Country Laborers, who work the land of the priests and nobles, are sold with it, pay heavy taxes, and are forced to work on canals, roads, temples and palaces, when ordered by the king.

Tradesmen and Artisans of the towns.

2. Leading Periods of Egyptian History, with Chief Events, Works, and Names of Each Period.

Cheops

4000 (?)1

TO

2000 (?)

Memphite Dynasties in Chief Power. (Khufu), king of Memphis, builds the Great Pyramid of Ghizeh, near Memphis, for his tomb (see picture, p. 8). Other kings build the second and third pyramids, the sphynx, and the temple of the sphynx. From this time dates the "Book of the Dead," a book of directions for the soul after death, written by the priests; and a book on morals and manners, by the Memphite prince, Ptah-hotep.

At Thebes, in the latter part of this time, Lake Moris is constructed, an enormous artificial reservoir for retaining and evenly distributing through the country, by means of irrigating canals, the overflow of the Nile. With this is connected the necessary canal, and a protecting dyke twenty-seven miles long; the necessary sluices and flood-gates, and a Nilometer for measuring the height of the river. The so-called "Labyrinth," in some way connected with religion, is also built. All these works are begun and carried through by kings ruling at Thebes.

1 The (?) placed after a date or a statement implies that the date or the statement is disputed or approximate.

2 The Sphynx is a colossal crouching figure, half beast, half man, near the Great Pyramid. It is cut from the solid rock, and nearly 200 ft. in length. The head alone measures about 30 ft. from the top of the forehead to the bottom of the chin. It is a symbol of the sun-god.

2000 (?)

ΤΟ

1600 (?)

1600 (?)

ΤΟ

1250 (?)

The Hyksos, or shepherd kings, foreigners from Syria or Arabia, hold the country. Under them the Jews (Jacob and his sons) probably enter Egypt.

Period of Theban Glory and Power. The Theban kings expel the shepherds, and rule the whole of Egypt. Under their eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties, conquests are made in Phoenicia, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Nubia. The horse and chariot are brought into Egypt from Asia. In the latter part of the period, the Exodus of the Jews takes place. Thothmes III. (eighteenth dynasty) builds magnificent temples at Memphis, Thebes, and at Karnak and Luxor, near Thebes, and is a famous conqueror. About 1400, the colossi of Memnon are made, sitting monolithic statues of the reigning king, more than sixty feet high. The father of Rameses. II. causes new gold mines to be opened and worked, and builds the Great Hall of the temple at Karnak. This "Hall of Columns" is composed of 134 stone pillars, and covers a larger area than Cologne Cathedral. The columns at Karnak, many of them, are 62 ft. high and 33 ft. around; many others are 45 ft. high and 27 or 28 ft. in circumference. One of these columns fell against another, but neither injured nor shook it; both yet remain, one bearing the other. The ceiling of the temple was composed of single stones, extending from column to column. Rameses II., who was known as Sesostris to the Greeks, opens a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, maintains a fleet, builds cities and temples, erects obelisks and statues to himself and the gods, establishes a public library under the care of the priests, in which are the works of historians, moralists, philosophers, poets, and novelists.

1250 (?)

ΤΟ 527.

Decline of Egyptian power; final conquest of Egypt by the Persians, in 527.

3. List of Objects found within or represented upon Egyptian Tombs.

a. From all Periods. - Mummies, or the bodies of the dead preserved in natron, bitumen, spices, oils, gums and aromatics, and wrapped about with linen bandages of all degrees of fineness, the whole enclosed in a wooden coffin, shaped like the body, painted and ornamented according to the means of its owner; sarcophagi, or stone cases of granite, alabaster, or other fine stone, variously engraved and carved, each containing within it mummy and mummycase; papyri, or manuscripts written on paper made from the papyrus reed, which grew in ancient Egypt; wooden plows and hoes; boats with oars, and with plain or embroidered sails; oxen, asses, sheep, goats, pigs, poultry; trained grape-vines; statuettes and amulets of alabaster, of glazed and unglazed pottery, and opaque glass; jewelry of gold, silver, bronze, and precious stones.

b. From Theban Period. War-horses and chariots; all sorts of weapons, spears, javelius, arrows, clubs, frequently of bronze; saws, mallets, chisels, frequently of bronze; looms, embroidered linen robes; many sorts of musical instruments, leather sandals, chairs, stools, flower-stands, couches, perfumery bottles.

STUDY ON I, 2, AND 3.

Who held the central political and military power in ancient Egypt? Prove it from 1 and 2. What belief confirmed this power? What classes were aristocrats? Of what use was each class? What class supported the rest? What class was oppressed, and how? What name do you give to such a form of government? Of society? What classes would support this form of government and society? What seem to have been the chief desires of the Memphite kings? Of the Theban? On whom did Egypt depend for her success in war and commerce, and her glory in civilization? What does the absence of

monuments and records under the Hyksos kings seem to indicate about them? Make a list of the arts known among the Egyptians; of the occupations; of the different sorts of knowledge. Of these,

which specially belonged to the Theban period? What tell us about these things? What position gave a man the chance for greatness, and how could he achieve it?

4. Pictures and Extracts Illustrative of Egyptian

Note on Pyramids.

Civilization.

Of the sixty or seventy pyramids in Egypt, the most famous is the Pyramid-group of Ghizeh; and of this group, the Great Pyramid is the most wonderful. Its original height, approaching 500 ft., was greater than that of any other structure, and it covers an area of more than thirteen acres. Many of the basement stones are thirty feet long, and nearly five feet high, and, even to the top of the pyramid, the mass of single stones is great. These stones

are united by a cement harder than themselves, and by joints as thin as a sheet of paper. Within the pyramid are three sepulchral chambers, to which access is had by long galleries. The chief of these is the King's Chamber, where the sarcophagus of the builder of the pyramid was found. This room is made wholly of finely polished granite, whose great blocks were brought down the Nile from quarries more than 500 miles away. In order to lighten the weight of masonry upon its roof, five low chambers are constructed above it; to ventilate it,