Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/802

* EGYPT. 696 ■ EGYPT. into 12 months of 30 days each, with 5 inter- calary days added at the end of the jear. From the earliest times great attention was paid to medicine, and the Egyptian physicians enjoyed a liigh reputation among the nations of anliciuity. One extensive medical work, tlie Papyrus Ebcrs (see Ebers, G. M.), written about B.C. 1550, has been preserved, and fragments of similar works have been found. Among the latter are portions of treatises on gyn;ecology and veterinary medi- cine. (Consult Grillith, The Pclrie I'api/ri, Lon- don, 1898.) Although embalming was practiced from very early times, the Eg>plians never ac- quired much knowledge of anatomy. Their medi- cal works are little more than collections of pre- scriptions, and it is cvi^lent that their practice was altogether empirical. The remedies pre- scribed are often most repulsive, and the repeti- tion of magical formula" was believed to increase the elTicacy of the medicaments employed. The belief in magic was universal in all ])eriods of Egyptian history, and the literature on the sub- ject is most extensive. It has been seen that the magical formula of the Book of the Dead and of older collections of similar import formed the bulk of Egyptian religious literature, and, in ad- dition to these collections, numberless charms and incantations were devised for every conceiv able purpose. A most interesting collection of these incantatory formuUv is to be found in the well-known Harris Mar/ieal Pajii/nis (Chabas, Le papipiis magigite Harris, Chalon-sur-SaOne, 18G0). Xo collection of laws has been found, though there are many documents illustrating the civil and criminal laws of the ancient Eg>p- tians. Among the most interesting and valuable of these are the Turin Papi/rus (translated liy Kenouf in Reeords of the Past. 1st series, viii.. London, 1879), containing a report of the proceed- ings in regard to a conspiracy against Rameses III., and the Abbott Papjpus (translated by Horrack, Records of the Past, 1st series, xii.), which contains a report of the investigation of the tomb robberies in the reign of Rameses IX, (about B.C. 1100). Full accounts of these cele- brated eases are given in Ernian, Life in Ancient Egypt (Xew York, 1894). The poetry of the Twelfth Dynasty formed the model for all subse- quent periods ; it somewhat resembles Hebrew poetry, employing the same parallelistic form, but is much inferior to it. The only epic poem that has survived celebrates the victory of Rameses "II. over the Hittitcs at Kadesh on the Orontes. It contains some spirited passages, but the action drags interminably, and the long and turgid declamations, in which the King boasts of his superhuman prowess, are wearisome to a mod- ern reader. The authorship of the poem has been erroneously attributed to a certain Pentaur: ho was, however, merely the copyist of the manu- script (Papiji^is Sallier. iii.), which is published in the Select Papyri of the liritish Museum, part i. (London, 1842). A translation of the poem by Lusbington is given in Records of the Past, 1st series, vol. ii. (London, 1875). In lyric poetry the Egyptians were more successful. There are many fine hymns, .and the few love-songs that have survived are graceful and pleasing, though they exhibit no gi-eat depth of feeling. fJood ex- amples of the former are to be found in Wiede- mann, Rrlipion of the Ancient Egyptians (Xew York, 1897) ; the love-songs are collected in JIaspero, Eludes egypticnncs (Leipzig, 1879), and are more fully treated in V. Max -Miiller's Die Llebcspoisie der altcn Aegypter (Leipzig. 1899). In their entertaining literature, the Egyptians excelled all other Oriental nations of anliipiity. From the earliest times ihcy delighted in tales and stories, and the professional story-teller was as familiar a ligure in ancient Memphis and Thebes as he is to-day in the bazaars of Cairo. Many of these old Egyptian tales have been pre- served, and are accessible to modern readers in excellent translations. It is, of course, natural that such stories should attach themselves to fa- mous historical personages of former days, and this is the case with the Papyrus ^Yestcar (Er- man. Die Miirchen dcs Papyrus Westcar, Berlin, 1890), a collection of stories dating from the time of the Middle Empire. In this collection King Cheops is represented as suffering from in- somnia, and calling upon his sons to entertain him with stories. We here recognize the earliest example of the familiar literary device, often employed in later times, whereby .a number of persons are brought together by some special oc- casion which furnishes a motive for story-telling. The princes obey their father's command, and narrate, in turn, tales of the wonders wrought by famous magicians. One of these magicians con- structs a small crocodile of wax, which, when thrown into the water., attains a formidable size, and seizes the lover of the magician's faith- less wile. Another, by his incantations. Lays bare the bed of a lake, and recovers a jewel lost by a lady of the Court, after which he returns the water to its former place. When the turn of Prince Hardailaf conies, he tells of a wonderful magician then living, and is commanded to bring him to Court, The magician, after giving some marvelous proofs of his skill, predicts that the wife of a certain priest will shortly bear to the sun-god Re three children, who will establish a new dynasty in Egypt. The narrative then passes to the birth of the children and the mar- vels by which it was attended. Unforttmately, the manuscript is incomplete, and the end of the story is lost. The tale of the Fated Prince (Papyrus Harris Xo. 500) is based upon a motive familiar in the folk-lore of many peo- ples. A prince is born, and at his birth it is predicted that he will die by a crocodile, a serpent, or a dog. To prevent the accomplish- ment of the prediction, his father causes him to be brought up in an inaccessible castle, where he is carefully watched and tended. Attaining man- hood, the prince refuses to remain thus impris- oned, and sets forth into the world to •^eek his fortune. lie weds a princess whose watchfulness s.ives liim from the serpent, and his faithful dog seems to be the means of his deliverance in his adventure with the crocodile. But here the manuscript breaks off. and we are left in doubt as to whether he succumbs to the third fate or is delivered from this also, perhaps by the inter- position of some deity. The well-known Tale of the Two Brothers {drhi)iey I'api/rus) is fortu- nately preserved entire. In this tale two brothers live affectionately together until the wife of the elder falls in love with the younger and tempts him. He rejects her offer of love, and in revenge she falsely acctises him to her husband, who seeks to kill him. The younger brother flees from his home, and takes up his