The Historical Child: Paidology; The Science of the ChildChrisman, Oscar
History
The Historical Child: Paidology; The Science of the Child
Chrisman, Oscar
Children; Manners and customs
The Egyptians also had beer, which was made from barley, and as they did
not grow hops they used lupins, skirret, and an Assyrian root for
flavoring it.[35] "Besides beer, the Egyptians had what Pliny calls
factitious, or artificial, wine, extracted from various fruits, as figs,
myxas, pomegranates, as well as herbs, some of which were selected for
their medicinal properties."[36]
There were excesses in drinking committed by people of all classes, both
men and women. At the banquets of the rich stimulants were sometimes
used to excite to further drinking, the cabbage having been one of the
vegetables used for such purpose.
=Food and Clothing of Children.= Swaddling clothes do not seem to have
been used by the Egyptians as they were among the Jews and some other
nations. If the child could not walk, he was carried by the nurse or
mother before her or at her side, in a shawl thrown around her back over
a shoulder. It was the custom, no matter whether the child had little or
no clothing on, to have a string of beads about the neck, having
occasionally a charm suspended in the center, a symbol of truth and
justice. These were for the purpose of keeping ill luck from the child,
and to make him wise and virtuous.
"The dresses of children of the lower classes were very simple; and, as
Diodorus informs us, the expenses incurred in feeding and clothing them
amounted to a mere trifle. 'They feed them,' he says, 'very lightly, and
at an incredibly small cost; giving them a little meal of the coarsest
and cheapest kind, the pith of the papyrus, baked under the ashes, with
the roots and stalks of some marsh weeds, either raw, boiled, or
roasted; and since most of them are brought up, on account of the
mildness of the climate, without shoes, and indeed without any other
clothing, the whole expense incurred by the parents does not exceed 20
drachmæ (about 13 shillings) each; and this frugality is the true reason
of the populousness of Egypt.' But the children of the higher orders
were often dressed like grown persons, with a loose robe reaching to the
ankles, and sandals."[37]
=Industries.= The ancient Egyptians engaged in many industries and
reached a high stage in the development of their country and their own
powers. The country was immensely rich, as was shown from the objects of
luxury found among them, and they loved pomp and splendor. Their
accomplishments come to us from the accounts of ancient writers and are
depicted through sculptures and paintings found upon the walls of
temples, palaces, and tombs, and remains of their work still exist
sufficient to show the great things they did.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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