Weekly Minnesotian and times. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1859-1860, 1860-04-07
IMinuesotiau Il Times.
ST. PAUL, SATURDAY, APRIL 7.


ST. PAUL, SATURDAY, APRIL z.
The Pyramids In Egypt.
The antiquarian, and curious reader, may
find on the first page of this paper, something
of interest under the above head. The theo-
ries advanced are novel and original, and
coming as they do from a gentleman and
scholar, conceded by all who know him to
possess in an eminent degree learning and
ability on the subject treated, the article will
no doubt, receive attention in scientific cir
cles We commend it to the attention Of all.
The Pyramids Again.
The following extract from lecture of Pro.
fsssor MITCHELL, was placed in the hand of
the writer of this article, by Mr.. NELL, Sec
retary of the Historical Society of Minnesota,
with request that it be republshed, with such
comments as the subject might suggest. This
is done with the hope that the attention of
men Of science may be turned to the real OBJ
ject Of the Pyramids Of Egypt:
ASTRONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT.
The following remarkable account is published
in a report of one of Professor Mitchell's recent
lectures:
professor II. said that not long since he met in
the city of St. Louis man of great scientific at.
tainments, who for forty years had been engaged
in deciphering the hieroglyphics of the ancients.
This gentleman had stated to him that he had late
" unravelled the inscriptions upon the coffin of
mummy now in the London Museum, and that In
them, BY the aid of previous observations, he had
al Ill H.. 81 L,,nV
ledge of the Egyptians. The Zodiac, with the ex
act position Of the planets, delineated on the
coffin, and the date to which they pointed was the
autumnal equinox in the year 1922 before Christ,
or nearly thirty six hundred years ago. Professor
Mitchell employed his assistants to ascertain the
exact position Of the heavenly bodies belonging to
our solar system on the equinox of that year,
(722 B. C.) and send him . correct diagram of
them, without having communicated his object in
tions were made, and to his astonishment on COM
pairing the result with the statements of his scien
ticHc friend already referred to, it was found that
on the 7th of October, 1922, b. o., the moon and
planets had occupied the exact points in the heav
ems marked upon the coffin in the London Mu
scum"
Thus SarcOphagus or mummy case from
the catacombs at Thebes becomes the imme-
diate cause of vindicating the truth of history
in paying silent homage to the genius and
learning Of other days. Verify was ahe
wisdom of inspiration proclaimed by the
Oriental traveller of the past century,
who said-"I will 90 into the desert and
dwell among ruins; will interrogate ancient
monuments upon the wisdom of past times !;
I will invoke from the bosom of the tombs the
spirit which once, in Asia, gave splendor to
States, and glory to nations will ask Of the
ashes of legislators, by what secret cause do
Empires rise and fall reveal the wisdom of
of the tombs and the science of ages"
Wisdom dweleth in the past-amOng the
tombs-thus it euer has been, IS, and erer
shall be, God ordains it.
"He said, and 10, the stars of night
Forth to his banner tew
And morn, with pencil dipt in dght,
Her bushes on it drew"
The man of letters of the present day,
stands at point far in advance of the primi-
tive condition Of our race, in all that pertains
to science and the arts. Yet he still soiourns
at point much farther removed from the as
tonishing wisdom and attainments of Egypt
in the days of her splendor.
In the beginning man found himself pro-
duced marvelously, or, as it were, by chance,
and apparently abandoned by the unknown
he roamed over the valleys, plains and NOUN
food.
In the fullncss of time he became schooled
by necessity-the earth and it's fruits, the
beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and
monsters of the deep-became subject to his
wants. Thus man became refined, cultivated
the arts, and tasted repose and comfort. The
generous soil and genial climate Of Asia, COM
bined with the beauty and clearness of the
heavens enabled man to pass his days in re-
pose and observation, and his nights in
contemplating the heavens, and the phenom.
ena of his own existence, he marked the order
and course Of the seasons, the action of the
elements, and the bounty of nature, while
hunger impeled him to procure food, an an.
Rry heaven constrained him to clOthe his
body.
Thus, by the aid of God, nature, and his
faculties, man raised himself from the primi
tive condition Of wandering up and down ir
the depth of primeval forests, to the aston
ishing height Of founding cities, rearing Pyr
amids, measuring the expanse of the heavens
computing the volume Of the stars, and fixing
the signs of the zodiac-happy while mindful
Of the laws of nature and his being, and mos
wretched when through bigotry, error, ava
rice, or design, he launched forth upon his
hbyrinthian career Of error, misfortune anC
wrong. Artificial wants were created no.
content with the fruits of nature or industry
man coveted the possessions of his neighbor
the strong rose up in his might against tht
weak, to Iend from him the product of hi,
toll, then the feeble invoked the aid Of the GOO
of battles and their own right hands in the de
fence of their homes, their altars, and the
fires. Then the real or pretended man of Goo
was seen in front of either contending faction
or army, to raise his hands heavenward, ant
invoke the aid of the god of battles on th'
the side of his respective legion, and bloo'
began to flow, the land was laid waste, libra
ries burned and cities ruined.
1.-THE bird Of night croaks in the market-plac
and unclean reptiles and creeping things inhabi
the Sanctuary Of the Most High God"
Where is Tyre and Sidon, Nineveh ant
Tadmor in the wilderness? Gone where th
genius of man and the works of art erer hau
and eoer UII go Swept with the bosom o
destruction as "the fishermen spread thei
nets" upon the ruins of that mighty city, >
embalmed in the annals of God So shal
they in the great calendar of time, "sprea,
their nets" upon the ruins of ercry MARTINI
city now on earth.
$50 do the gene ations of the earth,
Go to the grave and issue from the womb"
In an article that appeared in the Times O
this city, April 23d, 1859, which was in par
devoted to the Pyramids, Ga portion of whic
is here eproduced, with the hope that th
suggestions it contains, may serve ss hints t
men Of Science, that they may be still led O.