This city was situated in that part of Egypt which is called the Delta.
It was named Heliopolis, city of the sun, from the circumstance of there
being a temple dedicated to the sun there; and here, according to
historians, originated the tale in respect to the phoenix.
At this place, Cambyses, king of Persia, committed a very great
extravagance; for he burned its temple, demolished all the palaces, and
destroyed most of the monuments of antiquity that were then in it. Some
obelisks, however, escaped his fury, which are still to be seen; others
were transported to Rome.
In this city[260] Sesostris built two obelisks of extreme hard stone,
brought from the quarries of Syene, at the extremity of Egypt. They were
each 120 cubits high; that is, 30 fathoms, or 180 feet. The emperor
Augustus, having made Egypt a province of the Roman empire, caused these
two obelisks to be transplanted to Rome, one of which was afterwards
broken to pieces. He durst not venture upon a third, which was of
monstrous size. It was made in the reign of Rameses; and it is said
that 20,000 men were employed in the cutting of it. Constantius, more
daring than Augustus, ordered it to be removed to Rome. Two of these
obelisks are still to be seen; as well as another of 100 cubits, or 25
fathoms high, and 8 cubits, or 2 fathoms in diameter. Caius Cæsar had it
taken from Egypt in a ship of so odd a form, that, according to Pliny,
the like had never been seen.
At Heliopolis, there remains only a solitary sphinx and an obelisk, to
mark the site of the city of the sun, where Moses, Herodotus, and Plato,
are said to have been instructed in the learning of the Egyptians; whose
learning and arts brought even Greece for a pupil, and whose empire,
says Bossuet, in regard to Egypt in general, had a character distinct
from any other.
"This kingdom (says Rollin) bestowed its noblest labours and finest arts
on the improving of mankind; and Greece was so sensible of this, that
its most illustrious men,--as Homer, Pythagoras, Plato, even its great
legislators, Lycurgus and Solon, with many more,--travelled into Egypt
to complete their studies, and draw from that fountain whatever was most
rare and valuable in every kind of learning. God himself has given this
kingdom a glorious testimony, when, praising Moses, he says of him, that
'he was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.' Such was the desire
for encouraging the growth of scientific pursuits, that the discoverers
of any useful invention received rewards suitable to their skill and
labour. They studied natural history, geometry, and astronomy, and what
is worthy of remark, they were so far masters of the latter science, as
to be aware of the period required for the earth's annual revolutions,
and fixed the year at 365 days 6 hours--a period which remained
unaltered till the very recent change of the style. They likewise
studied and improved the science of physic, in which they attained a
certain proficiency. The persevering ingenuity and industry of the
Egyptians are attested by the remains of their great works of art, which
could not well be surpassed in modern times; and although their working
classes were doomed to engage in the occupations of their fathers, and
no others, as is still the custom in India, society might thereby be
hampered, but the practice of handicrafts would be certainly improved.
The Egyptians were also the first people who were acquainted with the
process of communicating information by means of writing, or engraving
on stone and metal; and were, consequently, the first who formed books
and collected libraries. These repositories of learning they guarded
with scrupulous care, and the titles they bore, naturally inspired a
desire to enter them. They were called the "Office for the Diseases of
the Soul," and that very justly; because the soul was there cured of
ignorance, which, it will be allowed, is the source of many of the
maladies of our mental faculties[261]."