began to doubt. Had
there ever been such a city?

But in the year 1884 the earth gave up another of its secrets--the
ruins of Pithom were found, buried deep in the dust; and the remains of
great store-houses built of rough bricks, mixed with chopped straw
(Exodus v.) and stamped with the name of the cruel Pharaoh (Ramesis
the Second) were laid bare once more.[2]

What a pity some readers had not waited a little longer before doubting
the truth of the Bible!

'_And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words._' (Exodus
xxxiv. 27.) So it was at last that God called Moses to begin the great
work of writing the Bible, just as He had called him to lead the people
out of Egypt; just as by His Spirit He calls men and women to do His
work to-day.

How did Moses write the first words of the Bible? What kind of letters
and what language did he use?

These are great questions. We know at least that he could have his
choice between two or three different kinds of letters and materials.

Perhaps he wrote the first words of the Bible on rolls of papyrus paper
with a soft reed pen, in the manner of the Egyptian scribes.

Hundreds of these rolls have been found in Egypt: poems, histories,
novels, hymns to the Egyptian gods; and some of these writings are at
least as old as the time of Moses. The Egyptian climate is so fine and
dry, and the Egyptians stored the rolls so carefully in the tombs of
their kings, that the fragile papyrus--that is, reed-paper--has not
rotted away, as would have been the case in any other country.

Certainly in after years the Jews used the same shaped books as the
Egyptians. Indeed, the Jews' Bible--that is, the Old Testament--was
still called '_a roll of a book_' in the days of Jeremiah. (Jeremiah
xxxvi. 2.)

Or perhaps Moses wrote on tablets of clay like those used by the great
empires of Babylon and Assyria, and by the people of Canaan. Clay was
cheap enough; all one had to do was to mould moist clay into a smooth
tablet, and then to prick words on it with a metal pen. The prophet
Jeremiah mentions this kind of book also. (Jeremiah xvii. 1.)

Most likely, however, Moses wrote on parchment made from the skins of
sheep and goats. The Children of Israel kept large flocks, and could
supply him with as many skins as he wanted.

And in what language did he write?

Perhaps even the very first words were written in Hebrew; we know that
in later times the prophets and historians of