(1) Book of the Dead. The Book of the Dead is the starting point of the study of the Egyptian religion and acquaints us with the God-idea of the Egyptians, with many of their dogmas and their interpretations, with their mythology, their morals and their faith in immortality. It also teaches us their forms of calling upon the divine powers in prayers and hymns. It was put into the graves with the dead, and parts of it were written on many a tomb acid on the inner sides of the sarcophagi, to point out to the deceased the road through the other world and serve him as an aid to memory. He had to know the "right word," to use it as a magic weapon against the demons, which would meet him with hostile intentions, and as a key to open the locked portals upon his way.
(2) Magic. There was also another clement besides the religious which was intermixed in the wonderful effect of the "right word." It was the Magic. We meet with it even in the oldest texts, which were discovered in the interior of some pyramids. Here one sees that the people did not only endeavor to earn for themselves the fa vor of the gods by prayer, coining from a be lieving heart, but that they also tried to force the gods to do the will of the conjurer by the aid of magic formulas.
There is also a list of special writings treating of Magic, like the Magic Papyrus Harris, the Magic Mythological Papyrus published by Ma ruchi, or the later Coptic and Greek Magic Papyri, published after the beginning of the Christian era, and pieces of magic character are also found in many other manuscripts, especially in some of a scientific nature.
3. Scientific Literature. The scientific lit erature treats of Theology, Jurisprudence and Philosophy.
(1) Historic Texts. Historic texts give sketchesof military campaignsand some biographies of prominent military leaders. Among the his toric documents which the scholar who visits Egypt beholds are those which contain the sculp tured tablets giving the list of kings. Each shows the monarch of the period doing homage to the long line of his ancestors. Each of these sculptured monarchs has near him a tablet bearing his name. That great care was always taken to keep these imposing records correct is certain; the loyalty of subjects, the devotion of priests and the family pride of kings were all combined in this, and how effective this care was is seen in the fact that kings now known to be usurpers are carefully omitted.
(2) Medical Works. The medical science of the Egyptians is taught us by the Papyrus Ebers, a voluminous handbook of Egyptian medicine. Even in this work we find parts of Magic, but the incantations which arc to accompany the treat ment of many a disease are not very numerous. The Papyrus Ehers was written under Amenophis (eighteenth dynasty), in the sixteenth century before Christ, and is a collective work which con tains many earlier medical writings, dating in part from very ancient time. A number of diagnoses testify to the excellent observation of the Egyptian physicians,and a special part treatingof physiology proves that the heart had been recognized as the central organ of the human organism and its influence upon the circulation of the blood was also known.
(3) Astronomical Methods. Thus far we only !c2rn the methods of the astronomers (ruin pictures and their accompany ii.g texts, which also inform us of a well-designed instrument which they had. the use of which was discovered by Schack von Schackenburg.
It can only he said of the scientific literature of the Egyptians that it informs us regarding the Theology, the Jurisprudence. the Mathematics, the Medicine and Magic of the people somewhat in detail. and gives us a little information on the succession of the regents and a few of the wars.
4. 73elles Lettres. (1) Poetry. We also pos sess some Egyptian writings of a belletristic char acter ; for instance, samples of most of the classes of poetry, excepting the drama, for the simple dialogues which we have arc not worthy of being called dramas.
Specially valuable arc also the Hymns, which properly belong to the class of theology, of these a few excel in beauty of rhythm and a deep con ception of the godhead. The hymns also which were sung in the chapels of the tombs in honor of prominent deceased persons. are partly of poetic value. These "Nanies" ( funeral dirges) do not show, as might be supposed, a very gloomy color ing; on the contrary, we are surprised by a view of the world which we would not be likely to ac credit to a people who called their earthly habita tions temporal abodes and their tombs "eternal houses," for they call upon us to enjoy whatever beautiful things life offers while we may, and to remember that the capability to enjoy the gifts of life ends with death.