and palm, also afforded a varying sustenance to the population. So abundant and cheap was this vegetable diet, that the expenditure of a family, even with numerous children, was a mere trifle.

The occupations of the people were manifold both in town and country. The prime business of the rustic population was agriculture. The soil was rich, the work was light, and the harvest exuberant.1 The implements of husbandry were few-the hoe and the oxdrawn plough were of the simplest construction. The sower followed the plough, and the hoofs of cattle did the work of the modern harrow. As the operation of thrashing by means of oxen was going on, the peasant relieved his labours and cheered on the animals with a species of song, the hieroglyphical record of which was discovered by Champollion in 1828. It has been thus translated,

Occupations.

Agriculture.

myself on the field where it grows and graze with pleasure." Sonnini says,
"But that which appears very extraordinary is, that in this singularly fertile
country, the Egyptians themselves eat the fenu-grec so much that it can properly
be called the food of men. In the month of November, they cry, 'Green helbeh
for sale' in the streets of the town. It is tied up in large bunches, which the
inhabitants eagerly purchase at a low price, and which they eat with an incredible
greediness, without any species of seasoning. They pretend that this singular diet
is an excellent stomachic, a specific against worms and dysentery; in fine, a pre-
servative against a great number of maladies. Finally, the Egyptians regard this
plant as endowed with so many good qualities, that it is, in their estimation,
true panacea."
"-Eadie's Bib. Cyclop. "Leek."

See page 26.

Gardening, favourite pursuit. The gardens had fine flower-beds, raised terraces, and arbours of trellis work. The vine was cultivated from an early period, and the entire process of wine-making is depicted on the

&c.

Vines.

1

[Wine-Press.]

monuments. Egypt produced different kinds of wine, of which
the light pale wines of Mareotis and Tenia were among the most
famous. Figs, sycamores, and pomegranates were extensively
cultivated, and monkeys were sometimes trained to climb the
branches, pluck the fruit, and throw it down into a basket
beneath the tree. The principal delight of the horticulturist was
to secure a plentiful supply of water to his trees, herbs, and
flowers. Moses says to his people, Deut.
xi. 10,
"The land, whither thou goest in
to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt,
from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst
thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot,
as a garden of herbs." The god Khem pre-
sided over the gardens, and he was the
symbolic representation of the life and fresh-
ness of nature in spring.

1 Pliny, xiv. 3. Horace, i. Od. xxxi. Strabo, xvii. Virgil Georg. ii. 91. The statement of Grote, (History of Greece, vol. iii. 42.) that Egypt had not vines is not correct. It was not, indeed, a wine country, and therefore imported large quantities of wine from neighbouring countries.

Richer proprietors had also well-stocked preserves, to secure The chase. themselves the pleasures of the chase. They hunted the wild goat, the gazelle, the onyx, the hare, and the porcupine, for their flesh; the leopard, fox, and wolf, for their skin; and the ostrich for its eggs and feathers. They had dogs of various kinds, and even lions trained for the chase; and the huntsmen were armed with bow and spear. Wild animals were sometimes noozed with a lasso, and the capture of the crocodile and hippopotamus was also an exciting amusement. Immense flocks of fowls were sheltered among

the reeds and aquatic plants ot the Nile, and large nets were employed to snare them. In such efforts decoy birds were employed. Poultry was hatched in profusion by artificial heat. The fisheries of Fishing. Egypt were also very productive.1 In

some parts of the Delta, the inhabitants subsisted almost wholly upon a fish diet. We remember, said the Israelites, "the fish that we did eat in Egypt freely." Num. xi. 5. Not only were they found in the Nile and lake Moeris, but they were also fed in artificial ponds, and were caught with line, net, and spear. The angler used bait only; fly-fishing was unknown, and the

[Fishing.]

fishes were cured and salted, after being divided from head to tail with a short wide knife. On the ninth day of the first month of the year, every person, with the exception of the priests, was obliged, as a religious ceremony, to eat a fried fish in front of his dwelling.

The finer kinds of mechanical art early arrived at high perfection, Trades. such as weaving, dyeing, painting, engraving, metallurgy, and pottery. The Israelites learned these operations in Egypt, and employed them in the erection of the tabernacle. The culture and manufacture of flax are often depicted on the tombs. Flax and Flax cotton were spun and woven by rude and simple processes, principally by female servants or domestic slaves, but bleached and dried, pressed and folded by men. The warp usually contained double the threads of the weft. Some pieces of fine linen, still pre

and Cotton.

Spinning and served, have in the inch 270 double twisted threads of warp, and 110 of woof. The fineness of such threads is an amazing specimen

Weaving.

Metals.

Woods.

Glass.

Jewels.

[Spinning.]

of the elegance and dexterity of manual labour without the appliances of modern machinery. In Glasgow cotton is spun so fine and woven so closely, that in a common class of cambrics, manufactured for ordinary sale, there are 350 threads in the square inch. In the north of Ireland linen is produced, varying from 200 to 300 threads per inch; but a piece of cambric has been made for the great London

exhibition of 1851, having in the same space no less than 500 threads; and which, after all, is not much finer than the Egyptian web already referred to. Golden and silver threads were often interwoven; and indigo was freely used in dyeing, the modes of which display considerable knowledge of chemistry. Patterns were also wrought in the loom. Many references to these arts occur in the book of Exodus. Flax was also used in rope-spinning, and so were the fibres of the date-tree. The entire business of leather manufacture, from the raw skin to the finished shield or sandal, is depicted on some of the

tombs. The processes of metallurgy are also found similarly illustrated the bellows being worked with the feet, and plating, gilding, moulding, beating, were well understood and executed. These arts, so prominently displayed in the furniture of the tabernacle, the Israelites must have learned also in Egypt. Specimens of excellent cabinet work are preserved in the British Museum. The carpenters' tools did not differ much from the modern implements of the craft, the adze, however, supplying the place both of a plane and a turning-lathe. Veneering and inlaying with ivory or precious wood, were common among the Egyptian joiners and cabinet makers. The manufacture of glass, porcelain, and pottery, was upon an extensive scale in Egypt 3000 years ago; and the numerous tints and colours employed, prove the workers to have been acquainted with the properties of metallic oxides. A purse has been found knitted with small glass bugles; and ladies of high rank are seen in the act of stringing beads. The Egyptian artist could successfully counterfeit precious stones, such as the emerald and amethyst. The cutting or engraving of precious stones was

executed with delicate beauty and precision; and the tasteful vases and urns used for a variety of purposes, have commanded intense admiration, equally with those of the best epochs of Greece.

In their merchandise the Egyptians used rings of gold and silver, Merchandise. and the value of the money was ascertained by weight. They had no extensive commerce by sea. In earlier times they had no ships for foreign traffic, but the busy inland navigation was characteristic of the country. Barges and boats were seen everywhere on the Boats. Nile, and their solemn processions were generally made on water. The richer citizens seem all to have kept their pleasure wherries, the sails of which were sometimes painted and embroidered.1