Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/82

54 Outlines of European History The voyage up the Nile has told us, age by age, the story of Egypt and disclosed to us early man advancing out of the Late Stone Age to the discovery of metal, and then going on to develop a high civilization of far-reaching power and influence. Our Nile journey has also showed us how we gain knowledge of ancient men and their deeds, through the monuments and records which they have left behind. Such monuments and records have also been discovered along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Asia. They show us that, following the Egyptians, the Asiatic peoples rose to the leading position of power in the ancient world, and we must therefore turn in the next chapter to the story of the early Orient in Asia. QUESTIONS Section 6, Where is Egypt.? Describe the modern traveler's journey into the country. Whence came the soil of Egypt ? What are the shape and character of the country ? Give its area. Describe its climate. What is the adjoining country like.'* What remains have the Stone Age Egyptians left behind. De- scribe their life, industries, and government. How did they originate writing. writing materials? Is there any more important achieve- ment of civilization than the invention of writing.? Describe the origin of the calendar and its final form in Egypt. Whence came our calendar .? Describe the probable manner of the discovery of copper. What great ages of the career of man do Egyptian remains link together for us ? Have we any such link any- where else.? Do the monuments along the .Nile continue for us the story of man after the discovery of metal, writing, etc. ? Why may we call the Nile valley a historical volume ? Section 7. What was the purpose of a pyramid.? What do such buildings reveal to us about Egyptian religious beliefs.? Give an account of the gods of Egypt. What does the cemetery of Gizeh reveal to us about the early Egyptian's progress in building.? How long before the Gizeh pyramids was he still building royal tombs of sun-baked brick .? Draw the line of surviving tomb buildings in which we can follow the Egyptian's progress from sun-baked_ brick