The Egyptians treated their women very differently, as the accounts of ancient authors and the sculptures sufficiently prove. At some of the public festivals women were expected to attend--not alone, like the Moslem women at a mosque, but in company with their husbands or relations; and Josephus states that on an occasion of this kind, "when it was the custom for women to go to the public solemnity, the wife of Potiphar, having pleaded ill health in order to be allowed to stay at home, was excused from attending," and availed herself of the absence of her husband to talk with Joseph. That it was the custom of the Egyptians to have only one wife, is shown by Herodotus and the monuments, which present so many scenes illustrative of their domestic life; and Diodorus is wrong in supposing that the laity were allowed to marry any number, while the priests were limited to one. But a very objectionable custom, which is not only noticed by Diodorus, but is fully authenticated by the sculptures both of Upper and Lower Egypt, existed among them from the earliest times, the origin and policy of which it is not easy to explain--the marriage of brother and sister--which Diodorus supposes to have been owing to, and sanctioned by, that of Isis and Osiris; but as this was purely an allegorical fable, and these ideal personages never lived on earth, his conjecture is of little weight; nor does any ancient writer offer a satisfactory explanation of so strange a custom. Though the Egyptians confined themselves to one wife, they, like the Jews and other Eastern nations, both of ancient and modern times, scrupled not to admit other inmates to their _hareem_, most of whom appear to have been foreigners, either taken in war, or brought to Egypt to be sold as slaves. They became members of the family, like those in Moslem countries at the present day, and not only ranked next to the wives and children of their lord, but probably enjoyed a share of the property at his death. These women were white or black slaves, according to the countries from which they were brought; but, generally speaking, the latter were employed merely as domestics, who were required to wait upon their mistress and her female friends. The former, likewise, officiated as servants, though they of course held a rank above the black slaves. The same custom prevailed among the Egyptians regarding children, as with the Moslems and other Eastern people; no distinction being made between their offspring by a wife or any other woman, and all equally enjoying the rights of inheritance; for, since they considered a child indebted to the father for its existence, it seemed unjust to deny equal rights to all his progeny.