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.

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.

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

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.

"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

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

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