Palm Trees and Pyramids
It is proper to bring the sojourn in Egypt to a close with the above view. The first thing Joseph and Mary saw upon coming into the neighborhood of Heliopolis and Memphis were the pyramids and palm trees. The last thing they saw upon leaving Egypt were the pyramids and palm trees. One can never think of Cairo and Heliopolis and Memphis without having the pyramids rise on the horizon of his vision. Pyramids and palm trees become part of the permanent mental furnishment of every traveler who has ever visited Egypt. Authorities differ widely as to the length of time Joseph and Mary sojourned in Egypt. In the Gospel of the Infancy it is put down at three years; in the history of Joseph at one year; in the Harmony of Tatian at seven years; Epiphanius regards it as two years; Athanasius thinks Jesus was four years old when he came from Egypt, and Baronius thinks the Holy Family spent eight years in Egypt. All we know from Scripture is that Joseph and Mary were in Egypt until the death of Herod the Great. Many of the tombs and monuments we have described were doubtless seen by Joseph and Mary. As they were familiar with the history of their race, Egypt must have been very interesting to them. The Holy Land gets its name from the fact that God’s chosen people lived in it, and as the Hebrews spent 430 years in Egypt, Egypt during this time may be regarded as the Holy Land. We have lingered in Egypt, not simply to describe the objects of interest in the midst of which the Holy Family lived, but also to give some idea of the Egypt of modern times founded upon the Egypt of the past. And now we turn away from Egypt with Joseph and Mary and the [Infant] Jesus to make our way slowly back to Nazareth.
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