The World's Progress Part 16

Egyptian painting consisted of mere outline sketching. The human body was first entirely drawn; then clothing was added. The artists knew no more of anatomy than did the physicians. They did not even follow each his own ideas, but there was _one_ established way of drawing the head, the arms, the limbs, and all felt obliged to hold to this conventional method. The extended arms show no elbows, the fingers no joints. An endeavor to draw the body in profile resulted in portions of it facing the spectator, other parts in profile, and still other sharing the characteristics of both positions. For many years the human figure, animals and birds could only extend the foot or arm--in case of a person--farthest away from the spectator, and each figure must be shown with the right side to the front. In course of time artists drew people of the lower cla.s.ses with more freedom, but it would have been deemed disrespectful to have portrayed those of high rank in any but the conventional positions. Thus, in a picture of a n.o.ble being served by a slave, the latter might be drawn in a natural pose, while the n.o.ble still retained the stiff, grotesque position of early times. Again, the king was given colossal proportions, to indicate his power and strength, while children may be distinguished only by their tiny forms.

Side by side with this conventional school of art there developed a realistic school that exercised greater freedom with the human body.

Tomb pictures remain wherein persons are shown with their backs to the spectator, and in many positions not permissible according to established rules. However, these paintings are invariably in the tombs of the lower cla.s.ses. It would not have been deemed fitting that such freedom be used in decorating the tombs of n.o.bles, or of persons of high social standing. Artists of this school seem to have been in disfavor in ancient Egypt. To be sure, in the matter of portraying scenes where captives, slaves or the humble people were gathered, artists of the conventional school drew these with considerable degree of freedom and ease. In the same picture the king, or n.o.ble, or high official was represented according to the established custom.

All Egyptian drawing of human figures, birds and animals is plain, and it is possible for any one today to read the stories of long series of tomb pictures--studying them out, one by one. However, when it came to representing a temple, a house, or a garden, the desire to show every portion of it resulted in some confusion. The artist was in doubt as to how to portray it all. "In treating such an important and complex object he wished if possible to show every part of it; he therefore did not draw the house from the front nor from the side, but made a picture of both sides together, and when the house had an upper story with three chambers, he put these three rooms close by also. He considered his duty accomplished when he had placed all the details before the spectator, but he did not care whether the spectator understood how these details fitted together.

"We have to face another difficulty in order to comprehend these pictures; the Egyptian artist has no sense of proportion between the different parts of the representation. If, for instance, the king is standing in one of the rooms of the building in question, our artist would, regardless of truth, draw that room ten times as large as all the others together, and even in one picture he frequently changes his standard of measurement."[1]

All pictures were painted, some only in outline, some entirely. The interiors of tombs were made to a.s.sume a gay appearance since tomb colors were always bright. Red, the color of the sun, and blue, the sky reflected in the Nile, were thought to be sacred.

Sculpture served two needs: it furnished statues of the dead for relatives to worship, and statues of the kings and G.o.ds, with the animals sacred to each, for the ornamentation of the temples. Thus the scope of the sculptor was limited in the beginning. Furthermore, the proportion, form, color and expression of every statue was fixed by laws prescribed by the priests. The aim of the artist was in every case to show absolute repose.

When we realize that many of the surviving monuments were chiseled from granite as hard as iron, upon which the artist could work with only a small metal chisel, we view them as monuments of the artist's untiring patience, as well as of kingly greatness and statues of the G.o.ds. These artists also knew how to make good use of poor material. In soft limestone their task was easier; scenes were frequently cut in this, covered with stucco and then painted. Inexpensive statues were often made in this way.

Art seems at first to have taken rapid strides in Egypt, but after reaching a certain point, it was prevented by established laws, enforced by the priesthood, from going farther. So it deteriorated. Unfortunately we know little of the artists who wrought these works and nothing of the training they received.

Decorative art, as developed by the dwellers on the Nile, has perhaps greater interest for the modern artist than their paintings or statuary.

The modern conventional school of decorative art finds much to copy and adapt from patterns which survive in Egypt. In the first place, the hieroglyphics were in themselves decorative. They were often used as friezes, and never do we find them cut across figures, as was the case in a.s.syria. Among designs commonly called geometrical, but in the beginning the representation of something familiar, the zigzag line was popular. A double zigzag formed little squares, and by various arrangements, many combinations were possible. The scroll was also a favorite decoration. There was an old legend to the effect that the spiral represented the wanderings of the soul, but just what connection existed between the two--if indeed there had ever been one--was lost in distant ages.

Coils, hooks, links and endless scrolls were used, and the fret patterns were but modifications of the spiral. The checkered design was originally worked out by the shepherds and herdsmen who wove baskets and mats of rushes. The source of one of the earliest imitations was the feather, with its variety of forms. Only a few flowers were copied. The lotus, papyrus, daisy, convolvulus, vine and palm were the only ones used to any great extent. By far the most popular of these was the lotus. This water lily has been worshipped in many countries. The Egyptians did not regard it as a national flower--by no means. It was considered the emblem of immortality.

"The lotus is the symbol of 'life,' ... of resurrection. Bouquets of it were presented to guests at funerals. It was sometimes called the symbol of the Sun. 'The solar significance of the lotus is elementary and most important. A text reads: The Sun, which was from the beginning, rises like a hawk from the midst of its lotus bed. When the doors of its leaves open in sapphire-colored brilliancy, it has divided the night from the day.'

"A confessional chapter of the Book of the Dead closes with the words: I am a pure lotus, issue of the field of the Sun.... The Egyptian idea of the resurrection and of a future life was connected with a worship of the creative and reproductive forces of nature, which were conceived and worshipped as solar in character and origin. It is the supposed pa.s.sage of the sun at night through a lower world, during its return to the dawn of a following day which makes Osiris--the Sun at night--the G.o.d of the lower world and of the dead, hence himself represented as a mummy. As the G.o.d of the resurrection, his special and emphatic character, he represents the creative energy of the Sun-G.o.d. Hence, the lotus as attribute of Osiris is at once a symbol of the sun, of the resurrection, and of creative forces and power. Since the doctrine of a future life and a belief in a spirit world were ever present to the Egyptian mind, we cannot too strongly insist on the funeral symbolism of the lotus."[2]

This brief explanation of the lotus' significance given by one who has made a detailed study of this particular Egyptian symbol, helps us to understand its universal use. It was pictured with the G.o.ds, given as offerings to them, employed as capitals for columns, and had many significant uses. It has been suggested that the bright yellow ovary stigmas of this water-lily, with its rayed appearance, might have been thought a symbol of the sun. As time went on, the flower developed into a monstrosity, and became so conventionalized that it has been difficult in many cases to determine what the artist intended to represent.

The grape vine, with its fruit, was a popular decoration. Ceilings were often painted golden yellow, with vine leaves and bunches of grapes hanging down. In glazed work grapes, convolvulus and thistle were used.

Golden stars on a blue-black background found favor as a ceiling decoration.

In prehistoric times, ideas of ornamentation were often gained in curious ways. Jars of pottery were sometimes tied with a string to support them while drying. The string naturally left an impression in the clay. This suggested the notion of twisting the string and so obtaining not only an impression but a pattern. From this very ill.u.s.tration we may realize how completely many origins of decoration have been lost in obscurity.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CEILING DECORATION.]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Erman: Life in Ancient Egypt, 174.

[2] Goodyear: Grammar of the Lotus.

CHAPTER XV.

TOMBS AND BURIAL CUSTOMS.

We have seen in a former chapter that the Egyptians believed one to be composed of three parts: his earthly body, his soul, or ba, and his ka, the ghostlike phantom that grew up with him in life and after death experienced the same needs that he had known while living. All three parts were essential to the existence of any one of them. On this account the Egyptians made every effort to perpetuate the body and to provide necessities for the ka, lest the soul should wither up and be no more. Granting the truth of these beliefs, all that the Nile dwellers did in consequence of a faith in them was logical and natural.

When an Egyptian was ill, a physician and one skilled in magic were summoned. They did what they could to restore him. When their efforts failed, they usually discovered that from his birth it had been decreed that he would meet with an early death, and in this ingenious way they maintained their influence unimpaired.

Upon the death of a relative, all the women of the house rushed into the street with disheveled hair, shouting loud lamentations. In this way their loss was made public. Then they returned and the body was sent to the embalmer.

Three methods of embalming were commonly employed. The most costly method involved seventy days and absorbed perhaps the total income of the year, unless the family was wealthy. The second was less costly and required less time; finally there was a comparatively inexpensive method which had to satisfy the poor.

The vital organs and those parts of the body hardest to preserve were removed. This was strictly necessary according to later Egyptian ideas, yet so dreadful did they regard any mutilation of the body that the men who performed this task were intensely hated and considered as unclean.

They were not allowed to mingle with other cla.s.ses, nor could one rise out of his cla.s.s. When they had done their work, they were stoned away from the house.

The body was now put into a bath of chemicals to remain for many days.

When at last it was taken out, it was filled with linen and sweet smelling powders and made to look as lifelike as possible. Then it was wrapped in linen bands, the quality of the linen used depending upon the purse of the family.

"Each separate limb of the deceased was dedicated to a particular divinity by the aid of holy oils, charms and sentences; a specially prepared cloth was wrapped round each muscle, every drug and bandage owed its origin to some divinity, and the confusion of sounds, of disguised figures, and of various perfumes, had a stupefying effect on those who visited this chamber. It need not be said that the whole embalming establishment and its neighborhood was enveloped in a cloud of powerful resinous fumes, of sweet attar, of lasting musk, and of pungent spices."

Prayers and magical charms were said, scarabs and amulets enclosed, and finally the body was placed in a coffin so constructed that it would stand upright, as though the person were standing erect. It was then taken home, and lamentations were made for some days. These finally gave way to festivals. Banquets were held in honor of the mummy, which was placed near the table and offered portions of food. Sometimes mummies were kept in the home for a long time, and were worshipped with the household G.o.ds. When at length the day for burial came, the family and friends accompanied the body across the Nile to the Necropolis. They took offerings with them,--food, furniture, toilet articles, and some literature--certainly some pages from the Book of the Dead. All the way across the river, the women wept. That the exhibition of grief might be sufficient, wailing women were hired to increase the lamentations.

Seeing the sun which they worshipped disappear each night in the west, the Egyptians grew to think that it went to a mysterious country, the land of Osiris. In course of time they located the land of the Blest in the west, and where-ever possible, placed their tombs facing the west--the direction which the departed took for his long journey. All through the river ride the women cried: "To the West; to the West!"

Upon reaching the place of burial, the priest performed certain ceremonies. Then the mummy in its coffin, and the jars containing the vital organs, were sealed up in the chamber prepared to receive them.

There were always three essential parts to an Egyptian tomb: the chapel, or room used by the relatives to worship the deceased and bring him offerings; the sepulchral chamber which contained the mummy; and the serdab, or secret cell, where images of the deceased were sealed up for the ka to look upon, since the features of the earthly body were now changed by death. This secret chamber was connected by a small aperture with the chapel, in order that the smoke of burning incense and proffered prayers might be the more easily experienced by the Ka. On the west wall of the tomb was the stela, or a false door, upon which was engraved the name of the deceased, his parentage, t.i.tles, and a record of the offerings made to his ka. In early times offerings alone were made with no record of them, but as the people grew more enlightened, they realized that a time must come when even the best known would be forgotten and neglected. Therefore they conceived the notion of enumerating the articles of food contributed, believing that the ka would look upon the record and be satiated through the ages.

Compared to the earthly abode, which was temporary, the tomb was eternal; hence the care that was lavished upon the tomb by the Egyptians. While yet young, a man began to build his final resting place. If he died before it was completed, some relative supervised its completion, but in most cases tombs left thus unfinished show signs of hasty conclusion. The survivor was chiefly interested in his own tomb, and could give but pa.s.sing attention to that of the departed.

In the Old Empire, tombs were constructed of brick masonry. The mummy was placed some distance below the brick work which was elevated a few feet above the ground. During the Middle Empire, grotto tombs came into favor. These were hewed out of the living rock. A large excavation was made and chambers were sometimes formed by masonry, sometimes hollowed from the rock itself. It was during this period that pictures of food offerings were made in addition to the food formerly offered alone.

During the New Empire tombs were generally cut in rocks, and now it became customary to have the heart removed from the deceased and placed in a jar. The idea of reward and punishment was emphasized. "From the calm a.s.surance of purely material happiness which the earliest Egyptian loved to dwell on, there developed a keener sense of the trials through which the soul must pa.s.s, together with a higher ideal of the future life, a strong conviction of the moral qualities and acts essential to the justification of the individual. Later this spiritual degenerated into a reliance upon ritual and formulas in a merely magical sense."[1]

The nature of the burial depended upon the means of the family. The middle cla.s.s interment was less pretentious than that of the n.o.ble, and the poor appropriated some old, neglected tomb, or paid for s.p.a.ce in a public tomb. Even in such cases, some offerings were made. The burial of royalty was splendid, as tombs recently discovered in the Valley of the Kings have attested. Furniture, receptacles, toilet articles--even a boat and a chariot were in some cases provided.

In the tombs of the wealthy were enclosed little images of servants, or "answerers." To the unimaginative Egyptian, the future world could only be a place, like his own Egypt, where he would sow and reap, under conditions most favorable. Water would be plentiful, and work would be so easy that it would be a joy to perform it. This satisfied the ma.s.ses, who knew only how to reap and sow. But the wealthy had not been accustomed to cultivate the soil in this life and were not pleased with the prospect of doing so through countless ages. Lest such menial tasks be required of them in the realm of Osiris, they had with them these images of servants--these answerers--who might respond when they were called upon: "Here am I, thy servant." Thus the n.o.ble would have his work performed by others, as it had always been.

Amulets and scarabs were also deposited with the mummy. The amulets were charms supposed to bring good luck, and the scarabs had a deeper significance. The word _scarab_ means _beetle_. A certain kind of beetle deposited its eggs in the sand. From the earth, in course of time, a fully developed beetle would come forth. The Egyptians, who knew nothing of insect life, believed the beetle, long since dead, had the power of restoring itself to life anew. Hence the scarab was an emblem of the resurrection and immortality. Just as the cross is a symbol dear to the hearts of Christians, so, to the followers of the Egyptian religion, the scarab was significant. It was made of various kinds of stone, variously colored, and was worn by the Egyptian during life, and buried with him at death. During periods when religious revivals were strong, large numbers of these emblems were produced; during ages when greater indifference to religious matters were shown, fewer seem to have been made. As little Greek vases have been found in all lands where Greek merchantmen went, so the Egyptian trade of antiquity can be traced by the little scarabs. Large collections of them have been made in recent years, and many are exhibited today in museums.

In the New Empire, when it became necessary to remove the heart of the deceased, a sacred scarab was subst.i.tuted in its place. The idea prompting such action was that the heart was sinful, and if removed, might not be able to testify against its owner. The scarab, being a symbol of faith, might be of some a.s.sistance.

A copy of the Book of the Dead was supplied the deceased because it contained a list of the dangers his soul would have to meet in journeying to the abode of Osiris. The topography of the future world was included and all invocations to be uttered at different stages of the progress were given. Only with a perfect knowledge of all these things could the soul hope to reach the land of the blest. Advice was given him about meeting the forty-two judges of the western world, who judged him for forty-two sins. If his good deeds outweighed his shortcomings, he remained forever with Osiris; otherwise he was transformed into some unclean animal, and never knew the joys of eternal life.

It has been estimated that some 200,000,000 people died in Upper Egypt during its active history and found a resting place in the favorite strip of desert less than 450 miles in length. Of course only the most substantial of the tombs are preserved. The dryness of the country has helped to preserve ancient monuments.

It is small wonder that to the very poor, whose huts have always been in the Necropolis--the wealth concealed in tombs has always been a strong temptation. Records reach through the Middle and New Empires testifying that robbers pillaged tombs for jewelry and gold, and today the Arab traffics constantly in the spoils of the tombs--above which, in many cases, he lives.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE FUNERAL PROCESSION: THE WEAPONS AND JEWELS.]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Blimmer: Essays on History, Religion and Art of Ancient Egypt.