That was one alteration from the hieroglyphic that was made, as time went on; and then there came another, further change, still in the direction of making simpler and simpler signs in place of the original figures; and when this third kind of writing had established itself it seems to have been found the easiest of the three and best suited for everyday use. It was called "Demotic," from "demos," meaning the populace, whence we get our "democracy" and {38} the like words. "Demotic," then, meant that it was the writing of the common people, of the nation at large, as contrasted with the "hieratic," which was the writing used and known by the priests. All the old religious writings and the instructions about the ceremonies to be performed at the worship of the various gods were, of course, in the sacred writing. And when the priests added to them they were careful to do it in their own sacred script. And so, by knowing this script, or writing, which the others did not, they grew to have a knowledge of their own, which they kept rather jealously to themselves. It gave them all the greater importance. And their importance and power were very great. [Sidenote: Egyptian dress] They were distinguished from the rest of the people, probably on all occasions, and certainly on the occasions of performing the religious rites, by a peculiar costume. The costume in which we see the common people figured in the earliest engravings is extremely simple. The climate was warm and they did not require much covering. The dress consists simply in a cloth wound around the loins and passing between the legs, just as the most savage peoples in the world to-day wear the loin-cloth. A little later we find the engravings showing us the cloth lengthening downward, perhaps as far as the knees, or even a little lower in the female costume, but the upper part of the body was generally bare in both sexes. Linen woven from the flax, for the art of weaving was very early known, was the light material of which this costume was made. And then we find them wearing something not unlike a night-gown to-day, rather open at the neck, and without sleeves. Another variety of the linen {39} dress was as if it were a night-gown with the front closed up to the neck, but all the right shoulder and sleeve taken out of it, so that the left shoulder was covered, but the right arm and shoulder were left all free. That was the kind of dress of the common people. At first we see them bare-foot. Gradually they took more and more to sandals, and there are pictures of great men going along bare-foot, but followed by a servant carrying their sandals--perhaps to put on when they came to rough ground. But it is also likely that the wearing of the sandals had a meaning in a religious rite which they might be going to perform.