The San Francisco call., 1896-12-28
Rev. DR.. Haskell Smith
Tells of Civilization 1000
Years Ago.
The Ancient Egyptians Wor-
SHIPPED the Same God We
Believe In.
Dr.. Smith Tells How He Surrepti.
tiously Shook the Hand of the
Mummy of Rameses the Great.

Yesterday afternoon in the auditorium
of the Y. NJ. C. a. the Rev. DR.. Raskett
Smith of England delivered lecture to
large audience on the subject "Seyen
Thousand Years Ago, or the Mysteries of
Ancient Egypt"
Dr.. Smith is a man of wide experience
in Eastern travel and study, and has had
exceptional opportunities for study. He
has made four trips up the Nile and spent
five years on Mount Carmel, where he
owns g summer residence. He is now
com pleting g trip around the world and
will make q brief sojourn in San Fran
cisco. He usually illustrates his lectures
with stereopticon views, but in this in
stance was Obliged TO omit them.
In his opening remarks DR.. Smith said
that the nineteenth century, now so near
its close, will take rank among the most
remarkable in history. In invention, dis
covery and studlous research its achieve
ments have been most remarkable. Promi-
nent among these achievements was the
rescuing from oblivion OF the literature,
history and works OF art OF that most
marvellous and fascinating country, the
land of the Pharaohs.
One hundred years ago practically
nothing was known Of ancient Egypt, but
by the food of light which modern
scholarship has brought to bear upon the
subject the hieroglyphics Gut on the sub
lime ruins have all been read. One of the
most interesting results OF this research is
the evidence 1t has opened up corroborat-
ing the sacred records in that faithful
book-the Bible. 1t has at the same time
proved that very mistaken interpretations
nave been put upon these sacred records.
One Of these serious mistakes was that the
system of chronology which was taken
from the margins OF the manuscripts of
the sacred Scriptures was supposed by our
fathers to be OF divine authority. These
marginal notes as TO dates are now known
TO be purely human calculations, and
being computations from erroneous data,
OF course gave erroneous results. These
errors indicated that the world was but
5000 years old, and it is now known that
the age of the earth is practically limit
less, so far as our human conceptions OF
time are concerned, and that 700 years
sgo there lived a people on the shores of
the Nile who possessed the highest civili-
zation, culture and religious Efe-as high
IN their way as ours Of to-day.
DR.. Smith explained that MS time was
too brief 10 treat in an adequate way q
history which extended over the long
period OF 1000 years, but he wished as
concisely as possible to call attention 10
four important points which have been
brought out by modern research in de-
ciphering the hieroglyphics and digging
among the ruins.
The first point is that the ancient Egyp-
tians actually worshiped the same God
that we do. Their hymns, which can now
readily be translated, prove their belief in
the one, only, self-existent, invisible God,
who created all things. They we're most
intensely religious people and carried this
devotion into every detail OF life.
The second point IS that they believed
in future life, in judgment to come, in
future rewards and punishments and in
the resurrection OF the body and immor-
tality OF the soul. Their belief in the
resurrection of the body, however, did not
reach the spiritual Christian conception
of it.
The third point is that the ancient
Egyptians had elevated woman 10 equal
lty with man. This is point OF deep
significance, for it is only where high
civilization has been reached that woman
is not crushed and oppressed as the
weaker vessel The record has been cut
in stone that the Egyptian mother. wife
and daughter were treated with q greater
delicacy Of courtesy than the husband
and father.
The fourth point is that they had
reached a high proficiency in art. Men
have spent their lives in unearthing the
ruins of Egypt and have exhumed pic
lures, statuary and various works of art
which would do credit TO the most pre-
eminent artists OF the present day.
Speaking OF the short time he had for
such a great subject Dr.. Smith said that
the history of Egypt began when Menes
consolidated the pire 5000 years before
Christ ana closed with the death OF Cleo
patra, twenty-seven years before Christ
and that he could barely lift the fringe of
the curtain and show some OF the salient
features in the study. He told how the
discovery of the way to read the Egyptian
literature resulted from the finding of the
famous Rosetta stone, when the French
army under Napoleon invaded Egypt in
1888. Ancient Egyptian is now a Ian
guage, which Can De studied as Greek or
Latin.
The Pharaohs of whom the Bible speaks
were, first. Seti. OF the time of Moses
birth. DR.. Smith here created a.laugh by
telling the audience tn At Pharaoh was the
father of Pharaoh's daughter. Rameses
II the Great was the Pharaoh of the time
of the oppression, when Moses called down
the plaques. Rameses was a great hero.
and DIR. Smith again created a laugh by
saying he had shaken hands with Rameses
ard would be sure to know him If he
should see him in crowd walking down
Market street. The mummy OF the great
conQuering king was in such remarkable
preservation that the features were still
well formed. The third king was Manepta
He was the Pharaoh OF the exodus ana
perished in the Red Sea.
The address closed with an eloquent ac-
count OF the great Sphinx at Memphis.