r in colour, and resembling the
portraits on the ancient monuments. They are a strong community in Upper
Egypt, whither they fled from the Arab invaders, and they there hold
a large portion of the land. They live mostly in the towns, are better
educated than other Egyptians, and are employed frequently in the
government service as clerks and accountants.

Koptic is still studied for church purposes by the Kopts, who both by
their physiognomy and by their retention of the old Egyptian institution
of monasticism are the only true descendants having the social
and physical heredity of the ancient Egyptians. Four of the oldest
monasteries in the world still survive in the Natron Valley.

[Illustration: 232.jpg MOSQUE OF EL GHURI AT CAIRO]

In spite of their distinguished social ancestry, the Kopts are by no
means a superior class morally to the fellaheen, who are in part the
descendants of those ancient Egyptians who renounced the Christian
religion, the language and institutions of the Egyptian Christians, and
accepted Muhammedanism and the Arabic language and institutions.

The creed of the Kopts is Jacobite. They have three metropolitans and
twelve bishops in Egypt, one metropolitan and two bishops in Abyssinia,
and one bishop in Khartum. There are also arch-priests, priests,
deacons, and monks. Priests must be married before ordination, but
celibacy is imposed upon monks and high dignitaries. The Abyssinian
Church is ruled by a metropolitan, and bishops are chosen from amongst
the Egyptian-Koptic ecclesiastics, nor can the coronation of the King of
Abyssinia take place until he has been anointed by the metropolitan, and
this only after the authorisation by the Patriarch of Alexandria.

[Illustration: 235.jpg PAGE IMAGE]

CHAPTER V.--THE WATER WAYS OF EGYPT

_The White and Blue Niles: The Barrage: Clearing the Sudd: The Suez
Canal: Ancient and modern irrigation: The Dam at Aswan: The modern
exploration of the Nile._

Between the Sudan and the Mediterranean the only perennial stream is
the Nile, a word probably derived from the Semitic root nahal, meaning
a valley or a river-valley, and subsequently a "river," in a pre-eminent
and exclusive sense. The ancient Egyptians called it the Ar or Aur
(Koptic, Iaro), or "black"; hence the Greek word [...] allusion to the
colour, not of the water, but of the sediment which it precipitated
during the floods. In contrast to the yellow sands of the surrounding
deser