EGYPT AND BABYLON.
164
would naturally nourish their
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slaves. find a king stating that he offered in a single temple loaves of three distinct " " best bread," kinds, viz., great loaves of bread for eating," and " loaves of barley bread," to the amount of 6,272,431.* He also offered to the same temple 5,279,552 bushels of "Bread" is the ordinary representative of food corn.f The good man gives bread to the in Egyptian speech. " " " " bread " is taken hungry ; $ artisans labor for bread out to the rustics who work in the fields, and is brought for the repast of young maidens. IF Flesh, on the other hand, thoiigh largely consumed by the rich, was generally beyond the means of the poor ; and the Israelites longing after the " " of Egypt can only be accounted for by supposileshpots that the king nourished his laborers on a more generous ing diet that was obtainable by the working classes generally. It is not likely, however, that they received flesh often. have probably in Num. xi. 5 the main constituents of their dietary in addition to bread. Fish, which they "did eat in Egypt freely," was undoubtedly one of the principal articles of food consumed by the lower orders. Herodotus says that a certain number of the poorer Egyptians " lived entirely on fish." ** It was so abundant that it was necessarily cheap. The Nile produced several ki-nds, which were easily caught ; and in Lake Moeris the abundance of the fish was such that the Pharaohs are said to have derived from the sale a revenue of above 94,000 a year.ff Lake Menzaleh also, and the other lakes near the coast, must have yielded a considerable supply. The fishermen of Egypt formed a numerous class,$$ and the salting and drying of fish furnished occupation to a large number of persons. The quantity of vegetable food which the poorer Egyptians consumed is noted and Herodotus makes out that the laborers by Diodorus. whom Khufu (Cheops) employed to build the great pyramid subsisted mainly, if not wholly, on radishes, onions, and Cucurbitaceous vegetables are at present among garlic. HIT ;
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* " Records of the Past," vol. viii., p. 44, line 5. t Ibid., vol viii., p. 45, line 12. " } Birch, Egypt from the Earliest Times," p. 46. " Records of the Past," vol. viii., p. 150. II
tt III!
Ibid., vol. ii., p. 139.
T
Ibid., vol. vi., p. 151.
Herod, ii. 92. tt Ibid. ii. 149. Herod. 11. 92, 95 " Records of the Past," vol. viii., p. 153. " Ancient Wilkinson, Egyptians," vol. ii., pp. 115-8. Diod. Sic. i. 80. 1TT Herod, ii. 125. ;