Egypt

(e'jipt.) [Heb. Mizraim; Gr. Aigyptos.] A country of Africa occupying its N.E. corner, famous alike for its high antiquity and historical past, and for the many vast and distinguishing monuments which remain to attest its anc. civilization. Its boundaries are: on the E. the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea, which divide it from Arabia; S Nubia; W. the Great Desert and Barca; and N. the Mediterranean Sea. Extreme length, N. to S., abt. 520 m.; breadth of N. coastline 160 m. E. is geographically divided into the two grand divisions of Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt; or, more properly speaking, into the 3 sections respectively termed-Bahari, embracing within its limits the Delta and Lower E.; Vostani, comprising Central E. and the Valley of the Nile; and Said, or Upper E., which includes a great part of the Nubian Desert. Area, 180,000 sq. miles. The great distinguishing physical feature of this country is the greatest of African rivers the Nile which, after pa ing from the S. through Nubia enters E. above A ouan, and thence intersects the centre of the country till it advances some distance beyond Cairo, at which point it bifurcates into 2 great arms with smaller offshoots - thus forming a delta at its embouchure into the Mediterranean of abt. 85 miles in width. Two mountain-ranges of inconsiderable height lie on each side of the Nile, extending from Syene to Cairo, and from the Nilotic valley-forming a natural| bulwark against the encroachments of the parallel deserts which lie beyond. The lower section of the Nile basin is highly fertile, its surface consisting chiefly of diluvial deposits resting upon a basis of desert sand. This region is periodically inundated by the Nile, and is highly productive of cereal crops, fruits, and vegetation in general. Central E. is le fertile, and UpperE. still more so, though cases are found-such as the island of Elephantine near A ouan where nature is prodigally diffuse of her gifts. Deserts cover by far the greater portion of the surface of Egypt, presenting, however, some oases of great fertility. The climate of E. is exce ively hot and dry. Its fauna is, with the exception of lions, much the same as that of N. Africa in general. E., of yore, was esteemed the granary of the world. In modern and quite comparatively recent times, agriculture has been succe fully revived in so far as concerns the culture of wheat, rice, millet, hemp, flax, indigo, sugar, and cotton. The Khedive is the chief landed proprietor, and cultivates the bulk of the soil by means of forced labor. For commercial purposes E. is admirably situated, being, so to speak, the key of maritime traffic between Europe and the Further East. The Suez Canal-one of the grandest engineering exploits of modern times-promises to transfer the future of this country to that Power which shall command the monopoly of this new and direct way of transit to S. and E. Asia. To take in this article more than a cursory glance at the vast and multifarious architectural wonders of the anc. world, which E. presents on a grander scale than does any other land, would be to transgre its limits, The Pyramids, Karnak, the Sphinx, Luxor, ., will be found elsewhere described. E. is peopled by representatives of 3 different races; the Copts (descended from the anc. Egyptians), Arabs, and Turks, with a large number ofMamFig. 293. ANCIENT EGYPT. Ladies and gentlemen at ap arty; servant presenting a cup of wine. (From an ancient painting, Brit. Mus.) eluke extraction. The govt. of E. is vested in a viceroyalty hereditary in the family founded by Mehemet Ali, and nominally dependent upon the Turkish empire, of which it forms a part. Intrinsically, however, the Egyptian khedives (or viceroys) are the sole and arbitrary rulers of the country, and have long been a source of disquiet to their suzerain, the Sultan. The foreign trade is almost wholly carried on with Great Britain and France.- Chief towns. Cairo (the C.), Alexandria, Damietta, Tantah, Siout, Suez, Rosetta, and Port-Said, the last-named being the Mediterranean port of outlet of the Suez Canal.-Hist. The rise of E. is buried in remotest obscurity. It is known that a royal dynasty ruled for some centuries before Camby es, 524 B. c., and by that line of monarchs were constructed those grand pyramids, temples, and obelisks, whose remains make of E. the oldest of cla ic lands. Camby es brought E. under Persian sway till the time of the invasion of Alexander the Great, who built Alexandria. After him came the line of Ptolemies, ending in the person of Cleopatra (q. v.), under whom it became a Roman p. After a po e ion of 760 years, the Romans gave place to the Saracens, who ruled E. till 1250, when the Mameluke dynasty was established. At the beginning of the 16th cent., it fell into the hands of the Turks, under whom it became a satrapy, and the object of ince ant contention among the Mameluke beys. The French under Napoleon occupied the country, 1798-1802. In 1811, Mehemet Ali (q. v.), after a ma acre of the Mamelukes, made himself master of E., and the succe ion was confirmed to him and his descendants by the treaty of London, 1841. In 1867, enlarged powers were granted the Egyptian rulers by conferring on them the title of Khedive (king). The present Khedive, Is mail Pasha, a sagacious and enlightened prince, has achieved wonderful results in promoting and developing the resources and prosperity of the country. Pop. 8,000,000. [s. 318]