124 REV. HENRY LANSDELL^ D.D., ETC., ON 



A^alley, great and small, Avere accustomed to dedicate the 

 first-fruits of their harvest to the deity."* 



The testimony of Erman is to the same effect, Avho says : 

 " The worshippers of these (Egyptian) gods were always 

 faithful to them . . . Each brought the firstfruits of his 

 harvest to the servants of his god . . . he made the 

 furthermost room of his house into a little chapel . . . 

 In the court of his granary, or near his wine-press, he erected 

 a little sanctuary to Renenutet, the goddess of the harvest, 

 and placed there a table of offerings with wine and flowers."t 

 These and other evidences of private piety were, however, 

 quite eclipsed by the state offerings of the Pharaohs, during 

 the ninth historical dynasty (L700-1400 B.C.), the enormous 

 lists of which offerings, as given by Rameses II and III, 

 still remain on the outer wall of tJie temple of Medinet Habu, 

 and in the great Harris papyrus. 



During this period the temples were enriched, not only by 

 first-fruits, but by occasional offerings ; for the priests enjoyed 

 permanent endowments bestowed alike by king and people. 

 It was incumbent, for instance, on the head of the treasury 

 department personally to endow one of the great temples in 

 Egypt with the precious things he brought from foreign 



countries 4 



In fact, so vast were these endowments, that Professor 

 Maspero§ informs us that " The domain of the gods formed,, 

 at all periods, about one-third of the whole country." 



There was yet another source of income by means of which 

 the ancient Egyptians recognised their dependence on the 

 deity in presenting sometimes the whole, but more commonly 

 a portion, of their spoils taken in war. 



Professor JMaspero 8ays.(| " The gods of the side which was 

 victorious shared with it in the triumph, and received a tithe 

 of the spoil, as the price of their help." 



Again he says,1[ " A revival of military greatness was 

 followed by an age of building activity. Claims of the gods 

 had to be satisfied before those of men, etc. ... A tenth, 

 therefore, of the slaves, cattle and precious metals was set 

 apart for the service of the gods, and even fields, towns and 

 provinces were allotted to them, the produce of which was 



* Brugscli, Heinrich, Uistory of Egypt tinder the Pharaohs, vol. i, p. 225, 



t Erman, A., Life in Ancient Egypt, tr. by Tirard. Loud. 1894, p. 272. 



t Erman, p. 96. 



^ Dawn of Civilization, p. 303. 



II Dawn of Civilisation, p. 302. H Struggle of the Nations, p. 91, 



