The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1872-01-19
The Ancient Egyptians.

was consid cred To be OF wondrous and re-
mote antiquity. Some works, which ex-
cited the wonder and admiration of former
ages, are cow lost 20 mankind, having
been buried beneath the shifting sands Of
the desert, or gradually overwhelmed
by the dliacS0n yearly deposited by the
Nile. Among these Is the famous La
byrinth, described by Herodotus, and
situated near Lake MDris itself wonder
full work of human labor and ingenuity.
This remarkable structure contained IF
teen hundred rooms above the surface o (
the ground, and three thousand beneath it.
devoted TO the reception Of the sacred
mummies of kings, crocodiles, and other
objects of Egyptian veneration. Ii was
30 artfully oontrived that person ignO-
rant of the clue might wander for days in
its vast recesses, and perhaps never
emerge.
The pyramids, the moe. stupendous
structures ever erected by man, still re-
main. almost uninjured by time or by re-
peated attempts TO demolish them. The
erection Of one of them is said TO have cost
the labor Of an hundred thousand men for
twenty years. II covers the surface Of
eleven acres, and rises nearly to the height
OF five hundred feet In its immediate
neighborhood Ia the Sphynx, n colossal
halfhuman figure, crouching in the sand,
carved from the cold rooh, and more than
@ hundred feet in length.
The ruins Of Thebes. situated abo at
five hundred miles from the mouth OF the
Nile. have always excited the most en-.
thusiastic admiration The circumference
OF the ancient city was twenty seven miles,
and the structures which still remain,
though yaged by successive cong uerors.
and exposed TO the elements for thousands
Of years are unequaled by any in the
world. The great temple is a quarter Of
o mile in length, and with It's avenues and
adjoining buildings, covers many hun
dred acres OF ground The immense
statue OF ozymandias, now thrown from
its pedestal. lice upon the ground. Its
size may be imagined from the fact that
the breadth OF the shoulders is twenty.
six feet. Two other figures. each in a
posture. and about City two feet in height,
still retain their places one Of them
being the celebrated Memnon, which was
accustomed 70 salute the rising sun with q
single note OF music. In the neighborhood
are tombs eIcavated in the old rock, 80
magnificent as TO appear like temples one
of which. being opened by the traveller
Belzoni. was discovered TO be that of Pha-
raoh Eecho. who took Jerusalem, the
captive Hebrews being portrayed upon
the wall. At the Island Of Phile, farther
up, is another nssemblage Of stupendous
temples palaces, and monuments and In
many other places along the Nile, there
still remains splendid memorials Of the
power and magnihceuoe Of the ancient
Egyptians.
These ruins arc, for the most part GOV.
cred with figures and hieroglyphics (sa-
cred sculp.ure), which tell the history Of
their founders with varions degrees of
clearness and obscurity. Often the entire
series OF events OF battle or conquest
are scu'ptured in succession. aud the
nation OF the captivos arc often distin-
guishei by their features and costume.
Aspecies of hieroglyphics, and for many
ages untranslatable. WIS NJ last deciphered
by the ingenuity OF Young. Champollion,
and other eminent artiquarians. 1t con
sisted of a kind of alphabet, each letter or
sound being represented by some object
whose initial commences with it and from
this rude beginning Ia supposed to have
sprung the more improved method of
writing which Cadmus carried with him
70 Greece, and which was there perfected
into nearly our present system of lettera
These mystical inscriptions. soingeniously
deciphered. have thrown much light on
the chronology and history Of Egypt, and
have confirmed tho truth Of statements in
the ancient writings Of Manetho. which
had heretofore been considered fabulous.
There is also little doubt that the present
system Of arithnetcal numbers. Tor which
we are indebted 70 the Saracens, was by
them derived from that Of the Egyp.
tians.
Learning and the sciences appear TO
have been pursued with great diligence
and the education Of An ancient philoso-
pher was hardly considered complete
until he had voyaged 10 Egypt. and re.
ceived from the lips of the priests some
portion of their traditional lore" all the
wisdom OF Egypt"
Anatomy, medicine, and surgery were
particularly studied ;,and the prodigious
structures. which still remain, indicate n
high knowledge of mathematical and me-
| chanical science. Their histories. though
now lost to mankind, were perused with
deep interest by ancient writer's, and
served as models for the many valuable
records OF Grecian history which we now
possess. A library existed at Thebes
even before the Trojan war; and the
national reputation for learning was re-.
vived at later day by the celebrated col.
lection at Alexandria.
No people appear to have paid more al.
tention TO the funeral rites and the pre-.
servation of their bodies. A talent of sill
/ "a