Cleopatra | Page 6

Mediterranean Sea. On account of its thus marking the eastern frontier
of the country, it became a point of great importance, and is often mentioned in the
histories of ancient times.
The westernmost mouth of the Nile, on the other hand, was called the Canopic mouth.
The distance along the coast from the Canopic mouth to Pelusium was about a hundred
miles. The outline of the coast was formerly, as it still continues to be, very irregular, and
the water shallow. Extended banks of sand protruded into the sea, and the sea itself, as if
in retaliation, formed innumerable creeks, and inlets, and lagoons in the land. Along this
irregular and uncertain boundary the waters of the Nile and the surges of the
Mediterranean kept up an eternal war, with energies so nearly equal, that now, after the
lapse of eighteen hundred years since the state of the contest began to be recorded,
neither side has been found to have gained any perceptible advantage over the other. The
river brings the sands down, and the sea drives them incessantly back, keeping the whole
line of the shore in such a condition as to make it extremely dangerous and difficult of
access to man.
It will be obvious, from this description of the valley of the Nile, that it formed a country
which in ancient times isolated and secluded, in a very striking manner, from all the rest
of the world. It was wholly shut in by deserts, on every side, by land; and the shoals, and
sand-bars, and other dangers of navigation which marked the line of the coast, seemed to
forbid approach by sea. Here it remained for many ages, under the rule of its own native
ancient kings. Its population was peaceful and industrious. Its scholars were famed
throughout the world for their learning, their science, and their philosophy.
It was in these ages, before other nations had intruded upon its peaceful seclusion, that
the Pyramids were built, and the enormous monoliths carved, and those vast temples
reared whose ruined columns are now the wonder of mankind. During these remote ages,
too, Egypt was, as now, the land of perpetual fertility and abundance. There would
always be corn in Egypt, wherever else famine might rage. The neighboring nations and
tribes in Arabia, Palestine, and Syria, found their way to it, accordingly, across the
deserts on the eastern side, when driven by want, and thus opened a way of
communication. At length the Persian monarchs, after extending their empire westward
to the Mediterranean, found access by the same road to Pelusium, and thence overran and
conquered the country. At last, about two hundred and fifty years before the time of
Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, when he subverted the Persian empire, took possession
of Egypt, and annexed it, among the other Persian provinces, to his own dominions. At
the division of Alexander's empire, after his death, Egypt fell to one of his generals,
named Ptolemy. Ptolemy made it his kingdom, and left it, at his death, to his heirs. A
long line of sovereigns succeeded him, known in history as the dynasty of the
Ptolemies--Greek princes, reigning over an Egyptian realm. Cleopatra was the daughter
of the eleventh in the line.

The capital of the Ptolemies was Alexandria. Until the time of Alexander's conquest,
Egypt had no sea-port. There were several landing-places along the coast, but no proper
harbor. In fact Egypt had then so little commercial intercourse with the rest of the world,
that she scarcely needed any. Alexander's engineers, however, in exploring the shore,
found a point not far from the Canopic mouth of the Nile where the water was deep, and
where there was an anchorage ground protected by an island. Alexander founded a city
there, which he called by his own name. He perfected the harbor by artificial excavations
and embankments. A lofty light-house was reared, which formed a landmark by day, and
exhibited a blazing star by night to guide the galleys of the Mediterranean in. A canal was
made to connect the port with the Nile, and warehouses were erected to contain the stores
of merchandise. In a word, Alexandria became at once a great commercial capital. It was
the seat, for several centuries, of the magnificent government of the Ptolemies; and so
well was its situation chosen for the purposes intended, that it still continues, after the
lapse of twenty centuries of revolution and change, one of the principal emporiums of the
commerce of the East.

CHAPTER II.
THE PTOLEMIES.
The dynasty of the Ptolemies.--The founder.--Philip of Macedon.--Alexander.--The
intrigue discovered.--Ptolemy banished.--Accession of Alexander.--Ptolemy's
elevation.--Death of Alexander.--Ptolemy becomes King of Egypt.--Character of
Ptolemy's reign.--The Alexandrian library.--Abdication of Ptolemy.--Ptolemy
Philadelphus.--Death of Ptolemy.--Subsequent degeneracy of the Ptolemies.--Incestuous
marriages of the Ptolemy family.--Ptolemy Physcon.--Origin of his
name.--Circumstances