_Nephi_ is another very remarkable name. Its roots are Egyptian; its meaning, good, excellent, benevolent. From very ancient times the Egyptians believed that all who died had to have their acts upon earth scrutinized by a council of inquisitors, before they could be proclaimed fit to enter the eternal abodes of bliss and stand in the presence of the god Osiris, the chief lord of the land of the departed. One of the names given to this god, expressive of his attributes, was Nephi or Dnephi (the D being silent, as Dniester, Dnieper, etc.), or the good, and the chief city dedicated to him was called N-ph, translated into Hebrew as Noph, in which form it appears in Hosea, Isaiah and Jeremiah. Its modern English name is Memphis. In the Coptic, the language of the modern Egyptians, the word has the form of Menfi or Mnefi. Plutarch, the ancient historian, says that Dnephi was a benevolent person, and an epithet for Osiris, and was also applicable to Memphis, the sepulchre of that god. The word Neph frequently appears in Egyptian proper names before the Christian era, as Amoneph, Amuneph, Me-Nephta. From these facts we conclude that Nephi was a common name in the Egyptian tongue; and, as far as the founder of the Nephite nation was concerned, most applicable to his character, which was pre-eminently good and benevolent. The English word, Nephites, that is the people or family of Nephi, occurs twice in its Hebrew form in the Old Testament; once in _Ezra_ (ii., 50) as Nephisim, and again in _Nehemiah_ (vii., 52), as Nephishesim, which show that the name was common among the Hebrews of the age of the captivity. _Sam_ is a name which some shallow-pated opponents of the Book of Mormon have been disposed to ridicule. But it is pure Egyptian. It was the distinctive name of one of the highest orders of their priesthood. The great _Rameses_ himself belonged to the order of Sam. The fact that Lehi gave to two of his sons such peculiarly Egyptian names shows how great an influence the literature of that country must have had on his life. _Melek_ is the name given to a region of country situated west of the river Sidon. No reason is given why it was so called, but its meaning is evident. It was the king's land. The ancient Phœnician word for king is spelled letter for letter the same as in the Book of Mormon (Melek), and the Hebrew word is almost identical.