of oxen treading grain coaxes his animals along: the heat of summer drew near, irrigating the land
"Tread it for your own good—go on, tread for your of the pharaohs, making Egypt one of the most
own good. Your masters get the grain and you can prosperous nations of the ancient world and nour-
eat the straw. Keep at it!" Stevedores handling car- ishing a civilization that endured through three
go boom out, "Watch your step!" at bystanders millennia of history.
blocking their way. The Egyptians' reverence for the river is evident
Life was cheerful and certain for all, and for the in the " H y m n to the Nile", which was probably
wealthy it was elegant. The Egyptians, pragmatic written some time between the Middle and New
and easy-going by nature, accepted the bounty of Kingdoms for an inundation festival held at Thebes.
the land unquestioningly. There is no Egyptian The following is an excerpt, freely translated.
contribution to match Hebrew ethics, Greek phi-
losophy or Roman law. For the upper classes the Hail to thee, O Nile, that issues from the earth
objectives of life were to cut a figure in society, to and comes to keep Egypt alive! . . . He that makes
rise at court, to achieve success (measured in herds to drink the desert and the place distant from
of cattle or acres of land), and to be buried in an water. . . .
impressive tomb, appropriately decorated. He who makes barley and brings emmer into
The values by which the Egyptians lived can be being, that he may make the temples festive. If he is
seen in a piece of literature entitled The Instruction sluggish, then nostrils are stopped up, and every-
of the Vizier Ptahhotep, which was written during body is poor. If there be thus a cutting down in the
the Old Kingdom and studied by hundreds of gen- food-offerings of the gods, then a million men per-
erations of schoolboys. It purports to be the advice ish among mortals, covetousness is practised. . . .
of an ageing vizier, the senior member of the phar- But generations of thy children jubilate for thee,
aoh's court, to his son. It is full of common sense and men give thee greeting as a king, stable of
and observations on the ways of the world. "If thou laws, coming forth at his season and filling Upper
art one of those sitting at the table of one greater and Lower Egypt. Whenever water is drunk, every
than thyself, take what he may give, when it is set eye is in him, who gives an excess of his good. . . .
before thy nose. Thou shouldst gaze at what is be- If thou art too heavy to rise, the people are few,
fore thee. Do not pierce him with many stares, [for and one begs for the water of the year. Then the
such] an aggression against him is an abomina- rich man looks like him who is worried, and every
tion. . . . Let thy face be cast down until he ad- man is seen to be carrying his weapons. . . .
dresses thee, and thou shouldst speak [only] when When the Nile floods, offering is made to thee,
he addresses thee. Laugh after he laughs, and it will oxen are sacrificed to thee, great oblations are made
be very pleasing to his heart, and what thou mayest to thee, birds are fattened for thee, lions are hunted
do will be pleasing to the heart." for thee in the desert, fire is provided for thee. And
The Old Kingdom would collapse, the Middle offering is made to every other god, as is done for
Kingdom would grope in the direction of social the Nile, with prime incense, oxen, cattle, birds and
justice, and the New Kingdom would experience flame. . . .
foreign influence and foreign involvement. But the So it is "Verdant art thou!" So it is "Verdant
Nile flowed along steadily and surely, its annual art thou!" So it is "O Nile, verdant art thou, who
life-refreshing flood never failing to arrive when makest man and cattle to live!"
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