310 NORTH-EAST AFRICA. 



of the necropolis show that the philosophy of the Egyptians was humane and 

 rational, and, as Mariette remarks, it in no way resembled the mystical fetishism 

 which sprang up in Thebes twenty centuries later. From all points of view the 

 most perfect epoch is precisely the most ancient that is known to us. When 

 Egypt entered upon one of those periods of warlike rule which so many persons 

 still consider the indication of true greatness, the Egyptian sovereigns were 

 enabled to use for their conquests the effective power which their armies had 

 already acquired during the course of a long-established culture. Their empire 

 already extended far beyond the natural limits of the Nilotic basin, even far into 

 Asia. According to Mariette and most other Egyptologists, the monarchy of the 

 Pharaohs, at the time of its greatest extent, embraced the whole region comprised 

 between the equatorial countries of the Upper Nile, the shores of the Indian Ocean, 

 and the mountains of the Caucasus. 



But warlike expeditions are always the forerunning sign of decadence. Under 

 the rule of the conquering Ramses II. the decline became rapid, and the latter 

 part of his reign is marked by barbarous works, and sculptures " of a most extra- 

 ordinary coarseness." The force derived from a superior civilisation ended by 

 exhausting itself, and Egypt was conquered in her turn, and for more than twenty 

 centuries she has never ceased to be under the rule of foreign dynasties. 



Present Social and Political Position. 



The political and social destiny of the cultivators of the Egyptian soil is clearly 

 indicated by the surroundings amidst which they live. The Nile, the common 

 property of the nation, floods all the land at the same time ; and before it had been 

 surveyed by geometricians, the land itself should also have been rendered common 

 property. The irrigating canals, which are indispensable for cultivation beyond 

 the limits attained by the annual floods, can be dug out and kept in order only by 

 multitudes of workmen labouring in unison. 



There is, therefore, only one of two alternatives to be accepted by the agricul- 

 turalists, either to unite together in a commune, or else to become the slaves of a 

 native or foreign master. During the course of written history, the latter alterna- 

 tive is that which has been realised, whatsoever may have been the apparent pros- 

 perity of the country under the sway of the Pharaohs, the Ptolemies, and the Sultans. 

 The bas-reliefs of the monuments show us the Egyptian of three thousand years 

 ago bowed down beneath the lash, just as they are at the present day. The victim 

 of a continual oppression, and an excessive extortion, the fellah is unable to shift 

 his quarters like the nomad Bedouin. In the vast level plain of the delta, or in 

 the narrow valley of the river, there is not a single retreat in which he can hope to 

 find a refuge from his taskmasters. Although his misery is without issue and his 

 future without hope, still he passionately loves the land of his birth. Away from 

 the banks of his beloved river, the fellah is overwhelmed by sadness and dies of 

 home- sickness. The most commonplace landscapes are still the most beautiful in 

 the eyes of their inhabitants. 



