THE CHILD IN EGYPT
=The Country.= The desert stretching across Africa from the Atlantic
Ocean on the west extends into Western Asia and in its whole extent it
is broken only in one place and that is the long, narrow valley made by
the Nile river. In this valley snow and frost are unknown and the chief
characteristic of the climate is its combined warmth and dryness. There
is but little rainfall throughout this region and yet there is abundance
of moisture, which comes from the annual overflow of the Nile, and which
overflow also greatly enriches the soil. The deserts surrounding Egypt
and the cataracts of the Nile at its southern border isolated this
country so that it was not readily disturbed by outside peoples. This
isolation, with the warm climate and the productive soil, gave just the
conditions necessary for the development of mankind in its early times
and thus arose a people in this region which developed into a great
nation, extending from about 5,000 years before Christ down to its
overthrow by the Persians in 525 B. C. The country was divided into
Upper Egypt, the principal city of which was Thebes, Middle Egypt, with
Memphis as the principal city, and Lower Egypt, which included the
Delta, its chief city being Heliopolis.
From the cataracts on the South to the Mediterranean Sea the Nile
pursues its course for over five hundred miles, till within sixty miles
of its mouth it divides into branches and forms the part called the
Delta. The cultivable land, depending upon the extent of the inundation,
averages about five and a half miles in width, varying from two miles in
its narrowest part to ten and three-quarters in its widest part,
including the river. On the west of the valley is a range of hills,
which protects it from the sand of the desert, and on the east, between
the Nile and the Red Sea, is also another range of hills. Lying at the
foot of the hills is a strip of sand, sometimes as great as two and a
half miles in breadth, which is not reached by the inundation and
consequently remains a waste. The demarcation between this waste and
the fertile soil is very marked, so as to be readily noted. The rock in
these hills varies, at the southern extremity being found the granite,
from which were cut out their monoliths and made into obelisks and
collossi; further north is found sandstone of various colors, and from
which were built the palaces and temples of that region; and following
this district is a part wherein there is a limestone formation, in which
region are found the pyramids, mostly composed of this stone.
=The People.= The ancient Egyptians, although in Africa, were not from
African races but were of Asiatic descent, as the formation of their
skulls, their features, their hair, and their language, show that they
were of a Caucasian race. "The Egyptians appear to have been among the
darkest races with which the Greeks of the early times came into direct
contact.... The hair was usually black and straight. In no case was it
'woolly,' though sometimes it grew in short, crisp curls.... The
forehead was straight, but somewhat low; the nose generally long and
straight, but sometimes slightly aquiline. The lips were over-full; but
the upper lip was short, and the mouth was seldom too wide. The chin was
good, being well-rounded, and neither retreating nor projecting too far.
The most marked and peculiar feature was the eye, which was a long,
narrow slit, like that of the Chinese, but placed horizontally and not
obliquely. An eyebrow, also long and thin, but very distinctly
pencilled, shaded it. The coloring was always dark, the hair, eyebrows,
eyelashes, and beard (if any) being black, or nearly so, and the eyes
black or dark brown.
"In form the Egyptian resembled the modern Arab. He was tall; his limbs
were long and supple; his head was well placed upon his shoulders; his
movements were graceful; his carriage dignified. In general, however,
his frame was too spare; and his hands and feet were unduly large. The
women were as thin as the men, and had forms nearly similar. Children,
however, appear to have been sufficiently plump; but they are not often
represented."[24]
The people were divided into classes and although the separation of the
classes was very marked and distinct, yet there was really no rigid
caste system, as the boundaries were crossed by people ascending from a
lower class into a higher. Of course, as with all people, it was quite
customary for the son to take up the work of his father, but, at least,
in some cases this was not compulsory. In one instance it is shown where
the occupation of architect had descended from father to son for
twenty-one generations. There is difficulty in knowing just what were
the divisions of society but at any rate there were at least three
distinct classes, which were the priestly class, the military class, and
the rest of the people. The first two classes, from whom came the king,
were exempt from taxation. The rest of the people had to bear the burden
of the taxes, to construct the public works, to perform the agricultural
tasks, and to carry on all mechanical and other pursuits. They had a
hard time and yet the laws regarding them seem to have been justly
administered and it would appear as if they were contented with their
condition.
"The occupations of the common people in Egypt were carefully watched by
the magistrate, and no one was allowed to live an idle life, useless to
himself and to the community. It was thought right that the industrious
citizen should be encouraged, and distinguished from the lazy or the
profligate; and in order to protect the good and detect the wicked, it
was enacted that every one should at certain times present himself
before the magistrates, or provincial governors, and give in his name,
his place of abode, his profession or employment, and the mode in which
he gained his livelihood, the particulars being duly registered in the
official report. The time of attendance was fixed, and those from the
same parish proceeded in bodies to the appointed office, accompanied by
their respective banners, and each individual being introduced singly to
the registering clerks, gave in his statement and answered the necessary
questions."[25]
=Slavery.= Slavery has a very early date, as it is found at the very
beginning of history, which is true in Egypt as elsewhere. The origin of
slavery cannot be traced but in the early history of Egypt it appears
that the slaves came from outside countries, gained through wars and
raids and by purchase from dealers. Many of the captives who became
slaves were placed in the service of the king and used on public works,
as the building of temples, cutting canals, raising dykes and
embankments, and the like. They were used in private, both black and
white, to do the work in the fields and in the homes and elsewhere. They
attended on guests at banquets and also were used to amuse them by
singing and dancing and in other ways.
The master had full power over his slaves, could sell them, remove them
from place to place, if they escaped could pursue and recapture them,
and do with them as he pleased, and yet he could not wilfully murder one
of them or, if so, he himself was put to death. "The very kind treatment
of Joseph, the mode of his liberation, and his subsequent marriage with
the daughter of a freeborn Egyptian, a high functionary of the
sacerdotal order, are striking proofs of the humanity of the Egyptians
and of their indulgent conduct toward manumitted slaves."[26] At the
same time, as with slaves everywhere and at all times, no doubt they
were often cruelly treated, as is given concerning the Israelites, when
"there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph."[27]
=The Home.= The houses in the towns varied in size, many of one story
and maybe some of four or five stories, but for the great part not above
two stories. The streets of the towns were narrow. The poorer classes
lived much in the open air and so did not use their houses greatly. The
wealthier classes built their houses so as to be cool throughout the
summer. To keep their houses cool "a line of trees ran parallel with the
front of the house; and to prevent injuries from cattle or from any
accident, the stems were surrounded by a low wall, pierced with square
holes to admit the air."[28] The material used in constructing the
houses was crude brick, baked in the sun, a material peculiarly suited
to the climate. Wood was used for beams and doors, sometimes for floors,
and the finer imported woods for decorative purposes.
The houses were of different sizes and arrangement. Some of the houses
were small, having an open court in front, with three or four small
rooms adjoining for storing grain and other things, and a single chamber
on a second floor above these rooms, stairs leading to it from the
court. Such houses as these small single ones probably were found only
in the country. In the towns the smaller houses were usually built in a
solid row along a street, with a courtyard, common to several dwellings.
The wealthier people had separate houses, which sometimes were quite
large, covering a good deal of ground.
Before the front door was a portico or porch, about twelve or fifteen
feet high and supported on columns of stone, or if of wood they were
stained to represent stone. There was a large front entrance and on
either side a small door, probably for servants and ordinary use.
Sometimes on the lintels or imposts of the entrance the owner's name was
written and over the door was placed a phrase, as, "The Good House."
Inside next to the entrance was a small open court with a receiving door
for visitors, on the opposite side of which was a door through which the
master of the house came to receive the callers. From this small court
doors led to a larger court, which was shaded by trees. The rooms of the
house were arranged on the right and left of the large court, opening
into it. The rooms on the ground floor were used chiefly as store-rooms
for furniture, goods of various kinds, wines, oil, etc. Over the rooms
on the ground floor were placed the chambers of the upper story, with
stairs leading to them.
The ceilings of the rooms were formed with rafters of the date tree with
transverse layers of palm branches or planks and sometimes they were
vaulted and made of brick and in the houses of the rulers they might
have been arched with stone. The floors were of stone or a composition
made of lime and other materials. The doors opened inward, both of the
rooms and the outside entrance. The doors were made of wood, often
stained to imitate foreign and rare wood. They were made of one or two
valves and they turned on pins of bronze, which were fastened to the
wood with nails of the same metal, and they were secured within by means
of a bar or bolt or with a wooden lock. The openings for the windows
were small as the cloudless sky of Egypt gave out brilliant light and
small openings let in less heat. The windows had wooden shutters of one
or two valves, opening on pins and secured by bars and bolts, as the
doors. The walls and ceilings were stuccoed and ornamented with various
devices painted on them, being tastefully done in form and arrangement
of colors. A terrace was placed on top of the house and covered with a
roof and supported by columns, which during the summer provided a refuge
from the heat of the day and a sleeping-place at night.
Beside these town places there were villas, which sometimes were quite
great in extent with a large mansion and beautiful gardens, watered by
canals from the Nile, and all surrounded by a wall.
The poorer classes of people sat cross-legged, crouched on the ground,
knelt on one or both knees, or sat on the heels. Sometimes as a token of
respect to superiors, the people of the higher classes knelt or sat on
the heels, but usually they used chairs or stools or couches.
The chairs were of various kinds, some of them of elegant form and made
of ebony and other fine woods, inlaid with ivory, and covered with rich
stuffs. Beside the single chair, they had a double chair for two
persons, which often was reserved for the master and mistress of the
house, and occasionally offered to guests. Most of the chairs had backs,
some had a raised piece at the back, while others were made in the form
of camp-stools. They were usually about as high as they are now, but
some of the chairs were quite low, the seat sometimes being as low as
eight inches from the floor. The legs were usually made in imitation of
those of an animal, as, of the lighter chairs like the legs of an
antelope, of the heavier like those of a lion. In the finer chairs bars
were not used to unite the legs. The seats were made of wood or leather
and sometimes of interlaced string or leather thongs, over which a
cushion was placed.
The finer stools were very much as the chairs, of fine workmanship and
of rare woods inlaid with ivory. Some of the cheaper ones had solid
sides while others had three legs. They had footstools with open or
closed sides, covered with leather or interlaced string, as with the
chairs. They used couches, some of which were most beautiful in form and
workmanship. They used mats and carpets and rugs.
The tables of the Egyptians were round, square, or oblong. They were
generally made of wood, although some were of stone or metal. The
smaller tables often had but one support, in the center, while the
larger ones had three or four legs or were made with solid sides. In
sleeping, for the head they used a low half cylinder, usually of wood,
sometimes of pottery or stone, some of the wooden ones being made of
rare woods and ornamented. The poorer people slept on mats on the floor
but probably the wealthier people had bedsteads made in wicker form of
palm branches and some, perhaps, were of wood and bronze.
=Women and Marriage.= We find the women having considerable power in
ancient Egypt. They had full control of the home, as it appears that
the husband entered the house of his wives, rather than the wives to
have entered his. Royal authority and supreme direction of affairs were
intrusted without reserve to women. The women went often into public, at
some of the public festivals they were even expected to attend with
their husbands. Even greater privileges were accorded to the women of
the middle and lower classes as they often went and came as they liked.
Plurality of wives was allowed, except in the case of priests, who by
law were permitted but one wife. Yet the Egyptians generally restricted
themselves to one wife. Marriage of brother and sister was permitted and
seemingly encouraged from a religious point of view.
Although in most cases they might not have had but one wife, yet they
had concubines. These appear to have been obtained mostly in war or
bought as slaves from foreign dealers, not for most part being native
Egyptian women. These concubines were both white and black, but the
black were used as domestics in the family. Sometimes the white
concubine took a prominent part in the family, ranking next to the wives
and children.
All the children born to a father were considered legitimate whether the
offspring of a wife or of some other woman, but those who were born of a
brother and sister in legitimate marriage took precedence of those whose
mother was of inferior rank or a slave.
The people of old Egypt held strong opinions on the behavior of their
women and so punished adultery very severely. A woman detected in
adultery had her nose cut off, as it was thought this would be a severe
blow to her charms and so make her less attractive. The man was
condemned to receive a bastinado of one thousand blows. If a man used
force toward a free woman he was very cruelly punished.
=Child and Parent.= The Egyptians were very fond of their children. Even
the most consequential pontiff did not affect indifference toward them.
They cared for the children and did not permit the father to have any
right over the life of his offspring. The punishment for child-murder
was very severe. They did not take the life of the offender, but gave to
him a punishment which would well portray to him the heinousness of the
crime. In the case of the killing of a child, it was ordered that the
corpse of the child be fastened to the neck of the parent offending, and
for three entire days and nights was the embrace of the dead child to
continue, under the watchful eyes of a public guard. The murder of a
parent was considered the most wicked of all crimes. In this case the
criminal was sentenced to be lacerated with sharpened reeds and after
being thrown on thorns he was burnt to death. In case a pregnant woman
was sentenced to death, the punishment did not take place till after the
birth of the child, both because they thought it wrong to take the life
of an innocent being and also they did not wish to deprive the father of
the child, which might become his support in later life.
Children were taught to pay great respect to old age. The children's
greatest duty was respect for and care of parents. This was just as
binding among the upper classes as with the lower. This was carried up
even to the very highest, as the sons of the king acted as fan-bearers
to him, and they also walked on foot behind his chariot in triumphal
processions.
=Dress.= The lower orders of the Egyptian people dressed in a very
simple manner. The men wore a sort of apron, or kilt, held at the waist
by a girdle or sash, or else short drawers, extending half way to the
knees. Sometimes the apron was simply bound round the loins and lapped
over in front. When at heavy labor the men would even wear less
clothing, as they would use the girdle about the body at the waist and
fasten to it in front a roll of linen and pass this between the legs and
fasten it to the girdle at the back. The men of the higher orders used
the apron also and wore over it a dress which extended to the ankles and
had large sleeves. Sometimes this dress was fringed on the border around
the legs. Over this for cool weather they wore a woolen cloak. Sometimes
they wore over the apron a skirt with short sleeves and over this a
loose robe with the right arm left exposed. As a distinguishing mark,
the princes wore a peculiar badge at the side of the head, which
descended to the shoulders and was frequently adorned and terminated
with a gold fringe.
The women of the lower classes usually wore a loose robe or shirt, with
tight or full sleeves, fastened at the neck with a string, and over this
they wore a sort of petticoat with a girdle about it at the waist, and,
often while at hard work, this costume was further simplified by their
wearing merely the loose shirt or robe and going barefooted. The women
of the higher orders wore a petticoat, or gown, held by a colored sash
at the waist or by straps over the shoulders, and over this they wore a
large loose robe, with full sleeves and tied in front below the breast.
Slaves and servants were not allowed to dress as their mistresses. They
wore a long tight gown, tied at the neck, with short sleeves, reaching
nearly to the elbows. When entertaining guests by dancing or otherwise
at banquets and the like, these women wore over their dress a long loose
robe and strings of beads around their hips.
The material used for the clothing was sometimes cotton but linen was
preferred. Wool was used for cloaks for colder weather. Some of the
material was of very fine texture, this being particularly true of the
linen. There was a great variety of patterns in brilliant colors. In
some of the striped patterns, the stripes were of gold threads,
alternating with red lines as a border. The most elegant stuff and
beautiful patterns were reserved for the robes of the deities and the
dresses of queens.
The men of ancient Egypt shaved the head and face, never letting the
hair grow except when they were in mourning. Women, on the contrary,
never had their hair cut off, even in mourning or after death. They wore
their hair long and plaited, generally in a triple plait, the ends being
left loose; but more usually two or three plaits were fastened together
at the ends by a woolen string of the same color as the hair, and
falling around the head to the shoulders. An ornamental fillet was bound
around the head and fastened with a lotus bud, which fell over the
forehead. The plaits of hair at the side were held in place by a comb or
band and sometimes a round stud or pin was thrust into them at the
front. The male slaves had their heads and faces shaved as their
masters. The female slaves generally bound their hair at the back of the
head into a sort of loop; sometimes they arranged it in long plaits at
the back and at the sides of the neck and face.
The men wore wigs both within the house and without. Sometimes the whole
wig was of plaited hair, sometimes the upper portion was of curled hair
and the lower part of plaited hair, and again the whole wig was of short
locks of equal length. Too, cheap wigs were made in woolen and other
stuffs in imitation of hair. "The wig was worn by every gentleman; and
though it might appear ill-suited to a hot climate, the interlaced
texture of the ground to which the hair was fastened, and the protection
of this last against the sun, rendered it a most effective, and at the
same time the coolest, kind of covering for the head."[29]
"The most singular custom of the Egyptians was that of tying a false
beard under the chin, which was made of plaited hair, and of a peculiar
form, according to the person by whom it was worn. Private individuals
had a small beard, scarcely two inches long; that of a king was of
considerable length, square at the bottom; and the figures of gods were
distinguished by its turning up at the end. No man ventured to assume,
or affix to his image, the beard of a deity; but after their death it
was permitted to substitute this divine emblem on the statues of kings,
and all other persons who were judged worthy of admittance to the
Elysium of futurity, in consequence of their having assumed the
character of Osiris, to whom the souls of the pure returned on quitting
their earthly abode."[30]
Both men and women wore sandals, which often were carefully and
beautifully made. They were made of leather, and lined with cloth, or of
palm leaves, papyrus stalks, or other similar materials in a sort of
woven or interlaced work. Some were pointed and turned up in front, some
had a sharp flat point, while still others were nearly round.
The Egyptians liked ornaments very much. They used gold and silver and
precious stones, and also cheaper materials were used in imitation of
these. Women wore earrings, some quite large. The women seem to have
been exceedingly fond of rings, sometimes wearing two or three on the
same finger, often wearing them on every finger of the left hand and at
the same time on a finger or two of the right hand, and they even wore a
ring on the thumb. They wore anklets. Both men and women wore armlets,
bracelets, and necklaces.
The men carried walking-sticks. These were of various lengths, running
from three to six feet. Some had a knob at the top while others had a
peg projecting from the side. On entering a house the sticks were left
at the door or in the hall. Where a party was being given, sometimes a
poor man was employed by the master of the house to hold the sticks of
the guests. Quite often the name of the owner was written in
hieroglyphics on the stick.
For improving their appearance, the ladies of ancient Egypt used paints
and cosmetics. They applied kohl to the eyes, they used ointment on the
body, the ointment having been scented in various ways, they stained the
fingers with red _henneh_ and the eyelids with a moistened powder of a
black color. They kept the paints and ointments in bottles and boxes and
vases of various forms and materials, some being ornamented. They had
pins and needles. Some of the needles were of bronze and from three to
three and a half inches in length. Some of the pins were seven or eight
inches in length, with or without heads, used for arranging the plaits
or curls of the hair. They had combs, usually of wood, about four inches
long and six wide, some being double with small teeth on one side and
large teeth on the other side. They had mirrors of mixed metal, chiefly
copper, carefully made and highly polished, nearly round in form, and
with handles of wood, stone, or metal.
These people were of cleanly habits, both men and women. As was given
before, the men kept the head and face wholly shaved. They used warm and
cold baths. "The priests were remarkable for their love of cleanliness,
which was carried so far that they shaved the whole body every three
days, and performed frequent daily ablutions, bathing twice a day and
twice during the night."[31]
=Food and Drink.= Beef and goose constituted the principal part of the
animal food throughout Egypt, yet the cow was held sacred and forbidden
to be eaten.[32] Among the animals used for food were the ox, kid, wild
goat, and gazelle. Of fowls there were the goose and duck, the widgeon
and quail and other wild birds. There were fish in plenty. They had a
variety and abundance of vegetables, among them being onions, garlic,
lentils, beans, cucumbers, and melons. The lotus, papyrus, and other
plants that grew abundantly along the Nile furnished the greatest food
for the poorer people. Among the grains they had wheat, barley, and
durra. Of the fruits were dates, figs, pomegranates, olives, almonds,
peaches, and grapes.
For grinding the grain they had a mill of two circular stones, the lower
one fixed and the upper one arranged to turn on a pivot. The grinding
was done by a woman turning the upper stone by a handle, the grain being
poured through an opening in the center of the upper stone so as to get
between the stones to be crushed and ground. The same kind of a mill
was made on a larger scale and turned by animals. The better classes
used bread made from wheat while the poorer people used cakes of barley
or durra flour.
Dinner probably came at midday and supper in the evening. It would seem
that they washed before the meal as well as after partaking of it. A
napkin was presented to each person for wiping the mouth after drinking.
It was their custom to sit together about a table at their meals, as we
do now. Men and women sat together, although sometimes the sexes were
entertained separately in a different part of the room, on which
occasion the master and the mistress of the house sat close together on
two chairs or on a double chair at the upper end of the room. Water,
cooled in porous bottles, or wine was served to the guests. Knives were
used for the carving of a large joint and spoons were provided the
guests, for soups and other liquids, but they did not have knives or
forks, so they ate with their fingers, each one dipping his bread into a
dish placed in their midst, one after another according to rank as
guests.
"The Egyptians, a scrupulously religious people, were never remiss in
expressing their gratitude for the blessings they enjoyed, and in
returning thanks to the gods for that peculiar protection they were
thought to extend to them and to their country, above all nations of the
earth. They therefore never sat down to meals without saying grace; and
Josephus says that when the seventy-two elders were invited by Ptolemy
Philadelphus to sup at the palace, Nicanor requested Eleazer to say
grace for his countrymen, instead of those Egyptians, to whom that duty
was committed on other occasions."[33]
"It was a custom of the Egyptians, during (or according to Herodotus
after) their repasts, to introduce a wooden image of Osiris, from one
foot and a half to three feet in height, in the form of a human mummy,
standing erect, as Plutarch informs us, in a case, or lying on a bier,
and to show it to each of the guests, warning him of his mortality, and
of the transitory nature of human pleasures. He was reminded that some
day he would be like that figure; that men ought 'to love one another,
and avoid those evils which tend to make them consider life too long,
when in reality it is too short'; and while enjoying the blessings of
this world, to bear in mind that their existence was precarious, and
that death, which all ought to be prepared to meet, must eventually
close their earthly career."[34]
Wine was their favorite beverage and they had several different kinds of
it. They indulged in it very freely and there were no restrictions on
its use by individuals. It was used by all classes of the people, by the
priests, furnished to soldiers, offered to the gods, and prescribed as
medicine. Women, both young and old, were permitted to have wine, and it
would appear as if there were no restrictions as to their use of it.
The Egyptians also had beer, which was made from barley, and as they did
not grow hops they used lupins, skirret, and an Assyrian root for
flavoring it.[35] "Besides beer, the Egyptians had what Pliny calls
factitious, or artificial, wine, extracted from various fruits, as figs,
myxas, pomegranates, as well as herbs, some of which were selected for
their medicinal properties."[36]
There were excesses in drinking committed by people of all classes, both
men and women. At the banquets of the rich stimulants were sometimes
used to excite to further drinking, the cabbage having been one of the
vegetables used for such purpose.
=Food and Clothing of Children.= Swaddling clothes do not seem to have
been used by the Egyptians as they were among the Jews and some other
nations. If the child could not walk, he was carried by the nurse or
mother before her or at her side, in a shawl thrown around her back over
a shoulder. It was the custom, no matter whether the child had little or
no clothing on, to have a string of beads about the neck, having
occasionally a charm suspended in the center, a symbol of truth and
justice. These were for the purpose of keeping ill luck from the child,
and to make him wise and virtuous.
"The dresses of children of the lower classes were very simple; and, as
Diodorus informs us, the expenses incurred in feeding and clothing them
amounted to a mere trifle. 'They feed them,' he says, 'very lightly, and
at an incredibly small cost; giving them a little meal of the coarsest
and cheapest kind, the pith of the papyrus, baked under the ashes, with
the roots and stalks of some marsh weeds, either raw, boiled, or
roasted; and since most of them are brought up, on account of the
mildness of the climate, without shoes, and indeed without any other
clothing, the whole expense incurred by the parents does not exceed 20
drachmæ (about 13 shillings) each; and this frugality is the true reason
of the populousness of Egypt.' But the children of the higher orders
were often dressed like grown persons, with a loose robe reaching to the
ankles, and sandals."[37]
=Industries.= The ancient Egyptians engaged in many industries and
reached a high stage in the development of their country and their own
powers. The country was immensely rich, as was shown from the objects of
luxury found among them, and they loved pomp and splendor. Their
accomplishments come to us from the accounts of ancient writers and are
depicted through sculptures and paintings found upon the walls of
temples, palaces, and tombs, and remains of their work still exist
sufficient to show the great things they did.
The life of ancient Egypt depended upon the annual rise of the Nile,
caused by the rains and melting of snow on the mountains in the interior
of Africa. This rise begins in June, reaches the highest point in
September, remains stationary a few days, then recedes, and by December
the flood is past. This inundation, spreading over the whole country,
left the land covered with a rich dressing so that no further
fertilizing was necessary and made ancient Egypt probably the most
fertile tract of country in the world. This rising of the Nile produced
a line of industries, such as the building of canals and dykes and
irrigation works as well as the greatest industry of all, that of
agriculture.
Because of the favorable conditions in Egypt, as mentioned above, and
the dense population, agriculture was the principal industry. So
efficient did the people become in this and the agricultural laborers
were so frugal in their mode of living that there was a great surplus of
products each year, which gave Egypt advantages which no other country
possessed, giving them the balance of trade with other nations. The
principal grains were wheat, barley, and durra. Beside these grains they
grew beans, peas, and lentils, clovers, lupins, and vetches, flax and
cotton, various medicinal herbs, and of vegetables, garlic, leeks,
onions, endive, radishes, melons, cucumbers, and lettuce, in fact, a
very large number and a great variety of plants.
As soon as the water began to subside and land to appear, they began
preparing to sow the grain. On the highlands right along the river this
would generally be in October and the other parts following. The wheat
and the barley were sown about November, the barley ordinarily ripening
in about four months and the wheat in five. The durra was usually sown
about April, as an after-crop when the wheat and the barley had been cut
and taken off the ground. The ground was prepared by means of a very
rude plow, but more often by the hoe. The seed was sown broadcast over
the surface of the land. It would appear as if neither harrow nor rake
was used to cover in the grain, but it was left as it fell on the ground
to germinate. As was stated before, the water of the overflow of the
Nile was carried by means of canals throughout Egypt and retained for
irrigating the land. When the land was elevated, as along the banks of
the Nile, they used the _shadoof_, a contrivance somewhat like the old
well-sweep and bucket, to lift up the water from the river or wells to
be poured over the soil. When crops were raised late in the year or on
soil not covered by the Nile, they sometimes used fertilizing
substances, as nitrous earth and some other kinds of dressing. In
harvesting the wheat was cut a little ways below the grain with a
toothed sickle and placed in baskets and carried to the threshing-floor,
on which it was deposited and cattle driven over it to tread out the
grain. It was then winnowed with wooden shovels and put in sacks and
taken to the granary.
Of the domestic animals were cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, horses, asses,
camels, cats, and dogs. The cat was a favorite animal among the ancient
Egyptians. They never allowed a cat to be killed purposely, cared for
them when ill, and embalmed them when dead. Dogs also were well
considered by them and they had several breeds of them. They had learned
the artificial process of hatching eggs and built ovens expressly for
that purpose. There were great flocks of sheep and they were well taken
care of, great attention having been given to their proper food in the
various seasons and they were carefully treated when ill. The skill of
the Egyptians in curing animals had reached a high stage.
Hunting was an industry as well as an amusement. There were quite a
number of different animals that they hunted. They used the bow and
arrow and other weapons and also the net, which in hunting large animals
was placed across ravines and the like to keep them from escaping. They
hunted with dogs and they even had cats trained to hunt with. The
Egyptians were expert fowlers, using for the most part nets and traps
for catching the birds. The Nile was celebrated for its fish and fishing
was an important industry. The net was greatly used in fishing and the
rod and line and spear were also used. Salted as well as fresh fish were
used as food.
There were a great number of people engaged in manufactures and many
different trades were found among the ancient Egyptians. Whether each
one was compelled by law to follow the trade of his father, it is
probable that most of them did, so that often they were able to trace
back the occupation in the family for many generations. It is probable
that each craft had its own particular part of the city set aside for it
wherein its members dwelt and carried on their particular work and which
was called after it, as, the quarter of the goldsmiths, and so on. The
workmen became very proficient in their work and a number of inventions
were made which are the same as we have now, among some of the
implements invented being the forceps, bellows, blow-pipe, and siphon.
They were celebrated for their manufacture of cloths, having made such
of cotton, wool, and linen. They were woven on hand looms, some of which
were vertical and others horizontal and must have been of considerable
size, as they wove cloth five feet wide and at least sixty feet in
length. The spinning and weaving was the work of women, although men did
sometimes engage in this work. They colored the cloths, using dyes and
paints, and varied the colors in them, making patterns and showing
figures of animals and the like. Whether they understood the principle
of the action of mordants, they used this agency to make the cloth take
the color equally and also to change the hues.
Glass was known to the Egyptians and from it they made bottles, vases,
and other utensils, beads and other ornaments, and they were quite
skillful in the use of glass in counterfeiting the amethyst and other
precious stones. They had glazed ware a long time before they used
glass. There were quite a large number of people engaged in pottery work
and they were quite skillful in the manufacture of this ware. There
were many varieties and forms of their work and it included rough
unglazed ware up to fine glazed vases, highly decorated and colored.
There were bottles not only of glass and earthenware but also of leather
and of stone and there were glass bottles enclosed in wicker-work and
others encased in leather. There were all kinds of vases, earthenware,
stone, bronze, alabaster, glass, porcelain, ivory, bone, silver, and
gold. Some of the vases were most beautiful in make and design, inlaid
with precious stones and tastefully ornamented.
There was quite an industry in metal working among them. There was
probably very little of any kinds of metals found in Egypt, having been
brought in from other countries. Gold was early used for the making of
ornaments. They soon found a way of hardening gold by alloying it with
silver. They learned to work gold in various ways. They cast it into
figures, molded it into beads by pressure, soldered it, drew it out into
wire, used it in plaiting, beat it out into sheets for gilding, engraved
it and inlaid it with precious stones. Silver came into use later than
gold and in early times it was scarcer than gold. Copper was greatly in
use among the ancient Egyptians and by alloying it with tin produced
bronze. They made many utensils and implements of it and learned to make
it so hard as to be used for woodcutting tools and chisels for cutting
limestone. Lead was used by them, as was also tin and antimony. Iron was
perhaps used in the early times, but it would appear that it was not
greatly in use till the time of the Greeks and the Romans in Egypt.
They were quite skillful in working in wood and there was a large class
of wood-workers, divided into carpenters, cabinet-makers, wheelwrights,
coopers, coffin-makers, and boat-builders. There was quite a good deal
more wood in Egypt in ancient times than now and yet not a great
variety. The principal trees were the date-palm, used for beams; the
Theban palm, used for rafts, and other purposes connected with water,
and for beams and rafters; the sycamore, used for large planks for
boxes, tables, doors, and the like; the tamarisk, a hard and compact
wood, used for the handles of tools and wooden implements; and the
acacia, used for planks and masts of boats. For ornamental purposes and
where fine woods were required, they were brought in from other
countries, as, the cedar, cypress, cherry, walnut, and deal from Syria,
and ebony and other rare woods from Ethiopia.
Wood was used for buildings and parts of buildings, for furniture,
boxes, barrels, chariots, traveling cars, palanquins, coffins, statues,
statuettes, and in boat-building. "Regarding the methods of woodworking,
certainly the axe was the primitive tool, as shown by the royal
architect being designated by the axe. In the scenes of the pyramid age
we find the saw about three feet long worked with both hands, the mallet
and chisel for cutting mortise-holes, and the adze in constant use for
shaping and for smoothing wood. To this day the small adze is a favorite
tool of the Egyptian carpenter and boat-builder. For smoothing down the
caulking inside a boat, heavy pounders of stone were used, held by a
handle worked out on each side of the block. Drills were also commonly
used both on wood and stone, worked by a bow."[38]
As they had only the hand-saw, in making planks they usually placed the
piece of timber upright and fastened it to stakes and then sawed
downward through it. In joining two boards end to end, they would cut
into their ends and join them and glue them and then insert a flat
wooden pin through them from edge to edge and then pass a round wooden
pin through the boards into the flat pin, thus effectually keeping the
joints from opening and thereby showing the thoroughness of their work.
They dovetailed and veneered and stained and painted and gilded and
inlaid their woodwork, thus displaying a high degree of skill in working
with wood.
One of the greatest industries with them was that of brick-making, which
was wholly under the control of the government and carried on solely by
it. "The use of crude bricks baked in the sun was universal throughout
the country for private and for many public buildings, and the dry
climate of Egypt was peculiarly suited to those simple materials. They
had the recommendation of cheapness, and even of durability; and those
made 3,000 years ago, whether with or 'without straw,' are even now as
firm and fit for use as when first put up in the reigns of the Amunophs
and Thothmes, whose names they bear. When made of the Nile mud, or
alluvial deposit, they required straw to prevent their cracking; but
those formed of clay (now called _Háybeh_) taken from the torrent beds
on the edge of the desert, held together without straw; and crude brick
walls frequently had the additional security of a layer of reeds or
sticks placed at intervals to act as binders."[39]
The tanning and preparation and use of leather was quite a leading
industry of ancient Egypt, so much so that a section of the city of
Thebes was set apart for the exclusive use of the workers in skins and
leather. The demand for leather was so great Egypt itself could not
supply the hides necessary and great quantities of hides were imported
from foreign countries and also the skins of wild animals were brought
in and used. They tanned the skins and dyed them and made some fine
leather and also embossed the leather.
The tools used for working in leather were a semi-circular knife, a sort
of chisel, an awl, a stone for polishing, cutting table, bending form,
hone, and a few others. They made shoes, sandals, coverings and seats
for chairs and sofas, bow-cases, ornaments and harness for chariots, and
adornments for harps. Skins were used to cover shields and other things
and they were shaped into forms for carrying water, wine, and other
liquids. They made thongs by twisting leather strips together, cutting
the strips from circular pieces of leather as is done now.
The Egyptians were famed for their manufacture of paper, which was made
from the papyrus plant. This grew almost altogether in Lower Egypt, on
marshy land or in the ponds left after the inundation of the Nile. The
right of growing and selling it belonged to the government and the
particular species from which the paper was made was closely guarded and
perhaps not allowed to grow anywhere else than in the restricted
territory in the Delta. The paper was made by removing the outer
covering of the stalk, cutting the interior lengthwise into thin pieces
and laying these together side by side on a flat board and across them
another layer, cementing the strips together with a kind of glue, then
putting all under pressure, and after drying the paper was completed and
ready for use.
The paper made from the papyrus differed in quality according to the
growth of the plant and from which part of the stalk the pieces were
taken, the stalk growing to about fifteen feet in height. The breadth of
the paper differed, running from six inches under an early Dynasty to
fourteen and a half inches under a later Dynasty. When a sheet of
papyrus had been used for writing, it was rolled up, and if important
and to be preserved for any length of time, tied round the middle and
secured by clay stamps with a seal. The cost of the papyrus was so great
that it was used only in funeral rituals, conveyances, deeds, and other
public documents, and sometimes the old writing was erased and then the
roll was written on again. For ordinary purposes of writing, pieces of
broken pottery, stone, board, and leather were used.
The Nile traversing the entire length of Egypt formed a great avenue for
trade, as it was an open and easy way for reaching all parts. Not only
did the Nile give access to all parts about it, but also the canals
going out from it and running parallel with it connected the various
parts and gave ready ways on which domestic trade could go. The other
nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea carried on important maritime
trade with Egypt and, too, there was a great caravan trade with the
interior of Africa and parts of Asia. From Ethiopia came gold, ivory,
and slaves; from Arabia was obtained an incense necessary in the
religious ceremonies; from India were received spices. "Syria took
Egyptian chariots by hundreds; Tyre imported 'fine linen with broidered
work'; Greece, large quantities of paper; India and Arabia, linen
fabrics; Etruria, glass, porcelain, and alabaster; Assyria, perhaps,
ivories. In the earlier times Egyptian manufactures must have been
altogether unrivalled; and their glass, their pottery, their textile
fabrics, their metal-work, must have circulated freely through the
various countries bordering the Mediterranean and the Red Sea."[40]
Among the important industries of Egypt were the works in sculpture,
painting, and architecture. The men engaged in these occupations ranked
high, along with the scribes.
There were three kinds of sculpture in ancient Egypt. One kind was that
of statuary, sculpture in the round, where the complete figure was
shown; a second kind was relief, where the figure was raised from the
flat surface by cutting away the stone about it; the third kind was
intaglio, in which there was a cutting of the figure into the flat
surface, sinking the figure below the surface, and in one form of this
the cutting was done about the figure so as to leave it raised from the
interior, almost up to the level of the surface of the stone.
The old Egyptians reached a stage of progress in which the block of
stone for the sculpture figure was cut away from the original rock and
transported to the place where it was to stand. Yet the figure was
rarely if ever cut entirely away from the stone and so did not stand
forth separate, detached, a statute in and of itself. That which most
kept Egyptian sculpture, perhaps, from reaching to the highest
attainment was the conventionality in the displaying of figures. As the
sculptures were used in the decoration of tombs and temples, religion,
which is ever conservative, prescribed certain attitudes for the
figures, so that there was not much left for the working out by the
individual sculptor, and although there was an exactness of finish
attained there was not that expression which comes through allowing
freedom to the individual sculptor, and in consequence there is very
much of a sameness in the products of the sculptors running through the
twenty centuries of old Egypt.
As with sculpture so with painting, the conventional forms were demanded
of the painter so that although mechanical skill became great, there was
not that high artistic effect that is attained where individuality is
permitted to display itself. The walls of buildings were not broken by
windows, as the brilliancy of light was such that few openings were
necessary and the openings let in heat. The walls on the interior were
covered with a coating of stucco, which was white or whitish, and then
decorated with paintings displaying scenes and events in the life of the
people and the nation. The ceilings were also painted. The colors used
were black and white, red, blue, and yellow, green and brown. Columns
and other parts of buildings were also stuccoed and painted and even the
same was done with statues and other products of the sculptors.
The early buildings in Egypt were made of brick or by the interweaving
of palm-sticks. From these rude structures to the great temples and
pyramids makes the architecture of that country a most marked feature of
its progress. The architecture of Egypt in its rectangular form and
massiveness fits well into the nature of the land, which frames plain
and cliff about these buildings as a proper background. Yet size is not
so much the essential characteristic of this architecture but rather
strength and durability, which were the chief features of the
structures, whether large or small. Although they were familiar with the
arch and used it very much in brickwork, yet it would appear that it was
not used in the great buildings of stone, or, if so, it was hid in the
building and kept away from the external forms.[41]
The kinds of stone used in sculpture and architecture were limestone,
sandstone, granite, basalt, alabaster, and diorite. The stone was cut
out in blocks from the quarry, the surfaces were picked smooth with a
short adze, the blocks were then sawn and cut with drills, and probably
all prepared at the quarry ready for use at the building. Sand was used
as the cutting material with the soft stones and emery with the harder
ones. Whether the cutting material was used as powder or set as separate
teeth on the copper saw blade cannot be determined, yet in some
instances it would appear that the emery was set in the tool as teeth.
The great problem to us is how these stones were transported from the
quarries and set up in their places. One obelisk is estimated to have
weighed 886 tons and it was taken over-land a distance of 138 miles.
Some of the obelisks of seventy to eighty feet in length and weighing
near 300 tons each were conveyed a distance of more than 800 miles.[42]
Two great collossi, weighing 1,175 tons each, were carried upstream a
distance of 450 miles.[43] It would appear that sometimes the stone were
placed on sleds and drawn by oxen down to the river, where by an
inclined plane they were placed on vessels, while again these blocks
were hauled by large bodies of men over-land to their places of
destination.
The greatest of all their buildings were the Great Temple at Karnak and
the Great Pyramid at Ghizeh. The temple at Karnak was 1,200 feet long
and 340 feet wide, with an entire area of 396,000 square feet, and with
pylons, obelisks, and columns, and it is called "the greatest of man's
architectural works." The Great Pyramid at Ghizeh has a square base the
length of each side of which is 764 feet, covering an area of about
twelve acres. Its original perpendicular height is estimated at about
485 feet. "The solid masonry which it contained is estimated at more
than 89,000,000 cubic feet, and the weight of the mass at 6,848,000
tons. The basement stones are many of them thirty feet in length and
nearly five feet high. Altogether the edifice is the largest and most
massive building in the world, and not only so, but _by far_ the largest
and most massive--the building which approaches it the nearest being
the Second Pyramid, which contains 17,000,000 cubic feet less, and is
very much inferior in the method of its construction."[44]
=Sickness and Death.= It would appear that the study and practice of
medicine began at a very early time in Egypt. Principles and remedies
were given out from time to time till finally they were brought together
in the form of medical works and all physicians were expected to study
them and to use the prescribed remedies. The medical skill of the
Egyptians became known to other parts of the world and they were
consulted and called to foreign countries to give advice and treatment.
They went so far as to divide the study and practice of medicine into
specialties and so there were physicians attending to one kind of
illness only, as, one for the diseases of the eyes, another for the
diseases of the intestines, and so on, accoucheurs having been usually,
if not always, women. The physicians were given salaries by the
government and fixed by it and also they were permitted to receive fees
for their advice and attendance upon patients, but when in military
service they could not charge fees.
On account of the glaring light and the sandy plains and the overflow of
the Nile, some of the prominent troubles were of the eyes and such as
were connected with malaria. In treatment of illness, it was held that
the patient had been attacked by some evil influence, hence to cure him
was first necessary to find what was the nature of this evil spirit and
to drive it out or to destroy it. This was the task of those skilled in
sorcery, through incantations, amulets, and the like. Then the diseases
that had been carried into the body by the evil influences were to be
cured by medicine and medical treatment. Physicians were held
responsible for their treatment of a disease and if contrary to the
established system they were punished and the death of a patient under
such circumstances was considered a capital offense. Yet if they had
exhausted all the prescribed remedies without producing good effect,
they could prescribe new remedies and hence an opportunity for
advancement in the science of medicine. In their practice they strove to
prevent illness by directing attention to regimen and diet; they purged
the system by use of emetics or clysters; and they used drugs and
medical herbs.
When a death occurred, all the women of the household covered their
faces with dust and mud and with bosoms exposed ran out through the
streets, striking themselves and uttering loud cries of grief. Friends
and relatives joined the procession and the demonstrations became the
louder. If the deceased person had been of wide repute, many other
people went into the line of mourners and hired mourners were employed
to increase the lamentations and thereby enlarge the public display of
respect to the dead. For seventy-two days the mourning was carried on in
the house, lamentations were made, the funeral dirge was sung, all
amusements and indulgences were abstained from, and the men allowed
their hair and beard to grow. Thus they endeavored to show respect to
the deceased and their great affliction by his departure.
One of the great arts of the ancient Egyptians was that of embalming. It
constituted a distinct profession. The embalmers had wooden models of
mummies, displaying the three different ways of embalming. The first way
of embalming was very expensive and was used only by the wealthy class
and people of high position; the second way was more simple and quite
less expensive and used by the middle class of people; the third way was
very simple and very cheap and employed by the lower classes. After
embalming the body was returned to the family and put into a case and
placed in a room upright against the wall, and sometimes they were
retained by the family for quite a while before their burial.
When the time for burial came, the mummy was put into a coffin of wood
or stone to be placed in a tomb, which may have been hewn in the rock or
built up of brick or rock and usually on the western side of the Nile.
Some of the tombs were of great extent and highly ornamented with
paintings and sculptures and some were immense structures. The pyramids
were built for tombs. The funeral of any important personage was a great
occasion. There was much display and much noisy lamentations and it was
very costly. Upon reaching the Nile the body was placed on the funeral
barge and the procession went out on the river to the lake of the dead.
Before the deceased could be taken across the lake for burial he had to
meet the tribunal of death. Forty-two judges were at the bank of the
lake and any one could bring accusation against the deceased. The judges
considered the accusation and acted upon it and if the decision was
acquittal then burial in the tomb took place, but if the accusation was
sustained burial was denied. The judgment was carried out on the body of
any person in the country, high or low, rich or poor, the meanest
subject or a Pharaoh, and there are instances of deceased Pharaohs
having been denied public burial.
"All the legitimate tendencies exerted by this singular institution were
obviously for good. It sent forth from the very entrance of the tomb a
most powerful persuasive to live a life of virtue. It appealed to some
of the strongest of human motives, and enforced that appeal by the
severest of all sanctions, the exclusion of the body from its sepulchre,
and of the soul from the abodes of the blessed. It is not a little
singular that a custom apparently so salutary, and so early introduced,
should not afterwards have been adopted by other nations."[45]
=Child and Religion.= The child played a part in the religion of the
ancient Egyptians. Even one of their gods, Harpocrates, was represented
by an infant, having his finger to his mouth and that striking
characteristic of a young child--a protruding abdomen. The birth of a
child was a matter for thanksgiving offerings through the priests to the
gods. Herodotus says: "When parents, living in town, perform vows for
the recovery of their children's health, they offer prayers to the deity
of whom the animal is sacred, and then shaving a portion, or half, or
the whole of the child's head, they put the hair into one scale of the
balance and money into the other until the latter outweighs the former;
they then give it to the person who takes care of the animal to buy fish
(or other food)."[46]
On some occasions when the sacred bull was led in procession through the
town, the procession was led by children, and on such occasions it was
thought that these children received the gift of foretelling future
events. Wilkinson gives the following from Plutarch: "They even look
upon children as gifted with a kind of faculty of divination, and they
are ever anxious to observe the accidental prattle they talk during
play, especially if it be in a sacred place, deducing from it presages
of future events."[47]
=Amusements.= In the earlier times of ancient Egypt, as of all nations,
when the struggle for living required the putting forth of the energies
and but little leisure was allowed, there was not much time for
recreation and the people were not much given to amusements. As wealth
grew and there was leisure time, the desire for amusement and
entertainment increased until there grew up in the Egyptian character a
softness and inclination to luxurious living. Great banquets were given,
where hosts vied with one another in entertaining lavishly and in
furnishing amusement for the guests, till it would appear as if they
devised every possible kind of amusement. Nor was the zest for amusement
confined to the upper classes, for during the inundation of the Nile,
when but little work could be done, the peasantry gave themselves up to
pastime and sport. Many of the kinds of entertainment given at the
banquets were performed on the streets and open places.
Dancing was an indispensable entertainment at an Egyptian party and
music was required with the dance. They danced to the music of the harp,
lyre, guitar, pipe, tambourine, and other instruments, and in the
streets also to the drum. Dancing was not done by the guests, as it was
held not to be proper for the upper classes to dance, although the lower
classes indulged in this amusement and greatly enjoyed it. The dancing
was carried on before the guests by slaves taught the steps for that
purpose or by hired performers who made a profession of furnishing
dancing and music for festive occasions. Graceful posings and movements
and especial skill and grace in the use of the hands were the important
features of the dance. Both men and women danced for hire, the women
showing the superior grace and elegance and the men displaying the most
spirit. The dress of the female dancers was usually a loose flowing
robe, reaching to the ankles, fastened at the waist, and around the hips
was a small narrow girdle of various colors and ornamented with beads.
The material of the dress was of a very fine texture and thin, showing
the form and movement of the limbs in dancing.
There were various ways of dancing. Sometimes one person danced alone,
sometimes they danced in pairs, again there were several dancers
together sometimes of both sexes and then of but one sex. Some danced to
slow music, while others preferred lively tunes, men sometimes
displaying great spirit, bounding from the ground. The aim of the dance
was to display a succession of figures in which were exhibited a great
variety of gestures. Twirling was much used in dancing and the pirouette
was quite a favorite form with them. In one dance two parties would each
dance on one leg toward one another and perform a series of evolutions
and then retire from one another. In another step, standing on one foot
the dancer would strike the ground with the heel, changing back and
forth from one foot to the other. The dances of the lower classes were
sometimes in the form of a pantomime, in which there was a preference
shown for the ludicrous rather than the graceful.
Music was very popular with the Egyptians and they had both vocal and
instrumental. They had numerous songs and for various occasions. They
had quite a variety of musical instruments. Music was used in military
movements, in religious exercises, in their social functions, and in the
wailing for the dead. Music formed a part of the education of a member
of the upper classes, but he did not display this at social functions,
as that, like dancing, was given over to professionals. Both men and
women of the priestly order, though, did render service with voice and
instrument in religious ceremonies.
"It is sufficiently evident, from the sculptures of the ancient
Egyptians, that their hired musicians were acquainted with the triple
symphony; the harmony of instruments, of voices, and of voices and
instruments. Their band was variously composed, consisting either of two
harps, with the single pipe and flute; of the harp and double pipe,
frequently with the addition of the guitar; of a fourteen-stringed harp,
a guitar, lyre, double pipe, and tambourine; of two harps, sometimes of
different sizes, one of seven, the other of four strings; of two harps
of eight strings, and a seven-stringed lyre; of the guitar, and the
square or oblong tambourine; of the lyre, harp, guitar, double pipe, and
a sort of harp, with four strings, which was held upon the shoulder; of
the harp, guitar, double pipe, lyre, and square tambourine; of the harp,
two guitars, and the double pipe; of the harp, two flutes, and a guitar;
of two harps and a flute; of a seventeen-stringed lyre, the double pipe,
and a harp of fourteen strings; of the harp and two guitars; or of two
seven-stringed harps and an instrument held in the hand, not unlike an
Eastern fan, to which were probably attached small bells, or pieces of
metal that emitted a jingling sound when shaken, like the
crescent-crowned _bells_ of our modern bands; besides many other
combinations of these various instruments; and in the Bacchic festival
of Ptolemy Philadelphus, described by Athenæus, more than 600 musicians
were employed in the chorus, among whom were 300 performers on the
_kithara_."[48]
As was stated before, dwarfs and deformed persons were attached to the
households of the greater people as a means of entertainment as in Rome
and Medieval Europe. These dwarfs and also others engaged in buffoonery
for the entertainment of guests. There were various tricks performed by
jugglers, and we find there the old cup or shell game, in which a little
ball or pea is rolled about on a board from one inverted cup to another
to guess under which it finally rested. There were many kinds of
acrobatic feats, mostly performed by women, such as two performers
swinging around in a reckless fashion while holding hands. This was
varied by two men holding the hands of two women and whirling them
around with feet braced together. There were tumbling exhibits of
turning forward and backward on the hands, somersaulting off one
another's shoulders, and even sometimes doing these feats while holding
one foot with a hand. There were tests of strength wherein two men would
sit back to back and each strive to rise first from the ground, and in
another test they would try who could lift the heaviest weight or raise
a bag of sand with a straight arm up over head. They would throw knives
at a board, each contestant striving to strike his knife in the center
of the board or on a mark.
The most common indoor games were odd and even, mora, and draughts, all
of which it would appear were played in Egypt from very ancient times.
In odd or even bones, beans, nuts, almonds, and coins were used and any
indefinite number was held between the hands, the game being to guess
whether odd or even. The game of mora was usually played by two persons,
each at the same time quickly throwing out the fingers of one hand, then
trying to guess the number of fingers shown by both. Draughts was a
favorite game of all ranks. It was played by two people on a board
similar to the present checker-board, but the pieces were not flat,
being raised, more like the pieces in chess, and picked up like chessmen
between thumb and finger. In another game hooked rods were used by which
a small hoop was to be snatched from one another, the skill in this was
for one person to get his hoop loose from his opponent's rod and then
snatch it away quickly before he had time to stop it. In one game a
player knelt with face toward the ground between two others, who held
over him in their closed hands shells or dice, the number of which he
was to guess before being allowed to rise. They played with dice and
probably played several other games of chance.
Wrestling was a favorite amusement among the lower classes. They fought
with the single-stick and among the boatmen of the Nile were conflicts
with long poles. Mock fights were common, especially with the military
classes, sometimes quite a great affair wherein a temporary fort would
be erected and attacked by a party with a battering-ram and other
implements of war and vigorously defended by the party within the fort.
There were bull fights, sometimes between the animals and again men
would fight the bulls. The animals were carefully trained to fight and
prizes were awarded to the owner of the victorious combatant. It is
pretty certain that animals were taught to perform tricks and to dance.
All classes of the Egyptians delighted in hunting, fowling, and fishing.
In hunting they used the bow, the spear, the lasso, and the net to place
across enclosures. There were preserves on some of the estates in which
animals were kept for hunting, but the greatest sport was hunting out on
the desert. Dogs were used and different breeds reared, some for
attacking, some for coursing, and the like. Sometimes there would be a
great hunt arranged, with beaters for forcing the game into quarters
where they could be enclosed with nets and then hunted within. In
hunting for birds and water-fowl the real sportsman used only the
throwing-stick, which was from a foot and a quarter to two feet in
length, about one inch and a half in breadth, and slightly curved at the
upper end. The hunter would usually go out in a boat into the places
covered with tall reeds and lotuses and gliding swiftly in among the
birds, or using a decoy bird to attract them toward him, he would cast
the throwing-stick at them as they arose and thus fell them. Often a cat
would accompany the hunter which was trained to get the birds as they
fell and bring them to the boat. In the pleasure-grounds of villas were
ponds well stocked with fish. The fish were caught from them by hook and
line. But the real fisherman used the bident spear, which sometimes had
feathers at one end, like an arrow, but more often without, and
sometimes the spear had a string attached to it to bring it back when
thrown. Running his boat over the surface of the water, as he would see
a fish he would cast his spear at it. They prided themselves on their
skill with the spear.
=Games, Plays, and Toys.= The children and young people among the
ancient Egyptians engaged in many sports and they were encouraged in
this by their elders, particularly in those activities of an outdoor
nature, as they were considered to be conducive to good health through
exercise of the body. The young people took part in the singing and
other music and at least among the lower classes in the dancing. They
went out with their parents and other relatives on fishing trips and
bird hunting and the youth went with the men on hunting trips. The youth
of both sexes practiced shooting at a target with the bow and arrow.
The game of ball was one of the great games of the Egyptians,
participated in by children and adults of both sexes, but it appears to
have been more indulged in by the women. Some of the balls were made of
leather or skin, sewed with string, and stuffed with bran or husks of
corn, some being about three inches in diameter. In one of the favorite
games the ball was thrown and caught and the one failing had to carry
the other woman, who caught it on her back till this one failed to catch
it, when she had to do the carrying. The women rode sidewise in short
petticoats on the backs of the losers. In another game the ball was
thrown as high as possible and the catcher would leap up and catch it
before the feet would touch the ground. Again when the ball was thrown
to them they would catch it with the hands behind the back and even
while standing on one leg.
The playthings of the little child are often found buried with it. They
had dolls of various kinds, being made of wood, stone, and enamelled
pottery. They often were painted, the inferior ones being the most
gaudily colored. Some were of rude construction with head and body and
without arms and legs, while others were small models of the human
figure. Some were jointed, the arms and legs moving on pins. Some had
artificial hair, while others had beads in imitation of hair hanging
from the head. Some grotesque figures were formed and by means of
strings could be made to assume various postures. One such figure was
that of a crocodile which could be made to amuse the child by its
grimaces and by the opening and closing of its mouth. Some figures of
persons could be made to go through the motions of washing and of
kneading dough. One was the figure of a person with jointed arms and
legs, which could be thrown about by the pulling of a string, and which
still exists with us today in the jumping-jack. They also had pigs,
ducks, pigeons on wheels, boats, balls, marbles, and miniature sets of
household furniture.
=Education.= The ancient Egyptians were very much interested in the
education of the young. It would appear that the parent was left entire
freedom in the selecting what education and how much the child should
have. In the matter of education there seemed to be no caste whatever,
as the poor boy and son of one of the lower classes could take his place
in school by the side of the rich boy or the son of the noble.
A clever boy in school had great opportunities, be he from whatever
class of society. He was encouraged to go on to literary life, which
meant, if successful, entering into the employ of the government and
reaching the very highest places. Many a great nobleman so arose in
Egypt and often was found on his monument after his death: "His
ancestors were unknown people."
There were elementary schools, probably none provided by the state, and
whether there were schools or not in a community, there were teachers to
be had for the instruction of the young. With the temples were connected
higher schools and in the capitals of the three districts of Egypt,
Thebes, Memphis, Heliopolis, the temple schools were quite important
centers of learning. The child started into the elementary school at
near five years of age and continued till he left for work, or to enter
a higher school, or else he might have gone into the office of a scribe
or physician or architect to learn directly the work of his profession.
The vast majority of the children received very little training beyond
the rudiments of education and what instruction was given to them by
their parents in teaching them their trades. Some of the young people
continued with their schooling and entered the schools of the temples
and there came in contact with the learned men of the state and received
a higher education. A very few of these, who displayed special aptitude
for learning, were permitted to enter into the deeper studies and to
whom was thrown open all the knowledge possessed by the wisest men of
their day. Little is known about the education of girls. As the women
ranked high in Egypt and took part in the public festivities and
religious ceremonies, they must have received such education as would
prepare them for their duties in life.
The purpose of education in ancient Egypt was to prepare for some one of
the callings of priest, scribe, architect, engineer, physician, soldier,
musician, artisan. It was necessary to be educated to enter into office
and to rise in position. Thus the education was of a utilitarian nature.
The most important calling outside the priesthood was that of the scribe.
The scribe learned about official documents and the management of business
and to read and write the three forms of writing--hieroglyphic, hierotic,
demotic--and also he studied ethics, philosophy, and law. The
architect studied mathematics and science and the history that would
give him a knowledge of art. The physician was taught such anatomy
and physiology as was known, remedies and incantations, and other
things pertaining to his calling. Whatever may be considered about
this education, it did give Egypt a high place among the old nations
of the world and caused its civilization to continue through many
centuries.
In the home and in the school it was impressed on the children to be
respectful to their elders. They were taught to be careful of looks and
gestures, that such should be of a proper kind. It was not permitted to
use any dance or ode at the feasts and sacrifices that had not been
passed on by the proper authorities. The children were not permitted to
hear or to learn any verses or songs than such as were of a virtuous
giving character.
The discipline in school was quite severe. One teacher spoke thus: "The
hawk is taught to fly and the pigeon to nest; I shall teach you your
letters, you idle villain."[49] A pedagogical saying runs: "A young
fellow has a back, he hears when we strike it."
"Plato says the Egyptians taught numbers to children in their play by
distributing amongst them a certain number of fruits, or other things,
the same number to be given to many or to few children, so that by
dividing them amongst themselves they learnt lessons in arithmetic; and
all sorts of numbers were given to them in their games and plays as
arithmetical problems."[50]
For written work they had wooden blocks covered with red or white
stucco. Copies were engraved on wooden or stone tablets and then the
children copied them on their tablets. Work was also given by dictation.
The older pupils wrote from dictation, or from copies, extracts from the
best writers. This trained also in penmanship and spelling. Often the
pupils copied an "instruction," which consisted of moral precepts of an
ancient writer. Often the instruction consisted of letters between
student and teacher.
LITERATURE
1. Brugsch-Bey, Henry, A history of Egypt under the Pharaohs.
2. Dean, Amos, A history of civilization.
3. Graves, Frank Pierrepont, A history of education, Before the middle
ages.
4. Laurie, S. S., Historical survey of pre-Christian education.
5. Maspero, G., Life in ancient Egypt and Assyria.
6. Maspero, G., The dawn of civilization.
7. Petrie, W. M. Flinders, Arts and crafts of ancient Egypt.
8. Rawlinson, George, History of ancient Egypt.
9. Wilkinson, Sir J. Gardner, A popular account of the ancient
Egyptians.
10. Wilkinson, Sir J. Gardner, The Egyptians in the time of the
Pharaohs.
11. Wilkinson, Sir J. Gardner, The manners and customs of the ancient
Egyptians.