Part 1204

See (in addition to pages 673-748), VERMONT UNIVERSITY (page 3619), VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY (page 3639), WISCONSIN UNIVERSITY (page 3655); and, (in this Supplement) BOWDOIN COLLEGE, BROWN UNIVERSITY, DARTMOUTH COLLEGE, HAMILTON COLLEGE, MINNESOTA UNIVERSITY, OBERLIN COLLEGE, OHIO UNIVERSITY, PRINCETON COLLEGE, RUTGERS COLLEGE, TULANE UNIVERSITY, UNION COLLEGE.

EGIBI AND COMPANY, The House of.

See MONEY AND BANKING: ANCIENT EGYPT AND BABYLONIA (page 2199).

EGYPT, ANCIENT: Chronology.

Modern reckoning of Egyptian Chronology is by two modes: "(1) that by 'dead reckoning,' or adding the dynasties up one on another: (2) by certain fixed astronomical data, into the interpretation and calculation of which various uncertainties may enter. The more apart these modes can be kept the better, as then they serve to check each other. The fundamental fact on which all of our astronomically fixed points depend is the imperfection of the Egyptian calendar. Using a year of 365 days, it followed that the nominal beginning of each year was a quarter of a day too soon: just as if we were to neglect the 29th of February in leap years, and go on always from 28th February direct to 1st March. Thus every four years a day was slipped, and the nominal months of the year were begun a day too soon. In 4 x 7 = 28 they began, then, a week too soon. In 4 x 30 = 120 years they began & month too soon; and after twelve months and five days thus slipped, or in 1,460 years, they began a year too soon, and so had rotated the nominal months through all the seasons. … This loss of the day in four years was … soon known to the Egyptians, and used by them as a mode of constructing a great cycle, which in Ptolemaic times became very prominent, and entered into all their fanciful adjustments of history and myths. {3743} Some mode of noting the absolute months, as related to the seasonal periods, became a necessity; and, of course, the place of the sun among the stars most truly shows the exact length of the year. But how to observe both sun and stars, when without any mode of time-dividing,—such as clepsydra or clock,—was an essential difficulty. This was got over by noting on what day a particular star could be first seen, at its emerging from the glow of the sunlight. In actual practice they observed Sirius (or Sothis), the dog-star; and as the stars all rise and set earlier and earlier every night, they observed what was the first night in the year on which Sirius could just be seen emerging from the glow of sunlight at dawn, and this was entitled the heliacal rising. Hence, from using Sothis for this observation, the whole period during which the months rotated in the seasons was called the Sothic period of 1,460 years. We have some definite statements as to this in Roman times. Censorinus, writing in 239 A. D., states that the Egyptian New Year's day, 1st of Thoth, fell on the 25th of June; and a hundred years before, in 139 A. D., it fell on the 21st July, 'on which day Sirius regularly rises in Egypt.' Hence the beginning of a Sothic period of 1,460 years, or the New Year's day falling on the 21st of July at the heliacal rising of Sirius, took place in 139 A. D.; likewise in 1322 B. C., in 2784 B. C., and in 4242 B. C., or thereabouts. From this it is plain, that, as the nominal months rotated round all the seasons once In each of these cycles, therefore, if we only know the day of the nominal month in which any seasonal event happened,—such as the rising of Sirius, or the inundation,—we can find on what part of the cycle of 1,460 years such a coincidence can have fallen. It is from data such as this that Mahler has lately calculated, by the rising of Sirius, and also the new moons, that Tahutmes III. reigned from 20th March 1503 B. C., to 14th February 1449. … Merenptah celebrated in the second year of his reign a festival of the rising of Sirius on the 29th of the month Thoth. Mahler has fixed the rising of Sirius, recorded on 28th Epiphi under Tahutmes III., as in 1470 B. C. From 28th Epiphi to 29th Thoth is 66 days, which the heliacal rising would change to in the course of 4 x 66 years, or 264 years. This, from 1470, gives 1206 B. C. for the second year of Merenptah, or 1208 B. C. for his accession, which is just the date we have reached by the approximate summing of the reigns. Another datum on the other side is the calendar of the Ebers papyrus, which records the rising of Sirius on the 9th of Epiphi in the ninth year of Amenhotep I. The reading of the king's name has been much debated; but this is the last, and probable, conclusion. Now, from the 28th to the 9th of Epiphi is 19 days, which Sirius would change through in 76 years; so that the rising on the 9th of Epiphi took place in 1470+76 = 1546 B. C.; and the first year of Amenhotep I. would be thus fixed in 1555 B. C. The date before reached is 1562 B. C., equal to a difference of less than 2 days in the time of Sirius' rising. This, at least, shows that there is no great discrepancy. Thus there are three data for the rising of Sirius, which agree within a few years, though at considerably different epochs. … We … have as a starting-point for our backward reckoning the accession of the XVIIIth dynasty about 1587 B. C. From this we can reckon in the dynastic data given by Manetho; following this account rather than the totals of reigns, as he appears to have omitted periods when dynasties were contemporary, as in the 43 years for the XIth after the close of the Xth. Thus, from the above starting-point of 1587 B. C., we reach the following results, solely by using material which has been discussed and settled in this history on its own merits alone, and without any ulterior reckoning in total periods.

Dynasty Years. B. C. I. 263 4777 II. 302 4514 III. 214 4212 IV. 277 3998 V. 218 3721 VI. 181 (T. P.) 3503 VII. 70 3322 VIII. 146 3252 IX. 100 3106 X. 185 3006 XI. 43 2821 XII. 213 (T. P.) 2778 XIII. 453 2565 XIV. 184 2112 XVI. 190 1928 XVII. 151 1738 XVIII. 260 1587 XIX. 1327

… In the present rough state of the astronomical data, and the doubts as to the MS. authorities, we have reached quite as close an equivalence as we may hope for; and at least there is enough to show us that we may trust to the nearest century with fair grounds of belief. These dates then, are what I have provisionally adopted in this history; and though they are stated to the nearest year, for the sake of intercomparison, it must always be remembered that they only profess to go within a century in the earlier parts of the scale."

_W. M. Flinders Petrie, A History of Egypt from the Earliest Times to the XVIth Dynasty, chapter 11._

EGYPT. Commerce.

See (in this Supplement) COMMERCE: THE EARLIEST RECORDS, and EGYPT.

EGYPT. Medical Science, Ancient.

See MEDICAL SCIENCE (page 2120).

EGYPT. Money and banking.

See MONEY AND BANKING (page 2199).

EJECTMENT, Action of.

See LAW, COMMON: A. D. 1499 (page 1966).

ELDON, Lord, and the rules of Equity.

See LAW, EQUITY: A. D. 1801-1827 (page 1993).

ELECTOR, The Great.

See (in this Supplement) GERMANY: A. D. 1618-1700; also page 309.

ELECTORS, Rise of the German College of.

See (in this Supplement) GERMANY: A. D. 1175-1272.

EMIGRES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1789 (JULY-AUGUST), (AUGUST-OCTOBER), and 1781-1791 (pages 1264, 1265, and 1268).

EMPLOYER'S LIABILITY.

See LAW, COMMON: A. D. 1837 (page 1977).

ENGLAND: Outline sketch of general history.

See EUROPE (page 1014, and after).

ENGLAND: A. D. 1622. First printed newspaper publication.

See PRINTING AND PRESS: A. D. 1622-1702 (page 2593).

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ENGLAND: A. D. 1702. First daily newspaper publication.

See PRINTING AND PRESS: A. D. 1622-1702 (page 2594).

ENGLAND: A. D. 1844. The Bank Charter Act.

See MONEY AND BANKING: A. D. 1844 (page 2216).

ENGLAND: A. D. 1881-1882. The Irish Coercion Bill and Land Act. Arrest of Irish leaders. Alleged Kilmainham Treaty and release of Mr. Parnell and others.

See IRELAND: A. D. 1881-1882 (page 1797).

ENGLAND: Commerce.

See (in this Supplement) COMMERCE, MEDIÆVAL, and MODERN.

ENGLAND: Libraries.

See LIBRARIES, MODERN (page 2014).

ENGLAND: Possessions in Africa.

See (in this Supplement) AFRICA.

ENGLAND, Bank of.

See MONEY AND BANKING (page 2209).

EQUITY.

See LAW, EQUITY (page 1988).

ERITREA, The Italian colony of.

See (in this Supplement) AFRICA: 1890-1801.

ESSENES, The.

"Apart from the great high road of Jewish life, there lived in Palestine in the time of Christ a religious community which, though it grew up on Jewish soil, differed essentially in many points from traditional Judaism, and which, though it exercised no powerful influence upon the development of the people, deserves our attention as a peculiar problem in the history of religion. This community, the Essenes or Essaeans, is generally, after the precedent of Josephus, placed beside the Pharisees and Sadducees as the third Jewish sect. But it scarcely needs the remark, that we have here to deal with a phenomenon of an entirely different kind. While the Pharisees and Sadducees were large political and religious parties, the Essenes might far rather be compared to a monastic order. There is indeed much that is enigmatical in them as to particulars. Even their name is obscure. … The origin of the Essenes is as obscure as their name. Josephus first mentions them in the time of Jonathan the Maccabee, about 150 B. C., and speaks expressly of one Judas an Essene in the time of Aristobulus I. (105-104 B. C.). According to this, the origin of the order would have to be placed in the second century before Christ. But it is questionable whether they proceeded simply from Judaism, or whether foreign and especially Hellenistic elements had not also an influence in their organization. … Philo and Josephus agree in estimating the number of the Essenes in their time at above 4,000. As far as is known, they lived only in Palestine, at least there are no certain traces of their occurrence out of Palestine. … For the sake of living as a community, they had special houses of the order in which they dwelt together. Their whole community was most strictly organized as a single body. … The strongest tie by which the members were united was absolute community of goods. 'The community among them is wonderful [says Josephus], one does not find that one possesses more than another. For it is the law, that those who enter deliver up their property to the order, so that there is nowhere to be seen, either the humiliation of poverty or the superfluity of wealth, but on the contrary one property for all as brethren, formed by the collection of the possessions of individuals.' 'They neither buy nor sell among each other; but while one gives to another what he wants, he receives in return what is useful to himself, and without anything in return they receive freely whatever they want.' … 'There is but one purse for all, and common expenses, common clothes and common food in common meals. For community of dwelling, of life and of meals is nowhere so firmly established and so developed as with them. And this is intelligible. For what they receive daily as wages for their labour, they do not keep for themselves, but put it together, and thus make the profits of their work common for those who desire to make use of it. And the sick are without anxiety on account of their inability to earn, because the common purse is in readiness for the care of them, and they may with all certainty meet their expenses from abundant stores.' … The daily labour of the Essenes was under strict regulation. It began with prayer, after which the members were dismissed to their work by the presidents. They reassembled for purifying ablutions, which were followed by the common meal. After this they again went to work, to assemble again for their evening meal. The chief employment of members of the order was agriculture. They likewise carried on, however, crafts of every kind. On the other hand, trading was forbidden as leading to covetousness, and also the making of weapons or of any kind of utensils that might injure men. … The Essenes are described by both Philo and Josephus as very connoisseurs in morality. … Their life was abstemious, simple and unpretending. 'They condemn sensual desires as sinful, and esteem moderation and freedom from passion as of the nature of virtue.' They only take food and drink till they have had enough; abstaining from passionate excitement, they are 'just dispensers of wrath.' At their meals they are 'contented with the same dish day by day, loving sufficiency and rejecting great expense as harmful to mind and body.' … There is not a slave among them, but all are free, mutually working for each other. All that they say is more certain than an oath. They forbid swearing, because it is worse than perjury. … Before every meal they bathe in cold water. They do the same after performing the functions of nature. … They esteem it seemly to wear white raiment at all times. … They entirely condemned marriage. Josephus indeed knew of a branch of the Essenes who permitted marriage. But these must at all events have formed a small minority. … A chief peculiarity of the Essenes was their common meals, which bore the character of sacrificial feasts. The food was prepared by priests, with the observance probably of certain rites of purification; for an Essene was not permitted to partake of any other food than this. … In their worship, as well as in that of other Jews, the Holy Scriptures were read and explained; and Philo remarks, that they specially delighted in allegorical interpretation. They were extraordinarily strict in the celebration of the Sabbath. They did not venture on that day to move a vessel from its place, nor even to perform the functions of nature. In other respects too they showed themselves to be Jews. Though they were excluded from the temple they sent gifts of incense there. … Concerning their doctrine of the soul and of its immortality, Josephus expresses himself most fully. {3745} If we may trust his account, they taught that bodies are perishable, but souls immortal, and that the latter dwelt originally in the subtlest aether, but being debased by sensual pleasures united themselves with bodies as with prisons; but when they are freed from the fetters of sense they will joyfully soar on high, as if delivered from long bondage. To the good (souls) is appointed a life beyond the ocean. … But to the bad (souls) is appointed a dark cold region full of unceasing torment."

_E. Schürer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, volume 2, pages 190-205._

EXEMPTION LAWS.

See LAW, COMMON: A. D. 1836 (page 1977).

EXPLORATION, African and Arctic.

For a complete chronological record.

See (in this Supplement) AFRICA; and ARCTIC EXPLORATION.

F.

FAMILISTÈRE OF M. GODIN, The.

See SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: A. D. 1859-1887 (page 2947).

FAURE, François Felix. Election to the Presidency of the French Republic.

See (in this Supplement) FRANCE: A. D. 1894-1895.

FEDERALIST SECESSION MOVEMENT.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1803-1804 (page 3329).

FEUDAL AIDS.

"In theory the duty of the noble vassal towards his lord was a purely personal one and to commute it for a money payment was a degradation of the whole feudal relation. The payment of money, especially if it were a fixed and regular payment, carried with it a certain ignoble idea against which, in the form of state taxation, the feudal spirit rebelled to the last. When the vassal agreed to pay something to his lord, he called it, not a tax, but an 'aid' (auxilium), and made it generally payable, not regularly, like the tax-bill of the citizen, but only upon certain occasions—a present, as it were, coming out of his good-will and not from compulsion; e. g., whenever a fief was newly granted, when it changed its lord, and sometimes when it changed its vassal, it was from the beginning customary to acknowledge the investiture by a small gift to the lord, primarily as a symbol of the grant; then, as the institution grew and manners became more luxurious, the gift increased in value and was thought of as an actual price for the investiture, until finally, at the close of our period, it suffered the fate of all similar contributions and was changed into a definite money payment, still retaining, however, its early name of 'relief.' … The occasions for levying the aids were various but always, in theory, of an exceptional sort. The journey of a lord to the court of his suzerain, or to Rome, or to join a crusade, the knighting of his eldest son, the marriage of his eldest daughter and his ransom from imprisonment are among the most frequent of the feudal 'aids.' The right of the lord to be entertained and provisioned, together with all his following, was one of the most burdensome and, at the same time, most difficult to regulate. Its conversion into a money-tax was, perhaps for this reason, earlier than that of many other of the feudal contributions."

_E. Emerton, Mediaeval Europe, chapter 14._

FEUDAL SYSTEM: Origin.

"The 'benefice,' … emerges from the struggles of the eighth century as a form of grant originated by the ruling house and remaining at its disposal. It was a form of grant which was at all times revocable and which would thus necessarily prompt the grantee to avoid any act which could displease the sovereign. It entailed the reversion of the benefice at the death of the grantee as well as of the person granting. The benefice … was now chiefly made use of by the Carolingians of the 8th century to win the military aid of the nobles against internal and external enemies and especially against the Saracens. Army commanders and counts or other important officials would receive wide stretches of ecclesiastical or royal land. They would organize these into 'manors,' would collect a large 'following,' and would call in free tenants to do service in their armies in return for their protection. Thus they themselves became the stays and props of the new form of government. As the reorganization of the military forces went on this process was repeated more and more often, and as a matter of course the same vital principles which these holders had carried through with regard to those under them came to be applied to their own position as regarded their military duties to the king: namely that they should become vassals. This accordingly happened. The vassal system and the benefice system blended together into a new form of actual and personal union of the nobles with the crown. In receiving a benefice they swore to the king the special oath of fidelity of the 'following'; this fidelity on the other hand seemed assured through the power of the king to revoke the benefice. Quickly enough did this connection of the vassal system and the benefice system, which is commonly called vassalism, become so common that it began to extend downwards also. It had already become usual for rich landholders no longer, in the old Germanic manner, to provide for all their vassals at their own court, but to provide sustenance for them in various other ways—notably by granting them estates. Now, after the royal model, it came to be the custom to grant benefices and thus to found personal responsibilities. The results of this development were extraordinary. If on the one hand, in spite of all Charles the Great's measures to the contrary, the old army organization based on the service of all freemen fell into decay and the contingents from the land holders began to constitute the great mass of the army: on the other hand the bond of vassalism with its different variations became of prime importance for the administration of the land. No longer did the king by virtue of his royal ban or jurisdiction issue his commands to all freemen in common. He issued his commands to the nobles and they by virtue of their feudal prerogatives commanded the vassals who were subject to them. The evenly distributed mass of freemen subject to military duty had vanished; a high-towering structure of those bound in vassalage had taken its place. The military organization had assumed its position under the banner of the feudal state. The administration, too, was soon to be undermined by the system of vassalage and to change its structure from the very foundation."

_Lamprecht, Deutsche Geschichte, volume 2, pages 104-105._

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