The ascent by monumental evidence to yet more remote antiquity than the expulsion of the Phœnician shepherds, (B.C. 1822), is not altogether without hope, notwithstanding the general demolition of the temples of the gods, which took place according to Manetho, during the long dominion of the Phœnicians in Egypt. We learn from the _Description de l’Egypte_ that even the most ancient structures at Thebes are themselves composed of the debris of still more ancient buildings, used as simple materials, on which previously sculptured and painted hieroglyphics are still existing; these are doubtless the remains of the demolished temples, but the inscriptions will require to be studied on the spot. There is also reason to believe, that there exists amongst the ruins of the palace of Karnac, a portion of still more ancient construction than the palace itself; which, having escaped demolition, was incorporated with the more recent building. The inscriptions on this apparently very ancient ruin present the name and title of a king, which form a very interesting subject for future elucidation. The title does not accord with any one now extant on the table of Abydus, but possibly may have been one of those which were destroyed with a portion of the wall, and which are of kings of earlier date than the expulsion of the shepherds. The name is Mandouei, which name occurs in the dynasty anterior to Sesostris, but coupled [p189] with a different title, an effectual distinction; nor does the name recur in any subsequent dynasty. M. Champollion Figeac has, with much ingenuity, shown the probability of the identity of the Mandouei of the ancient ruin with the Osymandyas, Ousi-Mandouei, mentioned by Diodorus Siculus as an Egyptian king greatly distinguished by his conquests, whose reign M. Champollion infers, from the historical passages relating to him, to have commenced 190 years before the Phœnician invasion, or B.C. 2272 years; a prodigious antiquity, and of the very highest interest should it be established, since there exist of this individual no less than three statues in European collections, distinguished by the same name and title: two of these are colossal, one at Turin, and a second at Rome: a third is in the British Museum; and as all particulars must interest which relate to a statue, of which there is at least probability that is the most ancient existing in the world,—the date attributed to it being earlier than the birth of Abraham,—we copy from Burckhardt the following short description of its discovery: “Within the inclosure of the interior part of the temple at Karnac, Belzoni found a statue of a hard, large-grained sandstone: a whole length naked figure sitting upon a chair with a ram’s head upon the knees: the face and body entire; with plaited hair falling down to the shoulders. This is one of the first, I should say, the first Egyptian statue I have seen: the expression of the face is exquisite, and I believe it to be a portrait.”—(J. L.