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The
most excellent circumstance in the laws of the Egyptians, was,
that
every
individual, from his infancy, was nurtured in the strictest
observance
of them. A new custom in Egypt was a kind of miracle.(325) All
things
there ran in the old channel; and the exactness with which little
matters
were adhered to, preserved those of more importance; and
consequently
no nation ever retained their laws and customs longer than
the
Egyptians.
Wilful
murder was punished with death,(326) whatever might be the
condition
of the murdered person, whether he was free-born or otherwise.
In
this the humanity and equity of the Egyptians were superior to that
of
the
Romans, who gave the master an absolute power of life and death
over
his
slave. The emperor Adrian, indeed, abolished this law; from an
opinion,
that an abuse of this nature ought to be reformed, let its
antiquity
or authority be ever so great.
Perjury
was also punished with death,(327) because that crime attacks
both
the
gods, whose majesty is trampled upon by invoking their name to a
false
oath,
and men, by breaking the strongest tie of human society, _viz._
sincerity
and veracity.
The
false accuser was condemned to undergo the punishment which the
person
accused
was to have suffered, had the accusation been proved.(328)
He
who had neglected or refused to save a man’s life when attacked, if
it
was
in his power to assist him, was punished as rigorously as the
assassin:(329)
but if the unfortunate person could not be succoured, the
offender
was at least to be impeached; and penalties were decreed for any
neglect
of this kind. Thus the subjects were a guard and protection to
one
another;
and the whole body of the community united against the designs of
the
bad.
No
man was allowed to be useless to the state;(330) but every one
was
obliged
to enter his name and place of abode in a public register, that
remained
in the hands of the magistrate, and to describe his profession,
and
his means of support. If he gave a false account of himself, he
was
immediately
put to death.
To
prevent borrowing of money, the parent of sloth, frauds, and
chicane,
king
Asychis made a very judicious law.(331) The wisest and best
regulated
states,
as Athens and Rome, ever found insuperable difficulties, in
contriving
a just medium, to restrain, on one hand, the cruelty of the
creditor
in the exaction of his loan; and on the other, the knavery of the
debtor,
who refused or neglected to pay his debts. Now Egypt took a wise
course
on this occasion; and, without doing any injury to the personal
liberty
of its inhabitants, or ruining their families, pursued the debtor
with
incessant fears of infamy in case he were dishonest. No man was
permitted
to borrow money without pawning to the creditor the body of his
father,
which every Egyptian embalmed with great care; and kept
reverentially
in his house, (as will be observed in the sequel,) and
therefore
might be easily moved from one place to another. But it was
equally
impious and infamous not to redeem soon so precious a pledge; and
he
who died without having discharged this duty, was deprived of the
customary
honours paid to the dead.(332)
Diodorus
remarks an error committed by some of the Grecian
legislators.(333)
They forbid, for instance, the taking away (to satisfy
debts)
the horses, ploughs, and other implements of husbandry employed
by
peasants;
judging it inhuman to reduce, by this security, these poor men
to
an impossibility of discharging their debts, and getting their
bread:
but,
at the same time, they permitted the creditor to imprison the
peasants
themselves, who alone were capable of using these implements,
which
exposed them to the same inconveniences, and at the same time
deprived
the government of persons who belong, and are necessary, to it;
who
labour for the public emolument, and over whose person no private
man
has
any right.
Polygamy
was allowed in Egypt, except to the priests, who could marry but
one
woman.(334) Whatever was the condition of the woman, whether she
was
free
or a slave, her children were deemed free and legitimate.
One
custom that was practised in Egypt, shows the profound darkness
into
which
such nations as were most celebrated for their wisdom have been
plunged;
and this is the marriage of brothers with their sisters, which
was
not only authorized by the laws, but even, in some measure,
originated
from
their religion, from the example and practice of such of their
gods
as
had been the most anciently and universally adored in Egypt, that
is,
Osiris
and Isis.(335)
A
very great respect was there paid to old age.(336) The young were
obliged
to rise up for the old; and on every occasion, to resign to them
the
most honourable seat. The Spartans borrowed this law from the
Egyptians.
The
virtue in the highest esteem among the Egyptians, was gratitude.
The
glory
which has been given them of being the most grateful of all men,
shows
that they were the best formed of any nation for social life.
Benefits
are the band of concord, both public and private. He who
acknowledges
favours, loves to confer them; and in banishing ingratitude,
the
pleasure of doing good remains so pure and engaging, that it is
impossible
for a man to be insensible of it. But it was particularly
towards
their kings that the Egyptians prided themselves on evincing
their
gratitude.
They honoured them whilst living, as so many visible
representations
of the Deity; and after their death lamented for them as
the
fathers of their country. These sentiments of respect and
tenderness
proceeded
from a strong persuasion, that the Divinity himself had placed
them
upon the throne, as he distinguished them so greatly from all
other
mortals;
and that kings bore the most noble characteristics of the Supreme
Being,
as the power and will of doing good to others were united in
their
persons.
Chapter
II. Concerning the Priests And Religion Of The Egyptians.
Priests,
in Egypt, held the second rank to kings. They had great
privileges
and revenues; their lands were exempted from all imposts; of
which
some traces are seen in Genesis, where it is said, “Joseph made it
a
law
over the land of Egypt, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part,
except
the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh’s.”(337)
The
prince usually honoured them with a large share in his confidence
and
government,
because they, of all his subjects, had received the best
education,
had acquired the greatest knowledge, and were most strongly
attached
to the king’s person and the good of the public. They were at one
and
the same time the depositaries of religion and of the sciences; and
to
this
circumstance was owing the great respect which was paid them by
the
natives
as well as foreigners, by whom they were alike consulted upon the
most
sacred things relating to the mysteries of religion, and the most
profound
subjects in the several sciences.
The
Egyptians pretend to be the first institutors of festivals and
processions
in honour of the gods.(338) One festival was celebrated in the
city
of Bubastus, whither persons resorted from all parts of Egypt,
and
upwards
of seventy thousand, besides children, were seen at it. Another,
surnamed
the feast of the lights, was solemnized at Sais. All persons,
throughout
Egypt, who did not go to Sais, were obliged to illuminate their
windows.
Different
animals were sacrificed in different countries, but one common
and
general ceremony was observed in all sacrifices, _viz._ the laying
of
hands
upon the head of the victim, loading it at the same time with
imprecations;
and praying the gods to divert upon that victim all the
calamities
which might threaten Egypt.(339)
It
is to Egypt that Pythagoras owed his favourite doctrine of the
Metempsychosis
or transmigration of souls.(340) The Egyptians believed,
that
at the death of men their souls transmigrated into other human
bodies;
and that, if they had been vicious, they were imprisoned in the
bodies
of unclean or ill-conditioned beasts, to expiate in them their
past
transgressions;
and that after a revolution of some centuries they again
animated
other human bodies.
The
priests had the possession of the sacred books, which contained,
at
large,
the principles of government, as well as the mysteries of divine
worship.
Both were uncommonly involved in symbols and enigmas, which,
under
these veils, made truth more venerable, and excited more strongly
the
curiosity of men.(341) The figure of Harpocrates, in the Egyptian
sanctuaries,
with his finger upon his mouth, seemed to intimate, that
mysteries
were there enclosed, the knowledge of which was revealed to very
few.
The sphinxes, placed at the entrance of all temples, implied the
same.
It is very well known that pyramids, obelisks, pillars, statues,
in
a
word, all public monuments, were usually adorned with
hieroglyphics;
that
is, with symbolical writings; whether these were characters
unknown
to
the vulgar, or figures of animals, under which was couched a hidden
and
parabolical
meaning. Thus, by a hare, was signified a lively and piercing
attention,
because this creature has a very delicate sense of
hearing.(342)
The statue of a judge without hands, and with eyes fixed
upon
the ground, symbolized the duties of those who were to exercise
the
judiciary
functions.(343)
It
would require a volume to treat fully of the religion of the
Egyptians.
But
I shall confine myself to two articles, which form the principal
part
of
it; and these are the worship of the different deities, and the
ceremonies
relating to funerals.
SECT.
I. THE WORSHIP OF THE VARIOUS DEITIES.—Never
were any people more
superstitious
than the Egyptians; they had a great number of gods, of
different
orders and degrees, which I shall omit, because they belong more
to
fable than to history. Among the rest, two were universally adored
in
that
country, and these were Osiris and Isis, which are thought to be
the
sun
and moon; and, indeed, the worship of those planets gave rise to
idolatry.
Besides
these gods, the Egyptians worshipped a great number of beasts; as
the
ox, the dog, the wolf, the hawk, the crocodile, the ibis,(344)
the
cat,
&c. Many of these beasts were the objects of the superstition only
of
some
particular cities; and whilst one people worshipped one species
of
animals
as gods, their neighbours held the same animals in abomination.
This
was the source of the continual wars which were carried on
between
one
city and another; and this was owing to the false policy of one
of
their
kings, who, to deprive them of the opportunity and means of
conspiring
against the state, endeavoured to draw off their attention, by
engaging
them in religious contests. I call this a false and mistaken
policy;
because it directly thwarts the true spirit of government, the
aim
of
which is, to unite all its members in the strictest ties, and to
make
all
its strength consist in the perfect harmony of its several parts.
Every
nation had a great zeal for their gods. “Among us,” says
Cicero,(345)
“it is very common to see temples robbed, and statues carried
off,
but it was never known that any person in Egypt ever abused a
crocodile,
an ibis, a cat; for its inhabitants would have suffered the
most,
extreme torments, rather than be guilty of such sacrilege.” It
was
death
for any person to kill one of these animals voluntarily; and even
a
punishment
was decreed against him who should have killed an ibis, or cat,
with
or without design.(346) Diodorus relates an incident,(347) to
which
he
himself was an eye-witness during his stay in Egypt. A Roman
having
inadvertently,
and without design, killed a cat, the exasperated populace
ran
to his house; and neither the authority of the king, who
immediately
detached
a body of his guards, nor the terror of the Roman name, could
rescue
the unfortunate criminal. And such was the reverence which the
Egyptians
had for these animals, that in an extreme famine they chose to
eat
one another, rather than feed upon their imagined deities.
Of
all these animals, the bull Apis, called Epaphus by the Greeks, was
the
most
famous.(348) Magnificent temples were erected to him;
extraordinary
honours
were paid him while he lived, and still greater after his death.
Egypt
went then into a general mourning. His obsequies were solemnized
with
such a pomp as is hardly credible. In the reign of Ptolemy Lagus,
the
bull
Apis dying of old age,(349) the funeral pomp, besides the
ordinary
expenses,
amounted to upwards of fifty thousand French crowns.(350) After
the
last honours had been paid to the deceased god, the next care was
to
provide
him a successor; and all Egypt was sought through for that
purpose.
He was known by certain signs, which distinguished him from all
other
animals of that species; upon his forehead was to be a white
spot,
in
form of a crescent; on his back, the figure of an eagle; upon his
tongue,
that of a beetle. As soon as he was found, mourning gave place to
joy;
and nothing was heard, in all parts of Egypt, but festivals and
rejoicings.
The new god was brought to Memphis, to take possession of his
dignity,
and there installed with a great number of ceremonies. The reader
will
find hereafter, that Cambyses, at his return from his unfortunate
expedition
against Ethiopia, finding all the Egyptians in transports of
joy
for the discovery of their new god Apis, and imagining that this
was
intended
as an insult upon his misfortunes, killed, in the first impulse
of
his fury, the young bull, who, by that means, had but a short
enjoyment
of
his divinity.
It
is plain, that the golden calf set up near mount Sinai by the
Israelites,
was owing to their abode in Egypt, and an imitation of the god
Apis;
as well as those which were afterwards set up by Jeroboam (who
had
resided
a considerable time in Egypt) in the two extremities of the
kingdom
of Israel.
The
Egyptians, not contented with offering incense to animals,
carried
their
folly to such an excess, as to ascribe a divinity to the pulse
and
roots
of their gardens. For this they are ingeniously reproached by the
satirist:
Who
has not heard where Egypt’s realms are nam’d,
What
monster-gods her frantic sons have fram’d?
Here
Ibis gorg’d with well-grown serpents, there
The
Crocodile commands religious fear:
Where
Memnon’s statue magic strings inspire
With
vocal sounds, that emulate the lyre;
And
Thebes, such, Fate, are thy disastrous turns!
Now
prostrate o’er her pompous ruins mourns;
A
monkey-god, prodigious to be
told!
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