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A History of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 1 (Classic Reprint)
A History of Ancient Egypt Vol 1 - Classic Reprint Author:George Rawlinson The broad stretch of desert which extends from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean across Africa and Western Asia, almost to the foot of the Zagros mountain range, is pierced in one ^lace only by a thin thread of verdure. A single stream, issuing from the equatorial regions, has strength to penetrate the "frightful desert of interminable scorching ... more »sand,"1 and to bring its waters safely through two thousand miles of arid, thirsty plain, in order to mingle them with the blue waves of the Mediterranean. It is this fact which has produced Egypt. The life-giving fluid on its way through the desert, spreads verdure and fertility along its course on either bank ; and a strip of most productive territory is thus created, suited to attract the attention of such a being as man, and to become the home of a powerful nation. Egypt proper is the land to which the river gave birth,4 and from which it took name,3 or, at any rate, that land to a certain distance from the Mediterranean ; but, as the race
Table of Contents
Geography of Egypt Boundaripsr Dimensions, and Character of the Country Proportion of cultivable Territory Depeitil-ence on the Nile Course of the Nile-its Tributaries-Time and Causes of the Inundation Chief Divisions of the Territory: the Nile Valley; the Delta; the Fayoum; the Eastern Desert; the Valley of the Natron Lakes Character of the adjoining Countries ; CHAPTER II; CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS; Climate of Egypt-of the Nile Valley-of the Eastern Highland Vegetable Productions-Indigenous Trees and Plants- Plants anciently cultivated Indigenous Wild Animals- Domesticated Animals Birds, Fi6h, Reptiles, and Insects Mineral Products , 23; chapter; III; THE PEOPLE AND THEIR NEIGHBORS; The Egyptians of Asiatic Origin-Immigrants from the East- Not a colony from Ethiopia-Proof of this-So far peculiar as to constitute a distinct Race-Their Complexion dark, but not black-their Hair not woolly Description of their Featu« less