ng of the Egyptian ports.]

Her solitude, however, had not been altogether unbroken. After a
duration of 1076 years, and the reign of thirty-eight kings, illustrated
by the production of the most stupendous works ever accomplished by the
hand of man, some of which, as the Pyramids, remain to our times, the
old empire, which had arisen from the union of the upper and lower
countries, had been overthrown by the Hycksos, or shepherd kings, a race
of Asiatic invaders. These, in their turn, had held dominion for more
than five centuries, when an insurrection put an end to their power, and
gave birth to the new empire, some of the monarchs of which, for their
great achievements, are still remembered. In the middle period of this
new empire those events in early Hebrew history took place--the visit
of Abram and the elevation of Joseph--which are related with such
simplicity in the Holy Scriptures. With varied prosperity, the new
empire continued until the time of Psammetichus, who, in a civil war,
having attained supreme power by the aid of Greek mercenaries, overthrew
the time-honoured policy of all the old dynasties, and occasioned the
first grand impulse in the intellectual life of Europe by opening the
ports of Egypt, and making that country accessible to the blue-eyed and
red-haired barbarians of the North.

[Sidenote: This compels Egypt to become a maritime state,]

[Sidenote: and brings on collisions with the Babylonians.]

[Sidenote: Opening of the Suez Canal.]

[Sidenote: Circumnavigation of Africa.]

[Sidenote: History of the Great Canal.]

It is scarcely possible to exaggerate the influence of this event upon
the progress of Europe. An immense extension of Greek commerce by the
demand for the products of the Euxine as well as of the Mediterranean
was the smallest part of the advantage. As to Egypt herself, it entailed
a complete change in her policy, domestic and foreign. In the former
respect, the employment of the mercenaries was the cause of the entire
emigration of the warrior caste, and in the latter it brought things to
such a condition, that, if Egypt would continue to exist, she must
become a maritime state. Her geographical position for the purposes of
commerce was excellent; with the Red Sea on the east and the
Mediterranean on the north, she was the natural entrepot between Asia
and Europe, as was shown by the prosperity of Alexandria in later ages.
But there was a serious difficulty in the way of