BE. PORTER ON EGYPT. 17 



formed its soil ; and the Nile, and the Nile alone, renders that 

 soil perennially fruitful. Were the Nile, by some convulsion 

 of nature or by some gigantic work of engineering skill — 

 neither of which is impossible — turned out of its present 

 channel away up at Khartoum, or at any other point above 

 Wady Haifa, Egypt would speedily become a desert. Water 

 is absolutely necessary to fertility, and in Egypt there is 

 scarcely any rain, and no water for irrigation save that of the 

 Nile. It is a remarkable fact that the Nile does not receive a 

 single tributary below Berber, though the distance thence to 

 the sea, taking into account its tortuous course, is nearly two 

 thousand miles. The volume of water decreases as it descends, 

 partly owing to evaporation, but mainly to its employment for 

 purposes of irrigation along the banks. 



Ancient Names. 



The most ancient name of Egypt—that found on its 

 hieroglyphic inscriptions — is Kam, which means "Black," 

 and probably originated in the Nile deposits of black mud 

 which cover the country. For the same reason apparently 

 the Nile itself is called in the Bible (Josh. xiii. 3; Is. xxiii. 

 3) Sihor, " Black " or " Turbid." Perhaps one might be 

 right in assigning the same origin to the name given to Egypt 

 by the Psalmist (cv. 23, 27; Ixxviii. 51), "Land of Ham," 

 that is, " The Black Land." The Hebrew Ham bears a close 

 resemblance to the Egyptian Kam, and has the same signifi- 

 cation. In fact. Ham is also an Egyptian word, 



Egypt had in early ages, and still has, another name, 

 Misraim, a dual form signifying " the two Misrs," that is. 

 Upper and Lower Egypt. The former embraces the valley of 

 the Nile fi"om Memphis (or Cairo) to Syene ; the latter is the 

 Delta. 



The word Misr, or Masur, means " a defence," and espe- 

 cially " a boundaiy defence," and was most probably derived 

 from those border forts built to protect the rich valley against 

 the predatory incursions of the restless and warlike nomad 

 tribes of the neighbouring deserts. Such forts were requisite 

 from the very earliest period of the country^s history. 



The name Hgypt is not found on ancient monuments, and i& 

 not used by the natives. It appears to have originated in 

 some way with the Greeks, and its meaning is uncertain.- 

 Poole suggests that it may be derived from the compound 

 Ai Kupto.9, "Land of the Kopts." It was first given by 



VOL. XX. c 



