Chapter III: The Child in Egypt (2)

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]

=Sickness and Death.= It would appear that the study and practice of medicine began at a very early time in Egypt. Principles and remedies were given out from time to time till finally they were brought together in the form of medical works and all physicians were expected to study them and to use the prescribed remedies. The medical skill of the Egyptians became known to other parts of the world and they were consulted and called to foreign countries to give advice and treatment. They went so far as to divide the study and practice of medicine into specialties and so there were physicians attending to one kind of illness only, as, one for the diseases of the eyes, another for the diseases of the intestines, and so on, accoucheurs having been usually, if not always, women. The physicians were given salaries by the government and fixed by it and also they were permitted to receive fees for their advice and attendance upon patients, but when in military service they could not charge fees.

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]

=Child and Religion.= The child played a part in the religion of the ancient Egyptians. Even one of their gods, Harpocrates, was represented by an infant, having his finger to his mouth and that striking characteristic of a young child--a protruding abdomen. The birth of a child was a matter for thanksgiving offerings through the priests to the gods. Herodotus says: "When parents, living in town, perform vows for the recovery of their children's health, they offer prayers to the deity of whom the animal is sacred, and then shaving a portion, or half, or the whole of the child's head, they put the hair into one scale of the balance and money into the other until the latter outweighs the former; they then give it to the person who takes care of the animal to buy fish (or other food)."[46]

On some occasions when the sacred bull was led in procession through the town, the procession was led by children, and on such occasions it was thought that these children received the gift of foretelling future events. Wilkinson gives the following from Plutarch: "They even look upon children as gifted with a kind of faculty of divination, and they are ever anxious to observe the accidental prattle they talk during play, especially if it be in a sacred place, deducing from it presages of future events."[47]

=Amusements.= In the earlier times of ancient Egypt, as of all nations, when the struggle for living required the putting forth of the energies and but little leisure was allowed, there was not much time for recreation and the people were not much given to amusements. As wealth grew and there was leisure time, the desire for amusement and entertainment increased until there grew up in the Egyptian character a softness and inclination to luxurious living. Great banquets were given, where hosts vied with one another in entertaining lavishly and in furnishing amusement for the guests, till it would appear as if they devised every possible kind of amusement. Nor was the zest for amusement confined to the upper classes, for during the inundation of the Nile, when but little work could be done, the peasantry gave themselves up to pastime and sport. Many of the kinds of entertainment given at the banquets were performed on the streets and open places.

Dancing was an indispensable entertainment at an Egyptian party and music was required with the dance. They danced to the music of the harp, lyre, guitar, pipe, tambourine, and other instruments, and in the streets also to the drum. Dancing was not done by the guests, as it was held not to be proper for the upper classes to dance, although the lower classes indulged in this amusement and greatly enjoyed it. The dancing was carried on before the guests by slaves taught the steps for that purpose or by hired performers who made a profession of furnishing dancing and music for festive occasions. Graceful posings and movements and especial skill and grace in the use of the hands were the important features of the dance. Both men and women danced for hire, the women showing the superior grace and elegance and the men displaying the most spirit. The dress of the female dancers was usually a loose flowing robe, reaching to the ankles, fastened at the waist, and around the hips was a small narrow girdle of various colors and ornamented with beads. The material of the dress was of a very fine texture and thin, showing the form and movement of the limbs in dancing.

There were various ways of dancing. Sometimes one person danced alone, sometimes they danced in pairs, again there were several dancers together sometimes of both sexes and then of but one sex. Some danced to slow music, while others preferred lively tunes, men sometimes displaying great spirit, bounding from the ground. The aim of the dance was to display a succession of figures in which were exhibited a great variety of gestures. Twirling was much used in dancing and the pirouette was quite a favorite form with them. In one dance two parties would each dance on one leg toward one another and perform a series of evolutions and then retire from one another. In another step, standing on one foot the dancer would strike the ground with the heel, changing back and forth from one foot to the other. The dances of the lower classes were sometimes in the form of a pantomime, in which there was a preference shown for the ludicrous rather than the graceful.

Music was very popular with the Egyptians and they had both vocal and instrumental. They had numerous songs and for various occasions. They had quite a variety of musical instruments. Music was used in military movements, in religious exercises, in their social functions, and in the wailing for the dead. Music formed a part of the education of a member of the upper classes, but he did not display this at social functions, as that, like dancing, was given over to professionals. Both men and women of the priestly order, though, did render service with voice and instrument in religious ceremonies.

"It is sufficiently evident, from the sculptures of the ancient Egyptians, that their hired musicians were acquainted with the triple symphony; the harmony of instruments, of voices, and of voices and instruments. Their band was variously composed, consisting either of two harps, with the single pipe and flute; of the harp and double pipe, frequently with the addition of the guitar; of a fourteen-stringed harp, a guitar, lyre, double pipe, and tambourine; of two harps, sometimes of different sizes, one of seven, the other of four strings; of two harps of eight strings, and a seven-stringed lyre; of the guitar, and the square or oblong tambourine; of the lyre, harp, guitar, double pipe, and a sort of harp, with four strings, which was held upon the shoulder; of the harp, guitar, double pipe, lyre, and square tambourine; of the harp, two guitars, and the double pipe; of the harp, two flutes, and a guitar; of two harps and a flute; of a seventeen-stringed lyre, the double pipe, and a harp of fourteen strings; of the harp and two guitars; or of two seven-stringed harps and an instrument held in the hand, not unlike an Eastern fan, to which were probably attached small bells, or pieces of metal that emitted a jingling sound when shaken, like the crescent-crowned _bells_ of our modern bands; besides many other combinations of these various instruments; and in the Bacchic festival of Ptolemy Philadelphus, described by Athenæus, more than 600 musicians were employed in the chorus, among whom were 300 performers on the _kithara_."[48]

As was stated before, dwarfs and deformed persons were attached to the households of the greater people as a means of entertainment as in Rome and Medieval Europe. These dwarfs and also others engaged in buffoonery for the entertainment of guests. There were various tricks performed by jugglers, and we find there the old cup or shell game, in which a little ball or pea is rolled about on a board from one inverted cup to another to guess under which it finally rested. There were many kinds of acrobatic feats, mostly performed by women, such as two performers swinging around in a reckless fashion while holding hands. This was varied by two men holding the hands of two women and whirling them around with feet braced together. There were tumbling exhibits of turning forward and backward on the hands, somersaulting off one another's shoulders, and even sometimes doing these feats while holding one foot with a hand. There were tests of strength wherein two men would sit back to back and each strive to rise first from the ground, and in another test they would try who could lift the heaviest weight or raise a bag of sand with a straight arm up over head. They would throw knives at a board, each contestant striving to strike his knife in the center of the board or on a mark.

The most common indoor games were odd and even, mora, and draughts, all of which it would appear were played in Egypt from very ancient times. In odd or even bones, beans, nuts, almonds, and coins were used and any indefinite number was held between the hands, the game being to guess whether odd or even. The game of mora was usually played by two persons, each at the same time quickly throwing out the fingers of one hand, then trying to guess the number of fingers shown by both. Draughts was a favorite game of all ranks. It was played by two people on a board similar to the present checker-board, but the pieces were not flat, being raised, more like the pieces in chess, and picked up like chessmen between thumb and finger. In another game hooked rods were used by which a small hoop was to be snatched from one another, the skill in this was for one person to get his hoop loose from his opponent's rod and then snatch it away quickly before he had time to stop it. In one game a player knelt with face toward the ground between two others, who held over him in their closed hands shells or dice, the number of which he was to guess before being allowed to rise. They played with dice and probably played several other games of chance.

Wrestling was a favorite amusement among the lower classes. They fought with the single-stick and among the boatmen of the Nile were conflicts with long poles. Mock fights were common, especially with the military classes, sometimes quite a great affair wherein a temporary fort would be erected and attacked by a party with a battering-ram and other implements of war and vigorously defended by the party within the fort. There were bull fights, sometimes between the animals and again men would fight the bulls. The animals were carefully trained to fight and prizes were awarded to the owner of the victorious combatant. It is pretty certain that animals were taught to perform tricks and to dance.

All classes of the Egyptians delighted in hunting, fowling, and fishing. In hunting they used the bow, the spear, the lasso, and the net to place across enclosures. There were preserves on some of the estates in which animals were kept for hunting, but the greatest sport was hunting out on the desert. Dogs were used and different breeds reared, some for attacking, some for coursing, and the like. Sometimes there would be a great hunt arranged, with beaters for forcing the game into quarters where they could be enclosed with nets and then hunted within. In hunting for birds and water-fowl the real sportsman used only the throwing-stick, which was from a foot and a quarter to two feet in length, about one inch and a half in breadth, and slightly curved at the upper end. The hunter would usually go out in a boat into the places covered with tall reeds and lotuses and gliding swiftly in among the birds, or using a decoy bird to attract them toward him, he would cast the throwing-stick at them as they arose and thus fell them. Often a cat would accompany the hunter which was trained to get the birds as they fell and bring them to the boat. In the pleasure-grounds of villas were ponds well stocked with fish. The fish were caught from them by hook and line. But the real fisherman used the bident spear, which sometimes had feathers at one end, like an arrow, but more often without, and sometimes the spear had a string attached to it to bring it back when thrown. Running his boat over the surface of the water, as he would see a fish he would cast his spear at it. They prided themselves on their skill with the spear.

=Games, Plays, and Toys.= The children and young people among the ancient Egyptians engaged in many sports and they were encouraged in this by their elders, particularly in those activities of an outdoor nature, as they were considered to be conducive to good health through exercise of the body. The young people took part in the singing and other music and at least among the lower classes in the dancing. They went out with their parents and other relatives on fishing trips and bird hunting and the youth went with the men on hunting trips. The youth of both sexes practiced shooting at a target with the bow and arrow.

The game of ball was one of the great games of the Egyptians, participated in by children and adults of both sexes, but it appears to have been more indulged in by the women. Some of the balls were made of leather or skin, sewed with string, and stuffed with bran or husks of corn, some being about three inches in diameter. In one of the favorite games the ball was thrown and caught and the one failing had to carry the other woman, who caught it on her back till this one failed to catch it, when she had to do the carrying. The women rode sidewise in short petticoats on the backs of the losers. In another game the ball was thrown as high as possible and the catcher would leap up and catch it before the feet would touch the ground. Again when the ball was thrown to them they would catch it with the hands behind the back and even while standing on one leg.

The playthings of the little child are often found buried with it. They had dolls of various kinds, being made of wood, stone, and enamelled pottery. They often were painted, the inferior ones being the most gaudily colored. Some were of rude construction with head and body and without arms and legs, while others were small models of the human figure. Some were jointed, the arms and legs moving on pins. Some had artificial hair, while others had beads in imitation of hair hanging from the head. Some grotesque figures were formed and by means of strings could be made to assume various postures. One such figure was that of a crocodile which could be made to amuse the child by its grimaces and by the opening and closing of its mouth. Some figures of persons could be made to go through the motions of washing and of kneading dough. One was the figure of a person with jointed arms and legs, which could be thrown about by the pulling of a string, and which still exists with us today in the jumping-jack. They also had pigs, ducks, pigeons on wheels, boats, balls, marbles, and miniature sets of household furniture.

=Education.= The ancient Egyptians were very much interested in the education of the young. It would appear that the parent was left entire freedom in the selecting what education and how much the child should have. In the matter of education there seemed to be no caste whatever, as the poor boy and son of one of the lower classes could take his place in school by the side of the rich boy or the son of the noble.

A clever boy in school had great opportunities, be he from whatever class of society. He was encouraged to go on to literary life, which meant, if successful, entering into the employ of the government and reaching the very highest places. Many a great nobleman so arose in Egypt and often was found on his monument after his death: "His ancestors were unknown people."

There were elementary schools, probably none provided by the state, and whether there were schools or not in a community, there were teachers to be had for the instruction of the young. With the temples were connected higher schools and in the capitals of the three districts of Egypt, Thebes, Memphis, Heliopolis, the temple schools were quite important centers of learning. The child started into the elementary school at near five years of age and continued till he left for work, or to enter a higher school, or else he might have gone into the office of a scribe or physician or architect to learn directly the work of his profession. The vast majority of the children received very little training beyond the rudiments of education and what instruction was given to them by their parents in teaching them their trades. Some of the young people continued with their schooling and entered the schools of the temples and there came in contact with the learned men of the state and received a higher education. A very few of these, who displayed special aptitude for learning, were permitted to enter into the deeper studies and to whom was thrown open all the knowledge possessed by the wisest men of their day. Little is known about the education of girls. As the women ranked high in Egypt and took part in the public festivities and religious ceremonies, they must have received such education as would prepare them for their duties in life.

The purpose of education in ancient Egypt was to prepare for some one of the callings of priest, scribe, architect, engineer, physician, soldier, musician, artisan. It was necessary to be educated to enter into office and to rise in position. Thus the education was of a utilitarian nature. The most important calling outside the priesthood was that of the scribe. The scribe learned about official documents and the management of business and to read and write the three forms of writing--hieroglyphic, hierotic, demotic--and also he studied ethics, philosophy, and law. The architect studied mathematics and science and the history that would give him a knowledge of art. The physician was taught such anatomy and physiology as was known, remedies and incantations, and other things pertaining to his calling. Whatever may be considered about this education, it did give Egypt a high place among the old nations of the world and caused its civilization to continue through many centuries.

In the home and in the school it was impressed on the children to be respectful to their elders. They were taught to be careful of looks and gestures, that such should be of a proper kind. It was not permitted to use any dance or ode at the feasts and sacrifices that had not been passed on by the proper authorities. The children were not permitted to hear or to learn any verses or songs than such as were of a virtuous giving character.

The discipline in school was quite severe. One teacher spoke thus: "The hawk is taught to fly and the pigeon to nest; I shall teach you your letters, you idle villain."[49] A pedagogical saying runs: "A young fellow has a back, he hears when we strike it."

"Plato says the Egyptians taught numbers to children in their play by distributing amongst them a certain number of fruits, or other things, the same number to be given to many or to few children, so that by dividing them amongst themselves they learnt lessons in arithmetic; and all sorts of numbers were given to them in their games and plays as arithmetical problems."[50]

For written work they had wooden blocks covered with red or white stucco. Copies were engraved on wooden or stone tablets and then the children copied them on their tablets. Work was also given by dictation. The older pupils wrote from dictation, or from copies, extracts from the best writers. This trained also in penmanship and spelling. Often the pupils copied an "instruction," which consisted of moral precepts of an ancient writer. Often the instruction consisted of letters between student and teacher.

LITERATURE

1. Brugsch-Bey, Henry, A history of Egypt under the Pharaohs.

2. Dean, Amos, A history of civilization.

3. Graves, Frank Pierrepont, A history of education, Before the middle ages.

4. Laurie, S. S., Historical survey of pre-Christian education.

5. Maspero, G., Life in ancient Egypt and Assyria.

6. Maspero, G., The dawn of civilization.

7. Petrie, W. M. Flinders, Arts and crafts of ancient Egypt.

8. Rawlinson, George, History of ancient Egypt.

9. Wilkinson, Sir J. Gardner, A popular account of the ancient Egyptians.

10. Wilkinson, Sir J. Gardner, The Egyptians in the time of the Pharaohs.

11. Wilkinson, Sir J. Gardner, The manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians.