by
the first of the eighteenth dynasty. The descendants of the old kings, we
suppose, lived in Thebes, and were tributary princes for 400 years, but
gained sufficient strength, finally, to expel the Shemite invaders, even
as the Gothic nations of Spain, in the Middle Ages, expelled their
conquerors, the Moors.

(M74) But it was under the Shepherd kings that the relations between Egypt
and the Hebrew patriarchs took place. We infer this fact from the friendly
intercourse and absence of national prejudices. The Phoenicians belonged to
the same Shemitic stock from which Abraham came. They built no temples.
They did not advance a material civilization. They loaded Abram and Joseph
with presents, and accepted the latter as a minister and governor. We read
of no great repulsion of races, and see a great similarity in pursuits.

(M75) Meanwhile, the older dynasties under whom Thebes was built, probably
B.C. 2200, gathered strength in misfortune and subjection. They reigned,
during five dynasties, in a subordinate relation, tributary and oppressed.
The first king of the eighteenth dynasty seems to have been a remarkable
man--the deliverer of his nation. His name was Aah-mes, or Amo-sis, and he
expelled the shepherds from the greater part of Egypt, B.C. 1525. In his
reign we see on the monuments chariots and horses. He built temples both
in Thebes and Memphis, and established a navy. This was probably the king
who knew not Joseph. His successors continued the work of conquest, and
extended their dominion from Ethiopia to Mesopotamia, and obtained that
part of Western Asia formerly held by the Chaldeans. They built the temple
of Karnak, the "Vocal Memnon," and the avenue of Sphinxes in Thebes.

(M76) The grandest period of Egyptian history begins with the nineteenth
dynasty, founded by Sethee I., or Sethos, B.C. 1340. He built the famous
"Hall of Columns," in the temple of Karnak, and the finest of the tombs of
the Theban kings. On the walls of this great temple are depicted his
conquests, especially over the Hittites. But the glories of the monarchy,
now decidedly military, culminated in Ramesis II.--the Sesostris of the
Greeks. He extended his dominion as far as Scythia and Thrace, while his
naval expeditions penetrated to the Erythraean Sea. The captives which he
brought from his wars were employed in digging canals, which intersected
the country, for purposes of irrigation, and especially that great canal
which united the M