38 EGYPT CONQUERED. 



of Kordofan and Sennaar, with the mountain kingdom 

 of Abyssinia as it existed under Theodore. Of all the 

 classical countries it was the most romantic and the 

 most remote. It was situated, according to the Greeks, 

 on the extreme limits of the world ; its inhabitants 

 were, the most just of men, and Jupiter dined with 

 them twice-a-year. They bathed in the waters of a 

 violet-scented spring, which endowed them with long 

 life, noble bodies, and glossy skins. They chained 

 their prisoners with golden fetters ; they had bows 

 which none but themselves could bend. It is at least 

 certain that Ethiopia took its place among the powers 

 of the ancient world. It is mentioned in the Jewish 

 records and in the Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions. 



So far had Egypt fallen that now it was conquered 

 by its ancient province. Sabaco of Ethiopia seized the 

 throne and sat upon it many years. But he was 

 frightened by a dream : he believed that a misfortune 

 impended over him in Egypt. He abdicated in haste, 

 and fled back to his native land. 



His departure was followed by uproar and confusion, 

 a complete disruption of Egyptian society, usurpation, 

 and civil war. 



But why should this have been ? Sabaco was an 

 Egyptian by descent, though his blood had been dark- 

 ened on the female side. He had governed in the 

 Egyptian manner. He had abolished capital punish- 

 ment, but in no other way had altered the ancient 

 laws. He had improved the public works. He had 

 taken the country rather as a native usurper than as 

 a foreign foe. His reign was merely a change of 

 dynasty, and Egyptian history is numbered by dynasties 

 as English history is numbered by kings. 



But indirectly the Ethiopian conquest had prepared 



