formed. This ^ does not prevent our seeing that they embodied some very
important traditions, and gives us an unequalled picture of the early
civilisation.

In the earliest tale or the three there seems at first sight merely a
sketch of faithlessness and revenge. But there is probably much more
in it. To read it aright we must bear in mind the position of woman in
ancient Egypt. If, in later ages, Islam has gone to the extreme of the
man determining his own divorce at a word, in early times almost the
opposite system prevailed. All property belonged to the woman; all
that a man could earn, or inherit, was made over to his wife; and
families always reckoned back further on the mother's side than the
father's. As the changes in historical times have been in the
direction of men's rights, it is very unlikely that this system of
female predominance was invented or introduced, but rather that it
descends from primitive times. In this tale we see, then, at the
beginning of our knowledge of the country, the clashing of two
different social systems. The reciter is strong for men's rights, he
brings destruction on the wife, and never even gives her name, but
always calls her merely "the wife of Uba-aner." But behind all this
there is probably the remains of a very different system. The servant
employed by the mistress seems to see nothing outrageous in her
proceedings; and even the steward, who is on the master's side, waits
a day or two before reporting matters. When we remember the supremacy
in properly and descent which women held in Egypt, and then read this
tale, it seems that it belongs to the close of a social system like
that of the Nairs, in which the lady makes her selection--with
variations from time to time. The incident of sending a present of
clothing is curiously like the tale about a certain English envoy,
whose proprieties were sadly ruffled in the Nair country, when a lady