and recent excavations have shown that the valley of the Nile was
originally inhabited by a low-class population, perhaps belonging to the
Nigritian stock, before the Egyptians of history entered it. The ancient
Egyptian language, of which the latest form is Coptic, is distantly
connected with the Semitic family of speech.
Egypt consists geographically of two halves, the northern being the Delta,
and the southern Upper Egypt, between Cairo and the First Cataract. In
the Old Testament, Northern or Lower Egypt is called Mazor, “the
fortified land” (Isaiah 19:6; 37: 25, where the A.V. mistranslates “defence”
and “besieged places”); while Southern or Upper Egypt is Pathros, the
Egyptian Pa-to-Res, or “the land of the south” (Isaiah 11:11). But the
whole country is generally mentioned under the dual name of Mizraim,
“the two Mazors.”
The civilization of Egypt goes back to a very remote antiquity. The two
kingdoms of the north and south were united by Menes, the founder of the
first historical dynasty of kings. The first six dynasties constitute what is
known as the Old Empire, which had its capital at Memphis, south of
Cairo, called in the Old Testament Moph (Hos. 9:6) and Noph. The native
name was Mennofer, “the good place.”
The Pyramids were tombs of the monarchs of the Old Empire, those of
Gizeh being erected in the time of the Fourth Dynasty. After the fall of the
Old Empire came a period of decline and obscurity. This was followed by
the Middle Empire, the most powerful dynasty of which was the Twelfth.
The Fayyum was rescued for agriculture by the kings of the Twelfth
Dynasty; and two obelisks were erected in front of the temple of the
sun-God at On or Heliopolis (near Cairo), one of which is still standing.
The capital of the Middle Empire was Thebes, in Upper Egypt.
The Middle Empire was overthrown by the invasion of the Hyksos, or
shepherd princes from Asia, who ruled over Egypt, more especially in the
north, for several centuries, and of whom there were three dynasties of
kings. They had their capital at Zoan or Tanis (now San), in the
north-eastern part of the Delta. It was in the time of the Hyksos that
Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph entered Egypt. The Hyksos were finally
expelled about B.C. 1600, by the hereditary princes of Thebes, who
founded the Eighteenth Dynasty, and carried the war into Asia. Canaan
and Syria were subdued, as well as Cyprus, and the boundaries of the