Egypt, Babylon and Assyria 99 were already in their third thousand of years and a show for visitors just as they are to-day — were supplemented by fresh and splendid buildings, more particularly in the time of the seventeenth and nine- teenth dynasties. The great temples at Karnak and Luxor date from this time. All the chief monuments of Nineveh, the great temples, the winged bulls with human heads, the reliefs of kings and chariots and lion hunts, were done in these centuries between 1600 and 600 B.C., and this period also covers most of the splendours of Babylon. Both from Mesopotamia and Egypt we now have abundant public records, business accounts, stories, poetry and private corre- spondence. We know that life, for prosperous and influential people in such cities as Babylon and the Egyptian Thebes, was already Photo: yacques Boycr. FRIEZE SHOWING EGYPTIAN FEMALE SLAVES CARRYING LUXURIOUS FOODS almost as refined and as luxurious as that of comfortable and pros- perous people to-day. Such people lived an orderly and ceremonious life in beautiful and beautifully furnished and decorated houses, wore richly decorated clothing and lovely jewels ; they had feasts and festivals, entertained one another with music and dancing, were waited upon by highly trained servants, were cared for by doctors and dentists. They did not travel very much or very far, but boating excursions were a common summer pleasure both on the Nile and on the Euphrates. The beast of burthen was the ass ; the horse was still used only in chariots for war and upon occasions of state. The mule was still novel and the camel, though it was known in Mesopo- tamia, had not been brought into Egj^pt. And there were few utensils of iron ; copper and bronze remained the prevailing metals. Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool. But there was no silk yet. Glass was known and beautifully coloured, but glass things were usually small. There was no clear glass and no optical
