he poorer classes was of
the cheapest and most simple kind. Owing to the warmth of the climate,
they required few clothes, and young children were in the habit of
going without shoes, and with little or no covering to their bodies.
It was, therefore, luxury, and the increasing wants of an artificial
kind, which corrupted the manners of the Egyptians, and rendered such
a law necessary for their restraint; and we may conclude that it was
mainly directed against those who contracted debts for the
gratification of pleasure, or with the premeditated intent of
defrauding an unsuspecting creditor.

In the mode of executing deeds, conveyances, and other civil
contracts, the Egyptians were peculiarly circumstantial and minute;
and the great number of witnesses is a singular feature in those
documents. In the time of the Ptolemies, sales of property commenced
with a preamble, containing the date of the king in whose reign they
were executed; the name of the president of the court, and of the
clerk by whom they were written, being also specified. The body of the
contract then followed.

It stated the name of the individual who sold the land, the
description of his person, an account of his parentage, profession,
and place of abode, the extent and nature of the land, its situation
and boundaries, and concluded with the name of the purchaser, whose
parentage and description were also added, and the sum for which it
was bought. The seller then vouched for his undisturbed possession of
it; and, becoming security against any attempt to dispute his title,
the name of the other party was inserted as having accepted it, and
acknowledged the purchase. The names of witnesses were then affixed;
and, the president of the court having added his signature, the deed
was valid. Sometimes the seller formally recognized the sale in the
following manner:

"All these things have I sold thee: they are thine, I have received
their price from thee, and will make no demand upon thee for them from
this day; and if any person disturb thee in the possession of them, I
will withstand the attempt; and, if I do not otherwise repel it, I
will use compulsory means, or, I will indemnify thee."

But, in order to give a more accurate notion of the form of these
contracts, we shall introduce a copy of the whole of one of them, as
given by Dr. Young, and refer the reader to others occurring in the
same work. "Translation of the enchorial papyrus of Paris, contai