After the party had passed the Jordan, and left that river about three miles behind them, they came to the large open threshing-ground of Atud, in the plain of Jericho, which being level, and enclosed by a low wall, offered a convenient situation for a halt, and for the commencement of those funeral solemnities, for the celebration of which they had made so long a journey. It has been observed, "that there may have been some policy in commencing the funeral solemnities so immediately on entering the land of Canaan; for it served to make their object known to the inhabitants, who might otherwise have imagined that so formidable a company came with no peaceable intent; and attention being thus early drawn to the object, the people of the country through which they were to pass, would be reminded that the sepulchre to which the remains of the patriarch were thus honorably conveyed, belonged to a family absent in Egypt."*

During the seven days the funeral solemnities continued, "they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation;" as the Egyptians generally did on such occasions, and therefore the Canaanites said: "This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians ;" and hence the place afterwards was called Abel-Mitzraim.t

From the threshing-ground the funeral procession moved in solemn order to the vicinity of Hebron, where the body of Israel was deposited in the cave of Machpelah.

As long as Israel lived, Joseph's brothers seem to have entertained no fear that the mighty vizier would take revenge upon them for their unjustifiable outrage on him; but when their common father was dead, they began to apprehend that Joseph was still mindful of this inhuman act. So little did they know the generous disposition of Joseph, notwithstanding all the good he had done to them; which, nevertheless, they seem to have thought he did only for the sake of his beloved father. They consequently determined to send messengers to Joseph, saying, that Israel had instructed them on his death to acknowledge their transgression, and to entreat their brother to forgive the trespass of the servants of his father's God. It has been reasonably supposed by several writers, that this was an invention; as it seems far more likely that Jacob would

circumstance that the party seems to have been in fear of the Philistines, or the people which then inhabited the country afterwards known by the name of Philistine-or Pali-stan Proper for it would otherwise be very difficult to explain why the funeral procession did not pass through that country, or along its borders, as being on the direct route to Mamre, instead of making a circuitous journey across the desert, and by the way of Edom and Moab, and thus incurring the necessity of crossing the Jordan. This is an observation I have found made by but a few writers. This is said to be the route which Moses took in order to avoid" the way of the Philistines."

'Kitto's Palestine, vol. i. book ii. chap. 1.

"The mourning of the Egyptians."

himself have spoken with Joseph on the subject, had he entertained any suspicion that his son still harbored any resentment. But so far from entertaining such a feeling, Joseph wept when he heard the message of his brothers; and when they came and threw themselves at his feet, crying, "Behold, we are thy slaves!" he encouraged them by kind words, telling them to confide in his friendly feelings towards them, and called their attention to the beneficial results which had been brought about by the providential care of the Deity.

We know nothing more either of Joseph's private or public life, except that before his death-which happened at the age of one hundred and ten years, and fifty-four after the demise of his father-he charged the Israelites not to leave his bones in Egypt when they should depart from that country. The custom of embalming the dead made this request of easy accomplishment, for, as is related, the body of Joseph was kept in a coffin or mummy-case.*

*The body of Joseph was, doubtless, treated like those of Egyptians of high rank. Under this treatment the body, after being embalmed, was completely swathed with strips of linen-some think cotton-cloth, of various length and breadth, and was then enclosed in an envelope of coarse, or sometimes fine, cloth. In the mummy which Mr. Davidson examined, the weight of the bandages, including the outer sheet, was twenty-nine pounds, and their total length two hundred and ninety-two yards; and in that which Mr. Pettigrew investigated, the cloth weighed thirty-five pounds and a half; and the one examined at Leeds, England, was in no part covered with less than forty thicknesses of cloth. The mummy thus prepared, with its envelope, presents the appearance of a large mass of cloth, somewhat resembling the general outline of the human figure. The mummy was thus prepared by the embalmers, and in this state consigned to the coffin-makers, who, in the first instance, enclosed it in a case of a strong but flexible species of board, something like papier muché, made by gumming well together several layers of hempen or linen cloth. This was formed into the shape of a swathed mummy, which was inserted into it by means of a longitudinal slit, on the under side, reaching from the feet to the head, which was stitched up after the insertion of the mummy. This case is, in most instances, lined, and covered with a thick coating of plaster, with the representation of the human face in the upper part. This was then introduced into a coffin of sycamore wood, made sometimes out of a piece of wood, and either plain or ornamental within and without, with representations of sacred animals, or mythological subjects. Besides this, there is often yet another wooden coffin, still more highly ornamented, and covered with painting, secured by a strong varnish. The upper part of both these cases is made to represent a human figure, and the sex is clearly indicated by the character of the head-dress, and by the presence or absence of the beard. The last covering of all was a sarcophagus of stone, which, from its heavy additional expense, could only, it may be supposed, be used for kings and wealthy people. These stone coffins consist of two parts-a case to contain the body, formed of one piece of stone, open at the top, and a lid to fit the opening. Some of them are comparatively plain, while others of which there were, at least two years ago, examples in the British Museum, and one of alabaster in the Museum of Sir John Soane-are elaborately sculptured with hieroglyphics, and figures of men and animals; forming not the least astonishing monuments which we possess of Egyptian industry and art.

It seems not unlikely that the remains of Joseph were kept in a stone sarcophagus while in Egypt, and were taken out and removed in one or more wooden coffins when the Israelites departed from Egypt. An Arabian writer-Patricides, p. 24, apud Hottinger; Smyrna

LETTER IV.

THE ISRAELITES IN EGYPT.

How long a period elapsed between the migration of Jacob and his sons into Egypt, and the departure or exodus of the Israelites under Moses, has been a question debated from a very remote time, by Jewish no less than Christian writers, without leading to any certain result. Of those who have attempted to solve this question, by making use of what is called the chronology of Moses, some have computed this interval to have extended to a period of four hundred and thirty years, while others have limited it to the half of this duration. But how is it possible by this means to arrive at the truth? The Hebrew and Samaritan texts, and the different copies of the Greek version of this chronology differ. St. Stephen in the Acts appears to have followed one opinion; the apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Galatians, another. Josephus agrees not with himself on this subject. "The following brief statement," says the Rev. Mr. Milman,† "may throw some light on this intricate subject. The Jews were firmly and religiously persuaded, that their genealogies were not merely accurate, but complete. As then only two names appeared between Levi and Moses, those of Kohath and Amram, and the date of life assigned to these two seemed irreconcilable with a longer period of four hundred and thirty years, they adopted very generally the notion that only two hundred and fifteen years were passed in Egypt. They overlooked, or left

Oriental, chap. viii. p. 379—who could, however, know no more about it than we do, entertained the same impression, and states that the remains of Joseph were deposited in a marble coffin, and cast into the Nile-the last particular being derived from one of the wonderful stories of the Rabbins concerning the preservation of Joseph's body. Their most common account is, that the coffin of Joseph was at first deposited in the royal sepulchre; but that, when the Hebrews demanded leave to depart, the magicians came to the then reigning king, and told him that if he wished to keep the Hebrews in his dominions, the best course would be to conceal the body of Joseph in some place where they could not possibly find it, as they would certainly not leave the country without it; and that in pursuance of this advice, it was sunk in the Nile, and that a miracle was effected to enable Moses to recover it, and carry it away. Talm. Bab. Sotah, c. i., Targum Jonathan. Another account alleges that the coffin was deposited in the treasury of the kings, in pursuance of a prediction by the magicians, that if the Hebrews got possession of it, and carried it away, Egypt would suffer many calamities.-Test. xii.; Patriarchæ, in Simeone. "The truth probably is, that the sarcophagus containing the body of Joseph, was kept in a sepulchre in the land of Goshen, in charge of his family, and that no difficulty was experienced in its removal when the time of deliverance came."-Kitto's Palestine, vol. i. book ii. chap. 1.

Chap. vii. 6.

"History of the Jews," vol. i. book ii.

to miraculous intervention to account for a still greater difficulty, the prodigious increase of one family during one generation. In the desert, the males of the descendants of Kohath are reckoned at eight thousand six hundred and nine. Kohath had four sons, from each son then, in one generation, must have sprung on the average two thousand one hundred and fifty males.* On this hypothesis the alternative remains, either that some names have been lost from the genealogies between Kohath and Amram, or between Amram and Moses-a notion rather confirmed by the fact, that in the genealogy of Joshua, in the book of the Chronicles, he stands twelfth in descent from Joseph, while Moses in the fourth from Levi; or, as there are certain grounds for suspecting, some general error runs through the whole numbering† of the Israelites in the desert."

It was, however, hoped, after the discovery of the means of deciphering the hieroghyphics, that if not the full truth, at least something approaching to it, would be obtained by the investigation of the inscriptions on the monuments of Egypt. This hope has, however, not yet been realized ; still as the monumental inscriptions confirm many of Manetho's statements, I think there can now be little doubt that the exodus took place during the reign of Amenophis, or Si-Phahah, though the time when this prince reigned is not, and perhaps never will be, correctly ascertained. But from all I have read on the subject, I can, for my own part, entertain no doubt that the duration of the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt was rather a period of four hundred and thirty years than one of two hundred and fifteen.

It would have been interesting to know "the precise situation which Joseph's family occupied after his death, and how far it was affected by the high station their father had occupied, and by their maternal derivation from a distinguished family in Egypt. Born in that country, and brought up in courts and palaces, under an Egyptian mother, their pastoral relatives from Canaan must at first have been strangers and foreigners to Ephraim and Manasseh." Hence the question naturally arises, at what time, and under what circumstances, this branch of the Hebrew family threw aside their Egyptian character, and joined their pastoral relatives in Goshen? We find no answers to these questions in the Hebrew writings; but this might reasonably be supposed to have taken place when the "new king, who knew not Joseph," mounted the throne of Lower Egypt, or laid, as a conqueror, this country at his feet.

All the positive information concerning the family of Joseph which can be gathered is contained in the books of Chronicles. From these we learn that Manasseh had no children by his wife; but the son of a Syrian con

I cannot see how any one endowed by reason and the use of this most precious gift of the Creator, could ever have imagined but that some error had crept into the text. † Some observations on this subject will follow in their proper place.

cubine was his heir. The only other circumstance which have become. known to us through the same source, relates to the tribe of Ephraim, and is interesting, as showing that this tribe early evinced that desire for spoils which is one of the characteristics of the Bedouins-though certainly not a laudable one-or partook of the hostile feelings of the Egyptians against the Philistines. A body of Ephraimites, headed by the sons of Zabad-the sixth in the descent from Ephraim-undertook a kind of freebooting expedition into the land of the Philistines, with the immediate view of driving off the cattle belonging to the people of Gath; but meeting with a manly resistance, they were repulsed, and all the sons of Zabad perished.†

It is to be supposed that the memory of Joseph would, in the course of time, become less cherished by the Egyptians; even admitting, what however is not certain, that he had been as great a favorite with the people as he was with his master. Besides, it cannot be denied that his services had been munificently rewarded, particularly by the gift of the district of Goshen to his relatives. Consequently, we cannot much wonder that at last the Egyptians began to look upon the Hebrews in a different point of view; and particularly when a king that knew nothing of Joseph mounted the throne. Still the treatment to which he is related to have subjected the Israelites, seems to have originated not solely from ignorance of the services of their illustrious ancestor, nor solely from jealousy of their increasing multitude, but also from motives of tyranny, because it resembles much the means by which a conqueror might attempt to crush the spirit of a conquered people. There can, therefore, be scarcely any doubt that this king was of another race than that to which Joseph's master belonged. If the latter was a king of some

* 1 Chron. vii. 14.

† 1 Chron. vii. 21, 22. In the text, as it stands, the name of Ephraim has been substituted for that of Zabad, in the verse: “And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him." It is impossible that Ephraim should have been alive to mourn over the seventh generation of his descendants. Read "Zabad," and all becomes intelligible.-Kitto's Palestine, vol. i. book ii. chap. 2.

From whence this king came has been also a much debated question. It was for a long time the general opinion, that he belonged to the race of the royal shepherds; but this opinion has now lost credit. It is at present considered more probable that Joseph's master belonged to this race, and that the king in question was from Thebes or Upper Egypt; the latter opinion being even entertained by many of those who consider Joseph's master to have been a native of Lower Egypt. Thus on this question, though certainly not settled without a doubt, there exists now less difference of opinion than on those of the arrival of the Hebrews in, and their departure from, Egypt. Nay, the latter questions seem almost impossible to be decided, when two so recent writers as Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Osburn can differ so much as we have seen they do. The former assigning Osortasen I. as the king whose minister Joseph was, and Thothmes III. as the king under which the exodus took place; the latter again considering Apophis as Joseph's master, and Amenophis as the king under whose reign the Hebrews departed from Egypt.