134 OBSERVATIONS ON EGYPTIAN ETHNOGRAPHY, 
to go farther and adopt the sentiment of the learned Dr. Murray, that the Egyptians 
and monumental Ethiopians “were of the same lineage, and probably descended from a 
Libyan tribe.” 
This view of the case at once reconciles the remark of Champollion, Rosellini, Heeren 
and Rippell, that they could detect the present Nubian physiognomy every where on the 
monuments; but at the same time it supersedes the necessity of their inference that Nu- 
bia was the cradle of civilization, and that the arts, descending the river, were perfected 
in Egypt. The latter question cannot be definitively settled until the archeologists de- 
cide on the relative antiquity of the Egyptian and Nubian monuments. In the present 
state of the discussion, however, the preponderance of facts is greatly in favour of Egypt.* 
Without attempting to discuss this intricate question on the present occasion, I will 
merely add my conviction that the original Merdites were neither Arabs nor Hindoos, 
(although, as we shall explain, they became greatly modified by these nations in after 
time) but that they formed an unequivocal link in the Libyan chain of primitive Cau- 
casian nations. 
Tue Fetiaus.——These people, also called Arab-Egy ptians, are found every where in the 
valley of the Nile, of which they are the principal cultivators. “Their heads,” observes 
Mr. Lane, “are a fine oval, the forehead of moderate size, not high, but generally promi- 
nent; their eyes are deep sunk, black and brilliant; the nose is straight and rather thick; 
the mouth well formed; the lips are rather full than otherwise; the teeth particularly 
beautiful, and the beard is commonly black and curly, but scanty.”+ They have a yel- 
lowish complexion, and are, in general, a strong, well formed people. There can be 
little question that the Fellahs are a mixture of the Arab stock with the old rural popu- 
lation of Egypt; an amalgamation which dates chiefly from the seventh century of our 
era, (A. D. 640,) when the Saracens under Amrou conquered the country, and separated 
it from the Greek empire. The constant influx of Arab population from that time to 
the present must have more or less modified the features of the previous inhabitants; and 
yet even now we are assured by Jomard and others, that the Fellahs of upper Egypt 
present a striking resemblance, in all respects, to the monumental paintings and sculp- 
tures. ‘A Vaspect des hommes du territoire d’Esné, d’Ombos, ou d’Edfoi, ou des 
environs de Selsélé, il semblerait (pour emprunter une image du plus célébre des 
ecrivains modernes) que les figures des monuments de Latopolis, d’Ombos, ou d’ A pol- 
linopolis Magna, se sont détachées des murailles, et sont descendues dans la cam- 
pagne.’’t 
Mr. Gliddon’s kindness has furnished me with eight Fellah skulls, of which five 
are represented in the subjoined wood-cuts. Three of them only are adult, and all are 
small, and present a remarkable prominence of the face (termed prognathous by Dr. 
Prichard;) a feature which appears exaggerated in the following outlines, on account 
of the occiput and teeth being drawn on the same plane. 
* See Gliddon, Ancient Egypt, passim. 
+ Modern Egyptians, Vol. II., p. 32. 
{ Jomard, apud Mengin, Hist. de l’Egypte, p. 408. To this valuable memoir the reader is referred for various addi. 
tional analogies which are unavoidably omitted on the present occasion. 
