28 AGRICULTURE IN THE ANCIENT WORLD. 



ords of the application of machinery to the cultivation of the 

 soil. We see the plow represented, with handles to guide it, 

 yoked oxen harrowing in the grain, laborers hackling it upon 

 an implement set with sharp teeth, and herdsmen, distinguished 

 from other laborers by their dress, bringing in sheep and wool. 

 In the tomb of Menophres at Saccara, two bulls are repre 

 sented. The symbolic worship of the bull gave a peculiar 

 sanctity to bovine animals. 



Not only does picture-writing reveal the condition of the art 

 of agriculture, but it gives us a glimpse of the social state. In 

 a tomb at Erlethya we see a proprietor inspecting his farm. 

 Before him goes a writer with implements; obsequious servants 

 follow with stool and slippers, his bow and quiver. His dress 

 shows what manner of man he was; he wears a collar and 

 robe, and holds in his hand both scepter and staff. Two herds 

 men bring in cattle, one prostrates himself, while the other is 

 in the attitude of a person reporting the condition of the flocks. 

 Upon the tablet is written, cattle, 122; rams, 300; goats, 

 1,300; swine, 1,500.&quot; On another tomb 944 sheep are men 

 tioned as the property of the occupant. 



In the Scriptures we find an account of the first grain mo- 

 ?iopo??/, viz : that of Joseph, who, with Pharaoh, created a corner 

 in wheat. 



Horticulture in all its departments was also carried to great 

 perfection; the variety of gourds, cucumbers, melons, fruits and 

 vines which added to the luxury of a vast population, is most 

 surprising. Flax was grown in abundance, and the modes of 

 its preparation for the spinner were identical with those now 

 used. Their granaries, of which millions lined the banks of 

 the Nile, are the models of the grain elevators of our own time. 



But in all this creation of utilities man himself was left out 

 of the account. What remain to us as monuments of a civiliza 

 tion, falsely so called, are but stupendous and convincing proofs 

 of a revolting despotism, based upon cruelty and upheld by 

 superstition. &quot;The very resources which the people had created 

 were turned against themselves.&quot; The condition of the captive 

 Israelites was that of the toiling millions upon both hemi 

 spheres, where the accumulation of wealth without its dispersion 

 secured to the upper classes a monopoly of the very sources of 

 power. National improvements were made which are the wonder 

 of modern times, but the masses of the people received no 



