The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-10-24
EG GYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

The first feature which distinguishes the
Egyptian monarchy is its antiquity, the rule
of the Pharaohs ascending to the remote
period of at least three thousand years before
Christ.
In the dawn of history Egyptian civilization
breaks upon the view fully developed, the
following centuries having contributed no.
thing to its perfection. Socrates and Plato,
studying this fact, attributed the progress of
the early Egyptians in the arts and sciences
to their more direct relations with the gods.
Socrates says:-"The anoients, better than
we, being nearer to the gods, transmitted to
us by tradition the sublime knowledge i'm
parted by them;" while Plato adds that the
first men who issued from the hands of the
gods must have been on terms of peculiar in
timacy with them, as with their own fathers,
and that it is impossible not to believe the
testimony of the sons of the gods. The social
organization and family institutions of the
ancient Egyptians lay at the foundation of
all their greatness; these alone being capable
of uniting men, and rendering the duration
of States perpetual.
The family reposed upon the unity of mar
riage, and the honor and respect paid to
parents; its perpetuity being guaranteed by
the right of primogeniture, which, from the
kings palace to the peasants cot, was univer-
sally admitted,
Numerous remains of the filial affection
and respect of the ancient Egyptians were
collected by M. Mariette, in the Museum of
Boolak, many of the funereal stiles begin
ming with the sentence, Sacrifice offered on
behalf of the head of the house."
The disiguring the likeness of an undutiful
son upon his tombstone was reckoned by
them to be the height of infamy. Herodotus
states that the young Egyptians, in common
with the Laced@monians, rose from their
seats when old men drew near them, and
never obliged them to go off their path.
Diodorus informs us that the Egyptian Gov
ernment looked vigorously after the proper
bringing up Of children, neglect being Sc
verely punished on the part of the parents,
who were bound to protect and preserve their
offspring, and initiate them into the arts for
which they were destined.
system of education at once SO simple
and natural favored the fecundity of marriage
among the mass of the people, On many a
simple monument, in all our great museums,
we are struck by the frequency of the repre-
sentation of funereal rites rendered to the
head of house by his children, averaging
from eight to twelve in number. The in
equality which so much oppressed females in
ancient times did not exist in Egypt.
In the family circle, woman occupied her
proper sphere; the privileges she enjoyed by
birth were not absorbed by those of her hus-
band, and she had the right to transmit them
intact to her children.
The women who frequently figure in the
history of the ancient Egyptian dynasties
possessed liberty of action in private life
which was altogether foreign to the manners
of Orientals. The regime of the ancient
| Egyptians was therefore we'll calculated tt
produce strong minds, robust bodies, fruitful
wives, and vigorous children.
Regarding them as the first people who
succeeded in establishing a truly civilized
state of society, we may state that the popu
lation was divided into distinct classes, il
which families were bound to prosecute diff
ferent vocations.
The two dominant classes were the priests
and warriors; after them came tillers of the
soil, shepherds, merchants, artisans, ant
boatmen; upon these classes devolved tn,
cultivation of the land, the tending of herds
and fiocks, commerce, building, weaving
and the service of communication and trans
port by the Nile, and the divers canals in
tersecting the country.
Industry, established upon such a solit
basis, provided abundance for a laboriou
and contented race, in whose society ther
was no room for the indolent.
The soil of Egypt was divided into thre
parts, the first for the priests, the secont
for the king, and the third for the warrior
charged with the defense of the country, o
whom there were at one time more than fou
hundred thousand, who were reckoned tn
best troops in the East. This arrangement
of the soil of Egypt helped in some measur
to strengthen the distinctive character o
Egyptian society.
The hereditary transmission of the soil h