APPENDIX A 199 



festivals of other towns than Dendera" (Maspero: "Dawn of 

 Civilisation," pp. 321-2. English translation). 



" The Egyptians hold public festivals not only once in a year, 

 but several times ; that which is best and most rigidly observed is 



in the city of Bubastis, in honour of Diana When they 



arrive at Bubastis they celebrate the feast, offering up great 

 sacrifices, and more wine is consumed at this festival than in all 

 the rest of the year '' (Herodotus, ii., 59-60). 



Herodotus visited Egypt, B.C. 454. 



"At their convivial banquets, among the wealthy classes, when 

 they have finished supper, a man carries round in a coffin the 



image of a dead body carved in wood and showing this 



to each of the company, he says, ' Look upon this, then drink and 

 enjoy yourself, for when dead you will be like this.' This practice 

 they have at their drinking parties" (Herodotus, ii. 78). 



In the story of the clever thief and King Rhampsinitus 

 Herodotus says : " And the sentinels, having taken very copious 

 draughts, became exceedingly drunk, and being overpowered by 

 the wine, fell asleep on the spot where they had been drinking " 

 (Herodotus, ii. 121, 4). 



In offerings to the Egyptian deities wine frequently occurs 

 and several different kinds are noticed in the sacred sculptures. 

 According to Plutarch at Heliopolis wine was forbidden to be 

 taken into the temple, and the priests of the God worshipped in 

 that city were required to abstain from it. "Those of other 

 deities," he says, "were less scrupulous,'' but still they used wine 

 very sparingly, and the quantity allowed them for their daily 

 consumption was regulated by law ; nor could they indulge in it 

 at all times, and the use of it was strictly prohibited during the 

 more solemn purifications, and in the times of abstinence. 



Plutarch is a late authority, of course, and like many classical 

 authors, not absolutely reliable in Egyptian matters. 



In Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson's "Popular Account of the Ancient 

 Egyptians" is figured, page 52, vol. i., women at a feast drunk and 

 vomiting, and as these are copied from Theban tombs, their date 

 is probably that of the XVIII. to XX. Dynasties (b.c. 1587-1000). 



