Egypt shared with ancient Babylon and Assyria in the civilization
of its primitive literature. It is from five of its Pyramids,
opened in 1881, that valuable writings have been brought to light
that carry us back one thousand years before the time of Moses.
Their famous "Book of the Dead,"of which many copies are found in
our museums of antiquities, is one instance of their older
civilization. These copies of the original, in the form of
scrolls, are some of them over a hundred feet long, and are
decorated with elaborate pictures and ornamentation. The book
gives conclusive proof of the teaching of the Egyptians of a life
beyond this. Their belief in the journey of the soul after death
to the Underworld, before it is admitted to the Hall of Osiris,
or the abode of light, is akin to the Catholic doctrine of
Purgatory and Heaven. The Egyptian literature is painted or
engraved on monuments, written on papyrus, and buried in tombs,
or under the ruins of temples, hence, as has been said elsewhere,
much of it remained hidden until nineteenth century research
brought it to light. Even at the present time many inscriptions
are still undeciphered.
Geometry originated with the Egyptians, and their knowledge of
hydrostatics and mechanics (shown in the building of the
Pyramids), and of astronomy and medicine, is of remotest
antiquity. The Greeks borrowed largely from them, and then became
in turn their teacher. The Egyptian priests, from the earliest
age, must have preserved the annals of their country; but they
were destroyed by Cambyses (500 B.C.), who burned the temples
where they were stored.
In the fourth century B.C., Egypt was conquered by Alexander the
Great, who left it under the rule of the Ptolemies. The next
century after the Alexandrian age the philosophy and literature
of Athens was transferred to Alexandria. The Alexandrian library,
completed by Ptolemy Philadelphus, in the third century before
Christ, was formed for the most part of Greek books and it also
had Greek librarians; so that in the learning and philosophy of
Alexandria at this time, the Eastern and Western systems were
combined. During the first century of the Christian era Egypt
passed from the control of the Greek Kings to that of the Roman
Emperors, under whom it continued to flourish. In the seventh
century the country was conquered by the Saracens, who burned the
great Alexandrian library. Following them came the Arabian
Princes, who protected literature, and revived the Alexandrian
schools, establishing also other seats of learning. But in the
thirteenth century the Turks conquered Egypt, and all its
literary glory henceforth departed. It has had no further
development, and no influence in shaping the literature of
foreign nations. What it might have been if the literary
treasures of Egypt had not been destroyed by Cambyses and the
Saracens, we can only guess. Great literary monuments must have
been lost, which would shed more light on the civilization of the
ancient world.
