A Manual of Ancient and Modern History ...

EGYPT is the country in which we first find a government and political institutions established. Civilization everywhere seems to have commenced in the formation of agricultural associations, on the banks of rivers; and the Nile invites men to tillage more forcibly than any other. Egypt itself has been called, from the earliest antiquity, "the Gift of the Nile," and its annual inundations have had a vast influence over the lives and customs, the religion and science, indeed, the entire social existence of the people. It appears that civilization advanced northward along the valley of the river: and we shall therefore commence our examination of the land, at the southern frontier of Egypt.

The Nile enters Egypt near the city of Syéne, below the cataracts, and flows through a narrow valley, about nine miles in breadth, to Chem'mis, where the valley begins to widen. At Cercasórus, sixty miles from its mouth, the stream divides, and encloses a triangular piece of country, called the Delta. The narrow valley from Syéne to Chem'mis was called Upper Egypt; the wider valley, Middle Egypt; and the Delta, Lower Egypt.

Rain seldom falls in Lower Egypt, almost never in the upper regions: the fertility of the country, therefore, depends on the annual overflowings of the river. These inundations are caused by the heavy rains, that fall in Upper Ethiopia, from May to September. The rivers of that country pour their waters into the Nile, which begins to rise about the middle of June. Early in August, the river overflows its banks, giving the valley of the Nile the appearance of an inland sea. Toward the beginning of October, the waters begin to subside, and, by the end of the month, are confined to the proper channel of the river. The fertility of Egypt extends as far as this inundation reaches, or can be continued by artificial means.

The eastern side of the valley of the Nile is a mountainous range of country, extending to the Red sea, suited, in some districts, for pasturage, but unfit for agriculture; abounding, however, in those rich quarries of marble and building stone, that formed the inexhaustible magazines for the architectural wonders of Egypt.

On the western side of the Nile, the valley is bounded by a stony ridge covered with sand, which slopes on its remote side, into the Great Desert. This ridge protects the valley from the sands of the desert, which would otherwise desolate the whole country.

Upper Egypt contains far the most numerous and interesting monuments. Near the cataracts, are the islands of Phila and Elephantine, containing the proudest edifices of antiquity; lower down, the city of Apollo; then Thebes, filling the whole valley on both sides of the Nile with enormous temples, more like mountains than human edifices, colossal statues, sphinxes, and obelisks, with the Catacombs, in the mountains on the western bank of the river; and lastly, Dendera, with the celebrated Zodiac sculptured on its mighty temple.

Middle Egypt is a wider valley. It contains the lake Moeris, an immense reservoir, partly natural, partly artificial, and affording such facilities for regulating the irrigation of the country, that this was the most fertile district of Egypt. The labyrinth, so renowned in antiquity, was near Arsinoë. Below Arsinoë was Memphis, the capital of Middle Egypt. This was the city of the Pharaohs who received the family of Israel. There are now but slight remains of its temples and palaces the neighboring mountains are, however, filled with catacombs similar to those of Upper Egypt. But the most remarkable monuments of this district are the Pyramids.

Lower Egypt, or the Delta, possesses, from the extension of the river, a greater quantity of fertile land than the other districts. It was covered with flourishing cities, as Sais, Naucratis, and Alexandria, which last, situated on the western frontier of the Lybian desert, still retains the name, and proves by its extensive trade the wisdom of its great founder.

The more civilized portion of the Egyptians dwelt in the rich plains of the valley, and attained a perfection in the arts of social life, that but for the irresistible evidence of the monuments, would scarcely be credited. It was the great object of the sacerdotal and royal policy, to keep this population stationary, to direct their attention to agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, and to prevent them from adopting the nomad life of the pastoral and plundering tribes on their northeastern frontiers: and hence we find it recorded, that “ every shepherd was an abomination to the Egyptians."

SECTION II.-Political and Social Condition of the Egyptians.

Ir appears that the Egyptians were a brown race of people, and that the higher castes of priests and warriors were fairer than the other classes. It has been conjectured that the Egyptians derived their system of civilization from the Hindus: but it is difficult to conceive how this could be.

Local circumstances produced marked differences in the habits and

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