from a family of Heracleopolis, and they gave way to the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth dynasties, all of whom were from Thebes. The dynasties which preceded the Theban give strong indications, in the brevity of their reigns, of the prevalence of confusion and strife, and jealousies very possibly arose between the rival capitals, Thebes and Memphis. Manetho's list gives, under the third king of the twelfth dynasty, the name of Sesostris, who, if he ever existed, is often confounded, by reason of the similarity of his exploits, with a prince of the eighteenth dynasty. The fourteenth dynasty is that of Xois, and the fifteenth again reverts to Thebes for a lengthened period of five dynasties.

The lines of princes which have been thus rapidly enumerated, as elapsing from the age of the pyramids to that of the beginning of the sixteenth dynasty, are looked upon with considerable doubt, as deficient in monumental corroboration, and spreading over a period of time too great to have transpired within these epochs. It is at the commencement of the sixteenth dynasty that we come in reach of the satisfactory information presented by the celebrated tablet of Abydos. Champollion Figeac has, in his dissertation on Egypt, endeavoured to recognise several monuments, scattered in different directions, as bearing the names of princes of the fifteenth dynasty; but the genealogical tablet of Abydos begins with the sixteenth, and is the most sure and valuable

corroboration of Manetho's list. The historian is silent as to the names of the princes of whom this dynasty was composed, but the deficiency, to a great extent, is supplied by the monuments. Some persons, passing over the intermediate dynasties, have identified the princes reckoned as the sixteenth with those of the twelfth dynasty.

The prince of this race of sovereigns of whom we have most information is Osirtasen, one of a line of Pharaohs, the memorials of whose greatness are found throughout different parts of Egypt, or have been transported to European museums. His reign was long and prosperous, and monuments exist bearing various dates belonging to his reign. He appears to have been a great and wise monarch, ruling the land of Egypt with much regard to the welfare of his subjects, who had made great advances in all the arts and employments of human life. Some writers place in his reign, or in that of one of his immediate successors, the visit of the patriarch Abraham, recorded in the Bible; whilst others defer this event to the age of the race of kings known as the shepherds, to whom we shall presently refer. The testimony of the Bible is to the fact, that on the occasion of Abraham's visit Egypt was a great and civilized nation, ruled over by a prince bearing the title of Pharaoh, that Abraham was treated with great kindness by the Egyptians, and that the God whom Abraham worshipped made known to Pharaoh his displeasure

on account of the proposed treatment of Sarai, Abraham's wife, an event which occasioned the removal of the patriarch out of the land of Egypt. It is interesting to have before us, so completely as the monuments present them, pictures of the state of Egypt at the time of the visit of Abraham. He had himself already been separated from idolatry, and taught the worship of the true God, and his temporary sojourn in the midst of this mighty nation may have produced beneficial effects on many minds.

The last king of the dynasty, of which Osirtasen is the most illustrious prince, was Timaos, in whose reign there happened a sudden and overwhelming incursion of a foreign race, whose attacks he attempted in vain to resist, and who conquered and overran Egypt for a considerable period. While the seat of their dominion was Memphis, the descendants of Osirtasen are supposed to have ruled partially and contemporaneously in Upper Egypt at Abydos. These intruding conquerors bear in Manetho the designation of the Hyksos, but are more generally known as the pastor or shepherd kings. Josephus makes them to have been the Jews, but this construction of their history cannot be sustained. With more probability, though their origin is uncertain, they have been regarded as a Scythian race, who overran the country by force of arms, and adopted for their own purposes the manners and religion of the nation which they conquered. They committed terrific destruction

amongst the ancient monuments, and if Manetho is to be trusted, although a refined and educated people, were guilty of gross barbarities. Their dominion lasted about two centuries, during which six Pharaohs in succession struggled to regain their rightful throne, and waged constant war with the invaders.

During the reign of these strangers, Joseph was brought by the Ishmaelite slave-merchants into Lower Egypt, and became the inmate of the house of Potiphar. The reader of the Bible is familiar with the beautiful history of the Hebrew captive, and of his elevation, by the providence of Him who doeth according to his will among the inhabitants of the earth, to the government of Egypt. The Pharaoh to whom Joseph was minister is reckoned to have been one of the later sovereigns of the shepherd dynasty, while Abraham's visit is fixed by some in the time of one of the earlier. At length, after repeated struggles, the Pharaoh named Amosis succeeded in expelling the invaders, and recovering the throne of his ancestors. The shepherds are said to have departed by way of the desert towards Assyria. This king Amosis forms, according to some, the first of Manetho's eighteenth dynasty, or, according to others, the last of the seventeenth, and the date assigned to him by Champollion is 1847 B.C. He was the founder of an illustrious line of Pharaohs, during whose reigns were erected a large number of the most splendid palaces and temples. No less than four hiero

glyphic tablets supply us with the names and titles of these kings. All their works indicate a time of peace, and the command of most extensive resources-the accumulation of the wisdom of Joseph under the shepherd kings. It was at this period that emigrations took place into Greece, to lay the foundation of its renowned states, and to bear the literature and civilization of Egypt into Europe. On re

covering possession of Lower Egypt, the conquerors naturally looked with suspicion and dread on the increasing population of the Israelitish colony, who had been settled in the land of Goshen under the administration of the shepherd kings, and who were regarded as their friends and allies. The king of Egypt, who knew not Joseph, was one of the successors of Amosis, and the fear was not unnatural which the Egyptians now cherished of the Israelites, "lest when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us."

Before arriving at the stage of the Exodus, it is well to furnish some account of the mighty princes of the eighteenth dynasty. Of Amenophis, the first of this line, there remain many noble monuments, statues, and hieroglyphics. Thothmes I. succeeded him, of whom there is a statue preserved in the Museum of Turin. He was also the beginner of the palace of Medinet Abou, a work which was prosecuted by a second Thothmes, his son and successor. After the reign of this prince a discrepancy occurs in the monuments themselves. Some of them assign

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