DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0037
CHARACTER OF LAND AND PEOPLE. 5
Hence it was that Herodotos could, so eloquently, call Egypt the " gift of the
river." 3 The harvest being over, the desert wind once more prevails ; and the
struggle of the verdant plains against scorching sun and burning sand is
renewed. Such is the annually recurring phenomenon in the Nile valley, the
unswerving regularity of which through the centuries, combined with the
isolation of the land, shut in by the mountains, the ocean, and the equally
boundless sea of desert, made Egypt the cradle of a most ancient and peculiar
civilization.
Much discussion has arisen concerning the affinities of the ancient inhab-
itants of Egypt. Lepsius, Bunsen, and Maspero, ranking their language with
ancestral Semitic speech, call it proto-Semitic.4 As the monuments, passing
from the sea up the Nile, grow less and less ancient, it seems probable, that
the Egyptians of history, wandering from Western Asia, entered their promis-
ing valley by way of the Isthmus of Suez. Still another opinion, held by
Kenan and others, is, that their language shows nearness of kin to the Chamitic
languages of Northern Africa.5 According to one view, the ancient inhabitants
of the Nile valley were a Semitic race, who, it is conjectured, on entering the
valley, became intermingled to some extent with a race of negroes already occu-
pying the soil, but more probably expelled them from their homes. According
to sti11 another theory, the Egyptians may have belonged to the great Cushite
stock supposed to have spread from Southern India to North-western Africa.
The mummies found in the ancient tombs, as well as the forms the sculptor
has reproduced in statue and relief, show clearly, that the early Egyptians
were not negroes ; and the modern peasant seems to have preserved somewhat
the ancient type.6 He is of good stature, and the form of the fellah is lean and
slender. His shoulders are high and square, his chest protruding, and his
sinewy arm ends in a long, fine hand. His hips are disproportionately small
for the powerful shoulders. Details of knee and calf, as with a pedestrian
People, are very pronounced, and the feet long and flattened from the habit of
going barefoot. The head is often ungracefully large, the forehead somewhat
low, the nose short and round, the hair straight and stiff; and the peculiar cast
of the features, with the long, almond-shaped eyes, produces a mild, even sad
expression.
The energetic and practical turn of the ancient Egyptians was, no doubt,
greatly encouraged and developed by their natural surroundings. As far back
as they can be traced, they are engaged in the herculean task of turning the
great river into a source of blessing, hoarding up its waters in artificial lakes,
0r cllspersing them by judicious canalization. Moreover, the necessity of im-
proving every foot of this narrow stretch of fruitful land, and of renewing the
andmarks annually effaced by the overflow, besides the construction of water-
works, and the observation of the Nile level to catch the suitable day for letting
°ose the waters, early developed sciences which should subserve these ends.
Hence it was that Herodotos could, so eloquently, call Egypt the " gift of the
river." 3 The harvest being over, the desert wind once more prevails ; and the
struggle of the verdant plains against scorching sun and burning sand is
renewed. Such is the annually recurring phenomenon in the Nile valley, the
unswerving regularity of which through the centuries, combined with the
isolation of the land, shut in by the mountains, the ocean, and the equally
boundless sea of desert, made Egypt the cradle of a most ancient and peculiar
civilization.
Much discussion has arisen concerning the affinities of the ancient inhab-
itants of Egypt. Lepsius, Bunsen, and Maspero, ranking their language with
ancestral Semitic speech, call it proto-Semitic.4 As the monuments, passing
from the sea up the Nile, grow less and less ancient, it seems probable, that
the Egyptians of history, wandering from Western Asia, entered their promis-
ing valley by way of the Isthmus of Suez. Still another opinion, held by
Kenan and others, is, that their language shows nearness of kin to the Chamitic
languages of Northern Africa.5 According to one view, the ancient inhabitants
of the Nile valley were a Semitic race, who, it is conjectured, on entering the
valley, became intermingled to some extent with a race of negroes already occu-
pying the soil, but more probably expelled them from their homes. According
to sti11 another theory, the Egyptians may have belonged to the great Cushite
stock supposed to have spread from Southern India to North-western Africa.
The mummies found in the ancient tombs, as well as the forms the sculptor
has reproduced in statue and relief, show clearly, that the early Egyptians
were not negroes ; and the modern peasant seems to have preserved somewhat
the ancient type.6 He is of good stature, and the form of the fellah is lean and
slender. His shoulders are high and square, his chest protruding, and his
sinewy arm ends in a long, fine hand. His hips are disproportionately small
for the powerful shoulders. Details of knee and calf, as with a pedestrian
People, are very pronounced, and the feet long and flattened from the habit of
going barefoot. The head is often ungracefully large, the forehead somewhat
low, the nose short and round, the hair straight and stiff; and the peculiar cast
of the features, with the long, almond-shaped eyes, produces a mild, even sad
expression.
The energetic and practical turn of the ancient Egyptians was, no doubt,
greatly encouraged and developed by their natural surroundings. As far back
as they can be traced, they are engaged in the herculean task of turning the
great river into a source of blessing, hoarding up its waters in artificial lakes,
0r cllspersing them by judicious canalization. Moreover, the necessity of im-
proving every foot of this narrow stretch of fruitful land, and of renewing the
andmarks annually effaced by the overflow, besides the construction of water-
works, and the observation of the Nile level to catch the suitable day for letting
°ose the waters, early developed sciences which should subserve these ends.