time of
Christ there have been two similar famines recorded,--one in the
eleventh century, lasting, like Joseph's, seven years; and the other in
the twelfth century, of which the most distressing details are given,
even to the extreme desperation of cannibalism. The same cause
originated both,--the failure of the Nile overflow. Out of the sacred
river came up for Egypt its fat kine and its lean,--its blessings and
its curses.

The price exacted by Joseph for the people's salvation made the King
more absolute than before, since all were thus made dependent on the
government.

This absolute rule of the kings, however, was somewhat modified by
ancient customs, and by the vast influence of the priesthood, to which
the King himself belonged. The priests of Egypt, under all the
dynasties, formed the most powerful caste ever seen among the nations
of the earth, if we except the Brahmanical caste of India. At the head
of it was the King himself, who was chief of the religion and of the
state. He regulated the sacrifices of the temples, and had the peculiar
right of offering them to the gods upon grand occasions. He
superintended the feasts and festivals in honor of the deities. The
priests enjoyed privileges which extended to their whole family. They
were exempt from taxes, and possessed one-third of the landed property,
which was entailed upon them, and of which they could not be deprived.
Among them there were great distinctions of rank, but the high-priests
held the most honorable station; they were devoted to the service of the
presiding deities of the cities in which they lived,--such as the
worship of Ammon at Thebes, of Phtha at Memphis, and of Ra at On, or
Heliopolis. One of the principal grades of the priesthood was that of
prophets, who were particularly versed in all matters pertaining to
religion. They presided over the temple and the sacred rites, and
directed the management of the priestly revenues; they bore a
distinguished part in solemn processions, carrying the holy vase.

The priests not only regulated all spiritual matters and superintended
the worship of the gods, but they were esteemed for their superior
knowledge. They acquired an ascendency over the people by their
supposed understanding of the sacred mysteries, only those priests being
initiated in the higher secrets of religion who had proved themselves
virtuous and discerning. "The honor of ascending from the less to the
greater mysteries was as h