SYNOPSIS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

THE TEMPLE OF ISIS. original: "Templum Isiacum"; Isis was the preeminent Egyptian goddess of magic and wisdom. Kircher uses the metaphor of a temple to describe the structure of his research.

This volume contains the Chorography The geographical description of regions or districts. of Egypt, its Dynasties, Politics, and Theogony—or the Architecture of the Gods. It covers the origin of Egyptian idolatry and its propagation across the entire world, particularly among the Greeks, Hebrews, Romans, Indians, and other nations. It is divided into five Treatises. original: "Syntagmata"; a Greek-derived term for a systematic collection of writings or a formal treatise.

THE PROPYLAEUM. original: "Propylæum"; In classical architecture, this is the monumental gateway to a temple. Here, it serves as the book's introduction. In which the goal, cause, and occasion of the entire work are explained; the arguments of those who oppose the restoration of the hieroglyphic science are refuted in several chapters.

TREATISE I. The Nile Delta. Contains a geographical description of all Egypt, distributed into 30 Nomes original: "Nomos"; the administrative districts of ancient Egypt.; it presents the names of the Gods usually worshiped in each district; it reveals the causes of the rising and falling of the Nile, as well as the origin of the river itself—perhaps unknown until now—finally uncovered by certain and faithful testimony. It demonstrates the Dynasties of the Kings of Egypt from all the monuments of the East, where the deeds of the Kings before and after the Great Flood are treated extensively according to the tradition of the Arabs.

TREATISE II. Egyptian Politics. Deals with the life and customs of the Kings and their methods for the successful and prosperous administration of the Kingdom; likewise concerning the laws, institutions, and various classes of subjects. It pursues all these matters through political, tropological An interpretive method that seeks moral or figurative meanings behind literal descriptions., mystical, and hieroglyphic methods.

TREATISE III. Theogony, or the Architecture of the Gods. In this section, the origin of Egyptian superstition and its spread to the Greeks and Romans is discussed. It covers Osiris, Isis, Apis, Serapis, Canopus, Horus, Harpocrates, Typhon, Mithra, Ammon, and the rest of the Egyptian Divinities. Finally, it deals extensively with the ceremonies and rites established in their honor, and the worship of various animals. Here it is clearly shown that the foundations of Greek and Roman idolatry were received from the Egyptians.

TREATISE IV. The Pantheon of the Hebrews. This section treats the various idols, sacred groves, altars, and sacrifices of the Hebrews, Syrians, Chaldeans, Persians, Samaritans, and other nations neighboring Egypt. By a parallel comparison, it demonstrates that all the idolatry and rites of these said nations first flowed from the Egyptians.

TREATISE V. The Egyptian Ape. original: "Simia Ægyptiaca"; The term "ape" or "mimic" refers to how other cultures "aped" or imitated the original Egyptian religious systems. This deals with the idolatry of the Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Tartars, Mughals, and the New World The Americas., and its affinity to the Egyptian system, where manifest traces of Egyptian superstition will be revealed to the reader.

A decorative woodcut tailpiece featuring symmetrical floral scrolls and acanthus leaves, common in 17th-century book design.