按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
als； was distributed over the fields； renewing the soil year by year with a fresh deposit of mud washed down from the great equatorial lakes and the mountains of Abyssinia。 Hence the rise of the river has always been watched by the inhabitants with the utmost anxiety； for if it either falls short of or exceeds a certain height； dearth and famine are the inevitable consequences。 The water begins to rise early in June； but it is not until the latter half of July that it swells to a mighty tide。 By the end of September the inundation is at its greatest height。 The country is now submerged； and presents the appearance of a sea of turbid water； from which the towns and villages； built on higher ground； rise like islands。 For about a month the flood remains nearly stationary； then sinks more and more rapidly； till by December or January the river has returned to its ordinary bed。 With the approach of summer the level of the water continues to fall。 In the early days of June the Nile is reduced to half its ordinary breadth； and Egypt； scorched by the sun； blasted by the wind that has blown from the Sahara for many days； seems a mere continuation of the desert。 The trees are choked with a thick layer of grey dust。 A few meagre patches of vegetables； watered with difficulty； struggle painfully for existence in the immediate neighbourhood of the villages。 Some appearance of verdure lingers beside the canals and in the hollows from which the moisture has not wholly evaporated。 The plain appears to pant in the pitiless sunshine； bare； dusty； ash…coloured； cracked and seamed as far as the eye can see with a network of fissures。 From the middle of April till the middle of June the land of Egypt is but half alive； waiting for the new Nile。
For countless ages this cycle of natural events has determined the annual labours of the Egyptian husbandman。 The first work of the agricultural year is the cutting of the dams which have hitherto prevented the swollen river from flooding the canals and the fields。 This is done； and the pent…up waters released on their beneficent mission； in the first half of August。 In November； when the inundation has subsided； wheat； barley； and sorghum are sown。 The time of harvest varies with the district； falling about a month later in the north than in the south。 In Upper or Southern Egypt barley is reaped at the beginning of March； wheat at the beginning of April； and sorghum about the end of that month。
It is natural to suppose that the various events of the agricultural year were celebrated by the Egyptian farmer with some simple religious rites designed to secure the blessing of the gods upon his labours。 These rustic ceremonies he would continue to perform year after year at the same season； while the solemn festivals of the priests continued to shift； with the shifting calendar； from summer through spring to winter； and so backward through autumn to summer。 The rites of the husbandman were stable because they rested on direct observation of nature： the rites of the priest were unstable because they were based on a false calculation。 Yet many of the priestly festivals may have been nothing but the old rural festivals disguised in the course of ages by the pomp of sacerdotalism and severed； by the error of the calendar； from their roots in the natural cycle of the seasons。
These conjectures are confirmed by the little we know both of the popular and of the official Egyptian religion。 Thus we are told that the Egyptians held a festival of Isis at the time when the Nile began to rise。 They believed that the goddess was then mourning for the lost Osiris； and that the tears which dropped from her eyes swelled the impetuous tide of the river。 Now if Osiris was in one of his aspects a god of the corn； nothing could be more natural than that he should be mourned at midsummer。 For by that time the harvest was past； the fields were bare； the river ran low； life seemed to be suspended； the corn…god was dead。 At such a moment people who saw the handiwork of divine beings in all the operations of nature might well trace the swelling of the sacred stream to the tears shed by the goddess at the death of the beneficent corn…god her husband。
And the sign of the rising waters on earth was accompanied by a sign in heaven。 For in the early days of Egyptian history； some three or four thousand years before the beginning of our era； the splendid star of Sirius； the brightest of all the fixed stars； appeared at dawn in the east just before sunrise about the time of the summer solstice； when the Nile begins to rise。 The Egyptians called it Sothis； and regarded it as the star of Isis； just as the Babylonians deemed the planet Venus the star of Astarte。 To both peoples apparently the brilliant luminary in the morning sky seemed the goddess of life and love come to mourn her departed lover or spouse and to wake him from the dead。 Hence the rising of Sirius marked the beginning of the sacred Egyptian year； and was regularly celebrated by a festival which did not shift with the shifting official year。
The cutting of the dams and the admission of the water into the canals and fields is a great event in the Egyptian year。 At Cairo the operation generally takes place between the sixth and the sixteenth of August； and till lately was attended by ceremonies which deserve to be noticed； because they were probably handed down from antiquity。 An ancient canal； known by the name of the Khalíj； formerly passed through the native town of Cairo。 Near its entrance the canal was crossed by a dam of earth； very broad at the bottom and diminishing in breadth upwards； which used to be constructed before or soon after the Nile began to rise。 In front of the dam； on the side of the river； was reared a truncated cone of earth called the 'arooseh or bride； on the top of which a little maize or millet was generally sown。 This bride was commonly washed down by the rising tide a week or a fortnight before the cutting of the dam。 Tradition runs that the old custom was to deck a young virgin in gay apparel and throw her into the river as a sacrifice to obtain a plentiful inundation。 Whether that was so or not； the intention of the practice appears to have been to marry the river； conceived as a male power； to his bride the cornland； which was so soon to be fertilised by his water。 The ceremony was therefore a charm to ensure the growth of the crops。 In modern times money used to be thrown into the canal on this occasion； and the populace dived into the water after it。 This practice also would seem to have been ancient； for Seneca tells us that at a place called the Veins of the Nile； not far from Philae； the priests used to cast money and offerings of gold into the river at a festival which apparently took place at the rising of the water。
The next great operation of the agricultural year in Egypt is the sowing of the seed in November； when the water of the inundation has retreated from the fields。 With the Egyptians； as with many peoples of antiquity； the committing of the seed to the earth assumed the character of a solemn and mournful rite。 On this subject I will let Plutarch speak for himself。 What； he asks； are we to make of the gloomy； joyless； and mournful sacrifices； if it is wrong either to omit the established rites or to confuse and disturb our conceptions of the gods by absurd suspicions？ For the Greeks also perform many rites which resemble those of the Egyptians and are observed about the same time。 Thus at the festival of the Thesmophoria in Athens women sit on the ground and fast。 And the Boeotians open the vaults of the Sorrowful One； naming that festival sorrowful because Demeter is sorrowing for the descent of the Maiden。 The month is the month of sowing about the setting of the Pleiades。 The Egyptians call it Athyr； the Athenians Pyanepsion； the Boeotians the month of Demeter 。 For it was that time of year when they saw some of the fruits vanishing and failing from the trees； while they sowed others grudgingly and with difficulty； scraping the earth with their hands and huddling it up again； on the uncertain chance that what they deposited in the ground would ever ripen and come to maturity。 Thus they did in many respects like those who bury and mourn their dead。
The Egyptian harvest； as we have seen； falls not in autumn but in spring； in the months of March； April； and May。 To the husbandman the time of harvest； at least in a good year； must necessarily be a season of joy： in bringing home his sheaves he is requited for his long and anxious labours。 Yet if the old Egyptian farmer felt a secret joy at reaping and garnering the grain； it was essential that he should conceal the natural emotion under an air of profound dejection。 For was he not severing the body of the corn…god with his sickle and trampling it to pieces under the hoofs of his cattle on the threshing…floor？ Accordingly we are told that it was an ancient custom of the Egyptian corn…reapers to beat their breasts and lament over the first sheaf cut； while at the same time they called upon Isis。 The invocation seems to have taken the form of a melancholy chant； to which the Greeks gave the name of Maneros。 Similar plaintive strains were chanted by corn…reapers in Phoenicia an