Page:Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians Volume 1.djvu/21

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INTRODUCTION.
[ix]

given by Herodotus and Diodorus, which cannot be made to accord with the monuments.

In the third chapter, after some remarks on the nature of the country, its population, and some of its productions, I show that the people were divided into four great classes, with numerous subdivisions, according to the peculiar occupations of each; in which a strong resemblance may be traced to the castes of India.

The king, his duties, the respect paid him by his subjects, their regard for his memory; the priests and their peculiar habits; the military class; the army; the weapons they used in battle; and their mode of warfare are then noticed; and the enemies with whom they fought, their prisoners and slaves, conclude this chapter, and the first volume.

The fourth chapter treats of the husbandmen, with other members of the second caste; the laws and government of Egypt in early times, and under the Romans. In the next, the houses, villas, gardens, vineyards, and the process of making wine and beer are described. The sixth contains an account of the furniture of their rooms, the entertainment of guests, their musical instruments, and dances; and, in the last chapter of the second volume, their vases, the preparation and serving of dinner, their games, exercises, and amusements, in the house and out of doors, are described.