health and cleanliness, was another barrier between Egyptians and foreigners. It is said Pythagoras was obliged to conform to this custom before he could gain admission to their religious Mysteries, and that he nearly died in consequence. Herodotus says: "As this practice can be traced, both in Egypt and Ethiopia, to the remotest antiquity, it is not possible to say which first introduced it. The Phoenicians and the Syrians of Palestine acknowledge that they borrowed it from Egypt. Male children, except in those places which have borrowed the custom from hence, are left as nature formed them." Sir J. G. Wilkinson says: "That this custom was established long before the arrival of Joseph in Egypt is proved by the ancient monuments."

The Egyptian states, like their Ethiopian ancestors at Meroë, were originally governed by priests only. Each district had a High Priest, who reigned in the name of some god, and had subordinate priests under him. The caste of warriors afterward raised themselves to the royal dignity, and Menes was the first king. But though the rulers were thenceforth from the military caste, the priests kept them in almost complete dependence. They were not allowed to administer punishments according to their own will, or judgment, but in conformity to laws which the gods had prescribed through the medium of priests. They had constant supervision over affairs of the State and the army; they made daily regulations concerning religious ceremonies to be performed by the royal household, and even concerning the food upon their tables. None but the sons of High Priests were allowed to be in attendance upon the king's person. Before he could be anointed, he was required to enter the priesthood, and be initiated into their religious mysteries. He was called Phra, which signifies of the Sun. In this manner was indicated the divine origin of government, and the universal and equal beneficence which ought to characterize it. The hieroglyphic title of kings was "Son of the Sun." Phra, which we call Pharaoh, was applied to all their monarchs as the title of Czar is to the Emperor of Russia; hence, it is often diffi

cult to ascertain which particular Pharaoh is meant on the monumental records.

Not only was the priest caste generally hereditary, but also the priesthood of each particular deity; and in each of these orders the High Priesthood descended lineally in some particular family. The son of a priest at Memphis could not become a member of the college of priests at Heliopolis, and a priest at Thebes could not join the sacerdotal order at Memphis. This arose from the fact that each temple had large landed property attached to it, to defray the expenses of religious service. The revenues were drawn by priests, and transmitted to their posterity as a perpetual inheritance. These extensive estates were let out to the subordinate castes, and the rents formed a treasury for the common use of the sacerdotal order belonging to the temple. From this fund, priests and their families were supplied with free tables. In addition to this fixed income, there were the daily sacrifices and offerings of fruit and grain at the temples; they also carried on many profitable branches of business, in consequence of being the only depositories of such knowledge as existed. Herodotus says: "So many dishes were furnished daily of those kinds of meat which their laws allowed them to eat, and a certain quantity of wine; for they had the privilege of enjoying that luxury, which was forbidden to the lower castes. Thus there was no need for them to contribute anything from their private means toward their own support." The priestly families were in fact the highest and wealthiest in the country, except the king. They were exempted from taxation, and it is said that one-third of the land of Egypt was allotted to them. When Joseph bought up the lands, it is recorded that he left the portion of the priests untouched. The places of interment belonged to them, and as the use of them was paid for, they must have been sources of considerable emolument.

As the civil law was included in the Sacred Books, priests were the only judges. The Chief Judge, who was also High Priest, wore a golden chain on which was sus

pended an image of Thmei, Goddess of Truth and Justice, graven on a sapphire, and set round with precious stones of various colours. He pronounced his decision by touching the successful applicant with this figure. Several representations of these breast-plates are extant in European museums, or to be seen on Egyptian monuments. Some of them contained two figures, an image of Ra, the Sun, and of Thmei; the signification being Light and Truth, or Light and Justice.

Priests were also the only physicians. They prescribed the articles of food to be used by each class of people; and according to the testimony of Herodotus the Egyptians were remarkably healthy. Each part of the body was believed to be under the especial care of some particular deity, who must be invoked, with prescribed offerings and ceremonies, in case of disease. Invalids were carried to the temples, and it was supposed they would be cured, if the priest laid his hands on them, and recited appropriate prayers. They probably had some knowledge valuable for the preservation and restoration of health; for their medical schools became renowned. There are indications that some of their remedies were of a magnetic nature. Solon, who had been in Egypt, says, "Touching with the hands will immediately restore health." Eschylus, the famous Greek poet, makes one of his characters in the tragedy of Prometheus say, when speaking of the shores of the Nile, "There Jupiter Ammon will render you sane, stroking you with gentle hand, and simply touching you." A high degree of cleanliness, both in person and clothing, was a distinguishing characteristic of the ancient Egyp tians; habits which they doubtless owed to the instructions of their priests.

As all the sciences were deemed direct revelations from the gods, a degree of sacredness was attached to knowl edge, of which we in modern times can form no idea. Such learning as the priests had, manifested itself in results which seemed to the uninitiated like divination and magic. Perhaps they themselves, with the scanty information of

that time, and their reverential Egyptian tendencies, thought many things miraculous, which to us would appear very simple. Whether they were honest or not, in assuming to be supernaturally gifted, the people most devoutly believed they had magical power to bring birds from the air at their bidding, to lure serpents from their hiding-places, to cast out Evil Spirits, and cure the diseases. They placed the utmost reliance on their interpretation of dreams, their predictions from the aspect of the stars, and the prophecies they made from examining the entrails of victims sacrificed to the gods.

There were many gradations of rank among the priesthood. Those devoted to the service of the great gods were regarded with far more veneration than those who attended upon minor and local deities. Some were distinguished above others by their vocation. There were bands of Musicians among them, trained to chant the hymns, to sing in chorus, to perform on harps, flutes, and a ringing instrument called the sistrum. The skilful among these were held in much honour. But the Prophets were the highest class of priests. On public occasions, they took precedence of all others, except the High Priests of the great temples. They made astronomy their peculiar study. They knew the figure of the earth, and how to calculate solar and lunar eclipses. From very ancient time, they had observed the order and movement of the stars, and recorded them with the utmost care. Ramses the Great, generally called Sesostris, is supposed to have reigned one thousand five hundred years before the Christian era, about coeval with Moses, or a century later. In the tomb of this monarch was found a large massive circle of wrought gold, divided into three hundred and sixtyfive degrees, and each division marked the rising and setting of the stars for each day. This fact proves how early they were advanced in astronomy. In their great theories of mutual dependance between all things in the universe was included a belief in some mysterious relation between the Spirits of the Stars and human souls; so that

the destiny of mortals was regulated by the motions of the heavenly bodies. This was the origin of the famous system of Astrology. From the conjunction of planets at the hour of birth, they prophesied what would be the temperament of an infant, what life he would live, and what death he would die. Diodorus, who wrote in the century preceding Christ, says, "They frequently foretell with the greatest accuracy what is about to happen to mankind; showing the failure or abundance of crops, and the epidemic diseases about to befal men or cattle. Earthquakes, deluges, rising of comets, and all those phenomena, the knowledge of which appears impossible to common comprehensions, they foresee by means of their long-continued observations." Plato informs us that they believed this earth had been, and would be, subject to destruction by water and fire; and that the tradition of Phaeton's having borrowed the chariot of the sun, and set the world in flames, contained an historical fact in a fabulous form. The returns of such catastrophes were fixed by them according to the period of their Great Astronomical Year, when the sun, moon, and all the planets returned to the same sign in the zodiac whence they had started. This astronomical cycle included ages in its revolution. In its winter occurred a universal deluge, and in its summer, a conflagration of the world. After this destruction, they believed all things would be renewed, to pass through another succession of changes.

In early times, priests lived with great simplicity. Sometimes they slept on the bare ground, sometimes on mats spread on frames of wicker-work, with a half cylinder of wood for a pillow. They married but one wife, and she was often their sister, on account of the prevailing idea that such marriages were fortunate. They ate very plain food in stated quantities. In very ancient times, the priests, including kings, used no wine; but in later times, a moderate portion, prescribed by law, was dealt to them. Their diet was strictly regulated, so careful were they that "the body should sit light upon the soul." Peas, leeks,