was essentially Oriental in character. The names of Ptolemy and Cleopatra convey an Egyptian rather than a Greek significance; and the later rulers of the dynasty were true Egyptians, since their ancestors had lived in Alexandria for three full centuries.

In the year 30 B.C. Augustus Cæsar conquered the last of 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 tongue, remained, in a modified form, as Koptic, but at about the beginning of our era the classical Egyptian had become a dead language. No one any longer wrote in the hieroglyphic, hieratic, or demotic scripts; in a word, the hieroglyphic writing was forgotten. The reader of Professor Maspero's pages has had opportunity to learn how this secret was discovered in the nineteenth century. This information is further amplified in the present volumes, and we see how in our own time the native Egyptian has regained something of his former grandeur through the careful and scientific study of monuments, inscriptions, and works of art. Thus it will appear in the curious rounding out of the enigmatic story that the most ancient history of civilisation becomes also the newest and most modern human history.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

It should be explained that Doctor Rappoport, in preparing these volumes, has drawn very largely upon the authorities who have previously laboured in the same field, and in particular upon the works of Creasy, Duruy, Ebers, Lavisse, Marcel, Michaud, Neibuhr, Paton, Ram-baud, Sharp, and Weil. The results of investigations by Professor W. M. Flinders Petrie and other prominent Egyptologists have been fully set forth and profusely illustrated.

EGYPT UNDER THE PTOLEMIES

ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND THE CONQUEST OF EGYPT—THE REIGNS OP THE PTOLEMIES—GRADUAL GROWTH OF ROMAN INFLUENCE—INTRIGUES OF CLEOPATRA WITH POMPEY, CAESAR, AND ANTONY

Alexander the Great in Egypt—Alexandria founded—The Greeks favour the Jews—Ptolemy Soter establishes himself in Egypt and overcomes Perdiccas—Struggles for Syria—Beginning of Egyptian coinage—Art and Scholarship—Ptolemy resigns in favour of his son Philadelphus —First treaty with Rome—Building of the Pharos—Growth of Commerce—Encouragement of Learning—The library of Alexandria—Euclid the geometer—Poets, astronomers, historians, and critics—The Septuagint—Marriage of Philadelphus to his sister Arsinoë—Ptolemy Euergetes plunders Asia—Egyptian temples enlarged—Religious tolerance—Annual tribute of the Jews—Eratosthenes the astronomer—Philosophy and Science—Culmination of Ptolemaic rule—The dynasty declines under Philopator—Syrians invade Egypt; Philopator retaliates; visits Jerusalem—The Jews persecuted—The king's follies—Riots at Alexandria—Inglorious end of Philopator—The young Ptolemy Epiphanes protected by Rome—Military revolt suppressed—Coronation of Epiphanes—The Rosetta Stone—Marriage of Epiphanes and Cleopatra, daughter of Antiochus the Cheat—A second rebellion repressed—Accession of Ptolemy Philometer under the guardianship of Cleopatra—Antiochus Epiphanes defeats Philometer—Euergetes seizes the throne and appeals to Rome—Antiochus supports Philometor against his brother Euergetes—The brothers combine against Antiochus—Fraternal rivalry—Philometer appeals to the Romans who adjust the quarrel—Philometer arbitrates in a dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans—New temples built—Egyptian asceticism—Philometer's death; Euergetes reigns alone, and divorces his queen Cleopatra—Popular tumult in Alexandria—Euergetes flees—Cleopatra in power—Euergetes regains the throne; conquers Syria and makes peace with Cleopatra—The reign of Cleopatra Cocce with Lathyrus (Ptolemy Soter II.)—Cleopatra in the ascendent—She helps the Jews, while Lathyrus helps the Samaritans—Lathyrus flees to Cyprus—Ptolemy Alexander I rules with Cleopatra—Death of Alexander and restoration of Lathyrus—Accession of Cleopatra Berenicê—Ptolemy Alexander II. bequeaths Egypt to Rome, murders Berenicê, and is slain by his guards—Auletes succeeds—The Romans claim Egypt—Pompey assists Auletes who is expelled by the Egyptians—Cleopatra Tryphama and Berenicê placed on the throne—Grabinius and Mark Antony march into Egypt and restore Auletes—The reign of Cleopatra—Pompey made governor—The Egyptian fleet aids Pompey—Pompey is slain—Cæsar besieged by the Alexandrians—He overcomes opposition, is captivated by Cleopatra and establishes her authority—The Queen's extravagance—Defeat of Antony—Death of Cleopatra—Octavianus annexes Egypt.

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

HELLENISM AND HEBRÆISM IN EGYPT UNDER THE PTOLEMIES I.

When Alexander the Great bridged the gulf dividing Occident and Orient, the Greeks had attained to a state of maturity in the development of their national art and literature. Greek culture and civilisation, passing beyond the