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Noph (Isaiah 19:13; Jeremiah 2:16; 46:14, 19;Ezekiel 30:13, 16) was the capital of
Lower, as Thebes that of Upper, Egypt, the latter being thePathros of Scripture.
(Isaiah 11:11; Jeremiah 44:1, 15) It is scarcely possible to convey an adequateidea of
the pyramids. Imagine a structure covering at the base an area of some 65,000 feet,
andslanting upwards for 600 feet; or, to give a better idea than these figures convey
"more than half aslong on every side as Westminster Abbey, eighty feet higher than
the top of St. Paul's, coveringthirteen acres of ground, and computed to have contained
nearly seven million tons of solidmasonry?
We cannot here enter on the various purposes intended by these wonderful structures,
some ofwhich, at any rate, were scientific. Not far from the great pyramids was the
ancient On, connectedwith the history of Joseph, and where Moses probably got his
early training, But all hereabout is fullof deepest interest - sepulchers, monuments,
historical records, and sites of ancient cities. We are ina land of dreams, and all the
surroundings bear dreamy outlines; gigantic in their proportions, andrendered even
more gigantic by the manner in which they are disposed. Probably the
mostmagnificent of these monuments in Upper Egypt, the Pathros of Scripture - are
those of its capital,Thebes, the No, or No Amon of the Bible. (Jeremiah 46:25; Ezekiel
30:14-16; Nahum 3:8) It wereimpossible in brief space to describe its temple. The
sanctuary itself was small, but opposite to it acourt opened upon a hall into which the
great cathedral of Paris might be placed, without touchingthe walls on either side! One
hundred and forty columns support this hall, the central pillars beingsixty-six feet
high, and so wide that it would take six men with extended arms to embrace one
ofthem. The mind gets almost bewildered by such proportions. All around, the walls
bearrepresentations, inscriptions, and records - among others, those of Shishak, who
captured Jerusalemduring the reign of Rehoboam. But the temple itself is almost
insignificant when compared with theapproach to it, which was through a double row
of sixty or seventy ram-headed sphinxes, placedabout eleven feet apart from each
other. Another avenue led to a temple which enclosed a lake forfuneral rites; and yet a
third avenue of sphinxes extended a distance of 6,000 feet to a palace. Thesenotices
are selected to give some faint idea of the magnificence of Egypt.
It would be difficult to form too high an estimate of the old-world culture and
civilization, here laidopen before us. The laws of Egypt seem to have been moderate
and wise; its manners simple anddomestic; its people contented, prosperous, and
cultured. Woman occupied a very high place, andpolygamy was almost the exception.
Science, literature, and the arts were cultivated; commerce andnavigation carried on,
while a brave army and an efficient fleet maintained the power of thePharaohs.
Altogether the country seems old in its civilization, when alike the earliest sages of
Greeceand the lawgivers of Israel learned of its wisdom. But how different the use
which Israel was to makeof it from that to which the philosophers put their lore! What
was true, good, and serviceable was toenter as an element into the life of Israel. But
(^)