III.
DIVISION OF LANDED PROPERTY.
The law concerning the landed property contributed no less than the hereditary professions to preserve a distinction of classes and the social gradations. "All the land," says Diodorus, speaking of the institutions of ancient Egypt, "is divided into three parts. The first and largest belongs to the priesthood, who are greatly respected by the native population on account of their religious functions as well as for their thorough education. Their revenues are expended for the sacrifices, the maintenance of their subordinates, and their own wants. The Egyptians think the religious ceremonies should not be changed, that they should always be performed by the same functionaries, and that these sovereign counsellors should be above want. In fact, the priests are the chief counsellors of the king, whom they aid by their labors, their advice, and their knowledge. By means of astrology and the inspection of the sacrificial victims, they foretell the future, and they relate useful examples of deeds taken from the sacred books. It is not here as in Greece, where a single man or woman has charge of the sacerdotal functions. In Egypt, those who are occupied in the sacrifices and conduct the worship of the gods are numerous, and they transmit their profession to their descendants. They are exempted from taxes, and they rank next to the king in position and privileges.
"The second part of the land belongs to the king, the revenues of which are employed for the expenses of war and the maintenance of the court. The king rewards merit from his own income, without having recourse to the purse of any private individual.
"The remaining portion of the land belongs to the soldiers and all those who are under command of the military leaders. Strongly attached to their country, on account of the wealth they possess, they brave all the dangers of war to defend it. It is, in fact, absurd to entrust the safety of a nation to men who have no interest in the common welfare. What is especially remarkable, the soldiers, living thus at their ease, increase the population to such a degree that the government is able to dispense with foreign troops. And the children, encouraged by the example of their fathers, eagerly embrace the military life, and are invincible by their bravery and experience."[202]
Diodorus, as is known, was a contemporary of Julius Cæsar and Augustus.
In addition to what Diodorus says of the military class, we will add the following extracts from Herodotus: "Twelve acres of excellent land were given, under the first kings, to each head of a family." (He is speaking of the same class.) And a little further on: "Each soldier possesses twelve acres of land, exempt from taxation."
This distribution of the landed property is similar to that in France in feudal times, and which still exists, to a degree, in England, where the clergy and aristocracy possess the greater part of the land.
The two first classes were exempt from taxation, but the priests were at all the expense of public worship, and, although the royal treasury provided for the expenses of war, the soldiers evidently had to provide, not only their own supplies, and equipment, but also for the expenses of military organization; and, like our ancient noblesse, they alone had the glorious privilege of paying a tribute of blood.
We have not a sufficiently clear knowledge of Egyptian civilization to state the law of succession with certainty, or how the preservation of the patrimony of each family was preserved.