In conclusion I am constrained to say that the study of Egyptian antiquities, though richly remunerative and satisfactory in regard to almost every thing else, is still very dubious and perplexing in the point of _definite chronology_. The views of the ablest scholars are widely conflicting; the original authorities still wait for some master mind to put them into system, or what is perhaps nearer the truth, for the discovery of competent data from which a system can be constructed which shall harmonize all the authorities in the case. We want to know the Pharaoh to whom the Lord sent Moses, whose reign synchronizes with the Exodus. We find a series of powerful monarchs in the eighteenth dynasty and also in the nineteenth; but which of them answers to this particular Pharaoh, it seems yet impossible to determine with satisfactory certainty. Rameses II, all agree, was a powerful king; built immense public works; reigned at least sixty, perhaps sixty-six years;――but some authorities place him in the eighteenth and some in the nineteenth dynasty, and the extreme difference in the assigned dates for his reign is three hundred years. The difficulties that invest Egyptian dates and dynasties seem at present to be aggravated rather than relieved by the progress of modern discoveries. Thus we find in the Bib. Sacra, Oct. 1867, (pp. 773 and 774) four parallel lists of the first three Egyptian dynasties, viz: (1.) That of Manetho; (2.) The Turin Papyrus; (3.) The Tablet of Sethos; (4.) The Tablet of Sakharah or Memphis. Compared with Manetho, the last three are of quite recent discovery. They are somewhat defective; yet it is not specially difficult to discover a striking similarity and in many cases an obvious identity in the names given. But the names in Manetho’s list almost utterly lack even similarity; much more do they refuse to come into identity. The authority of the last three must, it seems to me, be decidedly greater than that of Manetho.――――The same difficulty appears when we compare Manetho’s names in the later dynasties (_e. g._ 18th–20th) with names constantly coming to light in recently discovered Egyptian monuments. I know not how this fact affects other minds. It can not but lessen my confidence in the lists of Manetho. It certainly goes far to lessen their practical value.――――It is somewhat disheartening that these chronological difficulties clear up so slowly. It still remains to be hoped that light will yet break in and that conclusions will be reached in which all important authorities will be shown to concur.[36]