Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/386

 810 NOETH-EAST AFRICA. of the necropolis show that the philosophy of the Egyptians was humane and rational, and, as Mariette remarks, it in no way resembled the mystical fetishism which sprang up in Thebes twenty centuries later. From all points of view the most perfect epoch is precisely the most ancient that is known to us. When Egypt entered upon one of those periods of warlike rule which so many persons still consider the indication of true greatness, the Egyptian sovereigns were enabled to use for their conquests the effective power which their armies had already acquired during the course of a long-established culture. Their empire already extended far beyond the natural limits of the Nilotic basin, even far into Asia. According to Mariette and most other Egyptologists, the monarchy of the Pharaohs, at the time of its greatest extent, embraced the whole region comprised between the equatorial countries of the Upper Nile, the shores of the Indian Ocean, and the mountains of the Caucasus. But warlike expeditions are always the forerunning sign of decadence. Under the rule of the conquering Ramses II. the decline became rapid, and the latter part of his reign is marked by barbarous works, and sculptures " of a most extra- ordinary coarseness." The force derived from a superior civilisation ended by exhausting itself, and Egypt was conquered in her turn, and for more than twenty centuries she has never ceased to be under the rule of foreign dynasties. Present Social axd Political Position. The political and social destiny of the cultivators of the Egyptian soil is clearly indicated by the surroundings amidst which they live. The Nile, the common property of the nation, floods all the land at the same time ; and before it had been surveyed by geometricians, the land itself should also have been rendered common property. The irrigating canals, which are indispensable for cultivation beyond the limits attained by the annual floods, can be dug out and kept in order only by multitudes of workmen labouring in unison. There is, therefore, only one of two alternatives to be accepted by the agricul- turalists, either to unite together in a commune, or else to become the slaves of a native or foreign master. During the course of written history, the latter alterna- tive is that which has been realised, whatsoever may have been the apparent pros- perity of the country under the sway of the Pharaohs, the Ptolemies, and the Sultans. The bas-reliefs of the monuments show us the Egyptian of three thousand years ago bowed down beneath the lash, just as they are at the present day. The victim of a continual oppression, and an excessive extortion, the fellah is unable to shift his quarters like the nomad Bedouin. In the vast level plain of the delta, or in the narrow valley of the river, there is not a single retreat in which he can hope to find a refuge from his taskmasters. Although his misery is without issue and his future without hope, still he passionately loves the land of his birth. jVway from the banks of his beloved river, the fellah is overwhelmed by sadness and dies of home- sickness. The most commonplace landscapes are still the most beaiitiful in the eyes of their inhabitants.