Munsey's Magazine, April 1915

A New Chapter in the Story of the Land of Sixty Centuries Richard Le Gallienne's illustrated essay in Munsey's Magazine for April 1918 traces Egyptian history from its earliest recorded date in 4241 B.C. through the political transition of December 1914, when Ottoman rule ended and Prince Hussein Kemal became Sultan of Egypt under British authority. The article synthesizes archaeological findings enabled by the 1799 discovery of the Rosetta Stone, which allowed Thomas Young and Jean-François Champollion to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics. Le Gallienne surveys Egypt's pioneering civilizational achievements: the calendar system, architectural innovations including arch and column, advanced metallurgy and sculpture, seafaring, governmental institutions, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. He discusses the Coptic population as direct descendants of ancient Egyptians and traces the composite racial origins of the earliest Egyptians. The essay recounts the political geography of Lower and Upper Egypt, the role of irrigation in sustaining civilization, and the chronological uncertainties surrounding dynasties beginning with King Menes. Illustrated throughout with photographs of monuments including the Great Pyramid, the Sphinx, temples at Karnak, and various reliefs and statuary.