The Ordway new era., 1922-04-07


like the slums of today with the
crowded dwellings opening on narrow
alleys. There were some separate
dwellings and some barrack-like struc-
lures presumably for unmarried work
ers. But even In the most humble
houses evidences were found that their
occupants lived on higher plane than
might have been supposed. Various
manuscripts were found including
medical treatise and several wills. And
In the separate dwellings were found
such toys as tops and dolls and tiny
boats to show that the pastimes of
children OF that remote time were not
vastly different from those of today
At the very border line between the
prehistoric and the historic in Egypt,
civilization, 1t has been found, had
reached considerable degree of de-
velopment. The tombs of the first
Egyptian kings. who lived anywhere
from 5000 to 1000 years ago, are
such as no barbarians could have
erected-a fact which pushes the be-
ginning of Egyptian civilization into a
very dim past indeed. This was be-
fore the days of pyramid building
when the tombs were underground
structures. t...
Preserved in the Tombs.
The furniture of this distant period
was by no means crude as one might
assume 1t would have been. There
were ebony chests skillfully inlaid
with ivory, stools with ivory legs
carved like the legs of bulls, vessels
cut from alabaster and ewers of cop
per wrought with the cunning that
only highly skilled craftsmen could
have possessed. Daintily fashioned
bracelets on the withered arms of the
mummy of Egypts first known queen
add further to the record of the prog
ress in the arts which E7gypt had at
tanned when we catch our first glimpse
of 1t down the ages.
And there is pretty little picture
of the family relations of this ancient
society. Besides the tomb of the first
Egyptian king at Abydos is that OF
his daughter, and carved on her tomb
the pet name by which her father
knew her-"Sweetheart." M
Even AT Illhl edIlA ua'S siiS >'o'
was socially highly organized.
Womanhood was sincerely respect
ed in ancient Egypt and especially
was this true of the mothers. Wha'
might be called Egypt's substitute for
the fifth commandment ignored the
father. 1t was an injunction: "Never
forget what thy mother hath done for
thee. She bare thee and nourished
thee in all manner of ways. If thou
forgettest her, she might blame thee :
she might lift up her hands Ito. God.
and He would hear her complaint"
In many families it was the custom
for titles and property to pass not to
the eldest son but to the son of the
eldest daughter. There was no moth
er-in-law Joke" In Egypt. To the mind
of the Egyptian it was the natural
thing that his wife's relations should
take deeper interest in his affairs
than his blood relations.
Much of the ability of those who
live today to look into the past OF
Egypt, to see something of its flesh.
and-blood life, and to understand
somewhat of the. joys, and sorrows OF
its people, must be ascribed to the
preserving powers Of the desert air
of that sandy land The perfect con.
dition of some of the objects recovered
from tombs is marvellous, One of the
best examples of this was the tomb
of the noble parents Of the great
Queen Tyi. The discoverer of the
large airy chamber that was provided
az a home for these important per-
sonages declared that It seemed the
room might have been shut up only
few weeks before. Beautifully carved
and inlaid armchairs stood about, on
them down-stuffed cushions tnat
could have been sat upon without I'M
iury. In another part Of the room
were "twin beds" perfectly preserved
The most amazing discovery or a'T
was that of jar Of honey, $500 years
old, still fluid and still having its
recognizable odor.