Egypt in Easton's Bible Dictionary
the land of the Nile and the pyramids, the oldest kingdom of
which we have any record, holds a place of great
significance in
Scripture.
The Egyptians belonged to the white race, and their
original
home is still a matter of dispute. Many scholars
believe that it
was in Southern Arabia, and recent excavations have
shown that
the valley of the Nile was originally inhabited by a
low-class
population, perhaps belonging to the Nigritian
stock, before the
Egyptians of history entered it. The ancient
Egyptian language,
of which the latest form is Coptic, is distantly
connected with
the Semitic family of speech.
Egypt consists geographically of two halves, the
northern
being the Delta, and the southern Upper Egypt,
between Cairo and
the First Cataract. In the Old Testament, Northern
or Lower
Egypt is called Mazor, "the fortified land" (Isa.
19:6; 37: 25,
where the A.V. mistranslates "defence" and "besieged
places");
while Southern or Upper Egypt is Pathros, the
Egyptian
Pa-to-Res, or "the land of the south" (Isa. 11:11).
But the
whole country is generally mentioned under the dual
name of
Mizraim, "the two Mazors."
The civilization of Egypt goes back to a very remote
antiquity. The two kingdoms of the north and south
were united
by Menes, the founder of the first historical
dynasty of kings.
The first six dynasties constitute what is known as
the Old
Empire, which had its capital at Memphis, south of
Cairo, called
in the Old Testament Moph (Hos. 9:6) and Noph. The
native name
was Mennofer, "the good place."
The Pyramids were tombs...
Read More about Egypt in Easton's Bible Dictionary