BRAGADAYJAH 154

The above conclusion, (yesterday’s) is further reinforced by the following; “and they brought their cattle unto Joseph; and Joseph gave them bread in the first year in exchange for horses, flocks, and cattle, and for asses, (donkeys) and he fed them for one year.” And when that year was ended, they complained that they were once again starving. They admitted that they had no money and no livestock, since in fact they had given to Joseph all, both of money and of herds. They wanted to know what they should do to survive, since all they had left were their bodies and their lands. And so they offered to Joseph both their bodies and their lands in exchange for seed. “give us seed, “ they said, so that both their bodies and their lands may survive. Un-nourished bodies cannot work the land, and if not worked it would die. It would seem too, the people realized that while they needed to eat to survive, they needed to produce; hence they asked for not bread, but seed. In response Joseph accepted their offer on terms. He bought all the land of Egypt, not for himself it is noted; but in the name of and for the Pharaoh. And Joseph said to them, “I have bought from you this day, your bodies as well as your lands for the Pharaoh; now take the seed and go and work your land and sow seed; the terms of our contract is that one fourth of the yield shall be yours and one fifth shall be the Pharaoh’s. So the people accepted the proposal as being more than fair, and said to Joseph, “Let us find grace in your sight; for you have saved our lives.” And so the law was established in Egypt that the Pharaoh was entitled to the fifth part of all the increase over all the lands of Egypt, the lands of the priests being the exception. Wasn’t that one fourth, one fifth much more equitable, much more generous than the later practice in England and the Colonies, where the sharecropper got only two thirds and in some extreme cases only one half of the produce? Many historians and social commentators, especially with regard to American agricultural practices tend to link to or liken sharecropping with slavery. But the idea is older than America, and at least when it was introduced in the land of Egypt was a wholly equitable practice which benefitted the sharecropper even more than the landowner. More