The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1860-03-21

EG YPTIAN REC ORDS AND THE BIBLE.
To the Editors Of the Daily Exchange:
In one of your numbers issued some time since,
noticed that Professor Mitchell, in his astronomi-
cal lectures, in Philadelphia, had alluded to a re-
markable translation of an inscription upon the
coffin of an Egyptian mummy in the British
Museum, by gentleman of st. Louis, whose name,
however, was omitted. l have been looking for
some further public developments concerning this
devotee to Egyptian antiquities, but as nothing of
a very definite character has yet appeared, | ask
as favor of the editors of the Daily Exchange to
publish the following account:
The gentleman alluded to by Prof Mitchell is
Dr. SeyiiOrth, of the Concordia College, ST. Louis,
Mo-, and the translation to which he referred is
published amongst the transactions of the Academy
of Science of ST. Louis and is entitled "An
Astronomical Inscription concerning the gear 1922
B. G. explained by g. Segforh." DR.. Seyforth is
native of Germany, and has lived but few years
in the United States. He is possessed of numer-
Gus honors conferred upon him by the Universities
of Europe, where he is justly regarded the most
able translator Of Egyptian history in the world
His life has been spent in the acquisition of know
ledge, in discovering the key to hierOgyphcal in
scriptions, in decyphering the memorials the
monuments and in translating the writings the
papyrus scrolls of Egypt. Throughout all his re-
searches he appears to have directed his attention
to matters which are calculated to enhance our
estimate of the record of the Sacred Scriptures,
and give permanency to the truths which they
| tain.
The results of his inquiries have been published
at different periods from 1882 to 1857, numbering
| perhaps forty articles. which can all be seen in
| the AStor Library, New Y rk. OF these, the
greater portion written in Latin, and the rest
| in German, with the exception of the account
| spoken nf above published in St. Louis, and a
| larger work, also produced since he a resident
| of this country, and published in New York, by
Henry Ludwig, in 1857, which bears the following
title: "a Summary of Recent Discoveries in BiJi-
cal Chronology, Universal History and Egyptian
| Archaeology"
In Justice to the merits of this work. point out
few of the leading articles, and recommend the
whole book to the attentive perusal of thoughtful
| readers. An entire chapter is taken up with an
account OF the inscriptions the ceiling of the
little temple of Dendara, which was removed from
the temple with great labor by of tie savans
attached to Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt, and
brought to Paris in 1893 This relic of other ages
| created intense interest amongst the learned
men of that dav, and eminent scholars declared
that this inscription set forth that the temple of
Dendara had been built II 900 years before the
coming of Christ. Without the means at hand of
cOntroverting these conclusions the French philoso
pliers, and men of other countries of similar stamp,
believed in the fabulous age of the temple and
without scrupe, proceeded to represent the entire
Mosaic account of the Creation and of the Deluge,
| ''myth." No respectable attempt to overturn
| opinions hastily adopted was made until the
| year 1888, when DR.. Seyfforth, after having dis
covered the true key to the astronomical calcula-
tons of the ancient Egyptians, arrived in Paris,
and after making careful study of the remarkable
| ceiling, gave a translation Numerically opposite
to those who had written the subject before him.
| He pronounced the carved representations of the
heavens and of the signs of the zodiac-contained
| thereon-to signify nothing more than planetary
CONFORMATION of the birth of the Roman Emperor
Nero, which it represented to have taken place at
| the time given in other accounts, viz: the 18th
of bruary, of the 37th year of the Christian era.
One half of the name of Nero remains legible on
| the ceiling, and other parts of the temple,
which still remain standing where it built at
| Dendara, the of Nero who had built and
reconstructed many temples in Egypt, is several
| times inscribed.
Three other chapters are devoted to the exhibit
ton of astronomical facts, in confirmation of the
chronology of the Old Testament; to the correc-
tion of Grecian and Roman history by astronomi-
| cal observations and to the re-estabshment, by
mathematical facts of the history of the New Testa-
ment. From the profound nature of DR.. Seyfforths
learning, and his uncommon accuracy his friends are
satisfied that all his astronomical and mathematical
reckonings would bear the proof of test similar
in severity to that to which Prof Mitchell submitted
the translation of the inscription the Egyptian
| coffin in the British Museum, and with similar
|