The forms of King Mena and his successors may well appear dreamlike in the dim light by which we discern them; but we seem to perceive that Mena was, at any rate, the first who wore the ‘double crown,’ which bespoke sovereignty over the whole land; the white upper crown representing dominion over Upper, the red lower one dominion over Lower Egypt. His successors were strong enough to repel invaders, to maintain intact the power they inherited, and thus to transmit to following dynasties the double crown they had received from Mena, the ‘Firm’ or ‘Constant.’ FOOTNOTES: [1] The date that has been assigned to the Great Pyramid varies by at least a thousand years, and is generally placed from about 3000 to 4000 B.C. The present tendency is certainly rather in favour of the remoter dates, as agreeing best with the requirements of historic data, and harmonising with the results of recent discovery and research. [2] Isis is joined in her lamentations by her sister Nephthys, who was wife of Set, but never shared his evil repute. [3] _i.e._ The Earth. Seb, the Earth-god, was father of Osiris; Nut, the Heaven above, was his mother in Egyptian mythology. [4] In Greek _Heliopolis_, which bears the same meaning as Pa-Ra—‘City of the Sun.’ [5] So much was this the case, that at a later period simpler forms of writing, known as the hieratic and demotic were adopted for general purposes; but the ancient hieroglyphic characters continued to be employed on monuments and in the temples. [6] This comparison of the ancient ‘wisdom’ to the phœnix is taken from Reginald Stuart Poole’s _Cities of Egypt_,—an interesting and suggestive book, to which I have been more than once indebted, and especially in the above description of On. [7] Generally known as the ‘Book’ or ‘Ritual of the Dead,’ but it was never known to the Egyptians by any name of the kind. [8] Loftie’s _Ride in Egypt_. [9] The length of the Nile, from the spot where the Blue and White Nile unite, down to the Mediterranean, is 1800 miles. The valley of the Nile bounded east by the Arabian, west by the Libyan hills, varies in breadth from fourteen to thirty-two miles, but the breadth of the arable land does not exceed nine or ten miles.—Erasmus Wilson’s _Egypt of the Past_. [10] That position was in remarkable contrast to the subjection and seclusion of the Asiatic harem, and was superior to that assigned to women in the domestic and social life of Greece itself. The Egyptian was the husband of one wife, and she was regarded as the honoured mistress of the household; the companion, not the slave or inferior, of the man. In sculptures and paintings she is constantly seen sitting by his side; she joins him in receiving and welcoming guests, and freely takes her part in the occupations and enjoyments of social life. In the tombs and memorial chambers of the dead, husband and wife are still represented side by side. CHAPTER II. The Pyramid Builders.