Wilkinson, John Gardner: Topographie of Thebes, and general view of Egypt: being a short account of the principal objects worthy of notice in the valley of the Nile, to the second cataracte and Wadi Samneh, with the Fyoom, Oases and eastern desert, from Sooez to Bertenice (London, 1835)

Chap. V.] THE SOLDIERS. 233

was simple,* but imposing; they indulged sparingly
in wine,"}" they abstained from certain meats, shaved
the whole body every third day, and bathed twice
a day, and twice during the night,J and maintain-
ing their pious character by those imposing arts
in which the priesthood of idolatry is always
versed, their persons were respected and their
laws obeyed without a murmur. They were exempt
from all duties, they consumed no part of their own
income in any of their necessary expenses,^ and a
large portion of land was set apart for their main-
tenance,—a right so scrupulously observed that
when Pharaoh, by the advice of Joseph, had
bought all the land of the Egyptians during a
famine, that of the priests was alone excepted ;||
and they had moreover an established allowance
from the public stores.

The Soldiers.—A standing army was constantly
maintained by the Egyptian government, for the
garrisons of the different fortified towns from Pelu-
sium to Syene, and for the constant excursions
which the Egyptian princes made towards the
north-east to extend their conquests and maintain

* Herodotus and Plutarch say it was of linen; Pliny, of cotton.
The form varied according to their rank.'—Herod, i. 37 ; Plut. de
Is. s. iv.; Plin. xix. i.

f This, in a hot climate, is a wise regulation; conf. Levit. x. 9.
At certain times the Egyptian priests abstained entirely from its
use.—Plut. s. vi. de Is. et Osir.

| Porphyry says thrice a day; and a nocturnal ablution was
only necessary on certain occasions. Vide Herod, ii. 37.

§ Herod, ii. 37. J Genesis xvii. 22. 26.