> servant, to carry out his plans.



Moses was at this time keeping the flock of Jeruth, his father-in-law,

in the land of Midian. The angel of the Lord, or the Lord himself,

appeared to him there, and said unto him:



"I am the God of thy Father, the God of Abraham, the God of

Isaac, and the God of Jacob. . . . I have seen the affliction of

my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by

reason of their tormentors; for I know their sorrows. And I am

come down to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians,

and to bring them up out of that land into a good land and a

large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. I will send

thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the

children of Israel, out of Egypt."



Then Moses said unto the Lord:



"Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall

say unto them, the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you,

and they shall say unto me: What is his name? What shall I say

unto them?"



Then God said unto Moses:



"I AM THAT I AM."[48:5] "Thus shalt thou say unto the children

of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."[48:6]



And God said, moreover, unto Moses:



"Go and gather the Elders of Israel together, and say unto

them: the Lord God of your fathers . . . appeared unto me,

saying: 'I have surely visited you, and seen that which is

done to you in Egypt. And I have said, I will bring you up out

of the affliction of Egypt . . . unto a land flowing with milk

and honey.' And they shall hearken to thy voice, and thou

shall come, thou and the Elders of Israel, unto the king of

Egypt, and ye shall say unto him: 'the Lord God of the Hebrews

hath met with us, and now let us go, we beseech thee, three

days journey in the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the

Lord our God.'[49:1]



"I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no,

not by a mighty hand. And I will stretch out my hand, and

smite Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in the midst

thereof: and after that he will let you go. And I will give

this people (the Hebrews) favor in the sight of the Egyptians,

and it shall come to pass, that when ye go, ye shall not go

empty. But every woman shall borrow of her neighbor, and of

her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver and jewels

of gold, and raiment. And ye shall put them upon your sons and

upon your daughters, and ye shall spoil the

Egyptians."[49:2]



The Lord again appeared unto Moses, in Midian, and said:



"Go, return into Egypt, for all the men are dead which sought

thy life. And Moses took his wife, and his son, and set them

upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses

took the rod of God (which the Lord had given him) in his

hand."[49:3]



Upon arriving in Egypt, Moses tells his brother Aaron, "all the words of

the Lord," and Aaron tells all the children of Israel. Moses, who was

not eloquent, but had a slow speech,[49:4] uses Aaron as his

spokesman.[49:5] They then appear unto Pharaoh, and falsify, "according

to the commands of the Lord," saying: "Let us go, we pray thee, three

days' journey in the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our

God."[49:6]



The Lord hardens Pharaoh's heart, so that he does not let the children

of Israel go to sacrifice unto their God, in the desert.



Moses and Aaron continue interceding with him, however, and, for the

purpose of showing their miraculous powers, they change their rods into

serpents, the river into blood, cause a plague of frogs and lice, and a

swarm of flies, &c., &c., to appear. Most of these feats were imitated

by the magicians of Egypt. Finally, the first-born of Egypt are slain,

when Pharaoh, after having had his heart hardened, by the Lord, over and

over again, consents to let Moses and the children of Israel go to serve

their God, as they had said, that is, for three days.



The Lord having given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians,

they borrowed of them jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and raiment,

"according to the commands of the Lord." And they journeyed toward

Succoth, there being six hundred thousand, besides children.[50:1]



"And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in

Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before

them by day, in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way;

and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light to go

by day and night."[50:2]



"And it was told the king of Egypt, that the people fled. . . .

And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him.

And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots



of Egypt, . . . and he pursued after the children of Israel,

and overtook them encamping beside the sea. . . . And when

Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel . . . were sore

afraid, and . . . (they) cried out unto the Lord. . . . And

the Lord said unto Moses, . . . speak unto the children of

Israel, that they go forward. But lift thou up thy rod, and

stretch out thine hand over the Red Sea, and divide it, and

the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the

midst of the sea. . . . And Moses stretched out his hand over

the sea,[50:3] and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a

strong east wind that night, and made the sea dry land, and

the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into

the midst of the sea upon the dry ground; and the waters were

a wall unto them upon the right hand, and on their left. And

the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of

the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, and his chariots, and his

horse-men."



After the children of Israel had landed on the other side of the sea,

the Lord said unto Moses:



"Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come

again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their

horse-men. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea,

and the sea returned to his strength. . . . And the Lord

overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the

waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horse-men,

and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after

them; there remained not so much as one of them. But the

children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the

sea, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand,

and on their left. . . . And Israel saw the great work which

the Lord did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared the

Lord, and believed the Lord and his servant Moses."[51:1]



The writer of this story, whoever he may have been, was evidently

familiar with the legends related of the Sun-god, Bacchus, as he has

given Moses the credit of performing some of the miracles which were

attributed to that god.



It is related in the hymns of Orpheus,[51:2] that Bacchus had a rod

with which he performed miracles, and which he could change into a

serpent at pleasure. He passed the Red Sea, dry shod, at the head of

his army. He divided the waters of the rivers Orontes and Hydaspus, by

the touch of his rod, and passed through them dry-shod.[51:3] By the

same mighty wand, he drew water from the rock,[51:4] and wherever they

marched, the land flowed with wine, milk and honey.[51:5]



Professor Steinthal, speaking of Dionysus (Bacchus), says:



Like Moses, he strikes fountains of wine and water out of the rock.

Almost all the acts of Moses correspond to those of the Sun-gods.[51:6]



Mons. Dupuis says:



"Among the different miracles of Bacchus and his Bacchantes,

there are prodigies very similar to those which are attributed

to Moses; for instance, such as the sources of water which the

former caused to sprout from the innermost of the

rocks."[51:7]



In Bell's Pantheon of the Gods and Heroes of Antiquity,[51:8] an account

of the prodigies attributed to Bacchus is given; among these, are

mentioned his striking water from the rock, with his magic wand, his

turning a twig of ivy into a snake, his passing through the Red Sea and

the rivers Orontes and Hydaspus, and of his enjoying the light of the

Sun (while marching with his army in India), when the day was spent, and

it was dark to others. All these are parallels too striking to be

accidental.



We might also mention the fact, that Bacchus, as well as Moses was

called the "Law-giver," and that it was said of Bacchus, as well as of

Moses, that his laws were written on two tables of stone.[52:1]

Bacchus was represented horned, and so was Moses.[52:2] Bacchus "was

picked up in a box, that floated on the water,"[52:3] and so was

Moses.[52:4] Bacchus had two mothers, one by nature, and one by

adoption,[52:5] and so had Moses.[52:6] And, as we have already seen,

Bacchus and his army enjoyed the light of the Sun, during the night

time, and Moses and his army enjoyed the light of "a pillar of fire, by

night."[52:7]



In regard to the children of Israel going out from the land of Egypt, we

have no doubt that such an occurrence took place, although not in the

manner, and not for such reasons, as is recorded by the sacred

historian. We find, from other sources, what is evidently nearer the

truth.



It is related by the historian Choeremon, that, at one time, the land of

Egypt was infested with disease, and through the advice of the sacred

scribe Phritiphantes, the king caused the infected people (who were none

other than the brick-making slaves, known as the children of Israel), to

be collected, and driven out of the country.[52:8]



Lysimachus relates that:



"A filthy disease broke out in Egypt, and the Oracle of Ammon,

being consulted on the occasion, commanded the king to purify

the land by driving out the Jews (who were infected with

leprosy, &c.), a race of men who were hateful to the

Gods."[52:9] "The whole multitude of the people were

accordingly collected and driven out into the

wilderness."[52:10]



Diodorus Siculus, referring to this event, says:



"In ancient times Egypt was afflicted with a great plague,

which was attributed to the anger of God, on account of the

multitude of foreigners in Egypt: by whom the rites of the

native religion were neglected. The Egyptians accordingly

drove them out. The most noble of them went under Cadmus and

Danaus to Greece, but the greater number followed Moses, a

wise and valiant leader, to Palestine."[52:11]



After giving the different opinions concerning the origin of the Jewish

nation, Tacitus, the Roman historian, says:



"In this clash of opinions, one point seems to be universally

admitted. A pestilential disease, disfiguring the race of

man, and making the body an object of loathsome deformity,

spread all over Egypt. Bocchoris, at that time the reigning

monarch, consulted the oracle of Jupiter Hammon, and received

for answer, that the kingdom must be purified, by

exterminating the infected multitude, as a race of men

detested by the gods. After diligent search, the wretched

sufferers were collected together, and in a wild and barren

desert abandoned to their misery. In that distress, while the

vulgar herd was sunk in deep despair, Moses, one of their

number, reminded them, that, by the wisdom of his councils,

they had been already rescued out of impending danger.

Deserted as they were by men and gods, he told them, that if

they did not repose their confidence in him, as their chief by

divine commission, they had no resource left. His offer was

accepted. Their march began, they knew not whither. Want of

water was their chief distress. Worn out with fatigue, they

lay stretched on the bare earth, heart broken, ready to

expire, when a troop of wild asses, returning from pasture,

went up the steep ascent of a rock covered with a grove of

trees. The verdure of the herbage round the place suggested

the idea of springs near at hand. Moses traced the steps of

the animals, and discovered a plentiful vein of water. By this

relief the fainting multitude was raised from despair. They

pursued their journey for six days without intermission. On

the seventh day they made halt, and, having expelled the

natives, took possession of the country, where they built

their city, and dedicated their temple."[53:1]



Other accounts, similar to these, might be added, among which may be

mentioned that given by Manetho, an Egyptian priest, which is referred

to by Josephus, the Jewish historian.





Although the accounts quoted above are not exactly alike, yet the main

points are the same, which are to the effect that Egypt was infected

with disease owing to the foreigners (among whom were those who were

afterwards styled "the children of Israel") that were in the country,

and who were an unclean people, and that they were accordingly driven

out into the wilderness.



When we compare this statement with that recorded in Genesis, it does

not take long to decide which of the two is nearest the truth.



Everything putrid, or that had a tendency to putridity, was carefully

avoided by the ancient Egyptians, and so strict were the Egyptian

priests on this point, that they wore no garments made of any animal

substance, circumcised themselves, and shaved their whole bodies, even

to their eyebrows, lest they should unknowingly harbor any filth,

excrement or vermin, supposed to be bred from putrefaction.[53:2] We

know from the laws set down in Leviticus, that the Hebrews were not a

remarkably clean race.



Jewish priests, in making a history for their race, have given us but

a shadow of truth here and there; it is almost wholly mythical. The

author of "The Religion of Israel," speaking on this subject, says:



"The history of the religion of Israel must start from the

sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt. Formerly it was usual

to take a much earlier starting-point, and to begin with a

religious discussion of the religious ideas of the

Patriarchs. And this was perfectly right, so long as the

accounts of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were considered

historical. But now that a strict investigation has shown

us that all these stories are entirely unhistorical, of

course we have to begin the history later on."[54:1]



The author of "The Spirit History of Man," says:



"The Hebrews came out of Egypt and settled among the

Canaanites. They need not be traced beyond the Exodus. That

is their historical beginning. It was very easy to cover up

this remote event by the recital of mythical traditions, and

to prefix to it an account of their origin in which the gods

(Patriarchs), should figure as their ancestors."[54:2]



Professor Goldzhier says:



"The residence of the Hebrews in Egypt, and their exodus

thence under the guidance and training of an enthusiast for

the freedom of his tribe, form a series of strictly historical

facts, which find confirmation even in the documents of

ancient Egypt (which we have just shown). But the traditional

narratives of these events (were) elaborated by the Hebrew

people."[54:3]



Count de Volney also observes that:



"What Exodus says of their (the Israelites) servitude under

the king of Heliopolis, and of the oppression of their hosts,

the Egyptians, is extremely probable. It is here their

history begins. All that precedes . . . is nothing but

mythology and cosmogony."[54:4]



In speaking of the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt, Dr. Knappert

says:



"According to the tradition preserved in Genesis, it was the

promotion of Jacob's son, Joseph, to be viceroy of Egypt, that

brought about the migration of the sons of Israel from Canaan

to Goshen. The story goes that this Joseph was sold as a slave

by his brothers, and after many changes of fortune received

the vice-regal office at Pharaoh's hands through his skill in

interpreting dreams. Famine drives his brothers--and

afterwards his father--to him, and the Egyptian prince gives

them the land of Goshen to live in. It is by imagining all

this that the legend tries to account for the fact that

Israel passed some time in Egypt. But we must look for the

real explanation in a migration of certain tribes which could

not establish or maintain themselves in Canaan, and were

forced to move further on.



"We find a passage in Flavius Josephus, from which it appears

that in Egypt, too, a recollection survived of the sojourn of

some foreign tribes in the north-eastern district of the

country. For this writer gives us two fragments out of a lost

work by Manetho, a priest, who lived about 250 B. C. In one of

these we have a statement that pretty nearly agrees with the

Israelitish tradition about a sojourn in Goshen. But the

Israelites were looked down on by the Egyptians as foreigners,

and they are represented as lepers and unclean. Moses himself

is mentioned by name, and we are told that he was a priest and

joined himself to these lepers and gave them laws."[55:1]



To return now to the story of the Red Sea being divided to let Moses and

his followers pass through--of which we have already seen one

counterpart in the legend related of Bacchus and his army passing

through the same sea dry-shod--there is another similar story concerning

Alexander the Great.



The histories of Alexander relate that the Pamphylian Sea was divided to

let him and his army pass through. Josephus, after speaking of the Red

Sea being divided for the passage of the Israelites, says:



"For the sake of those who accompanied Alexander, king of

Macedonia, who yet lived comparatively but a little while ago,

the Pamphylian Sea retired and offered them a passage through

itself, when they had no other way to go . . . and this is

confessed to be true by all who have written about the actions

of Alexander."[55:2]



He seems to consider both legends of the same authority, quoting the

latter to substantiate the former.



"Callisthenes, who himself accompanied Alexander in the expedition,"

"wrote, how the Pamphylian Sea did not only open a passage for

Alexander, but, rising and elevating its waters, did pay him homage as

its king."[55:3]



It is related in Egyptian mythology that Isis was at one time on a

journey with the eldest child of the king of Byblos, when coming to the

river Phoedrus, which was in a "rough air," and wishing to cross, she

commanded the stream to be dried up. This being done she crossed

without trouble.[56:1]



There is a Hindoo fable to the effect that when the infant Crishna was

being sought by the reigning tyrant of Madura (King Kansa)[56:2] his

foster-father took him and departed out of the country. Coming to the

river Yumna, and wishing to cross, it was divided for them by the Lord,

and they passed through.



The story is related by Thomas Maurice, in his "History of Hindostan,"

who has taken it from the Bhagavat Pooraun. It is as follows:



"Yasodha took the child Crishna, and carried him off (from

where he was born), but, coming to the river Yumna, directly

opposite to Gokul, Crishna's father perceiving the current to

be very strong, it being in the midst of the rainy season, and

not knowing which way to pass it, Crishna commanded the water

to give way on both sides to his father, who accordingly

passed dry-footed, across the river."[56:3]



This incident is illustrated in Plate 58 of Moore's "Hindu Pantheon."



There is another Hindoo legend, recorded in the Rig Veda, and quoted

by Viscount Amberly, from whose work we take it,[56:4] to the effect

that an Indian sage called Visvimati, having arrived at a river which he

wished to cross, that holy man said to it: "Listen to the Bard who has

come to you from afar with wagon and chariot. Sink down, become

fordable, and reach not up to our chariot axles." The river answers: "I

will bow down to thee like a woman with full breast (suckling her

child), as a maid to a man, will I throw myself open to thee."



This is accordingly done, and the sage passes through.



We have also an Indian legend which relates that a courtesan named

Bindumati, turned back the streams of the river Ganges.[56:5]



We see then, that the idea of seas and rivers being divided for the

purpose of letting some chosen one of God pass through is an old one

peculiar to other peoples beside the Hebrews, and the probability is

that many nations had legends of this kind.



That Pharaoh and his host should have been drowned in the Red Sea, and

the fact not mentioned by any historian, is simply impossible,

especially when they have, as we have seen, noticed the fact of the

Israelites being driven out of Egypt.[56:6] Dr. Inman, speaking of this,

says:



"We seek in vain amongst the Egyptian hieroglyphs for scenes

which recall such cruelties as those we read of in the Hebrew

records; and in the writings which have hitherto been

translated, we find nothing resembling the wholesale

destructions described and applauded by the Jewish historians,

as perpetrated by their own people."[57:1]



That Pharaoh should have pursued a tribe of diseased slaves, whom he

had driven out of his country, is altogether improbable. In the words

of Dr. Knappert, we may conclude, by saying that:



"This story, which was not written until more than five

hundred years after the exodus itself, can lay no claim to be

considered historical."[57:2]





FOOTNOTES:



[48:1] Exodus i. 14.



[48:2] Exodus ii. 24, 25.



[48:3] See chapter x.



[48:4] Exodus ii. 12.



[48:5] The Egyptian name for God was "Nuk-Pa-Nuk," or "I AM THAT I

AM." (Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 395.) This name was found on a temple

in Egypt. (Higgins' Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 17.) "'I AM' was a Divine

name understood by all the initiated among the Egyptians." "The 'I AM'

of the Hebrews, and the 'I AM' of the Egyptians are identical." (Bunsen:

Keys of St. Peter, p. 38.) The name "Jehovah," which was adopted by

the Hebrews, was a name esteemed sacred among the Egyptians. They called

it Y-HA-HO, or Y-AH-WEH. (See the Religion of Israel, pp. 42, 43; and

Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 329, and vol. ii. p. 17.) "None dare to enter

the temple of Serapis, who did not bear on his breast or forehead the

name of JAO, or J-HA-HO, a name almost equivalent in sound to that of

the Hebrew Jehovah, and probably of identical import; and no name was

uttered in Egypt with more reverence than this IAO." (Trans. from the

Ger. of Schiller, in Monthly Repos., vol. xx.; and Voltaire: Commentary

on Exodus; Higgins' Anac., vol. i. p. 329; vol. ii. p. 17.) "That this

divine name was well-known to the Heathen there can be no doubt."

(Parkhurst: Hebrew Lex. in Anac., i. 327.) So also with the name El

Shaddai. "The extremely common Egyptian expression Nutar Nutra

exactly corresponds in sense to the Hebrew El Shaddai, the very title

by which God tells Moses he was known to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob."

(Prof. Renouf: Relig. of Anc't Egypt, p. 99.)



[48:6] Exodus iii. 1, 14.



[49:1] Exodus iii. 15-18.



[49:2] Exodus iii. 19-22. Here is a command from the Lord to deceive,

and lie, and steal, which, according to the narrative, was carried

out to the letter (Ex. xii. 35, 36); and yet we are told that this same

Lord said: "Thou shalt not steal." (Ex. xx. 15.) Again he says:

"That shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him." (Leviticus

xix. 18.) Surely this is inconsistency.



[49:3] Exodus iv. 19, 20.



[49:4] Exodus iv. 10.



[49:5] Exodus iv. 16.



[49:6] Exodus v. 3.



[50:1] Exodus vii. 35-37. Bishop Colenso shows, in his Pentateuch

Examined, how ridiculous this statement is.



[50:2] Exodus xiii. 20, 21.



[50:3] "The sea over which Moses stretches out his hand with the staff,

and which he divides, so that the waters stand up on either side like

walls while he passes through, must surely have been originally the Sea

of Clouds. . . . A German story presents a perfectly similar feature.

The conception of the cloud as sea, rock and wall, recurs very

frequently in mythology." (Prof. Steinthal: The Legend of Samson, p.

429.)



[51:1] Exodus xiv. 5-13.



[51:2] Orpheus is said to have been the earliest poet of Greece, where

he first introduced the rites of Bacchus, which he brought from Egypt.

(See Roman Antiquities, p. 134.)



[51:3] The Hebrew fable writers not wishing to be outdone, have made the

waters of the river Jordan to be divided to let Elijah and Elisha pass

through (2 Kings ii. 8), and also the children of Israel. (Joshua iii.

15-17.)



[51:4] Moses, with his rod, drew water from the rock. (Exodus xvii. 6.)



[51:5] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 191, and Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii.

p. 19.



[51:6] The Legend of Samson, p. 429.



[51:7] Dupuis: Origin of Religious Beliefs, p. 135.



[51:8] Vol. i. p. 122.



[52:1] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 122; and Higgins: Anacalypsis vol.

ii. p. 19.



[52:2] Ibid. and Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 174.



[52:3] Taylor's Diegesis, p. 190; Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. under

"Bacchus;" and Higgins: Anacalypsis ii. 19.



[52:4] Exodus ii. 1-11.



[52:5] Taylor's Diegesis, p. 191; Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. under

"Bacchus;" and Higgins: p. 19, vol. ii.



[52:6] Exodus ii. 1-11.



[52:7] Exodus xiii. 20, 21.



[52:8] See Prichard's Historical Records, p. 74; also Dunlap's Spirit

Hist., p. 40; and Cory's Ancient Fragments, pp. 80, 81, for similar

accounts.



[52:9] "All persons afflicted with leprosy were considered displeasing

in the sight of the Sun-god, by the Egyptians." (Dunlap: Spirit. Hist.

p. 40.)



[52:10] Prichard's Historical Records, p. 75.



[52:11] Ibid. p. 78.



[53:1] Tacitus: Hist. book v. ch. iii.



[53:2] Knight: Anc't Art and Mythology, p. 89, and Kenrick's Egypt, vol.

i. p. 447. "The cleanliness of the Egyptian priests was extreme. They

shaved their heads, and every three days shaved their whole bodies. They

bathed two or three times a day, often in the night also. They wore

garments of white linen, deeming it more cleanly than cloth made from

the hair of animals. If they had occasion to wear a woolen cloth or

mantle, they put it off before entering a temple; so scrupulous were

they that nothing impure should come into the presence of the gods."

(Prog. Relig. Ideas, i. 168.)



"Thinking it better to be clean than handsome, the (Egyptian) priests

shave their whole body every third day, that neither lice nor any other

impurity may be found upon them when engaged in the service of the

gods." (Herodotus: book ii. ch. 37.)



[54:1] The Religion of Israel, p. 27.



[54:2] Dunlap: Spirit Hist. of Man, p. 266.



[54:3] Hebrew Mythology, p. 23.



[54:4] Researches in Ancient History, p. 146.



[55:1] The Religion of Israel, pp. 31, 32.



[55:2] Jewish Antiq. bk. ii. ch. xvi.



[55:3] Ibid. note.



"It was said that the waters of the Pamphylian Sea miraculously opened a

passage for the army of Alexander the Great. Admiral Beaufort, however,

tells us that, 'though there are no tides in this part of the

Mediterranean, considerable depression of the sea is caused by

long-continued north winds; and Alexander, taking advantage of such a

moment, may have dashed on without impediment;' and we accept the

explanation as a matter of course. But the waters of the Red Sea are

said to have miraculously opened a passage for the children of Israel;

and we insist on the literal truth of this story, and reject natural

explanations as monstrous." (Matthew Arnold.)



[56:1] See Prichard's Egyptian Mytho. p. 60.



[56:2] See ch. xviii.



[56:3] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 312.



[56:4] Analysis Relig. Belief, p. 552.



[56:5] See Hardy: Buddhist Legends, p. 140.



[56:6] In a cave discovered at Deir-el-Bahari (Aug., 1881), near Thebes,

in Egypt, was found thirty-nine mummies of royal and priestly

personages. Among these was King Ramses II., the third king of the

Nineteenth Dynasty, and the veritable Pharaoh of the Jewish captivity.

It is very strange that he should be here, among a number of other

kings, if he had been lost in the Red Sea. The mummy is wrapped in

rose-colored and yellow linen of a texture finer than the finest Indian

muslin, upon which lotus flowers are strewn. It is in a perfect state of

preservation. (See a Cairo [Aug. 8th] letter to the London Times.)



[57:1] Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 58.



[57:2] The Religion of Israel, p. 41.