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Annual inundation of the Nile

the ordinary level, is reached in September. The inhabitants then make haste to cut the confining dikes and to spread the fertilizing water over their fields. Egypt takes on the appearance of a turbid lake, dotted here and there with island villages and crossed in every direction by highways elevated above the flood. Late in October the river begins to subside and by December has returned to its normal level. As the water recedes, it deposits that dressing of fertile vegetable mold which makes the soil of Egypt perhaps the richest in the world.1

Egypt an early center of civilization

It was by no accident that Egypt, like Babylonia, became one of the first homes of civilized men. Here, as there, every condition made it easy for people to live and thrive. Food was cheap, for it was easily produced. The peasant needed only to spread his seed broadcast over the muddy fields to be sure of an abundant return. The warm, dry climate enabled him to get along with little shelter and clothing. Hence the inhabitants of this favored region rapidly increased in number and gathered in populous towns and cities. At a time when most of their neighbors were still in the darkness of the prehistoric age, the Egyptians had entered the light of history.

9. The Babylonians and the Egyptians

The earliest inhabitants of Babylonia of whom we know anything were a people called Sumerians. They entered the Baby-. Inhabitants lonian plain through the passes of the eastern of Babylonia mountains, three or four thousand years before the Christian era. Here they formed a number of independent states, each with its capital city, its patron god, and its king. After them came Semitic tribes from the deserts of northern Arabia. The Semites mingled with the Sumerians and adopted Sumerian civilization.

1 The problem of regulating the Nile inundation so as to distribute the water for irrigation when and where it is most needed has been solved by the building of the Assuan dam. It lies across the head of the first cataract for a distance of a mile and a quarter, and creates a lake two hundred and forty miles in length. This great work was completed in 1912 A.D. by the British officials who now control Egypt.

Of all the early Babylonian kings the most famous was Hammurabi. Some inscriptions still remain to tell how he freed his country from foreign invaders and made his native Babylon the capital of the entire land. This city became hence

forth the real cen

Hammurabi,
king of Baby-
lonia, about

2000 B.C.

[graphic]

ter of the Euphrates valley, to which, indeed, it gave its name. Hammurabi was also an able statesman, who sought to develop the territories his sword had won. He dug great canals to distribute the waters of the Euphrates and built huge granaries to store the wheat against a time of famine. In Babylon he raised splendid temples and palaces. For all his kingdom he published a code of laws, the oldest in the world. Thus Hammurabi, by making Babylonia so strong and flourishing, was able to extend her influence

M

TOP OF MONUMENT CONTAINING
THE CODE OF HAMMURABI

British Museum, London

A block of black diorite, nearly 8 feet high, on which the code is chiseled in 44 columns and over 3600 lines. The re

in every direction. Her only lief at the top of the monument shows the important rival was Egypt.

Babylonian king receiving the laws from the sun god, who is seated at the right.

The origin of the Egyptians is not known with certainty. In physical characteristics they resembled the native tribes of northern and Inhabitants eastern Africa. Their language, however, shows of Egypt close kinship to the Semitic tongues of western Asia and Arabia. It is probable that the Egyptians, like the Babylonians, arose from the mingling of several peoples.

The history of Egypt commences with the union of the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt under Menes. An ancient tradition made him the builder of Memphis, near the head of

1 See page 50.

the Delta, and the founder of the Egyptian monarchy. Scholars once doubted these exploits and even regarded Menes himself as mythical. Recently, however, his tomb has been discovered. In the gray dawn

Menes, king of Egypt, about 3400

B.C.

of history Menes appears as a real personage, the first of that

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line of kings, or "Pharaohs," who for nearly three thousand years ruled over Egypt.

Several centuries after Menes we reach the age of the kings who raised the pyramids. Probably no other rulers have ever stamped their memory so indelibly on the pages of history as

The pyramid kings, about

the builders of these mighty structures. The most celebrated monarch of this line was the Pharaoh whom the Greeks called Cheops. The Great Pyramid near Memphis, erected for his tomb, remains a lasting 3000-2500 witness to his power.

B.C.

For a long time after the epoch of the pyramid kings the

annals of Egypt

fur- After the nish pyramid kings

a record of quiet and peaceful progress. The old city of Memphis gradually declined in importance and Thebes in Upper Egypt became the capital. The vigorous civilization growing up in Egypt was destined, however, to

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suffer a sudden eclipse. About 1800 B.C. barbarous tribes from western Asia burst into the country, through the isthmus of Suez, and settled in the Delta. The Hyksos, as they are usually called, extended their sway over all Egypt. At first they ruled harshly, plundering the cities and enslaving the inhabitants, but in course of time the invaders adopted Egyptian culture and their kings reigned like native Pharaohs. The Hyksos are said to have introduced the horse and military chariot into Egypt. A successful revolt at length expelled the intruders and set a new line of Theban monarchs on the throne.

The overthrow of the Hyksos marked a new era in the history of Egypt. From a home-loving and peace- The Egyptian ful people the Egyptians became a warlike race, Empire ambitious for glory. The Pharaohs raised powerful armies and

by extensive conquests created an Egyptian Empire, reaching from the Nile to the Euphrates.

This period of the imperial greatness of Egypt is the most splendid in its history. An extensive trade with Cyprus, Crete,

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an underground chamber near the site of majesty and power of ancient

Thebes. With it were the coffins and bodies of more than a score of royal personages. Rameses II was over ninety years of age at the time of his death. In spite of the somewhat grotesque disguise of mummification, the face of this famous Pharaoh still wears an aspect of majesty and pride.

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ruled for nearly seventy years. His campaigns in Syria were mainly against the Hittites, a warlike people who had moved southward from their home in Asia Minor and sought to establish themselves in the Syrian lands. Rameses does not appear to have been entirely successful against his foes. We find him at length entering into an alliance with "the great king of the Hittites," by which their dominion over northern Syria was recognized. In the arts of peace Rameses achieved a more enduring renown. He erected many statues and temples in various parts of Egypt and made Thebes, his capital, the most magnificent city of the age.

Rameses II was the last of the great Pharaohs. After his death the empire steadily declined in strength. The Asiatic

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