EGYPT. —The name by which Egypt is com monly known in the Bible appears in a dual form, ]'iv], perhaps with reference to the two great divisions of the country into Upper and Lower ; or the part through which the Nile flows in one undivided stream, and that which is comprehended within the two branches it assumes a little below Cairo. The word nivy, occurring 2 Kings xix. 24, and Is. xxxvii. 25, which some render Egypt,' is better translated, as by the A. V., besieged places.' Nowhere is this word rendered by the A. V. ` Egypt ;' perhaps, however, in Is. xix. 6, and Micah vii. 12, it may have that meaning. In Gen. x. 6, Mizraim is mentioned among the sons of Ham ; and in Ps. CV. 24, Egypt is called the land of Ham.' In Ps. lxxviii. 51, men tion is made of ' the tents of Ham ;' and from this patriarch may be derived the hieroglyphic name of Egypt KEM, with which also are to be compared the Coptic forms X&JULH, XIL111/1 in the Memphitic dialect ; KRILI-1. in the Theban ; and KI-11.111 in the Bashmuric. This name of Egypt, Chemi,' is possibly the origin of alchemy, chemistry. But it must also be observed, that in the ancient Egyptian language Kern or Khem signifies a dark red colour generally, and the chief character with which it is written is the tail of the crocodile, which varies from a slaty to a reddish brown. The Arabic term for the country, which is in use at the present day, is mist-, which, according to some, means red mud.' Gcsenius mentions a derivation of Mizraim from the Coptic or `kingdom,' which some have proposed with small probability. For A tyurros., he suggests the Sanskrit Agupta, mrtni tus, with as little. Better is that given by Mr. Poole — viz., ara rytnrros, the latter being a proper name perhaps equivalent to Coptos, the Coptic KCITTO, and Arabic, a town in Upper Egypt. In hieroglyphics, Coptos is Kebt bar, etc. It is singular that among the sons of Miz. raim are mentioned the Caphtorim, and in Jen xlvti. 4, 11 DEVIN, the habitation or country of Caphtor, which is very near Alyurvor. Upper Egypt, it is supposed, was also known in Scripture by the name of Pathros (Jer. xliv. 15) ; in reality, Pathros and Caphtor were two districts, both probably of Upper Egypt. Rahab, ill, also, is supposed to be a name of Egypt in the Bible ; if so, it perhaps occurs as early as Job, xxvi. 12. According to M. Jacotin, Egypt contains 115,20o square geographical miles, of which not more than 9532 are ever watered or fertilized by the Nile, and of these only about 5626 are under cultivation. * The country lies between 31° and 24° 1' N. lat., and 27° and 34° 12' E. long. In the time of Ezekiel (vide xxx. 6), we find that the boundaries on the E. and S. were considered to be Migdol and Syene according to the marginal rendering, which is to be preferred. In the earliest times, the natural division of the country obtained—Upper Egypt, commenced above Memphis, comprising the narrow valley as far as the first cataract. Lower Egypt was the plain containing the Delta, the cultivated land on either side of it, and the few miles intervening between the point of the Delta and Memphis. The com mencement of the Delta was not anciently so far north of Memphis as it is at present north of its site, owing to the deposits of the river in many centuries, and the decay of the Pelusiac Branch, now only a canal. Egypt, according to Ptolemy, was
divided into 44 nomes ; according to Pliny, into There is no reference to these in the Bible ; but in Is. xix. 2, the LXX. render r171: by roust ; at that time, however, there was probably more than one kingdom. At the time of the earlier the country was divided into the Delta, Heptanomis, and Thebais. Of these, the Heptanomis extended from the point of the Delta to the ThebaYca Phylace, and the Thebals from thence to the first cataract. About 400 A.D. , Egypt was divided into four provinces, Augustam nica Prima and Secunda, and lEgyptus Prima and Secunda. The Heptanomis was called Arcadia, from the emperor Arcadius, and Upper Egypt was divided into Upper and Lower Thebals. The general appearance of Egypt is remarkably uni form. The Delta is a richly cultivated plain, varied only by the mounds of ancient cities and occasional groves of palms. Other trees are sel dom met with. The valley in Upper Egypt is also richly cultivated. It is, however, very narrow, and shut in by low hills, rarely higher than 300 feet, which have the appearance of cliffs from the river, and are not often steep. They, in fact, form the border of the desert on either side, and the valley seems to have been, as it were, cut out of a table-land of rock. The valley is rarely more than twelve miles across. The bright green of the fields, the reddish brown or dull green colour of the great river, the tints of the bare yellow rocks, and the deep blue of the sky, always form a plea sant view, and often one of great beauty. The climate is very equable, and to those who can bear great heat, also healthy ; indeed, in the opinion of some, the climate of Egypt is one of the finest in the world (Cf. allusions to Egypt in Gen. xiii. to ; Deut. xi. 10, it ; Zech. xiv. i8). There are, however, unwholesome tracts of salt marsh which are to be avoided. Rain seldom falls except on the coast of the Mediterranean. At Thebes a storm will occur, perhaps, not oftener than once in four years. The rock-formations of the valley of the Nile are limestone until a little above Thebes, where sandstone prevails. At the first cataract the peculiar red granite, anciently known by the name of syenite, from Syene, bursts through the sandstone in the bed of the Nile, forming numer ous islands, and causing the rapids. From the time at which the great Pyramid was built to the Persian invasion, or a period, according to mode rate chronology, of nearly 2000 years, Egypt was more densely populated and more extensively cul tivated than at the present day. Under the Romans, even, it was one of their most productive provinces, and the granary of the world. For the two regions Of Egypt there were two different crowns—that of Upper Egypt was white ; that of Lower Egypt, red ; together, they composed what was called the Pschent. The sovereign of Upper Egypt was called Suten, king; of Lower Egypt, Shebt or bee; as ruling over the whole country he was called Suten-shebt. Upper Egypt appears to have ranked before Lower Egypt, and in the Pschent the crown of the former is uppermost. The first sign in the hieroglyph which is read Suten, is a bent reed, which perhaps suggested the comparison of Pharaoh to a broken reed in Scrip ture.