ETHNOLOGY. The ancient Egyptians believed themselves to be an indigenous people, free from all foreign admixture, and all the known facts tend to favor their contentiy). Both their lan guage and their physical characteristics show that they belonged to the Hamitic branch of the Caucasian race. the white inhabitant: of north ern Africa. They represent this race very pure ly; the admixture of Semitic and negro blood is not considerable. Their relatives are the Berbers of northern Africa and the Bisharis, Gallas, and Somalis, of eastern Africa. The evident rela tionship subsisting between Egyptian and the Semitic languages has given rise to several theories. Sorge scholars (for example, Wiede mann and (le Morgan) believe that the Egyptians and the kindred Hamitic races migrated in pre• historic times from Asia into Africa. Erman holds that at some remote period the Nile Valley was invaded by Semites, who, though few in number, were able to conquer the country and to impose their language on the conquered people. According to this theory the Egyptians were. to use Erman's own expression. 'Sensitized Nubians.' Other scholars (as Palgrave, Brinton. and Keane) hold that the ancestors of both Semites and Damites originally dwelt together in north ern Africa, whence the former emigrated at a very remote period into Arabia. A very clear
summary of the whole argument is to be found in Barton. A Sketch of Semitic Origins (New York. 1902). The weight of evidence seems to be rather in favor of the last hypothesis. 11yksos invasion led. apparently, to little inter mingling of races, but under the New Empire there was some infusion of Semite blood, espe• eially from the slaves captured in the Asiatic wars. Under the Twenty-second Dynasty the Libyans contributed an important element to the population. and the 'Ethiopians (Dynasty Twenty-five) probably- added some Nubian ele ments. The Assyrian rule was of a very tem porary character, and neither this nor the Persian dominion affected the population appre• ciably. Under the Ptolemies there was a con siderable influx of Greeks. especially into the Delta and the Faymn, and many Jews settled in the commercial cities. The Moliammis la II con quest in the seventh century A.u. brought a large Arab population into F.gypt. which later received additions from the Tatar Turks: In spite, bow e‘er, of all this, the old type maintained itself w ith considerable purity, and the Egyptian fellah of the present day is the true deseendant of his forefathers under the early Pharaohs.