The terms in which the Deity addresses his commands to Abraham presuppose an already existing familiarity with the ritual ceremony on the part of the latter. Accordingly we find that it previously prevailed among the Colchians, Æthiopians, and ancient Egyptians of both the Upper and Lower Provinces (Gardner Wilkinson). Among the latter it appears to have become restricted, by the dawn of the historical period, to the priestly caste, and to those who desired initiation into the sacred mysteries. In the temple of Chunsu at Karnak is a delineation of the rite as performed on two young children, probably sons of Rameses II., the founder of the building. It was apparently connected with the worship of Ra, the Sun God; and a seeming allusion to it in this connection is to be found in chapter xvii. of the 'Book of the Dead.' Notices of circumcision also appear in ancient Phoenician mythology. There can be no question of its very great antiquity, or of its wide prevalence among ancient nations. Traditional descent from a primæval Stone Age is betrayed by casual notices in Holy Writ. Thus, in Exodus iv. 25, a sharp stone is the instrument of mutilation; and in Joshua v. 2, the marginal rendering is 'knives of flints.'[3] The Hivites, the Canaanites (Phoenician), and many if not most of the nations with whom the Israelites were brought into contact after settlement in the Promised Land, appear to have practised circumcision at some period in their history. In the Old Testament we accordingly find the designation of 'the uncircumcised' specially reserved for the Philistines, and applied to these as a term of opprobrium. The list of peoples by whom the circumcision of males has been, or is still, an established custom is sufficiently long. Among such races at the present day, 'an almost unbroken line may be traced from China to the Cape of Good Hope,' and unless perhaps in Europe (where comparatively slight traces of aboriginal manners and customs survive), we find the ceremony characteristic not only of savage tribes, but of nations ranking fairly high in the scale of civilisation; for instance, the Mexicans, and the ancient Aztec races of Central America. The Teanas and Manaos on the Amazon; the Salivos, Guamos, Otamocos, on the Orinoco; the negroes of the Congo, with many other tribes on both the west and east coasts of Africa, notably the Kaffirs, Bechuanas, and Hottentots; the Abyssinians (Christian), Nubians and modern Egyptians; the natives of Madagascar; most of the Australian aborigines; the Papuans, New Caledonians, inhabitants of the New Hebrides, of Java, of the Philippines, and of Fiji, are only a few that may be indicated. An approximation to the rite in the form of a slitting up of the prepuce was noticed among the Friendly Islanders by Captain Cook. Although not enjoined in the Koran, it is a universal practice among the Mohammedans, as a tradition from the ante-Mohammedan period.