ced
all images of the disk or aten within their reach.

Ineffectual though the grand attempt had been to reorganize state and
religion and reestablish republican principles, on the original plan, the
knowledge of the original scheme seems to have been preserved intact
during the following centuries, by the sages and philosophers of
Heliopolis, by whom the primitive set of ideas seems to have been
gradually developed into an abstract philosophical system. Reminding the
reader that Plato spent "thirteen years in Egypt, in gaining an insight
into the mysterious doctrines and priest-lore of the sacerdotal caste," I
also draw attention to the passage in his "Timaeus," in which Critias makes
the statement that when Plato's ideal republic ... was being discoursed
upon, he was reminded, to his surprise, of the account of a state given to
the Greek sage, Solon, by the priests of Sais, and perceived how, "in most
respects, the republic described coincided with Solon's statements." It is
indeed striking how clearly we can recognize, in Plato's republic, the
underlying, primitive, universal scheme in this case, highly developed,
elaborated, transfigured and transformed into the philosophical ideal of a
great intellect.

Before demonstrating which of the main features of Plato's cosmogony and
ideal republic we have found actually carried out in practice, let us
briefly refer to the most ancient descriptions of the primitive government
of Greece, preserved in the Timaeus and Critias, where the conversations
held, by Solon, with the priests of Sais are recorded. Solon (about 594
B.C.) on his arrival (at Sais) "was very honorably received; and
especially, on his inquiring about ancient affairs of those priests who
possessed superior knowledge in such matters, he perceived that neither
himself nor any one of the Greeks (so to speak) had any antiquarian
knowledge at all.... One of their extremely ancient priests said to Solon:
'you (Greeks) are all youths in intelligence, for you hold no ancient
opinions derived from remote tradition _nor any system of discipline_ that
can boast of a hoary old age.... In this our country, ... the most ancient
things are said to be here preserved ... and all the noble, great or
otherwise distinguished achievements, performed either by ourselves, by
you or elsewhere, of which we have heard the report, all these have been
engraved in our temples in very remote times and preserved to the present
day. The an