Itinerarium totius Sacræ Scripturæ. Or, the trauels of the holy patriarchs, prophets, iudges, kings, our sauiour Christ, and his Apostles, as they are related in the Old and New Testaments. With a description of the townes and places to which they trauelled, and how many English miles they stood from Ierusalem. Also a short treatise of the weights, monies, and measures mentioned in the Scriptures, reduced to our English valuations, quantitie, and weight. Collected out of the workes of Henry Bunting, and done into English by R.B.

Of Memphis.

MEmphis is a great city in Egypt, where commonly the kings of that country keepe their Courts; and lyeth from Ierusa∣lem 244 miles South-westward. This citie was built a little be∣fore the floud, but repaired and enlarged by a king called Ogdoo, who in loue of his daughter (after her name) called it Memphis. You may reade of it in the ninth of Hosea, called there by the name of Moph; for thus he saith, The people of Israel are gone out

of the land of Ephraim, because of their Idolatrie, into Aegypt: but Ae∣gypt shall gather them vp, & Moph (that is, Memphis) shall bury them. Moph, or Mapheth in this place signifieth, A prodigious wonder: but the rest of the Prophets call it Noph, for the fertilitie & plea∣santnes of the country, as you may reade, Esa. 19. The Princes of the Zoan are become foolish, and the Princes of Noph (or of Memphis) are deceiued. See also Ierem. 2.44.46. Ezech. 30. in which places you may find it called after this name. Zoan is the citie Tanis, where Moses wrought all his miracles: But Noph, or Moph, is this Memphis; a beautifull towne, large and spacious, scituated in the strongest and profitablest place in Aegypt; diuided into two parts by the riuer Nilus, so that any kind of commodities or merchan∣dise might with ease bee brouht thither by water: for which cause the kings of that countrie (for the most part) kept their abi∣ding there. Strabo saith lib. 17. That vpon the East part of this ci∣tie there standeth a Tower or Castle called Babylon, built by certaine Babylonians, who leauing their owne countrey, by the permissions of the kings of Egipt dwelt there: in after times there was placed a garrison in it, one of the three which were for the de∣fence of Aegypt, and by Ptolomy was called Babilon, through both which, viz. Memphis and Babilon, Nilus passed; the one standing vpon the East side, the other vpon the West. Zoan or Tanis stood about some foure miles from this towne, and was a faire & spaci∣ous citie also, scituated towards the South vpon the East side of Nilus, to which the kings of that country often resorted, and He∣liopolis, anothet faire citie, stood some six miles off that towards the Northeast. All these foure townes were so wonderfully inha∣bited (by reason of their pleasant & profitable scituation) that in processe of time they become all one citie; and in this age is cal∣led Alcaire, containing in circuit 60 miles: so that it seemeth to spectators to be like a country replenished with nothing but fair houses, goodly churches, & strong towers; exceeding all the rest of the cities of Egypt, aswell for the beautifulnesse of the place, as the extent and largenesse of it. It is reported, that in the yeare of our Lord 1476, there was such an extreme pestilence in it, that there died 20000 a day, from whence may be gathered, how infi∣nitely it is peopled. Neere to this towne stood the Pyramides,

which are held to he one of the wonders of the World (as Strabo saith, lib. 17.) the height of one of them was 625 foot, and square on each side 883 foot; it was twentie yeares a building, a hun∣dred thousand workemen emploied about it: whence it may be easily gathered, how hard and difficult it was in those times to get stone (it being for the most part brought from Arabia) and at what an excessiue charge they were that set vp them.