themselves to one wife, but they also extended to her more and greater privileges, than she had in any other country. Woman was honored as the source of life, as the mother of all being. Therefore contracts, carefully set up, protected her in her rights and secured her the title Neb-t-em pa, "the mistress of the house." As such she had, if the authority of Diodorus can be credited, absolute control over all domestic affairs and no objection was made to her commands whatsoever they might be. It is also significant, that where biographical notes appear, on tombs, statues and sarcophagi, the name of the deceased mother is frequently given, while the name of the father is not mentioned. So it reads for instance: "Ani, born by Ptah-sit," "Seti, brought to life by Ata." The spirit of true affection and real family life likewise found expression in many poetical names given by sorrowful widowers to their departed wives. There is an inscription, in which a husband praises his lost mate as "the palm of loveliness and charm"; another one extols his spouse as "a faithful lady of the house, who was devoted to her husband in true fondness."
That the highly developed, culture of the Egyptians was based on strong ethical principles, also appears from the text of the so-called "Papyrus Prisse," perhaps the oldest book of morals ever written. Its author, Prince Ptah-hotep, who lived about 3350 B. C. gives hints and advice in regard to social intercourse and manners, to be observed among people of refinement. Hear what he says about the treatment of women: "If you are wise, you will take proper care of your house and love your wife in all honor. Nourish, clothe and adorn her, as this is the joy of her limbs. Provide her with pleasing odors; make her glad and happy as long as you live, because she is a gift that shall be worthy of its owner. Don't be a tyrant. By friendly conduct you will attain much more than by rough force. Then her breath will be merry and her eyes bright. Gladly she will live in your house and will work in it with affection and to her heart's content."
Children were regarded as the gifts of the gods, and brought up in good manners and obedience.
In company with their husbands Egyptian women took part in all kinds of social and public festivals. At social affairs the master and mistress of the house presided, sitting close together, while the guests, men and women, frequently mingled, strangers as well as members of the same family. Agreeable conversation was considered the principal charm of polite society, and according to Herodotus it was customary at such gatherings, to bring into the hall a wooden image of Osiris, the Lord of Life and Death, to remind the guests not only of the transitoriness of all earthly things and human
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