Social life in ancient Egypt / by W.M. Flinders Petrie.

  • Flinders Petrie
Date:
1923
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Social life in ancient Egypt / by W.M. Flinders Petrie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the present use of electric power, and of the internal combustion engine for motors, will entirely alter the relation of town and country. In viewing, therefore, the successive social conditions of Egypt, we shall try to see what were the changes of discovery and of knowledge which determined the form of social life. The earliest stage which we know was that of a hunting people. The Nile filled the valley, there was some rainfall on the hills, enough to support gazelles, wild oxen, elephants, and various animals now only known in Central Africa. There could not be pastoral life, as the herbage was not dense enough to make enclosure practicable. Possibly sheep could be kept together by careful herding. The first condi¬ tion for a hunting life is the reservation of rights over an area by the tribe, excluding other tribes. Our notice “ Trespassers will be prosecuted ” is the most venerable formula that we have. Tribal wars over hunting grounds and collecting grounds have always been going on, for getting meat, fruits, seeds, roots and herbs. The tribe is organised to protect those rights. The same social order is seen in animals ; wild cattle and dogs are exacting about their boundaries. Lately it has been observed that birds each season take up definite hunting grounds and defend them against all comers, fighting for land before the
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