"been unknown; had the Epagomena or even the "Bissextile been omitted, the month of green corn "must, during that period of 430 years, have some"times fallen in the beginning and sometimes in "the depth of winter.

"The Egyptians claim the Epagomena and the accurate computation of time, as inventions of "their own ancestors. This claim may be grant66 ed, if we take their own account of the inventor. "The first Thoth, amongst other things, calculated "the annual period. We learn from Manetho, the "celebrated Egyptian historian, who relates the

genuine traditions of his nation, that this Thoth "lived before the flood. For he left his discoveries

હે

engraved upon certain columns, in the sacred "dialect and in hieroglyphic letters; and, after "the deluge (another) Thoth, the son of Agathodemon, transcribed these inscriptions into books, " and placed them in the sanctuaries of the Egyp"tian temples*. What discoveries do the Egyptians boast of, which were not originally derived "from the great Thoth? Those ancestors of the Egyptians, who so eminently distinguished themselves, were then antediluvians, and consequently "the common parents of all other nations.

* Maneth. apud Euseb. Præp. Evan. lib, i. cap. 9.

"Thoth is said to have left 36,525 roils of his "discoveries, by which the learned understand pe"riods of time which he had calculated. I find by "Philo Judeus, that the ancient mystagogues re"garded 100 as a perfect number; as the parts "which composed a perfect whole, or as the num"ber of units which constituted a complete series. "If we regard 100 parts as equal to a complete "diurnal revolution, then 36,525 parts will amount

to 365 days and 6 hours: or, if 100 years con_ "stitute a perfect age, agreeably to Philo's appli"cation of the number in the case of Abraham, "then 36,525 will be the diurnal revolutions com"prehended in that age. This I consider as a more

simple method of accounting for the number of "the Hermetic volumes, than by supposing a mul"tiplication of cycles, which must imply much more than a true calculation of the solar pe"riod.

"The Egyptians had years, as they are styled

by the Greeks, of 6, 4, or 3, months. They may "have divided the annual circle into seasons, by "inscribing some of their geometrical figures, as "the line or the triangle, or else the square touch"ing at the four cardinal points. Still the comIs there nothing

plete circle remained the same. "in the Old Testament to confirm the antiquity of "this computation and the use of the Epagomena?

Job

*

"Job speaks of days joined to the year, exclusive "of the number of the months. The Epagomenæ

appear then to have been known out of Egypt, "about the time when Abraham settled in the land "of Canaan, and during the life of the great patri"archs. Let us consider Noah's year. In the

66

history of the deluge we have 5 successive months consisting altogether of 150 days, or 30 days "each. I cannot conceive how such months could "have been formed upon any lunar observation. "From the first day of the tenth month we have

an enumeration of 61 days, together with an un" specified period of time, before the commence"ment of the succeeding year. A complete year " in Noah's days could not then have consisted of "fewer than 12 such months or 360 days. But, "if with the best copies of the LXX and with some "other versions of credit we date the 61 days from "the first of the eleventh month, this point must "be regarded as fully determined. There will be "12 months and a few days over, during which "Noah waited for the return of the third dove, and "before he removed the covering of the ark on the "first day of the first month of the new year. "And there is the greatest probability in favour "of this reading. Noah already knew that the

* Job iii. 6.

" waters

"waters were abated from off the earth. The "question was now, whether the earth produced

66

any thing, or whether the dove would be com66 pelled by hunger to return to the ark. It is not "to be supposed, that, after having for some time "dispatched his weekly messengers, the patriarch "should now wait 29 days to make this experi"ment; 3 or 4 days must have been fully suffi"cient for the purpose. Would not these circum~. "stances have pointed out some error in the text, "had no ancient version suggested and authorized "its correction? Upon this authority we have 12 "months of 30 days each, and the Epagomena; ❝or in all 365 days. But how are we to account "for the number and the precise length of the "months? Perhaps something in the following

manner. The first periodical phenomenon, which "attracted the notice of our first parents, was pro<6 bably the re-appearance of the moon after the 56 change. The iteration of the seasons, and the "periodical approach and retreat of the sun with "which the seasons were obviously connected, "must have also presented themselves to observa❝tion. It could not but be desireable and useful "to ascertain the period of these changes. The

moon was resorted to, as the first means of com"putation; and 12 lunations were found to come "round nearer to the same point, than any other "number

6

"number: hence the 12 months. But these were

very soon discovered to be too short. The object "in view was to obtain a knowledge of the return "of the sun and the seasons.

His course was then

"divided into 12 portions or signs, corresponding "with the number of moons in the first computa"tion. Each of these portions was found to con"sist of 30 days and a fraction: but, as it would "be inconvenient to divide a day, the whole num"ber was retained, and the surplus added to complete the year.

"The first idea of a year must have been that of "the return of the sun and the seasons to the same point. And, from the visible revolution of the sun, men must have first obtained months and years thus constructed. Hence the Hebrew term "for a year implies an iteration, repetition, "a return to the same point. This could have "been no other than the return of the sun and the seasons. The sun was the great luminary, which, by his regular course amongst the other lights or stars, was appointed to measure years *.

"If the moon was first resorted to for the purpose of measuring the sun's course, it was soon "found inadequate to the purpose. Its revolution "had no connection with the return of the seasons.

Gen. i. 14, 16.