The Household Articles, originally very simple, became more numerous and luxurious after Egypt by its successful wars had acquired rich booty and made foreign nations tributary. The furniture of the various rooms was costly and magnificent. Precious metals and the choicest woods from foreign countries were wrought into articles exhibiting much taste. These, together with silks and cloths of Oriental texture, increased the comfort and charm of the dwellings. The beds, richly hung with tapestry, were in the form of lions, jackals, bulls, and sphinxes; and the tables (pl. r r, fig. 99), chairs (figs. IoI, io6), ottomans (fig. 102), divans, conches (fig. 98), chests, coffers (fig. 92), drinking-vessels, etc., were of the most fin ished workmanship. The folding chairs had commonly feet representing necks of swans, the heads downward; candelabra and lamps (fig. 91), vessels of every size (figs. 71-81, 83), vases of gold (fig. 82), gilded metal, silver, and other expensive materials, in luxuriant abundance, of costly form, and studded with enamel and precious stones, were the usual appendages. The large vase (fig. 82) and the ornamented chair (fig. for) may be considered as articles of tribute, the fettered bearers representing the givers. Wealth appears, nevertheless, to have been confined to the nobility, as the mass of the people always remained in a state of needy dependence.
Palaces. —Whatever pertained to the dwellings of the rich pertained in the highest degree to the palaces of the kings. But we here meet with a peculiar feature. As the sovereign enjoyed divine honors, his dwelling assumed in many ways the character of a temple. Consequently, we can not always decide whether extant ruins were once the temple of a god or the palace of a Pharaoh. However, regarding the ruins of the palace of Rameses III. at Medinet-Abou there appears to be no doubt as to its original purpose. On the outer wall the king is represented in a huge figure armed with bow and arrow and taking part from the shore in some sea or river battle. The inside walls contain scenes from private life—the king fondling his daughters, playing draughts, hunting lions, etc. The portico, which in the temples is open, is here pierced with windows, and balconies project from the rooms into the courtyard. The ruins otherwise exhibit only architectural peculiarities.
Social Life seems to have been little developed, but what was lacking in variety was supplied by the more fervent nature of the southern elm racter. Although deeply penetrated by morality, and though their whole life was a preparation for death, the Egyptians manifested profound grief at the death of any one dear to them, and gave themselves up to its unre strained utterance. They strewed dust on their heads, beat their faces, and ran about the streets clad in mourning and uttering loud lamentations —practices which still prevail in the East.
When the Egyptians became prosperous the seriousness which had characterized them in the early periods of their history was modified by the natural tendency to the enjoyments of life, and we find various forms of amusement, public and private, depicted in the sepulchral grottos of Beni-Hassan. Musicians, dancers, all sorts of merry-makers, and even a
dwarf, appear where in earlier representations only serious occupations are portrayed. A papyrus roll preserved in the museum of Turin represents in an extremely comic manner human life iu the guise of animals, and reminds us of the fables of ..sop and the story of "The Topsy-turvy World;" it indicates that the sense of humor had already reached its due development in the times of the Pharaohs.
It is, however, probable that only the common people gave themselves up to unrestrained indulgence, the upper classes of society remaining more or less reserved; and also that in the course of centuries special times were set apart for pious practices and for merry-making—an arrange ment adopted by Europe, and perhaps directly borrowed from Egypt, in the Middle Ages. The dancers and actors in the tomb-paintings are apparently foreigners. Many examples occur in history where subjugated peoples have regained by such arts a part of what they had lost, and diminished the superiority of their conquerors.
The high development of rural life promoted social intercourse among the people, and in the old tomb-paintings we see families interchanging friendly visits. Figure 3 (pl. 13) gives a fragment of such a picture, in which is portrayed a lute-player and also a female flute-player. It further shows a peculiar mode of travelling (fig. 3), the master accompanied by footmen and riding in a sedan chair borne by two asses.
Rural Life, of which the tomb-paintings give attractive representa tions, was highly developed. In these pictures we see the villa comfort ably reposing amid tilled fields and carefully-kept gardens and surrounded by shaded walks and galleries. Subterranean rooms afforded shelter from the heat, and numerous fountains in the gardens moistened and cooled the air. Easily distinguished are the ornamental and useful plants growing in beds, and the Egyptian water-lily (Nyinfikcea Lotus), with its broad leaves and beautiful flowers, is seen resting on the bosom of the artificial lakes. Especial care was taken to connect each property with the system of canals which, for purposes of irrigation, stretched over the entire valley of the Nile. (See Frontispiece, fig. 5.) Business is entirely beyond the scope of this synopsis to par ticularize the details which have come down to us splendidly illustrated in the innumerable Egyptian paintings and sculptures. Nevertheless, in order to comprehend this ancient civilization, the subsequent influence of which is even yet not fully appreciated, we must picture to'ourselves the rich and brilliant life which unfolded itself in the narrow valley of the Nile, with its innumerable villas, its many populous cities, and its yet more populous burial-places, and which, surviving the most violent polit ical convulsions, lasted through a period of thousands of years.