6. The place of alphabetic writing was supplied, in ancient Egypt, by those rude pictures of visible objects, known by the name of hieroglyphics, a multitude of which are still found sculptured on her walls and temples.

7. A striking resemblance, with regard to government, religion, customs, and character, has been remarked between the ancient Egyptians and several oriental nations, particularly the Chinese. The government was an hereditary mon archy, but the power of the sovereign was checked by the influence of the priests.

8. Every person, not excepting the king, was, immediately after his death, subjected to a trial, in order to determine whether he was worthy of funeral rites. His whole life passed in review, and, if pronounced virtuous, his embalmed body was, with various marks of honor, deposited in a sepulchre, which was often constructed at great expense; but, if his life had been vicious, or if he had died in debt, he was left unburied, and was supposed to be deprived of future happiness.

9. Me'nes, supposed to be the same as Mizraim, the son of Ham, is said to have founded the Egyptian monarchy, and to have been succeeded in the throne by his posterity, for many generations. Afterwards we are told that a race of sovereigns, styled the Shepherd Kings, governed Egypt for the space of two or three centuries.

10. The ancient Egyptians appear never to have been a warlike nation. Sesos 'tris is the only king of the country whose name stands recorded in history as a great conqueror. He is said to have maintained a numerous army, and to have conquered a great part of Asia; but we have little certain knowledge of his achievements, or of the extent of his conquests. During his latter years, he is said to have renounced a life of warfare, and to have devoted himself to the internal improvement of his kingdom. The time of his reign is not well ascertained. He has been supposed to be the same as Shishak, who took Jerusalem in the reign of Rehoboam; but Sir Isaac Newton supposes him to have been the same as Osiris, and Mr. Whiston, the Pharaoh who was drowned in the Red sea.

11. The next sovereign who is particularly distinguished in history, was Nechus, or Pharaoh-Necho. He patronized navigation, and fitted out a fleet which sailed round Africa He made war upon the Medes and Babylonians, and defeated Josiah, king of Judah, in the battle of Megiddo.

12. In the year B. C. 525, at the commencement of the reign of Psammeni'tus, the Persians, under Camby'ses, invaded Egypt, and laid siege to Pelu'sium. Taking advantage of the Egyptian superstition, the invaders placed in front of their army a variety of dogs, cats, and other animals, which were held sacred by the besieged; and the Egyptians not daring to injure the sacred animals, the Persians entered Pelu'sium without resistance. Soon after Camby'ses took Memphis, and reduced Egypt to a province of the Persian monarchy.

13. It was easily wrested from the sway of Persia by Alexander the Great; after his death it fell to the share of Ptolemy; and under him, and his successors of the same name, Egypt regained her ancient lustre, and rose to a height in science and commerce, which no other part of the world then equalled.

THE PHOENICIANS.

1. The Phoenicians were among the most remarkable and most early civilized nations of antiquity; yet there is no complete or regular history of them extant; occasional notices of them, however, are found in the Scriptures and in the Greek historians. Sanconi'athon, a Phoenician historian, is supposed by some to have flourished about the time of Joshua; but of his work only a few fragments remain; and the genuineness of even these is considered as very doubtful.

2. The inhabitants of Phoenicia, who are styled Ca'naanites in the Scriptures, were a commercial people in the time of Abraham. Tyre and Sidon, their principal cities, were two of the most ancient we read of in history; and in remote ages, they were the most considerable seats of commerce in the world.

3. The Phoenicians were the reputed inventors of glass, purple, and coinage; the invention of letters has also been attributed to them, as well as to the Egyptians; and to Cadmus is ascribed the honor of having first carried letters into Greece. 4. The Phoenicians sent out a number of colonies to Cyprus Rhodes, Greece, Sicily, Sardinia, and Spain; and the foundation of Carthage is attributed to Dido, sister of Pygmalion king of Tyre, with a company of adventurers. Tyre suffered two memorable sieges and captures; the first by Nebuchad nezzar, and the second by Alexander the Great.

ASSYRIA AND BABYLON.

1. Assyria, the first of the four great empires of antiquity derived its name from Ashur, the son of Shem, and the repur ed founder of Nineveh, its chief city. The foundation of Babylon is ascribed to Nimrod, who was the grandson of Ham, and considered by many the same as the Belus of profane historians. These two cities are supposed to have been founded near the same time, and not long after the dispersion of Babel. But of their history, for many ages after their foundation, very little is known with certainty, and the accounts given of them by ancient authors are inconsistent with each other.

2. It is commonly supposed that Assyria and Babylon were originally distinct kingdoms, and so continued till Ninus conquered Babylon, and annexed it to the Assyrian empire. According to Dr. Gillies, however, only one monarchy existed at the same time, but divided into three great eras; the first commencing with Nimrod, when Babylon was the seat of empire; the second with Ninus, whose capital was Ninev.; and the third beginning after the death of Sardanapa'lus, when Babylon again became the metropolis.

3. Ninus and Semir'amis are the hero and heroine of the old Assyrian and Babylonian chronicles; but the account given of them appears to partake more of fable than of credible history. So great is the uncertainty respecting them, that different historians and chronologists differ no less than a thousand years with regard to the time when they flourished.

4. Ninus is represented as a great and powerful sovereign, and is said to have enlarged and embellished the city of Nineveh. After having made extensive conquests, he espoused Semir' amis, who succeeded him in the throne. She is described not only as surpassing all her sex in wit and beauty, but also as possess ing unbounded ambition, and extraordinary talents for government and war. She enlarged Babylon, and rendered it the most magnificent city in the world; and after a reign of great splendor, was succeeded by her son Ninyas.

5. From the time of Ninyas to the overthrow of the monarchy, under Sardanapalus, a period of several centuries, little or nothing is known respecting the history of Assyria and Babylon.

6. The name of Sardanapa'lus is almost a proverbial reproach. He is said to have so degraded himself as to adopt

the dress and occupations of a female, and to have passed his life in the most disgraceful effeminacy and voluptuousness, in the company of his wives and concubines. At length Arbaces, governor of Media, and Bel'esis, a priest of Babylon, disgusted with his inglorious and shameful life, excited a rebellion against him. After sustaining a defeat, Sardanapa'lus, in order to avoid falling into the hands of the conquerors, set fire to his palace, and burnt himself, together with his women and all his treasures.

7. The empire was then divided into three kingdoms, among the three conspirators, Arbaces becoming king of Media, Bel'esis of Babylon, and Pul or Phul of Assyria. '.

8. The successors of Pul were, 1st, Tig'lath-pi-le'ser, who took possession of that part of the kingdom of Israel which was east of the Jordan, 2d, Shalmane'ser, who put an end to the kingdom of Israel, and carried the inhabitants captive; 3d, Sennach'erib, who laid siege to Jerusalem, in the time of Hezekiah, but was compelled to return in disgrace, 185,000 men of his army being destroyed in a miraculous manner in one night; 4th, Esarhad'don, who defeated Manas'seh, king of Judah, and carried him captive to Babylon.

9. Not long after the death of Esarhad'don, Nabopolas'sar, or Nebuchadnezzar, having got possession of Babylon, being assisted by Cyax'ares, king of Media, besieged and destroyed Nineveh, put an end to the Assyrian monarchy, and made Babylon the seat of empire.

10. He was succeeded by his son, Nebuchadnezzar II., who took Jerusalem, and carried the Jews captive to Babylon. He had a long and signal reign, some particulars of which are recorded in the book of Daniel.

11. During the reign of Belshazzar, who succeeded to the throne a few years after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, the Persians, under Cyrus, after a siege of two years, having turned the course of the Euphrates, entered the city through the dried channel, and took it while the inhabitants were engaged in feasting and riot. Belshazzar was slain, and with him ended the empire of Babylon.

PERSIA.

1. Persia was the second of the four great empires of ant quity. Its history prior to the reign of Cyrus the Great, is involved in obscurity and fable. It was originally called Elma, and the inhabitants Elamites, who were descendants of Shem,' In the earlier ages it was of small extent, but under the reign of Cyrus, who was the founder of the great Persian empire, it became the most powerful and extensive sovereignty on the globe, comprising Persia, Media, Parthia, Assyria or Babylonia, Syria, and Asia Minor; and to these Egypt was added by Camby'ses.

2. For the history of Persia, from the reign of Cyrus to the overthrow of the empire by Alexander the Great, we are indebted chiefly to the Greeks In the account of the same period by the Persian writers, there is much of fable, and a total neglect of dates, and the names of the sovereigns are different from those given by the Greek historians. The narratives of these two classes of writers differ in many material points. The Greek authors, though they throw a veil of doubt over their records by their exaggerations, especially where the honor of their own country is concerned, are, nevertheless, esteemed as entitled to superior credit.

3. Cvrus is described as possessed of great talents, both as a warrior and a sovereign. Having subdued all the nations from the Ægæ'an sea to the Euphra'tes, he, together with his uncle Cyar ares II, king of the Medes, took Babylon, and conquered the Assyrian empire. Cyax'ares dying soon after, Cyrus reigned soie monarch over the united kingdoms, during seven years, in the first of which he published the famous edict for the return of the Jews and the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

4. Herod'otus, Xen'ophon, and Cte'sias, in their accounts of the character and history of Cyrus, differ in many particulars. That of Xen'ophon has been followed by Rollin and other moderns; yet it is supposed to have been the design of Xen'ophon not to exhibit a faithful record of facts, but to delineate the model of a perfect prince, and a well regulated monarchy.

5. Cyrus was succeeded by his son Camby'ses, a cruel tyrant, whose principal exploit was the conquest of Egypt. On his death, Smerdis usurped the crown; but after a reign