[2] That this is not an overdrawn picture of Egyptian superstitions, see the proof in Herodotus, Euterpe.
[3] Of this picture writing, there are several originals preserved; one at Vienna, three or four in the great library at Mexico, two in the Vatican at Rome, and one in the royal library at Paris. I was allowed to see that at Vienna. It is on deer-skin, and is about fifty feet in length by nine inches in width, folding like a Chinese book; the writing occupies both sides. The translation of it, which I have given here, is by Baron Humboldt.
[4] At Benares is a Pyramid like those of Egypt, formed of earth, and covered with bricks. The Brahmins of India, when they heard the Egyptian Pyramids described by Mr. Wilford, declared at once that they were religious structures; and inquired whether they had not a subterraneous communication with the Nile. He described the well in that of Cheops to them, when they affirmed that it was for supplying the priests with water in their ceremonies, and that the sarcophagus in the great chamber was on such occasions filled with water and lotus-flowers. At Medun in Egypt is a Pyramid, with broad off-setts like those of Mexico; and similar ones are stated to exist on the banks of the Indus and Ganges.
[5] A region embracing Cholula. Au.
[6] The reader will notice the coincidence with the number of Noah’s family. Au.
[7] Humboldt’s researches, English translation, v. 1. 95-6.
[8] A peak of the Cordilleras of Mexico.
[9] This picture represents a woman standing on the left; in front of her a serpent is erect, and looking towards her, with projecting tongue; beneath them, towards the right, are two figures struggling; and towards the left, two small objects, that may be vessels, though it is difficult exactly to determine their character.
[10] Query, were not the “High Places,” mentioned in Scripture, also Pyramidal edifices. They were not natural hills, for the Hebrew term for the latter being גבעה while for the high places the word במה is universally employed. See 2 Kings xvi. 4., where the distinction is clearly made. They were in use among the Philistines, when the country was taken by the Hebrews. Numbers xxxiii. 51, 2. 2 Kings xvii. 9-11, and were,
1. Artificial structures. 1 Kings xiv. 23. 2 Kings xxi. 3. Ib. xi. 7.