Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/383





EFORE the form of the earth was known to be that of a globe, every nation thought that their country occupied the centre of the world, and a mere child could point out the precise spot — lake, mountain, or temple — which was supposed to be the middle of the earth. But the exploration of our planet has proved that on the circuit of the globe, no less than in infinite space, "the centre is everywhere and the circumference nowhere."

Nevertheless, if the surface of the globe is studied according to the disposition of the continents, Egypt, the Misr of the natives, more than any other region may certainly be considered as occupying the veritable centre. From a geometrical point of view, Asia Minor, Palestine, and Mesopotamia might have as much right as the plains of the Lower Nile to claim a central position in the group of the three continents of the old world. But Egypt has the advantage over them of offering an easy passage from one marine basin to the other. Here cross each other the two great diagonal lines of the world, that of the overland routes between Asia and Africa and the ocean highways between Europe and India. The very opening of the Suez Canal has placed Egypt midway between America and Australia. The ancient Egyptians were quite justified in giving their country the position of the heart in the terrestrial globe, and one of the etymological renderings of its ancient name of Memphis gives it the sense of "The Middle of the World."

The people who dwell on the banks of the Lower Nile played a part in history corresponding with the geographical position of the land. Egypt is the first region of which there is any record in the annals of human culture. It already existed as a civilised power conscious of its own greatness at a period antecedent to the foundation of Babylon and Nineveh, and when the whole of Europe was still overrun Ly savage tribes that have left no record behind them.

The inhabitants of Asia Minor and Hellas, who were destined to become the teachers of the nations succeeding them, were still cavemen and denizens of the