New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-02-15
LIFE IN ANCIENT EGYPT.
SOME PECUILARrIIEs THAI WERE NOT DUE
TO CONSERVATISM.

Art Of Ancient Egypt Up. SO. Houshton Miihin
d. Co.
When a lannon's Frenchman was asked ABOUT HIS
family he replied. al know nothing about 1t; am
my own ancestor, In nm age when the spirit OF caste
was prevalent in its most vulgar and offensive iorhi'
he felt a proud satisfaction In knowing ,h' hi'
achievements could not tacltly be credited 10 HIS lure
fathers But II any one thinks that TINS fen''"''"
WINS the first TO announce this contempt 1or a"ocs"H
and b,ne blood or that the idea which he exprcsseu
IL peculiar TO modern times, a single hcdeh' Ho"'
early Egyptian history should correct the error 81"
mut the architect who planned many OF the bidihgs
erected by Queen Hatasu was honorcd al'er MS oo'
nv a portrait statue mark OF her eihut""c -"
the shoulder Of this statue was cut al lns'''Puo"
which declared that his ancestors were not louho Ill
writing That IS to say, he was one Oh tie oo'a'o,
people and his royal mistress was proud OF inc Iac'
thot sbe bad penetration enough to recognize his
merit Nor was this solitary instance. Inc niVhu-
ments are numerous that were conseera'eo 10 uc
memory Of In life honOred win meh anu rc
sponslble Office at the court of Pharaoh ana III ue"
decorated with the highest marx OF hophS MS
ancestors were unknown people Mr. trimmer III
the book whose title heads this article seems 20 nave
,crored tbese testimonials the nudity ana move
ment Of national life in ancient Egypt IN iNor Vi INC
theory Of crystaized conservatism III Is pr'icuo'Is
true of Egypt In the time since htrouOtuS ''''
Nature tradition and routine determine inc COURSE
NJ life and hold men at fixed level Of condition. from
NJ falling But ages required, in the nature
a. The case 10 bring about this stable equilibrium be-
tween the living forces Of humanity and the dcad
inertia of climate and environment. Mr. Bnmmer at
tributes the settlement Of Egypt in the first pEce 10
the immigrants from Asia, but the inevitable inference
from that fact is that the turbulent, vigorous anu
ouarrelsome tribes who found their way to the Mic
were by no means readymade to suit the climate ana
the country I'm which they TO build up a mighty
kingdom. Only by slow degrees did the prmeval
human force and activity yield to its ln5nrions ell
yironment II not in state OF mononess con-
servatism that the Egyptian could have ganed the
experience reflected in sentence which Mr. BI1inmer
has quoted "f thou art great after having oceh
little II thou art rich after having been poor, when
tbou art the head of city, do not take advantage
OF having reached the first rank harden not thy her'
on account of thy elevation thou hast become only
the steward Of the goods of God. Do not put my
neglbor behind thee for know that he Is thy equal
But the three chapters in this book have the erect
of photographs They reproduce the scene on which
the long drama Of Egypt was acted. ana Ill tat scene
with the characters who enacted the piece At some
comparatively late period Egypt might have seemed
to philosophc Egyptian just what II seems 10 Us Us we
turn the pages of this handsome book. gazing at INC
pictures and following the words OF the text II Is
as if everybody had stopped all at once TO have thr
picture taken In o group. like the eamcs ana lie
camerders In frort Of the sphinx in one of the IL
ono IS sure that there was movement enough short
time before The Nile Valley and the Delta are de-
piced in the shape of lily with its STEM shut IN from
all the rest Of the world by the sea ana the DESERT
Not only was the view that met the eyes OF the
Ecyptians ever the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES fertile-aIl
that nature did for them done with unurins
regularity II people could be conquered by
climate il would be o matter of wonder that the
Egyptians ever thought at all. not that their IN
tellectuaI activity varied and so purposeful rs
II really was. In the domain OF art the author sees
clearly, every must the changes that occurred
I'm Egypt throughout long ages for the better ana
then for the and here he revert to the history
OF the nation in manner more philosophlc. ms II
seems to u.s. than his direct treatment of that history
would lead one to expect. The periods OF develop
mcnt stagnation and decay in art he says. "are
indissoluby connected with the circumstances OF the
national lfe' and he adds "1ndeed the sensitive
ness Of Egyptian art to the influences hanVe or
foreign which surrounded 1t helps one TO
understand the character and conditions Of the
different ages in It's history Ii this was
true I'm art. why it not true in politics ana
relieonl
Suppose that some thousands Of years hence the
literature and history and beliefs and Rituals OF Eu-
rope should have disappeared. with the exception
OF the Nicene Creed. Protestant Confessions OF
Faith the Offices for the dead tie Greek Latin ana
English Churches n collection Of inscriptions. frag-
ments OF historical writing. ahcap OF modern novels.
foll-taes poems. and Est OF the dynaStles that
Iavo ruled the various countries and suppose that
among the historical fragments preserved should b.
one running somewhat 'as follows: :" st. OLAF marlitd
the second daughter CT Olaf the swede and by her
had daughter. Ulfhild. who became the wife Of
Duke of Brunswick, ard through her st. Olaf Is the
ancestor OF almost all the Royal Houses Of modern
Europe" When the future Investigator comes TO
look over this material, Will he not be justified In
all exclamation at The wonderful Conservatism OF
Europe? He viii find that the religions OF the most
diverse races were practically the same. lie will
conclude that In brrvlne their d d Europeans used
often the same formulas expressed In various Ian
gIageS that they had extremity Uniform imaglna-
tive literature and 1nally he VIII tGrn to the most
decisive proof OF al-for hundreds AID hundreds Of
years those EurOpeenS ruled by single tribe the
members Of which traced their descent from King
OF Norway. Br, he will review his argument IN the
light of the universal data Of mman life He Will
End a kind Of qualification in the religious
material nj hand and win conclude that these over
tapping statements OF doctrine were not OF c0ntcm-
porary origin, and that probably the variations did
not take place without bitter AM soul stirring con
nicts. Now there is. told. some such stratih-
cation MS this in the famous Book of the Dead"
1t falls into four great divisions and thesc
ifestly the work OF different In age OF
eclcctCsm, OF seeking. perhaps for religions unity.
they were brought together. Three OF them were
combined In TIE first place, and thcn afterwar the
fourth was added. There are Indications, too. that
the minor piecss-ca them chapt rs or books. vou
will the Egyptians used both terms-wcre not rele
gated to their fbnl places without much difficulty.
Eut storms have disturbed the history OF Europe
from differences single word single letter
In a word surely, then, these revolutions in the
history OF a sacred book in Egypt DO not SAVIOR Of
stagnant conservatism. Allowing that all religious
controversies confined TO the priesthood. there
are nevertheless signs enough that old ideas and
Ideas confronted enob other In bitter opposition,
that Old forms OF words We're often forced 10 eX
press new meanings the result bling that II Is i'm
possible to decide whether the nnernost kernel Of
Egyptian belief mOnotheism pantbelsm athe-
ibm. Possibly there adherents OF all three
eory. NJ oninion at all times I'm the history ~ Ecvn