THE ARTS AND RELIGION 261 



really indifferent, though some kinds of information 

 are far more valuable than others. The perception 

 of physical qualities of objects about us, and the 

 recognition of their distance, are, at any moment, 

 liable to become practically serviceable in protection 

 from injury or in furtherance of an aim. 



IV 



Sculpture and painting appear to have a common 

 origin in the stone-cut designs of early Egypt and 

 Ethiopia. These designs are strikingly free from 

 suggestions of the sexual element in life, and strongly 

 tend to embody the self-preservative instinct. This 

 is shown by scenes of prowess, of hunting and fish- 

 ing, of boating, of fighting, of the slaying of captives, 

 of petitions and offerings to the gods. And there 

 are crude symbols belonging equally to sculpture, 

 to painting, and to literature, such as the wavy line 

 used to represent Hapi, the river Nile. 



At a later and more refined stage of Egyptian art 

 the softening influence of sex is still unknown. So 

 in the exquisitely colored, if somewhat grotesque, 

 human and animal figures in the imposing tomb of 

 Ceti the First (where the rich red tones are cunningly 

 used to display a pomp and magnificence that is 

 truly regal) we may seek in vain among the aggran- 

 dizing compositions for any scene that reflects those 

 human affections that have their fons et origo in the 

 attachments of sex. Indeed, in these early days 



