sarcophagus was exquisitively carved.
Menkaura, the constructor, was not regarded as a tyrant, or an
oppressor, but as a mild and religious monarch, whom the gods ill-used
by giving him too short a reign. His religious temper is indicated by
the inscription on the coffin which contained his remains: "O Osiris,"
it reads, "King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Menkaura, living eternally,
engendered by the Heaven, born of Nut, substance of Seb, thy mother Nut
stretches herself over thee in her name of the abyss of heaven. She
renders thee divine by destroying all thy enemies, O King Menkaura,
living eternally."

The fashion of burying in pyramids continued to the close of Manetho's
sixth dynasty, but no later monarchs rivalled the great works of Khufu
and Shafra. The tombs of their successors were monuments of a moderate
size, involving no oppression of the people, but perhaps rather
improving their condition by causing a rise in the rate of wages.
Certainly, the native remains of the period give a cheerful
representation of the condition of all classes. The nation for the most
part enjoys peace, and applies itself to production. The wealth of the
nobles increases, and the position of their dependents is improved.
Slaves were few, and there was ample employment for the labouring
classes. We do not see the stick at work upon the backs of the labourers
in the sculptures of the time; they seem to accomplish their various
tasks with alacrity and gaiety of heart. They plough, and hoe, and reap;
drive cattle or asses; winnow and store corn; gather grapes and tread
them, singing in chorus as they tread; cluster round the winepress or
the threshingfloor, on which the animals tramp out the grain; gather
lotuses; save cattle from the inundation; engage in fowling or fishing;
and do all with an apparent readiness and cheerfulness which seems
indicative of real content. There may have been a darker side to the
picture, and undoubtedly was while Khufu and Shafra held the throne; but
kings of a morose and cruel temper seem to have been the exception,
rather than the rule, in Egypt; and the moral code, which required
kindness to be shown to dependents, seems, at this period at any rate,
to have had a hold upon the consciences, and to have influenced the
conduct, of the mass of the people. "Happy the nation that has no
history!" Egypt during this golden age was neither assailed by any
aggressive power beyond her borders, nor had herself concei