Gibbon, in his time honored definitive study of the Roman Empire, offered five reasons for the fall of Rome. The first and highest impact of the five he offered was the destruction of the Heterosexual Marriage Tradition. It is incumbent upon us in a day when we are surrounded by knowledge to learn from history. Yet studies show that four out of five of modern millennials do not believe there is truth. So therein is the stupor in which we stumble drunkenly. In all our learning, will we get wisdom?
In the study of civilization past, there is perhaps none more mysterious and yet more intriguing then the Egyptian Empire. The mystery is only heightened by the fact that much of its history still lies buried in the sands of the desert. With only shards of pottery and fragments of papyrus from discovered tombs in the ever changing sands, the Silent Dynasty remains just that, silent, with only passing references found on relics from the Literary Period.
Whether you believe the Menes was the first Pharaoh or that Osiris was actually the first, who the Egyptians later deified, the fragmented references from the Literary Period acknowledge a unification of several shepherd tribes and farming communities during the Silent Period into one the most powerful empires the world has ever known, culminating in its apex at the building of the Great Pyramid. The excavations of its ruins give us only small glimpses into the shrouded genesis of Egypt, like small peeks between folds of a heavy curtain. Still, there are clues at early human behavioral patterns which are not so mysterious and not so foreign.
Ironically, the Great Pyramid initiated the beginning of the Literary Period, which would portend and document the decline and eventual sacking of the great Egyptian Empire. In all of its several dynasties, Egypt would never regain the glory which culminated with the Great Pyramid. What got it to its shining brilliance along the Nile? What precipitated its fall?
In the walls of the tombs and written on clay jars among the possessions of the dead are hints of the triggers of decline. Leaders of the day decry in disgust that the youths have no structure and run through the villages in mobs looking for people to kill. Angry youths with no family structure and discipline would be a recurring theme for the rise and fall of civilization in those that would follow Egypt.
The marriage structure, as detailed during the Literary Period, was much simpler than what we have come to expect in our day. There was no ceremony, although Egyptians loved celebrations and one would expect they would find any excuse for a party and revelry. The couple merely signed an agreement and the woman moved in.
Although by the time of the Literary Period divorce was quite prevalent, there was still a strong social stigma, a societal expectation of fidelity attached to the marriage construct. This was taught as necessary to the stability of their society. Even though the religious and traditional celebrations tended to be quite hedonistic in their rituals, the Heterosexual Marriage Tradition, on which the Egyptian Empire was built, was set aside with a code of fidelity to ensure the stable propagation and culturing of life for the future security of the empire.
As the shrouds of mystery surrounding the ruins of Egypt are slowly inched back allowing us to peer into its dim darkened halls, the shards of pottery, fragments of papyrus, and the walls of hieroglyphs remind us who seek her clues that the Egyptians were indeed human beings. They too were susceptible to the patterns of human complacency and decadence that were so starkly apparent in the civilizations they would precede. They too would build a civilization based upon the foundation of their marriage construct, yes, Egyptians were marrying long before Christians were, focused upon the generation, preservation, and cultivation of human life.
When the allure of personal pleasure and gratification caused them to abandon and compromise their foundational construct, they faced their own decline as a repercussion. The repetitive rise and fall of the Egyptian Dynasties heralded an ominous warning for civilization to come. Abandon your foundation at your own peril for if you do all that you have built upon it will crumble into the sands of time.