the Ptolemies,
the famous Cleopatra. Augustus made Egypt virtually his private
province, and drew from it resources that were among the chief elements
of his power. After Augustus, the Romans continued in control until
the coming of the Saracens under Amr, in the seventh century. Various
dynasties of Mohammedans, covering a period of several centuries,
maintained control until the Mamluks, in 1250, overthrew the legitimate
rulers, to be themselves overthrown three centuries later by the Turks
under Selim I. Turkish rule was maintained until near the close of the
eighteenth century, when the French, under Napoleon Bonaparte, invaded
Egypt. In 1806, after the expulsion of the French by the English, the
famous Mehemet Ali destroyed the last vestiges of Mamluk power, and set
up a quasi-independent sovereignty which was not disturbed until toward
the close of the nineteenth century. The events of the last twenty-five
years, comprising a short period of joint control of Egypt by the French
and English, followed by the British occupation, are fresh in the mind
of the reader.

What may be termed the modern history of Egypt covers a period of more
than twenty-two centuries. During this time the native Egyptian can
scarcely be said to have a national history, but the land of Egypt, and
the races who have become acclimated there, have passed through many
interesting phases. Professor Maspero completes the history of antiquity
in that dramatic scene in which the ancient Egyptian makes his last
futile struggle for independence. But the Nile Valley has remained the
scene of the most important events where the strongest nations of the
earth contended for supremacy. It is most interesting to note that
the invaders of Egypt, while impressing their military stamp upon the
natives, have been mastered in a very real sense by the spell of
Egypt's greatness; but the language, the key to ancient learning and
civilisation, still remained a well-guarded secret. Here and there one
of the Ptolemies or Greeks thought it worth his while to master the
hieroglyphic writing. Occasionally a Roman of the later period may have
done the same, but such an accomplishment was no doubt very unusual from
the first. The subordinated Egyptians therefore had no resource but to
learn the language of their conquerors, and presently it came to pass
that not even the native Egyptian remembered the elusive secrets of
his own written language. Egyptian, as a spoken to