The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-12-09

After an interesting account Of the physiog-
saphy OF Egypt, and of its characteristic fauna
and fora, Prof. Maspero enters on the arch9o-
logical inquiry for which his life has 80 emil
nently fitted him. He begins by pointing out
that the word Nile is of uncertain origin. We
have It from the Greeks, and they took II from
. people foreign to Egypt either from the
Phenicians or the Khiti, from people Of Libya
or Of Asia Minor. When the Egyptians them
selves did not care 10 treat their river as the
God Hapi. they called It the Sea, or the Great
River. They had twenty or more terms by
which TO designate the different phases which IL
assumed according to the season, but they would
not have understood what was meant had one
talked to them Of the Nile. The name Egypt,
also, is part of the Hellenic tradition; the author
suggests that It may have been taken from
fhs temple-name of Memphis, Hsikuphtah,
which barbarian coast tribes Of the Medi-
Herranean must long have had ringing
In their ears as that of the most important
and wealthiest town to DO found upon
ahs shores OF their sea. The Egyptians
called themselves Romitu. Rotu. and their
country Omit, the Black Land. Whence came
they? How far of In time are we TO carry back
the date of their arrival7 II is unquestionably
true that the Oldest monuments thus far known
scarcely transport US further than six thousand
years. Yet these are of an art 30 fine and so
% leOttth INV IN is A1t tAtht ehN thoy
reveal so ingeniously combined q system of civil
administration and religion. that we cannot we'll
help inferring a long past Of accumulated GEN.
turtles behind II. or course. II must DO always
difficult to estimate exactly the length Of time
needed by q race as gifted as were the ancient
Egyptians to rise from barbarism into . high
degree Of culture. Nevertheless, Prof. Maspero
Is 4 Inclined to grant them forty or fifty centuries
wherein to bring so complicated an achievement
H.- - -.-NI
place their first appearance in the Milo valley
at eight or ten thousand years before our era.
in q foot note we are reminded that this is the
date admitted by Chabas. Of all savants the
least disposed to attribute exaggerated an
tquity TO races of men.
The horizon of the earliest jewellers In the Nile
valley was a very narrow one. Their gaze
might wander westward over the ravine-fur-
fowed plains Of the Libyan desert without
reaching the tabled land Of Manu-. where the sun
set every evening: but looking eastward from
the valley they could sec the peak Of Bakhu,
which was supposed to mark the limit of regions
accessible to man in that direction. By Brugsch
lhe peak of Bakhu was identified with the Emer-
aid Mountainiof classic geography. known to-day
rs Gebel Zabarah. But our author does not think
that the name of Bakhu was restricte6 to an in
significant chain OF hills. On tho contrary, tho
texts prove that It was applied to several noun
fains situated north OF Gebel Zabarah, especially
TO Gebel ed-Dukham. Ono of the peaks of tho
latter region attains q height of 6.1s0 feet. and
is visible from afar. Beyond the regions Access
'sible to man lay the beginnings OF To-nutri,
the Land Of tho Gods, and the breezes pass
ing over It were laden with It's perfumes,
and sometimes waited them to mortals lost In
ihe desert. Northward, the world came to an
End toward the lagoons OF the Delta, whose In
accessible islands were believed TO be the So
Journing place OF souls after death. As regards
abe south. precise knowledge of It scarcely went
beyond the deflles Of Gebel Silsileh. where the
last remains OF the granite threshold had per-
haps not altogether disappeared. The district
beyond Gebel Silsileh. the province Of Konusip,
was still a foreign and almost mythic country,
directly connected with heaven by means OF the
cataract. Long after the Egyptians had
broken through this restricted circle, the names
of those places which had, as II were, marked
out their original frontiers, continued to be asso-
ciated in their minds with the idea of the four
cardinal points. Bakhu and Manu- were still
the most frequent expressions for the extreme
east and west. Nekhabit and Buto, those popu-
ious towns in the neighborhoods respectively OF
Gebel Silsileh and the ponds Of the Delta were
BET over against each other TO designate south
aud north. II was within these narrow boun-
diaries that Egyptian civilization struck root aud
Sipened as inla closed vessel.