uation of Arabic names, I have ventured to alter them in
several cases to the form most familiar to English readers.

The spelling of the ancient Egyptian words has, at Professor Maspero's
request, been retained throughout, with the exception that the French
_ou_ has been invariably represented by u, e.g. Khnoumou by Khnumu.

By an act of international courtesy, the director of the _Imprimerie
Nationale_ has allowed the beautifully cut hieroglyphic and cuneiform
type used in the original to be employed in the English edition, and
I take advantage of this opportunity to express to him our thanks and
appreciation of his graceful act.

M. L. McClure.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.--THE NILE AND EGYPT The River and its Influence upon the
Formation of the Country--The Oldest Inhabitants of the Valley and its
First Political Organization

CHAPTER II.--THE GODS OF EGYPT Their Number and their Nature--The Feudal
Gods, Living and Dead--The Triads--Temples and Priests--The Cosmogonies
of the Delta--The Enneads of Heliopolis and of Hermopolis

CHAPTER III.--THE LEGENDARY HISTORY OF EGYPT The Divine Dynasties:
Ra, Shu, Osiris, Sit, Horus-Thot, and the Invention of Sciences and
Writing-Menes, and the Three First Human Dynasties

[Illustration: 001.jpg PAGE ONE]

[Illustration: 002.jpg PAGE TWO]

CHAPTER I.--THE NILE AND EGYPT

_THE RIVER AND ITS INFLUENCE UPON THE FORMATION AND CHARACTER OF
THE COUNTRY--THE OLDEST INHABITANTS OF THE LAND--THE FIRST POLITICAL
ORGANIZATION OF THE VALLEY._

_The Delta: its gradual formation, its structure, its canals--The valley
of Egypt--The two arms of the river--The Eastern Nile--The appearance
of its hanks--The hills--The gorge of Gehel Silsileh--The cataracts: the
falls of Aswan--Nubia--The rapids of Wady Halfah--The Takazze--The Blue
Nile and the White Nile.

The sources of the Nile--The Egyptian cosmography--The four pillars
and the four upholding mountains--The celestial Nile the source of the
terrestial Nile--the Southern Sea and the islands of Spirits--The tears
of Isis--The rise of the Nile--The Green Nile and the Bed Nile--The
opening of the dykes---The fall of the Nile--The river at its lowest
ebb.

The alluvial deposits and the effects of the inundation upon the soil of
Egypt--Paucity of the flora: aquatic plants, the papyrus and the lotus;
the sycamore and the date-palm, the acacias, the dom-palms--The fauna:
the domestic and wild animals; serpents, the urstus; t