endants still remain in the land of Goshen, and in
every instance where fresh discovery has thrown light upon the subject
the independent record of history found in hieroglyph or papyrus
confirms the Bible narrative, so that we may be quite sure when we
read these old stories that they are not merely legends, open to
doubt, but are the true histories of people who actually lived.

As you will see from what I have told you, Egypt is perhaps the oldest
country in the world--the oldest, that is, in civilization. No one
quite knows how old it is, and no record has been discovered to tell
us.

All through the many thousands of years of its history Egypt has had a
great influence upon other nations, and although the ancient Persians,
Greeks, and Romans successively dominated it, these conquering races
have each in turn disappeared, while Egypt goes on as ever, and its
people remain.

Egypt has been described as the centre of the world, and if we look at
the map we will see how true this is. Situated midway between Europe,
Africa, and Asia in the old days of land caravans, most of the trade
between these continents passed through her hands, while her ports on
the Mediterranean controlled the sea trade of the Levant.

All this helped to make Egypt wealthy, and gave it great political
importance, so that very early in the world's history it enjoyed a
greater prosperity and a higher civilization than any of its
neighbours. Learned men from all countries were drawn to it in search
of fresh knowledge, for nowhere else were there such seats of
learning as in the Nile cities, and it is acknowledged that the highly
trained priesthood of the Pharaohs practised arts and sciences of
which we in these days are ignorant, and have failed to discover.

In 30 B.C. the last of the Pharaohs disappeared, and for 400
years the Romans ruled in Egypt, many of their emperors restoring the
ancient temples as well as building new ones; but all the Roman
remains in Egypt are poor in comparison with the real Egyptian art,
and, excepting for a few small temples, little now remains of their
buildings but the heaps of rubbish which surround the magnificent
monuments of Egypt's great period.

During the Roman occupation Christianity became the recognized
religion of the country, and to-day the Copts (who are the real
descendants of the ancient Egyptians) still preserve the primitive
faith of those early times, and, with the Abyssinians, are perhaps t