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The name of the country, Egypt (in Greek Ai-gyptos), exactly corresponds to the
Egyptiandesignation Kah-Ptah, "the land of Ptah" - one of their gods - and from it the
name of Copts seemsalso derived. In the Hebrew Scriptures its name is Mizraim, that
is, "the two Mazors," which againcorresponds with another Egyptian name for the
country, Chem (the same as "the land of Ham"Psalm 105:23, 27), both Mazor and
Chem meaning in their respective languages the red mud ordark soil of which the
cultivated part of the country consisted. It was called "the two Mazors,"probably
because of its ancient division into Upper and Lower Egypt. The king of Upper Egypt
wasdesignated by a title whose initial sign was a bent reed, which illustrates such
passages as 2 Kings18:21; Isaiah 36:6; Ezekiel 29:6; while the rulers of Lower Egypt
bore the title of "bee," which maybe referred to in Isaiah 7:18. The country occupies
less than 10,000 square geographical miles, ofwhich about 5,600 are at present, and
about 8,000 were anciently, fit for cultivation. Scripturehistory has chiefly to do with
Lower Egypt, which is the northern part of the country, while the mostmagnificent of
the monuments are in Upper, or Southern, Egypt.
As already stated, the fertility of the land depends on the overflowing of the Nile,
which commencesto rise about the middle of June, and reaches its greatest height
about the end of September, when itagain begins to decrease. As measured at Cairo, if
the Nile does not rise twenty-four feet, theharvest will not be very good; anything
under eighteen threatens famine. About the middle of Augustthe red, turbid waters of
the rising river are distributed by canals over the country, and carryfruitfulness with
them. On receding, the Nile leaves behind it a thick red soil, which its waters
hadcarried from Central Africa, and over this rich deposit the seed is sown. Rain there
is none, nor isthere need for it to fertilize the land. The Nile also furnishes the most
pleasant and even nourishingwater for drinking, and some physicians have ascribed to
it healing virtues. It is scarcely necessary toadd that the river teems with fish.
Luxuriously rich and green, amidst surrounding desolation, thebanks of the Nile and
of its numerous canals are like a well-watered garden under a tropical sky.Where
climate and soil are the best conceivable, the fertility must be unparalleled.
The ancient Egyptians seem to have also bestowed great attention on their fruit and
flower gardens,which, like ours, were attached to their villas. On the monuments we
see gardeners presentinghandsome bouquets; gardens traversed by alleys, and adorned
with pavilions and colonnades;orchards stocked with palms, figs, pomegranates,
citrons, oranges, plums, mulberries, apricots, etc.;while in the vineyards, as in Italy,
the vines were trained to meet across wooden rods, and hangdown in rich festoons.
Such was the land on which, in the desolate dreariness and famine of thewilderness,
Israel was tempted to look back with sinful longing! When Abram entered Egypt,
hisattention, like that of the modern traveler, must have been riveted by the Great
Pyramids. Of theseabout sixty have been counted, but the largest are those near the
ancient Memphis, which lay aboutten miles above Cairo. Memphis - in Scripture
(^)