EGYPTIAN MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENTS. Though impossible for us now to form any notion of the character or style of Egyptian music, we may be allowed to conjecture that it was studied on scientific principles; and, whatever defects existed in the skill of ordinary performers, who gained their livelihood by playing in public, or for the entertainment of a private party, music was looked upon as an important science, and diligently studied by the priests themselves. According to Diodorus it was not customary to make music part of their education, being deemed useless and even injurious, as tending to render the minds of men effeminate; but this remark can only apply to the custom of studying it as an amusement. Plato, who was well acquainted with the usages of the Egyptians, says that they considered music of the greatest consequence, from its beneficial effects upon the mind of youth; and according to Strabo, the children of the Egyptians were taught letters, the songs appointed by law, and a certain kind of music, established by government. That the Egyptians were particularly fond of music is abundantly proved by the paintings in their tombs of the earliest times; and we even find they introduced figures performing on the favorite instruments of the country, among the devices with which they adorned fancy boxes or trinkets. The skill of the Egyptians in the use of musical instruments is also noticed by Athenæus, who says that both the Greeks and barbarians were taught by refugees from Egypt, and that the Alexandrians were the most scientific and skillful players on pipes and other instruments.