an army of 580000 men, with which in the fifteenth year of his Reign he met _Zerah_ the _Ethiopian_, who came out against him with an army of a thousand thousand _Ethiopians_ and _Libyans_: the way of the _Libyans_ was through _Egypt_, and therefore _Zerah_ was now Lord of _Egypt_: they fought at _Mareshah_ near _Gerar_, between _Egypt_ and _Judæa_, and _Zerah_ was beaten, so that he could not recover himself: and from all this I seem to gather that _Osiris_ was slain in the fifth year of _Asa_, and thereupon _Egypt_ fell into civil wars, being invaded by the _Libyans_, and defended by the _Ethiopians_ for a time; and after ten years more being invaded by the _Ethiopians_, who slew _Orus_ the son and successor of _Osiris_, drowning him in the _Nile_, and seized his Kingdom. By these civil wars of _Egypt_, the land of _Judah_ had rest ten years. _Osiris_ or _Sesostris_ reigned long, _Manetho_ saith 48 years; and by this reckoning he began to Reign about the 17th year of _Solomon_; and _Orus_ his son was drowned in the 15th year of _Asa_: for _Pliny_ [321] tells us, _Ægyptiorum bellis attrita est Æthiopia, vicissim imperitando serviendoque, clara & potens etiam usque ad Trojana bella Memnone regnante_. _Ethiopia_, served _Egypt_ 'till the death of _Sesostris_, and no longer; for _Herodotus_ [322] tells us that _he alone enjoyed the Empire of _Ethiopia__: then the _Ethiopians_ became free, and after ten years became Lords of _Egypt_ and _Libya_, under _Zerah_ and _Amenophis_.

When _Asa_ by his victory over _Zerah_ became safe from _Egypt_, he assembled all the people, and they offered sacrifices out of the spoils, and entered into a covenant upon oath to seek the Lord; and in lieu of the vessels taken away by _Sesac_, _he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, Silver and Gold, and Vessels_. 2 _Chron._ xv.

When _Zerah_ was beaten, so that he could not recover himself, the people [323] of the lower _Egypt_ revolted from the _Ethiopians_, and called in to their assistance two hundred thousand _Jews_ and _Canaanites_; and under the conduct of one _Osarsiphus_, a Priest of _Egypt_, called _Usorthon_, _Osorchon_, _Osorchor_, and _Hercules Ægyptius_ by _Manetho_, caused the _Ethiopians_ now under _Memnon_ to retire to _Memphis_: and there _Memnon_ turned the river _Nile_ into a new channel, built a bridge over it and fortified that pass, and then went back into _Ethiopia_: but after thirteen years, he and his young son _Ramesses_ came down with an army from _Ethiopia_, conquered the lower _Egypt_, and drove out the _Jews_ and _Phœnicians_; and this action the _Egyptian_ writers and their followers call the second expulsion of the Shepherds, taking _Osarsiphus_ for _Moses_.

_Tithonus_ a beautiful youth, the elder brother of _Priamus_, went into _Ethiopia_, being carried thither among many captives by _Sesostris_: and the _Greeks_, before the days of _Hesiod_, feigned that _Memnon_ was his son: _Memnon_ therefore, in the opinion of those ancient _Greeks_, was one Generation younger than _Tithonus_, and was born after the return of _Sesostris_ into _Egypt_: suppose about 16 or 20 years after the death of _Solomon_. He is said to have lived very long, and so might die about 95 years after _Solomon_, as we reckoned above: his mother, called _Cissia_ by _Æschylus_, in a statue erected to her in _Egypt_, [324] was represented as the daughter, the wife, and the mother of a King, and therefore he was the son of a King; which makes it probable that _Zerah_, whom he succeeded in the Kingdom of _Ethiopia_, was his father.