396 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



c. THE PEOPLES OF 

 EGYPT AND NUBIA. 



EGYPT, as might be ex- 

 pected from its geo- 

 graphical position, is 

 inhabited by a mixture 

 of races. The basis of 

 the population consists 

 of Copts and Fellahin, 

 who are the lineal de- 

 scendants of the ancient 

 Egyptians. 



THE COPTS. 



The Copts now live 

 mostly in Upper Egypt, 

 especially near Assiut 

 and around Lake Birket- 

 el-Qurun in the de- 

 pression of Fayum. Iii 

 this district many 

 villages are occupied 

 solely by Copts, who 

 live as agriculturists; 

 whereas in Lower Egypt 

 they are artisans, 

 traders, and scribes. As 

 the Copts are Christians, 

 they have been brought 

 into less intimate asso- 

 ciation with the Arab 

 section of the popula- 

 tion, and thus have re- 

 mained less altered than 

 the Fellahin by inter- 

 mixture of Semitic 

 blood. But though in 

 religion and race the 

 Copts have remained 



pure, in customs and spirit they have been greatly altered. Thus Klunziuger tells us that 

 "the modern Copt has become from head to foot, in manners, language, and spirit, a Moslem, 

 however unwilling he may be to recognise the fact. His dress is like that of the rest of the 

 people, except that he prefers darker materials." He wears a black turban; in church he keeps 

 on his head-covering and removes his shoes; in praying he faces Jerusalem, "and mumbles 

 out psalms by the yard in a regular paternoster gallop"; he fasts periodically, and will not eat 

 pig, camel, or goose. 



The Coptic Church itself has not escaped alteration by contact with Islam. It arose as 

 an offshoot from the Greek in the fifth century after the Council of Chalcedon. Its head 

 is Patriarch of Alexandria, who is also the chief of the Abyssinian Church. The usages of 

 the Church have preserved many relics of primitive Christianity. The priests dress like the 



Photo by Neurdein Freres] 



[Paris. 



AN ULED-NAIL WOMAN, BISKRA. 



