Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-09-21
Egyptian History.

Egypt is the most interesting OF coun-
tries, be- ause it is probably the oldest.
We borrow from it near.y all our arts
and sciences, and have only improved
upon what the Egyptians taught u.s.
Our alphabet and the art of writing
came from the banks of the Nile. 1t was
carried to Phenicia, then to Greece ana
Rome, and then to Europe and Amerl-
ca. The Egyptians invented the lever.
by which all engines are moved, and
electricity and steam made useful.
Egyptian glass-makers, goldsmiths,
painters. weavers, builders and stone
cutters, miners, gardeners and even
poets and historians, have taught their
arts to all the Western nations; Moses
studied in the Egyptian colleges, and
Joseph and his father looked upon its
pyramids and temples with wonder.
:. The land of Egypt is deposit of mud
brought down by the floods of the Nile
from the mountains OF Middle Africa.
Every year the river overfiows its banks,
new deposit, and these regular inunda-
tions have been SO provided for by en-
bankments and canals as to be seldom
sweeps away the fiocks and harvests of
the farmers, like the Mississippi. 1t
would be we'll if the Mississippi could
be made as useful as the Nile.
This fiat land of mud rests on rocks
and sand. On each side of it is a des-
ert. bare, hot and sitting. A desert di-
vides it from Asia. 1t is isolated from
the world, and here for several thousand
years the Egyptian Pharaohs ruled over
an obedient people, and their people in
vented and practiced those useful arts
which they were afterward to teach 9TH
ers. The first King of Egypt is sup
posed to have been Menes; he reigned
about 5000 B. c. Thirty-one dynasties
or families of Kings follow Menes, and
the Egyptian kingdom had lasted more
than two thousand five hundred years
when it was conquered by Alexander the
Great The Assyrians, Persians, and
even the Philippians, had conquered it
before, but had been driven out by the
rising of the people. For two thousand
years the Egyptians were free and
united. The Oldest modern kingdom
counts scarcely eight hundred years,
and our own Government nearly one
hundred.
The Egyptians were dark-colored
race. and came probably from Asia.
They lived alone upon the banks of the
Nile, shut out from the world. All
Europe was then wilderness filled
with wild beasts and a few savage men.
All was waste and desolate. The saw
age people who surrounded Egypt were
like our American Indians, ignorant
and treacherous. Had they been able
they would have broken in upon the in
dustrious Egyptians, sacked and burned
their cities, and robbed them of all they
possessed. They would have destroyed
temples and palaces, houses and gard
ems, ships and factories, and left us
without any of the Egyptian inventions
and improvements. But fortunately
the deserts and the sea for two thousand
years at least kept the savages away.
The country grew rich and f1ourishing;
the banks Of the Nile were lined with
fine farms as fertile as those of Kansas
or Dakota. The wheat was full and
white The gardens of Egypt produced
beans, onions, cabbages, and were filled
with flowers. Countless towns and
cities sprang up along the Nile. Some
of them were as large, perhaps, as Chi,
cago or New York. The rich land
swarmed with people. The families of
the Egyptians lived in comfortable
houses; the children were usually
CauQQL III tuc GcIuplCo W Aonu anu "iicO,
all were taught to work; they were well
dressed and very neat; and when
Joseph governed the land with discre-
ton and good sense, there was no part
of the Western world that could equal
the intelligence and civilization of
Egypt. It's cities, temples, palaces.
farms and gardens were the wonder of
the ancient historians.
To-day Egypt is an impoverished
country, distracted by civil war. Alex
andria, once one of the most magnifi-
cent cities of the world, lies in ashes,
and the people throughout the land are
suffering all the horrors of famine
| amidst their plundered and ruined
homes. Long ages of misrule and ig-
| norance have brought the fruitful and
| prosperous land to this terrible condi-
ton. In the days of Joseph the armies
of Egypt might have withstood the
world. Now the congueror is at her
gates, disorder RACES within, and peace
and prosperity can return to her bord-
ers only under the protection of for
eign power--Euge'ae Laurence. in Har-
| per's Young People.