Ashtaroth, &c. were given. The next step was the canonization and worship of hero-gods, and deified mortals, whose bodies the Egyptian priests affirmed that they had in their possession, embalmed and deposited in their sepulchres; such as Chronus, Rhea, Osiris, Isis, &c. Besides these were eight others, whom the Egyptians called demi-gods, to whom Diodorus gives the names of Sol, Saturnus, Rhea, Jupiter, Juno, Vulcanus, Vesta, and Mercurius; which in fact are only other names for the hero-gods; and who are said to have reigned in Egypt before Menes or Misraim. This system of false theology was received from the Egyptians by the Greeks, and from them communicated to the Romans.

The wonder of Egypt, the pyramids, are situated on a rocky plain, about three miles from the village of Gizeh, on the western side of the Nile, and four miles south-west of Cairo. They are called by the Arabs Dgebel Pharaon, and by the Turks Pharaen Doglary, that is, Pharaoh's mountains. Three of them are larger than the others, and may be seen from Cairo, and a great distance beyond it. Of these three pyramids, two are closed; but the largest is open, and is that which travellers ascend and enter into. There are

several smaller ones in the neighbourhood, which have been opened, and are almost entirely ruined; but there are four yet remaining which deserve the greatest attention. These four stand nearly in a direct line, and are about 400 paces distant from one another. Their four faces correspond precisely to the four points of the compass, north, south, east, and west. The two most northerly are the largest, being about 500 feet in perpendicular height, and 700 on each side at the base. The external part is chiefly built of great square stones, cut from the rocks along the Nile, and the quarries from which they have been taken are still visible. The opening or entrance to the first pyramid is on the north side, and leads successively to five different passages, which, though running upwards, and downwards, and horizontally all tend towards the south, and terminate in two chambers, the one underneath, and the other in the midst of the pyramid. In one of these chambers is a sarcophagus of granite, six feet long, three wide, and four deep, formed of a single stone, without any ornament, and smoothly hollowed out. Near this is a deep hole or well, which appears to lead to some cavity underneath, which has not been explored. About

three hundred paces east of the second pyramid, stands the head of the famous sphinx, carved out of the solid rock, twenty-six feet high, and twelve in circumference round the nead. In the neighbourhood of these pyramids are many others of different sizes, built of large bricks made of clay mixed with chopped straw, and hardened by the heat of the @un. One of these is little inferior in size to the largest men. tioned above, but they are more damaged, and probably more ancient. They do not appear to have been so neatly finished or so well contrived as the others.

There are many splendid and magnificent ruins scattered over this country, which give proof of the high cultivation enjoyed by the ancient inhabitants. The art of embalming dead bodies, in which the ancient Egyptians excelled, is now unknown. The mummy pits or caverns contain the generations which are gone, and some of these embalmed bodies are perfectly preserved, though they have been dead three thousand years.

The southern or upper part of Egypt is extremely rocky and arid; but lower down it becomes more level and productive; and where the Nile divides into several streams, it embraces that part of Egypt which was called by the Greeks the Delta, from a fancied resemblance to the letter a. This is a vast plain, fertilized by the Nile, containing numerous villages, and yielding abundance of grain and other productions.

The present inhabitants of Egypt may be distinguished into three classes: 1. The Cophts or Copts, descendants of the ancient Egyptians, who have lived for more than two thou. sand years under the dominion of different foreign conquerors, and who have experienced many changes of fortune. They have lost their manners, language, and religion; and are reduced to a small number, compared with the Arabs, who have poured like a flood over the country. 2. The Fellahs, or husbandmen, who are possibly the people called in Scripture Phul. This class suffers much oppression, being despised by both Arabs and Turks; they seldom acquire property, and if they do, they are not suffered to enjoy it. 3. The Arab conquerors of the country, including Turks, Mamelukes, &c. Previously to the recent changes in the political condition of Egypt, the Turks were in possession of most of the offices under the government; but the policy of the pre

sent ruler of Egypt tends to the encouragement and promotion of any other Europeans rather than Turks. A great many Frenchmen, in particular, have been patronized by the present pacha; and he does not hesitate to avail himself of their services both in the civil and military departments of s government.

this ox to Egypt. The man on horseback is the most singular part of this medal; none of the countries adjacent having adopted the type of a horseman. There is every reason to believe that the letters on this medal are Persian, and that the person represented is Aryandes, governor of Egypt under Darius, the last king of Persia, who then pos sessed this country, and who caused the governor to be put to death for coining money in his own name.

These medals represent the figure or divinity of the river Nile, seated n the hippopotamus and the crocodile, both of which were characteristic symbols of Egypt. The crocodile was adopted as an emblem of the country, and there is no other river known to antiquity to which the hippopotamus can be referred. To show the rider seated equally on each, proves an equal adoption of both: and as the crocodile is uni versally allowed to be the leviathan, we may suppose the hippopotamus is the behemoth, of the book of Job.

The inscription on this medal, ZEUS SERAPIS, points at the original divinity of Jupiter; the measure on the head of Serapis is probably the cup, which certain figures hold in their hands, transferred to the head Before this figure is a Sphinx. Another medal resembling this, inscribed, HELIOS SERAPIS, proves that Serapis was the sun. The head on this medal is Vespasian.

No. 5.

This medal is of gold. The head is one of the Lagidæ, kings of Egypt: the reverse is a reaper cutting corn. The type of the reaper is uncommon, and is only found on another medal of brass, struck also in Egypt; the fertility of which country is alluded to. But this type is peculiarly interesting to us, when we observe that the ears of corn which mark this fertility are seven in number; thus seeming to refer to the dream of Pharaoh, and the interpretation of it by Joseph.

EGYPT, River of: See Part I. p. 32.

EKRON, the most northern of the five lordships or governments of the Philistines. In the division of the country by Joshua, this city fell to the lot of Judah, (Josh. xv. 45.) but was afterwards given to Dan; though it does not appear that the Israelites were ever in peaceable possession of it. It was a strong city, and was situated very near the Mediterranean, between Ashdod and Jamnia; but all vestiges of it have been extinct for many centuries. Zephaniah prophesied that "Ekron should be rooted up," (chap. ii. 4.) This city was celebrated for the worship of Baal-zebub, or the god of flies, as the name imports. He seems to have been their Esculapius, or god of medicine, as he was consulted by Ahaziah, king of Israel, concerning his health. (2 Kings i. 2.) Ekron was called Accaron by the Greeks, and was then a considerable town.