Years passed and Jacob died, and at last Joseph himself. Then we are told there came to the throne a king "who knew not Joseph." He looked with dismay upon a foreign people growing up within his country, whose traditions, customs, and religious beliefs were wholly unlike those of his own nation. Then followed the years of oppression when he sought to exterminate the race with relentless work and cruel persecution. Within recent years, one of the "store cities," supposed by some scholars to have been built by the Hebrews during this period of their life in Egypt, has been unearthed--verifying the account of their bondage as preserved to us in the book of Genesis. It is difficult for us to realize the vast antiquity of Egypt. When Joseph as a seventeen year old boy came with that band of merchantmen into its borders more years had passed over its civilization than have passed since Homer told his stories of gods and heroes to the Hellenes who gathered around to hear him. The three great pyramids had stood in their majestic calm under more moons than have risen and set since Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea; and the Sphinx had watched, for how many years men cannot tell. When we come to the land of Egypt, we are appalled by its age. America was discovered about five hundred years ago; England has been inhabited for more than twenty hundred years, but Egypt counts its history back for thousands of years and loses itself in tradition and legendary periods preceding these. The story of Joseph, told in Genesis, the book of earliest Biblical tradition, records an incident early in the history of the Hebrews, but the Egyptians had already been governed by many ruling dynasties and had known the oppression of invading kings whom they had at last driven from the throne. They had built colossal structures which were to perpetuate the memories of their mighty kings as well as to provide their everlasting tombs, and these stand today the marvel of all who gaze upon their vast proportions. They had developed a complex religious system, and had reached some perfection in decorative art. Egypt had long been the granary of the civilized world and consequently of great importance from an economic standpoint. The Nile, that wonderful river which caused Herodotus to exclaim: "Egypt is the gift of the Nile!"--a sentiment quoted ever since by all who have written about the country or the river--had cut down its river bed and had already built up a rich soil in the valley by its deposits, left by the overflow of countless seasons.