ETHIOPIA. The Hebrew Cush, as a geographical name, is rendered in the A. V. by Ethiopia. The two names, when applied to an African country, seem perfectly to correspond, as far as we can judge of a territory of uncertain ex tent, and it is possible that they are merely differ ent forms of the same word. In one passage, in the description of the garden of Eden, an Asiatic Cush, or Ethiopia, must be intended (Gen. ii. and the distribution of the descendants of Cush, with later Biblical historical indications, should be compared with the classical mentions of eastern and western Ethiopians, and other indications of profane history. In all other passages, the words Ethiopia and the Ethiopians, with one possible ex ception, ' the Arabians, that [were] near the Ethio pians' (2 Chron. xxi. 16), which may refer to Arabians opposite to Ethiopia, may be safely con sidered to mean an African country and people or peoples. In the Bible, as in classical geography, but one limit of Ethiopia is laid down, its northern frontier, just beyond Syene, the most southern town of Egypt. Egypt is spoken of as to be de solate ' from Migdol to Syene, even unto the bor der of Ethiopia' (Ezek. xxix. ro), or `from Migdol to Syene' (xxx. 6), shewing that then, as now, the southern boundary of Egypt was at the First Cata ract. The extent assigned to Ethiopia in ancient times may have been very great, as it was the land of the Negroes, and therefore represented all that was known of inner Africa, besides that part of the continent south of Egypt which is washed by the Red Sea. The references in the Bible are, however, generally, if not always, to the territory which was at times under Egyptian rule, a tract watered by the Upper Nile, and extending from Egypt probably as far as a little above the conflu ence of the White and Blue Rivers.
The name Cush is found in the Egyptian KEES1I, which is evidently applied to the same territory, though we have the same difficulty in determining its limits, save on the north. The classical Ethio pia, AlOzorla, may have the same origin, through the Coptic e-OUJ, of which, unless it be rived from 60, ' a boundary,' the Sahidic form ert...t..M may be the purest, and connect the classical with the ancient Egyptian name. In the Bible there is no certain notice of any Ethiopian race but Cushites : Chub (Ezek. xxx. 5) has been thought to be Nub, for Nubia, but this is an ex tremely rash conjecture ; it is more probable that Phut is a territory or people of Ethiopia, for we find the word PET, the bow,' in the ancient Egyp tian names, of Nubia, TA-N1ERTJ-PET, the region of the island of PET,' and of the Nubians, ANU-MERU.
PET, `the ANU of the island of PET.' The last word is read by Dr. Brugsch KENS, and the second word he omits in reading, but we find no sufficient reason for attributing the sound KENS to the unstrung, or, in the less usual form, the strung bow, and prefer supposing that when the word KENS, undoubtedly a name of Nubia, precedes it, the sense is the KENS of PET, nor do we think the omission of the second word justifiable.
According to Dr. Brugsch, the first country above Egypt was TA-MERU-PET, or TA-KENS, cor responding to Nubia, and extending, under the Pharaohs, at least as far south as Napata.* As a
name, Nubia, before the formation of the Ombite Nome, included Ombos, Silsilis being probably the first city of the Egyptian Apollinopolite Nome. Although it is not impossible that at Silsilis was anciently the great natural barrier of Egypt on the south, we think that this extension of Nubia was simply for purposes of government, as Dr. Brugsch seems to admit (Geographische Inschrif fen, i. p. oo). South of the Nubia of the Pharaohs, he places a region, of which the name perhaps reads PENT-HEN ?-NUFRE, which, however, was probably a district of the former country. Still further, and near Meroe, he puts the land of KEESII, and in and about Merod, the land of the NEHSEE or Negroes. But, with all deference for his authority, we think that KEESH commenced immediately above Egypt, probably always at the First Cataract, and included all the known country south of Egypt, TA-MERU-PET or TA-KENS, save as a nome, being a part of it, the modern Nubia. Names of conquered Negro nations, tribes, or countries, occur on the monuments of the empire : of these the most sugges tive are the BARBARTA, and TAKRERR (see Brugsch, Geogr. Inschr., i. pp. too-107, 150-164 ; 4-13, 20; iii. 3, 4, and indices s. vv. Aethiopien, Kes, etc.) Ethiopia comprises two very different tracts. North of the region of tropical rains, it is generally an extremely narrow strip of cultivated land, some times but a few yards wide, on both sides, or occa sionally on one side only, of the Nile. Anciently the watered tract was much broader, but the giving way of a barrier at Silsilis (Gebel es-Silsileh), or Syene (Aswan), has lowered the level of the river for some distance above the First Cataract, exactly how far cannot be accurately determined, but cer tainly for the whole space below the Third Cataract. The cultivable soil which was anciently productive is now far above the highest level of the stream. The valley is, however, never broad, the mountains seldom leaving a space of more than a mile within the greater part of the region north of the limit of tropical rains. The aspect of the country is little varied. On either side of the river, here narrower than in its undivided course in Upper Egypt, rise sterile sandstone and limestone mountains, the for mer sometimes covered by yellow sand- drifts. At the First Cataract, at Kalab'sheh, and at the Second Cataract, the river is obstructed, though at the second place not enough to form a rapid, by red granite and other primary rocks. The groves of date- palms, here especially fine, are the must beautiful objects in the scene, but its general want of variety is often relieved by the splendid remains of Egyptian and Ethiopian civi lization, and the clearness of the air throws a peculiar beauty over everything that the traveller beholds. As he ascends the river, the scenery, after a time, becomes more varied, until on the east he reaches the Abyssinian highlands, on the west the long meadows, the pasture-lands of herds of elephants, through which flows the broad and sluggish White Nile. In this upper region the climate is far less healthy than below, save in Abyssinia, which, from its height, is drained, and enjoys an air which is rare and free from exhalations.