class of nobles, who were mostly great landed proprietors living on
their estates, and having under them a vast body of dependents,
servants, labourers, artizans &c. There was also a numerous official
class, partly employed at the court, partly holding government posts
throughout the country, which regarded itself as highly dignified, and
looked down _de haut en has_ on "the people." Commands in the army seem
to have been among the prizes which from time to time fell to the lot of
such persons. Further, there was a literary class, which was eminently
respectable, and which viewed with contempt those who were engaged in
trade or handicrafts.

Below these three classes, and removed from them by a long interval, was
the mass of the population--"the multitude" as the Egyptians called
them. These persons were engaged in manual labour of different kinds.
The greater number were employed on the farms of the nobles, in the
cultivation of the soil or in the rearing of cattle. A portion were
boatmen, fishermen, or fowlers. Others pursued the various known
handicrafts. They were weavers, workers in metal, stone-cutters, masons,
potters, carpenters, upholsterers, tailors, shoe-makers, glass-blowers,
boat-builders, wig-makers, and embalmers. There were also among them
painters and sculptors. But all these employments "stank" in the
nostrils of the upper classes, and were regarded as unworthy of any one
who wished to be thought respectable.

Still, the line of demarcation, decided as it was, might be crossed. It
is an entire mistake to suppose that caste existed in Egypt. Men
frequently bred up their sons to their own trade or profession, as they
do in all countries, but they were not obliged to do so--there was
absolutely no compulsion in the matter. The "public-schools" of Egypt
were open to all comers, and the son of the artizan sat on the same