The Isiac Tablet of Cardinal Bembo

THIS curious relic of an age long past cannot fail to attract the attention of every earnest student of the Mysteries; its beauty of design, its careful execution, its obvious antiquity, its certain connection with that most incomprehensible scheme of religion?the Egyptian, all combine to fascinate the mind and stimulate the intellect in a search for the explanation of the purpose and meaning of this very elaborate pictorial work of Art. Mysterious in its conception, of unknown origin, and of peculiar workmanship, this Tablet merits examination and research. From the time of the learned Orientalist Kircher, and of the Classic Pignorius, many eminent archæologists and men of letters have devoted their energies to the elucidation of the hidden object of the designer, who must have been as erudite in all the arts and wisdom of the Egyptians, as he was skilful in execution. The well-known names of Montfaucon, Shuckford, Warburton, Keysler, Caylus, the Abbé Banier, the Abbé Pluché, Jablonski, Kenneth Mackenzie, Kenealy, Wilkinson, Eliphas Lévi, and Bonwick, all of whom have ventured some opinions, are sufficient proof of the worldwide interest that this Mensa Isiaca has aroused. Many years have now passed away since the made a labour of love of the drawing of the Tablet from which the Photogravure in this volume was taken; and his drawing being finished, his work seemed incomplete until he had supplied as its companion an explanatory treatise, however scanty and imperfect it may be deemed. He begs the indulgence of many a learned reader for its short-comings, and if he has apparently undervalued the opinions of the modern school of scientific Egyptology, it is only because of his conviction that the Tablet is essentially of an Esoteric character, and therefore insusceptible of ordinary methods of interpretation.