of the Ancient Egyptians. 609 



garden, containing palm trees, other trees which cannot be recognised as of 

 any particular species, and a nelumbium or lotus. 



Agriculture. — The ground was generally cultivated on the metayer system; 

 the cattle, flocks, or herds, belonging to the landlord, and the animals used in 

 ploughing, the implements, seed corn, and labour found by the farmer. The 

 latter was bound not to injure the soil by a repetition of similar crops. They 

 were left, however, to choose the kind of crops which they should cultivate ; 

 and, according to Diodorus, as quoted by Mr. Wilkinson, " They carefully 

 considered the nature of the soil, the proper succession of crops, and the 

 mode of tilling and irrigating the fields ; and by a constant habit of obser- 

 vation, and by the lessons received from their parents, they were acquainted 

 with the exact season for sowing and reaping, and with all the peculiarities of 

 each species of produce." {Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, 

 Sfc, vol. ii. p. 3.) The Egyptians had a particular hatred to shepherds, 

 owing to the previous occupation of their country by a pastoral race, who 

 had committed great cruelties during the time they had possession of it. 

 Hence the great prejudice against Jacob and his family when they arrived 

 in Egypt. In the pictures of shepherds on the tombs, they are caricatured 

 and represented as a deformed and unseemly race. The swineherds, who 

 were the most ignoble, were not permitted to enter a temple. It is remark- 

 able that the swineherds in India are equally despised, though it does not 

 appear for what reason. 



The skill of the Egyptians in rearing animals is said by Diodorus to have 

 been greater than that of any contemporary people, in proof of which, he 

 says that sheep were twice shorn, and brought forth lambs twice in the 

 course of one year ; and their mode of rearing fowls without the incubation 

 of the hens he remarks as a practice worthy of all admiration, (p. 17.) 



Culture. — The palm is never found in Egypt, except in places where it 

 has access to water, notwithstanding the expression in scripture, "palm trees 

 of the desert." There are no palm trees in the desert, Mr. Wilkinson ob- 

 serves, except at the oases, those spots where springs lie near the surface. 

 The " cultivated palm is reared from offsets, those grown from the stone pro- 

 ducing an inferior fruit ; and the offsets, which are taken at about seven years' 

 growth, bear dates in other five or six years, the tree living sixty or seventy, 

 or even upwards, according to circumstances connected with the soil, or the 

 mode of its culture. The Theban or dom palm (Cucifera thebaica) was much 

 cultivated for its timber as well as for its fruit, and it is still in repute for both. 

 It differs from the date palm, in having always bifurcated limbs. About 5 ft., 

 less or more, from the ground, the stem divides into two branches, each of 

 which again separates into two others, and these again into two other pairs, 

 always by twos, the uppermost sets being crowned by the leaves and fruit." 

 (p. 179.) 



The lotus, the papyrus, and other similar vegetables, were, during and after 

 the inundation of the Nile, the greatest blessing for the poor, and, like the 

 acorn in northern climates, constituted, perhaps, their sole aliment at the door 

 of civilisation. Next came leguminous plants, corn, and the palm, more par- 

 ticularly the date. The onion was much in demand, though it seems not to 

 have been allowed to be eaten by the priests. Gourds, cucumbers, melons, 

 leeks, and garlic, were also much esteemed, and eaten raw, as well as cooked, 

 by persons of the high as well as lower classes. " Niceretas observes 

 that onions relish well with wines, and cites Homer in support of his remark. 

 Callias affirms that they inspire courage in the hour of battle ; and Charmides 

 suggests their utility " in deceiving a jealous wife, who, finding her husband 

 return with his breath smelling of onions, would be induced to believe he had 

 not saluted any one while from home." (p. 374.) 



Gardening. — The gardeners of Egypt were employed by the rich " in culti- 

 vating trees and flowers in the parterres attached to their houses ; and the 

 vineyard, orchard, and tanks which served for ornament, as well as for the 

 purposes of irrigation, were under their superintendence and direction. In 



