The chief cities in Upper Egypt were, MEMPHIS, the ancient capital, on the Nile, about 100 miles from its mouth, and 15 miles above its divifion into different ftreams, near the place where GRAND CAIRO, the prefent capital, flands; THEBE, Thebes, famous for its hundred gates, near 200 miles above Memphis; and below it, Coptos, the emporium of Indian and Arabian commodities, Plin. v. 9.

Near Memphis ftood the famous PYRAMIDS, the most ftupendous buildings in the world, fuppofed to be the burialplace of the ancient kings of Egypt; the largest of which, at the bafe, covers about 10 acres of ground, and is above 500 feet perpendicular height, and 700, if meafured obliquely. Near the pyramids are the MUMMY-PITS, or fubterraneous vaults, of prodigious extent, with nitches in the fides for containing the dead embalmed bodies of the ancient Egyptians, Some of these are faid to be percommonly called mummies. fectly

monuments of its greatness are faid to have exifted in the time of Tiberius, Tacit. Annal. ii, 60.

Egypt at one time was governed by twelve kings, chofen by the people, who are faid to have built the Labyrinth. They, for fome time, lived in great harmony; but at laft, differing among thenfelves, they were either flain or expelled by PSAMMITICHUS, one of their number, with the aliftance of a body of Ionians and Carians, who had been driven on the Egyptian coaft by force of weather. Pfammitichus, for this fervice, granted fettlements in Egypt to thefe auxiliaries; who, according to Herodotus, were the firit foreigners For formerly all ftrangers, partipermitted to refide in that country, ii. 154. cularly the Greeks, were prohibited from entering an Egyptian harbour, The gratitude of Pfammitichus to his Grecian Strabo, xvii. 792.; see p. 127. auxiliaries produced a connection between the Egyptians and Greeks; and from that period the Egyptian history became more authentic, Herodet. ii. 154. A number of Egyptian boys were committed to the charge of the loans to be taught the Greek language, ib. The Egyptians, before this time, ufed to call all thofe BARBARIANS, who fpoke a language different from their own, ib. 158. as the Greeks did afterwards; for the divifion of mankind into Greeks and Barbarians, as Strabo obferves, on he authority of Thucydides, was unSee alfo xiv. 661. & known to the Greeks in the time of Homer, viii. p 370

662.

Plammitichus reigned 54 years. He fpeat 29 of thefe in befieging Azorus, a frontier city of Syria, before he took it; which Herodotus fays, was the longeft fiege he had ever heard of, ii. 157.

NECUS, the fon of Plammitichus, was the first who attempted to dig a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, which was afterwards completed by Darius, the Perfian; fo broad, that two vessels (īpinpus, trirēmes), could easily fail on it together. It extended from a little above Bubaftis, not far from the modern Grand Cairo, on the Nile, to Patumos, a city of Arabia, on the Red Sea, near the prefent Suez, about four days fail, b. 157. Strabo fays, this canal was firft cut by Sefoftris, before the Trojan war, and that it terminated at the ie makes it 100 cubits broad, ib. 805. Both thefe authors city Arfince or Cleopatris, xvii. 804. Pliny makes it 100 feet broad, and 30 feet deep, vi. 29. fay, that Darius was prevented from finishing this canal, from an apprehenfion, that the Red Sea, being higher than the land of Egypt, (as he was made

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to

fectly entire, although kept above two or three thousand years. The art of embalming dead bodies in this manner is now loft.

The different canals which feparated Memphis from the pyramids and other burial places are thought by fome to have furnished the Greeks with the idea of their infernal rivers, Styx, Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Diodor. i. 92. & 96.

Above Memphis, on the weft or Lybian fide of the river, were the cities Acanthus and ARSINOE, or the city of the crocodiles, which gave name to a diftrict, in which was the Jake of MORIS, of immenfe extent, Strab. xvii. 809.; Plin. v. 9. dug by order of an Egyptian king, to contain the waters of the Nile when it rofe too high, and communicate with it by canals and ditches, one of which flill fubfifts.

Near this lake was the famous LABYRINTH, the work of Pfammitichus, or of the twelve joint kings; according to Hero

dotus

to believe,) if let in, would inundate the country, and spoil the waters of the Nile, almoft the only drink of the inhabitants, as there are no fountains of fresh water in the country, ib. This canal was finished, or renewed by the Ptolemies, Strab. ib. It was cleaned by Trajan, and afterwards restored by the Arabs in the time of Omar. It is now choaked up; and the trade between Cairo and Suez is carried on by caravans.

Herodotus fays, that 120,000 men perifhed in digging this canal under Necus. That king being hindered trom finifhing it by an oracle, built a number of fhips, partly on the Mediterranean, which Herodotus calls the North Sea, and partly on the Arabian gulf, ii. 159. Some of these he ordered to fail round Africa, which voyage they performed, Id. iv. 42. Necus, after having reigned feventeen years, was fucceeded by his fen SAMMIS, who died in the fixth year of his reign. APRIES, his fon, after having reigned fortunately twenty-five years, was dethroned by AMASIS, who being fent by Apries to quell an infur rection of the people, was by them declared king, id. ii. 162. A battle was afterwards fought, in which Apries was defeated. Amafis treated him with kindnefs; but the Feyptians having prevailed on Amafis to give him up to their difpoful, cruelly put him to death, ib. 169.

Under AMASIS, against whom Cambyfes undertook war, fee p. 603. Egypt is faid to have been nicht happy. It then contained 10,020 cities, Heredet. ii. 177. Pliny fays, 20,000, v. 9. f. 11.; fo Mela, i. 9. This prince was fprung from a mean family at Sais; on which account being treated by his fubjects with difrefpect, he ordered a statue of the deity to be made of a golden bafou in which he and his guests ufed to wash their feet; and when the people came in great numbers to worship this golden image, having called an affembly, he told them to what vile utes the gold of it had been formerly put: Then ma king the application to him'elf, he turned the contempt of the Egyptians into ve neration, ib. 172.- -Anas ufed to devote the former part of the day to buf nefs, and the evening to anzulernent, when he made very free with his guests. His friends thinking he carried his merriment too far, reprefented to him, that fuch conduct was unbecon ing the dignity of a king. He answered, that as a bow kept always bent would foon break, fo the mind kept conftantly intent on ferious bufinefs would be impaired, ib. 173. Amafis made a law that every one fhould annually intimate to the mag frate of the place, how he lived; and that whoever failed to do to, or did 1o give a juft account of the means of his fubfiftence, thould be put to death. This Solon inked among the laws of A

theus,

dotus and others, confifting of 12 palaces and 3000 houses, built of marble, all under ground, or covered over, communicating with one another by innumerable winding paffages, the intricacies of which occafioned its name, Strabo, xvii. p. 811.; Herodot. ii. 148.; Mela, i. 9. Pliny fays, the labyrinth was built in the lake of Moris, v. 9. f. II.

Different opinions are entertained about the fituation of the lake of Moris. M. Savary fuppofes it to have been on the fide of Lybia, where is now the lake called Birket Caroun, above 150 miles in circumference; near which are certain ruins, which he takes to be thofe of the labyrinth. The great canal, 120 miles in length, and 300 feet wide, which conducted thither the waters of the Nile, and still fubfifts entire, is now known under the name of Bahr-Jaufeph, Jofeph's river. See Savary's letters on Egypt, vol. i. letter 28. p. 487.

The

-Amafis built many magnificent temthens, ib. 178.; Diodor. i. 77.; fee p. 299.At the entrance of one of thefe ples, efpecially at Sais, the place of his birth. temples, there was a chapel, which Herodotus particularly admired; it was made of a fingle ftone, 21 cubits long, 14 broad, and 8 high in the infide it was 18 cubits long, 12 broad, and 5 high. It was brought from the island Elephantina; and 2000 choice men, all pilots, were employed for three years in conveying it along the Nile, ib. 175. In the time of Amalis, Pythagoras vifited Egypt.

The kings of Egypt were not invefted with abfolute power, but limited by law. Rules were preferibed in the facred books for regulating their conduct, not only in the adminiftration of public affairs, but even in private life, Diodor. i. 70. and 71. After the death of a king, a folemn trial was inftituted of his actions before a numerous afïembly of his fubjects, where any one that chofe was permitted to accufe him. The prifts acted as his applauders. If the mul titude approved, they fignified their affent by acclamations, and the king's funeral was celebrated with the greateft fplendour. If the contrary, they fignified their difapprobation by murmurs, and the ufual funeral honours were withheld, Ib. 72. This cuftom is fuppofed to have been imitated by the Ifraelites, among whom bad kings were not interred in the fepulchres of their ancestors.

Ancient Egypt was very populous. Under the Ptolemics, the number of inhabitants amounted to 7,000,000, Ib. 31. Under Vefpafian, Jofephus computes them at 7.700,000, B. J. ii. 16. 4. exclufive of the inhabitants of Alexandria, Ib. whom Diodorus in his time computes at above 300,000 free perfons, befides flaves, xvii. 52.; fo that the whole amount exceeded 8,000,000, greatly above double of the prefent population, which M. Volney calculates at 2,300,000, vol. 1. 238. Under the ancient kings of Egypt, the population mult have been still greater.

Egypt was divided into a certain number of districts, (woo), each of which had its proper ruler, (voμxpxrs), Diglar. ib. The diflrials were fabdivided into fmaller fections, and thefe into till fmaller: the fanalleft were fields, (pupa). This minute divifion was neceffary, on account of the frequent confufion of boundaries by the overflowing of the Nile, which could not be afcertained Hence geometry is faid to have without now and then measuring them anew. been invented by the Egyptians, as arithmetic and accounts, or book-keeping, were by the Phoenicians, to adjust their commercial tranfactions, Strab. xvii. 787.

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The

The frontier cities of Egypt towards Ethiopia were SYENE, fituate nearly under the tropic; where the time of the fummer folftice is faid to have been ascertained by a well, Strab. ii. 95. xvii. 817.; Plin. ii. 73. and then the index of a dial has no fhade; whence Lucan fays, Umbras nufquam flectente Syene, ii. 587. ELEPHANTINE, v. -a, in an island of the Nile; Tacit. Annal. ii. 61. and PHILE, which Lucan makes the frontier of Arabia, x. 312. Below Syene ftood Ombi and Tentyra, between the inha bitants of which two towns happened the bloody contest on a religious account, defcribed by Juvenal, xv. 33, &c. About four miles above Elephantina (vel elephantis infula,) is the low. eft cataract of the Nile; (navigationis Ægyptiaca finis,) Plin. v. 9.; Strab. ib. Above this there are feveral other cataracts (ca. taracle, Catadpui, Plin. ib. vel Catadupa, Cic. Somn Scip. 5.) The principal part of Lower Egypt was included between the eaftern and western branches of the Nile. It was called by

the

The whole territory was divided into three parts. The first part was allotted to the maintenance of priests, whofe office was hereditary, and who were held in the highest refpect, on account of their piety and learning. The fecond part was allotted to the king for his own revenue, and the exigencies of the ftate. The third part was allotted to the military, (uxxipoi xarguevor), whofe office was alfo hereditary, and who were trained to arms from their infancy, Disder. i. 73.The body of the people was likewife divided into three claffes, thep. herds, hufbandmen, and artifans, whofe employments alfo were tranfmitted from father to fou, as among the Indians, fee p. 646.; and thus, by adding their own experience to that of their ancestors, they were enabled to carry the arts to the highest degree of perfection. A method was contrived of hatching eggs without the hen fitting on them, Ib. 74. by means of ovens gently heated, Plin. x. 55. f. 76. which is fill practifed in that country. But this was done alfo in dunghills, 16. 54. §. 75. Arißotel. H. A. vi. 2.Herodotus, who is very full on Egypt, as being the most celebrated country then in the world, ii. 35. &c. gives a different account of the divifion of its inhabitants and terri tory, ii. 164 &c. The account of Strabo, xvii. 787. is nearly the fame with that of Diodorus. But though they differ from Herodotus in leffer particulars, yet in the most important points they agree.

The chief court of judicature confifted of thirty-one members, chofen from the three chief cities, Heliopolis, or the city of the fun, Thebes, and Memplis, ten from each; who, when met, chofe one of their number for prefident, and the city from whence he came feut another judge in his room. They all re. ceived falaries from the king, and the preficent a much greater one than the reft. He wore as a badge round his neck an image of truth or justice, set with precious ftones, and fufpended by a golden chain, Diedor. i. 75. So Ælian, xiv. 34. Anciently the priests acted as judges, 16. as among the Jews, Judges; 1 Samuel iv. 18.; the Germans, Tacit. M. G. 7.; and the Romans, Liv. ix. 46. Pompon. de origine juris, § 6. Some have fuppofed that the Urim and Thummin, (i, e. Shawolę xai dandux, Manifestation and Truth), on the breaft of the Jewith High Priest, Exodus xxviii. 15.-30. xxix. 8.-21.; Levit. viii. 8. relembled the badge of the chief judge of the Egyptians; and that the one was borrowed from the other. The defcription, however, given of them is very different, Ib Orators were not permitted to plead before this court; but the parties reprefents ed the merits of their caufe in writing, and on thefe the judges decided. This

court

the Greeks Delta, from its refemblance to the pyramidical figure of that letter in their alphabet A.

Near the mouth of the caftern channel ftood Pelufium, now Damietta, the ancient key of Egypt; and at the mouth of the western channel, about 100 miles from the former, Canopus, near which is now Rofetta. The capital of the Delta in ancient times was SAIS; and near it, NAUCRATIS, Strabo, xvii. 802. About 30 miles weft from this ftood the celebrated city of ALEXANDRIA, now Scanderoon, oppofite to the island Pharos, which was joined to the continent by a mole or causeway, near a mile long, with a bridge at each end, or, according to fome, in the middle. On this ifland ftood the famous light-tower, one of the wonders of the world, fo high as to be seen 100 miles off. The ifland Pharos is faid by Homer to have been a day's fail diftant from Egypt, Ody. iv. 354.

Egypt is called, from its capital Memphis, Terra MEMPHITIS, -tidis, Juvenal. xv. 122. or MEMPHITICA TELLUS, Martial. xiv. 38. court was as diftinguifhed for the juftice of their decifions as the Areopagus at Athens, or the fenate of Lacedæ von, Ib. 75.

By the laws of the Egyptians, perjury was punished in the fame manner as the murder of a free-man or a flave, ib. 77. Defertion or difobedience in a foldier was not punished with death, but with infamy. Thofe who revealed fecrets to the enemy, had their tongues cut out; and fuch as adulterated the coin, or were guilty of forgery, had both their hands cut off, ib. 78. No one was allowed to borrow money without depofiting the embalmed body of his parent; which it was efteemed the greateft infamy not to redeem, Diodor. i. 93. He who did not ranfom it, was himself debarred from burial, Herodot, ii. 136. Polygamy was allowed, except to the priests. Whatever was the condition of the woman, whether free or a flave, the children were deemed free and legiti mate, Diodor. i. 80. The youth were brought up very frugally and hardily, ib. As foon as they could read, they were taught arithmetic and geometry with the greatest care. As the lands were annually overflowed by the Nile, geometry was neceffary to adjust their limits, ib. 81. hence the origin of that science, which is faid to have paffed from Egypt into Greece, Herodot. ii. 109.-The priests not only performed facred things, but alfo aded as the inftructors of youth. They had two kinds of letters; the one appropriated to the facred books, and known only to their own order, the other common to all, Diodor. i. 81.; Herodot, ii. 36. The facred letters were called Hieroglyphics, because they expreffed thought by the figures of certain animals, of the members of the human body, &c. thus a bark was put for velocity; a bare, for lively attention; a crocodile, for all kind of malice; the right-band with the fingers extended, for liberality; and the left hand with the fingers compreffed, for slinginess, &c. ib. iii. 4. Old age was highly respected in Egypt, as at Lacedæmon. The younger went out of the way, when they met the aged, and rofe from their feat, when they came in to any place, Herodot. ii. 80.-There was a great number of phyficians in Egypt; who were reftricted each to the cure of one difcafe, or of thofe of one part of the body, ib. 84.

No nation was more fuperftitious than the Egyptians; who worshipped not only a multiplicity of deities, as, Ifis, Osiris, Anubis, Serapis, &c. Plutarch, de Iside & Osiride; but also a variety of animals; as, the ox, the dog, the cat, the hawk, the ibis or Egyptian ftork, the wolf, the crocodile, &c. and even certain vegetables; as, leeks and onions; whence Juvenal exclaims, O fanétas gentes, quibus bac nafcantur in