THE WISDOM OF OLD EGYPT 37 



there were carvings in bone and ivory, and the 

 picture-writing developed, and gold and copper 

 ornaments appeared. We may call Egypt " civilized " 

 from about 3,500 B.C.; but the advance was very slow 

 and gradual, and any date we care to assign is 

 arbitrary. It is better for us to pass on to the age 

 of the pyramids and see what the civilization of 

 Egypt had become by about 3,000 b.c. 



The pyramids, the appearance of which is now 

 familiar all over the world, are enduring monuments 

 both of the wisdom and the folly of old Egypt. The 

 early kings soon began to raise these massive 

 pyramids of stone for the housing of their dead 

 bodies. It is one of the distinctions of the Egyptian 

 civilization that the people had a most intense belief 

 in and concern about their life after death. The 

 belief itself is, of course, hundreds of thousands of 

 years old — older than the belief in gods ; but in most 

 civilizations we shall find it growing dimmer as the 

 culture rises. In Egypt, on the contrary, it remained 

 very vivid, and was a fundamental element in the 

 lives of people and princes. 



In the course of time the richer Egyptians came 

 to believe that even the body had to be cared for 

 after death. It was mummified, and precious orna- 

 ments and even furniture were buried with it. The 

 rifling of tombs became a common crime, and kings 

 built these immense stone structures to preserve 

 their remains from desecration. The Sphinx, which 

 is generally seen with the great pyramids, was carved 

 much later — some say a thousand years later. It is 

 believed to be a sort of guardian of the royal and 

 noble cemetery which it overlooked, scaring away 

 the evil spirits from the homes of the dead. 



