Book of Exodus Confirmed.
Rev. J. D. Heath, has published in London "Exodus Papyri," containing the result of an examination of Egyptian records, in which he finds traces of a history parallel with that given in the Pentateuch by Moses. Mr. Heath has made himself familiar with the method of deciphering hieroglyphics employed by Young and Champollion, and a careful examination of the papyri has led him to the conclusion that they are note books of the scribes recording current events. The bearing they have upon the Mosaic history is set forth in the following paragraph: "That we should meet here with a Jannes, mentioned five times, with a Moses, twice, with a Balak, the son of Zippor, at a place called Huzoth, with the word Hebrew, and with the feast of passing the dead, is enough to excite at least our curiosity. When we find, moreover, from these papyri, that a people, among whom a Moses was a leader, marched towards Palestine, by the route of Tasacarta, Migdol, and Zoar; that they were connected with the name Midia and Aram; that there was a contest at a place of a great waterflood; that an enslaved Aramæan people located about Tapanhes, met with great opposition from the governor of the place in celebrating the four days feast at the beginning of their year; that Moses is again named as a cattle owner among them; that a royal or noble youth is described as meeting a sudden and mysterious death; that a royal order is immediately issued for the hasty departure of a people for their passing the dead; and that miracles are named as being performed by their leader in Lower Egypt;—when all this is upon record, I may be pardoned, as a Christian clergyman, for maintaining that the cotemporaneity of these papyri with the Exodus seems established, and for recommending to those who have doubted the authority of the Pentateuch, a reconsideration of their theories." —Sel.