The Egypt - Part I - Vii Poem by Sadiqullah Khan

‘There is no country that possesses so many wonders.'
Herodotus on Egypt

Not only is the climate different from that
Of the rest of the world, and the rivers unlike
Any other river, but the people also in most
Of their manners and customs:
(Herodotus tells us that Egyptian women enjoyed greater
Liberty, confidence and consideration than under the hareem
System of Greeks and Persians. He is fully justified,
For the treatment of women in Egypt was better than the Greece.)

The women attend the markets and trade,
(The market place was originally outside the walls,
Generally in an open space, beneath what was afterwards
The citadel or acropolis.)

While the men sit at home at the loom.
(The ancients generally seem to have believed the charge
Of effeminacy brought by Herodotus against the Egyptians.)

And hence while the rest of the world works the woofs
Up the warp, the Egyptians work it down.
The women likewise carry burthens upon their shoulders,
While the men carry them upon their heads.

They eat their food out of the doors in the streets,
(That they sometimes ate in the streets is not to be doubted,
But this was only the poorer class, as in other parts of ancient
And modern Europe, and could not be mentioned in contradiction
To Greek custom. The Egyptians generally dined, at a small
Round table, having one leg, similar to monopodium,
At which one or more persons sat. And they ate with their fingers
Like Greeks and the northern Arabs. Several dishes were served
And it was their custom to say grace.)

The women cannot serve the priestly office, either for god
Or goddess, but men are priests to both.
(Though men held the priesthood in Egypt, as in other countries,
Women were not excluded from certain important duties
In the temples. The queens made offerings with the kings,
And in the monuments, as well as Diodorus, show that an order
Of women, chosen from the principle families were employed
In the service of gods.)

-Adapted from Herodotus (484 - 425 BC) , Histories, Book II. Trans: George Rawlinson, Wordsworth Classics,1996.
The passages with in brackets are the translator's notes, taken with minor variation for accuracy.


Sadiqullah Khan
Peshawar
July 13,2014.