tropical climate was abandoned,[293] for the Eskimo and Lapps are almost as dark as many Africans, and their residence under the arctic circle has continued from a remote antiquity. Upon the other hand every variation in color, from the darkest to the lightest possible shades, exist among African tribes. The antiquity of the negro type as we now see it, is unquestionably considerable. As proof of this we have the oft-referred to argument from Egyptian paintings. In a temple at Beyt-el-Welee, in Nubia, constructed in the reign of Rameses II, is a painting which has been reproduced by Bonomi, in which a negro kneels at the feet of Sethos I, father and predecessor of Rameses II. All the peculiarities of the Negroid type are conspicuous; the blackness of the color, the thickness of lips, flatness of nose and woolliness of hair which pertain to the African of to-day are unquestionably present.[294] The painting representing this remarkable ethnic fact is 3200 years old, dating from 1400 years before Christ. The Duke of Argyll, on the authority of Prof. Lepsius, states that in earlier representations of the negro, referable to the “Twelfth Dynasty” or about 1900 B. C., the negro color is strongly marked, but not the negro features.[295] It is a question whether this fact indicates a transition from one type to another, or whether the painting is a true representation of the Nubians, who are known not to have flat noses or projecting lips. It is supposed also that the unskillfulness of the artists may account for the absence of the typal lines.[296] Hieroglyphic writings have been found dating about 2000 years B. C., in which mention is made of the employment of Negro or black troops by an Egyptian king in the prosecution of a great war.[297] At that remote period, when Abraham was almost the sole representative of the Jewish race, the negro type had multiplied and developed into strong tribes, which were important factors in the military contests of the oldest of powers—the Egyptian.