The newspaper., 1908-03-27
Book Review. The Life Of the Egyptians.
BY MRS. MAE ISABELLE WOOD.

WOOD
The modern mind is self fcentered. 1t is prone to
think civilization is wholly affair o today
least OF times. On the contrary civiiza
a very affair." but until after the invention
OF printing its development was by no means rapid
The civilization Of the great peoples ofantquity Were
quite comparable with the civilization of people oil
much later tmes-even of times not far antecedent to
The study OF the civilization OF these ancient people,
OF their origin their development their eras of sue
cessful growth and prosperity their decline and fall
very Interesting. For example, IL shows how much
like the life of organic thing thelife OF nation Is
how 1t has its birth, its period of development ana
maturity and it's death just individual person
1t leads To believe that nation OF people can
endure vigor forever That even this our own
loved country may in time make it's exit from the
great stage OF the worlds successful activity.
somewhat saddenng but not altogether unsaluary les
SON 1t impossible within the limits of the present
article do than glance at the wonderful his
tory of the people who thousand years ago had
built up great civilization on the banks OF the Nile
Our knowledge OF them IL limited and Obscure CLEANED
from uncertain records still only half comprehended
by But we know that at this date they were al
ready pshed In the arts and sciences and pos
sessed Of certain knowledges to which yet
strangers Egyptian history falls into Tour periods or
important changes Of social and political procedure
The first Is NEUROLOGICAL, the of the divine
regn-. The semifabulou- king Menes. the founder oil
Memphis. dominated the second period and II is re-
corded Of him that in order to- gain sufficient room
for the of Memphis, he changed the of the
Nile by constructing dixie.
The third period began about four thousand years
ago with the invasion of the shepherd kings sup
posed to have been the Phoenicians They governed
the country three four hundred years but
finally expelled and the Egyptians remained masters
OF their country down 10 3il b. G. the date OF
Alexander conquest, and here the fourth period Of
Egyptian history begins. The Maeedonans Were. In
turn. succeeded by the Romans. Saracens and Turks
but Its policy Ia controlled absolutely by English
rule. under whose protection IL il now winning
back the vast territories in the Soudan which were
undoubtedly under it's sway in the days of the Pha
raohs.
The social of the people inhabting the banks
OF the Nile at that period is unknown. They had
chronology, properly called their only division
of time consisting OF the length Of reign o their
cessve sovereigns. But modern researches gradu
ally enabling to check the principal dates In Egyp
tan history and 1t IL safe to conclude that IL
period of mt least fifty centuries anterior to the
day the people of Egypt began to degen
crate. But the erection Of the great pyramids and
ancient buildings, second to no other nation noteven
Rome in grandeur and durability regarded by
writers as an Indication OF the highly civilized
Egypt and n striking proof that before this period
the nation had made considerable progress In the
and sciences. Egypt was famous for its temples
and tombs, and perhaps among these the pyramids
best known.
Three are of vast and the greaest Of these IL
solid mass OF stonework The sides OF this mighty
structure originally covered with great polished
admirably fitted together that they pre-
sent a perfectly smooth surface from base to
The glorious stones have been removed, that mod
buildings might be erected. Yet the spoilers hand
has hardly effected the size of the great structure,
which casts its broad shadow Ike that OF mountain,
the desert
Close to the pyramids, half buried in the desert
sand stands the syhinx. For hundreds OF years its
mysterious head watched men come and go to return
no more 1t became a by-word for mystery. But
basket and spade, about a generation ago cleared
away the sand about the head, and brought to view
the lion which forms its body The sphinx IL the en-
bodiment Of religious idea possibly Of different
ligious ideas. 1t figure Of light conquering
darkness. Of the soul triumphing DEATH 1t was
the emblem OF the at It's rising. Wisdom and
strength waited through the night with mighty calm