Egypt was not peopled from Arabia, as is commonly believed. For,

1. The Coptic and Arabic languages are radically different, and were so in the days of Abraham.

2. The religion of Egypt (as has been shown elsewhere) is older than the days of Joseph; and bears internal marks of having been the native product of that country.

3. Egypt was peopled from south to north, from the Thebaid. For the Delta, that part of Egypt contiguous to Arabia, seems to have been originally uninhabitable, except a small space about the extremities of the marsh; and history assures us, that the inhabitants of Upper Egypt descended, and drained the country.

4. It is improbable, that an Arabian colony, under Mesraim (a word which does not signify a man, but two kingdoms), would have crossed Syria from Babylon by the Isthmus of Suez, and wandered so far south as Thebes to found its first settlement.

Egypt was peopled by tribes, whose first place of residence was near the cataracts, whence they descended progressively into the low country. For,

1. The national history attests, that the first Egyptians dwelt in cottages, and fed on herbs, like the Troglodyte in Ethiopia; that they were civilized by degrees; and that Thebes was their first city. The priests were fully competent to decide this from the sculpture in the primitive caves near that city; and too proud to acknowledge their humble origin, had it not been an established fact.

2. It is recorded by antient writers, that the Ethiopians. and Egyptians were the same people originally; that the religion of Ethiopia was reckoned very pure in Egypt, whence that opinion was propagated in Greece; and that the Ethiopian kings paid great respect to the Egyptian superstition, which is a proof that it was not materially different from their own.

To this extent, the theory, in these volumes, may be powerfully defended. But that part of it, which ascribes the rise of the Indian trade to the Cushites, the posterity of Cush the son of Ham; and the carrying of it on to the Shepherds, the descendants of Phut, is liable to many objections in point of accuracy and historical evidence. The commerce, which at last

extended to India and Ethiopia, seems to have arisen in the Arabian peninsula. Gold, silver, gems, and spices, were brought from Hawilah, Cush, and other districts near the Persian gulf, into Egypt, which was civilized at an early period, and became a mart for these articles of commerce. Myrrh, balsam, and incense, were carried by the Ishmaelite, not the Cushite Arabs, into the same country. When it was gradually discovered, that India, and the cinnamon-bearing region of Africa, opposite to the mercantile Cushite kingdoms, afforded these productions in larger quantity, the trade was increased; the caravans of Sheba and Saba multiplied their numbers and journies; navigation was improved in the hands of the Phoenicians, and commerce both by sea and land organized into a vast and regular system*.

*For the state of antient Egypt consult Herodoti historia, lib. ii, passim; Diodori Siculi Biblioth. Hist. lib. i. c. 10-37, and section 2d, c. 43-98. For the language, Kircheri Prodromus Copt. et Ling. Ægypt restituta; also La Croze, lex. Ægyptiaco-Lat.

No. III.

Vocabulary of the Amharic, Falashan, Gafat, Agow, and Tcheretch Agow Languages.

THE specimens of languages given in the text will probably convey little information to those who are unacquainted with Ethiopic literature; and it must be regretted, that, to enter very fully into the subject, would not repay the trouble of investigation. Mr Bruce brought from Habbesh copies of the Song of Solomon, in all the languages he has mentioned. The Geez specimen is taken from the MS. Bible in his collection. The Amharic, Falashan, Gafat, Agow, and Tcheretch Agow, are in a volume by themselves, in which is also a vocabulary made by the scribes in all these different languages. Of the Geez it is unnecessary to say much it is illustrated in the works of Job Leuteholf, or Ludolphus, a man of surprising genius and learning in that department of literature. The Geez is the oldest dialect of the Arabic, properly so called, in existence: it is that of Hamyar, or at least of Arabia Felix, from which the Axumites in Tigré were a colony. The reason why this dialect became obsolete, is sufficiently detailed in these volumes.

The Amharic, the modern language of Habbesh, is next in order. To this also Ludolph applied his indefatigable hand. He had most of his information from Gregory, a monk, and a native of Hagara-christos, in Amhara; and managed it, scanty as it was, with a genius, for which he has not obtained credit. His grammar and vocabulary will be of service to those who afterwards enter Abyssinia. Mr Bruce studied both very carefully: He had a volume among his books, containing the two grammars and dictionaries, Geez and Amharic, by Ludolph: He spoke Arabic, among the Mahometans and Greeks at Gondar,

till he was able to converse in the language of the country, by the help which he procured from the natives, and professional scribes.

The Amharic is an Arabic dialect, much softened in some of its consonants, and rendered harsher by the addition of new ones. It is what may be called an unwritten language; consequently its orthography is unsettled; and its words are clustered together in a manner similar to the Coptic found in Egyptian MSS. It is more simple than the Geez in the form of its verbs, some of the old conjugations having been forgotten; but in all other respects it is the same with that language. The Habessines of Tigre seem to have taken possession at an early period, after their arrival in Ethiopia, of the mountains of Shoa and Amhara; and to have formed there an independant nation, which to this day boasts of its nobility and elegance. Since the restoration of the house of David (under this appellation they mean the present line of kings), all has been Amharic at court. The manners, language, and dress of that province, have obtained an ascendant over all others. Mr Bruce was so struck with the universality of the Amharic language, that he entered a long note in his common-place book, in which he enumerated the provinces where it is understood; and conjectured that, at some former period, Amhara had over-run with conquest the whole empire. He afterwards acquiesced in the received opinion of the natives.

The Falasha language is that of the tribes professing the Jewish religion, who formerly ruled in Dembea, Samen, and the country near the Angrab and Kahha. At what time these embraced Judaism is extremely uncertain. It is probable that they were old Ethiopians, the native inhabitants of the country, whom the Jews having found in a savage state, conquered, and converted to their own faith. For both Abyssinia and the south of Arabia, before the time of Christianity, were filled with Jews, who had forced or persuaded many of the tribes to embrace their religion, and acknowledge their government. The Abyssinian annals positively assert, that before Christianity, part of the nation (Itiopia) were worshippers of the serpent, or Pagans; and part (sebâ hege) people of the law, or Jews.

After the reign of Icon Amlac, the Jewish kings of Samen

were weakened by successive conquest and treachery. Their subjects were reduced to a handful by the zeal of the monks, and the allurements of superior protection. The remainder were forced into the mountains, where they remain at this day, governed by tradition in matters of faith; for all their written records have perished.

Their language has no affinity to Hebrew or Arabic. It is one of the ancient Ethiopian tongues, which has no similarity to any that is known. The annexed vocabulary will abundantly illustrate this assertion.

The simile of the panther's skin, applied by the ancients to Africa, exactly illustrates the present state of Abyssinian population. The Arab race forms the prevailing colour; while the Falasha, Tcherets Agow, the Agow of Damot, and Galla, resemble the spots. The author of this work affirms, that the two distinct nations of Agows are of the same race, which seems to be confirmed by the general similarity of their languages. As for the Gafat nation, it may have been from a separate original; but the language is nothing but a corrupted dialect of the Amharic, as will appear more clearly from the Table.

Of the Shankala, Mr Bruce could not procure any specimen. He was informed that all the tribes of this nation, from the White River to Habbesh, spoke a common tongue; which is very probable, on account of their living in the same tract of country, and bearing the physical characteristics of one race. The Funge, who conquered Senaar from the Arabs, embraced the language and religion of the vanquished; but the parent tribes on the banks, and in the isles of the White River, retain their ancient language and Paganism.

The Table, given below, is carefully copied into the English alphabet from the Geez. The number of characters sufficient for writing the old language of the country has been increased by several additional ones, invented to represent the compound consonants of the Amharic. Probably the native sounds of the Agow and Galla are not very accurately conveyed by the Habessine alphabet, but of this no opinion can be given with certainty, by any person, who has never heard them uttered.