The Symbolic Wisdom of the Egyptians

Introduction.

Curiosity and the spirit of inquiry are, as it were, an instinct born with man, which develops, sharpens, and strengthens only in proportion to the greater or lesser refinement of one’s organization In the philosophical context of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, "organization" refers to a person's physical and mental constitution or biological makeup. and the opportunity for culture. Therefore, at all times, there have been geniuses in all kinds of knowledge and arts, known to us under the famous names of antiquity as gods, heroes, and sages.

We recognize the Egyptians only as the oldest people whose scope of insight into geometry original: "Meßkunst," literally the "art of measuring," which encompassed both abstract geometry and practical land surveying., astronomy, architecture, music original: "Tonkunst," the art of tones or composition., sculpture, chemistry, mining science, agriculture, political science, and rural economy, lets us judge what predecessors they must have had and what geniuses must have lived among them.

But above all else, the science of hieroglyphs was esteemed among them, or the knowl- The text breaks off mid-word ("Kennt-") and will continue on the next page, likely as "Kenntnis" (knowledge).