The Treasury of Ancient Egypt: Miscellaneous Chapters on Ancient Egyptian History and ArchaeologyWeigall, Arthur E. P. Brome (Arthur Edward Pearse Brome)
History
The Treasury of Ancient Egypt: Miscellaneous Chapters on Ancient Egyptian History and Archaeology
Weigall, Arthur E. P. Brome (Arthur Edward Pearse Brome)
Archaeology; Egypt -- Antiquities
The attempt to regain a lost antiquity is seldom crowned with success.
It is so extremely difficult to obtain reliable information; and as soon
as a man is suspected his enemies will rush in with accusations.
Thirty-eight separate accusations were sent in against a certain
head-watchman during the first days after the fact had leaked out that
he was under suspicion. Not one of them could be shown to be true.
Sometimes one man will bring a charge against another for the betterment
of his own interests. Here is a letter from a watchman who had resigned,
but wished to rejoin, "To his Exec. Chief Dircoter of the tembels. I
have honner to inform that I am your servant X, watchman on the tembels
before this time. Sir from one year ago I work in the Santruple (?) as a
watchman about four years ago. And I not make anything wrong and your
Exec. know me. Now I want to work in my place in the tembel, because the
man which in it he not attintive to His, but alway he in the coffee....
He also steal the scribed stones. Please give your order to point me
again. Your servant, X." "The coffee" is, of course, the _cafe_ which
adjoins the temple.
A short time ago a young man came to me with an accusation against his
own father, who, he said, had stolen a statuette. The tale which he told
was circumstantial, but it was hotly denied by his infuriated parent. He
looked, however, a trifle more honest than his father, and when a
younger brother was brought in as witness, one felt that the guilt of
the old man would be the probable finding. The boy stared steadfastly at
the ground for some moments, however, and then launched out into an
elaborate explanation of the whole affair. He said that he asked his
father to lend him four pounds, but the father had refused. The son
insisted that that sum was due to him as his share in some transaction,
and pointed out that though he only asked for it as a loan, he had in
reality a claim to it. The old man refused to hand it over, and the son,
therefore, waited his opportunity and stole it from his house, carrying
it off triumphantly to his own establishment. Here he gave it into the
charge of his young wife, and went about his business. The father,
however, guessed where the money had gone; and while his son was out,
invaded his house, beat his daughter-in-law on the soles of her feet
until she confessed where the money was hidden, and then, having
obtained it, returned to his home. When the son came back to his house
he learnt what had happened, and, out of spite, at once invented the
accusation which he had brought to me. This story appeared to be true in
so far as the quarrel over the money was concerned, but that the
accusation was invented proved to be untrue.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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