The Jewish advance. (Chicago, Ill.) 1878-1881, 1880-08-20
The Exodus of Israel.
Cc0nc2uded.

CcOnciuded.
These writer's all repeat the charge
of the leprous or diseased condition
Of the Jews, name Moses as their
leader, and give numbers ranging
them 10000 to 290,000, apparently war
tarers Three of them assert that the
lsraelites were expelled by order of the
gods and to avert their displeasure.
Lysimachus speaks of their being com
manded by Moses to overthrow the tenn
piles and images of the gods, and of
destitutiOn of the fruits of the land
caused bytheir presence. He mentions
the drowning in the sea. but fastens it
on the wrong party, the lepers :" also
the exposure to destruction in the
desert their "lindling fires and lamps"
BY night keeping a fast, and commit
ting themselves to Moses, by whom they
were led through the desert" to Judea
Manetho and ChHremon make still
more remarkable admission Of the calam-
ltous state to which Egypt and its mon
arch were reduced Charemon relates
that the diseased people, numbering
100000, headed by Moses and Joseph,
sacred scribe, proceeded against the
monarch of Egypt C'Amenophis'); that
the king could not sustain the attack,
but fled to Ethiopia, leaving his wife
concealed III IA cavern that he remained
there until his son RameSa $50 Bekker's
text, born in the cavern, grew to man
hood chased the Jews to Syria, and
then brought back his father from
Ethiopia. Manetho tells the same story
still more in detail. Clearing it of it's
told that the King (Amenophis) having
been warned by the gods to clear the
country of lepers, sent eighty thousand
lepers and diseased persons to the quar-
ries; that the prophet who gave the
warning, fearing the anger of the gods
should violence appear to have been
done them, and foreseeing that they and
their allies would conquer and hold
Egypt thirteen years, committed suicide,
leaving a letter to the King containing
the warning that the. King, alarmed, Z
granted them permission to go to the
city Ayaris that they allied themselves
to the people of Jerusalem and made
revolt, headed by Osarsiph, who changed
his name to Moses, and made laws for
the overthrow of the gods and the de-
struction Of the sacred animals that
the King, greatly alarmed by the warn
ing of the dead prophet, committed his
son, five years old, to the care of a
friend, charged the priests to hide the
sacred animals and with 100000 of his
best warriors. advanced to meet the
common enemy, but fearing he should
be fighting against the gods, retreated
without battle, and marched his whole
army into Ethiopia, to remain for the
fated thirteen years that the rebels,
left in possession Of Egypt committed
all manner Of outrages, setting the vii
lagos on fire, and particularly venting
their fury on the gods, sacred animals,
and priests, the latter being themselves
compelled to destroy the sacred animals,
and being then elected from the country
naked. Atterward the King returned
from Ethiopia with a great army, and,
being joined by his son with another
army, conquered the rebels and pursued
them to the borders of Syria.
These narratives possess no little in
terest The disparagement, amounting
to caricature, with which they are
charged, betrays the hostile source, and
stands guarantee for all the admissions.
And they contain to a surprising extent
the substance of the Scripture narra-
tive, with only so much of Egyptian
c0lOring and disguise as might be ex-
pected the conflict of the two races,
the central feature Of which was a re-
ligious struggle ; the prophetic an
nouucement Of coming calamity the
working upon the monarch fears the
divine command to send the Hebrews
ut a G0 70