Part 237

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D.1777(JULY-OCTOBER).

EDWARD, Fort: End----------

EDWIG, King of Wessex, A. D. 955-957.

EDWIN, King of Northumbria, A. D. 617-633.

Egesta.

See SYRACUSE: B. C. 415-413; and SICILY: B. C. 409-405.

EGFRITH, King of Northumbria, A. D. 670-685.

EGINA. EGINETANS.

See ÆGINA.

EGMONT, Count, and the struggle in the Netherlands.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1562-1566, and 1566-1568.

EGNATIAN WAY, The.

A Roman road constructed from Apollonia on the Adriatic to the shores of the Hellespont; finally carried to Byzantium.

EGRA: A. D. 1647. Siege and capture by the Swedes.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1646-1648.

EGYPT: Its Names.

"Egypt is designated in the old inscriptions, as well as in the books of the later Christian Egyptians, by a word which signifies 'the black land,' and which is read in the Egyptian language Kern, or Kami."

[Footnote: Kamit in the edition of 1891.]

"The ancients had early remarked that the cultivable land of Egypt was distinguished by its dark and almost black colour. … The neighbouring region of the Arabian desert bore the name of Tesher, or the red land. … The Egyptians designated themselves simply as 'the people of the black land,' and … the inscriptions, so far as we know, have handed down to us no other appellation. … A real enigma is proposed to us in the derivation and meaning of the curious proper name, by which the foreign peoples of Asia, each in its own dialect, were accustomed to designate Egypt. The Hebrews gave the land the name of Mizraim; the Assyrians Muzur; the Persians, Mudraya. We may feel assured that at the basis of all these designations there lies an original form which consisted of the three letters M-z-r, all explanations of which have been as yet unsuccessful. Although I intend hereafter to consider more particularly the derivation of this puzzling name, which is still preserved at the present day in the Arabic appellation Misr, I will here premise the remark that this name was originally applied only to a certain definite part of Egypt, in the east of the Delta, which, according to the monuments, was covered and defended by many 'zor,' or fortresses, and was hence called in Egyptian Mazor (that is, fortified)."

_H. Brugsch-Bey, History of Egypt under the Pharaohs, chapter 2._

"Brugsch explains the name Egypt by 'ha-ka-ptah,' i. e. 'the precinct of Ptah.' As Ptah was more especially the god of Memphis, this name would have come from Memphis."

_M. Duncker, History of Antiquity, book 1, chapter 1, note._

"The last use of Kem died out in the form Chemi in Coptic, the descendant of the classical language, which ceased to be spoken a century ago. It survives among us in the terms 'chemistry' and 'alchemy,' sciences thought to be of Egyptian origin."

_R. S. Poole, Cities of Egypt, introduction._

EGYPT: Its Historical Antiquity.

The lists of Egyptian kings which have been found "agree in presenting the name of Mena [or Menes] as that of the first Pharaoh of Egypt, and as such he is unhesitatingly accepted, although no contemporary monumental record of the fact has yet been discovered. According to Manetho, the age of Mena dates back to a period of 5,004 years before the Christian era, a date which is nearly equal to 7,000 years from the present day. Brugsch favours a somewhat less interval, namely, 4455 B. C.; others place it as low as 2700 B. C., whilst Birch and Chabas adopt a medium date, namely 4000 B. C., which is equivalent to 6000 years backward from the existing time. These extreme variations are chiefly referable to the difficulty of ascertaining the precise length of each individual reign, and especially to the occasional contemporaneous reign of two or more kings, and sometimes the existence of two or more dynasties in different parts of the empire. … Lieblein gives full credit to the chronology of Manetho [a priest of Heliopolis, who wrote about 260 B. C.], as recorded by the historian Africanus, as likewise did the distinguished Mariette, and differs very little from the standard adopted by Birch. He assigns to Mena, as the pioneer of the first monarchy, a date in round numbers of 3900 years."

_E. Wilson, The Egypt of the Past, chapter 1._

"As to the era … when the first Pharaoh mounted the throne, the German Egyptologers have attempted to fix it at the following epochs: Boeckh, B. C. 5702; Unger, 5613; Brugsch, 4455; Lauth, 4157; Lepsius, 3892; Bunsen, 3623. The difference between the two extreme points of the series is amazingly great, for its number of years amounts to no less than 2079. … The calculations in question are based on the extracts already often mentioned from a work by the Egyptian priest Manetho on the history of Egypt. That learned man had then at his command the annals of his country's history, which were preserved in the temples, and from them, the best and most accurate sources, be derived the materials for his work, composed in the Greek language, on the history of the ancient Egyptian Dynasties. His book, which is now lost, contained a general review of the kings of the land, divided into Thirty Dynasties, arranged in the order of their names, with the lengths of their reigns, and the total duration of each dynasty. Though this invaluable work was little known and certainly but little regarded by the historians of the old classical age, large extracts were made from it by some of the ecclesiastical writers. In process of time the copyists, either by error or designedly, corrupted the names and the numbers, and thus we only possess at the present day the ruins instead of the complete building. The truth of the original, and the authenticity of its sources were first proved by the deciphering of the Egyptian writings. And thus the Manethonian list served, and still serves, as a guide for assigning to the royal names read on the monuments their places in the Dynasties."

_H. Brugsch-Bey, History of Egypt under the Pharaohs, chapter 4._

See, also, MANETHO, LIST OF.

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EGYPT: Origin of the ancient people.

"The Egyptians, together with some other nations, form, as it would seem, a third branch of that [the Caucasian] race, namely, the family called Cushite, which is distinguished by special characters from the Pelasgian and the Semitic families. Whatever relations may be found always to exist between these great races of mankind, thus much may be regarded as certain, that the cradle of the Egyptian people must be sought in the interior of the Asiatic quarter of the world. In the earliest ages of humanity, far beyond all historical remembrance, the Egyptians, for reasons unknown to us, left the soil of their primeval home, took their way towards the setting sun, and finally crossed that bridge of nations, the Isthmus of Suez, to find a new fatherland on the favoured banks of the holy Nile. Comparative philology, in its turn, gives powerful support to this hypothesis. The Egyptian language … shows in no way any trace of a derivation and descent from the African families of speech. On the contrary, the primitive roots and the essential elements of the Egyptian grammar point to such an intimate connection with the Indo-Germanic and Semitic languages that it is almost impossible to mistake the close relations which formerly prevailed between the Egyptians and the races called Indo-Germanic and Semitic."

_H. Brugsch-Bey, History of Egypt under the Pharaohs, chapter 1._

"It has been maintained by some that the immigration was from the south, the Egyptians having been a colony from Ethiopia which gradually descended the Nile and established itself in the middle and lower portions of the valley; and this theory can plead in its favour, both a positive statement of Diodorus, and the fact, which is quite certain, of an ethnic connection between the Egyptians and some of the tribes who now occupy Abyssinia (the ancient Ethiopia). But modern research has shown quite unmistakably that the movement of the Egyptians was in the opposite direction. … We must look, then, rather to Syria or Arabia than to Ethiopia as the cradle of the Egyptian nation. At the same time we must admit that they were not mere Syrians or Arabs, but had, from the remotest time whereto we can go back, distinct characteristics, whereby they have a good claim to be considered as a separate race."

_G. Rawlinson, History of Ancient Egypt, chapter 3._

"So far as our knowledge reaches, the northern edge of Africa, like the valley of the Nile as far as the marshes at the foot of the Abyssinian hills, was inhabited by nations who in colour, language, and customs were sharply distinguished from the negro. These nations belong to the whites: their languages were most closely allied to the Semitic. From this, and from their physical peculiarities, the conclusion has been drawn that these nations at some time migrated from Asia to the soil of Africa. They formed a vast family, whose dialects still continue in the language of the Berbers. Assisted by the favourable conditions of their land, the tribe which settled on the Lower Nile quickly left their kinsmen far behind. Indeed the latter hardly rose above a pastoral life. The descendants of these old inhabitants of the valley of the Nile, in spite of the numerous layers which the course of centuries has subsequently laid upon the soil of the land, still form the larger part of the population of Egypt, and the ancient language is preserved in the dialect of the Copts."

_M. Duncker, History of Antiquity, book 1, chapter 1._

EGYPT: The Old Empire and the Middle Empire.

The following are the Egyptian Dynasties, from the first Pharaoh, Mena, to the epoch of the Hyksos, or Shepherd kings, with the dates and periods assigned to each by Brugsch:

The First Dynasty; of Thinis: B. C. 4400-4166. The Second; of Thinis: 4133-4000. The Third; of Memphis: 3966-3766. The Fourth; of Memphis: 3733-3600. The Fifth; of Elephantine: 3566-3333. The Sixth; of Memphis: 3300-3066. The Seventh to the Eleventh (a confused and obscure period): 3033-2500. The Twelfth; of Thebes: 2466-2266.

_H. Brugsch-Bey, History of Egypt under the Pharaohs, appendix A._

"The direct descendants of Menes [or Mena] form the First Dynasty, which, according to Manetho, reigned 253 years. No monument contemporary with these princes has come down to us. … The Second Dynasty, to which Manetho assigns nine kings, lasted 302 years. It was also originally from This [or Thinis], and probably related to the First. … When this family had become extinct, a Dynasty, originally from Memphis, seized the throne, forming the Third, and to it a duration of 214 years is attributed. … With the Fourth Dynasty, Memphite like the Third, and which reigned 284 years, history becomes clearer and monuments more numerous. This was the age of the three Great Pyramids, built by the three kings, Khufu (the Cheops of Herodotus), Shafra (Chefren), and Menkara (Mycerinus). … The Fifth Dynasty came originally from Elephantine, at the southern extremity of Upper Egypt, and there possibly the kings generally resided, though at the same time Memphis was not deprived of its importance. … On the death of the last king of the Fifth Dynasty, a new family, of Memphitic origin according to Manetho, came to the throne. … Primitive art attained its highest point under the Sixth Dynasty. … But, from the time of the civil commotions in which Neit-aker [the Nitocris of Herodotus] perished, Egyptian civilization underwent a sudden and unaccountable eclipse. From the end of the Sixth Dynasty to the commencement of the Eleventh, Manetho reckons 436 years, and for this whole period the monuments are absolutely silent. Egypt seems then to have disappeared from the rank of nations; and when this long slumber ended, civilization commenced a new career, entirely independent of the past. … {751} Thus ends that period of nineteen centuries, which modern scholars know as the Old Empire. … Thebes did not exist in the days of the glory of the Old Empire. The holy city of Amen seems to have been founded during the period of anarchy and obscurity, succeeding, as we have said, to the Sixth Dynasty. Here was the birthplace of that renewed civilization, that new monarchy, we are accustomed to call the Middle Empire, the middle age in fact of ancient Egypt—a middle age anterior to the earliest ages of all other history. From Thebes cane the six kings of the Eleventh Dynasty. … We again quote the excellent remarks of M. Mariette: 'When, with the Eleventh Dynasty, we see Egypt awake from her long slumber, all old traditions appear to be forgotten; the proper names used in ancient families, the titles of functionaries, the style of writing, and even the religion—all seem new. This, Elephantine, and Memphis, are no longer the favourite capitals. Thebes for the first time becomes the seat of sovereign power. Egypt, moreover, has lost a considerable portion of her territory, and the authority of her legitimate kings hardly extends beyond the limited district of the Thebaid. The study of the monuments confirms these general views; they are rude, primitive, sometimes coarse; and when we look at them we may well believe that Egypt, under the Eleventh Dynasty, again passed through a period of infancy, as she had already done under the Third Dynasty.' A dynasty probably related to, and originally from the same place as these first Theban princes succeeded them. … This Twelfth Dynasty reigned for 213 years, and its epoch was one of prosperity, of peace at home and glorious achievements abroad. … Although the history of the Twelfth Dynasty is clear and well known, illustrated by numerous monuments, there is, nevertheless, no period in the annals of Egypt more obscure than the one closing with the Thirteenth Dynasty. It is one long series of revolutions, troubles, and internal dissensions, closed by a terrible catastrophe, the greatest and most lasting recorded in Egyptian history, which a second time interrupted the march of civilization on the banks of the Nile, and for a while struck Egypt from the list of nations."

_F. Lenormant and E. Chevallier, Manual of Ancient History of the East, book 3, chapter 1-2._

ALSO IN: _C. C. J. Bunsen, Egypt's Place in Universal History, volume 2._

See, also, MEMPHIS, and THEBES, EGYPT.

EGYPT: The Hyksos, or Shepherd-Kings.

According to the Manethouian account which the Jewish historian Josephus has preserved to us by transcribing it, the Egyptian Netherlands were at a certain time overspread by a wild and rough people, which came from the countries of the east, overcame the native kings who dwelt there, and took possession of the whole country, without finding any great opposition on the part of the Egyptians. They were called Hyksos, which Josephus interpreted as meaning Shepherd-kings. "Hyk," he explained, meant King, in the holy language, and "sos," in the dialect of the people, signified Shepherd. But Dr. Brugsch identifies "sos" with the name "Shasu," which the old Egyptians gave to the Bedouins, whose name became equivalent to Shepherds. Hence Dr. Brugsch inclines to the ancient opinion transmitted by Josephus, that the Hyksos were Arabs or Bedouins—the Shasu of the Egyptian records, who hung on the northeastern frontier of Egypt from the most ancient times and were always pressing into the country, at every opportunity. But many objections against this view are raised and the different theories advanced to account for the Hyksos are quite numerous. Canon Rawlinson says: "The Egyptians of the time of Herodotus seem to have considered that they were Philistines. Moderns have regarded them as Canaanites, Syrians, Hittites. It is an avoidance rather than a solution of the difficulty to say that they were 'a collection of all the nomad hordes of Arabia and Syria' [Lenormant], since there must have been a directing hand. … On the whole, therefore, we lean to the belief that the so-called Hyksos or Shepherds were Hittites."

_G. Rawlinson, History of Ancient Egypt, chapter 19._

"It is maintained on good authority that the Hyksos, or Shepherd-Kings, had secured possession of the eastern frontier of Lower Egypt immediately after the close of the Twelfth Dynasty; that at this time the Thirteenth and the Fourteenth Dynasties ruled contemporaneously, the former in Upper, the latter in Lower Egypt; one was illegitimate, the other the illegitimate line; but authors are not in accord as to their right of priority. It is supposed that, while Egypt claimed the Thirteenth Dynasty as her own, the Hyksos usurped the mastery over the Fourteenth Dynasty, and governed through the agency of its kings, treating them meanwhile as vassal chiefs. These local kings had cities from which they were unable to escape, and were deprived of an army of defence. Such was the state of the country for 184 years, when the Fourteenth Dynasty died out, and when the Fifteenth Dynasty, constituted of six successive Hyksos kings, took the reins of government into their own hands. Lieblein, whose views we are now endeavouring to express, assigns as the date of the invasion of the Hyksos 2108 years B. C. … It is not improbable that the well-known journey of Abraham to Egypt was made during the early period of the reign of the Shepherd-Kings; whilst the visit of Joseph occurred near the close of their power."

_E. Wilson, The Egypt of the Past, chapter 5._

"'The Shepherds possessed themselves of Egypt by violence,' writes Mariette-Bey, 'but the civilization which they immediately adopted on their conquest was rather Egyptian than Asiatic, and the discoveries of Avaris (San) prove that they did not even banish from their temples the gods of the ancient Egyptian Pantheon.' In fact the first shepherd-king, Solatis himself, employed an Egyptian artist to inscribe … his title on the statue of a former legitimate Pharaoh. 'They did not disturb the civilization more than the Persians or the Greeks, but simply accepted the higher one they had conquered.' So our revered scholar Dr. Birch has summed up the matter; and Professor Maspero has very happily described it thus: 'The popular hatred loaded them with ignominious epithets, and treated them as accursed, plague-stricken, leprous. Yet they allowed themselves very quickly to be domesticated. … Once admitted to the school of Egypt, the barbarians progressed quickly in the civilized life. The Pharaonic court reappeared around these shepherd-kings, with all its pomp and all its following of functionaries great and small. The royal style and title of Cheops and the Amenemhas were fitted to the outlandish names of Jannes and Apapi. The Egyptian religion, without being officially adopted, was tolerated, and the religion of the Canaanites underwent some modifications to avoid hurting beyond measure the susceptibility of the worshippers of Osiris.'"

_H. G. Tomkins, Studies on the Times of Abraham, chapter 8._

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In a late Italian work ("Gli Hyksos") by Dr. C. A. de Cara, "he puts together all that is ascertained in regard to them [the Hyksos], criticises the theories that have been propounded on their behalf, and suggests a theory of his own. Nothing that has been published on the subject seems to have escaped his notice. … His own view is that the Hyksos represented a confederacy of various Asiatic tribes, under the leadership of the northern Syrians. That their ruling class came from this part of the world seems to me clear from the name of their supreme god Sutekh, who occupied among them the position of the Semitic Baal."

_A. H. Sayce, The Hyksôs (Academy, September 20, 1890)._

"Historical research concerning the history of the Hyksos may be summed up as follows:

I. A certain number of non-Egyptian kings of foreign origin, belonging to the nation of the Menti, ruled for a long time in the eastern portion of the Delta.

II. These chose as their capitals the cities of Zoan and Avaris, and provided them with strong fortifications.

III. They adopted not only the manners and customs of the Egyptians, but also their official language and writing, and the order of their court was arranged on Egyptian models.

IV. They were patrons of art, and Egyptian artists erected, after the ancient models, monuments in honour of these usurpers, in whose statues they were obliged to reproduce the Hyksos physiognomy, the peculiar arrangement of the beard und head-dress, as well as other variations of their costume.

V. They honored Sutekh, the son of Nut, as the supreme god of their newly acquired country, with the surname Nub, 'the golden.' He was the origin of all that is evil and perverse in the visible and invisible world, the opponent of good and the enemy of light. In the cities of Zoan and Avaris, splendid temples were constructed in honour of this god, and other monuments raised, especially Sphinxes, carved out of stone from Syene.

VI. In all probability one of them was the founder of a new era, which most likely began with the first year of his reign. Down to the time of the second Ramses, four hundred years had elapsed of this reckoning which was acknowledged even by the Egyptians.

VII. The Egyptians were indebted to their contact with them for much useful knowledge. In particular their artistic views were expanded and new forms and shapes, notably that of the winged sphinx, were introduced, the Semitic origin of which is obvious at a glance. …