W. COOKE TAYLOR, ESQ. LL.D. M.R.A.S. OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN. HOMO SUM: VOL. II. HUMANA NIHIL A ME ALIENUM PUTO-TERENCE. LONDON: LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS. 1840. LONDON: PRINTED BY MANNING AND MASON, IVY-LANE, PATERNOSTER-ROW. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München NATURAL HISTORY OF SOCIETY. CHAPTER I. EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION. THE Holy Scriptures not only contain the best and most consistent account of the origin of civilization, but they furnish the most authentic description of the country in which civilization first made a remarkable advancement. The Books of Genesis and Exodus contain incidental notices of the condition of Egypt, by which we are enabled to estimate pretty accurately the progress of humanity at a remote age in the valley of the Nile; and these notices have recently derived unexpected confirmation from modern discoveries-for the monuments brought to light in Egypt confirm the accuracy of Scripture in every particular, and satisfactorily refute any counter-statements which had previously been allowed to rank as contradictory authorities. One remarkable instance of this new evidence for the accuracy of the Pentateuch, will serve fitly to introduce our examination of the Scriptural statements respecting the civilization of Egypt. In the last century, the Books of Moses were often attacked, and their authenticity impugned, because they mention the existence of vineyards, grapes, and consequently of wine, in Egypt; for Herodotus expressly declares that there were no vineyards in Egypt, and VOL. II. B |