From a Tomb at Thebes. _Published by Longman, Rees & Co. April 6th. 1835._ _Printed in Colours by C. Hullmandel._] When Egypt grew into importance, before the commencement of those wars which were so fatal to the prosperity of the kingdom of Meroe, her colonies in that country would be a great source of wealth; receiving the manufactures of the mother country, and sending back in return the rich productions of the more northern valley of the Nile. The Bahr el Abiad and the Bahr el Azruk would enable her merchants to carry their manufactures among the wild natives of the interior. It is now impossible to say how far that commerce extended in that direction. The difference of religion, supposing it to have existed, was probably not very great, nor does history lead us to suppose, that there existed the same bigotry which now separates the Mahometan from the Pagan. The former religion, particularly at its commencement, was most intolerant; its believers being almost bound to propagate it with the sword. This will account for the little communication which, according to the tradition of the country, has existed for several centuries between the present inhabitants of Shendy, that is, Meroe, and the still wilder tribes of the interior. The Arab princes of this country made excursions into the interior, not as merchants, to exchange the produce of the land, and diffuse the seeds of knowledge and civilisation, but with arms in their hands, to force their weaker neighbours to embrace their faith, and, in later times, to drag their children into captivity; but we cannot suppose that a wise and civilised people could have adopted so impolitic a course. The account given by the historians of the different sects which existed, even in the kingdom of Meroe, prove that toleration was then allowed. Meroe, therefore, possessed local advantages far greater than have been enjoyed by many great commercial states; and I now hope to show, that her internal resources, until exhausted or decayed, were sufficient to insure a continuation of that prosperity. Her great superiority over other states would consist, not only in the productions of the soil, but principally in her standing singly pre-eminent in civilisation. That science and knowledge of the arts, when applied to commerce, enriched her citizens, and enabled them to indulge their taste for luxury, for architectural ornament, and to encourage her artists. What was of greater importance, it would afford to many the means of devoting their lives to the pursuit of literature; the same activity would, of course, to a certain degree, be applied to the improvement of her manufactures, and the production of useful and ornamental articles, for which the natives of the interior would gladly give in exchange that precious metal, which is only valuable for what it procures.