Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt Part 13

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 268.--Inlaid-chair, Eleventh Dynasty.]

The bed is surmounted by a kind of canopy, under which the mummy lay in state. Rhind had already found a similar canopy, which is now in the Museum of Edinburgh[72] (fig. 265). In shape it is a temple, the rounded roof being supported by elegant colonnettes of painted wood. A doorway guarded by serpents is supposed to give access to the miniature edifice. Three winged discs, each larger than the one below it, adorn three superimposed cornices above the door, the whole frontage being surmounted by a row of erect uraei, crowned with the solar disc. The canopy belonging to the Thirteenth Dynasty bed is much more simple, being a mere bal.u.s.trade in cut and painted wood, in imitation of the water-plant pattern with which temple walls were decorated; the whole is crowned with an ordinary cornice. In the bed of Graeco-Roman date (fig. 266), carved and painted figures of the G.o.ddess Ma, sitting with her feather on her knee, are subst.i.tuted for the customary bal.u.s.trades. Isis and Nephthys stand with their winged arms outstretched at the head and foot. The roof is open, save for a row of vultures hovering above the mummy, which is wept over by two kneeling statuettes of Isis and Nephthys, one at each end. The sledges upon which mummies were dragged to the sepulchre were also furnished with canopies, but in a totally different style. The sledge canopy is a panelled shrine, like those which I discovered in 1886, in the tomb of Sennetm at Krnet Murraee. If light was admitted, it came through a square opening, showing the head of the mummy within. Wilkinson gives an ill.u.s.tration of a sledge canopy of this kind, from the wall paintings of a Theban tomb (fig. 267).

The panels were always made to slide. As soon as the mummy was laid upon his sledge, the panels were closed, the corniced roof placed over all, and the whole closed in. With regard to chairs, many of those in the Louvre and the British Museum were made about the time of the Eleventh Dynasty. These are not the least beautiful specimens which have come down to us, one in particular (fig. 268) having preserved an extraordinary brilliancy of colour. The framework, formerly fitted with a seat of strong netting, was originally supported on four legs with lions' feet. The back is ornamented with two lotus flowers, and with a row of lozenges inlaid in ivory and ebony upon a red ground. Stools of similar workmans.h.i.+p (fig. 269), and folding stools, the feet of which are in the form of a goose's head, may be seen in all museums. Pharaohs and persons of high rank affected more elaborate designs. Their seats were sometimes raised very high, the arms being carved to resemble running lions, and the lower supports being prisoners of war, bound back to back (fig. 270). A foot-board in front served as a step to mount by, and as a foot-stool for the sitter. Up to the present time, we have found no specimens of this kind of seat.[73]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 269.--Inlaid stool, Eleventh Dynasty.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 270.--Royal throne-chair, wall-painting Rameses III.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 271.--Women weaving. From wall-scene in tomb of Khnmhotep, Beni Hasan, Twelfth Dynasty.]

We learn from the tomb paintings that netted or cane-bottomed chairs were covered with stuffed seats and richly worked cus.h.i.+ons. These cus.h.i.+ons and stuffed seats have perished, but it is to be concluded that they were covered with tapestry. Tapestry was undoubtedly known to the Egyptians, and a bas-relief subject at Beni Hasan (fig. 271)[74] shows the process of weaving. The frame, which is of the simplest structure, resembles that now in use among the weavers of Ekhmim. It is horizontal, and is formed of two slender cylinders, or rather of two rods, about fifty-four inches apart, each held in place by two large pegs driven into the ground about three feet distant from each other. The warps of the chain were strongly fastened, then rolled round the top cylinder till they were stretched sufficiently tight. Mill sticks placed at certain distances facilitated the insertion of the needles which carried the thread. As in the Gobelins factory, the work was begun from the bottom. The texture was regulated and equalised by means of a coa.r.s.e comb, and was rolled upon the lower cylinder as it increased in length. Hangings and carpets were woven in this manner; some with figures, others with geometrical designs, zigzags, and chequers (fig. 272). A careful examination of the monuments has, however, convinced me that most of the subjects. .h.i.therto supposed to represent examples of tapestry represent, in fact, examples of cut and painted leather. The leather-worker's craft flourished in ancient Egypt. Few museums are without a pair of leather sandals, or a specimen of mummy braces with ends of stamped leather bearing the effigy of a G.o.d, a Pharaoh, a hieroglyphic legend, a rosette, or perhaps all combined. These little relics are not older than the time of the priest-kings, or the earlier Bubast.i.tes. It is to the same period that we must attribute the great cut-leather canopy in the Gizeh Museum. The catafalque upon which the mummy was laid when transported from the mortuary establishment to the tomb, was frequently adorned with a covering made of stuff or soft leather. Sometimes the sidepieces hung down, and sometimes they were drawn aside with bands, like curtains, and showed the coffin.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 272.--Man weaving hangings, or carpet. From Beni Hasan, Twelfth Dynasty.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 273.--Border pattern of cut leather canopy of Isiemkheb, Twenty-first Dynasty.]

The canopy of Deir el Bahari was made for the Princess Isiemkheb, daughter of the High Priest Masahirti, wife of the High Priest Menkheperra, and mother of the High Priest Pinotem III. The centrepiece, in shape an oblong square, is divided into three bands of sky-blue leather, now faded to pearl-grey. The two side-pieces are sprinkled with yellow stars. Upon the middle piece are rows of vultures, whose outspread wings protect the mummy.

Four other pieces covered with red and green chequers are attached to the ends and sides. The longer pieces which hung over the sides are united to the centre-piece by an ornamental bordering. On the right, scarabaei with extended wings alternate with the cartouches of King Pinotem II., and are surmounted by a lance-head frieze. On the left side, the pattern is more complicated (fig. 273). In the centre we see a bunch of lotus lilies flanked by royal cartouches. Next come two antelopes, each kneeling upon a basket; then two bouquets of papyrus; then two more scarabaei, similar to those upon the other border. The lance-head frieze finishes it above, as on the opposite side. The technical process is very curious. The hieroglyphs and figures were cut out from large pieces of leather; then, under the open s.p.a.ces thus left, were sewn thongs of leather of whatever colour was required for those ornaments or hieroglyphs. Finally, in order to hide the patchwork effect presented at the back, the whole was lined with long strips of white, or light yellow, leather. Despite the difficulties of treatment which this work presented, the result is most remarkable.[75] The outlines of the gazelles, scarabaei, and flowers are as clean-cut and as elegant as if drawn with the pen upon a wall-surface or a page of papyrus.

The choice of subjects is happy, and the colours employed are both lively and harmonious.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 274.--Bark with cut leather sail; wall-painting tomb of Rameses III.]

The craftsmen who designed and executed the canopy of Isiemkheb had profited by a long experience of this system of decoration, and of the kind of patterns suitable to the material. For my own part, I have not the slightest doubt that the cus.h.i.+ons of chairs and royal couches, and the sails of funeral and sacred boats used for the transport of mummies and divine images, were most frequently made in leather-work. The chequer- patterned sail represented in one of the boat subjects painted on the wall of a chamber in the tomb of Rameses III. (fig. 274), might be mistaken for one of the side pieces of the canopy at Gizeh. The vultures and fantastic birds depicted upon the sails of another boat (fig. 275) are neither more strange nor more difficult to make in cut leather than the vultures and gazelles of Isiemkheb.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 275.--Bark with cut leather sail; wall-painting tomb of Rameses III.]

We have it upon the authority of ancient writers that the Egyptians of olden time embroidered as skilfully as those of the Middle Ages. The surcoats given by Amasis, one to the Lacedaemonians, and the other to the temple of Athena at Lindos, were of linen embroidered with figures of animals in gold thread and purple, each thread consisting of three hundred and sixty-five distinct filaments. To go back to a still earlier period, the monumental tableaux show portraits of the Pharaohs wearing garments with borders, either woven or embroidered, or done in _applique_ work. The most simple patterns consist of one or more stripes of brilliant colour parallel with the edge of the material. Elsewhere we see palm patterns, or rows of discs and points, leaf-patterns, meanders, and even, here and there, figures of men, G.o.ds, or animals, worked most probably with the needle. None of the textile materials yet found upon royal mummies are thus decorated; we are therefore unable to p.r.o.nounce upon the quality of this work, or the method employed in its production. Once only, upon the body of one of the Deir el Bahari princesses, did I find a royal cartouche embroidered in pale rose-colour. The Egyptians of the best periods seem to have attached special value to plain stuffs, and especially to white ones.

These they wove with marvellous skill, and upon looms in every respect identical with those used in tapestry work. Those portions of the winding sheet of Thothmes III. which enfolded the royal hands and arms, are as fine as the finest India muslin, and as fairly merit the name of "woven air" as the gauzes of the island of Cos. This, of course, is a mere question of manufacture, apart from the domain of art. Embroideries and tapestries were not commonly used in Egypt till about the end of the Persian period, or the beginning of the period of Greek rule. Alexandria became partly peopled by Phoenician, Syrian, and Jewish colonists, who brought with them the methods of manufacture peculiar to their own countries, and founded workshops which soon developed into flouris.h.i.+ng establishments. It is to the Alexandrians that Pliny ascribes the invention of weaving with several warps, thus producing the stuff called brocades (_polymita_); and in the time of the first Caesars, it was a recognised fact that "the needle of Babylon was henceforth surpa.s.sed by the comb of the Nile." The Alexandrian tapestries were not made after exclusively geometrical designs, like the products of the old Egyptian looms; but, according to the testimony of the ancients, were enriched with figures of animals, and even of men. Of the masterpieces which adorned the palaces of the Ptolemies no specimens remain. Many fragments which may be attributed to the later Roman time have, however, been found in Egypt, such as the piece with the boy and goose described by Wilkinson, and a piece representing marine divinities bought by myself at Coptos.[76] The numerous embroidered winding sheets with woven borders which have recently been discovered near Ekhmim, and in the Faym, are nearly all from Coptic tombs, and are more nearly akin to Byzantine art than to the art of Egypt.

[68] We have a considerable number of specimens of these borderings, cartouches, and painted tiles representing foreign prisoners, in the British Museum; but the finest examples of the latter are in the Ambras Collection, Vienna. For a highly interesting and scholarly description of the remains found at Tell el Yahdeh in 1870, see Professor Hayter Lewis's paper in vol. iii. of the _Transactions_ of the Biblical Archaeological Society.--A.B.E.

[69] The _Tat_ amulet was the emblem of stability.--A.B.E.

[70] That is, the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties.

[71] There is a fine specimen of one of these sledges in the Leyden Museum, and the Florentine Museum contains a celebrated Egyptian war-chariot in fine preservation.--A.B.E.

[72] See the coloured frontispiece to _Thebes; its Tombs and their Tenants_, by A.H. Rhind. 1862.--A.B.E.

[73] Since the publication of this work in the original French, a very splendid specimen of a royal Egyptian chair of state, the property of Jesse Haworth, Esq., was placed on view at the Manchester Jubilee Exhibition. It is made of dark wood, apparently rosewood; the legs being shaped like bull's legs, having silver hoofs, and a solid gold cobra snake twining round each leg. The arm-pieces are of lightwood with cobra snakes carved upon the flat in low relief, each snake covered with hundreds of small silver annulets, to represent the markings of the reptile. This chair, dated by a fragment of a royal cartouche, belonged to Queen Hatshepst, of the Eighteenth Dynasty. It is now in the British Museum.--A.B.E.

[74] In this cut, as well as in the next, the loom is represented as if upright; but it is supposed to be extended on the ground.--A.B.E.

[75] For a chromolithographic reproduction of this work as a whole, with drawings of the separate parts, facsimiles of the inscriptions, etc., see _The Funeral Tent of an Egyptian Queen_, by H. Villiers Stuart.--A.B.E.

[76] An unusually fine specimen of carpet, or tapestry work from Ekhmim, representing Cupids rowing in papyrus skiffs, landscapes, etc., has recently been presented to the British Museum by the Rev. G.J.

Chester. The tapestry found at Ekhmim is, however, mostly of the Christian period, and this specimen probably dates from about A.D. 700 or A.D. 600.--A.B.E.

3.--METALS.

The Egyptians cla.s.sified metals under two heads--namely, the n.o.ble metals, as gold, electrum, and silver; and the base metals, as copper, iron, lead, and, at a later period, tin. The two lists are divided by the mention of certain kinds of precious stones, such as lapis lazuli and malachite.

Iron was reserved for weapons of war, and tools, in use for hard substances, such as sculptors' and masons' chisels, axe and adze heads, knife-blades, and saws. Lead was comparatively useless, but was sometimes used for inlaying temple-doors, coffers, and furniture. Also small statuettes of G.o.ds were occasionally made in this metal, especially those of Osiris and Anubis. Copper was too yielding to be available for objects in current use; bronze, therefore, was the favourite metal of the Egyptians. Though often affirmed, it is not true that they succeeded in tempering bronze so that it became as hard as iron or steel; but by varying the const.i.tuents and their relative proportions, they were able to give it a variety of very different qualities. Most of the objects. .h.i.therto a.n.a.lysed have yielded precisely the same quant.i.ties of copper and tin commonly used by the bronze founders of the present day. Those a.n.a.lysed by Vauquelin in 1825 contained 84 per cent. of copper 14 per cent. of tin, and 1 per cent. of iron and other substances. A chisel brought from Egypt by Sir Gardner Wilkinson contained only from 5 to 9 per cent. of tin, 1 per cent. of iron, and 94 of copper. Certain fragments of statuettes and mirrors more recently subjected to a.n.a.lysis have yielded a notable quant.i.ty of gold and silver, thus corresponding with the bronzes of Corinth. Other specimens resemble bra.s.s, both in their colour and substance. Many of the best Egyptian bronzes offer a surprising resistance to damp, and oxidise with difficulty. While yet hot from the mould, they were rubbed with some kind of resinous varnish which filled up the pores and deposited an unalterable patina upon the surface. Each kind of bronze had its special use. The ordinary bronze was employed for weapons and common amulets; the brazen alloys served for household utensils; the bronzes mixed with gold and silver were destined only for mirrors, costly weapons, and statuettes of value. In none of the tomb-paintings which I have seen is there any representation of bronze-founding or bronze-working; but this omission is easily supplemented by the objects themselves. Tools, arms, rings, and cheap vases were sometimes forged, and sometimes cast whole in moulds of hard clay or stone. Works of art were cast in one or several pieces according to circ.u.mstances; the parts were then united, soldered, and retouched with the burin. The method most frequently employed was to prepare a core of mixed clay and charcoal, or sand, which roughly reproduced the modelling of the mould into which it was introduced. The layer of metal between this core and the mould was often so thin that it would have yielded to any moderate pressure, had they not taken the precaution to consolidate it by having the core for a support.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 276.--Bronze jug.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 277.--Same jug seen from above.]

Domestic utensils and small household instruments were mostly made in bronze. Such objects are exhibited by thousands in our museums, and frequently figure in bas-reliefs and mural paintings. Art and trade were not incompatible in Egypt; and even the coppersmith sought to give elegance of form, and to add ornaments in a good style, to the humblest of his works. The saucepan in which the cook of Rameses III. concocted his masterpieces is supported on lions' feet. Here is a hot-water jug which looks as if it were precisely like its modern successors (fig. 276); but on a closer examination we shall find that the handle is a full-blown lotus, the petals, which are bent over at an angle to the stalk, resting against the edge of the neck (fig. 277). The handles of knives and spoons are almost always in the form of a duck's or goose's neck, slightly curved. The bowl is sometimes fas.h.i.+oned like an animal--as, for instance, a gazelle ready bound for the sacrifice (fig. 278). On the hilt of a sabre we find a little crouching jackal; and the larger limb of a pair of scissors in the Gizeh Museum is made in the likeness of an Asiatic captive, his arms tied behind his back. A lotus leaf forms the disk of a mirror, and its stem is the handle. One perfume box is a fish, another is a bird, another is a grotesque deity. The l.u.s.tration vases, or _situlae_, carried by priests and priestesses for the purpose of sprinkling either the faithful, or the ground traversed by religious processions, merit the special consideration of connoisseurs. They are ovoid or pointed at the bottom, and decorated with subjects either chased or in relief. These sometimes represent deities, each in a separate frame, and sometimes scenes of wors.h.i.+p. The work is generally very minute.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 278.--Spoon (or lamp?).]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 279.--Bronze statuette of the Lady Takshet.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 280.--Bronze statuette of Horus.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 281.--Bronze statuette of one Mos.]

Bronze came into use for statuary purposes from a very early period; but time unfortunately has preserved none of those idols which peopled the temples of the ancient empire. Whatsoever may be said to the contrary, we possess no bronze statuettes of any period anterior to the expulsion of the Hyksos. Some Theban figures date quite certainly from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties. The chased lion's head found with the jewels of Queen Aahhotep, the Harpocrates of Gizeh inscribed with the names of Kames and Ahmes I., and several statuettes of Amen, said to have been discovered at Medinet Hab and Sheikh Abd el Grneh, are of that period. Our most important bronzes belong, however, to the Twenty-second Dynasty, or, later still, to the time of the Sate Pharaohs. Many are not older than the first Ptolemies. A fragment found in the ruins of Tanis and now in the possession of Count Stroganoff, formed part of a votive statue dedicated by King Pisebkhan. It was originally two-thirds the size of life, and is the largest specimen known. A portrait statuette of the Lady Takshet, given to the Museum of Athens by M. Demetrio, the four statuettes from the Posno collection now at the Louvre, and the kneeling genius of Gizeh, are all from the site of Bubastis, and date probably from the years which immediately preceded the accession of Psammetichus I. The Lady Takshet is standing, the left foot advanced, the right arm hanging down, the left raised and brought close to the body (fig. 279). She wears a short robe embroidered with religious subjects, and has bracelets on her arms and wrists. Upon her head she has a wig with flat curls, row above row. The details both of her robe and jewels are engraved in incised lines upon the surface of the bronze, and inlaid with silver threads. The face is evidently a portrait, and represents a woman of mature age. The form, according to the traditions of Egyptian art, is that of a younger woman, slender, firm, and supple. The copper in this bronze is largely intermixed with gold, thus producing a chastened l.u.s.tre which is admirably suited to the richness of the embroidered garment. The kneeling genius of Gizeh is as rude and repellent as the Lady Takshet is delicate and harmonious. He has a hawk's head, and he wors.h.i.+ps the sun, as is the duty of the Heliopolitan genii. His right arm is uplifted, his left is pressed to his breast. The style of the whole is dry, and the granulated surface of the skin adds to the hard effect of the figure. The action, however, is energetic and correct, and the bird's head is adjusted with surprising skill to the man's neck and shoulders. The same qualities and the same faults distinguish the Horus of the Posno collection (fig. 280). Standing, he uplifted a libation vase; now lost, and poured the contents upon a king who once stood face to face with him. This roughness of treatment is less apparent in the other three Posno figures; above all in that which bears the name of Mos engraved over the place of the heart (fig. 281). Like the Horus, this Mos stands upright, his left foot advanced, and his left arm pendent. His right hand is raised, as grasping the wand of office. The trunk is naked, and round his loins he wears a striped cloth with a squared end falling in front. His head is clad in a short wig covered with short curls piled one above the other. The ear is round and large. The eyes are well opened, and were originally of silver; but have been stolen by some Arab. The features have a remarkable expression of pride and dignity. After these, what can be said for the thousands of statuettes of Osiris, of Isis, of Nephthys, of Horus, of Nefertm, which have been found in the sands and ruins of Sakkarah, Bubastis, and other cities of the Delta? Many are, without doubt, charming objects for gla.s.s-cases, and are to be admired for perfection of casting and delicacy of execution; but the greater number are mere articles of commerce, made upon the same pattern, and perhaps in the self- same moulds, century after century, for the delight of devotees and pilgrims. They are rounded, vulgar, dest.i.tute of originality, and have no more distinction than the thousands of coloured statuettes of saints and Virgins which stock the shelves of our modern dealers in pious wares. An exception must, however, be made in favour of the images of animals, such as rams, sphinxes, and lions, which to the last retained a more p.r.o.nounced stamp of individuality. The Egyptians had a special predilection for the feline race. They have represented the lion in every att.i.tude--giving chase to the antelope; springing upon the hunter; wounded, and turning to bite his wound; couchant, and disdainfully calm--and no people have depicted him with a more thorough knowledge of his habits, or with so intense a vitality. Several G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses, as Sh, Anhr, Bast, Sekhet, Tefnt, have the form of the lion or of the cat; and inasmuch as the wors.h.i.+p of these deities was more popular in the Delta than elsewhere, so there never pa.s.ses a year when from amid the ruins of Bubastis, Tanis, Mendes, or some less famous city, there is not dug up a store of little figures of lions and lionesses, or of men and women with lions' heads, or cats' heads. The cats of Bubastis and the lions of Tell es Seba crowd our museums. The lions of Horbeit may be reckoned among the _chefs-d'oeuvre_ of Egyptian statuary.

Upon one of the largest among them is inscribed the name of Apries (fig.

282); but if even this evidence were lacking, the style of the piece would compel us to attribute it to the Sate period. It formed part of the ornamentation of a temple or naos door; and the other side was either built into a wall or imbedded in a piece of wood. The lion is caught in a trap, or, perhaps, lying down in an oblong cage, with only his head and fore feet outside. The lines of the body are simple and full of power; the expression of the face is calm and strong. In breadth and majesty he almost equals the fine limestone lions of Amenhotep III.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 282.--Bronze lion from Horbeit, Sate.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 283.--Gold worker.]

The idea of inlaying gold and other precious metals upon the surface of bronze, stone, or wood was already ancient in Egypt in the time of Khf.

The gold is often amalgamated with pure silver. When amalgamated to the extent of 20 per cent, it changes its name, and is called electrum (_asim_). This electrum is of a fine light-yellow colour. It pales as the proportion of silver becomes larger, and at 60 per cent. it is nearly white. The silver came chiefly from Asia, in rings, sheets, and bricks of standard weight. The gold and electrum came partly from Syria in bricks and rings; and partly from the Soudan in nuggets and gold-dust. The processes of refining and alloying are figured on certain monuments of the early dynasties. In a bas-relief at Sakkarah, we see the weighed gold entrusted to the craftsman for working; in another example (at Beni Hasan) the was.h.i.+ng and melting down of the ore is represented; and again at Thebes, the goldsmith is depicted seated in front of his crucible, holding the blow-pipe to his lips with the left hand, and grasping his pincers with the right, thus fanning the flame and at the same time making ready to seize the ingot (fig. 283). The Egyptians struck neither coins nor medals. With these exceptions, they made the same use of the precious metals as we do ourselves. We gild the crosses and cupolas of our churches; they covered the doors of their temples, the lower part of their wall-surfaces, certain bas-reliefs, pyramidions of obelisks, and even whole obelisks, with plates of gold. The obelisks of Queen Hatshepst at Karnak were coated with electrum. "They were visible from both banks of the Nile, and when the sun rose between them as he came up from the heavenly horizon, they flooded the two Egypts with their dazzling rays."[77] These plates of metal were forged with hammer and anvil. For smaller objects, they made use of little pellets beaten flat between two pieces of parchment. In the Museum of the Louvre we have a gilder's book, and the gold-leaf which it contains is as thin as the gold-leaf used by the German goldsmiths of the past century. Gold was applied to bronze surfaces by means of an ammoniacal solvent. If the object to be gilt were a wooden statuette, the workman began by sticking a piece of fine linen all over the surface, or by covering it with a very thin coat of plaster; upon this he laid his gold or silver leaf. It was thus that wooden statuettes of Thoth, Horus, and Nefertm were gilded, from the time of Khf. The temple of Isis, the "Lady of the Pyramid," contained a dozen such images; and this temple was not one of the largest in the Memphite necropolis. There would seem to have been hundreds of gilded statues in the Theban temples, at all events in the time of the victorious dynasties of the new empire; and as regards wealth, the Ptolemaic sanctuaries were in no wise inferior to those of the Theban period.

Bronze and gilded wood were not always good enough for the G.o.ds of Egypt.

They exacted pure gold, and their wors.h.i.+ppers gave them as much of it as possible. Entire statues of the precious metals were dedicated by the kings of the ancient and middle empires; and the Pharaohs of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties, who drew at will upon the treasures of Asia, transcended all that had been done by their predecessors. Even in times of decadence, the feudal lords kept up the traditions of the past, and, like Prince Mentemhat, replaced the images of gold and silver which had been carried off from Karnak by the generals of Sardanapalus at the time of the a.s.syrian invasions. The quant.i.ty of metal thus consecrated to the service of the G.o.ds must have been considerable, If many figures were less than an inch in height, many others measured three cubits, or more. Some were of gold, some of silver; others were part gold and part silver. There were even some which combined gold with sculptured ivory, ebony, and precious stones, thus closely resembling the chryselephantine statues of the Greeks.

Aided by the bas-relief subjects of Karnak, Medinet Hab, and Denderah, as well as by the statues in wood and limestone which have come down to our day, we can tell exactly what they were like. However the material might vary, the style was always the same. Nothing is more perishable than works of this description. They are foredoomed to destruction by the mere value of the materials in which they are made. What civil war and foreign invasion had spared, and what had chanced to escape the rapacity of Roman princes and governors, fell a prey to Christian iconoclasm. A few tiny statuettes buried as amulets upon the bodies of mummies, a few domestic divinities buried in the ruins of private houses, a few ex-votos forgotten, perchance, in some dark corner of a fallen sanctuary, have escaped till the present day. The Ptah and Amen of Queen Aahhotep, another golden Amen also at Gizeh, and the silver vulture found in 1885 at Medinet Hab, are the only pieces of this kind which can be attributed with certainty to the great period of Egyptian art. The remainder are of Sate or Ptolemaic work, and are remarkable only for the perfection with which they are wrought. The gold and silver vessels used in the service of the temples, and in the houses of private persons, shared the fate of the statues. At the beginning of the present century, the Louvre acquired some flat-bottomed cups which Thothmes III. presented as the reward of valour to one of his generals named Tahti. The silver cup is much mutilated, but the golden cup is intact and elegantly designed (fig. 284). The upright sides are adorned with a hieroglyphic legend. A central rosette is engraved at the bottom.

Six fish are represented in the act of swimming round the rosette; and these again are surrounded by a border of lotus-bells united by a curved line. The five vases of Thmis, in the Gizeh Museum, are of silver. They formed part of the treasure of the temple, and had been buried in a hiding- place, where they remained till our own day. We have no indication of their probable age; but whether they belong to the Greek or the Theban period, the workmans.h.i.+p is purely Egyptian. Of one vessel, only the cover is left, the handle being formed of two flowers upon one stem. The others are perfect, and are decorated in _repousse_ work with lotus-lilies in bud and blossom (fig. 285).

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 284.--Golden cup of General Tahti, Eighteenth Dynasty.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 285.--Silver vase of Thmis.]

The form is simple and elegant, the ornamentation sober and delicate; the relief low. One is, however, surrounded by a row of ovoid bosses (fig.

286), which project in high relief, and somewhat alter the shape of the body of the vase. These are interesting specimens; but they are so few in number that, were it not for the wall-paintings, we should have but a very imperfect idea of the skill of the Egyptian goldsmiths.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 286.--Silver vase of Thmis.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 287.--Ornamental basket in precious metal. From wall- painting, Twentieth Dynasty.]