Conchosis, was overcome by the Hyk-schos, or Shepherd Kings, who are described as a savage people with red hair and blue eyes, (Scythians, apparently, or Goths; with such complexions they could not, as Josephus pretends, be Hebrews,) who burned the towns, destroyed the public buildings and works of art, ravaged the country, and subjected the whole of it to their dominion as far as Assouan, during 260 years (according to Manetho). No name of any of the Shepherd-kings has hitherto been found on any monument; but the prenoms of six of the legitimate sovereigns of the collateral dynasty, who had retired into Arabia, and still maintained their sway over a portion of their ancient subjects, have been discovered,-four of them by Dr. Ricci in those parts; they are dated in the 27th, 31st, 42d, and 44th years of their reign, and are of the xviith dynasty. The other two are in the Museum at Turin. One of these kings is the fifth predecessor of Amosis-Misphrathoutmosis; another, his fourth predecessor; but the proper name is effaced in the cartouche, and no chronologist has preserved any of their names. Those of the intrusive dynasty have been preserved in the extracts from Manetho given by Josephus. The above-mentioned monuments establish, however, beyond all doubt, the existence of the collateral legitimate dynasty. We have also presented to us the name and prenom of its last and most illustrious member, Misphrathoutmosis, who commenced the expulsion of the Shepherd-kings; as well as that of his son, Amenoftep, the first of the eighteenth dynasty, who completed their overthrow. Also, the name of NaneAtari, his wife, and those of sixteen other kings and two queens of the same illustrious dynasty. One of these sovereigns is Amenophis II., the Memnon of the Greeks, together with Taia, his queen: he reigned 30 years and five months, commencing 1687 B. C. We have Horus his son; five Ramseses; one Ousirei; and one Mandouei. Horus, the Son of Memnon, appears in the cartouche, under the name Hor-NemNeb. His name is found on the ruins of Luxor, the building of which was commenced by his father, and continued by him. The name of Thoutmosis II., the Moris of the Greeks, occurs on a statue, as also on the obelisk of St. John de Lateran: he may be considered as the greatest sovereign of the xviiith dynasty, which ended 1473 B. C.

The xixth dynasty opens with the name of Ramses VI., the illustrious Sesostris of the Greeks, both the name and prenom of whom seem to identify him with the prototype of the large broken statue in the Memnonium. He was buried at Biban el Melouk, in what is usually called the Harp Tomb; and the ·lid of his stone sarcophagus, inscribed with his name and effigy

reposing between two of his wives, is now in the Cambridge University Museum, as we had occasion to mention in noticing M. Champollion's "Précis." His name is found on a beautiful statue in that Museum, and his titles are: The Image of 'the Living and Beneficent God, the Representative of Ammon, of Mars, and of the Sun, in the Upper Region, (Upper • Egypt?) the King RE SATE, approved by Phré, the Director and the Guardian of Egypt, the Offspring of the Gods, the Son of the Sun, the Cherished of Ammon, Ramses, eter'nal Vivificator.' (Lett. I. p. 73). Every one knows the compliment paid to his memory a thousand years after his death by the high-priest of Memphis, when he opposed Darius in removing his statue from the temple of Phtha.

M. Champollion has laid before us some names also of the xxth dynasty, by whom, it has generally been supposed, that the Pyramids were erected. The learned Archeologist seems disposed to assign them an earlier date, without stating more precisely what era, than that it was in the reigns of the second, third, and fourth princes of the ivth Memphitic dynasty. We should prefer calling it Ethiopian dynasty. Indeed, we do not perceive why they may not have been erected in the time of the Tanite dynasty: only, there are pyramids in Ethiopia, and none in Phenicia. Under this dynasty, we have the cartouche of Arthoout, Cherished of Hercules.' The name of this sovereign occurs several times on the large sarcophagus in the British Museum, improperly called the Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great. There is also the cartouche of Cete, Thuoris, or Ramses X., the Proteus of the Greeks, who reigned in Egypt when it was visited by Paris after eloping with Helen. Cartouches are likewise given of sovereigns of the xxist and xxiid dynasties, the former of which terminated, 971 B.C. with Sesonchosis, the Shishak of the Old Testament.

Here, M. Champollion closes, for the present, his account of the contents of this valuable Museum, as does his Brother the Chronological notices; but they jointly promise a Third Letter, which is to bring down the History of Egypt to the era of the Roman invasion, collected from its monuments, arranged, expounded, and illustrated by two of the most learned archæologists in Europe, whose united labours have placed the early history of Egypt on a more solid base than that of any other nation excepting the Jews. We shall reserve any further remarks till we have an opportunity of examining the promised sequel; and take leave of the learned Brothers for the present, by thanking them for the entertainment and instruction which they have afforded us. We must, however, add for the information of our readers, that, though the num

ber of deciphered cartouches has been so considerably added to in the present publications, the symbolic, hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic alphabets remain in the same state as before.

Art. V. Recollections of Egypt. By the Baroness Von Minutoli. 12mo. PP. 280. London, 1827.

FROM Osymandyas to Mahomed Ali is a rather violent transition; but those of our readers who have patiently followed us through the chronological details of the preceding article, relating to the history of Ancient Egypt, may not be displeased if we afford them a peep at Egypt as it is.

The Baron Henry Menu Von Minutoli, the husband of the Authoress of this agreeable volume, is a general in the Prussian service, who, in the year 1820-1, obtained from his sovereign leave of absence to undertake a scientific tour in the East. His plan was, to travel through Egypt to Dongola; thence to proceed to visit the Cyrenaica and the Oases, and to return through Syria and Greece. But circumstances prevented the execution of the whole of this plan, and the Baron was obliged to content himself with a visit to the Oasis of Ammon and an excursion as far southward as Syene. His not being able to visit the long' neglected site of the ancient Cyrene, is said to have been owing to the petty jealousy of certain European speculators in antiquities, resident in Egypt, who secretly laboured with the most ignoble views to defeat his intention. Sometime after his return, the General published an account of his Travels, written in German; but of this splendid work,' no English translation has hitherto appeared, notwithstanding an announcement which promised it more than a year ago. We must confess that we await it without impatience. Our own travellers have left little or nothing to describe between Alexandria and Syene, and the little that is new in the Baron's work must relate to the Ammonian Oasis and the pyramid of Sakkara. In the mean time, this slight but lively sketch by the Baroness, who accompanied her husband to Egypt, will, we doubt not, be favourably received.

The most melancholy spot, perhaps, in Egypt, is Alexandria, partly from the comparatively modern date of its grandeur and decay, the recent character of its rains, which more closely connects the desolation with our sympathy, and the semi-European aspect of the place; partly from the recollection of the crimes and follies which were acted there in Christian times. In Upper Egypt, it must be pleasant enough to compare the

wonders of the scene with the records of Herodotus; but at Alexandria, only painful associations would be awakened by reference to the pages of Gibbon. The work of destruction is most complete. Nothing remains of its ancient splendour but the column improperly called Pompey's Pillar, and the two obelisks, only one of which is standing. These are surrounded with heaps of rubbish covering the ground as far as the eye can reach.

6

Every thing bears the stamp of the hand of time, and the exhaustion of the soil;-the aridity is such that it does not allow even a few wild bushes to vegetate; the bustle which once prevailed in this part of the city, has now given place to silence and meditation. At a short distance we see the Greek convent; a grove of palmtrees rises above its walls, and the evening breeze alone breaks the general stillness. The present state of this celebrated country inspires a melancholy and painful feeling. A gloomy tinge seems to be spread over all objects; we even try to discover some connection, direct or indirect, between the solemn and grand style of the ancient Egyptian architecture, and the grave and regular physiognomy of the present inhabitants. As for the latter, they are seldom seen to smile; and the ebullitions of lively mirth are, in their eyes, a want of decorum, and often even a proof of mental alienation.

'On going the following day to the Rosetta gate, I saw ruins of more modern date-houses abandoned since the late revolutions in Egypt, and devastated at the taking of Alexandria by the French army. When Egypt became a province of the Roman empire, Alexandria was one of the best fortified cities of that time; and continued so till the decline of the empire. At the time of its conquest by the Saracens, this city having considerably fallen off from its ancient magnificence, it had been found necessary to reduce its exA new line of ramparts was accordingly built, known by the name of Enclosure of the Arabs; and gates were erected, remarkable for the beauty of their architecture, but of which only a few fragments now remain.

tent.

Since Egypt has become a part of the Ottoman Empire, the splendour and the strength of this city have gradually declined, as has been manifested, in the later periods of its history, by the facility with which the enemy's troops have taken possession of the country. The present Government has begun to repair in some measure the ancient fortifications; but, to say the truth, little or nothing has been done, though means have been found to make it believed at Constantinople, that these works have cost immense sums.'

Among the Baroness's travelling companions from Alexandria to Cairo, was an Abyssinian girl who had left her country in company with the daughter of the King of Abyssinia, her relative, who married a servant of Lord Valentia's at the time of his Lordship's travels in that country. This Englishman, after several years' residence in Abyssinia, had

gone with his wife to Alexandria, where they had both lately died, leaving this young girl, their heiress, under the protection of the English Consul. The Baroness does not appear to have gained much information respecting that nation. She speaks of their piquing themselves upon a kind of orthodoxy' which induces them obstinately to refuse listening to the Roman Catholic missionaries; not being aware of the deep rooted sense of injury, as well as aversion, towards both the Greek Melchites and the Latins, which is hereditary in the African churches. We were told,' she adds,

that some who had attempted to enter their country for the purpose of spreading their doctrines have been crucified. It is probable that they do not ill-treat the Protestant missionaries sent out by the London Bible Society: their mode of worship is said to approach more nearly to the simplicity of the first ages of the church.'

Our Authoress had the courage to penetrate into the mysterious recesses of the great pyramid of Cheops; but we are disappointed at finding the only information respecting that of Sakkara conveyed in a brief note. The entrance to this pyramid was discovered by the Baron. It

'contains a great number of passages and corridors, and several chambers, in the walls of which were incrusted convex pieces of porcelain of various colours, which, when seen by torch-light, must have a pretty effect. There are also hieroglyphics above several doors, a circumstance which has not hitherto been remarked in the other Pyramids. The largest of these chambers, the walls of which were blackened by the smoke of the torches, contained, instead of a sarcophagus, a small sanctuary, formed of several blocks of stone, placed one upon another, into which a man could easily enter, and from which the voice of the oracle was probably made to issue. It is to be regretted, that the sand of the desert blocked up the entrance to this Pyramid a short time after the operations which my husband had caused to be undertaken there. Five-and-twenty Arabs had worked there during two-and-twenty days. In order to reach the interior, they were obliged to descend into a well fifty feet deep. This passage was extremely dangerous; for, a short time after my husband first went down, the side of the well fell in, and it was so choked up, that it took more than eight days to clear it again. If any persons had been inside of the Pyramid at such a moment, they must have perished by a cruel death." p. 82, note.

The discovery of hieroglyphics in the pyramids, if we may depend upon the accuracy of the statement, is a circumstance of high interest; since these stupendous monuments have generally been supposed to be the work of a foreign dynasty, and the absence of the hieratic symbols has been accounted for on this ground.