the blade,” and “the fecal matter began to come out.” Says Clarke’s Commentary (Vol. II, p. 114, col. 1): “Either the contents of the bowels issued through the wound, or he had an evacuation in the natural way through the fright and anguish.”

2. A royal Canaanite city whose king joined a confederacy against Gibeon when that city made peace with Joshua and Israel. Joshua slew the five kings involved, staked them, and later conquered Eglon, devoting its inhabitants to destruction. (Josh. 10:1-5, 22-27, 34, 35; 12:12) It was thereafter included in the territory of the tribe of Judah. (Josh. 15:39) The original site is believed to be found at Tell el-Hesi, some sixteen miles (26 kilometers) NE of Gaza, and about seven miles (11 kilometers) SW of the site of Lachish, and thus near the edge of the Plains of Philistia. The ancient name, however, is preserved at the ruins of Khirbet ʽAjlan, a few miles distant.

EGYPT, EGYPTIAN

Egypt and its inhabitants are referred to over 700 times in the Bible. The English name for this land comes from the Greek Aiʹgy·ptos by way of the Latin Aegyptus. Some scholars suggest that the Greek form was, in turn, derived from an Egyptian name for the city of Memphis (Hi-ku-Ptah), an ancient capital of Egypt.

In the Hebrew Scriptures Egypt is usually designated by the name Mizraim (Mits·raʹyim) (compare Genesis 50:11), evidently pointing to the prominence or predominance of the descendants of that son of Ham in the region. (Gen. 10:6) The name Misr is applied to Egypt even today by Arabs. In certain Psalms it is called “the land of Ham.”—Ps. 105:23, 27; 106:21, 22.

The Egyptians commonly referred to their country as Kemyt, meaning “black.” While Plutarch (Greek writer of the first century C.E.) explained this name as contrasting the black soil of the Nile valley with the surrounding sandy desert, it is possible that Kemyt corresponds to the Hebrew name Ham (hham), suggested as meaning “swarthy” or “sunburnt.” If this latter suggestion is correct, the name Kemyt could originally have related to the dark complexion of most of the Hamites. Another Egyptian name frequently used was tawy, the “two lands,” that is, of Upper and Lower Egypt.

BOUNDARIES AND GEOGRAPHY

In ancient and modern times, Egypt has owed its existence to the Nile River, with its fertile valley stretching like a long, narrow green ribbon through the parched desert regions of northeastern Africa. “Lower Egypt” comprised the broad Delta region where the Nile waters fan out before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea, at one time through at least five separate branches, today by only two. From the point where the Nile’s waters diverge (in the region of modern Cairo) to the seacoast is about a hundred miles (160.9 kilometers). The site of ancient Heliopolis (Biblical On) is found a short distance N of Cairo, while a few miles S of Cairo lies Memphis (usually called Noph in the Bible). (Gen. 46:20; Jer. 46:19; Hos. 9:6) To the S of Memphis began the region of “Upper Egypt,” extending up the valley all the way to the first cataract of the Nile at Aswan (ancient Syene), a distance of some 600 miles (965.4 kilometers). Many scholars, however, consider it more logical to refer to the northern part of this section as “Middle Egypt.” In this entire region (of Middle and Upper Egypt) the flat Nile valley rarely exceeds twelve miles (19.3 kilometers) in width, and is bounded on both sides by limestone and sandstone cliffs, which form the edge of the desert proper.

Beyond the first cataract lay Ethiopia (or, Nubia), so that Egypt is said to have reached “from Migdol [a site evidently in NE Egypt] to Syene and to the boundary of Ethiopia.” (Ezek. 29:10) While the Hebrew term Mits·raʹyim is regularly used to stand for the entire land of Egypt, many scholars believe that in some cases it represents Lower Egypt, and perhaps “Middle Egypt,” with Upper Egypt being designated by “Pathros.” The reference to ‘Egypt [Mizraim], Pathros, and Cushʼ at Isaiah 11:11 is paralleled by a similar geographical lineup in an inscription of Assyrian King Esar-haddon, who lists within his empire the regions of “Musur, Paturisi and Cush.”

Bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the N and the first cataract of the Nile and Nubia-Ethiopia on the S, Egypt was hemmed in by the Libyan Desert (part of the Sahara) on the W and the Red Sea Desert on the E. Thus, for the most part, it was quite insulated against outside influence and protected from invasion. The isthmus of Sinai on the NE, however, formed a bridge with the Asiatic continent (1 Sam. 15:7; 27:8) and over this land-bridge came commercial caravans (Gen. 37:25), migrants and, in time, invading armies. The “torrent valley of Egypt,” usually identified with Wadi el-ʽArish in the Sinai Peninsula, evidently marked the northeastern extremity of Egypt’s established domain. (2 Ki. 24:7) Beyond this lay Canaan. (Gen. 15:18; Josh. 15:4) In the desert to the W of the Nile there were at least five oases that came to form part of the Egyptian kingdom. The large Faiyum oasis, about forty-five miles (72.4 kilometers) SW of ancient Memphis, received water from the Nile by means of a channel.

Economy dependent on Nile

Whereas today the desert regions lining the Nile valley provide little or no vegetation to sustain animal life, the evidence is that in ancient times the wadis or torrent valleys contained many wild oxen, antelopes and other game animals hunted by the Egyptians. Still, rain was evidently scant and today is negligible (Cairo receiving but two inches [5 centimeters] annually). Thus life in Egypt depended on the waters of the Nile.

The Nile’s sources take their rise in the mountains of Ethiopia and neighboring lands. Here seasonal rainfall was sufficient to swell the river’s flow, causing it to flood its banks in Egypt each year during the months of July to September. (Compare Amos 8:8; 9:5.) This not only provided water for irrigation canals and basins but also deposited valuable silt to enrich the soil. So fertile was the Nile valley, and also the Delta, that the well-watered region of Sodom and Gomorrah viewed by Lot was likened to “the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt.” (Gen. 13:10) The amount of inundation was variable; when low, production was poor and famine resulted. (Gen. 41:29-31) The complete failure of the Nile inundations would represent a disaster of the first order, converting the country into a barren wasteland.—Isa. 19:5-7; Ezek. 29:10-12.

Products

Agriculturally rich, Egypt’s main crops were barley, wheat, spelt (a type of wheat) and flax (from which fine linen was made and exported to many lands.) (Ex. 9:31, 32; Prov. 7:16) There were vineyards, date, fig and pomegranate trees, and vegetable gardens providing a good variety of products, including cucumbers, watermelons, leeks, onions and garlic. (Gen. 40:9-11; Num. 11:5; 20:5) The allusion to ‘irrigating the land with one’s foot, like a garden of vegetables’ (Deut. 11:10), is understood by some scholars to refer to the use of the Egyptian waterwheel and pump worked by the feet, illustrations of which are found on ancient monuments. It might also simply refer to all the footwork or walking involved in supplying water to a garden plot in a hot, rainless land.

When famine hit neighboring lands, people often made their way down to fruitful Egypt, as did Abraham early in the second millennium B.C.E. (Gen. 12:10) In time Egypt came to be a granary for much of the Mediterranean area. The ship out of Alexandria, Egypt, that the apostle Paul boarded at Myra in the first century C.E. was a grain ship on its way to Italy.—Acts 27:5, 6, 38.

Another important export of Egypt was papyrus, the reedy plant that grew in the abundant marshes of the Delta (Ex. 2:3; compare Job 8:11) and that was used for making writing material. Lacking in forests, however, Egypt was obliged to import lumber from Phoenicia, especially cedar from port cities such as Tyre, where Egypt’s many-colored linens were prized. (Ezek. 27:7) Egyptian temples and monuments were built of granite and some softer stones, such as limestone, supplies of which were abundant in the hills flanking the Nile valley. Ordinary homes and even palaces were made of mud brick (the common material for construction of all buildings in Mesopotamia). Egyptian mines in the hills along the Red Sea (as well as over in the Sinai Peninsula) produced gold and copper, bronzeware products from this latter metal also being exported.—Gen. 13:1, 2; Ps. 68:31.

Stock raising played an important part in the Egyptian economy; Abraham acquired sheep and cattle while there, as well as such beasts of burden as asses and camels. (Gen. 12:16; Ex. 9:3) Horses are mentioned during the period of Joseph’s administration in Egypt (1737-1657 B.C.E.) and are generally considered as having been introduced from Asia. (Gen. 47:17; 50:9) These may have first been obtained by trade or by capture during Egyptian raids into lands to the NE. By Solomon’s time, Egyptian horses were sufficient in number and esteemed highly enough to be an important item (along with Egyptian chariots) on the world market.—1 Ki. 10:28, 29.

Birds of prey and scavenger birds, such as vultures, kites, eagles and falcons, were numerous, as well as many water birds, including the ibis and the crane. The Nile abounded with fish (Isa. 19:8), and hippopotamuses and crocodiles were common. (Compare symbolic language of Ezekiel 29:2-5.) The desert regions were inhabited by jackals, wolves, hyenas and lions as well as various types of snakes and other reptiles.

PEOPLE AND LANGUAGE

The people of Egypt were Hamites, evidently descended primarily from Ham’s son Mizraim. (Gen. 10:6) After the dispersal at Babel (Gen. 11:8, 9), many of Mizraim’s descendants, such as the Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, may have migrated to N Africa. (Gen. 10:6, 13, 14) As already noted, Pathros (singular form of Pathrusim) is associated with Upper Egypt, and there is some evidence for placing the Naphtuhim in the Delta region of Egypt.

Supporting the view of a rather composite population formed of different family tribes is the fact that the country from great antiquity was divided into numerous sections (later called “nomes”) and that these divisions continued to exist and formed part of the governmental structure after the country was unified under one principal ruler, in fact, to the end of the empire. There were generally forty-two nomes recognized, twenty in Lower Egypt and twenty-two in Upper Egypt. The continued distinction made between Upper and Lower Egypt throughout Egypt’s history, though perhaps relating to geographical differences, may also point to an original tribal division. When the central government weakened, the country tended to split into these two major sections or even approach disintegration into numerous petty kingdoms in the various nomes.

On the basis of ancient paintings and also mummified bodies, the early Egyptians are described as generally small-statured, slender and, while not Negroid, dark-complexioned. Considerable variety, however, is evident in the ancient paintings and sculptures.

When hiding his identity from his brothers, Joseph spoke to them through an Egyptian interpreter. (Gen. 42:23) Modern authorities incline to class the Egyptian language by such terms as “Semito-Hamitic.” While the language was basically Hamitic, it is claimed that there are many analogous points in its grammar and that of the Semitic tongues, as well as some similarities in the vocabulary. Despite such apparent connections, it is acknowledged that “Egyptian differs from all the Semitic tongues a good deal more than any one of them differs from any other, and at least until its relationship to the African languages is more clearly defined, Egyptian must certainly be classified as standing outside the Semitic group.” (A. H. Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar, 1957 ed., p. 3) There are, at any rate, a number of factors making it extremely difficult to draw definite conclusions on the earliest forms of language used in Egypt.

Writing

One of these is the Egyptian system of writing. The ancient inscriptions use pictographic signs (representations of animals, birds, plants, or other objects) along with certain geometric forms, a system of writing called hieroglyphics by the Greeks. While certain signs came to represent syllables, these were used only to supplement the hieroglyphics and never replaced them. Furthermore, the precise sounds expressed by those syllables are not known today. Some help is obtained from the references to Egypt in certain cuneiform writings as early as the middle of the second millennium B.C.E. Greek transcriptions of Egyptian names and words dating from about the sixth century C.E., and Aramaic transcriptions beginning about a century later, likewise give some idea of the spelling of the Egyptian words transcribed. But the reconstruction of the phonology or sound system of ancient Egyptian is still based primarily on Coptic, the form of Egyptian spoken from the third century C.E. onward. So, the original structure of the ancient vocabulary in its earliest form, particularly before the period of the Israelite sojourn in Egypt, can only be approximated. For example, see No, No-AMON.

Additionally, knowledge of other ancient Hamitic languages in Africa is very limited today, thereby making it difficult to determine the relationship of Egyptian to them. No inscriptions of non-Egyptian African languages are known earlier than the start of the Common Era. In fact, in speaking of the so-called Hamito-Semitic (or Semito-Hamitic) language group, H. Polotsky (The World History of the Jewish People, Part One, p. 123) says: “Apart from Egyptian, none of the African members of the stock is known from sources earlier than the 19th century [C.E.].” The facts support the Biblical account of the confusion of language, and it seems evident that the early Egyptians, as descendants of Ham through Mizraim, spoke a language separate and distinct from the Semitic tongues.

Hieroglyphic writing was used especially for inscriptions on monuments and wall paintings, where the symbols were executed in great detail. While it continued to be used down to the start of the Common Era, particularly for religious texts, a less cumbersome writing using more simplified, cursive forms was developed at an early date by scribes writing with ink on leather and papyrus. Called hieratic, it was followed by an even more cursive form called demotic, particularly from what is styled the “Twenty-sixth Dynasty” (seventh and sixth centuries B.C.E.) onward. Deciphering of Egyptian texts was not accomplished until after the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799. This inscription, now in the British Museum, contains a decree honoring Ptolemy V (Epiphanes) and dating from 196 B.C.E. The writing is in Egyptian hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek, and the Greek text became the key making decipherment of Egyptian possible.