A few words of preface are needful to justify the addition of another contribution to the over-abundant mass of literature of which Egypt is the subject. It is intended to supplement the books already in the hands of tourists and students, and to put before them just that information which either is not readily accessible or else forms part of larger and cumbrous works. The travels of Herodotos in Egypt are followed for the first time in the light of recent discoveries, and the history of the in

To Menes is ascribed the building of Memphis, the capital of the united kingdom. He is said to have raised the great dyke which Linant de Bellefonds identifies with that of Kosheish near Kafr el-Ayyât, and thereby to have diverted the Nile from its ancient channel under the Libyan plain. On the ground that he thus added to the western bank of the river his new capital was erected. Memphis is the Greek form of the old Egyptian Men-nefer or “Good Place.” The final r was dropped in Egyptian pronunc

It was not long before the Pharaoh and the powerful hierarchy of Thebes were at open war. But the priesthood proved too strong for the king. He quitted the capital of his fathers and built himself a new city farther north. It is the site of this city which is now covered by the mounds of Tel el-Amarna. Towards the northern side of it rose the palace of the Pharaoh, whose ruins have been explored by Professor Flinders Petrie. It was one of the most gorgeous edifices ever erected by man. The walls

Along the Syrian coast Seti i. had already carried his arms. His campaigns were followed by those of his son. Arvad, the shores of the Gulf of Antioch, and even Cilicia, are enumerated among the conquests of the Pharaoh. He even claims to have defeated the armies of Assyria, of Matena or Mitanni, the Aram-Naharaim of Scripture, and of Singar in Mesopotamia. At Luxor, on the western walls of the newly excavated court, we hear of his having been at Tunip (now Tennib), “in the land of Naharaim,” of

Shishak must have looked on with satisfaction while the neighbouring empire of Israel fell to pieces, until eventually the central power itself was shattered in twain. The rebel he had so carefully nurtured at his own court was the instrument which relieved him of all further fear of danger on the side of Asia. So far from being a menace to Egypt, Jerusalem now lay at the mercy of the Egyptian armies, and in the fifth year of Rehoboam, Shishak led his forces against it. The strong walls Solomon

Egypt never again was free. Its rulers have been of manifold races and forms of faith, but they have never again been Egyptians. Persians, Greeks and Romans, Arabs, Kurds, Circassians, Mameluk slaves and Turks, Frenchmen and Englishmen, have all governed or misgoverned it, but throughout this long page of its history there is no sign of native political life. Religion or taxation has alone seemed able to stir the people into movement or revolt. For aspirations after national freedom we look in v

Herodotos took part in the foundation of the colony of Thurii in southern Italy in b.c. 445, and there, rather than at the Olympic festival, as later legend believed, he read to the assembled Greeks the whole or a part of his history. His travels in Egypt, therefore, must have already taken place. Their approximate date, indeed, is fixed by what he tells us about the battlefield of Paprêmis (iii. 12). At Paprêmis, for the first time, an Egyptian army defeated the Persian forces. Its leader was I

The site of Zephyrion is now occupied by the little village of Abukîr, memorable in the annals of England and France. In 1891 Daninos Pasha made some excavations there which brought to light a few scanty remains of the temple of Aphroditê. The foundations of its walls were found, as well as two limestone sphinxes inscribed with the name of Amon-em-hat iv. , and three great statues of red granite, one of them upright, the others seated. The upright figure was that of Ramses ii. with a roll of pap

It is true he asserts that his list of kings was given on the authority of “the Egyptians and the priests,” and that it was they who reckoned three hundred and forty-one generations from Menes, the founder of the kingdom, to Sethos, the antagonist of Sennacherib, the number of kings and high-priests during the period being exactly equal to the number of generations. But it can easily be shown that the calculation was made by Herodotos himself, and that neither the “Egyptians,” whose language he

(Each king is followed by the number of years reigned.) Dynasty i. —Thinites: 8 kings. Dynasty ii. —Thinites: 9 kings. Dynasty iii. —Memphites: 9 kings. Dynasty iv. —Memphites: 8 kings. ( Eus. 17.) Dynasty v. —Elephantines: 9 kings. ( Eus. 31 kings, including Othoês or Othius the First and Phiôps; the others are unnamed.) Dynasty vi. —Memphites: 6 kings. (No number in Eus. ) Dynasty vii. —70 Memphites for 70 days. ( Eus. 5 kings for 75 days, or 75 years according to the Armenian Version.) Dynast

Cir. 960. Solomon marries the daughter of the Tanite Pharaoh, and receives Gezer. Cir. 925. Shishak (Shashanq i. ) invades Palestine and takes Jerusalem. Cir. 900. Invasion of Judah by Zerah (Osorkon ii. ) 725. Hoshea of Israel makes alliance with So of Egypt. 720. Sargon defeats the “Pharaoh” and Sibe his general at Raphia. 701. Defeat of Tirhakah by Sennacherib at Eltekeh. 674. Invasion of Egypt by Esar-haddon. 670. Tirhakah driven from the frontier to Memphis and thence to Ethiopia. 668. Revo

(4) Herodotos of Halikarnassos, historian, b.c. 445-430. Travelled in Egypt as far as the Fayyûm. His account of Egypt chiefly contained in the second book of his histories. (5) Demokritos of Abdera, philosopher, b.c. 405. Spent five years in Egypt, and wrote books on geography and on the Ethiopic hieroglyphics, now lost. (6) Aristagoras of Miletos, b.c. 350. Wrote a history of Egypt in at least two books, now lost. (7) Eudoxos of Knidos, philosopher. Visited Egypt in b.c. 358, and wrote an acco

(3) Naukratis.—The mounds of Naukratis (Kôm Qa´if) lie nearly five miles due west of the station of Teh el-Barûd on the line between Cairo and Alexandria, where all trains stop except the express. The first half of the walk is along a good road under an avenue of trees, but after a village is reached it leads through fields. Donkeys are not always to be had at Teh el-Barûd. The low mounds west of the station are not earlier than the Roman period. (4) Kanôpos or Aboukir.—A train leaves the Ramleh