The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1923-07-13
Had Merry Life
Under Pharaohs

ploWed and titled the fields, the shep-
herds who guarded the ilocks, the boat
men who painfully piled their oars on
the Nile, all, it seems, sang at their
tasks. Some Of their songs have been
preserved. 1t was Il gay nation-that
ancient Egypt. II II were possible 10
revive II Of its mummifed maidens
today and let her awaken TO the sound
or Il saXophone orchestra In some mod
ern jazz palace. she would. by all ac-
counts, be entirely NJ home and go
dancing across the sfloor as one but re-
freshed from a nights sleep. Such IA
The life revealed In the cold one and
dry parchments %unearthed from the
tombS OF today. This way OF looking at
life, says our author, is TO be found in
Egypt from the earliest times down 10
the period of the Greek occupation
and, In fact. 10 the present day. 1t was
a philosophy Unborn In the Egyptian
a part Of his nature.
Philosophy Of lmhotep.
Away back in the third dynasty,
about 1000 Is. c., there was n famous
philosopher named Imhotep and the n
scriptions reveal that the philosophy
he taught his disciples ran in this
fashion: Behold the dwellings, of the
dead. Their walls fall down, their
place Is no more, they are rs they had
never existed" and he drew from this
the lesson that man is soon done with
and forgotten and that therefore his
life should be as happy here rs pos
sible. Il merry while we may" he
told them. There is n poem dating
from about 1000 b. c., from which the
following eXhortation IS taken:
walk after thy hearts desire so
long as thou llvest. Put myrrh on thy
head, clothe myself In fine liner,
anoint thyself with the true marvels
Of God. Let not thy heart concern
itself, until there cometh to thee that
great day Of lamentation. Yet he who
is at rest can hear not thy complaint,
and he who lies in the tomb can under
stand not thy weeping. Therefore,
with smiling face. let thy days be
happy and rest not thereon. For no
man carrieth his goods away with him,
and no man returneth who Is gone
thither."
A similar refrain was found In the
tomb of Neferhotep, n priest Of Anon.
Of about 1850 b. c.:
"COme, songs and music are before
thee. Set behind thee all cares: think
only upon gladness, until that day
cometh wherein thou shalt go down 70
the place which loveth silence"
Love Songs Of the Pharaohs.
Beautiful love songs have been pre-.
served from destruction that throw
much light on the Egyptian tempera-
ment-songs supposed to have been
SUM- by the peasant class. Here Is one
that appears beneath the figure Of q
maiden wearing a wreath Of flowers:
II am thy first sister, and to me thou
art as a garden which / have planted
with flowers and all sweet smelling
herbs. And l have directed a canal
into It, that thou mightest dip thy
hand into 1t when the north wind
blows cool. The place Is beautiful
!. where we walk, because we walk to-
gether, thy hand resting In mine, and
our mind thoughtful and our heart JOY
full. 1t Is intoxicating TO me to hear
thy voice, yet my life depends upon
hearing 1t. Whenever / see thee Ii Is
better for me than food or drink"
Here Is another song by n who had
no thought of tombs or mummies {:
The breath OF my nostrils alone Is
that which maketh my heart TO live; I
found thee God grant thee to me, for
ever and ever" Fancy. says this poetic
a~rcheologist, words such as these
having fallen from the lips Of what Is
now n resin-smelling lump Of bones
and hardened flesh, perhaps still un-
earthed, perhaps lying in some museum
show case. or perhaps kicked about in