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PART IV.

THE ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SÛDÂN AND THE GREAT LAKES.

History of the Sûdân, Wâdî Ḥalfah to Kharṭûm, by the Desert Railway, and by river viâ Donkola and Marawi and the Karêmah Railway, the Pyramids of Marawi, Nurî, Kurru and Zûma, Abû Hamad, Berber, Atbarâ, the Nile, Red Sea Railway, Pyramids of Meroë, Shendí, Omdurmân, Kharțûm, Khartûm to Rusêres, Khartum to Victoria Nyanza, Routes from Kanà to the Red Sea.

I. Ancient History of the Sûdân. - The Sûdân, or Country of the Blacks, in the earliest dynastic times began at Elephantine or Aswân, and all expeditions into the country to the south of the First Cataract started from this place. It is probable that there never was a time when caravans from Egypt did not travel into the Sûdân for trading purposes, but there is no definite mention of any invasion of the country until we come to the reign of Seneferu, a king of the IVth dynasty, about 3800 B.C. From the Stele of Palermo, we learn that this king invaded the Sûdân and brought back 7,000 men and 200,000 head of cattle. Thus it is clear that even in those remote days the kings of Egypt needed black slaves to carry out their works, and that they regarded the Sûdân as the natural source whence they were to be obtained. Under the VIth VIth dynasty, several Egyptian officials were sent on trading missions to the Sûdân, and they were eminently successful in their undertakings. One of these, the official Una, made his way far to the south where large trees grew, and there seems to be good reason for believing that he visited Dâr Fûr, Kordôfân, and also the country between the White and Blue Niles. Another official, Her-khuf, whose tomb is at Aswân, conducted several trading missions into the Sûdân, and he went to the Land of the Spirits, which seems to have been near Punt, which the Egyptians regarded as their original home, and brought back a pygmy, or dwarf, who was afterwards sent to dance before the king at Memphis. The word

used for "pygmy" is teng

Abyssinian,

denk

in Amharic, or

As there were pygmies in Egypt in the Archaic Period, about 4200 B.C., it is clear that there

must have been intercourse between Egypt and the Sûdân before Seneferu made his great raid into that country. A king of the Vth dynasty, Åssȧ, also sent an official called Ba-ur-Tet on a similar mission, and was so pleased with the pygmy that he conferred very high honours upon Ba-ur-Tet.

Under the XIth dynasty one of the Menthu-hetep kings occupied Buhen, or Wâdî Ḥalfah, and from about 2600 B.C. to 1000 B.C. this place was to all intents and purposes the boundary of Egypt on the south. The kings of the XIIth dynasty first tightened their hold upon the country, and built forts at Kalâbshah, Dakkah, Korosko, Ibrîm, and Buhen, and they made strong outposts at Samnah and Kummah, about 40 miles south of Buhen. The king whose name stands pre-eminent in connection with the conquest of the Sûdân is Usertsen III. Under the XIIth dynasty the Sûdân supplied Egypt with slaves and gold. The kings of the XVIIIth dynasty "enlarged the borders of Egypt " in the Sûdân until their territory reached to the Blue Nile. Amen-hetep III built a large temple at Ṣulb, wherein he himself was worshipped as a god, and he built another at Saddênga in honour of his wife Ti. Under this dynasty the Sûdân was divided into provinces, the governors of which were under the jurisdiction of an overlord, who was appointed by the king of Egypt and called the "prince of Kash" (Cush). The capital of Egypt's Nubian Kingdom was at the foot of the Fourth Cataract, and was called Napata. The country was ruled by Egyptians, who brought with them into the Sûdân the language, civilization, arts, manners and customs, etc., of Egypt. The peoples and tribes south of Wâdî Ḥalfah caused the great kings of the XVIIIth and XIXth dynasties much trouble, and it is very doubtful if Egypt had any effective dominion beyond the Fourth Cataract. The "royal son of Kash" (Cush) was, no doubt, a great official, but Kesh, or "Ethiopia," as the word is generally translated, was a geographical expression with limited signification, and that the country of his rule included the whole country which is now called Ethiopia is an unwarranted assumption. The fact is that the Second and Third Cataracts and the terrible, waterless Eastern desert, the Baṭn al-Ḥagar, proved almost insuperable barriers in the way of moving large masses of men from Egypt to the south. For the cataracts could only be passed in boats during a few weeks at the period of the inundation, and the desert between Korosko and Abû Ḥamad, and that between Wâdî Halfah (or Behen, to use the Egyptian name) and Abû Ḥamad, struck terror into

the hearts of those who knew the character of the roads and the fatigues of travelling upon them. So long as the natives were friendly and rendered help, small bodies of troops might pass to the south either by river or desert, but any serious opposition on their part would invariably result in their destruction. So long as trade was brisk and both buyer and seller were content, and the nation to which each belonged could hold its own, wars were unnecessary; but as soon as the tribes of the South believed it possible to invade, conquer, and spoil Egypt, they swooped down upon it in much the same fashion as the followers of the Mahdî and Khalîfah did in recent years. Under the XVIIIth, XIXth and XXth dynasties Egypt received large quantities of gold from the Sûdân, the Blue Nile, and the Eastern Desert, and her revenue from these sources must have been equivalent to many millions of pounds sterling. About 900 B.C. the priests of Amen were compelled to leave Thebes, and they took refuge at Napata, where the Nubians had established themselves as an independent Power. About 740 B.C. Piankhi, a native king who reigned at Napata (Gabal Barkal), stirred up by the news of a revolt in the Delta, invaded Egypt, captured city after city, and finally seized Memphis and Heliopolis, and so became master of all Egypt. Early in the seventh century B.C. Tirhâkâh, another Nubian king, invaded Egypt, and he advanced north to the Delta, and expelled the Assyrian governors who had been appointed over the chief cities by Esarhaddon, but finally was defeated by Ashur-bani-pal, king of Assyria, and had to retreat to the south. The attack on Egypt was renewed by another Nubian king called Tanut-Åmen, who was, however, utterly routed by the Assyrians, and he departed to his dark doom." For more than one hundred years the Sûdân was left in peace so far as Egypt was concerned, and during this interval the kings of Napata made themselves masters of the country to the south. About 526 Nubia was invaded by Cambyses, but the king of Napata, who was called Nastasen, or Nåstasenen, collected an army, and having advanced northwards defeated the Persians at some place on the Third Cataract. The name of Cambyses appears in the Nubian king's annals (line 39) under the form of

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