History Of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Vol. 2 — 06 - Vol. 02, Ch. 01: The Political Constitution of Egypt, pt. 6

The large towns, as well as the capital, possessed their double storehouses and their store-chambers, into which were gathered the products of the neighbourhood, but where a complete staff of employés was not always required: in such towns we meet with “localities” in which the commodities were housed merely temporarily.

The least perishable part of the provincial dues was forwarded by boat to the royal residence,* and swelled the central treasury.

* The boats employed for this purpose formed a flotilla, and their commanders constituted a regularly organized transport corps, who are frequently to be found represented on the monuments of the New Empire, carrying tribute to the residence of the king or of the prince, whose retainers they were.

The remainder was used on the spot for paying workman’s wages, and for the needs of the Administration.

We see from the inscriptions, that the staffs of officials who administered affairs in the provinces was similar to that in the royal city.

Starting from the top, and going down to the bottom of the scale, each functionary supervised those beneath him, while, as a body, they were all responsible for their depot.

Any irregularity in the entries entailed the bastinado; peculators were punished by imprisonment, mutilation, or death, according to the gravity of the offence.

Those whom illness or old age rendered unfit for work, were pensioned for the remainder of their life.

[Illustration: 063. jpg PLAN OF A PRINCELY STOREHOUSE FOR PROVISIONS] Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Lepsius, _Denkm_.

, iii.

95. The illustration is taken from one of the tombs at Tel el- Amarna.

The storehouse consists of four blocks, isolated by two avenues planted with trees, which intersect each other in the form of a cross.

Behind the entrance gate, in a small courtyard, is a kiosque, in which the master sat for the purpose of receiving the stores or of superintending their distribution; two arms of the cross are lined by porticoes, under which are the entrances to the “chambers” (dît) for the stores, which are filled with jars of wine, linen- chests, dried fish, and other articles.

The writer, or, as we call him, the scribe, was the mainspring of all this machinery.

We come across him in all grades of the staff: an insignificant registrar of oxen, a clerk of the Double White Storehouse, ragged, humble, and badly paid, was a scribe just as much as the noble, the priest, or the king’s son.

Thus the title of scribe was of no value in itself, and did not designate, as one might naturally think, a savant educated in a school of high culture, or a man of the world, versed in the sciences and the literature of his time; El-kab was a scribe who knew how to read, write, and cipher, was fairly proficient in wording the administrative formulas, and could easily apply the elementary rules of book-keeping.

There was no public school in which the scribe could be prepared for his future career; but as soon as a child had acquired the first rudiments of letters with some old pedagogue, his father took him with him to his office, or entrusted him to some friend who agreed to undertake his education.

The apprentice observed what went on around him, imitated the mode of procedure of the _employés_, copied in his spare time old papers, letters, bills, flowerily-worded petitions, reports, complimentary addresses to his superiors or to the Pharaoh, all of which his patron examined and corrected, noting on the margin letters or words imperfectly written, improving the style, and recasting or completing the incorrect expressions.

* As soon as he could put together a certain number of sentences or figures without a mistake, he was allowed to draw up bills, or to have the sole superintendence of some department of the treasury, his work being gradually increased in amount and difficulty; when he was considered to be sufficiently _au courant_ with the ordinary business, his education was declared to be finished, and a situation was found for him either in the place where he had begun his probation, or in some neighbouring office.

** * We still possess school exercises of the XIXth and XXth dynasties, e. g. the _Papyrus Anastasi n IV_.

, and the _Anastasi Papyrus n V. _, in which we find a whole string of pieces of every possible style and description--business letters, requests for leave of absence, complimentary verses addressed to a superior, all probably a collection of exercises compiled by some professor, and copied by his pupils in order to complete their education as scribes; the master’s corrections are made at the top and bottom of the pages in a bold and skilful hand, very different from that of the pupil, though the writing of the latter is generally more legible to our modern eyes (_Select Papyri,_ vol. i.

pls.

lxxxiii.

-cxxi.

).

** Evidence of this state of things seems to be furnished by all the biographies of scribes with which we are acquainted, e. g. that of Amten; it is, moreover, what took place regularly throughout the whole of Egypt, down to the latest times, and what probably still occurs in those parts of the country where European ideas have not yet made any deep impression.

[Illustration: 065. jpg THE STAFF OF A GOVERNMENT OFFICER IN THE TIME OF THE MEMPHITE DYNASTIES]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a wall-painting on the tomb of Khûnas.

Two scribes are writing on tablets.

Before the scribe in the upper part of the picture we see a palette, with two saucers, on a vessel which serves as an ink-bottle, and a packet of tablets tied together, the whole supported by a bundle of archives.

The scribe in the lower part rests his tablet against an ink-bottle, a box for archives being placed before him.

Behind them a _nakht-khrôû_ announces the delivery of a tablet covered with figures which the third scribe is presenting to the master.

[Illustration: THE CRIER ANNOUNCES THE ARRIVAL OF FIVE REGISTRARS OF THE TEMPLE OF KING ÛSIRNIRÎ, OF THE Vth DYNASTY] Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a picture in the tomb of Shopsisûri.

Four registrars of the funerary temple of Ûsirnirî advance in a crawling posture towards the master, the fifth has just risen and holds himself in a stooping attitude, while an usher introduces him and transmits to him an order to send in his accounts.

Thus equipped, the young man ended usually by succeeding his father or his patron: in most of the government administrations, we find whole dynasties of scribes on a small scale, whose members inherited the same post for several centuries.

The position was an insignificant one, and the salary poor, but the means of existence were assured, the occupant was exempted from forced labour and from military service, and he exercised a certain authority in the narrow world in which he lived; it sufficed to make him think himself happy, and in fact to be so.

“One has only to be a scribe,” said the wise man, “for the scribe takes the lead of all.

” Sometimes, however, one of these contented officials, more intelligent or ambitious than his fellows, succeeded in rising above the common mediocrity: his fine handwriting, the happy choice of his sentences, his activity, his obliging manner, his honesty--perhaps also his discreet dishonesty--attracted the attention of his superiors and were the cause of his promotion.

The son of a peasant or of some poor wretch, who had begun life by keeping a register of the bread and vegetables in some provincial government office, had been often known to crown his long and successful career by exercising a kind of vice-regency over the half of Egypt.

His granaries overflowed with corn, his storehouses were always full of gold, fine stuffs, and precious vases, his stalls “multiplied the backs” of his oxen; the sons of his early patrons, having now become in turn his _protégés_, did not venture to approach him except with bowed head and bended knee.

No doubt the Amten whose tomb was removed to Berlin by Lepsius, and put together piece by piece in the museum, was a _parvenu_ of this kind.

He was born rather more than four thousand years before our era under one of the last kings of the IIIrd dynasty, and he lived until the reign of the first king of the IVth dynasty, Snofrûi. He probably came from the Nome of the Bull, if not from Xoïs itself, in the heart of the Delta.

His father, the scribe Anûpûmonkhû, held, in addition to his office, several landed estates, producing large returns; but his mother, Nibsonît, who appears to have been merely a concubine, had no personal fortune, and would have been unable even to give her child an education.

Anûpûmonkhû made himself entirely responsible for the necessary expenses, “giving him all the necessities of life, at a time when he had not as yet either corn, barley, income, house, men or women servants, or troops of asses, pigs, or oxen.

” As soon as he was in a condition to provide for himself, his father obtained for him, in his native Nome, the post of chief scribe attached to one of the “localities” which belonged to the Administration of Provisions.

On behalf of the Pharaoh, the young man received, registered, and distributed the meat, cakes, fruits, and fresh vegetables which constituted the taxes, all on his own responsibility, except that he had to give an account of them to the “Director of the Storehouse” who was nearest to him.

We are not told how long he remained in this occupation; we see merely that he was raised successively to posts of an analogous kind, but of increasing importance.

The provincial offices comprised a small staff of _employés, _ consisting always of the same officials:--a chief, whose ordinary function was “Director of the Storehouse;” a few scribes to keep the accounts, one or two of whom added to his ordinary calling that of keeper of the archives; paid ushers to introduce clients, and, if need be, to bastinado them summarily at the order of the “director;” lastly, the “strong of voice,” the criers, who superintended the incomings and outgoings, and proclaimed the account of them to the scribes to be noted down forthwith.

A vigilant and honest crier was a man of great value.

[Illustration: 068. jpg THE FUNERAL STELE OF THE TOMB OF AMTEN, THE “GRAND HUNTSMAN.

”] He obliged the taxpayer not only to deliver the exact number of measures prescribed as his quota, but also compelled him to deliver good measure in each case; a dishonest crier, on the contrary, could easily favour cheating, provided that he shared in the spoil.

Amten was at once “crier” and “taxer of the colonists” to the civil administrator of the Xoïte nome: he announced the names of the peasants and the payments they made, then estimated the amount of the local tax which each, according to his income, had to pay.

He distinguished himself so pre-eminently in these delicate duties, that the civil administrator of Xoïs made him one of his subordinates.

He became “Chief of the Ushers,” afterwards “Master Crier,” then “Director of all the King’s flax” in the Xoïfce nome--an office which entailed on him the supervision of the culture, cutting, and general preparation of flax for the manufacture which was carried on in Pharaoh’s own domain.

It was one of the highest offices in the Provincial Administration, and Amten must have congratulated himself on his appointment.

From that moment his career became a great one, and he advanced quickly.

Up to that time he had been confined in offices; he now left them to perform more active service.

The Pharaohs, extremely jealous of their own authority, usually avoided placing at the head of the nomes in their domain, a single ruler, who would have appeared too much like a prince;

they preferred having in each centre of civil administration, governors of the town or province, as well as military commanders who were jealous of one another, supervised one another, counterbalanced one another, and did not remain long enough in office to become dangerous.

Amten held all these posts successively in most of the nomes situated in the centre or to the west of the Delta.

His first appointment was to the government of the village of Pidosû, an unimportant post in itself, but one which entitled him to a staff of office, and in consequence procured for him one of the greatest indulgences of vanity that an Egyptian could enjoy.

The staff was, in fact, a symbol of command which only the nobles, and the officials associated with the nobility, could carry without transgressing custom; the assumption of it, as that of the sword with us, showed every one that the bearer was a member of a privileged class.

[Illustration: 072. jpg STATUE OF AMTEN, FOUND IN HIS TOMB] Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Lepsius, Denkm.

, ii.

120 a;

the original is in the Berlin Museum.

Amten was no sooner ennobled, than his functions began to expand;

villages were rapidly added to villages, then towns to towns, including such an important one as Bûto, and finally the nomes of the Harpoon, of the Bull, of the Silurus, the western half of the Saïte nome, the nome of the Haunch, and a part of the Fayûm came within his jurisdiction.

The western half of the Saïte nome, where he long resided, corresponded with what was called later the Libyan nome.

It reached nearly from the apex of the Delta to the sea, and was bounded on one side by the Canopic branch of the Nile, on the other by the Libyan range; a part of the desert as well as the Oases fell under its rule.

It included among its population, as did many of the provinces of Upper Egypt, regiments composed of nomad hunters, who were compelled to pay their tribute in living or dead game.

Amten was metamorphosed into Chief Huntsman, scoured the mountains with his men, and thereupon became one of the most important personages in the defence of the country.

The Pharaohs had built fortified stations, and had from time to time constructed walls at certain points where the roads entered the valley--at Syene, at Coptos, and at the entrance to the Wady Tûmilât. Amten having been proclaimed “Primate of the Western Gate,” that is, governor of the Libyan marches, undertook to protect the frontier against the wandering Bedouin from the other side of Lake Mareotis.

His duties as Chief Huntsman had been the best preparation he could have had for this arduous task.

They had forced him to make incessant expeditions among the mountains, to explore the gorges and ravines, to be acquainted with the routes marked out by wells which the marauders were obliged to follow in their incursions, and the pathways and passes by which they could descend into the plain of the Delta; in running the game to earth, he had gained all the knowledge needful for repulsing the enemy.

Such a combination of capabilities made Amten the most important noble in this part of Egypt.

When old age at last prevented him from leading an active life, he accepted, by way of a pension, the governorship of the nome of the Haunch: with civil authority, military command, local priestly functions, and honorary distinctions, he lacked only one thing to make him the equal of the nobles of ancient family, and that was permission to bequeath without restriction his towns and offices to his children.

His private fortune was not as great as we might be led to think.

He inherited from his father only one estate, but had acquired twelve others in the nomes of the Delta whither his successive appointments had led him--namely, in the Saïte, Xoïte, and Letopolite nomes.

He received subsequently, as a reward for his services, two hundred portions of cultivated land, with numerous peasants, both male and female, and an income of one hundred loaves daily, a first charge upon the funeral provision of Queen Hâpûnimâit.

He took advantage of this windfall to endow his family suitably.

His only son was already provided for, thanks to the munificence of Pharaoh; he had begun his administrative career by holding the same post of scribe, in addition to the office of provision registrar, which his father had held, and over and above these he received by royal grant, four portions of cornland with their population and stock.

Amten gave twelve portions to his other children and fifty to his mother Nibsonît, by means of which she lived comfortably in her old age, and left an annuity for maintaining worship at her tomb.

He built upon the remainder of the land a magnificent villa, of which he has considerately left us the description.

The boundary wall formed a square of 350 feet on each face, and consequently contained a superficies of 122,500 square feet.

The well-built dwelling-house, completely furnished with all the necessities of life, was surrounded by ornamental and fruit-bearing trees,--the common palm, the nebbek, fig trees, and acacias; several ponds, neatly bordered with greenery, afforded a habitat for aquatic birds; trellised vines, according to custom, ran in front of the house, and two plots of ground, planted with vines in full bearing, amply supplied the owner with wine every year.

[Illustration: 075. jpg PLAN OF THE VILLA OF A GREAT EGYPTIAN NOBLE] This plan is taken from a Theban tomb of the XVIIIth dynasty; but it corresponds exactly with the description which Amten has left us of his villa.

It was there, doubtless, that Amten ended his days in peace and quietude of mind.

The tableland whereon the Sphinx has watched for so many centuries was then crowned by no pyramids, but mastabas of fine white stone rose here and there from out of the sand: that in which the mummy of Amten was to be enclosed was situated not far from the modern village of Abûsîr, on the confines of the nome of the Haunch, and almost in sight of the mansion in which his declining years were spent.

* * The site of Amten’s manorial mansion is nowhere mentioned in the inscriptions; but the custom of the Egyptians to construct their tombs as near as possible to the places where they resided, leads me to consider it as almost certain that we ought to look for its site in the Memphite plain, in the vicinity of the town of Abûsîr, but in a northern direction, so as to keep within the territory of the Letopolite nome, where Amten governed in the name of the king.