EGYPTIAN AND ARABIAN HORSES.-^ 



By E. Prisse d'Avennes. 



I. — Egyptian Horses. 



Everyone knows that in spite of its admirable qnalities the thor- 

 onghbred Arabian steed is rarely to be fonnd on our stock farms. 

 Although many people \vell qualified to speak have written at length 

 upon the Arabian horses, there still remains a good deal to be said. 

 But amidst the absorbing interest attached to the breeding and rais- 

 ing of this noble animal we should not allow ourselves to forget the 

 Egyptian horse. 



There has been much discussion as to the native land of the horse; 

 but no one has yet been able to prove with any degree of certainty 

 to what country we are indebted for this Ijeautiful and useful quad- 

 ruped. Some writers, influenced no doubt by the renown of the civ- 

 ilization of ancient Egypt and struck by the military scenes sculp- 

 tured or painted on palaces — as at Thebes and Karnak — have 

 advanced the theory that the horse had its origin in the valley of the 

 Nile and was propagated throughout the Old World by the conquests 

 of the Pharaohs. 



This assertion, allowed to go unchallenged and almost without 

 criticism, is refuted by every bit of evidence the Egyptian monu- 

 ments can furnish. 



The history of the Egyptian people divides itself into three great 

 periods. The first is that of the primitive monarchy, from the 

 founder Menes to the extinction of the kings of the twelfth dynasty, 

 three thousand seven hundred and three years before the Christian 

 era. This is the epoch of the invasion of the shepherds or hyksos.'' 



The dominion of the Asiatic conquerors over Egypt forms the 

 second period. Their expulsion, about 1822 B. C, opened a new era 

 of prosperity under the Pharaohs of the eighteenth dynasty and 

 marks the beginning of the third period. 



On the monuments of the first of these periods, such as the hypogea 

 of Memphis, Beni-Hassen, Syout, and Koum-el-Alimar, the army is 



a Translated, l)y permission, from Cosmos, Paris, Apr. 2, 1904. Revised by 

 tlie author. 



& Hyksos signifies " sbepberd kings;" " hyk " in the sacred hinguage means 

 king, and " sos " in the vulgar idiom stands for shepherd. 



457 



