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teacher at Sondrio in the Valtelline, whence, in 1586, he was compelled to emigrate on account of measures taken by the Roman Catholics against the Evangelicals. He stayed a short while in Winterthur, and in 1588 went to Zurich, where he filled various positions, at last that of professor of the New Testament and archdeacon at the minster. His inclination for theosophy and alchemy was disastrous, for the latter deranged his finances so that he had to flee from Zurich on account of debt in 1601; nevertheless he was helped by his friends, was enabled to return, and accepted a call of the Landgrave Maurice to Cassel. Himself a friend of alchemy, the landgrave made Eglinus a teacher in the court school there, and in 1606 appointed him the fourth professor of theology in Marburg, in 1614 creating him also court preacher. During this Hessian period Eglinus did not give up his alchemis-

I. Ancient Egypt. 1. The Land. The Names (§ 1). Extent, Boundaries and Divisions (§ 2). Climate and Products (¢ 3). 2. The People. Ethnology and Language (§ 1). Customs (§ 2). Manufactures (§ 3). Officials (§ 4). 3. Chronology.

I. Ancient Egypt.-1. The Land: The name is derived from the Greek AigyPtos, which is a possible,

1. The but not a probable, derivative from Names. one of the native names of Memphis; the Semitic names, Hebrew, Mizraim, Babylonian, Mizri, Assyrian, Muzur, all go back to a common root. The etymology of both seta of names is uncertain. The native name was Kemet (km-t), " black," in reference to the color of the arable soil when contrasted with the sand and rock which border it.

Egypt has a superficial area scarcely equal to that of Belgium; shaped like a fan with a disproportionately long handle-the Nile valley, which averages only about ten miles in width. From the dawn of its history it was divided into 2. Extent, two parts, indicated in the title of the Boundaries kings, " lord of Upper and Lower sad Divi- Egypt," the point of division being

sions. somewhat south of Cairo. In ancient times each of these parts was divided into twenty-two nomoi, districts, recognized for administrative purposes, but their origin is to be found in tribal limits. The union of the two parts into one kingdom was ascribed to Menea, the first king, and it marked the actual beginning of Egyp tian history. The arable ground was formed by the silt brought down by the Nile, and its fertility was due to the same agency. This is particularly true of the northerly portion, the Delta, though the removal of a few inches of the surface renders the ground sterile. Within historic times the land along the coast has been gradually sinking. For merly the Nile discharged into the Mediterranean and the Red Sea by seven mouths, only two of THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG

tic tastes, and was encouraged by the landgrave, with whom he carried on a lively correspondence about his experiments. These interests brought him also into connection with the Rosicruciana, for whom he published an apology in 1618. In spite of his occupation with these side-issues Eglinus had no little influence as a theologian, for the introduction of the (Reformed) Verbesserungspunkte (q.v.) by the huldgrave occurred during his stay in Hesse, and he gave important aid, by his literary work, as well as through his teaching, in establishing the Reformed confession in that land.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: F. W. Strueder, Grundlage zu eiuer heaeir ashen Gelehrten- uud Schriftatelder-Geachichte, iii. 299-318, GSttinycen, 1783 (contains a liar of the works of Eglinus).

EGLISE CATHOLIQUE-FRANgAISE. See CHATEL, FERDINAND FRANrpOIB.

EGYPT. 4. History. Conspectus and Sources (§ 1). Hykaos, Pharaohs and their Successors to the Exodus ($ 2). Exodus to the Assyrian Period (§ 3). Period of Assyrian Contact ($ 4). Babylonian and Later Periods (§ b). b. Religion. General Features (§ 1). Polytheism Dominant (§ 2). Religious Texts (§ 3). 8. Exploration and Excavation. The First Period, 1798-1830 ( §1). Private and Tuscan-Prussian Work, 1832-50 (§ 2). Mariette, 1851-81 (§ 3'). The Recent Period, since 1881 ($ 4). General Results (§ 5). II. Modern Egypt. Statistics, General and Religious ($ 1)· The Orthodox Greek Church (§ 2). Other Communions (§ 3).

which now remain, the others being represented by canals. On the west of Egypt is the Libyan desert, from which the sands blow over the arable land at certain seasons. On the east also it is desert in the southerly portion; at the northeast the (former) Bitter Lakes represent an old arm of the Red Sea to the north of which was a series of garrison towns intended to guard against the incursions of the Bedouin.

Upper Egypt is a land of almost perpetual sunshine; storms and rain occur near the coast. The preservation of the antiquities of the land is due to this circumstance, as the dry sand is a great conserver of even the fragile papyrus. The fertility of the soil is due to irrigation by the Nile under natural conditions or when artificially s. Climate impounded. Reference is made to and this fertility (Gen. xiii. 10), and to

Products. artificial irrigation (Deut. xi. 10) in the Old Testament. The seasons are reckoned as three: beginning with the inundation (about July 20), spring, and harvest, the last begin ning toward the end of March. The fauna of ancient Egypt was very varied, as is evident from the pictures on tomb walls and in the variety of animal forms utilized for the hieroglyphic writing. The camel and horse were imported late: the horse (I Kings x. 28) was introduced apparently by the Hykaos. It was used principally in war, with the chariot,and was depicted as a hieroglyphic sign after the New Kingdom only. The camel (Gen. xii. 16; Ex. ix. 3: J passages) is not mentioned till the Greek period. The ass has always been the burden bearer. The flora was luxuriant, but not greatly varied, being mainly restricted to the staples,