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GENERAL VIEWS-CASTES.

stock as the Abyssinians and Nubians of the present day.

As to the source of Egyptian civilization, there are various opinions. Some hold that the Egyptians were originally instructed by the Hindoos; others believe that the Ethiopians were their teachers; and others still, that their religion, their arts, and their institutions were indigenous. It is vain to determine authoritatively a question so hidden in the mist of bygone ages: it is not difficult, however, to form a tolerably satisfactory opinion. We believe that Noah imparted his own knowledge to his descendants, these gathered in the valley of the Euphrates-improved rapidly in the arts and sciences. After the Dispersion, the various bands of emigrants carried with them the knowledge which had been collected in the plains of Shinar. This was modified in the course of time by the force of climate and the particular genius of individual nations; so that in India we see civilization developed in one form, in Assyria in another, and in Egypt in another. Under such circumstances, we should expect, amid some diversity, to discover some resemblance; and such is the precise fact; for, while it is clear that the ancient ruins of Egypt, of Assyria, and India are each marked with peculiarities, there are also striking similarities. We must also admit, what was doubtless the fact, that, in the earliest ages, there was frequent intercourse between these countries, and that a commerce of ideas, as well as of merchandise, was the consequence. Our theory, then, is, that the civilization of Egypt was, in its origin, partly borrowed and partly indigenous - borrowed from the first civilization at Shinar, and subsequently modified by the peculiar genius of the Egyptians, and occasional suggestions from foreign countries. In the course of time, Egypt advanced beyond all other countries, and at last became the schoolmistress of the world in arts, sciences, and religion.

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HAVING closed our brief summary of the more ancient history of Egypt, we shall, in few words, advert to the social condition of the country during that period. That condition is tolerably well known by the attentive examination of its remaining monuments, and their sculptures and paintings. The researches of the French in the expedition to Egypt, and of Belzoni, Champollion, Rosellini, and others, have put us in possession series of sketches evidently drawn from the life, and descriptive of the arts, industry, and habits of the ancient Egyptians. There is no doubt that this singular nation had attained a high degree of refinement and luxury at a time when the whole western world was still involved in barbarism; when the history of Europe, including Greece, had not yet begun; and long before Carthage, Athens, and Rome were thought of.

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This high state of material civilization was attained under a system of policy which resembles in some

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consisted of the priests, who filled the chief offices of the state. They were the depositaries and expounders of the law and the religion of the country. They monopolized the principal branches of learning; they were judges, physicians, and architects. Their sacred books, like their temples, were not open to the vulgar. They had a language, or at least a writing, peculiar to themselves. The king himself, if not of their caste, was adopted into it, was initiated into its mysteries, and became bound by its regulations. The priests were exempt from all taxes, and a large portion of land was set apart for their maintenance. We read in Genesis, that when Pharaoh, in a season of famine, by the advice of Joseph, bought all the land of the Egyptians on condition of feeding them out of his stores, "only the land of the priests bought he not, for the priests had a portion (of corn) assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them, wherefore they sold not their lands." And again when Joseph, after the scarcity was over, made it a law of the land that the king should have, forever after, a fifth part of the produce of the soil, restoring the rest to the owners, he excepted only "the land of the priests, which became not Pharaoh's." The testimony of Scripture is here perfectly in accordance with that of Herodotus and other historians. The priests were subject to certain strict regulations; they abstained from particular meats, and at times from wine; they made their regular ablutions, and had but one wife, while polygamy was allowed to the other castes; and they wore a peculiar dress, according to their rank.

The soldiers formed the second caste; for Egypt had a standing army from a very remote period, divided into regiments or battalions, each having its standard with a peculiar emblem raised by a pike and carried by an officer. The military caste was held in high repute, and enjoyed great privileges. Each soldier was allowed a certain measure of land, exempt from every charge, which he either cultivated himself, when not in active service, or let to husbandmen and farmThose who did the duty of royal guards had, besides, an ample allowance of rations. They were inured to the fatigues of war by gymnastic exercises, such as wrestling, cudgelling, racing, sporting, and other games, of which the representations still exist on the monuments.

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The husbandmen formed another class, which was next in rank, as agriculture was highly esteemed among the Egyptians. They made use of the plough and other implements. They had various breeds of large cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and a quantity of poultry, reared chiefly by artificial means, the eggs being hatched in ovens, as it is the practice of the country at this day. The peasants appear to have been divided into hundreds, each with a peculiar banner, which they followed when presenting themselves before the magistrate for the census, which was taken at stated periods, when they were obliged to give an account of their conduct; and, if found delinquent, were punished with the stick.

The next class was that of the artificers and tradesmen, who lived in the towns. The progress made by the Egyptians in the mechanical arts, is evident from their monuments, paintings, and sculptures, in which the various handicrafts are represented. The mines

respects that of the Hindoos. It was a monarchy of gold, copper, iron, and lead, which are in the mounbased upon an all-powerful hierarchy. The inhabitants tains between the Nile and the Red Sea, were worked were divided into hereditary castes, the first of which | at a very remote date under the early Pharaohs. The

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DIET-MONEY-GOVERNMENT.

There is a curious story in Plato's "Critias," of Sonchis, an Egyptian priest, having told Solon of the Atlantic isles, which he said were larger than Asia and Africa united, which seems to imply something like a knowledge of the existence of the western continent.

Egyptians were acquainted also with the art of gild- | have known, until a comparatively later period, that the ing. The art of fabricating glass was early known level of the Red Sea was much higher than that of the among them. Beads of glass, generally colored blue, Mediterranean, or of the Nile. are found on many mummies, as well as other ornaments of a coarse kind of the same material. A kind of ancient porcelain, sometimes covered with enamel and varnish, is found in great quantities in Egypt. Their pottery was often of the most elegant forms. The taste displayed by the Egyptians in several of their articles of furniture, is not surpassed by our most refined manufactures of modern times. In the great French work on Egyptian antiquities, and in the recent one of Rosellini, we have specimens of many articles of furniture, especially chairs and couches which are singularly beautiful in their forms. Linen cloths, plain or embroidered, white or dyed, was an article of Egyptian manufacture highly in repute among foreign nations. The art of making leather was also

The money of the Egyptians was in rings of silver and gold, similar to those still used in Sennaar. Its value was ascertained by weight, and its purity by fire. Gold was brought to Egypt from different tributary countries of Ethiopia and Asia, besides what they drew from their own mines. The revenue of Egypt, derived from the taxes alone, amounted, even during the negligent administration of Ptolemy Auletes, to twelve thousand five hundred talents between twelve and fifteen millions of dollars. Josephus rates it at twenty millions of dollars.

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known to them.

The last class, or caste, included pastors, or herdsmen, poulterers, fishermen, and servants. The herds men and shepherds appear to have been held in peculiar contempt. Beside servants, the people had a number of slaves, both black and white. Fish was an article of common food, except to the priests. Wine of native growth was used by the rich, and a kind of beer was the drink of the poor.

The above mentioned five castes were subdivided into ranks, according to the various callings and trades; and this has occasioned some variety in their enumeration. Herodotus reckons seven castes, Plato six; others have not reckoned the despised shepherds as a caste; and others have counted the military as one caste with the husbandmen, as being drafted from the body of the latter. Like the Hindoo, every Egyptian was required to follow his father's profession, and to remain in his caste.

In the early ages, it appears that the government of Egypt was effectually controlled by the priests. The revolution effected by Psammeticus, as we have stated, made the king supreme, and the government, instead of being hierarchical, was thenceforth monarchical; but the king was still restrained in many respects by the priesthood. The kingdom was divided into nomes, or prefectures: the administration, civil, religious, and military, was intrusted to officers under the direction of the hierarchy. The system of imposts was well regulated. There were solemn assemblies convoked by the king on important occasions, to which each nome sent deputies. The assemblies are supposed to have met in the famous Labyrinth, the king or his son presiding. The king was the head of the church and state, regulating sacrifices, feasts, and festivals. The crown was hereditary, the heir being required to learn the mystic arts and secrets of the priesthood. Women might ascend the throne, and officiate as priests, except in the highest offices. All learning, except what little was absolutely necessary for the exercise of the ordinary professions of the other castes, was retained in the keeping of the priests.

That such institutions were incompatible with our modern notions of independence and freedom, is evident enough; but freedom is a word differently understood in different ages and countries; and the Egyptians, trained up as they were from infancy to reverence laws which they deemed immutable, might have en- The soldiers were assigned a portion of the land, as joyed a greater degree of happiness than seems com- already stated, to give them an interest in defending patible with such a condition. Still the degradation the country. Many foreigners were hired as auxiliaries, of the lowest caste, and the waste of human strength receiving money for their services. The strength of and human life in the working of the mines, the the army lay in the archers. Heavy infantry, dividbuilding of the pyramids, and other colossal struc-ed into regiments, each distinguished by its peculiar tures, together with the frequency and nature of the cruel punishments inflicted, seem to imply that the mass of the people, and the lower classes especially, found their superiors of the sacerdotal order to be severe task-masters.

The progress of the Egyptians in the exact sciences has been taken for granted, without sufficient evidence. Of their astronomy we know but little; but it appears to have been confounded with mythology and astrology, and made subservient to religious polity. Their year was of three hundred and sixty-five days. Diodorus says that they foretold comets; but he also says that they foretold future events, leaving us in doubt whether they were successful in either or both cases. Their mythology appears to have been originally symbolical, but afterwards degenerated, at least among the vulgar, into gross idolatry. That they had some practical knowledge of geometry, which, indeed, must have been requisite for the construction of their buildings, is generally admitted. Yet they appear not to

arms, formed the centre, and the archers the wings. The infantry consisted of horsemen, spearmen, swordsmen, clubmen, and slingers, all trained to rapid and exact evolutions. Each battalion had its banner, representing a king's name, an animal, or some emblematic device. This standard was borne by an officer of known valor-and the sacred subject represented upon it being calculated to inspire reverence, every soldier was ready to defend what superstitious prejudice, as well as duty, forbade him to abandon. The system of discipline and drill was very complete. The soldiers were levied by conscription, drilled to the sound of the trumpet, and taught to march in measured time. Their martial music was produced by the trumpet and a long drum. Their weapons were bows, spears, javelins, slings, swords, daggers, falchions, axes, maces, and carved sticks. The men wore a helmet of metal, and a metal cuirass, or coat of arms; they had shields of wicker work or wood, covered with bull's hide, and strengthened with rims of

SYSTEMS OF WRITING-OBJECTS OF WORSHIP.

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metal. Coats of mail were worn only by the principal | song, and having refined and expanded his sublime

officers, and some remarkable warriors, like Goliath, the champion of the Philistines. The war chariots carried two persons, one of whom managed the steeds

Egyptian War Chariot.

while the other fought, and were drawn by two horses, often richly caparisoned. They were mounted on two wheels, and made, especially the wheels, with great care. They were hung low; were open behind, so that the warrior could easily step in and out, and were without seat. Nations were distinguished from each other by the shape of their chariots. They were used to break the ranks of the enemy. Scaling ladders, battering rams, and testudos were used in sieges. They are said to have had movable towers, and to have used something like the Greek fire-balls.

CHAPTER CCLXXXIII.

Learning, Religion, Tombs, Burials, of the

Ancient Egyptians.

THE writing of the Egyptians was of three kinds: First, the hieroglyphic, properly so called, in which the representation conveyed an idea of the object; the second was symbolical, or that in which symbols are used to represent ideas, as a censer, with incense, implies adoration; the third was phonetic, in which the signs represented sound, and not objects. Great progress has been made in deciphering the hieroglyphic inscriptions upon the monuments of Egypt, by Young, Champollion, and others. If, happily, these could be fully deciphered, most of the mysteries which still hang over Egyptian history would be solved.

It is not necessary for us again to discuss the question whether Egypt, or Assyria, or India, was the original source of the ancient arts, and civilization. It is probable these countries were mutually indebted to each other; for there can be no doubt that there was frequent intercourse between them. But Egypt at last took the lead, and for many centuries previous to the Christian era, was the school of the world in politics, philosophy, and civilization. So conscious were the ancients of her superiority in learning, that most of the illustrious men of other countries visited Egypt, either with a view of comparing her institutions with those of their respective states, or of acquiring new information. It was here that Homer, nearly a thousand years B. C., gathered materials for

genius with Egyptian lore, produced his immortal poems. Here Solon and Lycurgus found the archetypes of their celebrated laws, and the chief excellences of which are borrowed from the Egyptian polity. Pythagoras drew from Egypt the principal tenets of his philosophy; and the doctrine of the metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls, was confessedly of the same origin. Here Plato imbibed that religious mysticism, those beautiful illusions, and those eloquent, but fanciful theories, which characterize his works; and he was probably indebted to the priests of Memphis and Thebes for the knowledge which he displays of the Deity in his "Phædon" and "Alcibiades," which, although obscure, is far superior to the vulgar conception of his age. Greece was indebted to Egypt, perhaps, for letters, and undoubtedly for the mysteries of religion. The polity of the Egyptians was equal to their skill in the arts and sciences. The princes of Egypt were not absolute monarchs, being bound by the existing ordinances and laws of the country. The government was a limited one, where the kings were the parents of the people, rather than their tyrants and despots. In contemplating such a form of government, in an age so early, we cannot avoid tracing it to that patriarchal system which was the origin of all legitimate authority.

It is lamentable, however, to think that a people so wise in their politics, so conversant with science, and so richly endowed with general knowledge, should have been so grossly superstitious as to expose themselves to the ridicule of nations greatly their inferiors in general intelligence, and should have cherished the meanest and most degrading conceptions of the Deity. They not only worshipped him under the symbols of Isis, Osiris, and Apis, - symbols which had not lost all trace of their philosophical origin, - but they made a cat, a dog, or a stork, an object of adoration, and admitted into the list of their gods the very herbs of their gardens. Superstition is always intolerant and cruel; while it debases the understanding, it hardens the heart. Those who imagined that they found a type of the Divinity in an onion, perceived not his image in a fellow-creature.

The vagaries of their religion were indeed amazing. Every priest was devoted to a particular deity, and to that only. Each temple was dedicated to some special divinity, as a cat, an ichneumon, a crocodile, a hawk, a snake, an ibis, a fish, an insect, or an herb. Apis, the ox, was one of the leading divinities. Some of the temples whose mighty ruins still excite admiration, were reared only for the worship of brutes, birds, or vegetables! The adoration of these objects originated in some fancied resemblance they have to the heavenly bodies. The whole mythology was the work of the priests, who used religion as the means of exercising power and influence over the people. They were the richest members of society, and enjoyed a consideration only due to Deity. It is not to be overlooked, however, that, behind the strange idolatries which appear in Egyptian religions, there doubtless was, as there is in all other religions, a profound sentiment of faith in a future state of rewards and punishments, which exercises an influence over the conduct of men, and establishes a system of morals founded in truth and justice.

The singular propensity of the Egyptians to decorate their tombs with the lavish splendor which other nations have reserved for the palaces and temples of the living,

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is one of the most strange and inexplicable phenomena | this belief, every spirit, on its departure from the body,

in the history of man. Many of these highly adorned sepulchral chambers appear to be accessible only through long, narrow, and intricate passages. The approach to others seems to have been closed with the strictest care, and concealed with a kind of reverential sanctity. To each city or district belonged a city of the dead. In the silent and rock-hewn counterparts of Memphis and Thebes were treasured up all the scenes in which the living king and his subjects had been engaged. Egypt is full of immense tombs, and their walls, as well as those of the temples, are covered with the most extraordinary paintings, executed thousands of years ago. In these paintings, the whole country, with all its natural productions, its animals, birds, fishes, and vegetables, and the people in all their private and domestic occupations, are delineated, if not in the first style of art, yet with that which renders them still more curious and valuable - an apparent Chinese fidelity of outline, and an extraordinary richness of coloring.

Religion presided over, if it did not originally suggest, the care of the Egyptians for their dead. The whole art of embalming the body, the preparing, the bandaging, the anointing, in short, the whole process of forming the mummy, was a sacerdotal function. The difficulty is to ascertain the origin and the connection of this remarkable practice-which, though it has prevailed in various forms in other countries, has never been so general, so national a usage, as in ancient Egypt-with the religious dogmas and sentiment of the people. The origin may undoubtedly be traced to the local circumstances of the country. In Egypt, the burning of the dead, the only funeral practice besides burial which has prevailed to any extent, was impracticable. Egypt produces little timber, and of its few trees, the greater part, the date, palm, and other fruit trees, are too valuable for common consumption. The burial of the dead was then the only method of disposing of them; and, independently of the value of land for agricultural purposes, in the thickly peopled state of the country, the annual inundation of the Nile would have washed up the bodies, and generated pestilence. The chains of rocky mountains, on each side of the river, appeared to be designed by nature for sepulchres. Yet the multitudes of the dead could not safely be heaped together in a state of decomposition, even in the profoundest chambers of these rocks, without danger of breeding pestilential airs. From those fatal epidemic plagues, which now so perpetually desolate the country, ancient Egypt, by all accounts, was remarkably free; and this was owing, without doubt, mostly to the universal practice of embalming the dead, which cut off one main source of noxious vapors. It was, in the first instance, then, a wise sanatory regulation, and was subsequently taken up by the sacerdotal lawgivers, and incorporated with the civil and religious constitution of the country.

The lawgivers of the people, having recognized the necessity of this provision for the public health, took care to secure its universal and perpetual practice, by associating it with one of the principal doctrines of religion-one which is most profoundly rooted in the heart of man, and which is of the most vital importance to the private welfare of each individual. They either taught the immortality of the soul, or found it a part of the general creed; to this they added the metempsychosis, or transmigration of the soul. According to

must pass through a long predestined cycle, entering successively into the bodies of various animals, until it return in peace to its original dwelling. Whenever that body which it had last left became subject to corruption, the course of its migrations was suspended, the termination of its long journey and its ardently desired return to higher worlds was delayed. Hence every care was taken to preserve the bodies, not only of men, but of animals, and to secure them forever from perishing through putrefaction. The greatest attention was bestowed upon this work, which was enforced by severe and sacred laws. Certain orders of the priesthood were expressly intrusted with its due execution. It was solemnly performed with religious: rites and processions, and the piety and interest of each individual took part in the ceremony. Herodotus! informs us, that whenever a body was found seized by a crocodile, or drowned in the Nile, the city, upon whose territory the body was cast, was compelled to take charge of it, and to cause it to be embalmed and placed in a sepulchre. After having accomplished its revolution of three thousand years, the soul returned again, according to the Egyptian doctrine, to the human body.

In the catacombs of Egypt, every act of every de- ! partment of life seems to have been carefully copied; and the imperfection of the art of design increases, rather than diminishes, the interest of the pictures, as they evidently adhere with most unimaginative fidelity to the truth of nature.

Egyptian King - copied from one of the Catacombs.

The tombs of the rich consisted of one or more

chambers, ornamented with paintings and sculpture, || the place and size of which depended on the expense || incurred by the family of the deceased, or on the!! wishes of the individuals who purchased them during their lifetime. They were the property of the priests; and a sufficient number being always kept ready, the purchase was made at the shortest notice, nothing being requisite to complete even the sculptures or inscriptions || but the insertion of the name of the deceased, and a few statements respecting his family and profession. The numerous subjects representing agricultural scenes, the trades of the people, in short, the various

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DESCRIPTION OF FUNERAL CEREMONIES.

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occupations of the Egyptians, were already introduced. | a small skiff, holding baskets of cakes and fruit, with a These were common to all tombs, varying only in their quantity of green palm-branches, which it was customdetails and the mode of their execution, and were ary to strew in the way as the body proceeded to the

intended, perhaps, as a short epitome of human life, which suited equally every future occupant. In some instances, all the paintings of the tomb were finished, and even the small figures representing the tenant were introduced, those only being left unsculptured which were of a larger size, and consequently required more accuracy in the features, in order to give his real portrait; and sometimes even the large figures were completed before the tomb was sold, the only parts left unfinished being the hieroglyphical legends containing the tenant's name and that of his wife. Indeed, the fact of their selling old mummy-cases, and tombs belonging to other persons, shows that they were not always overscrupulous about the likeness of an individual, provided the hieroglyphics were altered and contained his real name - at least when a motive of economy reconciled the mind of a purchaser to a second-hand tenement for the body of his friend.

The tomb was always prepared for the reception of a husband and his wife. Whoever died first was buried at once there, or was kept embalmed in the house until the decease of the other. The manner in which husband and wife are always portrayed, with their arms around each other's waist or neck, is a pleasing illustration of the affectionate temper of the Egyptians; and the attachment of a family is shown by the presence of the different relatives, who are introduced in the performance of some tender office to the deceased. Beside the upper rooms of the tomb, which were ornamented by the paintings we have described, there were pits, varying from twenty to seventy feet in depth, at the bottom and on the sides of which were recesses, like small chambers, for depositing the coffins. The pit was closed with masonry after the burial, and sometimes reopened to receive the other members of the family. The upper apartments were richly ornamented with painted sculptures, being rather a monument in honor of the deceased than his sepulchre; and they served for the reception of his friends, who frequently met there, and accompanied the priests when performing the services for the dead. Tombs were built of brick or stone, or hewed in the rock, according to the position of the Necropolis. Whenever the mountains were sufficiently near, the latter was preferred; and these were generally the most elegant in their design and the variety of their sculptures. The sepulchres of the poorer classes had no upper chamber. The coffins were deposited in pits in the plain, or in recesses at the side of a rock. Mummies of the lower orders were buried together in a common repository; and the bodies of those whose relations had not the means of paying for their funeral, after being merely cleansed and kept in an alkaline solution for seventy days, were wrapped up in coarse cloth, in mats, or in a bundle of palm sticks, and deposited in the earth.

The funeral of Nophri-Othph, a priest of Amun, at Thebes, is thus described on the walls of his tomb: the scene lies partly on the lake, and partly on the way from the lake to the sepulchre. First came a large boat, conveying the bearers of flowers, cakes, and numerous things appertaining to the offerings, tables, chairs, and other pieces of furniture, as well as the friends of the deceased, whose consequence is shown by their dresses and long walking-sticks, the peculiar mark of Egyptian gentlemen. This was followed by

tomb, the smoothness of their leaves and stalks being particularly well adapted to enable the sled to glide over them. In this part of the picture we discern the love of caricature which was common to the Egyptians, even in the serious subject of a funeral. A large boat has run aground and is pushed off the bank, striking a smaller one with its rudder, and overturning a large table, loaded with cakes and other things, upon the heads of the rowers seated below - in spite of all the efforts of a man in the prow, and the earnest vociferations of the alarmed helmsman.

In another boat, men carried bunches of flowers and boxes supported by yokes on their shoulders. This was followed by two others, one containing the male and the other the female mourners, standing on the roof of the cabin, beating themselves, uttering cries, and making other demonstrations of excessive grief. Last came the consecrated boat, bearing the hearse, which was surrounded by the chief mourners and the female relatives of the deceased. Arrived at the opposite shore of the lake, the procession advanced to the catacombs. On their way, several women of the vicinity, carrying their children in shawls, suspended at the side or back, joined in the lamentation. The mummy was placed erect in the chamber of the tomb; and the sister, or nearest relation, embracing it, commenced a funeral dirge, calling on her relative with every expression of tenderness, extolling his virtues and bewailing her own loss. The high priest presented a sacrifice of incense and libation, with offerings of cakes and other customary gifts for the deceased; and the men and women continued the wailing, throwing dust upon their heads, and making other manifestations of grief.

In another painting is represented the judgment of a wicked soul, which is condemned to return to earth in the form of a pig, having been weighed in the scales before Osiris * and found wanting. It is placed in a boat, and, attended by two monkeys, is dismissed from heaven, all communication with which is figuratively cut off by a man, who hews away the ground behind it with an axe.

CHAPTER CCLXXXIV.

Domestic Life, Arts, Manners and Customs of the Egyptians.

In the extensive domains of wealthy landed proprietors, those who tended the flocks and herds were under the supervision of other persons connected with the estate. The peasant who tilled the land on which they were fed was responsible for their proper maintenance, and for the exact account of the quantity of food which they consumed. Some persons were exclusively employed in the care of the sick animals, which were kept at home in the farm-yard. The superintendent of the shepherds attended, at stated periods, to give a report to the scribes belonging to the estate, by whom it was submitted to the steward, and the latter was responsible to his employer for this, as well as every other portion of his possessions. In the paintings, we

* Osiris, worshipped under the form of a bull, was a god symbolized by the sun. Isis was married to Osiris, and typified by the moon. These were the two chief deities of Egyptian mythology.

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