Inscription: pen and ink u.l.: National Hist came to an end in 304 BC./

When Egypt was conquered by the Persians + again in 332 BC was taken by Alexander the Great from the Persians./Eqyptian Civilisation – Egypt is the only/civilization because there the conditions were/fulfilled sooner than anywhere else of security/+leisure. Egypt is fed from the Nile which/overflows its banks irrigates the country+brings/with it more fertility than can be exhausted/n 12 months. The river rises gradually + as gradually subsides. The changes can be foretold almost to a day. In the Nile valley/man found himself able for the 1^st time to/calculate on the forces of nature + to turn them to his own use. Man obtained his food with/little labour. The Nile mud deposited can be turned over with the minimum of trouble +/plant life springs up with extraordinary/rapidity. Man therefore had leisure. The/tribes who settled in the Nile Valley in centuries/so remote that they are beyond tradition could