In person they are remarkably well proportioned; the men being large and
robust, and the women beautifully formed. They have a yellowish hut clear
complexion, and their whole exterior has derived from their Arab lineage some
advantages which the genuine Copt hut rarely possesses.
The N ubians constitute the second division of the Niloticfamily. They call
themselves Nouba, or Kmous, but are known in Egypt by the name of Berabera.*
1 The figure of the Nubian,” says Mr. Stevens, “ is tall, thin, sinewy, and graceful,
possessing what would he called in civilised life an uMjgjnmon degree of gentility.
His face is rather dark, though far removed from African blackness; and his
features are long and aquiline, decidedly resembling the Boman.”t
The hair of the Nubian is thick and black, often curled either by nature or
by art, and sometimes partially frizzled, hut never woolly. In fact, judging from
the painting and sculpture of their temples, the ancient Nubians, like the modern,
were in no respect analogous to.the Negroes, excepting in the occasional blackness
of their skin: and it is also worthy of remark, that their most frequent scenic
decorations represent their triumphs over the Negroes, who uniformly appear as
menials or as captives.
“ It is among the Nubians,” says Mr. Madden, “ we are to search for the
true descendants of the Egyptians; a swarthy race, surpassing in the beauty of
their slender forms, all the people of the East; living on the confines of Egypt,
where, probably, their ancestors had been driven by the Persians; and possessing
a dialect somewhat mixed with Arabic, hut which I have observed no Arab
understands.”
Although the Nubians occasionally present their national characters unmixed,
they generally show traces of their social intercourse with the Arabs, and even
with the Negroes; and the long domination of the former has impressed on these
people many of their peculiar traits, including their religious observances; for
although tile Nubians early embraced Christianity, they are now all Moslems, and
boast that they have not a Christian among them.
The Mymnians, the Axomites of the Romans, inhabit the country to the
south of Nubia, and appear to have been originally afiliated with the Egyptians
and Nubians. But at present they have utterly lost their identity from their
intercourse with various nations of different origin and language, hut especially
the Arabs, Gallas and Negroes. Thus constituted, the Abyssinians present one of
* Burkhardt, Trav. p. 210.
t Stevens, Egypt, &c., I, p. 104.—Burkhardt, Trav. p. 144.
the most motley and barbarous states in existence. Yet thé Arab and Nubian
lineaments predominate; and are seen in the oval face, the narrow pointed nose,
the long, black hair and delicate limbs; while the immemorial amalgamation of
the Abyssinians with their Negro slaves, imparts to many the thick lips, the flat
nose, and even the crisped and woolly hair of the genuine African. The present
inhabitants are to the last degree barbarous, cruel and licentious. Even the
Christian population is said to. partake of the national anarchy, for they are divided
into three parties, who are so inimical to each other that they refuse to take the
sacrament together. “ Thé Abyssinians,” says Gobat, in extenuation, “ are liars,
as well as the Arabs; but they yet have a feeling of shame which the Arabs have
hot»”
Their written language, the Gheez, has some affinity with the Arabic, which
may be attributed to the long intercourse of the two nations.
The ancient intercourse of the Abyssinians with the Egyptians, is proved by
the temples and obelisks among the ruins of Axoum, the port of Abyssinia on the
Red Sea; while at Meröe, in the interior, and at other places, are seen some
stupendous architectural remains of high antiquity.
The Ancient Egyptians.—The physical traits of the Egyptians, as derivable
from their monuments and mummies, may be embraced in the following
summary.
They appear to have been spare in person, with long limbs and delicate
hginds and feet. Their heads were formed as in the Hindoo, thus differing from
the Caucasian only in being somewhat smaller in proportion to the body, and
having a narrower and less elevated forehead. Mr. Madden, who speaks of
having examined a great number of heads in the Theban catacombs, says “ that
the old Egyptian skull is extremely narrow across the forehead, and of an oblong
shape anteriorly. I never found one with a broad expanded forehead.”* There
is a remarkable resemblance among the innumerable heads sculptured in the
temples of the Nile; and one who is accustomed to examine them becomes so
familiar with the Egyptian physiognomy, that when other races are introduced,
as the Jews and Negroes, the eye can mostly detect them. There is also a
singular accordance in conformation between the sculptured heads, and the real
ones taken from the Theban catacombs. Two prominent varieties are discernible
in each: one of these' has the rather low and narrow forehead above mentioned,
while the other presents the full development of the Caucasian head. The