Of Manetho and his tablet of the kings of Egypt. Of the confidence which he deserves. Is his chronology opposed to that of the Bible? Egyptian name of the city of Heliopolis. City of Rameses. Land of Rameses. Advantages to sacred learning from researches in the ANSWER TO CERTAIN DIFFICULTIES OF INFIDELS. Could Moses write the Pentateuch in the desert? Magnificence of the tabernacle and of other objects consecrated to the worship of the true God. Silence of the sacred historians in relation to Discovery of the zodiacs of Dendera and of Esne. Objections against biblical chronology. Arrival in France of the planisphere of Den- dera. Contradictory systems about this monument. The date of this and of other zodiacs ascertained by Champollion. Object of ADVERTISEMENT. THIS Essay is the result of the leisure moments, which have been furnished me by the zeal and personal activity of the venerable and distinguished prelate to whom I am bound by virtue of my office, and still more by the ties of strong affection. Attached, from my childhood, to the study of history and of the monuments of antiquity, the duties of my station have never compelled me wholly to abandon pursuits so attractive; but I have felt that my character imposed upon me, in some manner, an obligation to connect them with that divine religion, which itself extending back to the infancy of the world, is supported by the most ancient historical traditions. Í could not remain ignorant of the important labors of Champollion, and from the first, I have followed all his publications with the most lively interest. The application of his system to determining the age of the famous zodiac of Dendera, which was then attracting universal attention, gave me the first idea of the advantages which such a discovery might furnish in the interpretation and defence of the sacred Scriptures. This idea became more fully developed when I read his Précis, and I then began, according to my custom, to write down the observations which are found at the commencement of this work, and afterwards I concluded that it might be useful to increase and publish them. Some circumstances, of no consequence to the reader, have delayed the publication of this work. I know that I have lost the advantage of that public interest which springs from the novelty of a subject, and which is so powerful in its influence upon many persons. But perhaps my work has gained intrinsically by this delay, it having been reviewed and improved by each new discovery which has come to my knowledge, and by many facts of antiquity which have been recalled to my remembrance. However this may be, I shall still be consoled for any errors which affect myself, if I can hope that the cause of religion may be aided by a work which I present to the public in an unpretending and unambitious way, and with no interest in its pecuniary results. In one sense, moreover, this work is not my own; it belongs entirely to the learned men whom I have followed; and I am conscious that no other merit belongs to me, than that of making a few natural applications of the subject, and, what is of far less merit, of making a simple digest. It is useless for me to mention all that I owe to Champollion,* who has furnished me materials for nearly the whole of my work. His name, and that of his learned brother, will be found upon most of its pages. They would have been still oftener alluded to, had I named them each time I have borrowed from them. The labors of M. Letronne upon the inscriptions, the zodiacs, and the text of Clement of Alexandria, have been of great assistance to me. I have drawn from them as from a common and public source. Lastly, I owe much to the interesting little work of M. L. A. C. Coquerel, entitled Lettre à M. Ch. Coquerel sur le Système Hieroglyphique de M. Champollion, considéré dans ses rapports avec l'Écriture Sainte. Amsterdam, 1825, in 8vo. 48 pp. He has furnished me, among other things, with all that I have said upon the subject of Sesostris, and I acknowledge, that without his assistance, this important difficulty would have wholly escaped me. The announcement of this publication led me to suspend my own, until I could receive it from Holland. I then read it with the greatest satisfaction. Perhaps I ought not to have ventured to treat upon the same subject; but this production has been much less known in France than it deserves to be. Besides, my plan was more extensive than the limits of a single letter like that could embrace; and I have not thought it a rash step, to enter the lists after him for the defence of the sacred Scriptures, that so all Christian societies may learn properly to venerate them as the sacred deposits of the word of God. *The name of the younger Champollion will be designated throughout this work by the name Champollion simply, and that of his brother by the addition of Figeac.-TR. ESSAY, &c. INTRODUCTION. AMONG the numerous discoveries of all kinds which are daily adding splendor to our age, there is one of a peculiar order, and well adapted, both by its nature and by the results which it promises, to excite the highest degree of interest among all men who have any curiosity about historical and literary knowledge, and to fix upon its ingenious author the attention of all the learned European world. We refer to the discovery of hieroglyphics; one of those greater events which, so to speak, is to resuscitate ancient Egypt that has been covered with the dust of ages, and to renew, in our own time, the ages of the Pharaohs and of the Ptolemies. Among all the people of antiquity, none appear more worthy of study than the Egyptians; not even excepting the Greeks, brilliant as they were; nor the Romans, the conquerors of the world. The little that we know of the ancient history of Egypt, is still sufficient to excite our liveliest interest, and to give us elevated conceptions of a people, who impressed upon all their institutions the marks of that profound wisdom by which they were characterized, and to which the sacred writers have themselves |