212 



primitive, verb, which expressed this state of re- 

 pose, was omv ; and that it was the root of a great 

 number of Greek words, which passed afterward 

 into other languages 1 *. It will be sufficient to 

 cite the words owoq, idleness; and o?>lo$, a house, 

 so familiar was this position in primitive and al- 

 most savage societies to men fatigued, during the 

 peaceful moments they passed in the interior of 

 their rustic retreats. 



We see on the monuments of Egypt a great 

 number of women represented in this attitude, 

 either when suckling their children, praying at 

 the feet of their idols, playing on some instru- 

 ment, or exhibiting signs of affliction, at the fu- 

 neral of their relations or countrymen f . We 

 find also, on the same monuments, but much less 

 frequently, men in this attitude* We might 

 even be led to think, that the precept of the Py- 

 thagoreans, to pray sitting, referred in remoter 

 times only to this posture used in the Egyptian 



* See in Hesychius d'Alberti, the notes on the word 



OtKlihlV. 



t See in the magnificent work, Description de l'Egypte, 

 vol. i, plate 12, No. 2 j 62, No. 2 ; 69, No. 1 j 70, No. 2; 

 81, 96, and elsewhere ; and in the Voyage dans la Basse et 

 Haute Egypte, by M. Denon, the pi. 126, 131, et 135. 



+ Sculpture de la Villa Borghese, St. 8, No. 4 : Winckel- 

 mann, Hist, de l'Art, &c, edition of Rome, torn, i, pi. 6. 



