EGYPT 



Breasted, 5 vols. 1906-7 ; The Arts 

 and Crafts of Ancient Egypt, 

 W. M. F. Petrie, 1909 ; A History of 

 Egypt from the Earliest Times to 

 the Persian Conquest, J. H, 

 Breasted, 2nd ed., 1909 ; Guide to 

 the Antiquities of Upper Egypt from 

 Abydos to the Sudan Frontier, 

 A. "E. P. B. Weigall, 1910 ; The 

 Dawn of Civilisation : Egypt and 

 Chaldaea, G. Maspero, Eng. trans. 

 5th ed. repr. 1910 ; The Struggle of 

 the Nations : Egypt, Syria and 

 Assyria, G. Maspero, Eng. trans., 

 M. L. McClure, 2nd ed. 1910; 

 The Passing of the Empires, S50 

 B.C.-330 B.C., G. Maspero, Eng. trans. 

 1900; Egypt and Israel, W. M. F. 

 Petrie, 1911; The Revolutions of 

 Civilisation, W. M. F. Pefcrie, 1911; 

 Development of Religion and 

 Thought in Ancient Egypt, J. H. 

 Breasted, 1912 ; Manual of Egyptian 

 Archaeology, G. Maspero, 6th Eng. 

 ed. A. S. Johns, 1914; Elementary 

 Egyptian Grammar, M. A. Murray, 

 3rd ed. 1914. ' 



MODERN EGYPT. The main 

 physical features of Egypt are the 

 Nile and the desert. Egypt is 

 bounded N. by the Mediterranean, 

 S. by the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 

 E. by the Red Sea, and W. by 

 Tripoli aud the Libyan desert. The 

 area of the country is roughly 

 350,000 sq. m., of which all but a 

 fifteenth is desert. A division is 

 made between Lower, Middle, and 



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hills. The valley lands in this 

 region are well cultivated. 



The chief towns are Cairo, the 

 capital ; Alexandria, the chief sea- 

 port ; and Port Said. The coast- 

 line is over 600 m. on the Mediter- 

 ranean, and about 1,200 m. on the 

 Red Sea. Part of it is rocky, but 

 nowhere do the cliffs exceed a 

 height of 1,000 ft. 



The Nile enters Egypt proper at 

 Haifa, just N. of the second catar- 

 act, flowing through a narrow 

 valley as far as 25 north. 



The delta extends some 100 m. 

 S. to N., and 155 m. on the shore 

 of the Mediterranean between 



EGYPT 



Egypt. 



Ancient representation of a table game, from 

 an inscription at Beni-Hasan 



Upper Egypt. Lower Egypt is the 

 northern part the delta of the 

 Nile; Middle Egypt is the land 

 between Cairo and Assuan, and 

 Upper Egypt is the southern part 

 the middle Nile valley. The fertile 

 portions of the country are mostly 

 around the delta, the Nile valley 

 and the oases. With the continual 

 improvement in drainage and irri- 

 gation the cultivable area is yearly 

 increasing. 



The majority of the population 

 of 12,750,918 are fellaheen (agricul- 



Egypt. Artists at work on a statue, 

 from an inscription at Thebes 



Alexandria on the W. and Port 

 Said on the E. The surrounding 

 land, southwards, is watered by a 

 network of canals and the two 

 branches of the Nile, Damietta and 

 Rosetta. The lakes 

 of the delta, Ma- 

 riut, Edku, Burlus 

 and Menzala are all 

 shallow, the water 

 being salt or brack- 

 ish. Lake Menzala 

 (780 sq. m.) is the 

 largest. 



The desert plat- 

 eaux extend on 

 either side of the 

 Nile valley from 

 the S. borders of 



Egypt to the delta in the N. The E. 

 area, the Arabian desert, between 

 the Nile and the Red sea, varies 

 between 90 m. and 350 m. in width. 

 To the W. the Sahara extends un- 

 broken for many hundreds of miles. 

 The great oases, Siwa, Baharia, 

 Farafra, Dakhla and Kharga, in 

 the western desert, receive water 

 from a sandstone bed about 400 ft. 

 below the surface. 



The flora of Egypt is scanty, the 

 country being barren of woods or 

 forests. The growth of most im- 



turists), and depend upon the re- portance is the date palm, of 

 r,^-.-,~n n a /%* 4-v.^ AT;I, i?,v.Ti-,f'c, r^tm-r. which there are some 30 varieties 



sources of the Nile. Egypt's river 

 has conquered the desert and by 

 its annual overflowing has deposit- 

 ed much sediment, which it carries 

 from the Abyssinian mountains 

 through the Atbara and Blue 

 Nile, converting sandy land into 

 cultivable areas. In Upper Egypt 



all over the country. Other trees 

 are the orange, clove, lemon, mul- 

 berry and pomegranate. Syca- 

 more, tamarisk and milk trees are 

 in evidence. Grapes are largely 

 found in the Farafra. Egypt 

 also grows limes, bananas, melons, 



the Nile valley is narrower andf the prickly pears or Indian figs, and 

 desert on either side is bounded by olives. 



Egypt. Sculptor at work, from an 

 inscription at Thebes 



Of animals, the camel, ass, sheep 

 and buffalo are most used. The 

 horse is not so much in evidence. 

 Among the wild animals of Egypt 

 are the hyena and gazelle, while 

 the hare, fox, and jackal are often 

 found in the desert, and the lynx, 

 ibex, and bats in the desert in the 

 Nile valley. Reptiles include the 

 horned viper, the echis, and the 

 hooded snake. Lizards are numer- 

 ous ; so are spiders, beetles, fleas, 

 mosquitoes, and scorpions ; locusts 

 are not so common. Fish are 

 plentiful. Over 300 species of 

 birds are found. 



Egypt is virtually a rainless 

 country. The annual rainfall in 

 Alexandria, and on the Mediter- 

 ranean coast of Egypt, does not 

 exceed 8 ins. Southwards rain is 

 very irregular. The mean tem- 

 perature at Port Said and Alex- 

 andria varies between 57 F. in 

 January and 81 F. in July. At 

 Cairo it is 53 F. in January, and 

 84 F. in July. The temperature 

 is high by day and falls quickly 

 at night. 



PEOPLE AND LANGUAGE. The 

 population of the country is 

 12,750,918, showing a remarkable 

 increase since the beginning of the 

 Turkish occupation, when an es- 

 timate gave it as less than 

 2,500,000. Of the present popula- 

 tion 11,658,148 are Mahometans. 



The most interesting type is the 

 fellah or peasant ; the most pic- 

 turesque, the Beduin. The fellah 

 has been often described as the 

 backbone of the country. Tall, 

 thin, and wiry, he reveals by his 

 sad and weary aspect the tale of 

 the last centuries. To the nomad 

 Arab the term fellah signifies 

 humility and even contempt. The 

 fellah leads a life of extreme sim- 

 plicity ; a galabieh, or blue cotton 

 frock, and a turban compriss his 

 wardrobe; his fare consists of 

 millet bread and raw vegetables. 



