The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-08


watered by the Bahr Yusuf. Otherwise
the western desert held no economic re-
sources for the use of the early Nile jewellers.
The eastern or Arabian Desert, stretching
between the Nile and the Red Sea, Is some
what less inhospitable, and is capable OF
yielding q scanty subsistence to Wander
ing tribes Of Ababdeh, A range Of granite
mountains parallel with the coast OF the
Red Sea contains gold bearing quartz veins,
and here and there other gold producing
mountains lie between the Red Sea and the
Nile. Deposits Of alabaster and extensive
masses Of various fine grained and hard
igneous rocks led to the early exploitation
Of quarries here also, while the Red Sea
harbors could, Of course, be reached only
by trayersing the Arabian Desert, through
which established routes thither were early
traced. Further to the north similar
mineral resources led to an acquaintance
with the peninsula Of Sinai at a very remote
date.
The situation presented by this narrow
valley was one OF exceptional isolation;
on either hand vast desert wastes; on the
north, the harborless coast line OF the
Delta, and on the south the rocky barriers
Of successive cataracts, preventing fusion
with the peoples Of inner Africa. It was
chiefly at the two northern corners Of the
Delta that outside influences and foreign
elements, which were always sitting into the
Nile valley, gained access to the country.
Through the eastern corner 1t was the pre-
hist orio Semitic population Of neighboring
Asia that forced its way across the danger
Gus intervening desert; while the Libyan
races, of possibly European origin, found
entrance at the western corner. The
prooucts of the South, also, In spite OF the
cataracts, filtered in ever increasing volume
into the regions Of the lower river, ana the
northern nd OF the First Cataract became
a trading post, ever after known as
"Suanp (Assuan), or Market" where the
negro traders of the south met the traders
of Egypt. The Upper Nile thus gradually
became a regular avenue OF with
the Sudan. The natural boundaries OF
Egypt, however, always offered sufficiently
effective barriers TO would"be invaders to
enable the natives slowly 10 assimilats the
newcomers without being displaced. OBJ
viously the remarkable shape OF the country
would powerfully influence it's political
DEVELOPMENT. Except in the Delta 1t was
but @ narrow green line some $50 miles
long. Struggling it's slender length along
the river and s%prawling out into the Della,
the valley totally lacked the ~compactness
necessary to the creation OF a stable po-
litical organization in the earl st times.
A given locality would nave neighbors on
only two siues, north and south; local feel
ing, consequently. would be strong, local
differences persistent; and the result was
that a man of the Delta could hardly under
stand the speech Of a man of the First
Cataract region. 1t Was only the ease OF
communication afforded by the river which
In any degree neutraized the effect of the
country's remarkable length and extreme
Prof. Breasted goes on to emind us that
the wealth Of commerce., which the river
served to carry, 1t was equally instrumental
In producing. While the climate Of the
country is not ~rainless, yet the rare show
ers of the south, often separated by inter-
walls Of years. and even the more frequent
rains OF the Delta, are totally insufficient
to maintain its processes Of agriculture.
In historic and doubtless also in the later
prehistoric times the marvellous produo-
tivity Of the Egyptian soil has been due
to the annual inundation Of the Nile, which
Is caused by the melting of the snow and
DY lne SpllllB all az nv oouiSpo vi Az
Blue Nile. Freighted with the rich loan
Of the Abyssinian highlands, the rush.
ing waters Of the spring freshets hurry
down the Nubian Valley, and a slight rise
is discernible at the First Cataract in the
early part Of June. Then the food swells
rapidly and steadily. and although the in
crease is normally interrupted for nearly
a month from the end Of September it is
.z..l- .o,,,-ooJ and tho y,aYirnurp laval
continues until the end Of October, or even
into November. The waters in the region
OF the First Cataract are at the date last
mentioned nearly fifty feet higher than at
low water, while even at Cairo the rise
Is about half that at the cataract. A vast
and elaborate system Of irrigation canals
and reservoirs first receives the flood, which
is then allowed to escape into the fields as
needed. Here it rests long enough to de-
post its burden of rich, black earth from
the upper reaches Of the Blue Nile. At
such times the appearance Of the country
is picturesque in the extreme. the glistening
surface of the waters being dotted here and
there by the vivid green of the palm groves
which mark the villages now accessible
only along the dykes belonging to the
irrigation system. Thus year by year the
soil, which OtneTWuSo WOulu DeCoIhe I'LL
poverished, as regards the elements neces-
sary to the production Of prodigious har-
vests, is invariably replenished with fresh
resources. We add that in climate Egypt
is a veritable paradise, drawing to its
shores every day an ever increasing num-
Der OF winter guests. The air of the Nile
valley or canon is essentially that Of the
deserts within which it lies, and such is it's
purity and dryness that even an excessive
degree Of heat occasions but slight dis
comfort, owing to the fact that the moisture
of the body is dried up almost as fast as it
is exhaled. The nights, even in summer,
are always cool, and the vast expanses of
vegetation appreciably reduce the tempera-
ture.
We now turn to the most important part
OF Prof. Breasted's narrative, that which
uses the latest excavations for the pur-
pose Of presenting in outline a picture Of