The Cursive Writing (fig. 17) which was used by the side of the hiero glyphics was scarcely better known to the people, though it was employed for the common purposes of every-day life. This is the more likely as the cursive writing originated from the other by the change of the hiero glyphic signs into letters. It is known that the Greek letters similarly originated from the same source, and the Latin and modern alphabets were derived from the Greek.' In explanation of Figures IS and 19 (fil. 12) we may remark that in the rows of hieroglyphics the names of the kings are distinguished by an oval border. What seems like a calendar in Figure 20 is indeed part of an astronomical table copied from the ceiling of a royal tomb at Thebes. The whole consists of twenty-four squares, one of which is represented; each square contains twelve or thirteen rows, each row beginning with a day of the calendar, following the course of the months; the stars have reference to their own respective positions in .the different seasons. The Egyptian numeral system is easily deciphered from this fragment.
Kiizgdonz of reflex of Egyptian civilization was mani fested in the adjoining kingdom of Ethiopia, where, however, as we learn from highly-colored monuments that have been preserved, it lost its sym bolic character and passed into meaningless show. This kingdom, the ancient Cnsh of the Bible (Isaiah xi. 11), began on the north of the pass of Syene (Asswan), and included modern Nubia, Abyssinia, and Kordofan.
Cave-dwellers were yet to be found within its borders, while here too the fertile shores of the Nile invited settlements; but the great variety of races did not promote an independent civilization. The two kingdoms, always in contact, whether friendly or hostile, exchanged their peculiari ties, Egypt predominating in intellect and Ethiopia in material power. The invasion of the Hyksos originated in this country;' the twenty-fifth Egyptian dynasty consisted of Ethiopian kings, sonic of them famous; while, on the contrary, the temple ruins at Ipsambul (Abu-Simbel) and other places in the south show how far Thothmes III. and Rameses II. penetrated into Nubia.
The ecclesiastical state Mero, whose riches often tempted but always escaped the conquerors of antiquity, and which subsisted under the gov eminent of queens until after the birth of Christ, was a peculiar offshoot of the Ethiopian kingdom. We present on Plate m (fig. 9) the portrait of one of these queens (of whom mention is made in the New Testament, Acts viii. 27), copied from a painting on the exterior wall of the temple at Naga. She belongs to the Roman epoch, but wears the Egyptian bead-ornament and carries a palm-branch as a sceptre. An Ethiopian of rank of an earlier period (fig. 17) is from the celebrated painting of the Migration to the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon. The usual dress of the com mon people was a loin-cloth and a woollen wrap, as we may infer by analogy from what prevails at present in Numidia.
That Ethiopia was not affected by Egyptian influence alone is shown by an idol with four arms and three lion-heads (pl. 14, fig. 13) which is from the temple at Naga, and which is rather indicative of Indian deriva tion. But as its civilization was in any case only a reflection of foreign peculiarities, we may dispense with a more detailed description.
Foreign Relations.—The position of the Egyptians in relation to their Asiatic neighbors was of a different character. The latter, although con quered by the Egyptians, as is proved by the precious objects included in the tribute which was paid and carefully recorded and portrayed by the conquerors, were in certain respects superior to their masters and capable of influencing their civilization. There is no doubt that the great tide of Semitic peoples that moved from Central Asia westward, and crowded the later Egyptians into the Nile Valley, must have left numerous tribes behind in the regions passed over. These tribes settled down or continued their nomadic life in accordance with the favorable or unfavorable condi tions of the country. To some extent, especially when they reached the sea-coast, they engaged in commerce, and brought the various arts con nected with commercial activity to a high degree of development. While the peculiar nature of North-eastern Africa favored the growth of a great centralized state and a high social, religious, and political development, and consequently led to the civilization which we have described, entirely different conditions prevented the inhabitants of Western Asia from devel oping in like manner. These, while they separately grew strong and developed a warlike character in their struggles with the fierce aboriginal inhabitants mentioned in the Bible, lacked cohesion, and consequently became the victims of internecine strife and the prey of foreign con querors. We find numerous representatives of these tribes portrayed on the Egyptian monuments, with their appearance distinctly characterized, but they are designated by names which give little clue to their origin. Their garments indicate luxury and great effeminacy (fl. TO, figs. 15, i6), and their lighter or darker color suggests a more northern or southern abode. Figure 16, designated as "Temehu," shows on the nude parts of the body a painting or tattooing, traces of which we often notice in those distant times.
Conchtsion.—We have thus presented a brief outline of the world's oldest civilization, which, though long extinct, must continue to be an object of interest from its influence on the subsequent course of human development, and which in recent times has received fresh light in every department without losing the charm of mystery that has always attached to the name of Egypt.