212 
primitive verb, which expressed this state of re- 
pose, was oJif/v ; and that it was the root of a great 
number of Greek words, which passed afterward 
into other languages*. It will be sufficient to 
cite the words mvoq, idleness ; and ohocy 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 
tlieir 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 
+ See in the magnificent work, Descripoion de I’Egypte, 
vol. i, plate 12, No. 2 ; 62, No. 2 ; 69, No. 1 ; 70, No. 2 ; 
81, 96, and elsewhere ; and in the Voyage dans la Basse et 
Haute Egypte, by M. Henon, the pi. 126, 131, et 135. 
+ Sculpture de la Villa Borghese, St. 8, No. 4 ; Winckel- 
mann. Hist, de I’Art, &c., edition of Rome, tom. i, pi. 6. 
