Читать книгу Woman Triumphant - Rudolf Cronau - Страница 13

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Of the many nations that occupy the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, the Egyptians are the oldest. To them one of the foremost scholars, George Ebers, paid the following compliment: “If it is true that the culture of a nation may be judged by the more or less favorable position, held by its women, then the culture of ancient Egypt surpassed that of all other nations of Antiquity.”

Indeed, when we study the innumerable inscriptions, paintings and sculptures of Egyptian tombs, and investigate the many well preserved papyrus rolls, we find this praise fully justified. Not only did the Egyptians generally confine themselves to one wife, but they also extended to her more and greater privileges, than she had in any other country. Woman was honored as the source of life, as the mother of all being. Therefore contracts, carefully set up, protected her in her rights and secured her the title Neb-t-em pa, “the mistress of the house.” As such she had, if the authority of Diodorus can be credited, absolute control over all domestic affairs and no objection was made to her commands whatsoever they might be. It is also significant, that where biographical notes appear, on tombs, statues and sarcophagi, the name of the deceased mother is frequently given, while the name of the father is not mentioned. So it reads for instance: “Ani, born by Ptah-sit,” “Seti, brought to life by Ata.” The spirit of true affection and real family life likewise found expression in many poetical names given by sorrowful widowers to their departed wives. There is an inscription, in which a husband praises his lost mate as “the palm of loveliness and charm”; another one extols his spouse as “a faithful lady of the house, who was devoted to her husband in true fondness.”

That the highly developed, culture of the Egyptians was based on strong ethical principles, also appears from the text of the so-called “Papyrus Prisse,” perhaps the oldest book of morals ever written. Its author, Prince Ptah-hotep, who lived about 3350 B. C., gives hints and advice in regard to social intercourse and manners, to be observed among people of refinement. Hear what he says about the treatment of women: “If you are wise, you will take proper care of your house and love your wife in all honor. Nourish, clothe and adorn her, as this is the joy of her limbs. Provide her with pleasing odors; make her glad and happy as long as you live, because she is a gift that shall be worthy of its owner. Don’t be a tyrant. By friendly conduct you will attain much more than by rough force. Then her breath will be merry and her eyes bright. Gladly she will live in your house and will work in it with affection and to her heart’s content.”

Children were regarded as the gifts of the gods, and brought up in good manners and obedience.

In company with their husbands Egyptian women took part in all kinds of social and public festivals. At social affairs the master and mistress of the house presided, sitting close together, while the guests, men and women, frequently mingled, strangers as well as members of the same family. Agreeable conversation was considered the principal charm of polite society, and according to Herodotus it was customary at such gatherings, to bring into the hall a wooden image of Osiris, the Lord of Life and Death, to remind the guests not only of the transitoriness of all earthly things and human pleasures, but also of the duty, to meet all others during the short span of this earthly life with kindness and love.

A LADIES’ PARTY IN ANCIENT EGYPT.

That ladies’ parties are not an innovation of our times but date back thousands of years before Christ, we learn from many finely executed carvings and frescoes which represent feasts. In long rows we see the fair ones sitting together, in finest attire, with hair carefully dressed and adorned with lotus flowers. Waited upon by handmaids and female slaves, they chat and enjoy the delicious sweets, cakes and fruits, with which the tables are loaded. As the hours passed, fresh bouquets were brought to them, and the guests are shown in the act of burying their noses in the delicate petals, with an air of luxury which even the conventionalities of the draughtsman cannot hide. Wine was also partaken of, and that the ladies were not restricted in its use, is evident from the fact, that the painters have sometimes sacrificed their gallantry to a love of caricature. “We see some ladies call the servants to support them as they sit; others with difficulty prevent themselves from falling on those behind them; a basin is brought too late by a reluctant servant, and the faded flower, which is ready to drop from heated hands, is intended to be characteristic of their own sensations.”^[2]

2. Wilkinson, Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, Vol. II, p. 166.

In Egypt women were permitted to practice as physicians. They were likewise admitted into the service of the temple. In most solemn processions they advanced towards the altar with the priests, bearing the sacred sistrum, an instrument emitting jingling sounds when shaken by the dancer. Queens and princesses frequently accompanied the monarchs while they offered their prayers and sacrifices to the deity, holding one or two ceremonial instruments in their hands.

The constitution of Egypt also provided that, when at the death of a king no male successor was at hand, the royal authority and supreme direction of affairs might be entrusted without reserve to one of the princesses, who in such case ascended the throne. History records several Egyptian queens, among them Cleopatra VI, who became famous through her relations to Cæsar and Anthony.

IN THE TIME OF SAPPHO AND ASPASIA.