of the people of Egypt; the songs of the boatmen, the religious chants, and the cries in the streets are all musical. There are male and female musical performers; the former are both instrumental and vocal, the latter (called 'Almeh, pl. 'Awálim) generally vocal. The 'Awálim are, as their name ("learned") implies, generally accomplished women, and should not be confounded with the Ghawazee, or dancing-girls. There are many kinds of musical instruments. The music, vocal and instrumental, is generally of little compass, and in the minor key; it is therefore plaintive, and strikes a European ear as somewhat monotonous, though often possessing a simple beauty, and the charm of antiquity, for there is little doubt that favourite airs have been handed down from remote ages. The prophet Mohammad condemned music, and its professors are in consequence lightly esteemed by the generality of Muslims, who nevertheless scruple not to enjoy their performances, and resort to the coffee-shops and to private festivities, where they are almost always to be found.

The Ghawázee (sin Gházeeyeh) form a separate class, very similar to the gypsies. They always intermarry among themselves only, and are all brought up to the venal profession. Their performances are too well known to need a description here, but it should be observed that the religious and learned Egyptians hold them to be improper. They dance in public, at fairs and religious festivals, and at private festivities, but not in respectable houses, whether before the men or the ladies. Mehemet Ali banished them to Isnè, in Upper Egypt; and the few that remained, occasionally dancing in Cairo, called themselves 'Awálim, to avoid punishment. A most objectionable class of male dancers also exists, who imitate the dances of the Ghawázee, and dress iu a kind of nondescript female attire. Not the least curious of the public performances are those of the serpent-charmers, who are generally Rifa'ee, or Saadee dervishes. Their power over serpents has been doubted by most European travellers, yet their performances remain unexplained; and apparently they possess means of ascertaining the haunts of these and other reptiles, and of alluring them forth; they, however, always extract the fangs of venomous serpents. Jugglers, rope-dancers, and farce-players must also be mentioned. In the principal coffee-shops of Cairo are to be found reciters of romances, surrounded by interested audiences. They are of three classes, and recite from several works, among which was formerly included the Thousand and One Nights; but manuscripts of the latter have become so rare as to render it almost impossible to obtain a copy.

The periodical public festivals are exceedingly interest ing, and many of the remarkable observances with which they abound are passing away. The first ten days of the Mohammadan year are held to be blessed, and especially the tenth; and many curious and superstitious practices are observed on these days, particularly by the women. The tenth day, being the anniversary of the martrydom of El-Hoseyn, the mosque of the Hasaneyn is thronged to excess, mostly by women. Following the order of the lunar year, the next festival is that of the Return of the Pilgrims, which is the occasion of great rejoicing, many having friends or relatives in the caravan. The Mahmal, a kind of covered litter, first originated by the celebrated queen Sheger-ed-Durr, is brought into the city in procession, though not with as much pomp as when it leaves with the pilgrims. These and other processions have lost much of their effect since the extinction of the Memlooks, and the gradual disuse of gorgeous dress for the retainers of the officers of state. A regiment of regular infantry makes but a sorry substitute for the splendid cavalcade of former times. The Birth of

the Prophet (Moolid en-Nebee), which is celebrated in the beginning of the third month, is the greatest festival of the whole year. During nine days and nights its religious ceremonies are observed at Cairo, in the open space called the Ezbekeeyeh. Next in time, and also in importance, is the Moolid El-Hasaneyn, commemorative of the birth of El-Hoseyn, and lasting fifteen days and nights; and at the same time is kept the Moolid of Es-Sálih Eiyoob, the last king but one of the Eiyoobee dynasty. In the seventh month occur the Moolid of the seyyideh Zeyneb, and the commemoration of the Mearág, or the Prophet's miraculous journey to heaven. Early in the tenth month (Shaabán), the Moolid of the imám Esh-Sháfe'ee is observed; and the night of the middle of that month has its peculiar customs, being held by the Muslims to be that on which the fate of all living is decided for the ensuing year. Then follows Ramadán, the month of abstinence, a severe trial to the faithful; and the Lesser Festival (El-'Eed es-Sagheer), which commences Showwál, is hailed by them with delight. A few days after, the Kisweh, or new covering for the Kaabeh at Meecca, is taken in procession from the citadel, where it is always manufactured, to the mosque of the Hasaneyn to be completed; and, later, the caravan of pilgrims departs, when the grand procession of the Mahmal takes place. On the tenth day of the last month of the year, the Great Festival (El-'Eed el-Kebeer), or that of the Sacrifice, closes the calendar.

The rise of the Nile is naturally the occasion of annual customs, some of which are doubtless relics of antiquity; these are observed according to the Coptic year. The commencement of the rise is fixed to the night of the 11th of Ba-ooneh (Payni), the 17th of June, and is called that of the Drop (Leylet en-Nuktah), because a miraculous drop is then supposed to fall, and cause the swelling of the river. The real rise commences at Cairo about the summer solstice, or a few days later; and on about the 3d of July a crier in each district of the city begins to go his daily rounds, announcing, in a quaint chant, the increase of water in the Nilometer of the island of Er-Ródah. When the river has risen 20 or 21 feet, he proclaims the Wefà en-Neel, "Completion " or " Abundance of the Nile." On the following day, the dam which closes the canal of Cairo is cut with much ceremony, and this is the signal for letting the inundation over the surface of the country. A pillar of earth before the dam is called the "Bride of the Nile," and Arab historians relate that this was substituted, at the Muslim conquest, for a virgin whom it was the custom annually to sacrifice, to ensure a plentiful inundation. A large boat, gaily decked out, representing that in which the victim used to be conveyed, is anchored near, and a gun on board is fired every quarter of an hour during the night. Rockets and other fireworks are also let off, but the best, strangely, after daybreak. The governor of Cairo attends the ceremony of cutting the dam, with the kádee and others. The crier continues his daily rounds, with his former chant, excepting on the Coptic New-Year's Day, when the cry of the Wefà is repeated, until the Saleeb, or Discovery of the Cross, the 26th or 27th of September, at which period, the river having attained its greatest height, he concludes his annual employment with another chant, and presents to each house some limes and other fruit, and dry lumps of Nile mud.

1 It may be mentioned here that the period of the hot winds, called the Khamáseen, that is, “The Fifties," is calculated from the day after the Coptic Easter, and terminates on the day of Pentecost, and that the Muslims observe the Wednesday preceding this period, called "Job's Wednesday," as well as its first day, when many go into the country from Cairo, "to smell the air." This day is hence called Shemm en-Neseem, or "the smelling of the zephyr." The 'Ulema observe the same custom on the first three days of the spring quarter.

This brief account of the modern Egyptians would be | incomplete without a few words concerning the rites attendant on death. The corpse is immediately turned towards Mecca, and the females of the household, assisted by hired mourners, commence their peculiar wailing, while fikees recite portions of the Korán. The funeral takes place on the day of the death, if that happen in the morning; otherwise on the next day. The corpse, having been washed and shrouded, is placed in an open bier, covered with a cashmere shawl, in the case of a man; or in a closed bier, having a post in front, on which are placed female ornaments, in that of a woman or child. The funeral procession is headed by men called "Yemeneeyeh," chanting the profession of the faith, followed by male friends of the deceased, and a party of schoolboys, also chanting, generally from a poem descriptive of the latter state. Then follows the bier, borne on the shoulders of friends, who are relieved by the passers-by, such an act being deemed highly meritorious. On the way to the cemetery the corpse is generally, in Cairo, in the case of the northern quarters of the city, carried either to the Hasaneyn, or, if the deceased be one of the 'Ulemà, to the Azhar; or, in the case of the southern quarters, to the seyyideh Zeyneb, or some other revered mosque. Here the funeral service is performed by the imám, or minister of the mosque, and the procession then proceeds to the tomb. In the burials of the rich, water and bread are distributed to the poor at the grave; and sometimes a buffalo or several buffaloes are slaughtered there, and the flesh given away. The tomb is always a vault, surmounted by an oblong stone monument, with a stele at the head and feet; and a cupola, supported by four walls, covers the whole in the case of sheykhs' tombs and those of the wealthy. During the night following the interment, called the Night of Desolation, or that of Solitude, the soul being believed to remain with the body that one night, fikees are engaged the house of the deceased to recite various portions of the Korán, and, commonly, to repeat the first clause of the profession of the faith, "There is no deity but God," three thousand times. The women alone put on mourning attire, by dyeing their veils, shirts, &c., dark blue, with indigo; and they stain their hands, and smear the walls, with the same colour. Everything in the house is also turned upside down. The latter customs are not, however, observed on the death of an old man. At certain periods after the burial, a khatmeh, or recitation of the whole of the Korán, is performed, and the tomb is visited by the female relations and friends of the deceased. The women of the felláheen (or peasants) of Upper Egypt observe some strange dances, &c., at funerals, which must be regarded as partly relics of ancient Egyptian customs.

For further information see, in addition to Lane's Modern Egyptians, his translation of the Thousand and One Nights, and particularly the notes to it, and the Englishwoman in Egypt, by Mrs Poole.

The native Christians of Egypt, or Copts, are chiefly descended from the ancient Egyptian race; and, as they rarely marry with other races, they preserve in their countenances a great resemblance to the representations of the tombs and temples. Their dress and customs are very Bimilar to those of the Muslim Egyptians, but their reserve towards persons of another persuasion renders a knowledge of their peculiar observances exceedingly difficult. The causes which produced the separation of their church, and the persecutions they suffered, will be noticed in the historical portion of this article. Under Mehemet Ali they were relieved of much oppression, and the immunities then granted to them they still enjoy. The neglected appearance of their houses, and their want of personal cleanliness, are in strong contrast to the opposite habits of the Muslims, and

European residents generally prefer the latter as domestic

servants.

The Jews, of whom there have always been great num bers in Egypt, appear to be even more degraded there than in other countries. They are held in the utmost abhorrence by the dominant race, and often are treated with much cruelty and oppression. Many are bankers and money. changers, &c. The quarter of the Jews in Cairo is exceedingly filthy, and would give a stranger the notion that they labour under great poverty. But such is not the case; the fear of the Muslims induces them to adopt this outward show of misery, while the interiors of many of their houses are very handsome and luxurious. (E. S. P.-S. L. P.)] ; CHRONOLOGY AND HISTORY.

Before giving a sketch of the history of Egypt it is necessary to speak of Egyptian chronology. The difficulty of this subject has increased with the new information of the monuments. The statements of ancient writers were easily reconciled with half knowledge, but better information shows discrepancies which are in most instances beyond all present hope of solution. It may be said that we know something of the outlines of the technical part of Egyptian chronology; but its historical part is in a great measure mere conjecture before the times when we can check the Egyptian lists by their synchronisms with Hebrew and Assyrian history.

Dr Brugsch, in the second edition of his Histoire d'Égypte, frankly admits the growing difficulty of Egyptian chronology in terms which account for his not having continued his Matériaux pour servir à la reconstruction du Calendrier, the opinions of which are modified in the later work. Baron Bunsen completed his Egypt's Place, but in the progress of the work made a great change in his theories. Professor Lepsius alone has maintained his views, as stated in the Chronologie and Königsbuch, of which the general correctness has not been disproved, although in any new work it would be necessary greatly to modify the details. The words, already referred to, of Dr Brugsch, which close the introduction to his History (2d ed.), may be cited in justification of the differences between the present article and that of the last edition of the Encyclopædia. "En comparant cette édition avec la première, le lecteur impartial reconnaîtra facilement que nous avons remanió complètement le premier travail, et de plus, que nous nous sommes abstenu de fournir des hypothèses auxquelles seulement le temps et des découvertes futures pourront substituer les faits" (p. 3).

The Egyptians divided the civil day into 24 hours, 12 of the natural day and 12 of the night, counted from 1 to 12 during each period. Ordinarily the civil day began during the night, which was indifferently reckoned as belonging to the preceding or following day. Probably the beginning was at midnight. In the astronomical tables of the Tombs of the Kings the civil day probably begins with the night, and the reckoning is from the first hour, or six hours before midnight. The indication is, however, not conclusive, as the tables are of nights only, but one term used makes it highly probable (Brugsch, Matériaux, 103). We also find the socalled heliacal rising of Sothis indicated as marking the beginning of the New Year, but this may merely denote that the phenomenon characterized New Year's day of the original Egyptian yeur, or of the fixed year, not that the civil day began with the 11th hour of night (cf. Id., 99 seqq.; Ideler, Handbuch der Chronologie, i. 100-102). ( The Egyptian month was of thirty days. The months are usually known by Greek names occurring in Greek documents, which were taken from the cultus connected with the months, and are thus the

Egyptian sacred names. They are 1. Thoth, 2. Phaophi, 3. Athyr, 4. Choiak, 5. Tybi, 6. Mechir, 7. Phamenoth, 8. l'harmuthi, 9. Pachon, 10. Payni, 11. Epiphi, 12. Mesori, after which came the five Epagomena. The names were applied to the Vague and Alexandrian years. The ancient Egyptians had a different system

of names. With them the months were allotted to three great seasons of four months each, of which the months were called 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. These seasons are called "sha," inundation, "per," winter, and "shema' summer. The second and third

"

renderings are undoubted; the first, which is that of Dr Brugsch, is not certain. If, however, it was so, we should have a difficulty in deciding to exactly which four months each season applied. It may be remarked that, according to the Copts, there are four months from the supposed beginning of the rise of the Nile, a few days before the summer solstice, to the end of the inundation. If this were the ancient reckoning, and the rendering "inundation be correct, "winter" would be the cold season, and "summer would correspond to spring and early summer. In support of this hypothesis it may be observed that the so-called heliacal rising of Sothis on the 20th of July marked the beginning of the Egyptian year, although in the year commonly in use this phenomenon passed through all the seasons, and further that in the earliest times of Egyptian history this phenomenon occurred about the time of the summer solstice, and the conventional beginning of the rise of the Nile, the three phenomena probably marking the beginning of the first season when the calendar was instituted' (cf. on the seasons, Brugsch, Matériaux, 34 seqq.).

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The common year of the ancient Egyptians is that which has been called the Vague Year, because on account of its length of 365 days it fell short of a tropical or a sidereal year, and thus passed through all the seasons. That this year was that in which the inscriptions are usually dated before the introduction of the Alexandrian year under Augustus appears from the Decree of Canopus (Hierog. 1. 18, Greek 1. 36, 37).

The Egyptians also used a fixed year dated from the so-called heliacal rising of Sothis, July 20. It contained 365 days, and was adjusted by the addition of another day for every four years. It is uncertain how far back this year was in use. The Calendar of Medeenet Haboo, of the time of Ramses III., begins with the rising of Sothis, or, if we accept Dr Brugsch's explanation, with its festival (Matériaux, p. 84). Perhaps at the time of this monument the phenomenon fell on the 1st Thoth of the vague year, or within the month; or if the festival be intended, it may be used as a conventional indication of New Year's day in a typical form (Ibid. p. 84, 85). In the Roman period, after the Alexandrian year had come into use, there are double dates in the Alexandrian and Sothiac calendars, but the common Egyptian notation of the months does not appear to have been usually applied to the Sothiac year. An exception is noticed by Dr Brugsch (Ibid. p. 93), and another instance in which the month-name Tybi appears to be used for the Sothiac calendar, while an Alexandrian name is employed for the corresponding month of the Alexandrian calendar (Ibid. p. 92, 17. See on the whole subject, Brugsch, Matériaux).

The inconvenience of the vague year in relation to the festivals, on account of their connection with natural phenomena, led Ptolemy III. Euergetes to reform the calendar by intercalating a day after every fourth year before the year next following (Decree of Canopus, Hierog. 1. 22, Greek 1. 43-45). Obviously this arrest of the common year was more convenient than the change to a fixed year already in use beginning at a different season. This new style was abandoned and the old resumed, but how soon we do not know. Under Augustus a fixed year, called the Alexandrian, beginning on the 29-30th August of the Julian year, superseded the vague year. According to Lepsius, the Era of Augustus at Alexandria dated B.O. 80, but the first year of the new calendar, proleptically, B.C. 26, when the 1st Thoth vague corresponded to 30th August of the proleptic year of Augustus. The new reckoning, however, in his opinion could not have been introduced before B. C. 8, and was probably introduced A. D. 5. (See Lepsius, Ueber einige Berührungspunkte der Aegyptischen, Griechischen, und Römischen Chronologie, Berl. Akad., 1859). Although it is quite possible that Augustus adopted a proleptic synchronism of the Egyptian and Roman years for the official Egyptian year, thus dating back his reform, yet it is more probable that there was some special reason for choosing the particular Egyptian year selected, which, moreover, was not the first of the Era of Augustus. Brugsch has put forward a theory, which is the more remarkable in its bearing on this question as it is of wholly independent origin. He has shown reasons for supposing that a year beginning on the 25-29th August was in use in Egypt from the time of Dynasty VI. It must be admitted that many of his correspondences are of the Roman period, and therefore probably refer to the Alexandrian year; but others cannot be so explained, and it seems probable that the year which under Augustus superseded the vague year was already in use long before (Matériaux, p. 17 seq.). The Alexandrian year superseded the vague year, and has remained in use to our times, never having been wholly supplanted by the lunar year of the Arabs; but it has now given way to the Gregorian calendar.

At the time of Dynasty XII. the Egyptians used four years. These Dr Brugsch holds to be the vague year, a solar year, a lunar year, and a lunar year with an intercalation (Hist., 2nd ed. 98-99). The second of these years no doubt was the Sothiac, the

If the agreement of the sidereal and tropical phenomena marked the institution of the year, a very remote date would be needed, but we cannot tell how nearly accurate the earliest observations were, nor do we know where they were made, and this in the case of the rising of Sothis is an additional element of uncertainty.

beginning of which had an original connection with the summer solstice, and the duration of which was probably the Egyptian measure of a solar year. The lunar years would seem to be true lunar years, if we are to accept M. Geusler's theory that the Egyp tians had discovered a method of adjusting their solar calendar with a lunar year by the intercalation of a month eleven times in thirty years (Id. 73). That the Egyptians at a later time used four years is evident from the Calendar of Isnè, in which three beginnings are mentioned, that which stands at the head of the document and is of the Sothiac year, a beginning of the "year of the ancients" the 9th of Thoth, and another New Year's day on the 26th of Payni (Brugsch, Matériaux, 19-22). This calendar is attributed by Lepsius to the reign of Claudius, but Brugsch can only decide that it is of the Roman period (Id. 88, cf. 22). If it is much later than the time fixed by Lepsius, the second commencement may be of the vague year, which began July 28 in A.D. 101-104. It is not probable that it is earlier than the introduction of the Alexandrian year, which, however, is unnoticed. Thus at least four years were probably in use in Egypt under the Romans.

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No Era has been found in the Egyptian inscriptions. always, if they date at all, date by the year of the reigning sovereign. There is but one instance of a reckoning of the nature of an era. It is the statement of the interval between two distant reigns in the stele in which, under Ramses II., an interval of four hundred years after a Shepherd king is mentioned, or more strictly, following the analogy of ordinary dates, the 400th year of the earlier king, as though he were still living. This, however, is not a strictly Egyptian document (Records of the Past, iv. 36) Similarly the coins of the Ptolemies, except one class, present no era; even those bearing the name of Ptolemy Soter, struck in Palestine and Phoenicia under Ptolemy Philadelphus and Ptolemy Euergetes, are dated by the regnal years of the kings who struck them. There are indeed coins dated by an era, probably struck at some town of Phoenicia, but these follow a foreign usage which otherwise is not found in the foreign coinage of the Ptolemies. It is therefore not surprising that the Egyptian cycles mentioned by ancient writers are not traceable on the monuments. One of these, the Sothiac Cycle, consisting of 1460 Sotbiac and 1461 vague years, or the period in which the vague year passed through one Sothiac year, was probably used by the astronomers, but we have no indication of its having been known earlier than the first century B.C., when Geminus writes that the Egyptian festivals pass through the whole year in 1460 years (Isag., c. 6, Petav., Uranologium, 33). Censorinus fixes the beginning of a Sothiac cycle in A.D. 139 (c. 21), in the third vague year or second Alexandrian of the reign of Antoninus Pius. Curiously the Alexandrian coin commemorating in a symbolic manner this event is of the sixth year of this emperor. Theon, writing during the cycle beginning A.D. 139, speaks of the previous period as the Era of Menophrês (ap. Biot, Rech. sur plus. p. de l'astr., p.181 seq., 303 seq.; Sur la période Soth. 18, 129 seqq.) It is therefore generally supposed that a cycle beginning B.C. 1322 commenced in the reign of a Menptah, usually identified with the king of that name of Dynasty XIX. This is possible but not certain. Other cycles rest on less distinct evidence, and for the present we must be content to accept Brugsch's cautious judg ment on the whole subject.

The historical chronology of ancient Egypt if less obscure than the technical is even fuller of difficulty. Our chief authorities are(1) the Egyptian historian Manetho, who gave a list of thirty dynasties, and the length of each, with in some cases the duration of the individual reigns, (2) the similar list of the Turin Papyrus of Kings, and (3) various data of the monuments. Manetho's list is unhappily in a very corrupt condition. It appears, however, that his method is generally not strictly chronological. As far as we know, he makes up the sum of each dynasty, except Dynasty XII., of the individual reigns, where these are stated, taking no account of the overlapping of some of them. He seems to have given larger sums in three great groups. These again are made up of the sums of dynasties, and if any were in part or wholly contemporary, they are treated as successive. According to Syncellus, he stated the duration of the dynasties to be 3555 years. this number, which suspiciously enough is given apart from the dynastic list, came down correctly to the Byzantine chronographer, many hundred years must be cut off from the totals of the dynasties as they now stand for contemporary dynasties or kings. The Turin Papyrus is unfortunately in a far worse state than Manetho's list, but it is valuable as confirming and correcting it. The system of reckoning seems, however, to have been more strictly chronological than Manetho's usual method. The various data of the monuments are as yet of little value beyond affording evidence that Manetho's numbers 2 "Il y a eu des savants qui ont cru decouvrir un autre expédient pour fixer plusieurs dates de l'histoire d'Egypte en se servant du calcul astronomique. Le règne d'un roi Ménophrès sous lequel, d'après une tradition des anciens, une nouvelle période sothiaque a recommencé, après la date du lever de l'étoile Sirius, la Sothis des Égyptiens, rapportée sous trois rois du nom de Ramsès sur des monuments contemporains de leur époque, et à la fin quelques autres indications de nature astronomique, ont donné lieu à des calculs très-compliqués sans que la critique ait dit son dernier mot sur leur valeur historique." (Hist., 2nd ed. 27.)

must be reduced, and as supplying fragments of historical chronology which may ultimately be united into a complete system. It has indeed been supposed that they enable us to construct an approximative chronology on genealogical evidence. This system, however, breaks down where we can test it, and it is therefore dangerous where it must stand alone. The great genealogy of the official architects gives 21 generations from the contemporary of Setee I. (Dynasty XIX. 2), to the contemporary of Darius I. (XXVII. 3); and thus, allowing three generations to a century, we should bring the birth of Setee and the beginning of Dynasty XIX. to about B.c. 1200.1 It is, however, quite certain that, reckoning from the synchronism of Sheshonk I., or Shishak, with Rehoboam, we must allow for the intervening period at least a century more. The historical events require this. We must therefore suppose that generations, either of heiresses or of other persons who did not hold the office of architect, are dropped. If this method of computing by genealogies thus fails where we have a genealogical list, obviously it cannot be applied to dynastic lists which we do not know to be genealogical. The average length of reigns is usually different from and less than that of generations, and we cannot tell the most probable average length of reigns without knowing the law of succession of the country, and its political conditions in the period under consideration. It is therefore especially hazardous thus to measure the Egyptian chronology before Dynasty XVIII., at which time ascending genealogical evidence fails us. (See, however, Brugsch, Hist., 2 ed. 25-27.) The preceding observations will prepare the reader to find in the following pages no definite_chronological system for the period before the synchronism of Egyptian and Hebrew history at the beginning of Dynasty XXII. The essay would, however, be incomplete without a short account of the chronological views of the leading Egyptologists. M. Mariette accepts Manetho's numbers with some modifications, and makes all the dynasties but one consecutive. He thus dates the beginning of Dynasty I. B.C. 5004. Dr Brugsch, following the genealogical method, proposed by Prof. Lieblein, and treating the reigns of the Tablet of Abydos as generations, but making an exception for the distracted age of the XIII-XVII. Dynasties, when he adopts a series of years derived from Manetho, places the beginning of Egyptian history cir. B.C. 44002 (Hist., 2d ed. 179). Professor Lepsius adopts the. 3555 years as the true duration of the thirty dynasties, and thus lowers the date in question to B.C. 3892. He reduces the length of the dynasties by making some in part or in whole contemporary. M. Chabas proposes with much hesitation the 40th century B.C. (Etudes sur l'Antiquité Historique, 2 ed. 15, 16). The following table gives the date of the beginning of each dynasty according to M. Mariette and Professor Lepsius. The less definite schemes of Dr Brugsch and M. Chabas cannot be tabulated in the same manner.

1 Dr Brugsch escapes this difficulty by adding to the genealogy the reigns of Dynasty XVIII. (Hist., 2 ed. 26) as generations, and as these reigns had a shorter average length than generations, he recovers lost time.

The apparent disagreement of this date and that given p. 27 as the result of the genealogical method is due to the higher date given in the table cited above to the beginning of Dynasty XVIII. on chronological data (for XVII. read XVIII. p. 180). The lower date of this epoch is due to the strictly genealogical method in the earlier statement, but it must be admitted that the difference is large.

It must be remarked that he modifies the numbers of Manetho where they can

be tested by monumental evidence, but in the great periods for which that evidence

fails he is forced to accept them as they have come down to us. This system is developed with much skill in the Chronologie der Aegypter and Königsbuch der Aegypter.

There are two weak points in all these systems. They rest to a greater or less degree upon numbers either occurring but once or due to a single authority. The sum of 3555 years, which is the foundation of Professor Lepsius's system, occurs in but a single passage, and the same is the case with the round number of 500 years adopted by Dr Brugsch for the doubtful period of Dynasties XIII.-XVII.; it is taken from Manetho's 511 years of the Shepherd dominion. How if both these numbers are corrupt? If they are not their exape is a marvel, considering to what authors and copyists we owe them. Again, the sums of most individual dynasties rest on Manetho's sole authority, and his lists are in a state which is at present hopeless. It is equally unfortunate that while certain dynasties are represented by monuments from which Manetho's lists can be verified, others have left little or no records. Thus we have no monuments of Dynasties I.-111. until the close of the last. Then there is an abundance of monuments of Dynasties IV., V., VI. A blank follows without a monument that we can assign to Dynasties VII., VIII., IX., X. Records reappear under Dynasty XI.; of Dynasty XII. they are abundant. Under Dynasty XIII. they become scanty, and of XIV., XV., XVI., XVII. there are but a few, which may be of XV., XVI., or XVII. We have therefore three blank periods, the age before known monuments, the interval of Dynasties VII.-X., and that of Dynasties XIII-XVII. It is significant that whereas M. Mariette's reckoning exceeds that of Professor Lepsius 1112 years in the whole sum of the thirty dynasties, the excess is no less than 966 years in the sums of Dynasties VII.-X. and XIII-XVII. Such a difference between two such great authorities is a proof of the want of even probability for solving this part of the problem. Dr Brugsch, in applying the genealogical method to the lists of the monuments for the first and second blanks, while he rejects it for the third, is manifestly unwary. The evidence of the Turin Papyrus proves that we must not apply any such method to the third blank. How do we know that it can be applied to the other two? It may be argued that Manetho's numbers for the reigns of the first blank are probable, but neither his lists nor the monuments throw any light on those of the second, to which, notwithstanding, Dr Brugsch allows no less a period than about 500 years. His system has also the special fault that it rests on the supposition that the Egyptian reigns are equivalent to generations, which, as already shewn, is by no means proved.

In the following sketch of Egyptian history no dates before the Christian Era will be given until the beginning of Dynasty XVIIL, when approximative chronology becomes possible. Where, how ever, we may reasonably conjecture the length of a particular part of history, this will be stated.

The traditional age in Egypt is extremely obscure. History begins with the First Dynasty. The earlier period with Manetho, who is supported by the Turin Papyrus, is mythological, the age of the divine reigns, an idea also traceable in the monuments which treat certain divinities as sovereigns. This age is held to be spoken of on the monuments as that of the Shesu-har, the servants, followers, or successors, of Horus, who, in mythology, aid him in his combats with Seth (Chabas, Ant. Hist., 7, 8; Brugsch, Hist., 2d ed. 23). Manetho completely divests the time of any historical character by making it cyclical. It might be supposed that the Egyptians had some idea of records actually dating from this age, if we could accept M. Chabas's reading of the Ptolemaic inscription relating to the plan of the temple of Dendarah, in which it is stated that the original plan was found in the time of Pepi, of Dynasty VI., in ancient characters on a skin of the time of the Shesuhar. It appears, however, from the context that this inscription was of the time of Khufu, of Dynasty IV., and consequently the parallel expression is merely used to denote remote antiquity (Dümichen, Bauurkunde der Tempelanlagen von Dendera, 15, taf. xvi.; 18, 19, taf. xv.; cf., on the other side, Chabas, Ant. Hist., 2d ed. 7, 8).

Egyptian mythology has not been found to contain any allusion to a deluge, nor to have any connection with the Mosaic narrative in reference to the cosmogony and the early conditions of the human race. Similar terms have been pointed out, but the leading facts are wanting. Thus the Egyptian ideas of their prehistoric age have a strange isolation by the side of those of most other nations of remote civilization, which agree in one or more particulars with the narrative of Genesis. Discoveries may, however, modify this view.