the land of Mizraim Thus we are thrown back on the original
question--Where did the man, or race of men, that is found in Egypt at
the dawn of history come from?

It is generally answered that they came from Asia; but this is not much
more than a conjecture. The physical type of the Egyptians is different
from that of any known Asiatic nation. The Egyptians had no traditions
that at all connected them with Asia. Their language, indeed, in
historic times was partially Semitic, and allied to the Hebrew, the
Phœnician, and the Aramaic; but the relationship was remote, and may be
partly accounted for by later intercourse, without involving original
derivation. The fundamental character of the Egyptian in respect of
physical type, language, and tone of thought, is Nigritic. The Egyptians
were not negroes, but they bore a resemblance to the negro which is
indisputable. Their type differs from the Caucasian in exactly those
respects which when exaggerated produce the negro. They were darker, had
thicker lips, lower foreheads, larger heads, more advancing jaws, a
flatter foot, and a more attenuated frame. It is quite conceivable that
the negro type was produced by a gradual degeneration from that which we
find in Egypt. It is even conceivable that the Egyptian type was
produced by gradual advance and amelioration from that of the negro.

Still, whencesoever derived, the Egyptian people, as it existed in the
flourishing times of Egyptian history, was beyond all question a mixed
race, showing diverse affinities. Whatever the people was originally, it
received into it from time to time various foreign elements, and those
in such quantities as seriously to affect its physique--Ethiopians from
the south, Libyans from the west, Semites from the north-east, where
Africa adjoined on Asia. There are two quite different types of Egyptian
form and feature, blending together in the mass of the nation, but