or the parent for the child, that is
recorded. The frequency and detail with which such affections are
described, prove the high estimation in which the purely domestic
virtues were held, as forming the best and chief title of the dead to
remembrance and honour. It is clear, moreover, that these affectionate
relations between the members of a family are counted among the
pleasures and joy of life. The inscriptions urge and warn the
survivors to miss none of the joys of life, since the disembodied dead
sleep in darkness, and this is the worst of their grief, "they know
neither father nor mother, they do not awake to behold their brethren,
their heart yearns no longer after wife and child."[229] There is a
delightful inscription on the sepulchral tablet of the wife of a high
priest of Memphis,[230] in which she urges the duty of happiness for
her husband. It says--

"Hail, my brother, husband, friend, ... let not thy heart cease
to drink water, to eat bread, to drink wine, to love women, to
make a happy day, and to suit thy heart's desire by day and by
night. And set no care whatsoever in thy heart: are the years
which (we pass) upon the earth so many (that we need do this)?"

Such a conception, with its clear idea of the right of happiness,
stands as witness to the high ideal of love which regulated the
Egyptian family relationships.

It is necessary to remember, in this connection, that the domestic
ties of the Egyptians were firmly based on proprietary considerations.
No surprise need be felt that this was so, when we recall the wise
arrangements of the marriage contracts, whereby both parties of the
union secured equal freedom and an equal share in the family property.
The antagonism between ownership and affection which so frequently
destroys domestic happiness must thus have been unknown. "There was no
marriage without money or money's worth, but to marry _for_ money, in
the modern sense, was impossible where individual ownership was
abolished by the act of marriage itself."[231]

This in itself explains the fact, proved by these inscriptions, that
the Egyptian woman remained to the end of life, "the beloved of her
husband and the mistress of the house." "Make glad her heart during
the time that thou hast," was the traditional advice given to the
husband. To this effect runs the precept of Petah Hotep[232]--

"If thou wouldst be a wise man, rule thy house and love thy wife
wholly a