EGYPT

[s. 240] : Egypt proper extends from the Mediterranean on the north to Wady Haifa at the second cataract of the Nile on the south, and from the Suez Canal and the Red Sea on the east to an indefinite line of desert on the west. Politically it includes also a strip of Arabia on the east of the Suez Canal, Nubia, and an uncertain section of the Sudan. By far the greater part of is practically uninhabited, so that of the officially reported 400,000 square miles, not more than 13,000 square miles contain a population of (1897) 9,734,405, giving a density of population three times as great as that of France, and even greater than that of Belgium this territory and Saxony. Of the population nearly 9,000,000 are Mohammedans and 25,000 are Jews. The Christians number 730,162. Of these, 608,000 are Copts, 53,500 belong to the Greek Church, 56,500 are Roman Catholics and the remainder are Armenians and Protestants, with a few uncla ed individuals. The language of Egypt is entirely Arabic. The Coptic, representing the old Egyptian hieroglyphs, has long been a dead language, existing only in the Scriptures and liturgies of the Coptic monasteries. The climate of Egypt is in general very dry. Northerly winds prevail in summer and south- 2Z& erly winds in winter, so that there is a great uniformity in temperature, ranging in Cairo from 50° to 85°, the highest recorded being 116° Fahr. There is also very little rain practically none at all in Upper Egypt tho in Cairo there are some very heavy rainfalls; yet the rise of the Nile is accompanied with a great deal of moisture, so that, especially on the Red Sea coast, one seems to be in a vapor bath. The houses are built chiefly of sun-dried brick, except in the cities, where a porous stone is used. The present ruler of Egypt, as a tributary province of Turkey, is Abbas Hilmi Pasha, who has the title of Khedive, or Prince. The administration is in the hands of native ministers subject to the ruling of the Khedive and the concurrence of the representative of Great Britain. The army of Egypt is commanded by a British general who holds an Egyptian commi ion and — — who employs a certain number of British officers subordinate positions. There is also a force about 5,000 British troops in Egypt, partly paid by that province and styled “The Army of Occupation.” The English control of Egypt (since 1883) altho advisory in form, is already revolutionizing the life of the common people by securing justice to a marked degree and gradually suppre ing in of official corruption. The schools of all grades throughout the country are required to teach the English language besides the vernacular, and a date has been officially fixed after which English will be the language of all official transactions and correspondence. Mi ionary work is carried on in Egypt by the United Presbyterian Church of the United States of America and the Church Mi ionary Society of England. Of these two mi ions the former is much the more important. The latter has confined itself to work for Mohammedans, chiefly in connection with the schools established for Muslim children by Mi Whately, who died in 1889, leaving the schools under the general charge of the society. Mi ionary work among the Copts has never encountered so bitter opposition from the clergy as has been met in some other parts of the Levant. The government, too, has favored and valued the educational work of the mi ions. Under existing circumstances, government persecution of Mohammedans who incline to Christianity does not take place, and with the spread of knowledge of the English language and literature, an opportunity for evangelizing Mohammedans has been created which should be used to the full. Besides the UP and the CMS, the BFBS, the Sudan Pioneer Mi ion (German), the Kaiserswerth Deacone es, the (Dutch) Society for the Evangelization of Egypt, the North Africa Mi ion, the International Medical and Benevolent A ociation and the Egypt General Mi ion have stations in Eygpt. and the London The Jews Society and four other societies have mi ions limited to the Jews in Alexandria, Cairo, Port Said and Suez. The whole number of Protestants in Egypt is returned as 11,894. Pen field (F. C), Present Day Egypt, new ed., New York, 1903; WMS, (S. L.), Social Life in Eqyvt, London, 1884Cairo, 3d. ed,, London and New York, 1897; Lane (E. W.), An Account of the Modem Egyptian a, 2 vols., 5th ed., London, 1871; Fowler (M.), Christian Egypt, London, 1900; Watson (A.), American Mi ion in Egypt, Pittsburg, Pa., 1898. Poole EHLANZENI: A settlement near Grey town, ’ Natal, about 65 miles N. W. of Durban. Station of the Herm anns burg Mi ionary Society (1856), with (1902) 1 mi ionary and his wife, 11 native workers, 12 places of worship, 6 schools and 223 profe ing Christians. EHLOMOHLOMO A station of the Hermanns: burg Mi ionary Society (1862) among the Zulus The work has in the Vryheid district of Natal. been very much interrupted by the Transvaal war and statistics later than 1901 are not at There then were 1 mi ionary and his hand. wife, 2 native workers, a chapel, a school and 175 profe ing Christians. 241