The sun., 1901-05-05

and Photographic, inciuong copeo VI u"
soriptions and reproductions oil CONS anu
slass weights. The history which IL mere
set forth may be conveniently distriouleo
under the following heads. to-Wit: the periou
when Egypt was a province OF tho oailpha'o
Of Damascus or Of Bagdad the era oi tho
shiite Revolution and OF the Fatinhd campus
that OF Saladin and members OF MS iarh"y'
and, hnally, that OF the MhminS Su'uns,
which may be said to have lasted rom it'V
until the conquest OF the Nile Lana ny tno
Ottoman Turks In 1911 We can here oi'is
indicate some Of III" moro striking eVehV'
In saoh psriod. and point out the SOCIAL anu
industrial condition OF Egypt at various
times
v,sa fact OF far-reaching consod uences
mat the conquest OF Egypt by the Arabs was
affected by oapitulation rather than by the
.rord tho Cont, or Christian inhabitants
prefsrrins the rule Of the newcomers TO that
of the Byzantine Emperors Al the time of
the invasion. 03e-lI, Memphis, which, OF
co,r.s Inv on the western bank Of the Nile
was still inhabited to considerable extent.
rh,. an the sa.tern bank were Babylon.
the fortress which protected the old native
"
name of Fustat. was 90 be esest OF Arao RUE
un,n flor Cairo was founded by the Fatlmld
Cgliphs. At the Time Of ia capture hy Anr'
.he ArabGeneral Ale .nndria. according 20 the
Noslem writers. contained 80 theatres and
coo ,ublic baths while its population num-
hered eoo ooa without reckoning women and
chudron, NJ whom 2nO. 900 we're Romans By-
,sn,ines, and Il. .ooa Jews. or any destruction
-. tuifh
Uauenistic civilization there 1. nor word
In any of the early authorities, nor since the
c,t, capi.uIated on terms, was any spolation
,,,,.,i..,hla The story Of the de,trust! On
,r atbs Alcxandrinn library" and of the dis
,rihu,,n. of IN. books 20 light the fre- In the
ooo nublic baths IA found Ia no early records.
II first appears in the thirteenth century opo
wear, after the alleged event, and is ab7o-
lutcIy contradictory to contemporary 'hr'@-
tjan account Of Amr'4 protecting policy
Mr. Lane-Pools suggests that the legend
may loye had It's origin in the destruction
Of books Of the Fro Worshippers during the
Arab conquest Of Persia Tho AleNandrian
library was destroyed, Nrst accidentally
during julius C~sar's occupation Of part
81 the city, and long sfterward deioerate'y
nv tine Christian mob which laid waste the
Temple Of Scraps
The administrative system pursued hv
the ninety-eight Governors who ruled Egypt
under the successive Caltphs of Medina.
Damascus and Bagdad was substantially
the same up 20 the time when a dynasty
nracticaIly independent was established ia
ses Naturally. however. mildness and sever
ity would alternate according TO tho dis-
position Of the Governor or the character
md ttl lAr IL
certain that several Governors are described
as upright and generous. benevolent toward
the people and beloved by them. The nor
NAL taxation WA, not excessive, nOn-NoS-
lens that il TO say. Christians and Jews.
paid two dinars, or about guinea, year
in poll tax and the same amount per cnlti-
waited acre in land tax, Ths taxes brought
In annually from II, 900. .OOO to ia,0oo coo dinars,
the dinar containing slightly more gold than
IA now contained in half sovereign Al
the same time. il must be admitted that In
Evypt the tax gatherer did not always con-
tent himself with the legal impost: apart
from extertion in the collection Of the pol
tax and the land tax. there were various
other duties on trades and markets which
,welled the revenue The Mo,lem subjects
themreiVe, had 70 pay tths by way OF
poor tax. and also property tax Outside
Of Alexandria. whcrtN the Jews continued 10
be numerous. the vast MAJ ority of the people
Of HRypt we're the Christian Copts, and what
.ver oppression existed was mainly borne
nv them There l. very little evidence
however. to show tnat they we're grossly
il-treated It /. significant that. throughout
the Omayyad and Abbasid period most o!
the Copts. in spite Of some Intermittent spoli-
alton and Of tho temptation to escape the
pou tax and all disabilities by the simple
process OF conversion to Islam. remalne'
steadfast to the Christian faith. They st'l
numbered 100000 about D. 725 sever
rears later. the Treasurer Obeydallah, hnt'
ing that Islam was making no progrcN'
among them. imported 5000 Arabs. an'
settled them TO the northeast Of Fustat
IN the Bawf district Of the Delta, where
they presently formed a hotbed OF revolt
Apart from this small addition, N" Arat
population must have been considerable
though for the first century o' Moham
MADAM rule II was almost confined TO th'
larger cities. Most Governors seem TO hav'
come 20 Egypt escorted by an Arab army
estimated at different times az 5000 OF 10000
ar even 30 900 men. and many ot thsse sol
diay. probs bly, settled In tho towns, and som'
certainly intermarried with Copt women
These Arabs were no doubt favored ny th'
Government at the expense OF the Christians :
and az ons time we read that IS 900 dinar'
we're distributed among the MoSlems % pay
their debts Arab tribes from time to tint
migrated bodily into Egypt. Thus the trio'
Of el-Kcnz settled chiefly IN ths said Cpp"
Egypt in the middle Of the ninth oen'u y
intermarried with the inhabitants and be
eamo a weighty political factor IN later IN
surrection-.
II,
From sos 20 soa Egypt was princIpalit,
virtually independ dent Of the Eastern Calirh
ste. though. so far as religion VAS con
c-rned. II remained orthodox. or summit"
lr tho year last mentioned occurred IN
shiits Revolution and the accession a. IN
Fatimid dynasty which IN tho b',k osfor,
Us receive tho attention they deserve o
course. lt does not fall within the scope o
the work TO recount st length tho history o
the Aid -chism, bat tho author !s crns'rp'r"'
10 tahc M the links which connect II vii