4967. An Egyptian man. That this signifies natural truth, is evident from the signification of a “man,” as being truth (see n. 3134); and from the signification of “Egypt,” as being memory-knowledge in general, treated of just above (n. 4964, 4966); and because “Egypt” is memory-knowledge, it is also the natural; for all the memory-knowledge in man is natural, because it is in his natural man, even the memory-knowledge concerning spiritual and celestial things. The reason of this is that man sees these knowledges in the natural, and from it; and those which he does not see from the natural, he does not apprehend. But the regenerate man, who is called spiritual, and the unregenerate man, who is merely natural, see these knowledges in different ways; with the former the knowledges are enlightened by the light of heaven, but with the latter not so, but by the light which flows in through spirits who are in falsity and evil; which light is indeed from the light of heaven, but becomes in them opaque, like the light of evening or of night; for such spirits, and hence such men, see as owls-clearly at night, and obscurely in the daytime, that is, they see falsities clearly and truths obscurely; and hence see clearly the things of the world, and obscurely, if at all, the things of heaven. From these considerations it is evident that genuine memory-knowledge is natural truth; for all genuine memory-knowledge, such as is signified by “Egypt” in a good sense, is natural truth.