246 BIMANA. 



Egyptians ; who, through the revolutions and changes to which their 

 country has been subjected, have, nevertheless, maintained a certain de- 

 gree of distinctness, and have never thoroughly amalgamated either with 

 the Greek, Roman, or Moslemin strangers, under whose dominion Egypt 

 has successively passed. 



The general complexion of the Copts is dusky yellow ; but some, 

 according to Belzoni, are almost as fair as Europeans : their physiognomy, 

 as Denon remarks, strikingly resembles that of the heads of the ancient 

 Egyptians, as displayed in their statues and paintings ; but his descrip- 

 tion " flat foreheads ; eyes half closed and elevated at the angles ; 

 high cheek bones ; a broad, flat, and very short nose ; a large flattened 

 mouth, placed at a considerable distance from the nose ; thick lips ; a 

 scanty beard ; a shapeless body ; crooked legs and long flat feet," 

 does not agree, in all particulars, with the ancient monuments : it ac- 

 cords, however, with Volney's picture of the Copts, and, in some degree, 

 with that of Baron Larrey, but not with that of M. Pugnet. The last 

 author (see Memoires sur les Fievres Pestilentielles, fyc. du Levant] draws 

 a strong contrast between the Fellahs, and other Arabian people of 

 Egypt and the Copts : " La taille des Arabes est de cinq pieds deux ou 

 trois pouces ; leurs membres sees, leur peau enfumee, et 1'irregularite de 

 leurs traits les font assez ressentir entre tous les habitans de 1'Egypte. 

 Us ont la plupart, le front saillant, les yeux petits et enfonces, le nez 

 droit et aigu, les joues plates et sillonnees, les levres minces, et un 

 aspect severe. Rien de plus frappant que le contrast qui regne entre eux 

 et les Qoubtes. Autant les Arabes sont petits et maigres, autant les 

 Qoubtes sont gros et grands. A 1'exterieur chetif et miserable des pre- 

 miers ceux-ci opposent un air de majeste et de puissance," &c. His 

 description of the Copts of pure blood, unmixed with Greek or Roman, 

 the supposed descendants of the Mizraim, is as follows : " Les Egyptiens 

 sont en general d'une taille au dessus de la moyenne, leurs formes se 

 prononcent vigor eusment, la couleur de leur peau est d'un rouge obscur ; 

 ils ont le front large, le menton arrondi, les joues mediocrement pleines, le 

 nez droit, les ailes nasales fortement sinueuses, les yeux grands et bruns ; 

 la bouche peu fendue, les levres grosses, les dens blanches, les oreilles 

 hautes et tres detachees ; enfin les sourcils et la barbe extremement 

 noires ;" a portraiture which calls to mind the physiognomy of the 

 Egyptian statues of antiquity. 



According to the authority of those most capable of forming an ac- 

 curate opinion, the Coptic language has not the slightest radical affinity 

 with any of the Semitic dialects, though it contains a few words bor- 

 rowed from the Hebrew and Arabic. Jablonski, Lacrose, and Michaelis, 

 are of this opinion ; the latter, indeed, expressly states that the asser- 

 tions of those who have claimed the Coptic as a member of the Semitic 



