Very groove of our thoughts had its origin on the banks of the Nile. To Egypt we owe the art of writing, afterwards modified by the Phoenicians,īy whom it was communicated to all the peoples of the Mediterranean basin.
Which existing religions are based, may be traced in its original form to theĭocuments discovered in the tombs of Thebes and Abydos. The origin of our sciences, and many moral pre-Ĭepts still taught by the " wisdom of nations," are foimd recorded on the papyriĪnd on the bas-reliefs of the monuments of Upper Egypt whilst many a dogma on Hood, or afford relaxation from the serious work of life, were already known to Industries of the present day, as well as the games which now delight our child. Observations, arithmetic, geometry, architecture, all the arts and nearly all the The inhabitants of Asia Minor and Hellas, who were destined to become the teachers of the nations succeeding them, were still cavemen and denizens of the 808 NOETH-EAST AFEICA.įorest, armed only with clubs and sharpened flints, at a time when astronomical It already existed as a civilised power conscious of its own greatness at a period antecedent to the foundation of Babylon and Nineveh, and when the whole of Europe was still overrun Ly savage tribes that have left no record behind them. Egypt is the first region of which there is any record in the annals of human culture. The people who dwell on the banks of the Lower Nile played a part in history corresponding with the geographical position of the land. The ancient Egyptians were quite justified in giving their country the position of the heart in the terrestrial globe, and one of the etymological renderings of its ancient name of Memphis gives it the sense of "The Middle of the World." The very opening of the Suez Canal has placed Egypt midway between America and Australia.
Here cross each other the two great diagonal lines of the world, that of the overland routes between Asia and Africa and the ocean highways between Europe and India. But Egypt has the advantage over them of offering an easy passage from one marine basin to the other. From a geometrical point of view, Asia Minor, Palestine, and Mesopotamia might have as much right as the plains of the Lower Nile to claim a central position in the group of the three continents of the old world. Nevertheless, if the surface of the globe is studied according to the disposition of the continents, Egypt, the Misr of the natives, more than any other region may certainly be considered as occupying the veritable centre. But the exploration of our planet has proved that on the circuit of the globe, no less than in infinite space, "the centre is everywhere and the circumference nowhere." EFORE the form of the earth was known to be that of a globe, every nation thought that their country occupied the centre of the world, and a mere child could point out the precise spot - lake, mountain, or temple - which was supposed to be the middle of the earth.
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