name

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Mitzraim, the Biblo name of Egypt, is a dual, which some supposed to designate the two regions of Egypt; but it must be derived from the name of a patriarch, since it occurs as such in the list of Noah's descendants [Gen. x. 6]. ivy (Mutzōr) is frequently used [Deut. xx. 19, &c.]; but it is not certain that Egypt is ever intended by it it is always translated in the authorised version, and might in every case be rendered by "defence." Descriptive designations of Egypt are sometimes employed, as-"The land of Ham, which denotes the ancestry of the people from Noah's son, Ham ("the sunburnt"); Rahab ("the proud"), which describes the national character. The ancient Egyptian name, Kem, or Chem (the black"), in sound and signification very near the name of Ham, has been imagined to indicate the black mud of the Nile. The "Egypt," which it bore among the ancient Greeks and Romans, is of very disputed origin: if Greek, it may mean "land of the vulture." The modern Egyptian and Arabic Misr (vulgarly, Misr) is a form of Matzor, or a contraction of Mitruim. The ancient division of Egypt was into an upper and lower country, the valley and plain. Its present inhabitants also follow the geography of nature, and consider Upper Egypt to commence immediately above Cairo. The portion known to the Israelites was the lower country. From at least the time of Abraham, the most eastern part of Lower Egypt was peopled by Palestinian or Arab immigrants, and probably the great district, Goshen; certainly several towns and villages near it, mentioned in Scripture-Zoan, Sin, Migdol-have Hebrew names. Jacob and his family were settled in Goshen, and the wonders were wrought in the field of Zoan [Ps. lxxviii. 12]. Joseph ruled over all Egypt, though some would restrict the Egypt of his history to Lower Egypt. Moses may have visited the whole country; but the pictures of Egypt in the Bible, its abundance of fruit, its many streams and ponds with their fisheries, its water-plants, all indicate the north-east, where the descendants of a Shemite population still live in the marsh lands of Lake Menzeleh. The prophets speak of Zoan and Memphis as the great cities, and of the strongholds on the eastern border, Sin, Pi-beseth, On; although No-Amon, or Thebes, is also mentioned. Therefore, as we attempt to interweave an account of Egypt with the notices in the Bible, we must have Lower Egypt, and especially its eastern districts, chiefly in

view.

The ancient provinces of Egypt were called by the Greeks " nomes; and it has been suspected, with some reason, that they owed their origin to Joseph. The Hebrew word supposed to mean "nomes" in Isa. xix. 2, should be translated "kingdoms," as in the authorised version; and it is very remarkable that, at the time of the prophet, Egypt was divided into several petty monarchies, which soon made war upon one another, and opened the whole country first to an Ethiopian conqueror, and then to successive Assyrian invaders.

Though Egypt really consists of the "plain" and the "valley," the adjoining deserts occupy an important place in its history. They are not vast plains, but high table-lands, thinly strewn with sand, rising from 50 to 200, or 300 feet, and at a distance from the river, even to 6,000 feet. Through them a course is cut for the river, above which they riso in shelving cliffs. This rocky barrier, from the north to about thirty miles from the First Cataract, is of limestone; then of sandstone, which at the cataract is broken through by granite. These rocks are entirely destitute

of vegetation, and their dazzling light yellow colour forms a striking contrast to the bright green valley and the turbid or dark blue river. In their sides there are numerous sepulchral grottoes which, with mummy pits and built tombs, make Egypt one great necropolis, and recall the complaint of the Israelites to Moses: "Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?" [Exod. xiv. 2.] Also in the mountain-sides are many quarries, one for almost each town, in some of which, if tradition is to be trusted, the Israelites laboured during the bondage, on tasks even harder than making bricks. It may have been in such a place that Moses slew the Egyptian who oppressed one of the Hebrews, and buried him in the sand, for at the foot of the mountain is a sand-strewn strip of land. The entire soil of Egypt is alluvium, which has been deposited by the Nile during its successive annual inundations, and is of extraordinary fertility [Gen. xiii. 10]; and hence the country was of old the granary of the East, and was resorted to by the inhabitants of the neighbouring lands during any dearth. Egypt's fertility seems to be hinted at in Pharaoh's dream of the seven fat and lean kine which "came up out of the river," as the Egyptian herds are still accustomed to do; and the staple product is certainly indicated in the dream of the ears of corn.

This source of

The land of Goshen demands a special mention. So changed is the condition of the eastern part of Lower Egypt, through the devastations of successive conquerors, and the unresisted encroachments of the desert sands, that we might look in vain for its boundaries, were they even indicated in Scripture. But, in truth, our information regarding it is slight. The name "Goshen" is perhaps a Hebrew word; it is not found in Egyptian inscriptions or classical records, and the few places which, if identified, might guide us as to its situation, had disappeared even in classical times. Yet we cannot be very wrong in placing it not far from Zoan, or Tanis, and the ancient head of the Red Sea; and in considering that it probably lay somewhere to the north-east of Cairo, midway between that town and the Mediterranean. [See GOSHEN.]

The present climate of Egypt is treacherous; and its dreaded plague, boils, and other diseases, are mentioned in Scripture as judgments which the Israelites, if disobedient in their own land, would incur [Deut. xxviii. 27]. The country may be said to be rainless. In Lower Egypt, one heavy storm is usual each year, and a few showers. On the coast of the Mediterranean, rain is not rare; in Upper Egypt, a storm may occur once in four years. The country is therefore well described as not watered by rain or dew [Deut. xi. 10, 11; Zech. xiv. 17, 18], nor dependent upon them; the great river waters and fertilises its soil.

once

The Nile is never mentioned by its classical and modern name in Scripture. It is called "the sea" [Nahum iii. 8], an expression still used by the Egyp tians; also "the river" (yeur), an ancient Egyptian word; the "river of Egypt," and Shihor, "the black" river; and is perhaps meant by another term. [See EGYPT, RIVER OF.] Its inundations, which sweep over the whole land, leaving the villages standing like islands in a turbid sea, are taken by Amos [viii. 8; ix. 5] as a symbol of destruction; and by Jere miah [xlvi. 8], as a figure of the Egyptian army of Necho.

In the Bible, Egypt is rather an agricultural than a pastoral country. The brethren of Joseph were settled apart in Goshen, because they were shepherds, and

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every shepherd" was "an abomination unto the Egyptians:" the latter point is signally illustrated by the resemblance between sos, "shepherd," in ancient Egyptian, according to the historian Manetho, and shos, opprobrium," &c., in Coptic. In the account of the great famine, we see that each city had its field, the produce of which Joseph laid up therein; and that he afterwards supplied the people with seed for sowing, and so purchased a right for Pharaoh over the whole land, except that of the priests.

The monuments give us lively representations of all the operations of agriculture, and show us the storehouses and granaries, so that we have no difficulty in picturing the events of Joseph's rule; and we see in this unexpected illustration a confirmation of the antiquity and authenticity of the Scripture narrative. The fisheries were, no doubt, important in the time of the Israelite sojourn, as we learn from the monuments, and incidentally from the Bible; but their great value is still more evident where Isaiah predicts their destruction as among the calamities which were to come upon the country [xix. 8, 10].

Unlike Palestine, Egypt is perfectly level. Along the river's bank are groves of the beautiful date-palm, and here and there stands a solitary acacia, or sycamore, less frequently a grove of orange or lemon trees. All else is an unbroken plain of the brightest green, or, when the Nile overflows, a sheet of water, which covers everything, except here and there a brown ancient mound, or a village with its palms and mosque. Flax, wheat, and barley were anciently cultivated: all of them are mentioned in the narrative of the ten plagues of Egypt [Exod. ix. 31, 32]. Working in flax was one of the important branches of industry Isa. xix. 9]. Vegetables and fruits of many kinds were abundant, and of old were carefully cultivated; even now, after the neglect of centuries, they are still plentiful and excellent. The Israelites murmured in the desert, "Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick" [Numb. xi. 4, 5]. The grape-vine was cultivated extensively, and several kinds of wine were made from its varieties. The water-plants were a characteristic of the country. The Nile and its canals were fringed by a thick growth of rushes, including the celebrated papyrus; and on the waters floated the beautiful lotus. The papyrus has a long stalk and a cup-shaped flower, which, with its bud, originated the two commonest forms of capitals used by the Egyptian architects. The stalks were employed in the manufacture of boats of various kinds, which are spoken of in Scripture. Such was the "ark of papyrus" (authorised version, bulrushes") in which Moses was put by his mother [Exod. ii. 3]. Boats of this material were, on account of their lightness, used for conveying intelligence: for Isaiah speaks of "vessels of papyrus," seemingly sent from Ethiopia to Egypt [xviii. 1, 2]. The manufacture of papyrus boats is represented on the monuments. The larger vessels were doubtless made of acacia or sycamore planks, and had one great square sail, sometimes of various colours. Another use of papyrus was in the manufacture of paper (a word derived from papyrus) from its leaves, a practice so ancient that it is shown, by representations on the monuments, to have been in use before the time of Abraham; and Egyptian MSS. are preserved, of about the period of that patriarch. It cannot be doubted that Moses wrote on such paper; and probably the first copy of the Law was a roll of

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papyrus. Jeremiah's roll, which was burnt by King Jehoiakim, and, if of parchment, would scarcely have been cut [Jer. xxxvi. 23] and thrown into the fire, was probably of the same material. The fulfilment of the prophecy in Isaiah [xix. 6], that the waterplants and reeds should be destroyed, is signally complete. Instead of the abundance of reeds represented everywhere on the monuments, they are rarely to be found; and the papyrus and lotus have disappeared.

The Egyptian cattle, though far less attended to than of old, still excite admiration for their beauty and docility. They may be seen coming up from the water, as in Pharaoh's dream-kine and buffaloes, tho latter of subsequent introduction. Sheep and goats aro abundant. Horses were not known at the date of tho earliest monuments, and we find them first represented (B.c. 1500 or 1600) at the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Asses were always common, and to this day are preferred for riding: a circumstance which brings to mind the thirty sons of Jair "that rode on thirty ass colts" [Judg. x. 4], and Deborah's address to the judges of Israel, "Ye that ride on white asses" [v. 10]. Camels were used in Egypt [Exod. ix. 3 (comp. Gen. xii. 16; xxiv. 19, &c.); Lev. xi. 4; Deut. xiv. 7]; and Abraham apparently received some as a gift from Pharaoh [Gen. xii. 16]; but they are never shown on the monuments. The hippopotamus was common in ancient times; now, man has driven him far into Nubia. The description of this animal as the "behemoth," in Job [see BEHEMOTH, ELEPHANT], shows an acquaintance with Egypt, the productions and civilisation of which appear to be mentioned several times in that book. The "leviathan," thero so closely described, is, probably, the crocodile; and the word is used elsewhere to denote the king of Egypt. Though not now found in Lower Egypt, it is still common in the upper country; and occasionally an instance occurs of its drowning and devouring a woman or child. Like all the saurians, the crocodilo attacks with its tail, and does so without leaving the water, approaching where the stream is rapid and the bank steep, in order that it may come close to shore unobserved. It would, doubtless, attack in the water itself, but the river is avoided by bathers, when the region of crocodiles has been reached. Frogs abound, as well as serpents and scorpions, the two latter being chiefly limited to the deserts, where the "fiery flying serpent" [see SERPENT, FIERY] (probably the deadly cobra which, like all its race, darts on its prey) and scorpions are still the dread of the traveller in these desolate wastes.

The view taken in the Bible of the ancient Egyptian character is more favourable than that given by the Greek and Roman writers. To the Jewish people the Egyptians were less exclusive and bigoted than to the Greeks, whose philosophy they dreaded; and to the Romans, whose rule they disliked. Yet they appear in Scripture as a proud race, exclusive but fiequently hospitable, unstable but sometimes friendly, steeped in idolatry, fond of ease, and filled, like the Chinese, with a confidence in their invincibility, which a succession of invasions and subjugations could not shake.

We may learn much of the manners of the ancient Egyptians from the vivid account in the Bible of Joseph's history. For example, we read, in the description of the dinner [Gen. xliii. 16-34], of the separately-seated guests, the messes despatched to each, and the free drinking of wine or beer: all which