18. The first king, who is called Menes by several independent and very ancient authorities, made his reign memorable by a system of vast and useful public works. It is conjectured that the previous rulers were the sacerdotal class and that, up to that time, they had no kings. The habits of the people were quiet and peaceful, and they seem to have been first gathered around temples. In all stages of their history, down to the time when foreign intrusion by force disorganized their peculiar institutions, the priesthood was the most influential element in their constitution, and their sway seems to have been, in some respects, singularly mild and beneficent. Except for the extreme inflexibility and minuteness of their regulations, which repressed all spontaneous growth, and the gross and absurd worship of animals which they introduced, they might be considered an unmixed blessing to those early times. It is certain that they were successful in controlling men and moulding them to their own views without producing discontent or revolt. 19. Everything in Egypt was remarkable—its river, its country, and the institutions and habits of its people. The Egyptians dwelt in the valley of the Nile for a space of 500 miles above its mouth; but this valley was so narrow that the habitable part of it contained only about 6,000 square miles in all. It was shut in by the Red sea on the east and by trackless deserts on the west, and a fall of rain was so rare as to be considered a prodigy. In June each year their mysterious river, whose sources are yet almost unknown, began to rise till it covered the whole valley like a vast sea. The rise and fall occupied the summer months and to the middle of October. The waters left a rich coating of mud and slime, which rendered the valley fertile beyond measure. The productive season occupied the remainder of the year, and their agricultural resources were only limited by their skill in spreading and husbanding the fertilizing waters. Vast canals and reservoirs covered the whole valley. Lake Moeris, a reservoir partly natural and partly artificial, was said by the first Greek historian, Herodotus, to have been 400 miles in circuit. When the waters had reached their highest point, the cisterns, canals and lakes were filled and the waters kept in reserve for late periods of the year, and a succession of crops.