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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Arts and Crafts of Ancient Egypt, by
-W. M. Flinders Petrie
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: The Arts and Crafts of Ancient Egypt
-
-Author: W. M. Flinders Petrie
-
-Release Date: August 18, 2016 [EBook #52830]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARTS, CRAFTS--ANCIENT EGYPT ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Charlene Taylor, Adrian Mastronardi and the
-Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
-(This file was produced from images generously made
-available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-The Arts and Crafts of the Nations
-
-GENERAL EDITOR: S. H. F. CAPENNY
-
-THE ARTS AND CRAFTS OF ANCIENT EGYPT
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration: OLD KINGDOM RELIEF
-
-55. Wood-carving of Ra-hesy]
-
-
-
-
- THE
- ARTS & CRAFTS
- OF ANCIENT EGYPT
-
- BY
- W. M. FLINDERS PETRIE
- D.C.L., F.R.S., F.B.A., ETC., PROFESSOR OF
- EGYPTOLOGY IN LONDON UNIVERSITY;
- AUTHOR OF “A HISTORY OF EGYPT,” ETC.
-
- CONTAINING
- ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY ILLUSTRATIONS
-
- _SECOND EDITION
- WITH ADDITIONAL CHAPTER_
-
- T. N. FOULIS
- LONDON & EDINBURGH
- 1910
-
- _First Edition, November 1909_
- _Second Edition, October 1910_
-
- PRINTED BY NEILL AND CO., LTD., EDINBURGH
-
-
-
-
-PREFACE
-
-
-This present handbook is intended to aid in the understanding of
-Egyptian art, and the illustrations and descriptions are selected for
-that purpose only. The history of the art would require a far greater
-range of examples, in order to illustrate the growth and decay of each
-of the great periods; whereas here only the most striking works of each
-period are shown, in order to contrast the different civilisations. The
-origins and connections of the art in each age are scarcely touched,
-and the technical details are only such as are needed to see the
-conditions of the art. The archaeology of the subject would need as
-wide a treatment as the history, and these subjects can only appear
-here incidentally.
-
-It should be noticed that the divisions of artistic periods are often
-not the same as those of political history. Politically, the history
-divides at the XVIIth dynasty with the fall of the Hyksos, and at the
-XXIInd dynasty with the rise of the Delta government. But artistically
-the changes are under Tahutmes I, when Syrian influences broke in, and
-under the XXVIth dynasty, when the classical Greeks began to dominate
-the art.
-
-The effect of foreign influence in art is quite apart from political
-power; it is due to rival activities which may or may not mean a
-physical domination. The reader should ponder different cases, such
-as those of the spiral design of early Europe entering Egypt, of the
-Syrian and Cretan art in the XVIIIth dynasty, of the effect of Persia
-upon Greece, and of Greece upon Italy (both through Magna Graecia
-and the conquest of Greece), of the effect of the Goth, Lombard, and
-Northman on Europe, and of Japan on modern Europe. Some reflection on
-these great artistic movements will give a little insight as to the
-history of art.
-
-Regarding the illustrations, I have thought it more useful to give
-details large enough to be clearly seen, rather than to contract too
-much surface into a space where it cannot well be studied. Portions of
-subjects are therefore often preferred to general views of a whole. The
-outlines of artistic value, such as contours of faces or figures, are
-left quite untouched, as an outline cannot be taken seriously which is
-dependent on the block-maker clearing a white or black ground. This
-latter treatment, unfortunately, puts out of artistic use many of the
-lavishly spaced plates of the Cairo Catalogue, where art is subjected
-to bibliophily. The liberal policy of all publications and photographs
-of the Cairo Museum being free of copyright, has enabled me to use many
-of the excellent untouched photographs of Brugsch Pasha and others.
-My best thanks are due to Freiherr von Bissing and the publisher of
-his _Denkmaeler Aegypt. Sculptur_, for permission to use figures 39,
-44, 46, 48, 62, 111, and 112 from that work. Over a third of the
-illustrations here are from my own photographs not yet published, and
-principally taken for this volume.
-
-W. M. F. P.
-
-
-
-
-PERIODS AND KINGS REFERRED TO IN THIS VOLUME
-
-
- Period. Dynasty. Names. B.C.
-
- Prehistoric. 8000-5500
- Early { I. Narmer, Mena, Zer, 5500-5400
- kings. { II. Kha-sekhem, 5000
- { III. Zeser, Senoferu, 4900-4700
-
- Pyramid { IV. Khufu, Khafra, Menkaura, 4700-4500
- age: Old { V. Nofer-ar-ka-ra, Unas, 4400-4200
- Kingdom. { VI. Pepy II, 4100-4000
- IX. Khety, 3800
-
- { XI. Antef V, 3500
- Middle { XII. Senusert I, Senusert II, 3400-3300
- Kingdom. { Senusert III,
- { Amenemhat III, 3300-3259
- { XIII. Hor, 3200
-
- New { XVIII. Aahmes, Queens Aah-hotep, 1587-1562
- Kingdom. { Aahmes,
- { Tahutmes I, Tahutmes II, 1541-1481
- { Hatshepsut
- { Tahutmes III, Amenhotep II, 1481-1414
- { Tahutmes IV,
- { Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, 1414-1344
- { Tut-ankh-amen,
- { XIX. Sety I, Ramessu II, Merenptah, 1326-1214
- { Sety II, Tausert, 1214-1203
- { XX. Ramessu III, IV, XII, 1202-1129
- XXI. Isiemkheb, 1050
- XXII. Shishak kings, 952-749
- XXIII. Pedubast, Pefaabast, 755-725
- Ethiopian. XXV. Amenardys, Taharqa, Tanut-amen, 720-664
- Saite. XXVI. Aahmes II, 570-526
- XXX. Nekhthorheb (Nectanebo), 378-361
- Ptolemies. Cleopatra Cocce, 130-106
- Romans. 30-A.D. 640
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS
-
-
- CHAP. PAGE
-
- 1. THE CHARACTER OF EGYPTIAN ART 1
-
- 2. THE PERIODS AND SCHOOLS 11
-
- 3. THE STATUARY 29
-
- 4. THE RELIEFS 48
-
- 5. THE PAINTING AND DRAWING 55
-
- 6. THE ARCHITECTURE 62
-
- 7. THE STONE-WORKING 69
-
- 8. JEWELLERY 83
-
- 9. METAL WORK 98
-
- 10. GLAZED WARE AND GLASS 107
-
- 11. THE POTTERY 126
-
- 12. IVORY-WORKING 134
-
- 13. WOODWORK 137
-
- 14. PLASTER AND STUCCO 142
-
- 15. CLOTHING 147
-
- 16. EGYPT’S PLACE IN THE ART OF THE WORLD 152
-
- INDEX 159
-
- BIBLIOGRAPHY 166
-
-
-
-
-LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
-
-
- Fig. Dynasty. Subject. Material. Source. Position. Page.
-
- _Scenery._
-
- 1 XVIII Temple below Limestone Deir el Thebes. 4
- cliffs. Bahri.
-
- 2 … Palms and canal. … Illahun. Fayum. ”
-
- _Periods._
-
- 3 Prehist. Dog and deer. Ivory. ? Petrie Coll. 13
-
- 4 ” Bull and enemy. Slate. ? Louvre. ”
-
- 5 IV Servant of Ainofer. Limestone. Saqqareh. Cairo Mus. ”
-
- 6 XII Senusert I. ” Memphis. Carlsberg M. ”
-
- 7 XVIII Servant of ” Tomb. Thebes. 19
- Kha-em-hat.
-
- 8 XIX Sons of Ramessu II. Sandstone. Luqsor. ” ”
-
- 9 XXVI Aahmes-si- Limestone. Memphis. Cambridge. ”
- neit-rannu.
-
- 10 Ptolem. Cleopatra Cocce. Sandstone. ” Kom Ombo. ”
-
- _Schools._
-
- 11 XIX Ramessu II. Black Eastern Turin. 24
- granite. desert.
-
- 12 ” ” Hard Memphis. Memphis. ”
- limestone.
-
- 13 ” ” Red granite. Aswan. Thebes. ”
-
- 14 ” ” Sandstone. Nubia. Abu Simbel. ”
-
-
- _Sculpture._
-
- 15 Prehist. Female figure. Ivory. ? Petrie Coll. 30
-
- 16 ” ” ” Limestone. Naqadeh. Oxford Mus. ”
-
- 17 ” Male heads. Ivory. ? Petrie Coll. ”
-
- 18 ” Lion. Limestone. ? ” ”
-
- 19, I Narmer? head; ” ? ” 32
- 20 sculptor’s study.
-
- 21 I King standing. Ivory. Abydos. British ”
- Mus.
-
- 22 II Head of Kha-sekhem. Limestone. Hierakon- Oxford Mus. ”
- polis.
-
- 23 III Head of Mertitefs. ” ? Leyden Mus. 33
-
- 24 ” Head of Nofert. ” Medum. Cairo Mus. ”
-
- 25 IV Head of Ka-aper. Wood. Saqqareh. ” ”
-
- 26 ” Female figure. Wood. ” ” ”
-
- 27 ” Khafra. Diorite. Gizeh. ” 34
-
- 28 ” Head of Khafra. Cast. ” ” ”
-
- 29 V Scribe seated. Limestone. Saqqareh. Louvre. 35
-
- 30 ” Family of Khui. ” ” Cairo Mus. ”
-
- 31 ” Ranofer. ” ” ” ”
-
- 32 XII Head of Senusert I. ” Lisht. ” 39
-
- 33 ” ” Senusert Red Karnak. ” ”
- III. granite.
-
- 34 ? ” Sphinx. Black Tanis. ” ”
- granite.
-
- 35 XII ” Amenemhat Grey ? Univ. Coll., ”
- III. granite. Lond.
-
- 36 XVIII ” statue. Quartzite. Thebes. Cairo Mus. 42
-
- 37 ” ” Tahutmes Basalt. Karnak. ” ”
- III.
-
- 38 ” ” Tut-ankh- Grey ” ” ”
- amen. granite.
-
- 39 ” ” Akhenaten. Limestone. Thebes. Louvre. ”
-
- 40 ” Young negress. Ebony. ? Petrie Coll. 43
-
- 41 ” Girl on tray Wood. ? Louvre. ”
- handle.
-
- 42 ” Girl playing lute. ” Sedment. Univ. Coll., ”
- Lond.
-
- 43 XIX Head of Ramessu II. Black Thebes. Turin Mus. 44
- granite.
-
- 44 ” ” Bak-en- Hard ” Munich Mus. ”
- khonsu. limestone.
-
- 45 ” ” Merenptah. Black ” Cairo Mus. ”
- granite.
-
- 46 XXV ” Taharqa. Black ” ” ”
- granite.
-
- 47 ” ” Amenardys. Alabaster. ” ” 46
-
- 48 ” ” Mentu-em- Black Karnak. ” ”
- hat. granite.
-
- 49 XXX ” man (cast). Basalt. Memphis. Berlin Mus. ”
-
- 50 Ptol. ” woman Wood. ? ” ”
- (coffin).
-
- _Reliefs._
-
- 51 Prehist. Hyaena and calf. Limestone. Koptos. Cairo Mus. 48
-
- 52 Prehist. Gazelles and palms. Slate. ? Oxford and ”
- Louvre.
-
- 53 ” Group of animals. ” Hierakon- Oxford Mus. ”
- polis.
-
- 54 ” Narmer and enemy. ” Hierakon- Cairo Mus. ”
- polis.
-
- 55 III Ra-hesy, half Wood. Saqqareh. ” _Front._
- length.
-
- 56 V Sacrificing bull. Limestone. Ty tomb. Saqqareh. 51
-
- 57 ” Oxherd. ” Ptah-hotep ” ”
- tomb.
-
- 58 XI Toilet of princess. ” Deir el Cairo Mus. 52
- Bahri.
-
- 59 XII Heads of Ptah and ” Karnak. ” ”
- Senusert I.
-
- 60 XVIII Hatshepsut. ” Deir el Thebes. 53
- Bahri.
-
- 61 ” Servant of Kha-em-hat. ” Tomb. ” ”
-
- 62 ” Akhenaten and queen. ” ? Berlin Mus. ”
-
- 63 XX Bulls in marsh. Sandstone. Medinet, Thebes. 54
- Habu.
-
- 64 XXVI Youths and girls Limestone. Memphis. Cairo Mus. ”
- with animals.
-
- _Paintings._
-
- 65 Prehist. Men fighting, vase. Pottery. ? Petrie Coll. 56
-
- 66 ” Ship, vase. ” ? Cairo Mus. ”
-
- 67 ” Ship, tomb. Fresco. Hierakon- ” ”
- polis.
-
- 68 III Geese walking. ” Medum. ” ”
-
- 69 XVIII Pelicans and keeper. ” Horemheb Thebes. 57
- tomb.
-
- 70 ” Gleaning girls. ” Menna ” ”
- tomb.
-
- 71 ” Harvesters. ” Nekht ” ”
- tomb.
-
- 72 ” Pattern in stages. ” Amenmes ” 58
- tomb.
-
- 73 ” Boating scene. ” Menna ” ”
- tomb.
-
- 74 ” Guests and girl. ” Nekht ” ”
- tomb.
-
- 75 ” Girl somersaulting. Limestone. Thebes? Turin Mus. 60
-
- 76 ” Young princesses. Fresco. Tell-el- Oxford Mus. ”
- Amarna.
-
- 77 XVIII Man hauling rope. Fresco. Amenmes Thebes. ”
- tomb.
-
- 78 ” Four races. Rock wall. Rames ” ”
- tomb.
-
- 79 XIX Man adoring. Limestone. Thebes. Cairo Mus. ”
-
- 80 ” Sety I offering to Rock pillar. Tomb of Thebes. ”
- Osiris. Sety I.
-
- _Architecture._
-
- 81 IV Temple of Khafra. Red granite. Gizeh. … 66
-
- 82 XX ” Ramessu Sandstone. Medinet Thebes. ”
- III. Habu.
-
- 83 Ptolem. Temple of Ergamenes. ” Dakkeh. Nubia. ”
-
- 84 V Palm column, Unas. Red granite. Saqqareh. Cairo Mus. 67
-
- 85 ” Rose lotus capital. Limestone. ” ” ”
-
- 86 ” Blue lotus capital. ” Abusir. ” ”
-
- _Stone working._
-
- 87 Pre-XVIII Stone vases. Various. Various. ” 78
-
- 88 XVIII Trial piece, Limestone. Thebes. Petrie Coll. ”
- king’s head.
-
- 89 ? Figure in first Rock-crystal. ? ” ”
- outlines.
-
- 90 Ptolem. Lion’s head in Limestone. ? ” ”
- outlines.
-
- 91 XVIII? Man’s head, ” Thebes. ” ”
- unfinished.
-
- 92 Prehist. Flint knives, etc. Chert. Naqadeh, ” 81
- etc.
-
- _Jewellery._
-
- 93 I Bracelets, gold, Amethyst. Tomb of Cairo Mus. 87
- turquoise. Zer.
-
- 94 VI Chain. Gold. Mahasnah. ” ”
-
- 95 ” ? Seal with hawk ” ? Petrie Coll. ”
- heads.
-
- 96 XII Uraeus, wire work. ” ? ” ”
-
- 97 ” Pectoral of Senusert ” Dahshur. Cairo Mus. 88
- II.
-
- 98 ” ” ” ” ” ” ”
- III.
-
- 99 ” Inlaid crown of Gold and ” ” 90
- Khnumt. stones.
-
- 100 ” Floret ” Gold and ” ” ”
- stones.
-
- 101 ” Granulated work. Gold. ” ” ”
-
- 102 XVIII Bracelet of Aahmes. Gold and Thebes. ” 92
- lazuli.
-
- 103 XVIII Dagger of Aahmes. Gold and Thebes. Cairo Mus. ”
- bronze.
-
- 104 ” Axe of Aahmes. Gold and ” ” ”
- bronze.
-
- 105 XIX Pectoral of Gold and Saqqareh. Louvre. 94
- Ramessu II. stones.
-
- 106 XX Earrings of Gold. Abydos. Cairo Mus. ”
- Ramessu XII.
-
- 107 XXV Statuette of ” Ehnasya. Boston Mus. ”
- Hershefi.
-
- 108 XXVI? Bowls from temple. Silver. Mendes. Cairo Mus. 96
-
- 109 Rom.? Chain fastening. Gold. ? Petrie Coll. ”
-
- _Metal-working._
-
- 110 VI Head of prince. Copper. Hierakon- Cairo Mus. 100
- polis
-
- 111 XXV? Bust of Takushet. Gold in ? Athens Mus. ”
- bronze.
-
- 112 ” ” ” side. ” ? ” ”
-
- 113 XVIII Flask of sandal Bronze. ? Petrie Coll. 101
- washer.
-
- 114 XIX Fluted vases. ” Abydos. Cairo Mus. ”
-
- 115 XXII? Anti-splash bowl. Silver. Bubastis. Petrie Coll. ”
-
- _Glaze and Glass._
-
- 116 I Inlaid glazes Green and Abydos. Brit. Mus. 108
- of Mena. violet glaze.
-
- 117 XX Lotus and grape Coloured Yehudiyeh. Cairo Mus. ”
- border. glaze.
-
- 118 XXVI Head of Isis. Blue glaze. ? Petrie Coll. ”
-
- 119 ” Royal fan-bearer. ” ? ” ”
-
- 120 XVIII Dragged pattern Coloured ? British Mus. 120
- vase. glass.
-
- 121 ” ” ” ” ? ” ”
-
- 122 Ptol. Coloured mosaics. Glass. ? Petrie Coll. ”
-
- _Ivory._
-
- 123 IV Khufu. Ivory. Abydos. Cairo Mus. 136
-
- 124 VI? Girl standing. ” ? Petrie Coll. ”
-
- 125 XXVI Lotus flower. ” Memphis. Edin. Mus. ”
-
- 126 ” Man with offerings. ” ” ” ”
-
- _Wood._
-
- 127 XVIII Bracing of chair. Wood. Tomb of Cairo Mus. 137
- Yuaa.
-
- 128 ” Chair of Sitamen. ” ” ” ”
-
- 129 ” Coffer of Wood ” ” ”
- Amenhotep III. inlaid.
-
- 130 ” ” ” ” ” ” ”
-
- 131 ” Couch of Yuaa. Wood. ” ” ”
-
- _Plaster._
-
- 132 XVIII Reliefs on chariot. Stucco on Tomb of Cairo Mus. 144
- wood. Tahutmes.
-
- 133 Ptol. Lion’s head, Plaster. ? Petrie Coll. ”
- casting.
-
- 134 ” King’s head, casting. ” ? ” ”
-
- 135 Roman. Man’s head from ” ? ” 146
- coffin.
-
- 136 ” ” ” ” Kom el Cairo Mus. ”
- Ahmar.
-
- 137 ” Woman’s head from ” ? Petrie Coll. ”
- coffin.
-
- 138 ” Man’s head and skull. ” Hu. British Mus. ”
-
- _Clothing._
-
- 139 XVIII Woven patterns, Thread. Tomb of Cairo Mus. 148
- Amenhotep II. Tahutmes IV.
-
- 140 ” Cut-out network. Leather. ” ” ”
-
-
-
-
-Arts and Crafts of Ancient Egypt
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I
-
-THE CHARACTER OF EGYPTIAN ART
-
-
-The art of a country, like the character of the inhabitants, belongs
-to the nature of the land. The climate, the scenery, the contrasts of
-each country, all clothe the artistic impulse as diversely as they
-clothe the people themselves. A burly, florid Teuton in his furs and
-jewellery, and a lithe brown Indian in his waist-cloth, would each
-look entirely absurd in the other’s dress. There is no question of
-which dress is intrinsically the best in the world; each is relatively
-the best for its own conditions, and each is out of place in other
-conditions. So it is with art: it is the expression of thought and
-feeling in harmony with its own conditions. The only bad art is that
-which is mechanical, where the impulse to give expression has decayed,
-and it is reduced to mere copying of styles and motives which do
-not belong to its actual conditions. An age of copying is the only
-despicable age.
-
-It is but a confusion of thought, therefore, to try to pit the art of
-one country against that of another. A Corinthian temple, a Norman
-church, or a Chinese pavilion are each perfect in their own conditions;
-but if the temple is of Aberdeen granite, the church of Pacific island
-coral, and the pavilion amid the Brighton downs, they are each of
-them hopelessly wrong. To understand any art we must first begin by
-grasping its conditions, and feeling the contrasts, the necessities,
-the atmosphere, which underlie the whole terms of expression.
-
-Now the essential conditions in Egypt are before all, an overwhelming
-sunshine; next, the strongest of contrasts between a vast sterility of
-desert and the most prolific verdure of the narrow plain; and thirdly,
-the illimitable level lines of the cultivation, of the desert plateau,
-and of the limestone strata, crossed by the vertical precipices on
-either hand rising hundreds of feet without a break. In such conditions
-the architecture of other lands would look weak or tawdry. But the
-style of Egypt never fails in all its varieties and changes.
-
-The brilliancy of light led to adopting an architecture of blank walls
-without windows. The reflected light through open doorways was enough
-to show most interiors; and for chambers far from the outer door, a
-square opening about six inches each way in the roof, or a slit along
-the wall a couple of inches high, let in sufficient light. The results
-of this system were, that as the walls were not divided by structural
-features, they were dominated by the scenes that were carved upon
-them. The wall surface ceased to be regarded as part of a building,
-and became an expansion of the papyrus or tablet. The Egyptian belief
-in the magical value of representations led to the figuring of the
-various parts of the worship on the walls of the temples or tombs, so
-that the divine service should be perpetually renewed in figure; and
-thus what we see is not so much a building in the ordinary sense, as
-an illustrated service-book enclosing the centre of worship. Another
-result of the fierce indirect light was that which dominated sculpture.
-The reliefs, beautiful as they often were, would not be distinct in
-the diffuse facing light; hence strong colouring was applied to render
-them clear and effective. So much did colouring take the lead that the
-finest sculptures were often smothered in a stucco facing, laid on to
-receive the colour. This almost spiteful ignoring of the delicate craft
-of the sculptor is seen in the XIIth dynasty, and was the ruling method
-in Ptolemaic work.
-
-The extreme contrast between the desert and the cultivation gave its
-tone to the artistic sense of the people. On either hand, always in
-sight, there rose the margin of the boundless waste without life or
-verdure, the dreaded region of evil spirits and fierce beasts, the home
-of the nomads that were always ready to swoop on unprotected fields and
-cattle, if they did not sit down on the borders and eat up the country.
-Between these two expanses of wilderness lay the narrow strip of
-richest earth, black, wet, and fertile under the powerful sun; teeming
-with the force of life, bearing the greenest of crops, as often in the
-year as it could be watered. In parts may be seen three full crops
-of corn or beans raised each year beneath the palms that also give
-their annual burden of fruit; fourfold does the rich ground yield its
-ever-growing stream of life.
-
-[Illustration: SCENERY
-
-1. The barren desert background
-
-2. The luxuriance of the plain]
-
-This exuberance amid absolute sterility is reflected in the proportion
-between the minuteness of detail and the vastness of the architecture.
-The most gigantic buildings may have their surfaces crowded with
-delicate sculpture and minute colouring. What would be disproportionate
-elsewhere, seems in harmony amid such natural contrasts.
-
-The strongly marked horizontal and vertical lines of the scenery
-condition the style of buildings that can be placed before such a
-background. As the temples were approached, the dominant line was the
-absolute level of the green plain of the Nile valley, without a rise
-or slope upon it. Behind the building the sky line was the level top
-of the desert plateau, only broken by an occasional valley, but with
-never a peak rising above it. And the face of the cliffs that form the
-stern setting is ruled across with level lines of strata, which rise
-in a step-like background or a wall lined across as with courses of
-masonry. The weathering of the cliffs breaks up the walls of rock into
-vertical pillars with deep shadows between them. In the face of such
-an overwhelming rectangular framing any architecture less massive and
-square than that of Egypt would be hopelessly defeated. The pediments
-of Greece, the circular arches of Rome, the pointed arches of England,
-would all seem crushed by so stern a setting. The harmony is shown most
-clearly in the temple of Deir el Bahri (fig. 1) below its cliffs which
-overshadow it. Let any other kind of building be set there, and it
-would be an impertinent intrusion; the long level lines of the terraces
-and roofs, the vertical shadows of the colonnades, repose in perfect
-harmony with the mass of Nature around them. The Egyptian was quite
-familiar with the arch: he constantly used it in brickwork on a large
-scale, and he imitated its curve in stone; yet he always hid it in
-his building, and kept it away from the external forms, instinctively
-knowing that it could not serve any part of his decorative construction.
-
-These principles, which were thus imposed on the architecture of Egypt,
-were doubly enforced upon its sculpture. Not only did Nature set the
-framing of plain and cliff, but her work was reflected and reiterated
-by the massive walls, square pillars, and flat architraves, amid which
-Egyptian sculpture had to take its place. In such shrines it would be
-disastrously incongruous to place a Victory poising on one foot, or a
-dancing faun. They belong to the peaks of Greece, divided by rushing
-streams, and clothed with woods,--to a transient world of fleeting
-beauty, not to a landscape and an architecture of eternity. Egyptian
-art, however luxurious, however playful it might be, was always
-framed on a tacit groundwork of its natural conditions. Within those
-conditions there was scope for most vivid portraiture, most beautiful
-harmony, most delicate expression, but the Egyptian was wise enough
-to know his conditions and to obey them. In that obedience lay his
-greatness.
-
-The truest analysis of art--that of Tolstoy--results in defining it as
-a means of communicating emotion. It may be the emotion produced by
-beauty or by loathsomeness; each expression is equally art, though each
-is not equally desirable art. The emotion may be imparted by words, by
-forms, by sounds; all are equally vehicles of different kinds of art.
-But without imparting an emotional perception to the mind there is no
-art. The emotion may be the highest, that of apprehending character,
-and the innate meaning of mind and of Nature; or it may be the lower
-form of sharing in the transient interests and excitements of others;
-or the basest form of all, that of enjoying their evil. How does the
-Egyptian appear under this analysis? What emotions can we consider were
-intended by his art? How far did he succeed in imparting them to the
-spectators?
-
-To understand the mind of the artist we must look to those qualities
-which in their literature were held up as the ideals of life.
-Stability and Strength were the qualities most admired, and the name
-for public monuments was “firm things.” Assuredly all mankind has
-looked on the works of Egypt as giving a sense of these qualities
-before all others. Closely connected is the sense of Endurance, which
-was enjoined in words, and carried into practice in the laborious work
-on the hardest rocks. It was for endurance that statues were made of
-diorite or granite, though they were painted with life-like hues, so
-that their material was scarcely seen. Upon these primary qualities
-was built a rich and varied character, reflected in the elaborate and
-beautiful sculpture which covered, but never interfered with, the grand
-mass of a monument. Truth and Justice were qualities much sought for in
-life, and were expressed by the artist in the reality of his immense
-blocks of stone, often more hidden than seen, and in the fair and even
-bearing of all material, without any tricks or paradoxes of structure.
-In all his earlier work his monolith columns and pillars were a protest
-that a structural unit must express unity, that what supports others
-must not be in itself divided. The Discipline and Harmony which were
-looked on as the bond of social life are shown by the subordination
-of the whole, by the carrying out of single schemes of decoration
-illustrating the use of every part of a building on all its walls,
-by the balance of the proportions of the whole so that there seems a
-perfect fitness of connection through all parts. And the happy union
-of vigorous Action with prudent Reserve, which showed the wise man in
-the proverbs, is the basis of those life-like scenes which cover the
-walls of the tombs, but which never betray the artist into attempting
-impossibilities or revealing too much.
-
-As true art, then--that is, the expression of his being, and the
-communication to others of his best feelings and sense of things--the
-Egyptian work must stand on the highest plane of reality. It would
-have been a falsehood to his nature to aspire, as a Gothic architect
-sometimes did, in towers and pinnacles which crush their foundations
-and will not hold together without incongruous bonds. Nor did he wish
-to express the romantic sense of beauty, in structure which may tend
-to exceed the limits of stability. All that belongs to the atmosphere
-of troubadours and knights errant. The Egyptian possessed in splendid
-perfection the sense of Strength, Permanence, Majesty, Harmony, and
-effective Action, tempered with a sympathy and kindliness which
-cemented a vast disciplined fabric. And these aims of life as a whole
-he embodied and expressed in his art, with a force and truth which has
-impressed his character on all who look on his works. He fulfils the
-canon of true art as completely as any race that has come after him.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II
-
-THE PERIODS AND SCHOOLS
-
-
-Before we can understand any art the first step is to discriminate
-between the different periods and their various styles, and to observe
-the characteristics of the several schools. If we consider medieval
-architecture, we separate the many periods from Saxon to Renaissance;
-if we turn to painting, we distinguish many stages between Cimabue and
-Canaletto, yet these variations belong but to a single revolution of
-civilisation, and are comprised within some centuries; in Egyptian art
-we have to deal with seven revolutions of civilisation and thousands of
-years. And not only the period, but also the source and traditions of
-each local branch of the art are to be recognised, and we discriminate
-a dozen schools of painting between Rome and Venice, each with its own
-style. So in Egypt we need to learn the various schools and understand
-their differences. In this chapter we shall notice the essential
-characters of each period and school as compared together; while in the
-following chapters the more technical detail of the statuary, reliefs,
-and paintings will be considered.
-
-In order to grasp more readily the differences of period and of place,
-there are given here eight typical examples of different periods (figs.
-3 to 10), and four examples of different schools during one reign
-(figs. 11 to 14). These may be supplemented by reference to subsequent
-illustrations, but the contrasts will be more readily seen in a
-simultaneous view.
-
-[Illustration: THE PERIODS OF ART
-
-3. Prehistoric
-
-4. Earliest dynastic
-
-5. Old Kingdom (IV)
-
-6. Middle Kingdom (XII)]
-
-The Prehistoric work (8000-5500 B.C.) shows much more mechanical than
-artistic ability. The treatment of the hardest materials was masterful;
-granite and porphyry were wrought as freely as limestone and alabaster;
-perfectly regular forms of vases were cut entirely by hand without any
-lathe. But with this there was a very tentative idea of animate forms.
-The feet and hands were omitted, and limbs ended only in points. The
-form of an outline was not thought to imply a solid, and it needed
-to be hatched over with cross lines (fig. 3) to show that it was a
-continuous body. The noses of animals are frequently shown touching,
-as in this instance of the dog and addax. In short, the figures are
-mere symbols of ideas, with little regard to their actual nature and
-appearance. This symbolic stage of art is found in most countries,
-and often with a higher sense of form and expression than among the
-prehistoric people of the Nile; there is nothing of this age in Egypt
-to compare with the carvings of the cave men of Europe.
-
-[Illustration: EARLY. LATE.]
-
-There is no sign of progress in art during this time. The slate
-palettes, cut in the forms of animal outlines, which were made through
-the whole age, begin with recognisable forms; and these were degraded
-by copying, until at the end their original types could hardly be
-guessed. The animal figures on ivory combs are passable in the earlier
-part of the age, and disappear entirely later on. The human figures,
-which are frequent in early times, are very rarely found later. The
-flint working shows degeneration long before historic times. And the
-pottery loses its fine forms, regularity, and brilliant finish, and
-becomes rough and coarse. In every direction it seems that the earliest
-prehistoric civilisation, which was probably connected with Libya, was
-superseded by a lower race, which was probably from the East.
-
-The first dynasty (5500 B.C.) appears to have brought in entirely new
-influences. While the material civilisation naturally went on with
-many of the older elements, yet in all directions a new spirit and
-moving power is seen. The conquest of the country by a race of invaders
-is shown on many carvings, most of which are probably of the three
-centuries of unification, before the start of the dynastic history of
-the whole country. One of the most typical of these carvings is fig. 4,
-where the king is represented as a bull trampling upon his enemy. Other
-examples are given in figs. 51 to 54.
-
-The whole character of the art is changed. Instead of the clumsy and
-spiritless figures of the prehistoric people, we meet with vigorous
-forms full of life and character. Perhaps one of the earliest is the
-hyaena (fig. 51); the slates are rather later, reaching down to the
-beginning of the first dynasty; and the figures in the round (19 to
-22) show what a living and powerful art had suddenly sprung up and was
-developed under the early kings. The same growth is seen in the advance
-of glazing for important architectural use on a large scale. And the
-introduction and rapid development of hieroglyphic writing stamps
-the new age as the beginning of written history, the start of the
-conscious preservation by man of a regular record of his past acts.
-
-This new growth of art rejoiced in its fresh found powers. It searched
-for the truth, it carefully observed anatomy, and--like a learner--it
-was proud of its knowledge, and emphasised the precise place of the
-muscles which it had traced out. For that very reason it is essentially
-a true art, without any of the slovenly substitutes for Nature which
-are termed conventions. It had no traditions to spoil it or hold it
-back: it was full of observation as the only method for its work. It is
-always simple and dignified, and shows more truth and precision than
-any art of a later age.
-
-After the conscious study of Nature, the greatest step in any art is
-the deliberate work for the sake of its own beauty, and not merely
-because it has to tell a story. It may be said that this is the birth
-of true art; all before that merely consists of representations for
-another purpose. But work for the sake of beauty alone is art pure
-and simple, and this stage was reached at the very beginning of the
-history, in the beautiful carving of the palm tree and long-necked
-gazelles (fig. 52).
-
-The Pyramid age (4700-4000 B.C.) brought in fresh ideals. The early
-kings had expanded a chieftainship into a kingdom, without realising
-all the new conditions of organization which were involved. The great
-work of the early pyramid kings, Senoferu and Khufu, was the massive
-organizing of the civil service of the country, the establishment of a
-social organism which resisted all the invasions and disasters of the
-land, and survived in parts to our own times. These new ideals were
-naturally reflected in the art. In place of tombs such as any great
-chief might have ordered, the most gigantic pyramids were erected,
-buildings yet unsurpassed in bulk and in accuracy of workmanship. The
-new social order of the official world followed in the same lines,
-and dozens of tombs were sculptured in each reign, larger and more
-elaborate than most of the royal sepulchres of other lands and ages.
-The host of these tombs which remain constitute a larger treasury of
-artistic work than there is of any other period in the world’s history.
-
-A typical example of this new order is the figure of a servant of a
-noble named Ainofer (fig. 5). The high rounded relief, the sense of
-action, the delicacy of detail and expression, all mark this new time.
-The greater part of the really fine sculpture that we possess in Egypt
-comes from this time. The statuary (figs. 23 to 31), the reliefs (figs.
-55 to 57), the painting (fig. 68), all show the noble spaciousness
-and grandeur of the age. Its style is severe and never trifles with
-superfluities. The smallest as well as the largest work seems complete
-and inevitable, without being constrained by any limitations of time,
-or labour, or thought. For the expression of royal energy, dignity,
-and equanimity the figures of Khufu and Khafra are unsurpassed. In
-the vivid expression of personal character no age has surpassed the
-statues of the officials and their wives. The style of other ages may
-be more scholastic, more amusing, or more graceful, but for all that
-constitutes great art no period can compare with that of the mighty
-pyramid kings.
-
-All things pass away, and during the centuries of disruption which
-followed the VIth dynasty the old style ran down to an incredible
-coarseness and clumsy copying. At the close of the XIth dynasty a
-revival took place. Like all great developments of art it rose with
-extraordinary rapidity, and within a generation or two the new movement
-was fully grown. Its characteristic was the use of very low relief,
-with faint but perfectly clear outlines (see fig. 6). It was the style
-of a school, and not that of Nature. A regular course of artistic
-training is described by an artist; first was taught the positions
-of figures in slow action, then the differences of male and female
-figures, next mythological subjects, and lastly, the attitudes of rapid
-action. This mechanical training naturally went with elaboration of
-detail. The minute lining over large masses of hair, the carving of
-every bead of a necklace, were the outcome of scholastic training.
-The artificial reduction of figures in the round to a very delicate
-variation of planes in low relief was according to the same system. The
-whole works of the XIIth dynasty are beautiful, reserved, and pleasing,
-with a clearness and finish which appeals to a sense of orderly
-perfection. They have neither the grandeur of what went before nor the
-grace of what followed them.
-
-[Illustration: THE PERIODS OF ART
-
-7. XVIIIth dynasty
-
-8. XIXth dynasty
-
-9. Saite (XXVI)
-
-10. Ptolemaic]
-
-The XVIIIth and XIXth dynasties are the most popularly known age of
-the art. The profusion of remains, their accessibility at Thebes, and
-the more intimate style of the designs, have led to their general
-acceptance as typical. This position must not be allowed in a wider
-knowledge of the subject. The whole level of art of the XVIIIth dynasty
-is as much below that of the XIIth, as the style of the XIIth is below
-that of the IVth dynasty. The scholastic work of the XIIth is followed
-by a treatment which is almost always conventional in the XVIIIth; and
-the XIXth dynasty shows merely a degradation of what preceded it. At
-the close of the XVIIth dynasty there emerges from the turmoil of the
-Hyksos barbarism a rude but lively style of drawing, with sculpture
-of clumsy figures and badly-formed hieroglyphs. Stepping into the
-XVIIIth dynasty we meet with stiff and rather heavy statuettes, the
-female figures, however, showing the dawn of the seductive grace which
-followed. Little can be said to have changed in ideals since the XIIth
-dynasty, until the Asiatic conquests altered the civilisation of Egypt.
-Thothmes I and III brought back thousands of Syrian captives, many of
-whom were selected for their beauty and their artistic ability; their
-work and their influence transformed the art, and the ideal became that
-of a light, graceful, fascinating type which posed much and suggested
-more.
-
-The art of character had become secondary to the art of emotion.
-Vivacity and romance led the way, and the older studies of deeper life
-and fine anatomy were out of date. Fluttering ribbons and prancing
-horses and galloping calves were represented without the laborious
-sculpture, but merely painted with a flowing line on the tomb walls,
-which were plastered smooth over the roughest hewing in the rock. The
-cheapest road to effect was the favourite way, and the eternal solidity
-and dignified simplicity of the older ages had vanished. The figure
-of an official of Kha-em-hat (fig. 7) is typical of the best work of
-this age. The other examples are shown in figs. 36-42, 60-62, 69-78.
-This new order of things culminated under Akhenaten, when naturalism,
-influenced largely from Greece, removed the older principles of
-Egyptian art; and all the passing incidents of life, the domestic
-affections of the king and the festivities of his court, became the
-subjects of even funerary sculptures and painting in the tombs. After
-that stage there was nothing left to do but to fall back on the old
-stock subjects and copy and re-copy them worse and worse during the
-succeeding dynasties. Egyptian art perishes with Akhenaten; all that
-came after was a bloodless imitation.
-
-The XIXth dynasty art is fairly represented by a figure of one of
-the king’s sons (fig. 8). Here is seen the baldness of the style.
-The profile is mechanical, the hair hangs in a heavy and ugly flap,
-the body has no anatomy, the legs are badly drawn, and the long
-streamers flying from the waist are out of keeping. The coarse, heavy
-work of the temples of Abu Simbel, or the great hall of Karnak, is
-obtrusive in spite of their grandiose conception. In the XXth dynasty
-the inscriptions also suffered by being cut very deeply, so that the
-signs appeared as black shadows without any detail. The decay was only
-arrested by a deliberate copying of the style of the pyramid age.
-
-The XXVIth dynasty tried to recover the early grandeur of sculpture by
-close imitation, but it is rarely that any fragment of this work does
-not betray itself by its inane treatment, bad jointing of the limbs,
-and want of proportion. One of the best examples of the more original
-work is the figure of an elderly official (fig. 9). The want of detail
-is hidden by the stiff robe without a fold or curve, leaving only the
-head and extremities to be represented. Another example is in fig. 64,
-where the bad jointing and lack of anatomy is too evident.
-
-In the Ptolemaic time these faults are even more apparent, when the bad
-copy of a copy was the ideal. In fig. 10 is seen the hopelessly wrong
-proportioning of the parts, the clumsy lumps of flesh and exaggerated
-muscles, which are the extreme opposite to the over-refined flat relief
-of the XIIth dynasty. The hair partakes of the same faults, being
-carved as rows of lumps representing separate curls.
-
-Portraiture, which compelled some attention to Nature, is the latest
-surviving form of art. In the XXVIth dynasty fairly good heads were
-occasionally done, but often with some disproportion. The modelled
-stucco heads of the Roman age are the last stage. Some of them show
-a real ability and feeling for character (figs. 135 to 137), and one
-example which can be compared with the skull proves the accuracy of the
-modelling (fig. 138).
-
-The various Schools of Art should now be noticed. The styles of the
-different periods that we have considered were of course obvious in all
-the schools; the character of an age affected all parts of the country.
-Owing to the absence of any artists’ names, and the extreme rarity of
-those of architects, it is impossible to trace the personal origin of
-any works. And as we cannot say how much the artists travelled about
-the country, mere locality does not prove a conclusive test; probably
-for royal works the artists went to any city according to orders.
-Among private tombs we can see great differences of style, as between
-Memphis, Thebes, and Aswan. But the difficulty of exact dating makes
-comparison doubtful, as we might set side by side works of the rise
-and of the climax of a period. The most satisfactory evidence about
-the schools is from the statuary in different materials. When once a
-sculptor was trained to the peculiarities of one stone he would not
-be likely to enter on all the difficulties of a fresh material. A man
-trained for years to slicing and bruising out granite without the
-least fear of a crack, would not relish hewing soft sandstones that
-split, or limestone that could not be trusted with its own weight on a
-finished surface. Certainly the men who learned sculpture on the softer
-materials would be helpless on the granite. Then we know that the
-statues were at least dressed into shape--if not entirely finished--at
-the quarries, and hence the work in one material would continue in
-the hands of one local school. It is therefore likely that the stone
-workers of each material formed an unbroken succession, probably in
-certain families for the most part, and handed on their traditions for
-several dynasties successively, perhaps even throughout thousands of
-years. This would not be so much the case in relief sculpture, as there
-the blocks were built in and sculptured at the building, wherever that
-might be.
-
-When we look for differences of treatment we see how strongly one style
-of work is continued in one material through a long period. We have
-here contemporaneous examples in four different stones, the statues
-of Rameses II in black granite, hard limestone, red granite and Nubian
-sandstone (figs. 11 to 14). In all cases work in black granite is finer
-than that in the other stones at the same period. The figures of the
-so-called Hyksos type (fig. 34), of the XIIIth, the XVIIIth, the XIXth
-and the XXVth dynasties, and the sarcophagi of the XVIIIth dynasty,
-in black granite, all show far finer forms and finish than those in
-the other materials. Of briefer use there were two other stones which
-show equally fine work--diorite, which was hardly ever sculptured
-except in the IVth dynasty (fig. 27), and green basalt, used in the
-XVIIIth (fig. 37). The green basalt must be put in the highest place
-as regards minute handling and freedom of curves; the fine grain and
-moderate hardness were most favourable to the artist. The black granite
-work comes next in quality, having fine curves but not quite the same
-freedom, owing to the coarser grain. The diorite has a beautiful grain
-for work, but the hardness has influenced the detail of recesses,
-and it is seldom that inner angles are as truly worked out as in the
-black granite. The comparison is perhaps hardly just, as there are no
-contemporary works in these two stones. It seems not improbable that
-all these hard stones were found in the same region, the Eastern
-desert, and that they were all worked by one school. That there was a
-fine technical training there in early times is shown by the splendid
-bowls and vases of the hardest rocks which were wrought in prehistoric
-ages and the first dynasty. Such vases were made in the mountain
-district, as the figures of a warmly-clad race bear them in tribute to
-the Egyptian king (_Jour. Anthrop. Inst._, xxxi., pl. xix., 13-15).
-Thus we may look on this black-granite school as belonging really to
-the border people of the Eastern desert, and not to the Nile plain.
-
-[Illustration: RAMESSU II, BY DIFFERENT SCHOOLS
-
-11. Black granite
-
-12. Hard limestone
-
-13. Red granite
-
-14. Nubian sandstone]
-
-The limestone school was expressly that of Memphis and Middle Egypt. It
-is best known from the host of private statues found in the cemetery
-of Saqqareh. Work of the finest delicacy was done in this soft and
-uniform material (see figs. 24, 29-32); and a branch of the same school
-was that working the harder limestones which were a favourite stone
-in the XVIIIth and XIXth dynasties in upper Egypt, as in the colossus
-of Rameses II (fig. 12). Both branches of this school excelled in the
-delicate expression of physiognomy; the proportions of the limbs and
-the finish of the extremities are usually excellent. The alabaster work
-is a branch of this same school, with similar proportion and finish.
-It is a rare material for sculpture till the XVIIIth dynasty, but
-under Amenhotep II to IV it was often used; and it serves for one of
-the best works of later time, the statue of Amenardys (fig. 47). The
-quarries were in the midst of the limestone hills, especially where the
-hard limestone occurs near Tell-el-Amarna. Thus the same school dealt
-with this whole group of calcareous rocks.
-
-Another very fine school was that of the quartzite sandstone of Gebel
-Ahmar, near Cairo. The material was closely limited to a single hill
-cemented by hot springs; and what is now seen there is only the immense
-heap of chippings left by workers of all ages: the hill itself has
-almost vanished. This material was worked in the pyramid times, but
-only roughly. The XIIth dynasty kings saw its value, and quarried
-it for sarcophagi and chambers, but seldom used it for sculpture.
-The XVIIIth dynasty attacked it on an enormous scale; the two great
-colossi of Amenhotep III, weighing 1175 tons each, were cut and carried
-up-stream 450 miles to Thebes. Statues are found, royal and private,
-in all parts of the land, and naturally this stone was largely used at
-Tanis. The work is usually excellent, almost equal to the limestone
-sculpture; but it generally falls a little below that of the previous
-schools in the depth of cutting and the freedom of work in hollows.
-
-The red granite school was at Aswan, where the statues and obelisks are
-still lying unfinished in the quarries. The artist was much hindered
-by the coarse grain of the stone, which made fine work difficult.
-On the obelisks this has been fairly overcome by a great amount of
-emery cutting, and sharp smooth hieroglyphs were cleanly cut. But for
-statuary, even in the pyramid age the features are coarsely worked and
-the detail scanty; and when used later on a large scale, the forms are
-heavy, the inner angles seldom worked out, and the extremities thick
-and massive. This is seen in the colossus of Rameses II (fig. 13), as
-well as in earlier figures.
-
-The Nubian sandstone school was the least artistic. The softness and
-ready splitting of the stone prevented clean and well-finished work.
-Detail was almost impossible, and it was a mistake to use a good
-building stone for the wrong purpose of fine carving. In early times
-this stone was never used, except locally in its own region. The XIIth
-dynasty rarely used it, but by the middle of the XVIIIth it became
-general, and it was the main stone of the XIXth dynasty in Upper Egypt.
-Its use, however, does not come down to Middle or Lower Egypt. The
-long avenue of sphinxes at Thebes are the most familiar sculpture in
-this material, and similar figures were also placed by Amenhotep III
-in his temple on the Western bank. The great colossi of Abu Simbel are
-the main example of sculpture in this stone (fig. 14). They show the
-defects of the other southern school, that of red granite. The limbs
-are square and heavy, the feet and hands are flat and mechanical, and
-the muscles are crude ridges. But the face is fairly rendered, as well
-perhaps as was practicable in such material.
-
-We thus see that there were essential differences between the various
-schools of Egyptian art, partly due to the various peoples, but mainly
-resulting from the material used by each school.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III
-
-THE STATUARY
-
-
-Figures in the round are the earliest mode of modelling, and remain the
-most important, as they are less conditioned than reliefs, and give
-full scope to ability and knowledge. The earliest human figures are
-found in the second stage of the prehistoric age, immediately after
-the white-lined pottery. They are of ivory, limestone, slate, pottery,
-or of stick and paste. Such figures did not continue to be made after
-the middle of the prehistoric civilisation. The ivory figures usually
-end in a mere peg below, with wide hips and shoulders, but no arms.
-The eyes are marked, though often the mouth and nose are omitted (fig.
-15). The limestone or cement figures have the division of the legs
-lined out; some are standing, as fig. 16, with tatu marks painted on
-the stone; others are of the armless form, seated, and clearly of the
-steatopygous Bushman type. The slate figures are always of men, with
-pointed beards, and white beads inserted for eyes. The pottery figures
-are roughly modelled, but with the legs separated. The stick and paste
-figures are made by modelling a vegetable paste over a stick; the legs
-are marked, sometimes arms are added, or else there are merely shoulder
-stumps. In one case the head is modelled bald, painted red, and has
-a black wig modelled over it, showing that separate wigs are as old
-as the prehistoric time. Some ivory tusks are carved with a much more
-advanced style of heads (fig. 17), which give the best idea that we
-have of the type of the people. The animal figures are rudely cut, but
-have a certain ferocious air (fig. 18).
-
-Some much more advanced figures in ivory have the legs and arms
-separate, and a passable amount of modelling in the head and body.
-Though quite of prehistoric style, they are probably influenced by
-the school of highly developed ivory-work of the Ist dynasty, and may
-shortly precede that time.
-
-[Illustration: PREHISTORIC
-
-15, 16, 17, 18. Prehistoric figures in the round]
-
-The early dynastic age brought in entirely new ideals. The oldest
-figures of this time are the colossal statues of the god Min from
-Koptos. These are of much the same work as the prehistoric human
-figures, but have spirited drawings of animals incised on them (see
-fig. 51). Just before the Ist dynasty there came a finely developed
-style of ivory-carving, which is known to us by the many figures of
-men and women found at Hierakonpolis. The finest stone-work of that
-age is a study in limestone of a king’s head (figs. 19, 20), which is
-so closely like Narmer (fig. 54) that it must be just at the beginning
-of the Ist dynasty. It is a sculptor’s study of a king preparatory to
-making his statue, and, as Professor A. Michaelis says, “it renders
-the race-type with astounding keenness, and shows an excellent power
-of observation in the exact representation of the eyes.” The delicacy
-of the facial curves should be noticed, and the entire absence of any
-conventions in the modelling of the mouth as well as the eyes. The
-widely prominent ears are a characteristic of the earliest historic
-figures; such a feature belongs to a hunting race who need to catch
-sounds, and suggests that they always slept on their backs. This is
-unlike the prehistoric folk, who were always buried contracted and
-lying on the side, as being their natural attitude; but it agrees with
-the modern Egyptian, who sleeps in the mummy posture, lying on the back.
-
-A large number of ivory figures were found at Abydos, fully developed
-in style, beyond those of Hierakonpolis. They comprise figures of
-girls, boys, dogs, apes, a bear, and many lions. They are admirably
-easy in their pose, and perfectly natural in form with a simplicity
-and truthfulness better than any later work. The figure of an old king
-(fig. 21) was with these; notice the subtle expression of the face, the
-droop of the head forward, and the natural air. This is probably early
-in the Ist dynasty.
-
-Rather later is the hard limestone head of King Kha-sekhem, of the
-IInd dynasty (fig. 22). Fine as the modelling is about the mouth, yet
-convention has already crept in; the edges of the lips are sharpened,
-and the extended line at the outer corner of the eye has been
-introduced. We see then under the earliest dynasties the observation
-of Nature free from any artificial trammels, unconscious, simple and
-dignified, on a higher plane of truthfulness and precision than is
-found in later art.
-
-[Illustration: EARLIEST DYNASTIES
-
-19, 20. Ist dynasty king, limestone
-
-21. Ist dynasty king, ivory
-
-22. Kha-sekhem (IInd dynasty)]
-
-In the pyramid age we will first observe the earlier private figures
-(23 to 26). Queen Mertitefs (fig. 23) was the wife of Seneferu, at the
-close of the IIIrd dynasty. In her type of face, and the treatment of
-it, we see an earlier race and earlier work than that of the pyramid
-times. The large, staring eyes, the mouth turning down, the natural
-hair cut short and brushed straight down over the forehead beneath the
-wig,--all these details disappear after this. When we compare this
-with the head of Nofert (fig. 24), who was of the next generation,
-the change of type and work is at once seen. In Nofert the eyes are
-admirably placed, the brow is perfectly natural, and the modelling of
-the features is irreproachable. Yet there is less absolute naturalism
-than in the older work of the Ist dynasty. The hair is evidently kept
-complete beneath the wig, and is laid out smoothly over the forehead.
-
-[Illustration: OLD KINGDOM SCULPTURE
-
-23. Mertitefs
-
-24. Nofert
-
-25. Ka-aper
-
-26. Unknown]
-
-The celebrated figure of Ka-aper, or the “Sheykh el Beled,” belongs
-to the same period. The figure is so well known that it need not
-appear here, but the full face is less familiar (fig. 25). The mouth
-and chin are perhaps the most truthful part, and seem entirely free
-from convention. The eyes are excellent in form, but affected by the
-technical detail of inserting the eyeball of stone and crystal in a
-copper frame. The similar eyes in the head of Nofert are more carefully
-inserted, so that the frame is not obvious. The hair is represented as
-closely cut, so as to allow the wig to be put over it. We can, however,
-hardly judge of this figure as it is, stripped of the coat of coloured
-stucco which covered such work. The portions of similar wooden figures
-in the temple of Abydos had all been thus painted. Such a coat would
-modify the eye setting, and leave only the dark line visible which
-imitated the kohl on the eyelids.
-
-Another work of the same age is the best for the pose of the figure
-(fig. 26). The vigorous, independent, frank attitude is perhaps the
-finest in any portrait, ancient or modern. The profile is of the same
-type as that of Nofert, alike in the strong brow and the form of the
-nose and chin; the eye is more prominent, and the mouth less luxurious,
-while the under-chin is firmer. Such differences are all in keeping
-with the character, that of an active mistress of an estate rather than
-an easy-going noble.
-
-We shall not find in any of the subsequent work of the pyramid
-age--still less in the later ages--such vitality and strength of
-individual character as we have seen in these early portraits. With
-these stands also the minute head of Khufu (fig. 123), which we shall
-notice with the ivory-work.
-
-[Illustration: OLD KINGDOM SCULPTURE
-
-27, 28. King Khafra (IVth dynasty)]
-
-The statue of Khafra (fig. 27) carved in diorite is one of the grandest
-works of Egypt. The entire dignity and majesty shown contrast strongly
-with the active air of the subordinate classes. The muscular detail
-is powerful, but yet in keeping with the serenity of the figure. The
-whole is best grasped from below, as it was intended to be seen; but
-the head should be studied at its own level, and the profile, from a
-cast (fig. 28), shows the form as it originally appeared when covered
-with a facing which concealed the grain of the stone. The difference
-of character between the calm, easy dignity of this, and the terrible
-energy of Khufu (fig. 123), should be observed. It shows how free
-the art is from any mere convention of majesty. The hawk behind the
-king is shown as spreading out its wings to protect the royal head.
-This symbolism is ingeniously hidden in the front view, so as not to
-interfere with the effect of the whole figure as it was intended to be
-seen. The figures of the Vth and VIth dynasties have more vivacity than
-those earlier, but scarcely such a real vitality. The well-known scribe
-(fig. 29) is a good piece of expression, showing the attentive, waiting
-air of a man who is following dictation. The anatomy is not detailed,
-and the surfaces look rather blocked out and bald as compared with
-Khafra.
-
-[Illustration: OLD KINGDOM SCULPTURE
-
-29. The scribe
-
-30. Wife and daughter
-
-31. Ranofer]
-
-The lower part of a group is given here (fig. 30) for figures of the
-seated wife and daughter. These show good modelling of the figure in a
-close-fitting garment, and the hair is worn over the forehead beneath
-the wig, as by Nofert. The figure of Ranofer (fig. 31) is one of the
-most dignified of the portraits of officials. The pose is strong; the
-muscles are well rendered, and not too full though clear. The wig
-stands well off the head, and gives a continuous outline with the
-figure. It is hard to see how the whole expression could be better than
-this.
-
-On looking closely at the detail of these early statues, there is
-very little that can be set down as conventional. All the features
-are natural, well placed, and harmonious. The relation of the brow
-to the eyes is generally true. But this point was entirely missed in
-later times. In the XIIth dynasty the eye is rather too forward; and
-in the XVIIIth there is hardly a single statue that is correct, the
-eyes usually projecting to the plane of the brow. On observing even the
-finest figures of later times it will be seen how purely conventional
-is their treatment; the mouth and eyes are cold and mechanical, and it
-is seldom that any one feature even approaches the truth of the early
-art.
-
-In the XIIth dynasty the work shows the scholastic style of deliberate
-accuracy, without as much personal vitality as in earlier times. Yet it
-is full of carefully observed detail, and is by no means perfunctory
-like the later work.
-
-The facial surfaces are well rendered: observe the varied treatment
-of the cheek below the eye in figs. 32, 33, and 35, which are clearly
-individual. The entirely different form of the mouth in these three
-is as evidently personal. Throughout Egyptian work the eye is of two
-distinct types, both of which we see here in the XIIth dynasty. In one
-type (fig. 32) the upper lid rises to its highest point near the inner
-side; and with this form the actual corner, or canthus major, may end
-in a mere angle or in a lachrymal fossa more or less developed, an
-extreme case of the long and wide fossa being seen in fig. 32, and in
-the black granite figure from Alexandria (so-called Hyksos) in Cairo.
-This may be called the gibbous form of lid, and it is the more usual
-in the sculpture and on coffins. The use of a copper frame round the
-inserted eye in Old Kingdom statues makes it uncertain how far the
-lachrymal fossa was intended to appear. But the statues of a single
-material show a small fossa in most cases, such as Khafra, Dadefra, the
-(so-called) wife of the Sheykh, and Sebekhotep III. In later work there
-is no fossa, but only an angle, as in Tahutmes III, Amenhotep III,
-Amenhotep son of Hapi, and other instances to the end of the dynasties.
-But a slight fossa is shown in Akhenaten and his family, and in
-Ramessu II; and, under the Ethiopians, Taharqa and Amenardys are both
-shown with a long fossa.
-
-The other type of eye seen in figs. 33, 35 may be called the narrow
-eye. This seems to belong mainly to the Middle Kingdom, and is seen
-in Senusert III, Amenemhat III, Queen Nofert, and Noferhotep. It is
-perhaps unknown at an earlier age; and later it rarely occurs, but may
-be seen in Merenptah, and somewhat in Mentu-em-hat and some portraits
-of the XXVIth dynasty. These remarks are merely to draw attention to
-a detail which is easily observed and seldom defaced; but for drawing
-conclusions an extensive study is needed of all the varieties of form
-and treatment, not only of the eye, but also of the lips, nostrils,
-ears, and hair. How far such detail belonged to the subject, and how
-much is due to artistic conventions, we cannot yet say; but from the
-similarities of portraits of the same person it seems probable that the
-details are really due to differences of type.
-
-[Illustration: MIDDLE KINGDOM SCULPTURE
-
-32. Senusert I
-
-33. Senusert III
-
-34. Foreign type
-
-35. Amenemhat III]
-
-We now have a very difficult question to state as to the origin of the
-remarkable type of fig. 34. This is one of the class of sphinxes and
-statues commonly described as being of the Hyksos. Yet, as the Hyksos
-kings’ names are roughly cut on the shoulders of the sphinxes, they
-are clearly not the original inscriptions; and, as clearly, these
-figures are older than the Hyksos. The type is distinguished by an
-extreme muscularity of the face, deeply cut, powerful lips with strong
-flexures, and the long nose, not very prominent, but broad. All these
-points are much in excess of such features on any statue of a named
-Egyptian king. Some similarities may be seen in the type of Senusert
-III and Amenemhat III (figs. 33, 35); but these latter are much less
-strong and unconventional. It is probable that some of the stock
-of fig. 34 has gone to form the type of figs. 33 and 35, but it is
-impossible to see in them a uniform single type. It seems most probable
-that fig. 34 belongs to an invading people from Syria during the
-decadence of the Old Kingdom, between the VIIth and Xth dynasties; but
-until some example with an original name may be found, it is useless to
-be more definite. It is noticeable how all of the heads of this type
-are in black granite, or rarely some other igneous rock; this suggests
-that they were wrought by the school of the eastern desert, and may
-therefore not be controlled by the decadence of ordinary Egyptian work
-between the Old and Middle Kingdoms.
-
-Whether other strange works in black granite--such as the fish-offerers
-of Tanis--belong to the same age, has been questioned. It may be
-noted, however, that the sphinxes and the black granite bust from
-Alexandria have a large lachrymal fossa, while the fish-offerers
-have no fossa, but only an inner angle to the eye. The so-called
-Hyksos figures from Bubastis are not really of this type, but show an
-inheritance of some of its characters, such as belong to the royal
-family in the XIIth dynasty. Whenever the royal portraiture of the
-XIIth dynasty is fully collected and studied, it will be possible to
-clear the attribution of many statues, and so to separate those which
-really belong to the earlier stock.
-
-On coming to the XVIIIth dynasty a more mechanical style prevails
-(figs. 36-39). This is obvious in the formal raised band of eyebrow,
-and the eyes being brought forward to the plane of the forehead. The
-lips remain more natural, and are still treated expressively. The best
-work of this age is the green basalt statue of Tahutmes III in Cairo
-(fig. 37). It accords closely with another figure of black granite of
-the same king; but the red granite head in the British Museum is much
-coarser and less expressive, as is natural from that school of granite
-work. The large nose is vouched for as a family characteristic in the
-reliefs of Tahutmes II and Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahri, which have
-precisely the same outline of brow and nose; the under-side of the
-nose, the slightly rising curve of the lips to the outer corner, and
-the flatness of the facing of the lips, seem to be individual details.
-
-The head fig. 36 is of an official of Amenhotep III, in quartzite. It
-has a fairly good outline of the cheek, and well-cut lips; and it shows
-the more florid and romantic turn of this age in the wavy hair marked
-out with lines.
-
-Under Akhenaten (fig. 39) there came a revolution of art, which was
-perhaps only a culmination of the naturalistic tendencies that were
-growing during the preceding reigns. But it was enforced and supported
-by the surrounding changes in religion, ethics, and politics which
-were carried out by the humanist reformer who ruled. It was probably
-also stimulated by the influence of the contemporary art of Crete and
-Greece, the whole eastern Mediterranean apparently sharing in a general
-movement. We shall notice this further when considering reliefs and
-painting. Of round sculpture the best figure remaining is that of
-Akhenaten now in Paris (fig. 39). It has been part of a group of the
-king and queen sitting together, and it shows all the characteristics
-of this school in the best form. The eyes are quite natural; the lips
-are emphasised by a sharp edge along their borders; the jaw and neck
-are excellently rendered; and the ear, with its large pierced lobe, is
-clearly true to life.
-
-Though the reforms of Akhenaten mostly perished with him, yet the
-training of his artists is still to be seen in the sculpture of
-Tut-ankh-amen (fig. 38). This has not the professional completeness
-of style seen under Tahutmes III (fig. 37), but it carries on the
-less precise sentimentalism of Akhenaten (fig. 39), with much feeling
-for expression and beauty, but a lack of grip and force. The brow is
-neglected, the eye is feeble, the cheek is without detail, but the lips
-and chin are enforced as far as possible. The whole effect is sweet but
-not impressive.
-
-[Illustration: NEW KINGDOM SCULPTURE
-
-36. Under Amenhotep III
-
-37. Tahutmes III
-
-38. Tut-ankh-amen
-
-39. Akhenaten]
-
-We now turn to the minor work in wood. In the Old Kingdom, wood was
-frequently carved on a large scale; of the Middle Kingdom there is the
-statue of King Hor; but under the New Kingdom the only large figures
-are some rather coarse funeral statues. On the other hand, in small
-figures there is a profusion of wood-carving. The wooden _ushabtis_ are
-often beautifully treated; the draped figures of women are graceful and
-dignified, with minute working of the hair and dress; the grotesque
-figures of toilet objects are full of character; but here our space
-limits us to one class, and we give the nude figures (figs. 40-42), as
-such are rarely found in other material.
-
-[Illustration: NEW KINGDOM SCULPTURE
-
-40, 41, 42. Wood-carvings of girls (XVIIIth dynasty)]
-
-The little negress (fig. 40), carved in ebony, is part of a group
-representing her carrying a tray, which is supported by a monkey before
-her. But these accessories are inferior, and merely hide the figure;
-the edge of the tray has been slightly cut in on the breast and thus
-disfigured it. The detail of this statuette is better than any other
-such work; the perfect pose of the attitude, the poise of the head, the
-fulness of the muscles, the innocent gravity of the expression, are all
-excellent.
-
-Other figures are carved in the handles of toilet trays. The girl in
-fig. 41 holding flowers and birds is on a smaller and coarser scale
-than the preceding, but is excellent in expression and in the modelling
-of the trunk. The damsel playing a lute on her boat amid the papyrus
-thicket (fig. 42) shows one of the graceful adjuncts of water-parties
-in high life. The length of leg is exaggerated to harmonise with the
-long stems around; but the pose is skilfully seized, the distance of
-the feet being needful for balance in a little shallop, while the cling
-of the thighs is maintained. There is more self-consciousness and
-deliberate effect in this expression than in that of the little girls
-seen before.
-
-The age of decadence now begins with the Ramessides. One fine piece
-arrests us in the black granite statue of Ramessu II (fig. 43), of
-which an entire view is given in fig. 11. The whole pose is fairly
-good, the face looking down toward the spectator below. The king is
-no longer the dignified organiser of the Old Kingdom, with a vision
-far away beyond everyday matters, but he is obviously considering the
-opinion of the man in front of him. The detail is almost equal to that
-of the previous dynasty; the eye is natural, the nose rather formal,
-the lips with the sharp edge even more developed than before, and the
-chin and throat less modelled. The elbow is carefully wrought, bringing
-out the fold of flesh and the muscle separately, the accuracy of which
-is questionable.
-
-A good example of a private sculpture is the head of Bak-en-khonsu
-(fig. 44). The eye is only slightly indicated, leaning to the
-conventional blocking out seen in figs. 91 and 137. The profile is
-good, and the lips are less exaggerated than in the royal statues. The
-artist could give all his attention to the face alone, as the figure
-is entirely hidden in an almost cubic block, which represents the man
-seated with knees drawn up before the chest.
-
-[Illustration: NEW KINGDOM SCULPTURE
-
-43. Ramessu II
-
-44. Bak-en-khonsu
-
-45. Merenptah
-
-46. Taharqa]
-
-The head of Merenptah (fig. 45) shows him as inheriting and imitating
-his father’s face and attitude. The style is cold and formal; the eyes
-are so forward as to be even beyond the plane of the forehead, and
-scarcely capped by the brow. But the nose and lips are natural and free
-of the forcing which is seen rather earlier. There is no attempt at any
-delicacy of facial curves, and the chin and throat are masked by the
-official beard. As this is in gray granite, and was executed as the
-_ka_ statue of the king’s personal temple, it may be taken as the best
-that could be done at that time.
-
-A different feeling comes in with the massive individual portrait of
-Taharqa (fig. 46). The facial muscles are strongly marked, but the
-mouth is singularly unformed, and is exactly the opposite of that in
-the strong type of fig. 34. The eyes are of the gibbous form, with
-a long slot of lachrymal fossa, which is also shown in the kindred
-figure of Queen Amenardys (fig. 47). The style is not akin to any other
-Egyptian work, and it seems as if an entirely different physiognomy had
-challenged the sculptor and made him drop his usual treatment and study
-Nature afresh.
-
-The alabaster statue of Amenardys (fig. 47) is disproportioned as a
-whole, though parts are good separately. It has just the faults due to
-an imitator who does not trust to observation. The head is too large,
-the jointing is weak. Each of the features is fairly well rendered;
-and within the limits of later mannerism there is no forcing or
-exaggeration.
-
-The portrait of Mentu-em-hat (fig. 48) belongs to the same style as
-that of Taharqa, and both are in black granite. The eyes seem too
-small, but this is rather due to the depth and massiveness of the
-jaws, which overweight the face. The apparent disproportion in the
-low forehead is only due to the photograph being taken too close and
-low down. The height above the eyes is really equal to that down to
-the upper edge of the chin. The facial curves are carefully observed,
-and we can well credit this with being a true portrait of the
-capable governor of Thebes who continued in office under Taharqa and
-Tanut-amen, and who repaired the devastations of the Assyrian invasion.
-
-[Illustration: LATE SCULPTURE
-
-47. Amenardys
-
-48. Mentu-em-hat
-
-49. Basalt head
-
-50. Wooden head]
-
-A head broken from a statue, found at Memphis (fig. 49), is remarkable
-for the deep and searching modelling. The bony structure, the facial
-muscles, and the surface folds are all scrupulously observed. The
-artist’s triumph is shown in the harmony and the living character
-which he has infused into his laborious precision. Very rarely can a
-man rise superior to such a rigorous training. The character of work
-is scarcely Egyptian; it belongs rather to the same school as the
-republican Roman portraits, but is earlier than those, as it has more
-precision of detail.
-
-Lastly, we have one of the best examples of Greek influence in Egypt
-shown by the wood-carving of a coffin (fig. 50). The long narrow face
-shaded by thick wavy hair is Greek in feeling, while the feather
-head-dress is old Egyptian. Unfortunately, the decay of the wood has
-broken the surface, but it still remains an impressive example of
-Egyptian influence on art which is mainly Greek.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV
-
-THE RELIEFS
-
-
-In reliefs the representation of Nature is complicated by the
-inevitable use of some conventions, and some kind of perspective,
-to reduce solid objects to a plane delineation. It follows that for
-the study of naturalistic art they are inferior to statuary, though
-they give rise to a whole system of artistic conventions which are
-of interest in themselves. It appears that among most races drawings
-precede reliefs, and hence relief must be looked on as developed
-drawing, and not as trammelled statuary.
-
-[Illustration: EARLIEST RELIEFS
-
-51. Hyaena and bull
-
-52. Gazelles and palm
-
-53. Group of animals
-
-54. King Narmer]
-
-The oldest reliefs are those of the prehistoric ivory carvings (see
-fig. 3), in which we see maintained the pictorial convention of
-crossing lines to substantiate the outline of a solid body, although
-the body was now expressed by the relief. A large quantity of ivory
-reliefs showing rows of animals were found at Hierakonpolis, belonging
-to the earliest historic times. Of the same class are the reliefs
-upon the primitive figures from Koptos (fig. 51). These comprise the
-elephant, stag’s head, and swordfish, as well as the hyaena and ox.
-The design is spirited, and seizes the characteristics of the animals;
-while hills are conventionally shown by lumps under each foot. The
-method of work is by bruising out the surface with a pointed stone
-pick around the outline, and so lowering the surrounding ground (here
-shaded), while the body of the animal remains of the original face of
-the stone.
-
-The next stage is that of the astonishing slate reliefs. The purely
-artistic motive is seen in the group of two long-necked gazelles with
-a palm-tree (fig. 52). The detail of the forms of the joints and the
-general pose of the animals is excellent, and the feeling for the
-graceful, slender outline and smooth surfaces is enforced by the rugged
-palm stem placed between the gazelles. The love of the strange and wild
-elements is seen in the rout of animals, real and mythical, in fig. 53,
-which shows the lion, giraffe, wild ox, and many kinds of deer, well
-known to the early artists.
-
-The figure of King Narmer (fig. 54) is the historical point in these
-slate carvings. As it is more advanced in style than any of the others,
-it shows that they all belong to the age just before the Ist dynasty,
-about 5500 B.C. Here the pose and jointing are excellent, and the
-muscles are proclaimed by the artist as the results of his observation.
-The later Egyptian canon is observed that a straight line should pass
-through the middle of the head, middle of the trunk, point of the
-backward knee, and middle between the heels: only, as the king is here
-leaning forward in action, the line is not vertical as it is in later
-standing figures. The facial characters of the king and his foe are
-well distinguished; altogether five different types of race are shown
-on these early carvings. The surface of the slate has been worked down
-with a metal scraper, shown by the parallel grooves in the face.
-
-On reaching the beginning of the pyramid age the finest work is seen
-in the three wooden panels of Ra-hesy (fig. 55, _frontispiece_). The
-anatomy is full, though not so excessive as in the earlier work. The
-facial curves are carefully rendered, and the mouth is excellently
-formed. The eye is of course placed in front view, as it always was
-by Egyptians. The whole figure has an air of stark vigour, which is
-fitting to a high official who managed a dozen different offices.
-
-The multitude of the mastaba tomb-chapels of the pyramid age contain
-so many thousands of scenes, illustrating every act of life of men and
-animals, that it is impossible to give any view of their variety. Here
-we can only give two scenes illustrating composition. In fig. 56 is
-a group of men dragging down an ox for sacrifice. The arrangement of
-the lines is clear, each figure stands out separately, the action is
-vigorous and simple. Another scene of an ox-herd (fig. 57) shows quiet
-motion, with the unusual turning of the head. This might be thought
-unnatural, but exactly the same twist of the body may be seen among
-Egyptians now. This style of relief deteriorated in the VIth dynasty,
-and then continuously decayed until the middle of the XIth dynasty, by
-which time it has reached a most degraded state.
-
-[Illustration: OLD KINGDOM RELIEFS
-
-56. The sacrifice
-
-57. The ox-herd]
-
-Suddenly, in the middle of the XIth dynasty, a new style of careful
-elaboration begins to appear, a true archaic germ of a new school.
-This rapidly grew, until at the later part of that dynasty there is a
-stiff and over-elaborate style, which is well shown in the figure of
-the princess Kauat having her hair curled (fig. 58). The eyes of all
-the figures are gibbous, with a moderate fossa; the lips have usually a
-sharp edge, though sometimes merely rounded; and there is the beginning
-of facial modelling.
-
-In the XIIth dynasty the surface modelling became elaborate, most
-delicate gradations being wrought with faint outlines, as seen in
-the Memphite head, fig. 6. A bold high relief and simpler treatment
-was followed by the Theban school, as in fig. 59 of the god Ptah and
-Senusert I embracing. The use of sunk relief, as fig. 58, was as early
-as the IVth dynasty, though most of the tomb sculptures are in high
-relief. Sunk relief became commoner in the Middle Kingdom, and almost
-universal in the New Kingdom. It saved a large amount of labour, and
-it protected the sculptures from injury; but it is so forcible a
-convention that it is never so pleasing as the raised work.
-
-[Illustration: MIDDLE KINGDOM RELIEFS
-
-58. Toilet of princess
-
-59. Senusert I and Ptah]
-
-The XVIIIth dynasty opens with another revival of art, but yet it never
-reached the levels of the earlier ages. The profusion of reliefs of
-Thebes and other great sites has made the style of the XVIIIth and
-XIXth dynasties the most familiar to us, but its inferiority to that
-of the previous periods is more obvious the more it is studied. The
-sculptures of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahri are celebrated, yet the
-detail in fig. 60 is not rich. There is scarcely any modelling of
-face or muscles, mere flat surfaces sufficing; there is but little
-expression in the features; and the whole effect is flat and tame.
-More character appears under Amenhotep III (fig. 61), though even here
-there is none of the muscular detail which was constantly shown in
-early work. The features smile gracefully without any real expression,
-and the trivial details of dress are worked out to give a picturesque
-elaboration. The taste for mere prettiness and graceful personalities
-ruled more and more as the XVIIIth dynasty developed.
-
-[Illustration: NEW KINGDOM RELIEFS
-
-60. Hatshepsut
-
-61. Servant of Kha-em-hat
-
-62. Akhenaten and queen]
-
-At last this taste, stimulated by the influence of the Greek art and
-its love of expressing motion, broke all bounds in the movement under
-Akhenaten. The example in fig. 62 gives the essence of Atenism. The
-natural but ungainly attitudes, the flourishing ribands, the heavy
-collars and kilt, the ungraceful realism of the figures, the loss of
-all expression and detail of structure,--all these show the death of a
-permanent art in the fever of novelty and vociferation.
-
-This ferment being passed, the Egyptian went back on his older style;
-but it had lost its life, it could only be copied. The exquisite
-smoothness and finish of the good work of Sety I at Abydos is entirely
-lifeless and destitute of observation. It has no anatomical detail, but
-was made by well-constructed human machines who could not express an
-emotion which they did not feel.
-
-The historical scenes of the great sculptures of Karnak are full of
-interest, but almost destitute of art. Some parts of the work of
-Ramessu III at Medinet Habu show more observation, such as the hunting
-scene, fig. 63. The wild bulls are well studied, and the marsh-plants
-with feathery tops show a real appreciation of natural growth and
-beauty.
-
-Under the XXVIth dynasty came the deliberate imitation of the work
-of the Old Kingdom. In a few cases this is passably done, and even
-some invention may be seen. But in general there is only a lifeless
-imitation of various parts clumsily put together. One of the best
-pieces of such art is the procession of youths and maids carrying
-animals and farm produce (fig. 64). The forms are true, there is none
-of the later exaggeration (as in fig. 10), and there is a loving touch
-in the details, especially of the animals, which belongs to the true
-artist. Observe how the girls carry the flowers and the birds, while
-the boys take the heavy loads of papyrus stems and a calf and a basket
-of flour. Such work is the last flicker of Egyptian art in reliefs, and
-nothing later claims our notice.
-
-[Illustration: LATE RELIEFS
-
-63. Bulls in marshes
-
-64. Bearers of offerings]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V
-
-THE PAINTING AND DRAWING
-
-
-Painting is certainly the earliest art of Egypt; but, being more
-perishable than sculpture, many periods of it are hardly represented
-at present. A very early prehistoric vase, painted with white slip on
-the red ground, shows the crude figures of two men fighting (fig. 65).
-Other such vases have plants and other objects painted. From the middle
-of the prehistoric age, belonging to the second civilisation, are the
-light-brown vases painted in red, with figures of ships and people
-(fig. 66), plants, and imitations of stone and wicker patterns. The
-joints are fairly correct in the men and animals, though deficient in
-the woman with raised arms. But the whole air is very crude as compared
-with the roughest efforts of the dynastic race. Another painting rather
-later in the prehistoric age is the ship from a tomb fresco (fig. 67).
-The arms of the woman are more correctly drawn as straight, but the
-men are worse posed than in the earlier work. The idea of the figures
-seen above the ships, but entirely detached from them, may be that they
-are seen on the opposite bank of a narrow river, beyond the ships.
-
-The advanced painting of the early pyramid times is shown by the geese
-(fig. 68), stalking along in a meadow amid tufts of herbage. The air of
-grave self-sufficiency is admirably caught, and this small piece of a
-great wall-scene at Medum is deservedly admired. Of the Middle Kingdom
-there is no fine example remaining.
-
-[Illustration: EARLIEST PAINTING
-
-65. First age of prehistoric painting
-
-66. Second age
-
-67. Ship on wall-painting
-
-68. Geese of Medum]
-
-The great age of painting was the XVIIIth and XIXth dynasties. The
-sculpturing of tombs was then abandoned in favour of the cheaper paint;
-and the taste of the age for graceful and light treatment found its
-best scope in the use of the brush. Here we have a group of pelicans
-(fig. 69) with an old herdsman and baskets of eggs. Next (fig. 70) is
-a harvest scene. Two men are carrying a load of the ears of corn in a
-net. Behind are the stalks of straw after the ears have been cut. Two
-girls who were gleaning have stopped to quarrel over the corn; one has
-seized a wrist of the other, and the two free hands have each taken a
-grip of the other one’s hair. To the right, under a sycamore fig-tree,
-one boy is asleep, while another plays on a long reed pipe, with a
-water-skin hung over his head. In the lower line a girl with a thorn in
-her foot is stretching it out to be examined by another girl. Further,
-a lad is stripping the heads of millet by dragging them through a fixed
-fork. The whole scene is full of incident, and the drawing of the
-figures in unusual action is excellent. The curious dress of the men
-is a linen waist-cloth, with a net of slit leather-work to take the
-wear, and a solid piece of leather left in the middle of it for sitting
-on, as in fig. 140. Such slit leather-work is dealt with in the last
-chapter.
-
-[Illustration: NEW KINGDOM PAINTING
-
-69. Pelicans and keeper
-
-70, 71. Harvest scenes]
-
-A third scene (fig. 71) is in the harvest field; the ears have been put
-into a net, and to press them down a stick is passed through a hole on
-one edge, while a man has hooked his arm over the stick, and jumped up
-so as to bring his weight with a jerk to press the stick down; with
-his other hand he holds the end of a cord tied to the net, so as to be
-ready to secure the stick when pressed down and prevent it springing up
-again. The spirit shown in this action is very good, and it is perhaps
-the only figure given in the act of jumping. On the left is a young
-woman, one of the daughters, behind the owner of the tomb; on the right
-is a gleaning girl, stopping in the tall corn to drink, with her basket
-set on the ground.
-
-On the next plate a portion of a ceiling pattern (fig. 72) shows how
-such designs were drawn. The rhombic lines were done first, then the
-dark groundwork, leaving white discs, and lastly these were filled up
-with the spirals. The whole was copied from _appliqué_ leather-work,
-with lines of stitching.
-
-A boating scene (fig. 73) shows the beautifully bold, clean lines of
-the drawing, for which in this case there does not seem to have been
-any preliminary sketch of position. The crouching girl picking a lotus
-bud from the water is very unusual. The drawing of wavy water-lines,
-with lotus flowers, is the general convention, and the figures of fish
-and birds are often seen.
-
-A scene at a party (fig. 74) shows the guests seated on the ground
-holding lotus flowers, while a serving-girl stretches forward to
-arrange the earrings of one of the guests.
-
-[Illustration: NEW KINGDOM PAINTING
-
-72. Ceiling
-
-73. Boating scene
-
-74. A party]
-
-Painting received a great stimulus under Akhenaten: the new movement
-suited the brush much better than the chisel. The two figures of the
-princesses (fig. 76) show possibilities which were not then fully
-carried out. The conventional attitudes are dropped, and the actual
-positions of two little girls are carefully copied. The elder is
-seated on a cushion, with the knees drawn up, and resting one arm on
-the knee, while with the other hand she pushes up her little sister’s
-chin. The younger has none of this self-possession, but is propping
-herself up with one arm, while she clings to her elder’s shoulder with
-the other. The drawing is free and true, within the usual conventions
-of perspective. Further, the colouring has shade on the backs of the
-figures, and a high light on the thigh of the younger daughter. Such
-shade does not appear in Greek art till a thousand years later. The
-pattern in front is the border of the carpet on which the queen was
-seated, her foot and drapery appearing above.
-
-A surprising drawing which belongs to the same school of observation
-is the tumbler (fig. 75). Here an acrobatic position is so skilfully
-drawn as to suggest its truth and to avoid any impossibility. The form
-of each part is admirable; and if we trace it piece by piece into an
-upright position, the resulting figure is correctly proportioned,
-except in the length of the arms. In reality such an attitude requires
-the hands to rest on the finger-tips where the wrist now is drawn. As a
-drawing of a violent attitude this is a marvellous work, not only for
-the directness and perfection of the line, but also for the complete
-lightness and swing of the whole figure.
-
-Another good piece of action is the man (fig. 77) who is standing
-on a boat’s cabin hauling in a rope. The dead-weight of the body is
-well thrown back; and as the base is small, one leg is kept in reserve
-behind so as to recover any slip. The dead pull, with both feet planted
-together and the whole body rigidly leaning back, is often drawn in
-the early fishing scenes; but such an attitude would be unsafe when
-standing on the top of a narrow cabin.
-
-[Illustration: NEW KINGDOM PAINTING
-
-75. Girl somersaulting
-
-76. The young princesses]
-
-We now turn to outline drawing, in which the Egyptians always had a
-grand facility. There is no instance, even in degraded times, of an
-outline made as in modern work by little tentative touches feeling the
-way. If they made a mistake, they at least “sinned splendidly.” The
-long free strokes, always taking the whole length of a bone at once,
-and often going down a whole figure without raising the hand--even,
-true, without a quiver or hesitation--shame most modern outlines. The
-group of heads (fig. 78) shows well the amount of character given by a
-simple outline. The furthest is a negro, the next a Syrian, the third
-an Abyssinian, the last a Libyan. The type of each is shown with zest
-and energy, and the line-work could not be improved.
-
-[Illustration: NEW KINGDOM DRAWING
-
-77. The boatman hauling
-
-78. The four races
-
-79. Sketched tablet
-
-80. Tomb decoration]
-
-In fig. 79 is a very rough sketch for a little tablet of adoration. It
-shows the faint outlines in red which were laid in first to space out
-the figure. Such were used in nearly all cases as a preliminary guide;
-but they were freely improved on in the final black drawing, as here
-the whole base has been lowered. This also shows the sketch-forms of
-hieroglyphic writing.
-
-The final work for a royal tomb is seen in fig. 80, Sety I offering to
-Osiris. We can here admire the perfect freedom and exactitude of the
-handling, although this was only intended as a guide to the sculptor,
-and was not to be finally visible.
-
-A large branch of drawing which we have not space to illustrate here
-is that of the papyri and hieroglyphs. The papyri show the clear,
-fine outlines in the good examples. In later times, rough as the work
-may be, the feeling for expression never deserts the artist. The
-hieroglyphs form a great study by themselves. The sources of the signs,
-the various treatment of them, the minute details introduced, are all
-full of interest. The great result was that the Egyptian had a writing
-which, though cumbrous, was a continual pleasure to see, and which
-adorned the artistic monuments on which it was placed.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI
-
-THE ARCHITECTURE
-
-
-Strange to say, Egyptian architecture has never yet been systematically
-studied; we know nothing of its proportions and variations.
-
-The earliest constructions were of brick, or of palm-sticks interwoven.
-From the necessary forms of these all the details of the stone
-architecture have been copied. A parallel is seen in Greece, where
-the architecture was an exact transcription of a wooden building, the
-triglyphs, mutules, and guttae being the beam-ends, tie-boards, and
-pegs formerly belonging to woodwork.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-For the greater security of the corners of brick buildings, the
-Egyptians tilted the courses up at each end, thus building in a
-concave bed, with faces sloping inwards. This slope was copied in the
-stone-work, and is seen on the outsides of all Egyptian buildings (see
-fig. 83). The inside faces are always vertical, and this serves to
-distinguish the meaning of small portions of wall in excavations.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Slight structures were made of palm-sticks, set upright, and lashed
-to a cross stick near the top, with other palm-sticks interwoven to
-stiffen the face, and the whole plastered with mud. Such construction
-is made now in Egypt, and is seen in the earliest figures of shrines.
-At the top the ends of the palm-sticks nod over, and form a fence to
-keep out intruders. This row of tops is the origin of the stone cavetto
-cornice, which always stands free above the level of the roof. At the
-corners the structure of palm-stick was strengthened by a bundle of
-sticks or reeds lashed round, and put as a buffer to prevent a blow
-breaking in the edge. This became the roll with lashing pattern which
-is seen down the edges of the stone buildings, and also beneath the
-cavetto cornice where it is copied from the line of sticks below the
-loose tops (see fig. 83).
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Another form of construction was with papyrus stems. These had a
-loose, wiry head like an _Equisetum_ or mare’s tail. When used for a
-cabin on a boat, the roofing stems were put through the loose head,
-which was tied above and below to hold them. Hence the row of heads
-became copied as an ornament along the tops of walls, and continued in
-use thus down to the latest times.
-
-The use of the arch was familiar from early times. Even before the
-pyramid-builders small arches of bricks were made. They were the
-general mode of roofing in the XIIth dynasty, when we see them drawn
-and imitated in stone. From the XIXth dynasty there remain the great
-arched store-rooms of the Ramesseum. Being of dried mud brick, which is
-far more easily crushed than stone or burnt brick, the circular form
-was not suitable, as the apex would yield by crushing. A more or less
-parabolic form was therefore used, so as to give a sharper curve at
-the top. To protect these arches from the weather, they were laid four
-courses thick, with a deep layer of sand and gravel over the top, to
-absorb any rain as a sponge.
-
-Arches were usually built without any centring; and to this day the
-Egyptian similarly builds arches and domes of any size without centring
-or support. Each ring of arch is laid on a sloping bed, so that the
-thin arch bricks on edge will stick in place by the mud-mortar until
-the ring is completed. The same construction is started in each corner
-of a room until the arching meets in a circle, when the dome is carried
-round ring on ring, increasing the dip toward the top. The successive
-coats of an arch are often bedded on opposite slopes, so that the rings
-cross each other.
-
-The outer form of a temple was always a blank wall on all sides, as
-at Edfu, which preserves its circuit wall complete. Usually the outer
-wall has been removed for building (fig. 83), and the inner courts with
-columns are exposed. In further ruin all the walls of squared blocks
-are gone, and only a group of pillars is left on the site.
-
-A typical building of the early age is the temple of red granite built
-by Khafra at Gizeh (fig. 81). The pillars are 41 inches square, and
-there are sixteen of them in the two halls. The work is perfectly
-plain; not a trace of ornament is to be seen in this or other temples
-of the IIIrd-IVth dynasties. Only on the outside was there a panelling,
-like that on the brick buildings and stone sarcophagi of this age.
-The masonry of this temple is much less exact than that of the early
-pyramids. The whole effect of it is grand and severe, with the noble
-breadth which belongs to the early times.
-
-The tower front of the temple at Medinet Habu (fig. 82) is one of
-the few façades that is preserved. It was copied from the Syrian
-fortresses, and shows how the Asiatic influences had entered Egypt
-during the three centuries from about 1500 to 1200 B.C.
-
-[Illustration: ARCHITECTURE
-
-81. Granite temple
-
-82. Medinet Habu
-
-83. Dakkeh]
-
-The most complete view of a whole temple is that of Dakkeh (fig. 83).
-The girdle wall has been destroyed, thus exposing the components of the
-temple clearly. At the left is the great pylon, the gateway through the
-girdle wall. This led to the portico, which was the front of the house
-of the god, like the porticoes to human houses. Behind this a cross
-passage, of which the door is seen at the side, passed in front of the
-shrine and its ante-chamber. This was one of the most perfect small
-temples, but it has been much destroyed in recent years.
-
-[Illustration: EARLIEST FORMS OF COLUMN
-
-84. Palm capital
-
-85. Rose lotus
-
-86. Blue lotus]
-
-The massive square pillars of the granite temple gave place before
-long to more ornamental forms. The principal types are the palm and
-lotus in the Vth dynasty, and later the papyrus. The palm capital is
-shown on the granite columns of Unas (fig. 84). It was probably derived
-from a bundle of palm-sticks bound together and plastered with mud to
-stiffen them, like the bundles of maize-stalks which are still used for
-columns. Around the top of it some of the loose ends of the palm-sticks
-were left with the leaves to form a head.
-
-The lotus capital appears likewise as a shaft decorated with buds
-around it (fig. 85). In this case the buds are the short, thick ones
-of the rose lotus, with flowers of the blue lotus put in the intervals
-under the abacus. But the lotus bud soon became treated as a solid
-support, and in the capital of the blue lotus (fig. 86) the whole is
-formed of four lotus buds. The bands of the tie were always strongly
-marked, however changed the capital might become in later time. The
-papyrus column belongs mainly to the XIXth dynasty, as in the great
-hall of Karnak. It was the most incongruous of all, as a single
-gigantic head of loose filaments was represented as supporting the
-whole weight.
-
-Plain polygonal shafts were also common. Some octagonal ones occur in
-the Vth dynasty. In the XIIth dynasty they are sixteen-sided, keeping
-the four main faces flat and slightly hollowing the others. This was
-continued in the earlier part of the XVIIIth dynasty, but after that
-the polygonal form almost disappears.
-
-Here we can only touch on some of the artistic elements; the
-architecture as a whole is beyond the scope of so small a volume.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII
-
-THE STONE-WORKING
-
-
-We here begin to deal with the more technical rather than the purely
-artistic view--the crafts as well as the arts. Connected with the
-last chapter is the study of the materials and methods used for the
-architecture.
-
-Limestone was the main material of the land, the Eocene cliffs fencing
-in the Nile valley along four hundred miles. The two finest kinds are
-the Mokattam stone opposite the pyramids, which is perfectly uniform
-and free from splitting or flaws; and the hard silicified stone
-occurring at Tell el Amarna and elsewhere. The next commonest material
-was soft sandstone from Silsileh, used generally after the middle of
-the XVIIIth dynasty, especially in the Thebaid. The less usual stones
-are the red granite of Aswan, which was used from the Ist dynasty
-onwards; the quartzite sandstone of Gebel Ahmar near Cairo, begun
-on a large scale by the XIIth dynasty; basalt from Khankah and other
-eruptions, used in the IVth and XIXth dynasties; alabaster from the
-quarries near Tell el Amarna; and diorite, used by the pyramid builders
-only.
-
-The quarrying of the limestone was usually by large galleries run into
-the best strata. Blocks of two or three feet in size were cut out by
-picking a trench wide enough for the arm to pass downward around the
-block, and then inward below it, until it could be cracked away from
-the bed. The blocks were thus cut out in regular rows, from top to
-bottom of the gallery face. The same method is still kept up in the
-open-air quarry at Helwan. For larger blocks a trench eighteen inches
-wide, in which the workman could pass, was cut around the block. In
-the sandstone quarries the same mode of cutting was followed, only the
-quarry was open to the sky. So carefully was inferior stone rejected,
-that instead of following cracks in the rock, a wall of stone was left
-on each side of a crack; and such walls, each containing a fissure,
-divide the quarry to its whole depth.
-
-The granite was first obtained from loose water-worn blocks at the
-Cataract, a great advantage of such a source being that any cracks are
-made visible. Later it was quarried in the bed; a large mass still in
-the quarry has been trimmed and marked across to be cut up for shrines
-or sarcophagi. The early mode of fissuring was by cutting a groove and
-jumping holes through the thickness of the stone, to determine the
-direction of the fissure. Probably the active force was dried wood
-driven in and wetted, as there is no trace of bruising by metal wedges
-on the sides of the groove. In later times, instead of holes, mere
-pockets were sunk rather deeper in the groove to hold the splitting
-agent.
-
-For cutting passages or chambers in rock, the method was to make a
-rough drift-way, then finish a true plane for the roof, next mark an
-axis upon the roof plane, trim the sides true to the distance from a
-plumb bob held at the axis, and finally smooth the floor to a uniform
-distance from the roof. In a rock chamber the roof was finished first,
-and a shaft was sunk to the intended depth of the chamber to mark it
-out.
-
-The surfaces of rock and of dressed stones were picked smooth by a
-short adze, with cuts crossing in all directions. The edges of a stone
-were first dressed true, and then the space between was referred to the
-edges. To do this, two offset sticks with a string stretched between
-the tops of them were stood on the edges, and a third offset was used
-to test the depth to the face, so as to see how much was to be cut
-away. For larger stones, a diagonal draft-line was cut true as well as
-the edge drafts, so as to avoid any twist. The face was finally tested
-with a portable plane smeared with red ochre, and wherever that left a
-touch of red, the stone was cut down; this was continued until the red
-touched at intervals of not more than an inch. This was the quality
-of face for joints; but it was further smoothed by grinding on outer
-finished surfaces. The rough hewing of rock tombs was generally done
-with mauls of silicified limestone, which is found as nodules left on
-the surface.
-
-The granite and hard stones were also sawn, and cut with tubular
-drills. The saws were blades of copper, which carried the hard cutting
-points. The cutting material was sand for working the softer stones,
-and emery for harder rocks. As far back as prehistoric times, blocks
-of emery were used for grinding beads, and even a plummet and a vase
-were cut out of emery rock (now in University College). There can be no
-doubt, therefore, of emery being known and used.
-
-The difficult question is whether the cutting material was used as
-loose powder, or was set in the metal tool as separate teeth. An actual
-example was found at the prehistoric Greek palace of Tiryns. The hard
-limestone there has been sawn, and I found a broken bit of the saw
-left in a cut. The copper blade had rusted away to green carbonate;
-and with it were some little blocks of emery about a sixteenth of an
-inch long, rectangular, and quite capable of being set, but far too
-large to act as a loose powder with a plain blade. On the Egyptian
-examples there are long grooves in the faces of the cuts of both saws
-and drills; and grooves may be made by working a loose powder. But,
-further, the groove certainly seems to run spirally round a core, which
-would show that it was cut by a single point; and where quartz and
-softer felspar are cut through the groove floor runs on one level, and
-as the felspar is worn down by general rubbing, the quartz is actually
-cut through to a greater depth than the softer felspar. This shows that
-a fixed cutting point ploughed the groove, and not a loose powder.
-Also, the hieroglyphs on diorite bowls are ploughed out with a single
-cut of a fixed point, only one hundred and fiftieth of an inch wide,
-so it is certain that fixed cutting points were used for hand-graving.
-There is no doubt that sawing and grinding with loose powder was the
-general method, but the use of fixed stones seems clearly shown by the
-instances above.
-
-The large hieroglyphs on hard stones were cut by copper blades fed
-with emery, and sawn along the outline by hand; the block between the
-cuts was broken out, and the floor of the sign was hammer-dressed, and
-finally ground down with emery. Hammer-dressing was largely used in all
-ages on the hard stones; the blows crushed the stone to powder, and
-the stunning of the surface was often not quite removed by grinding,
-and shows as white spots. The hammer was usually of black hornstone, a
-tough amorphous quartz rock.
-
-The methods of placing the stones in the building have been often
-debated. The foundations were usually laid on a bed of clean sand, and
-this enabled the whole course to be accurately adjusted level to begin
-with. For temples, it seems most likely that the interior was filled
-with earth as the building advanced; and thus the walls, drums, and
-architraves could be as easily dealt with as on the lowest course.
-This plan is successfully used at Karnak in present repairs. But where
-stones needed to be raised for a pyramid or a pylon, some staging was
-required. Remains of a massive brick slope still stand against each
-face of the unfinished pylons at Karnak. This, however, is only the
-general mass of the staging, and the actual steps for the stones must
-have been of stone, as brick would crumble to powder if any lifting
-work was done directly upon it.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-For short blocks a cradle of wood was used, of which many models have
-been found in foundation deposits along with model tools. On tilting
-this to one end, and putting a wedge beneath it, it could be rocked
-up the slope, and so gradually raised, first to one end and then to
-the other. For large blocks, the actual lifting was probably done by
-rocking up. If a beam be supported by two piles near the middle, a
-small force will tilt it up clear of one pile; on raising that pile
-the beam may be tilted the other way, and the lower pile raised in its
-turn. Thus rocking from pile to pile, a beam can be quickly raised till
-it is high enough to be moved on to the next step. It was probably thus
-that the fifty-six granite beams, weighing over fifty tons each, were
-raised in the pyramid of Khufu.
-
-The obelisks were transported on great barges, as shown in the
-sculptures. The method of raising such stones is partly explained
-by an account of setting up colossi of Ramessu IV. A causeway of
-earth was made sloping up for a length of a quarter of a mile; it
-was ninety-five feet wide, and one hundred and three feet high on
-the slope, probably about sixty or seventy feet vertically, as the
-slopes were held up steeply with facings of timber and brushwood. The
-purpose of this evidently was to raise the great block by sliding on
-its side up the slope, and then to tilt it upright by gravity over
-the head of the slope. How the mass would be turned we have nothing
-to show, but probably the simplest way, by gradually removing earth,
-would be followed. By next ramming earth beneath the obelisk as it lay
-on a slope, it would be quite practicable to force it forward into an
-upright position.
-
-After a building was finished the sculpturing of its walls had to be
-executed. For this, a long training of sculptors was needful, and
-the art schools filled an important part in education. The simplest
-subjects of outlines in limestone were a first step, the sign _neb_
-requiring a straight and a curved line only. After the geometric forms
-came studies of heads and of hands. In fig. 88 we see how, after a
-fair control of the graver had been attained, there was still much to
-be learned in detail and harmony before the artist could be trusted to
-decorate a temple.
-
-Statuary also needed a long training. The work was first marked out
-in profile of the front and sides, and then cut along these outlines,
-as in the rock-crystal figure (fig. 89), where the outlines at right
-angles have been cut, but the corners are yet unrounded. In the block
-for the head of a lion (fig. 90) the various planes have been already
-cut for the face, before attempting any rounding. The limestone head
-(fig. 91) shows a further stage, where the general rounding is done,
-but the details of the lips, ears, eyes, and eyebrows are yet left in
-the block. All of these stages needed incessant practice, and years
-must have been spent in training in the schools before final work was
-undertaken.
-
-[Illustration: STONE VASES
-
-87. A-H. Prehistoric
-
-J. VIth dynasty
-
-K. XIIth dynasty
-
-L, M. XVIIIth dynasty]
-
-Turning now to stone-work on a smaller scale, the hardest materials
-were wrought for vases in the prehistoric age. In the first
-civilisation, basalt, syenite, and porphyry were in use as well as the
-softer stones, alabaster and limestone. The later civilisation brought
-in slate, coloured limestone, serpentine, and lastly diorite, which
-continued to be the favourite stone into the pyramid age. The main
-differences of form are shown in fig. 87. The earlier type of vase
-is the standing form F, with a foot, and no piercing for suspension.
-The later prehistoric age brought in the suspended stone as well as
-pottery vases. The main types were A, B, D, E, G, H, and lastly C,
-cut out of coloured marbles, of syenite, and of basalt. All of these
-vases were cut entirely by hand without any turning, or even any
-circular grinding, on the outside. The polish lines cross diagonally
-on the curved sides, and the slight irregularities of form, though
-imperceptible to the eye, can be felt by rotation in the fingers. The
-greatest triumph of this stone-work is the vase from Hierakonpolis
-in black and white syenite, of the type A, E, two feet across and
-sixteen inches high, which is highly polished, and hollowed out so
-thin that it can be lifted by one finger, though if solid it would
-weigh four hundred pounds. The interior of these vases was ground out
-with stone grinders fed with emery, and in softer stones cut out by
-crescent-shaped flint drills.
-
-[Illustration: METHODS OF SCULPTURE
-
-88. Trial piece of learner
-
-89. Rough drafting
-
-90. Lion’s head drafted
-
-91. Head nearly finished]
-
-The historic times show a continual decline in the quality of the stone
-used. In the Ist dynasty the hard stones decreased, and the softer
-slate and alabaster were more common. In the pyramid age only diorite
-continued in use among the hard materials, and that but rarely compared
-to soft stones; while in the XIIth and XVIIIth dynasties, beyond an
-occasional vase of obsidian or serpentine, nothing is seen but the soft
-alabaster. The form J belongs to the VIth dynasty. K is a type which
-descends from the Ist dynasty, but in this form wide at the top belongs
-to the XIIth, after which it disappears. L and M are of the XVIIIth
-dynasty.
-
-Amulets of fine stone were used from prehistoric days onwards. Of
-the early ones, the bull’s head is the commonest, made of carnelian,
-haematite, or glazed quartz. The fly is made of slate, lazuli, and
-serpentine in prehistoric times, and of gold in historic jewellery. The
-hawk is found of glazed quartz and limestone, the serpent of lazuli
-and limestone; the crocodile, the frog, the claw, the spear-head are
-all found in prehistoric use. In the Old Kingdom, small amulets of
-carnelian or ivory were usual; the forms are the hand, the fist, the
-eye, lion, jackal-head, frog, and bee. In the Middle Kingdom the more
-usual material was silver or electrum. The New Kingdom used amulets but
-little; the great profusion comes from the mummies of the Saite time,
-when dozens may be found on one body. The great variety of forms and
-materials would require a volume to explain them.
-
-Beads were used from prehistoric times. The hard stones were cut
-then--quartz, amethyst, agate, carnelian, turquoise, lazuli, haematite,
-serpentine, as well as glazes on quartz and on paste. Glazed pottery
-beads became the more usual in historic times; glass beads were made
-from the XVIIIth dynasty onward, and hardly any other material was used
-in Roman times. There are hundreds of varieties known, and an accurate
-knowledge of their dates is essential in excavating.
-
-Flint was worked to the highest perfection in the prehistoric age, and
-continued in use till Roman times. Strictly, it is chert rather than
-flint, as the beds in which it is found are of Eocene limestone. But in
-general appearance and nature they are closely the equivalent of the
-chalk with flints in England, only harder. The prehistoric forms are
-shown in fig. 92. They exceed the flint-work of all other countries
-in the regularity of the flaking, the thinness of the weapon, and the
-minute serration of the edges. At present such work is entirely a lost
-art, and we cannot imagine the methods or the skill required to produce
-such results. Besides the weapons, flint armlets were made, chipped
-out of a solid block, yet no thicker than a straw. These were ground
-with emery finally to smooth them for wearing. Flint was commonly used
-down to the XIIth dynasty for knives, but all the dynastic working is
-far inferior to the earlier. In the XVIIIth dynasty, and later, sickle
-teeth were still made of flint; and flakes were chipped and used in
-abundance at some centres in the Roman period.
-
-[Illustration: FLINT-WORKING
-
-92. Knives and lances of the best prehistoric work]
-
-Before leaving the stone-working we may note the accuracy of work,
-as this is better seen here than in any other subject. The highest
-pitch of accuracy on a large scale was reached under Khufu in the IVth
-dynasty; his pyramid had an error of less than ·6 of an inch on its
-side of 9069 inches, or 1 in 15,000; and its corners were square to
-12″. A change of temperature during a day would make larger errors
-than this in a measuring-rod. The accuracy of levelling, and of finish
-of the stones, is on a par with this; joints over six feet long are
-straight to a hundredth of an inch. The pyramid of Khafra has three
-times this error, varying 1·5 inch on 8475, and 33″ of angle. That of
-Menkaura is worse, being on an average 3 inches out on 4154, and 1′ 50″
-of angle. At Dahshur the errors are 3·7 on 7459 inches base, and 1·1 on
-2065, with angular errors of 4′ and 10′. In smaller work, a beautiful
-example is the granite sarcophagus of Senusert II, which is ground flat
-on the sides with a matt face like ground glass, and only has about
-a two-hundredth of an inch error of flatness and parallelism of the
-sides. The later ages, so far as we know, have left nothing that can be
-compared with the accuracy of the early dynasties.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII
-
-JEWELLERY
-
-
-Native gold is, in all countries, one of the earliest materials for
-manufactured ornaments, and it appears to have been much used in
-prehistoric Egypt. Though gold is not now sought in or near Egypt,
-we must remember that it is found in the stream deposits of most
-countries, and its absence from the Mediterranean lands now is only
-due to the ancient workers having exhausted the supply. The immediate
-sources of the metal were in Nubia and Asia Minor. The Asiatic gold
-was certainly used in the first dynasty, as it is marked by having a
-variable amount of silver alloy, about a sixth; but looking at the
-African influence on Egypt it is probable that Nubia was the first
-source, though whether gold (_nūb_) was called from the country
-(_nūb_), or the reverse, is uncertain.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-So general was the use of gold for necklaces, that the picture of a
-collar of beads became the hieroglyph for gold. Strings of minute gold
-beads were worn on the ankles in prehistoric times (8000-5000 B.C.).
-Larger beads were economically made by beating out a thin tube, and
-then drawing down the ends over a core of limestone. A thin gold finger
-ring has been found, and a flat pendant with punched dots. But most of
-the prehistoric gold is seen on the lips of stone vases, overlaying
-the handles of vases, and forming the wire loops for carrying them.
-Similarly it was used for covering the handles of flint knives; a sheet
-of gold was fitted over the flint, embossed with figures of women,
-animals, twisted snakes, a boat, etc. But the use of thin gold leaf
-which adheres to its base, is not found until the pyramid times. At
-the close of the prehistoric period we meet with a gold cylinder seal
-engraved with signs. When we remember that it is very rarely that an
-unplundered grave is discovered, the quantity of gold objects found
-show that the metal must have been generally used in the ages when
-commerce developed, before writing was known.
-
-On reaching the historic times we obtain a good view of the production
-and variety of jewellery, in the four bracelets of the Queen of Zer,
-early in the first dynasty, 5400 B.C. These bracelets (fig. 93) show
-how each separate piece was made to fit its own place in a complete
-design, and that the later custom of merely stringing ready-made beads
-was not then followed.
-
-The bracelet of hawks has the gold blocks alternating with turquoise.
-The hawks on the gold pieces are all equal, but the sizes of the blocks
-vary in the height. This is due to their being all cast in the same
-mould, which was filled to varying amounts. The surfaces were hammered
-and chiselled, but not either ground or filed. The order of the hawks
-was marked by numbering them with cross cuts on the base; these cuts
-are directly across for the blocks on one half, and diagonally across
-for the other half.
-
-The bracelet with spiral beads has the gold spiral formed of a hammered
-gold wire, thicker at the middle, where it forms the barrel of the
-beads. This form is imitated in the three dark lazuli beads down the
-middle. The triple gold balls, on either side of those, are each beaten
-hollow and drawn into a thread-hole left at each end; so perfectly
-wrought are they that only in one instance does the slightest ruck of
-metal remain. To join the three balls together they were soldered, but
-without leaving the least excess or difference of colour.
-
-In the lowest bracelet the hour-glass-shaped beads are of gold, with
-one of amethyst between each pair. The gold is doubtless cast, being
-solid. None of these are pierced, but they were secured by tying round
-a groove at the middle of each bead. There was also a fourth bracelet
-with a ball and loop fastening which shows the skill in soldering. The
-ball is beaten hollow, leaving about a quarter of it open; inside it a
-hook of gold wire is soldered in without leaving the smallest trace of
-solder visible. The band round the wrist was formed of very thick black
-hair plaited with gold wire, which was hammered to exactly the same
-thickness. We see from these bracelets that casting, chiselling, and
-soldering were perfectly understood at the beginning of the monarchy.
-
-Of about the Ist dynasty there are also copies of spiral shells made
-by pressing gold foil, perhaps over shells. These were threaded as a
-necklace, imitating the shell necklaces of earlier ages.
-
-On coming to the VIth dynasty (4000 B.C.) we see gold chains (fig.
-94) made of rings, each folded into a double loop and put through the
-next; these may be called loop-in-loop chain. Gold seals (fig. 95) are
-also found, probably made by foreigners and worn as buttons, like many
-similar stone buttons.
-
-[Illustration: JEWELLERY
-
-93. Bracelets (Ist dynasty)
-
-94. Chain (VIth dynasty)
-
-95. Gold seal (VIth dynasty?)
-
-96. Gold uraeus (XIIth dynasty)]
-
-The XIIth dynasty has left us some magnificent groups of jewellery,
-which were found at Dahshur. The general effect of this work is
-graceful and sincere in design and pure in colour. There is no glitter
-and pomp about it, but it has the highest beauty of careful harmony
-and perfect finish. The tints of the carnelian, turquoise, and lazuli
-which are used have been precisely chosen for their clear strength of
-colour, while the Egyptian system of putting a line of gold between two
-bright colours prevents any dazzling or clashing. The charm of this
-jewellery lies in the calm, fresh, cool colouring with the unhesitating
-perfection of the work, which seems to ignore all difficulty or
-compromise.
-
-Three pectoral ornaments made in successive reigns are each formed of
-an open-work gold plate, engraved on one side and inlaid with coloured
-stones on the other. The engraved sides of two are here given (figs.
-97, 98), as they are better suited for illustration. The earlier
-pectoral, bearing the names of Senusert II, is by far the better in
-design. The scheme of the whole is grasped at once, and rests the eye;
-there is repose and dignity in it. Although clear open spaces are left,
-the parts are sufficiently connected for strength.
-
-The second pectoral, of Senusert III, is too complex for a single
-piece of jewellery for the breast. The heavy mass of the vulture at the
-top over-weights the design; the head-dress of the royal sphinxes is
-too tall; and the combination of four captives between the eight legs
-of the sphinxes, or twenty-four limbs in action, is far too complex
-and distracting. But in the detail we must admire the expression of
-the captives; and also the skill with which the parts are united,
-especially where the frail length of the tails is held in by the extra
-lotus flowers.
-
-The third pectoral, of Amenemhat III, is the least successful in
-design. It is made too large in order to take in whole figures of
-the king fighting; the action is violent; and, not content with four
-figures, the outlines are lost in a maze of emblems which fill all
-the space around, so that nothing is clear or restful to the eye. The
-earliest pectoral was evidently designed to be seen at a respectful
-distance on royalty in movement. To see the last design the queen
-would need to be closely stared at, in order to make out the cumbrous
-historical document on her breast.
-
-[Illustration: JEWELLERY
-
-97, 98. Chased gold pectoral ornaments (XIIth dynasty)]
-
-Two crowns of gold and inlaid stones belonged also to the princesses.
-The floret crown (fig. 100) is perhaps the most charmingly graceful
-head-dress ever seen; the fine wavy threads of gold harmonised with
-the hair, and the delicate little flowers and berries seem scattered
-with the wild grace of Nature. Each floret is held by two wires
-crossing in an eye behind it, and each pair of berries has likewise an
-eye in which the wires cross. The florets are not stamped, but each
-gold socket is made by hand for the four inserted stones. The berries
-are of lazuli. In no instance, however small, was the polishing of the
-stone done in its cloison; it was always finished before setting.
-
-The upper crown (fig. 99) is less unusual. The motive is the old one
-seen on the head-dress of Nofert (fig. 24); but the flowers have become
-conventionalised. The band form is broken by the upright flowers rising
-from each rosette; and in front there was an aigrette of gold with
-flowers formed of coloured stones.
-
-Turning now to the technical details, some small gold lions were cast,
-but not all from a single mould. They seem to have been modelled in
-wax, and after forming the mould around the model the wax was melted
-out, and the metal run in. This method, known as _cire perdue_, was
-usual in later periods. The details are slightly chiselled upon the
-gold.
-
-Moulding by pressure was used in making cowry beads and tie beads,
-which were impressed in stout foil, aided by burnishing on to the model
-so as to tool the detail.
-
-Soldering was done most delicately for the side joints of the hollow
-cowry beads; it was also used on a large scale for the dozens of
-delicate ribs of gold which were fixed to the back plates for the
-cloison work of the pectorals. To attach this multitude of minute ribs
-exactly in place shows most practised work, for they could not be
-treated separately, being so close together.
-
-Wire was made in large quantity for the floret crown. This wire was
-all cut in strips, and pieces soldered together to form a length. The
-same method was later used by the Jews: “they did beat the gold into
-thin plates and cut it into wires” (Ex. xxxix. 3). Drawn wire has not
-been found in any ancient work. A favourite style of work for figures
-of gods and sacred animals in this age was a mixture of wirework and
-sheet metal; such amulets and sacred animals are usually half an inch
-high: the example of the sacred cobra here shown (fig. 96) is by far
-the finest known.
-
-[Illustration: JEWELLERY
-
-99, 100. Crowns of gold inlaid with stones
-
-101. Granulated gold work (all XIIth dynasty)]
-
-A new decoration which first appears in this age is that of granulated
-work (fig. 101). Here it is seen on a case in a zigzag pattern, and on
-two pendants. Another example is a pattern of small rhombs on the bezel
-of a ring. The granules are 5 × 5 in each rhomb, and eight rhombs on
-the bezel, or forty granules in about six-tenths of an inch; allowing
-for spaces, the granules must be an eightieth of an inch wide. This
-kind of work is found also later on in Egypt, but it may not be native;
-in Etruria it was the national type of jewellery about three thousand
-years after this.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-The mode of fastening the necklaces was by grooved pieces. One of the
-gold cowries, or lion’s heads, or ties which formed the necklace, was
-made in two halves with dovetail groove and tongue fitting into each
-other along the whole length of the piece. The tongue ran up against a
-butt end when the halves coincided.
-
-When we reach the XVIIIth dynasty we see in the jewellery of Queen
-Aah-hotep (1570 B.C.) much the same system of work as in the XIIth
-dynasty. The whole style is less substantial, exact, and dignified;
-both in design and execution it is at all points inferior to the
-previous work. One new art appears, the plaiting of gold wire chains,
-in what is now commonly called Trichinopoly pattern. This method was
-continued down to Roman times.
-
-The Aah-hotep-Aahmes bracelet (fig. 102) is a broad band of metal, with
-the figures in raised gold on a dark blue ground. At first it looks as
-if enamelled, as the ground runs in the small intervals between the
-gold; but it is really a surface formed of pieces of dark lazuli, cut
-approximately to the forms and patched around with a dark blue paste
-to match it. Two other bracelets (or perhaps anklets) are formed of
-minute beads of stones and gold threaded on parallel wires, forming a
-band about 1½ inches wide. The pattern seems an imitation of plaiting,
-as each colour forms a half square divided diagonally. The necklace
-of large gold flies is heavy, and lacks the grace of earlier times.
-The axe of Aahmes (fig. 104) is beautifully inlaid with gold, bearing
-the king’s names, the figures of the king smiting an enemy, and the
-gryphon-sphinx of the god Mentu. The dagger (fig. 103) has more of
-the Mykenaean Greek style in the inlaying of the blade, with figures
-of a lion chasing a bull, and four grasshoppers. The four heads which
-form the pommel are unlike any other Egyptian design; but the squares
-divided diagonally on the handle are like the patterns of the bead
-anklets, and are probably of Egyptian source.
-
-[Illustration: JEWELLERY
-
-102. Bracelet
-
-103. Dagger (both parts)
-
-104. Axe
-
-(all of King Aahmes, XVIIIth dynasty)]
-
-Of the XIXth dynasty there is the Serapeum jewellery, found with the
-Apis burials. The pectoral of Ramessu II (fig. 105) is of good design;
-the wings of the vulture are boldly spread in wide curves, and the
-king’s name is simple, without titles, and well placed. The border
-band is heavy, and the colouring is rich. It is a creditable work, but
-entirely missing the grace and sense of perfection of the best work
-from Dahshur.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-[Illustration]
-
-The gold bracelets with name of Ramessu II found at Bubastis, are
-of inferior work, probably for one of his fifty-nine daughters. The
-name is only impressed on stout foil, which is set in a framework
-of the bracelet, but the surfaces are ornamented with gold granular
-work, showing that such was commonly used. There is a pair of
-collar fasteners, clumsily made by filing the bent gold and working
-thread-holes in the cut; there are thirty-six thread-holes, so the
-collar must have been a very wide one. The fastening by two halves
-sliding together is made by two wires soldered in to form the dovetail.
-In this same group are thick wire bracelets of silver, with a coarse
-hatched pattern on the ends; also many plain silver earrings, such as
-were worn by the common people of this time.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Slightly later is the jewellery of Sety II and Tausert from the
-Kings’ Tombs. Here are also solid wire bangles, but of gold. And
-square wire bangles have the thin tail of each end of the bar twisted
-round the stem on the other side, a fastening also commonly found
-on finger-rings, of this age and rather earlier. Some clumsy little
-open-work beads are made by rough circles of gold wire soldered
-together; a wide equatorial circle is joined to a small polar circle at
-each end by six small circles touching. Flowers are made by stamping
-the petals out of foil; there are ten petals to each, and four of them
-are stamped with the king’s name. Some monstrous earrings overloaded
-with ornament belong to the end of the Ramessides (fig. 106).
-
-Base gold was much used at the close of the XVIIIth dynasty, and many
-of the finger-rings of that age almost verge into copper. But stones
-were used for inlay work until the later Ramessides, and glass or paste
-does not become usual till up to 1000 B.C. Enamel fused upon metal is
-not known until Roman times.
-
-[Illustration: JEWELLERY
-
-105. Pectoral of Ramessu II
-
-106. Earrings of Ramessu XII
-
-107. Gold statuette (XXVth dynasty)]
-
-In the VIIIth century B.C. gold working was well maintained, as seen
-(fig. 107) in the statuette made by the local king Pafaabast. The
-modelling of the limbs is exact, the pose is free, and it shows the
-maintenance of a good tradition. About a century later there is fine
-cloison work on the gold birds of the Hawara amulets, as minute as any
-of earlier times.
-
-A free use of gold-work comes in with the wealth of the Ptolemaic age,
-especially for bracelets and chains. A usual type of bracelet, in gold
-or silver, was with busts of Serapis and Isis on the two ends of a
-strip, which were turned up at right angles to the circle. These are
-generally of coarse work. Plain bangles, bracelets with the two tails
-of a bar twisted each round the other, coiled wire bracelets which were
-elastic, and hingeing bracelets, are all found in use at this age. Much
-Greek influence is seen in the patterns, both now and in the Roman
-period. The bangle bracelets were often made hollow, both for lightness
-and economy of metal. Cheaper styles were of thin gold foil worked over
-a core of plaster; the decoration of cross lines on such shows that
-they are probably Roman. The chains of Ptolemaic and Roman age (fig.
-109) are simple, but of pleasing style.
-
-In Coptic times bracelets of various forms were made, mostly of
-silver and baser metal; but they are all plain and tasteless. Large
-earrings were made with a big hoop and a bunch of small pendants, or an
-open-work metal bead. Necklets of silver were usual, with the tails of
-the strip wound round each other, so as to slide open for passing over
-the head.
-
-Gold was also used largely for gilding both metals and wood. The gold
-leaf was often about a 5000th of an inch thick, weighing one grain to
-the square inch. Thus a pound’s weight of gold would cover about six
-feet square; and the gilding of doors and of the caps of obelisks as
-described is not at all unlikely.
-
-Silver was known to the Egyptians later than gold, as it is called
-“white gold”; and it was scarcer than gold in the early ages. Of the
-prehistoric time there is a cap of a jar, and a small spoon with
-twisted handle. A few silver amulets are known in the XIIth dynasty. In
-the XVIIIth dynasty silver became commoner, as the source in northern
-Syria which supplied the Hittites became accessible. The silver dishes
-of this age are rather thick, and not finely beaten. One bowl, probably
-of Ramesside date from Bubastis, has the brim turned inward like a
-modern anti-splash basin (fig. 115). It seems to have been made by
-spinning the metal, as thin vessels are now wrought.
-
-[Illustration: JEWELLERY
-
-108. Silver bowls
-
-109. Roman gold chain]
-
-The most elaborate style of silver work is that of the bowls from
-Mendes (fig. 108). These are entirely made by hammer work, and no
-moulds or matrices were used for the forms. But the finish of the
-surfaces is so fine that no trace of hammer or polishing is left.
-The design is derived from the fluted vases and bowls of the XVIIIth
-dynasty; the fluting was made deeper and stronger, and it was
-suppressed below, as it interfered with the using of the bowl, while
-round the sides it remained as deep bosses. The detail was all put in
-by the graving tool, the sinking round the central rosette, the hollows
-in the petals, and the outlines of the petals. There is no sign of
-punch-work. The number of ribs is, curiously, indivisible, being 18,
-26, 28, and 30; these show that it was not divided either by triangles,
-hexagons, or repeated halving. Probably a suitable size of rib was
-designed, and then repeated an even number of times; and the divisions
-not being truly radial, show that eye-design was followed rather than
-geometrical scaling.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX
-
-METAL WORK
-
-
-Here we shall deal with the useful metals, apart from the ornamental
-work of jewellery previously described. Copper was worked from the
-beginning of the prehistoric civilisation. In one of the earliest
-graves a little copper pin was found, used to fasten over the shoulders
-the goat-skin, which was worn before the weaving of linen. Not long
-after, a small chisel appears, then an adze and harpoon, then needles,
-and larger sizes of tools come at the close of the prehistoric age.
-All of this copper was shaped by hammering. Polished stone hammers
-were used, and the work was so exquisitely regular that a polished
-surface still remains on an adze, which shows no trace of the method
-of manufacture; certainly it was not ground. The mode of hammering is
-shown in some early historical sculptures; a stone hammer was held in
-the palm of the right hand, which was swung overhead, and brought down
-on the metal. How such work could be done without hurting the hand by
-concussion is not clear to us. It is strange that down to Greek times
-the Egyptians never used a long handle to a hammer.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-In the beginning of the kingdom, copper ewers and basins were made;
-these are known from the sculpture of Narmer, and examples are found
-in the royal tombs. They were skilfully hammered out, with cast spouts
-inserted. The main example of early copper-work is the life-size statue
-of King Pepy, and the smaller figure of his son (fig. 110). The trunk
-and limbs are of hammered copper, riveted together; the face, hands,
-and feet are cast doubtless by _cire perdue_. The ease and truth of
-the whole figure shows that there must have been long practice in the
-artistic working of copper; yet no traces of such figures are found
-earlier, nor for over a thousand years later, and we may thus realise
-how scattered are the points we have, in the view of the art as a whole.
-
-The IXth dynasty has left a coarse example of cast copper tooled with a
-graver, the brazier of Khety, now in Paris. Of the XIIth dynasty there
-is not much copper work, except for tools. The moulds for casting tools
-were found at Kahun. They were open moulds, cut out of a thick piece
-of pottery, and lined smooth with fine clay and ash.
-
-Down to this age copper was used with only small amounts of hardening
-mixture; after this, bronze of copper and tin came into general use.
-The earlier copper of the Ist dynasty usually contains one per cent.
-of bismuth, and later than that one or two per cent. of arsenic, and
-is “underpoled,” in modern terms, that is, a good deal of unreduced
-oxide of copper is left in the metal. Both of these mixtures harden it;
-and by strong hammering it is made still harder. Copper so treated at
-present can be made as hard as mild steel. Thus the metal was fit for
-the wood-cutting tools, and for the chisels used for cutting limestone.
-The harder stones were worked with emery.[1]
-
- [1] The earlier source of copper was Sinai, where there yet
- remain thousands of tons of copper slag in the Wady Nasb. In
- the XVIIIth dynasty and onwards, Cyprus--the Kupros island of
- copper--came into regular connection with Egypt, and probably
- supplied most of the metal.
-
-[Illustration: METAL STATUARY
-
-110. Merenra (VIth dynasty)
-
-111, 112. Takushet (XXVth dynasty)]
-
-Bronze has been found in one case as far back as the IIIrd dynasty,
-but this was only a chance alloy. It began to be regularly used in the
-XVIIIth dynasty, 1600 B.C.; and the source of the tin for it is a point
-of interest in early trade. Cornwall and the Malay States are the only
-modern sources of importance; but probably other surface sources have
-been exhausted, as in the case of gold deposits. Now bronze is found in
-Central Europe about as early as in Egypt, and it is unlikely to have
-been imported there from Egypt, or to have been traded there as soon as
-it would be to a great state like Egypt. The presumption would be that
-it originated about Central Europe. As a district in Saxony is known
-as Zinnwald, and crystallised oxide of tin is still brought from there
-and from Bohemia, it is very likely that there may have been stream tin
-deposits capable of supplying Europe and Egypt.
-
-[Illustration: METAL VASES
-
-113. Bronze pouring vase
-
-114. Bronze fluted vase
-
-115. Silver anti-splash bowl]
-
-In the XVIIIth dynasty bronze vessels were wrought very skilfully by
-hammer-work. The flask (fig. 113) for washing the sandals of Amen,
-inscribed with the owner’s name and titles, is 9 inches high and has a
-body 4 inches across; it has been hammered on anvils introduced through
-the neck, which is only 1¼ inches wide. By the weight of it (7 ounces)
-it cannot average more than ⅟₄₀th inch in thickness. A general mode of
-stiffening the thin metal vases was by fluting the surface (fig. 114),
-a method also used in prehistoric Greece.
-
-The casting of bronze was generally done by the _cire perdue_ method.
-A core of blackened sand is usually found in the casting. This was
-probably sand mixed with a little organic matter; as it is never
-reddened, probably no clay or mud was used. Over the core the wax was
-modelled, and the traces of the modelling tool can be seen clearly on
-unfinished bronzes. On an ibis there was a rolled pellet of wax put
-between the beak and the breast, so as to induce the flow of the metal
-along the beak; this would be easily cut away in finishing. An example
-of a kneeling figure shows the legs completely modelled before putting
-the pleated dress over them, and then the whole was cast. How the core
-was fixed within the outer mould is a difficult question. On the many
-unfinished bronzes that I have examined I have never found a definite
-connection above the base, but only casual blowholes. Yet the metal was
-often run as thin as ⅟₅₀th so that a shift of the core by as little
-as ⅟₁₀₀th inch would throw the casting out, and make a flaw. How the
-core was retained so firmly in position against the flotation of the
-melted metal is not clear. No metal bars were put through the core to
-steady it, as Cellini did in his large castings. A system was used of
-stiffening bronze-work by casting it over iron rods; by the free use of
-iron, this must be of the Greek period. Solid bronze castings come into
-use in Ptolemaic and Roman work.
-
-A favourite decoration of copper-work in later times, from about
-700 B.C., was by inlaying lines of gold or silver in it. This is a
-common system in India now, where it is known as _Keft_ work; the
-name suggests that it was introduced from Egypt, where Keft was the
-starting-point of the Indian trade route from the Nile. One of the
-finest examples of this is the statue in the Athens Museum (figs. 111,
-112); another is the hawk-head and collar with the name of Aahmes II in
-the British Museum. The lines were first chiselled or punched in the
-copper, and then the gold was beaten into the grooves.
-
-No instance of using soft solder to copper or bronze is known till
-Roman times.
-
-Lead is found in the prehistoric times in the form of small figures and
-little objects; it was probably brought from Syria. It next appears
-as a rather common metal in the XVIIIth dynasty, when net-sinkers
-were generally made by bending a piece of sheet lead round the edge
-lines of the net, much as at the present day. In the filling of bronze
-weights it is found both in the XVIIIth and XXVIth dynasties. And an
-alloy of copper and lead--now known as pot-metal--was commonly used for
-statuettes in Greek and Roman times. In Coptic times pewter bowls and
-ladles were made; the bowls are apparently formed by spinning.
-
-Tin is first known in a piece of bronze rod from Medum, of the IIIrd
-dynasty. But this was only a freak, and bronze did not come into use
-till about 1600 B.C., probably introduced from Hungary, as we have
-noticed. At about 1400 B.C. there is a finger-ring of pure tin, known
-by its crackling when bent. The metal is, however, scarcely known
-separate otherwise.
-
-Antimony occurs in the form of beads about 800 B.C.; as it was familiar
-to the Assyrians also, it may have been traded from them.
-
-Iron working is an important subject in the history of culture, and the
-appearances of this metal in Egypt are curiously sporadic. The notion,
-often suggested, that it might rust away and disappear, is absurd;
-nothing is more permanent and noticeable than iron rust. The early
-examples are: (1) a piece of sheet iron said to be found between the
-stones of Khufu’s pyramid; (2) a lump of iron found wrapped up with
-copper axes of the VIth dynasty form, and placed at the corresponding
-level in the foundations of the Abydos temples; this is absolutely
-certain and not open to any doubt; (3) iron ferules said to be found in
-the masonry of a pyramid at Dahshur; (4) an iron falchion said to be
-found beneath the base of a statue of Ramessu II. The certainty about
-the second example--which was found by trained workmen, levelled at
-the time, and is stuck together with tools of known date--prevents our
-needing to hesitate about accepting the less precise authentication of
-the other examples.
-
-Yet iron continued so scarce until about 800 B.C. that we find then
-a thin iron knife with a handle of bronze cast on it as being the
-cheaper metal. The explanation of this intermittent use of iron lies in
-an observation of Professor Ridgeway’s, that all the sites of native
-iron in the world are where carboniferous strata and ironstone have
-been heated by eruptions of basalt, and thus produced iron by natural
-reduction of the ore. Exactly this combination is found in Sinai.
-Carboniferous sandstone has beds of pure black haematite with it,
-and a thick flow of basalt has extended over the country. Probably,
-therefore, occasional pockets of native iron were found there by the
-Egyptians at long intervals, and thus the use of it was intermittent.
-
-The artificial production of iron seems to have been known earliest
-in Assyria; it probably arose among the Chalybes at the head of the
-Euphrates, from whom the Greek name of the metal was derived. Large
-quantities of iron and steel tools have been found in the Assyrian
-ruins, but were neglected by excavators. A set of armourer’s tools was
-found at Thebes with a copper helmet of Assyrian form, and therefore
-probably left by the expedition under Asshur-bani-pal in 666 B.C.
-These tools comprise flat chisels, mortise chisels, saws, a punch, a
-rasp, a file, a twist scoop, and two centre-bits. The forms of most of
-these tools have already attained to the modern types; but the file
-is only slight and irregular, and the centre-bits are only fit for
-hard wood. The edges of these tools are of steel, probably produced by
-case-hardening the iron.
-
-We next find iron tools brought in by the Greeks at Naukratis. Chisels,
-flat and mortise, with both tang and socket handles, borers and
-axe-heads, were all familiar to the Greek before the Egyptian adopted
-them. One instance of an iron adze of Egyptian type is known, but
-otherwise it is not till Coptic times that we find a free use of iron
-for knives, chisels, flesh-hooks, hoes, pruning hooks, and other tools,
-probably due to Roman influence. To go further in this subject would
-lead into the general history of tools, which is beyond our scope here.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X
-
-GLAZED WARE
-
-
-The use of glazing begins far back in the prehistoric age, some
-thousands of years before any examples of glass are known. Glaze
-is found on a quartz base as early as on a pottery base; and it
-seems probable that it was invented from finding quartz pebbles
-fluxed by wood ashes in a hot fire. Hence glazing on quartz was the
-starting-point, and glazing on artificial wares was a later stage.
-Amulets of quartz rock are found covered with a coat of blue-green
-glaze; a model boat was made of quartz rock in sections, glazed over,
-and united by gold bands; and a large sphinx of quartz, about eighteen
-inches long, has evidently been glazed. The fusion of glaze on the
-stone partly dissolves the surface; and even after the glaze has been
-lost its effect can be seen by the surface having the appearance of
-water-worn marble or sugar candy. This system of glazing on quartz was
-continued in historic times; clear crystal beads flashed over with a
-rich blue glaze are found in the XIIth dynasty; and large blocks were
-glazed in the XVIIIth dynasty.
-
-The use of a pottery ware for covering with glaze begins with beads
-of blue and green in the prehistoric necklaces. The pottery base
-for glazing is never a clay in Egypt, but always a porous body of
-finely-ground silica, either sand or quartz rock. This was slightly
-bound together, but the whole strength of the object was in the soaking
-of glaze on the outer surface.
-
-[Illustration: GLAZES
-
-116. Two-colour glaze of Mena
-
-117. Lotus border (XXth dynasty)
-
-118. Head of Isis
-
-119. Royal fan-bearer]
-
-An astonishing development of glazed ware came at the beginning of the
-monarchy. A piece of a vase (fig. 116) with the name of Mena, the first
-king of Egypt, is of green glazed pottery, and it is surprising to find
-the royal name inlaid in a second coloured glaze, which has probably
-been violet, though now decomposed. Thus two-colour glazing in designs
-was used as early as 5500 B.C. And at this date glazing was not only a
-fine art, it was used on a large scale for the lining of rooms. Tiles
-have been found about a foot long, stoutly made, with dovetails on the
-back, and holes through them edgeways in order to tie them back to the
-wall with copper wire. They are glazed all over with hard blue-green
-glaze. The front is ribbed in imitation of reedwork, and they probably
-were copied from reed mats used to line the walls. Part of a tile
-has large hieroglyphs inlaid in colour, showing that decorative
-inscriptions were set up. Rather later, at the beginning of the IIIrd
-dynasty, there is the doorway of glazed tiles of King Zeser, with
-his name and titles in various colours; this doorway, now in Berlin,
-belonged to a room in the Step pyramid entirely lined with glazed tile.
-
-Smaller objects were also made in glaze. A tablet of the first dynasty
-bears a relief of the figure and titles of an aboriginal chief,
-apparently made to be left as a memorial of his visit to temples--a
-sort of visiting card,--as it was found in the temple of Abydos.
-Figures of women and animals were found with it, and glazed toggles to
-be used in place of buttons on garments. Very little glazing has been
-preserved to us from the pyramid age; there are small tablets with the
-name of King Pepy (4100 B.C.) in relief, but roughly done.
-
-The general colour of the early glaze is greenish-blue or blue-green,
-never distinctly of either colour. Such appears from the prehistoric
-age to the pyramid time. The glaze is full, and was not heated long
-enough to soak into the body. It often has pit-holes in it, and does
-not seem to have been very fluid. In the VIth dynasty a second colour
-appears, a dark indigo blue; this is on a scarab of Merenra, and on
-small toilet vases of the period. Some earlier scarabs are probably of
-the age of the IVth, and even of the IIIrd dynasty; these have a clear
-brilliant blue glaze, thin and well fused.
-
-In the XIIth dynasty the glaze is thin and hard. On ring-stands and
-vases it is often dry and of a greyish green. A rich clear blue glaze
-was also used, and is best seen on scarabs and on the favourite figures
-of hippopotami, which were only made in this period. The designs and
-inscriptions in the glaze were of a fine black, apparently coloured
-with manganese.
-
-The XVIIIth dynasty was the great age of the development of glazing.
-It began with so close a continuance of the style of the XIIth dynasty
-that it is hard to discriminate one from the other. Down to the time of
-Tahutmes III the small pieces and beads with blue colour are as those
-of the previous age; but the large bowls are of a brighter blue and
-rather a wetter glaze. At the beginning of the dynasty there is also
-a dark green glaze used upon schist, mostly seen on the elaborately
-carved kohl pots. Under Amenhotep II was made the largest piece of
-glazing that is known from Egypt, now in South Kensington Museum.
-This was a great _uas_ sceptre made as an offering, the stem of which
-is five feet long. This length was built up of separate sections of
-body ware, made each about nine inches long, so as to have sufficient
-firmness; after they were each baked they were then united with a slip
-paste of the same ware, and finally fired with a single flow of glaze
-over the whole five-feet length. The head was made separately. The
-special difficulty of firing such large pieces is to maintain a uniform
-heat over the whole, and to avoid any reducing flame from the fuel,
-which would discolour the glaze, and produce lustre ware. The heating
-must also be brief, so as to avoid the glaze running down, or soaking
-into the porous body and leaving it dry.
-
-Under Amenhotep III and IV the art of glazing reached its most
-brilliant development, both in its colours and in the variety of its
-applications. Beside the previously used shades of blue and green
-we meet with purple-blue, violet, a brilliant apple-green, bright
-chrome-yellow, lemon-yellow, crimson-red, brown-red, and milk-white.
-Besides the previous uses of glaze for bowls and vases, beads and
-scarabs, we now meet with a great variety of pendants and ornaments
-for necklaces, more than two hundred and fifty forms of which are
-known from the objects and the moulds; also flat emblems and name
-plaques, with stitch holes or loops at the edge, for stitching on to
-the muslin dresses then worn. The private person thus wore the king’s
-name on his arm, and the king wore the titles of the sun-god to whom
-he was devoted. The effect of the white muslin dresses with dazzling
-blue plaques and natural coloured daisies and other flowers scattered
-over them, must have been very striking. Another use of glaze was
-for architectural inlaying (fig. 117). The capitals of great columns
-were inlaid all over with stripes of red and blue along the palm
-leaf design, separated into small squares by gilt bands between. The
-whole capital was thus copied on a vast scale from cloison jewellery.
-Another use of glaze was for inlaying coloured hieroglyphs in the
-white limestone walls. This system was carried on in a simpler way
-into the next dynasty, where a great quantity of cartouches of Sety II
-are known; and in the walls of the temple of Luqsor are rows of holes
-of corresponding size, from which they have probably been taken. A
-favourite form of glazed ware in the XVIIIth and XIXth dynasties is
-that of the graceful lotus flower cup.
-
-In the XIXth dynasty there is much less variety of glazing; but we meet
-with the rise of a new industry which was to eclipse all the others in
-its output. Sety I had many glazed figures of _ushabtis_ of blue colour
-inscribed in black, or of glazed steatite, in his tomb. Under Ramessu
-II they became usual for private persons, and for a thousand years
-later they were made in enormous numbers, usually four hundred being
-buried in any wealthy tomb. The Ramesside _ushabtis_ are usually green
-with black inscriptions, rarely white with purple. In the XXIst dynasty
-they are of very intense blue with purple-black inscriptions, and very
-roughly made, deteriorating throughout the dynasty. In the XXIInd and
-XXIIIrd dynasties they are small, and usually green and black. In the
-XXVth they are mere red pottery dipped in blue wash, or little slips
-of mud were substituted. The XXVIth dynasty started a different class
-of very large figures, up to ten inches high, beautifully modelled,
-with incised inscriptions, back pillar, and beard, always of green
-glaze; and these deteriorated to Ptolemaic times, excepting that there
-are some splendid blue ones of Nectanebo, and smaller ones of bright
-colour with ink inscriptions of private persons of his time.
-
-About the XXVIth dynasty, glazed figures of the gods were made for
-popular use, and by about 300 B.C. they appear in vast numbers, very
-roughly moulded. Some of the earlier pieces are very beautifully
-modelled, and glazed so exactly that the hollows are not at all filled
-up. A head of Isis (fig. 118), and a half-length figure of a fan-bearer
-(fig. 119) are perhaps the finest pieces of such work. The latter
-figure is remarkable for the vigour of the muscles and the overbearing
-official dignity of the expression.
-
-Great numbers of amulets were also made to be buried with the mummies
-or worn by the living. The earlier examples are fairly modelled, of
-apple-green tint; in Persian times they are sharp and dry in form and
-of an olive-grey colour, but they became very roughly and coarsely
-moulded in Ptolemaic times. There are some interesting modelled heads
-of this age, covered with blue or green glaze, such as a Ptolemaic
-queen, and a woman wearing a face veil. Vases of Greek and Roman styles
-were also common. A delicate thin ware with Assyrianesque figures, in
-white on a slightly sunk blue ground, was made in the Persian time and
-continued into the Ptolemaic age. Large blocks for legs of furniture,
-and stands, were also made now. The characteristic colours are of a
-dark Prussian blue bordering on violet, and an apple-green.
-
-In the Roman age there is an entirely new style. The body of the vase
-is of a purple-black colour, with a wreath of bright green leaves
-around it. Such continued almost to Coptic times. The bulk of the
-Roman glaze is of coarse forms, and bright Prussian blue in tint. The
-vases have animals in relief, apparently under Persian influence. The
-flat trays with straight sides are copies of the silver dishes of the
-time. The old style of glazing continued down to Arab times; a steatite
-amulet, in the cutting, and colour of the glaze, might well have been
-of the Shishak age, but for the Arabic inscription upon it. And at the
-present day some creditable imitations of ancient glazing are made for
-fraudulent trade at Thebes.
-
-Turning to the more technical matters, the body of the ware is always
-a porous, friable, siliceous paste; in some cases so soft that it can
-be rubbed away from the broken surfaces by the finger. The unglazed
-beads and figures occasionally found can hardly be handled without
-breaking. This paste was moulded roughly into form, and when dry it
-was graved with a point to give the detail. If it broke in the fingers
-a good figure would be stuck together again with a scrap of the paste
-before glazing. Large objects were made in sections, dried and baked,
-and then joined up with some of the same paste, and re-baked before
-covering with glaze. In the XXVIth dynasty there is a beautiful hard
-stoneware, apparently made by mixing some glaze with the body, enough
-to fuse it together into a solid mass throughout. The surface of these
-works is always very fine and smooth, without any face glaze, but only
-the compact polished body. The usual colour is apple-green, but violet
-is sometimes found in the early examples of the XVIIIth dynasty.
-
-The colours were rarely anything beyond shades of green and blue.
-These were produced by compounds of copper; the blue is especially
-free from iron, which even in traces produces a green tint. The blue
-if exposed to damp fades white; the green changes to brown, owing to
-the decomposition of green silicate of iron and the production of
-brown oxide of iron. This decomposition may go on beneath an unbroken
-polished face of glaze, changing the glaze to brown. The shades of
-blue and green were all experimentally produced in modern times by Dr
-Russell, F.R.S., who succeeded in exactly copying the purple blue,
-full blue, light blue and French blue, and the green-blues and full
-greens in more than a hundred tints. The method was indicated by the
-half-baked pans of colour found at Tell-el-Amarna. Quartz rock pebbles
-had been collected, and served for the floor of the glazing furnaces.
-After many heatings which cracked them they were pounded into fine
-chips. These were mixed with lime and potash and some carbonate of
-copper. The mixture was roasted in pans, and the exact shade depended
-on the degree of roasting. The mass was half fused and became pasty;
-it was then kneaded and toasted gradually, sampling the colour until
-the exact tint was reached. A porous mass of frit of uniform colour
-results. This was then ground up in water, and made into a blue or
-green paint, which was either used with a flux to glaze objects in
-a furnace, or was used with gum or white of egg as a wet paint for
-frescoes.
-
-The ovens were small, about two or three feet across; cylindrical pots
-were set upside down and a fire lighted between them, and the pans
-of colour rested on the bottom edges of the pots. In Roman times the
-glazing furnaces were about eight feet square and deep, with an open
-arch to windward half way up. The vases and dishes were stacked in
-the furnace upon cylinder pots, and the successive dishes in the piles
-were kept apart by cones of pottery nearly an inch high. The failure of
-a furnace-load has revealed the system; by too long heating the glaze
-soaked through the porous body, and it all settled down and partly fell
-to pieces.
-
-The other colours used were: for the red a body mixed with haematite
-and covered with a transparent glaze; bright yellow, the composition
-of which is unknown; violet in various depths, from a faint tinge on
-the white lotus petals to a deep strong colour, probably made by copper
-blue and one of the purples; purple in various strengths from a rich
-bright tint upon white to a black purple for designs upon blue, all
-produced by manganese; occasionally purple-blue made with cobalt; dead
-white, which was doubtless produced by tin as at present.
-
-Before leaving the subject of glazing we may notice the system of
-moulding pendants and figures in red pottery moulds, of all sizes from
-a quarter of an inch to three or four inches across. A great variety
-of these is found at Tell-el-Amarna of the XVIIIth dynasty, and at
-Memphis of later periods. They sometimes contain the remains of the
-siliceous paste with which they were choked when they were thrown
-away. At Naukratis hundreds were found for making scarabs for the Greek
-trade. The moulded objects were covered with glazing wash, and put
-into the furnace. Beads were commonly made on a thread, dried, and the
-thread burnt out; they were then dipped in glaze-wash, and fired. In
-early times small beads were rolled between the thumb and finger on the
-thread, producing a long tapering form like a grain of corn.
-
-
-GLASS
-
-There has been much misunderstanding about the age of glass in Egypt.
-Figures of smiths blowing a fire with reeds tipped with clay have been
-quoted as figures blowing glass, though no blown glass is known in
-Egypt before Roman times. A cylinder of glass of King Pepy has been
-quoted; but this is really of clear iceland-spar or selenite lined with
-coloured paste. A panther’s head with the name of Antef V has been
-called glass, but it is really of blue paste. Various pieces of inlaid
-stone jewellery have been mistaken for glass, but none such is known
-till late times.
-
-There does not seem to have been any working of glassy material by
-itself, apart from a base of stone or pottery, until after 1600
-B.C. The earliest dated pieces are an eye of blue glass imitating
-turquoise, with the name of Amenhotep I (1550 B.C.), and a piece of a
-glass vase with an inlaid name of Tahutmes III. Beads of this age are
-plain black with a white spot on opposite sides; black and white glass
-cups probably belong to the same date. The variety of colours quickly
-increased, and by the time of Amenhotep III and IV, about 1400 B.C.,
-there were violet, deep Prussian blue, light blue, green, yellow,
-orange, red (rare), clear white, milky white, and black.
-
-[Illustration: GLASS
-
-120, 121. Vases (XVIIIth dynasty)
-
-122. Mosaic (late)]
-
-The designs were entirely ruled by the method of manufacture. The glass
-was never cast, but was worked as a pasty mass, and all the decoration
-was made by inlaying threads of glass drawn out to various thicknesses.
-The actual production of the glass we deal with below. The patterns
-on a vase or bead were produced by winding threads around the body,
-and then dragging the surface at regular intervals (figs. 120, 121).
-If dragged always in one direction, it made a series of loops or U
-pattern; if dragged alternately each way it made an ogee pattern.
-Around the neck and foot a thick thread was often put on, with a thin
-thread spirally round it, usually white with black spiral. The forms
-of the vases are those usual in other materials at this period, such
-as [Illustration]. This same method was followed in the glass found
-at Cumae near Naples, dating from about 700 B.C. It is distinguished
-from the Egyptian fabric by a duller surface and duller colouring,
-and a common form unknown before is [Illustration]. This later glass
-is usually mixed with the earlier in museums, and occasionally it is
-difficult to distinguish it; but both the forms and the colour leave
-very little doubt as to the age.
-
-This system of winding threads of glass was usual for beads also. A
-mere chip of a glass bead can be distinguished, whether Egyptian or
-Roman, by the direction of the streaks and bubbles in it. The early
-glass is all wound, with lines running around; the Roman glass is all
-drawn out and nicked off, with lines running along; the medieval and
-modern Venetian beads are again wound, and some of the recent ones
-closely imitate Egyptian dragged patterns, but can be distinguished by
-the opacity of most of the colours.
-
-The XVIIIth dynasty workers also cut and engraved glass, though
-but rarely. They sometimes produced a clear glass entirely free of
-colouring, even in a thickness of half an inch. About the XXIIIrd
-dynasty (750 B.C.) a clear, greenish Prussian blue glass was usual for
-beads, and continued to Persian times for scarabs (500 B.C.). Rather
-later, about 400-200 B.C., there appears a large development of opaque
-glass figures of hieroglyphs, cut and polished, to inlay in wooden
-caskets and coffins. Opaque red and blue to imitate jasper and lazuli
-were the most usual colours. Figures of the four genii of the dead
-and other usual amulets were commonly made by pressing the glass into
-moulds while heated. A favourite colouring for such was a deep, clear,
-true blue, backed with opaque white to show up the colour.
-
-About the later Ptolemaic time and through the Roman age the main work
-in glass is that of minute mosaics (fig. 122). They were built up with
-glass rods, heated until they half fused together, and then drawn out
-so as to produce a great length of much reduced section. Thus patterns
-of extreme delicacy were produced; and one single piece of construction
-could be cut across into a hundred slices, each repeating the whole
-design. The patterns are sometimes purely Egyptian, as _ankh_ and _uas_
-alternately, but more usually Roman, such as heads and flower patterns.
-Such mosaics were mounted in jewellery, or, on a coarser scale, set in
-large designs for caskets and temple furniture.
-
-The characteristic of Roman times is the use of blown glass. The cups,
-bottles, and vases were nearly all blown, often with threads woven
-around, dabs attached and impressed, or patterns stamped while soft.
-The feet of cups were modelled into form while pasty, the tool marks
-showing plainly upon them. Ornamental stamps were pressed on soft lumps
-put on the sides of vases. Such stamps became used for official marks,
-and in early Arab times they registered the substance for which the
-glass measure was intended, also the amount of the capacity, and the
-maker’s name in many cases. Another main development of Byzantine and
-Arab glass was for weights, usually to test gold and silver coins, but
-also for larger amounts up to a pound. These weights bear the stamps
-of the Byzantine epochs in a few cases, but are found by the hundred
-of the VIIIth to Xth centuries, and by the thousand of the Xth to XIth
-centuries, dying out at the early crusading age.
-
-We now turn to the purely technical side, to describe the process of
-manufacture in the time of Amenhotep IV, about 1370 B.C., when it is
-best known to us, from the remains of the factory at Tell-el-Amarna. A
-clear glass could be produced, which was usually not quite colourless,
-but sufficiently so to take up various colours. It was free of
-lead and borates, and consisted of pure silica from crushed quartz
-pebbles, and alkali doubtless from wood ashes. It was fused in pans of
-earthenware. This glass was coloured by dissolving the blue or green
-frit in it, or mixing other opaque colours. Samples were taken out by
-pincers to test the colour at different stages. The whole mass was
-fairly fused, and then left to get cold in the earthen pan, which was
-about four or five inches across, and held half an inch to an inch deep
-of the glass. When cold the pan was chipped away, the frothy top of the
-glass was chipped off, and lumps of pure glass were obtained free from
-sediment and scum. A lump of glass thus purified was heated to a pasty
-state, and patted into a cylindrical form, then rolled under a bar of
-metal, which was run diagonally across it, until it was reduced to a
-rod about the size of a lead pencil, or rather less. Such a rod was
-then heated, and drawn out into “cane” about ⅛ inch thick. Every vase
-was built up from such cane.
-
-For making a vase a copper mandril was taken, slightly tapering, of
-the size of the interior of the neck. Upon the end of this was built
-a body of soft siliceous paste, tied up in rag, and baked upon it, of
-the size of the interior of the intended vase. The marks of the string
-and cloth can still be seen inside the vases. On this body of powdery
-material glass cane was wound hot until it was uniformly coated. It was
-re-heated by sticking the end of the mandril into the oven as often
-as needful; glass threads of various colours were wound round it; and
-the whole was rolled to and fro so as to bed in the threads and make a
-smooth surface. A brim, a foot, and handles were attached. Finally, on
-cooling, the copper mandril contracted, and could be taken out of the
-neck, the soft paste could be rubbed out of the interior, and the vase
-was finished. The final face is always a fused surface, and was never
-ground or polished.
-
-A similar mode was followed for the glass beads. The thread of glass
-was wound upon a hot copper wire of the size of the hole required; and
-after piling on enough, and completing the pattern of colour the wire
-contracted in cooling and could be withdrawn. The little point where
-the thread of glass broke off can be seen at each end of the beads.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI
-
-THE POTTERY
-
-
-The varieties of pottery are so extensive that from the prehistoric age
-alone a thousand are figured, and the later ages give at least thrice
-that number. We cannot attempt to give even an outline of a subject
-which alone would far outrun this volume. A single most typical form of
-each main period is here shown, to illustrate the entirely different
-ideas which prevailed.
-
-[Illustration: PRE. I V XII
-
-XVIII XIX XXVI RO.]
-
-_Forms._--In the prehistoric age many of the forms have no marked brim.
-The bowls, conical cups, and jars simply end at a plain edge, like this
-marked Pre. Brims were more usual in the later prehistoric age. A great
-variety of fancy forms appeared--double vases, square bottles, fish,
-birds, or women were modelled; and as the whole pottery was handmade,
-such were no more difficult to make than circular forms. On coming to
-the Ist dynasty the forms were more clumsy, such as that marked I;
-and some of the earlier forms were continued in a very degraded state.
-The main feature is the class of very large jars, two to three feet
-high, which were used for storing food and drink. This class rapidly
-deteriorated and became almost extinct by the IIIrd dynasty. In the
-pyramid age some neatly-made pottery is found; thin sharp-brimmed
-bowls were usual, and the form marked V, with a sharply pointed
-base, was peculiar to this time. By the XIIth dynasty the globular
-or drop-shaped pot was the prevalent type, and varies in size from a
-couple of inches to a couple of feet. Drinking-cups of a hemispherical
-form, very thin, without any brim, are also of this age. The XVIIIth
-dynasty was begun with long graceful forms, such as XVIII; and later
-some beautiful long-necked vases are found. All of these forms rapidly
-degraded in the XIXth dynasty, and ugly small handles come into use,
-probably influenced by Greek design. In the XXVIth dynasty, lids with
-knob handles became common, and accordingly the brim disappeared, and
-a plain edge was used which could be easily capped. The large jars of
-this age are of Greek origin. During the Ptolemaic time debasement went
-on; and the most ugly, smug, commonplace forms belong to the Roman age.
-They are mostly ribbed, as in this marked Ro. The big amphorae begin
-with ribbing in the latter part of the second century, in broad fluting
-curves. These became narrower and sharper, until in the sixth and
-seventh centuries the ribbing had become almost a mere combed pattern
-around the jar. The jars also decreased in size, were thicker, softer,
-and coarser, until the type vanished with the Arab times.
-
-_Decoration._--The earliest painting on prehistoric vases was of white
-slip, in line patterns, copied from basket-work, and rarely in figures,
-such as fig. 65. This white paint was put over a bright red facing of
-haematite; and such red and white pottery is still made with closely
-similar patterns by the mountain tribes of Algeria, where the style
-seems never to have died out. The black tops of the early red vases
-we shall deal with under Materials. The later prehistoric painting
-was in dull red on a buff body, such as fig. 66. In the pyramid age
-there was only a polished red haematite facing, and in the XIIth
-dynasty even this was not used. About the XVIIth dynasty a fine red
-polish was common, which ceased early in the XVIIIth dynasty; white
-on the brims, or dabbed in finger-spots over the inside of saucers,
-was also of the XVIIth dynasty. Black or red edges to pottery next
-appeared, and by Tahutmes III there was a style of narrow black and
-red stripes alternating. The use of blue paint, of copper frit, began
-under Amenhotep II, but it was not usual until Amenhotep III, and it
-was common until the close of the XIXth dynasty, though much flatter
-and poorer than at first. After this there was no decoration on pottery
-until the late Roman time. About the age of Constantine a hard, fine
-pottery came into use, with a thin red wash on it, and often of a pale
-salmon colour throughout. When the southern tribes pushed down into
-Egypt, the brown and red patterns which were usual in Nubia were
-carried with the invaders, and such painting was the main influence in
-the painted Coptic pottery.
-
-_Materials._--The prehistoric pottery of the earlier period is all
-of a soft body, faced with red haematite. As the pots were usually
-baked mouth downward, the brim was covered with the ashes; and these
-not being burnt through, reduced the red peroxide of iron to the
-black magnetic sesqui-oxide, such as is familiar to us in the black
-scale on sheet steel. The interior of the pots is likewise black,
-owing to the reducing gases from the ashes below; rarely the heat
-after the combustion has lasted long enough for the oxygen to pass
-through the pottery, and so redden the inside. Open dishes were
-also haematite-faced inside, and the iron is reduced to a brilliant
-mirror-like coat of black all over. The reason of the polish being
-smoother on the black than on the red parts is that carbonyl gas--which
-is the result of imperfect combustion--is a solvent of magnetic oxide
-of iron, and so dissolves and re-composes the surface facing. On once
-understanding the chemistry of this, it is needless to discuss the
-old idea that smoke blackened this pottery. Smoke--or fine carbon
-dust--could not possibly penetrate through close-grained pottery, and
-the black extends all through the mass, naturally owing to the action
-of reducing gases to which the pottery is quite pervious. There may
-perhaps be some other kinds of black pottery influenced by smoke; but
-it is far more probable that all black pottery is due to black oxide of
-iron produced by imperfect combustion, which is accompanied by smoke.
-
-In the later prehistoric age the pottery has a hard reddish buff body
-with white specks. In the pyramid period a smooth soft brown body is
-usual. Hard drab pottery also appears in the Vth and VIth dynasties. In
-the XIIth dynasty the common soft brown body is general, and extends
-to the XVIIIth. By the middle of the XVIIIth dynasty a hard drab ware
-with white specks and faced with a drab polish is very characteristic,
-and continues into the XIXth. Thence onward the brown body reasserts
-itself, with some inferior greenish drab ware about the XXIInd dynasty.
-Greek clays appear during the XXVIth, but probably all imported from
-Greece. Soft red pottery belongs to the Ptolemaic age. But the old soft
-brown rules in the Roman time, being at its worst in the early Coptic.
-The thin hard ware of the Constantine age is apparently not native, and
-may be due either to Nubian or Roman influence.
-
-_Modelling._--A constant use of pottery for modelling should be
-mentioned, although we cannot illustrate such a large subject here, as
-it is only subsidiary to stone-work in each age. In the prehistoric
-time rude figures are often found, both of men and women. Little is
-known of pottery modelling in the Old and Middle Kingdoms. Rough
-figures of cows are placed upon the brims of bowls about the XIth and
-XIIth dynasties. In the XVIIIth-XXVth dynasties a large use of roughly
-modelled _ushabti_ figures of servants prevailed. But it is rarely
-that the other modelling is apart from foreign influence. A class of
-exquisitely formed figure-bottles, of women and animals, was made of
-fine foreign clay, probably by Greeks, at this age. Also rude solid
-figures of men and horses extend from this time onwards. The great
-age of pottery figures begins with the modelled heads of foreigners
-from the foreign quarter of Memphis, certainly due to Greek admixture.
-These are admirably done, and each hand-modelled singly. They begin
-about 500 B.C., and by about 300 B.C. moulded figures come into use. At
-first these are solid, but from about 200 B.C. down to 300 A.D. they
-are moulded hollow, being made of a front and back half united. The
-enormous number of these figures, and of figure-lamps made similarly,
-is very familiar from the Roman period. It is remarkable what good
-work is shown in some figures even as late as 250 A.D. The late dating
-of the figures and the varieties of the lamps are illustrated in _Roman
-Ehnasya_ from my own excavations.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII
-
-IVORY-WORKING
-
-
-In prehistoric times ivory was much used, doubtless owing to the
-elephant being still abundant in southern Egypt. The natural form of
-the tusk was often left, and the surface worked in low relief; but
-the earlier work was on small pieces, as in figs. 3, 15, 17. Not only
-elephant ivory was used, but also that of the hippopotamus. At the
-beginning of the Ist dynasty ivory was largely used for statuettes and
-carvings. One of the best examples of this school is the figure of the
-aged king (fig. 21). Many other carvings of girls, boys, apes, lions
-and dogs were found with this at Abydos. At Hierakonpolis a great mass
-of ivories was found in a trench six feet long, and many of them have
-been preserved. They are figures of men and women, carved tusks, wands,
-and cylinders. In the tomb of Mena’s queen at Naqadeh were ivory lions
-and dogs, and such were also found in the tomb of King Zer at Abydos,
-used for gaming pieces. All of this early ivory-work is vigorous, and
-has the character and spirit of the early art.
-
-The finest work known in ivory is the portrait of Khufu, the builder of
-the great pyramid (fig. 123). It is here much magnified, as the face
-is only a quarter of an inch high. Yet in this minute space one of the
-most striking portraits has been given. The far-seeing determination,
-the energy and will expressed in this compass, would animate a
-life-size figure; indeed, it would be hard in the illustration to
-distinguish it from a work on a large scale. The correct position of
-the ear should be noted, as it is always put too high up in later
-sculpture. Quite apart from the marvellous minuteness of the work,
-we must estimate this as one of the finest character-sculptures that
-remain to us.
-
-A piece of open work, of a girl standing, is probably of the Old
-Kingdom (fig. 124). It is not of the style of hair or treatment of the
-Middle or New Kingdom; and in the Saitic age, when the older style
-was copied, the work is worse in pose and much more detailed and
-punctilious. There are some beautiful pieces of architectural models in
-ivory, from the inlaying of a casket, and, also, a figure of the Vth
-dynasty.
-
-Of the Middle Kingdom an ivory baboon is perhaps the finest work;
-it has disappeared from the museum when at Bulak, and its place is
-unknown. A broken figure of a boy carrying a calf shows great truth and
-spirit. Ivory was also used for lion-head draughtsmen in the XVIIIth
-dynasty, but there are no fine works of that time.
-
-Of the XXVIth dynasty two fine pieces have been found at Memphis, a
-lotus flower (fig. 125) and a man bearing offerings (fig. 126). These
-had been applied to the sides of caskets or other small woodwork. The
-figure of the man is but a stiff and coarse copy of the Old Kingdom
-work, lacking the truth and freedom of the early time.
-
-There does not seem to have been any distinctive school of ivory-work
-in Egypt. The methods and nature of the objects are just what might
-have been done in stone or in wood at the same period. There is no
-sign of a special development due to the material, as there is in the
-Chinese ivory-carving.
-
-[Illustration: IVORY
-
-123. King Khufu
-
-124. Girl, Old Kingdom
-
-125. Lotus (XXVIth dynasty)
-
-126. Bearer of offerings]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII
-
-WOODWORK
-
-
-[Illustration: FURNITURE
-
-127, 128, 129, 130, 131. Chair, caskets, and bed of Amenhotep III]
-
-Wood was by no means so rare in early times as it is now in Egypt.
-Floyer has shown how much the desert has been stripped by the
-introduction of the tree-feeding camel. We see in the royal tombs of
-the Ist dynasty a large use of wood. The funeral chamber sunk in the
-ground was entirely built of massive beams and planks. The area of this
-room was 900 square feet in the largest tomb, varying down to 300 in
-the lesser. The framing of the floor, the supports, and the roof beams
-were about 10 × 7 inches in section and up to 21 feet in length. The
-planking of the floor still remains 2 to 2½ inches thick; and probably
-that of the roof was equal to it, as it had to bear about three feet
-of sand over it. The great scale of this timber work agrees with the
-“royal axe-man” being one of the high officials; before stone came
-into use, this title was the equivalent of chief architect. Such a
-free use of wood shows that the elaborate framing of façades, which is
-represented as a usual pattern in early stone-work, was actually copied
-from wooden mansions, just as the Greek architecture was an elaborate
-copy of woodwork. At the close of the IIIrd dynasty we have a glimpse
-of the large use of wood for shipbuilding, when Senoferu built in one
-year sixty ships, and imported forty ships of cedar. The great gates of
-the temple enclosures and palaces must also have been massive works;
-the outer and inner pylon at Karnak had gates fifteen feet wide on
-either side, and over sixty feet high.
-
-The wooden coffins of the Old Kingdom are heavy boxes with sides two
-to three inches thick. They are fastened together by bolts of wood;
-and such wooden pegs are run diagonally in different directions so as
-to prevent the parts being separated. Coffins hollowed out of a single
-block, to fit the outline of the mummy, were also used in all the
-earlier periods. In late times such forms were built up of boards.
-
-For securing the joints of furniture from racking, two correct systems
-were used. For chairs, angle-pieces were cut from wood with bent grain,
-and fitted on inside the angles. There must have been a constant
-demand for such bent pieces, and probably they were grown into shape.
-In other cases forms of wood have been found which had clearly been
-grown for many years into the shape required. The angle-pieces can be
-seen under the front of the seat in fig. 128. Another system for stands
-was to put in diagonal bars, as in fig. 130. Sometimes merely the
-stiffness of deep panelling was trusted, as in fig. 129. For the backs
-of chairs an excellent triangular stay was made, as in fig. 127.
-
-The light and skilful forms of the woodwork are well shown in the
-furniture (figs. 127-131) from the tomb of Yuaa and Thuiu, the parents
-of Queen Thyi, in the XVIIIth dynasty. The reliefs on the chair are
-carved in wood and gilded. The decoration on the casket (fig. 129) is
-of blue glazed hieroglyphs and inlays.
-
-Wood was also much used for statuettes. The ebony negress and other
-figures (figs. 40-42) show it on a small scale; larger figures were
-also made, such as several in the Turin Museum, and some of life-size,
-but the latter are coarser in work, as the figure of Sety I in the
-British Museum. A fine figure almost life-size remains from the XIIIth
-dynasty, King Hor, in the Cairo Museum.
-
-A system of inlaying coloured stones, glazes or glass, in wood as a
-basis, is found as early as the Vth dynasty, in the model vases of
-Nofer-ar-ka-ra. In the XVIIIth dynasty this method of decoration is
-seen on the gigantic mummy-cases of the Queens Aah-hotep and Aahmes,
-which were inlaid, probably with lazuli. The inlay was so valuable
-that soon after it was all prised out with the corner of an adze,
-and blue paint substituted for it. In the XXIIIrd dynasty decorative
-figures were wrought in wood, with the whole detail in inlay, as in the
-group of Pedubast. And in the Greek period large wooden coffins were
-encrusted with inlay of coloured glass, and the sides of wooden shrines
-were similarly the basis for brilliant polychrome adornment.
-
-Regarding the methods of woodworking, certainly the axe was the
-primitive tool, as shown by the royal architect being designated by
-the axe. In the scenes of the pyramid age we find the saw about three
-feet long worked with both hands, the mallet and chisel for cutting
-mortise-holes, and the adze in constant use for shaping and for
-smoothing wood. To this day the small adze is a favourite tool of the
-Egyptian carpenter and boat-builder. For smoothing down the caulking
-inside a boat, heavy pounders of stone were used, held by a handle
-worked out on each side of the block. Drills were also commonly used
-both on wood and stone, worked by a bow. The subject of tools and their
-variations is a very wide one, which cannot be entered upon here.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV
-
-PLASTER AND STUCCO
-
-
-In the masonry of the pyramids, plaster is constantly used, both to
-fill joints as a bedding, and to level up hollows in a face. The
-plaster used is a mixture of ordinary lime and plaster of Paris, the
-carbonate and sulphate of lime. How it was introduced into the joints
-of the pyramid casing is a mystery. The blocks at the base weigh
-sixteen tons, so that no free sliding to reduce the joint-filling could
-be done; yet the vertical joint, five feet high and seven feet long,
-is filled with a film of plaster only a fiftieth of an inch thick.
-The joints of the masonry in the passages and chambers are all filled
-with plaster, though so close as to be almost imperceptible. In the
-core masonry a coarse plaster was poured between the stones and filled
-into hollows. The flaws and defects in the faces of stones were freely
-filled with plaster, which was coloured to match the stone. In rock
-tombs plaster was used to fill up cracks and hollows; and it often
-remains in perfect condition while the rock around has decayed.
-
-Plaster was also used on the brick walls, which were faced with a
-hard coat about a tenth to a sixteenth of an inch thick, upon which
-paintings were executed. By the XVIIIth dynasty this became a mere
-whitewash over the mud-facing of the wall. In the roughly-hewn rock
-tombs of that age at Thebes, the jagged surfaces were smoothed by a
-coat of plaster, often two or three inches thick in the hollows. A
-strange use of stucco was for a thin coat over sculpture, as a basis
-for colouring. Such a coat was even laid over statuary. In all ages
-this hid to some extent the full detail of the sculptor’s work in
-reliefs. In the XIIth dynasty the finest lines were hidden by it; and
-on coming down to the Ptolemaic times the plasterer ignored all the
-sculpture below, filling the figures with a smooth daub of plaster
-on which the painter drew what he liked. It seems strange why the
-sculptors should have continued to put fine work and detail on to a
-surface where they were going to be at once ignored. It suggests a
-rigid bureaucracy in which the sculpture had to be passed by one man,
-and the painting by another, without any collaboration.
-
-Stucco was used for independent modelling, as in Italy. It was laid on
-a flat canvas base, stretched over wood, and the whole relief was in
-the stucco. The chariot of Tahutmes IV is one of the main examples of
-such work, of which a small portion is shown in fig. 132. The relief is
-low and smooth, and full of detail; there is none of the sketchy rough
-tooling, as seen in Roman stucco reliefs. Minute details of dress and
-hair are all tooled in, and supply some of the best studies of Syrian
-robes. The varying patterns on the shields of different branches of
-Syrians, the feathering of the arrows, the shape of the daggers, and
-the flowers of the papyrus and lotus of north and south, are all most
-precisely rendered. It would be hard to find any point in which more
-details could be introduced.
-
-[Illustration: PLASTER
-
-132. Stucco relief modelling (XVIIIth dynasty)
-
-133, 134. Plaster castings for studies]
-
-Plaster was also used for casting in moulds, and for making moulds.
-The death mask of Akhenaten shows how such castings were produced in
-the XVIIIth dynasty, from a single mould without any undercutting, to
-serve the purpose of the sculptor as a model. Of later examples of
-such castings we have here a lion’s head and a king’s head (figs. 133,
-134). They were probably made to be supplied as school copies to the
-workshops where the sculptors were trained. Plaster moulds are very
-common at Memphis, and it is said they were even used for casting
-bronze work. This is very doubtful, as plaster is reduced to powder at
-260° C., while moulds for bronze casting must be heated to 1500° to
-1800° C.; they are more probably for casting pewter. Plaster moulds
-were also used for moulding pottery lamps. The oiling of plaster was
-done on painted plaster statuettes, so as to make them waterproof. They
-can still be scrubbed in water without disturbing the colour.
-
-The most artistic use of plaster was for the modelled heads, which
-were placed on mummy cases in Roman times. Though most such works were
-rather crude, some are found which show real ability of portraiture. In
-fig. 135 we have a sympathetic study of the face of a young man. The
-lips are beautifully true, the modelling of the cheek is quite natural,
-the nose and brow well formed; only the eyes have been left blank,
-and marked afterwards with colour. The head, fig. 136, is evidently a
-careful study, giving the cautious, cold expression of the man. Another
-face (fig. 137) is subtle, and full of feeling: the faint smile on the
-lips, the gracious contour of the cheek, the wavy hair, give a memory
-in death of a real personality. The only jarring feature is the square
-brow, copied from an unfortunate convention in Greek art. The eyes
-are here again left blank; but they seem to have been intended to be
-open, by the slight ridge of the raised lid. Was there a convention of
-regarding the dead as incapable of seeing, though seen by memory? How
-far these modelled heads were portraits is answered in a curious way by
-fig. 138. The light outline there is that of the plaster modelling, the
-dark outline within it is the skull from the interior of the coffin.
-It will be seen how exactly they agree; there is a thin skin over the
-forehead, then a fleshy part to the brow. Along the bridge of the nose
-the model closely follows the bone; below the nose the angle of meeting
-of the jaws exactly agrees, leaving a uniform thickness of lips;
-and lastly, the fleshy fulness of the chin is seen projecting. This
-agreement is one which the artist could never have expected to be thus
-tested, and therefore gives us the more confidence in his skill.
-
-[Illustration: PLASTER
-
-135, 136, 137. Modelled heads
-
-138. Modelled head and skull]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XV
-
-CLOTHING
-
-
-Though leather hides, with the hair on, are found over bodies in
-the earliest graves, yet linen cloth was introduced early in the
-prehistoric times, and is frequently found wrapped around the bodies.
-
-On reaching the first dynasty the weaving is seen to be very fine
-and regular, though we only have some of the stuff used for mummy
-wrappings, from the tomb of King Zer. The threads are very uniform,
-and there are 160 to the inch in the warp and 120 in the woof. Modern
-fine cambric has 140 threads to the inch, so it was quite equalled by
-hand work at the beginning of Egyptian history. A group of a dozen
-different cloths on one mummy of the XVIIth dynasty show 138 x 40 and
-128 x 56 as the finest, and 21 x 15 as the coarsest mesh. The greatest
-disproportion of the threads is 138 to 40, or 3½ to 1, and the least
-is 70 to 62, or 9 to 8; it is recognised as a principle of Egyptian
-weaving that the woof was not beaten up as closely as the lay of the
-warp. Unfortunately we have scarcely any cloth except mummy wrappings,
-and it is not to be expected that the finest work would be thus used.
-
-The size of the looms was considerable. The cloths on the mummy just
-named are up to five feet wide; and one edge has been torn off that
-amount, so it was originally more. The pieces are up to sixty feet
-long, and yet not complete. The looms were horizontal on the ground for
-coarse work, such as mats; but fine work was done on a vertical loom,
-and from the ease of displacing threads in tapestry the warp threads
-were separately weighted and not fastened to a beam. Loom weights of
-baked clay or of limestone are common.
-
-[Illustration: CLOTHING
-
-139. Coloured tapestry (XVIIIth dynasty)
-
-140. Cut leather net]
-
-A few pieces of woven tapestry have been found in the tomb of Tahutmes
-IV, and part of one is given here full size in fig. 139. The colours
-used are red, blue, green, yellow, brown and grey. The coloured
-threads pass to and fro over the space assigned to them, thus entirely
-parting the warp threads from the neighbouring ones, so that a slit is
-left along the vertical margins of the colours. This was remedied by
-stitching; but the same weakness is seen in the Roman and Coptic woven
-tapestries. These are known from the pagan period, as there are many
-mythological subjects; but the greater part belong to the Christian and
-Mohammedan ages.
-
-The Roman and Coptic tapestries are placed upon garments as derivatives
-from darning, or from patches put on the garments to prevent them
-wearing through. The positions are broad stripes over the shoulders
-where any object would rest when carried, circular patches on the
-breasts and on the knees. On referring to the hundreds of figures in
-Roman dress from the third to fifth centuries (in Garucci, _Vetri
-ornati di figure in oro_), embroideries or tapestries are unusual in
-Italy. A dozen robes with scrolls or foliage patterns are shown, but
-only three with knee patches, and one of those (xxxi, 1) is a female
-servant holding an Egyptian fan, probably therefore an Egyptian slave.
-It seems, then, that this system of circular patches on the wearing
-parts is not Roman but Egyptian. Beside the woven tapestries, which
-are nearly all in purple, embroidery was done with the needle in white
-thread on the purple ground.
-
-Leatherwork was of importance in Egypt in all ages. The two principal
-arts in it were the appliqué work in colours, and the cutting of
-network. The great example of the appliqué work is the funeral tent
-of Queen Isiemkheb, about 1000 B.C. It was eight feet long and seven
-feet wide, with sides over five feet high. Six vultures are outspread
-along the top, and the sides have a long inscription. The whole of
-the figures and signs are cut out in variously coloured leather, and
-stitched on to the crimson leather ground. This work we can trace in
-the style of earlier decorations, back to the head fillet of Nofert,
-fig. 24. It is also continued down to the present day in the appliqué
-work in coloured stuffs on the inside of Egyptian tents.
-
-The cutting of leather nets was an art of great skill. Rows of slits
-were cut, breaking joint one with other, so that a piece of leather
-could be drawn out sideways into a wide net. One of the most delicate
-of such nets is partly shown in fig. 140. The square patch left in
-the middle of the net was for the wear of sitting on when the net was
-put over the linen waist cloth. Such nets over the cloth are shown in
-the figures of the harvesters, fig. 70, with the slit network and the
-square patch. To cut the leather in such extremely fine threads must
-have required great skill and care; and not only is the leather slit,
-but considerable slips have been removed so as to produce an open net
-close up to the edge band of solid leather; on some edges an inch or
-two is cut away to form one side of the rhombic opening.
-
- * * * * *
-
-In many directions we have now traced the outlines of the artistic
-skill of the Egyptians, but only outlines, which point incessantly to
-the wide spaces that need to be filled in by further detail. Much of
-that has yet to be discovered, but much is ready to hand whensoever
-a careful observer may choose to devote attention to any of the
-branches of art or technical work which we have so briefly noticed.
-In every direction a complete collecting of materials and an adequate
-publication of them would bring a full reward in results.
-
-The powerful technical skill of Egyptian art, its good sense of
-limitations, and its true feeling for harmony and expression, will
-always make it of the first importance to the countries of the West
-with which it was so early and so long connected.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVI
-
-EGYPT’S PLACE IN THE ART OF THE WORLD
-
-
-In the opening chapter we have considered the point of view from which
-the art of Egypt--like that of every other country--must be approached.
-The physical conditions which surround man will necessarily control his
-expression of thought and his perception of beauty. Forms and designs
-growing out of the conditions of one land will be inappropriate in
-another land, and lose most, or all, of their value if transported to
-different surroundings. Hence it is futile to attempt to contrast the
-art of one country directly with that of another. We might as well
-compare the beauty of a tropical garden with that of an alpine forest.
-The only ground of comparison is that of expressing the character and
-emotions of the artists; and that art which conveys the mental state of
-the people most readily is the most perfect art. This criticism leaves
-aside altogether the moral question of our appreciation of the people
-themselves; that does not belong to art but to ethics. And before we
-can begin to judge of that, we must know their surroundings, and the
-position in which they were conditioned in the world.
-
-Our consideration here is with the art. When we look over the varied
-artistic expression of different races, we see that each people has
-seized some one excellence, growing out of its conditions, and adapted
-to its feelings and utilities. We can admire each excellence in turn,
-and see that in each of these qualities no other people has reached the
-same perfection. We must recognise that artistic expression is not only
-shown in sculpture and painting, but in literature, mechanical design,
-and the amenities and adaptation of the social organism.
-
-In Egypt, as we have noticed, the ruling principles of the art are
-durability, strength, and dignity, and such were the features of the
-national character. In vain do we look in any other country for as
-great an expression of any of these principles. And, with the single
-exception of Greece, it was also supreme in precision of work. Its work
-was the true expression of character, and in perfect harmony with the
-nature of the country.
-
-In Crete, so far as we can yet see, the pre-eminent facilities were
-the expression of motion, and the development of decorative form, and
-especially colour, upon pottery. Classical art never attained to the
-skill shown by the prehistoric art in these directions.
-
-In Assyria, figure and animal sculpture stood very high in the best
-period; and the free adaptation of this to the purposes of life, as we
-see in the great development of friezes on the palace walls, was the
-distinguishing feature. No people seem to have lived amidst their art
-more than the Assyrians.
-
-In classical Greece, the supremacy in vital sculpture and architectural
-proportion has so filled the attention of the modern world that the
-higher achievement of surrounding nations in other directions has been
-largely overlooked. In each of the special qualities that we note in
-other peoples the Greeks were their inferiors.
-
-Rome was largely dominated by other races in its development; but in
-the art of civilisation and raising subject peoples, in the shaping
-of life and rule of law, it stood far above any ancient nation. In
-this--as in the arts elsewhere--we must look at its best period, when
-the impartiality and probity of its administrators brought all Greece
-under their sway.
-
-The Celtic and Northern arts stood first in the rhythm of intricate
-decoration, and the subtlety of the curves; the ideal may not appeal
-to us, but no other region has ever produced such perfect and complex
-design.
-
-In Medieval Europe, though sculpture scarcely reached the vitality of
-classical work, yet in expression it stood as high as in any school of
-art; and in the architecture the sense of expansion and aspiration--the
-spiritual aspect--reaches a higher level than man has touched elsewhere.
-
-In Italy, the expression of art in painting was its great achievement,
-in harmony with the character of grace seen in other lines of Italian
-production.
-
-The Persian and Mesopotamian civilisation triumphed in its glorious use
-of coloured glaze decoration, which has been carried westward to Syria
-and Rhodes, and still continues in the vast domes of coloured tiles in
-Spain.
-
-In Arab art we meet the exquisite calm of geometrical design with
-various angles, which cannot be analysed at a glance like a Roman
-pavement: they arrest the eye to linger over them, to seek how they
-arise, and what they mean.
-
-Further east, it is difficult for us to enter sufficiently into the
-fundamental feelings of the races, to enable us to value their art
-truly. But we can at least feel the grand sense of profusion when
-looking at the mountainous structures of the immense topes and pagodas
-of India, peopled with innumerable figures on countless stages. To the
-minds which produce and live amongst such forms, all other work must
-seem poor and bare. In Chinese art we can admire the fine adaptation
-and the sense of minute perfection in the articles before us, the
-dignity and reserve shown; and, in the literature, even a stranger to
-the land can feel the intimate harmony with Nature, and the mystic
-sense of mood in the mountains and trees and lakes around. Hardly any
-other poetry that we know touches the spirit of life so essentially.
-
-The facile Japanese may well claim an unsurpassed skill and deftness
-in the painting of Nature, and a power to grasp the greatest amount
-of reality with the least means. Their perception of Nature in its
-strange and mysterious moods, which they show by the brush, is almost
-as penetrating as in the literature of China. Their exquisite sense of
-fitness, and of taste for beauty of workmanship, only makes us begin to
-realise the clumsiness of our own cast-iron performances.
-
-To wander so far from Egypt may seem needless; and it would be so if
-the essentials of other arts were more familiar in English works. We
-have read lately of an alleged “tyranny of the Nile”; but the real
-tyranny over English minds for a century past has been the “tyranny of
-the Hellene.” The one side of art in sculpture has obscured all others;
-and the English mind has, with its usual idolatry, made the standard of
-Greece its sole measure. We need to see that a dozen national arts have
-each been supreme over the others in some one aspect. Then we shall
-see how meaningless it is to contrast the excellence of one national
-art with another. Each country has to confess that it has only fully
-expressed one aspect out of many in the immense range of human life.
-
-Now we can begin to see the real meaning of the so-called limitations
-of Egyptian art. Every people has had its limitations likewise, fitting
-it to its conditions; and if we look at them all impartially, and not
-by the standard of any one of them, we shall see that the deficiencies
-and limitations of most races are of much the same extent. If the
-Egyptian had tried to render not only character, but emotion also, he
-would have been defying his true conditions, as much as if we put a
-dado of Persian glazed tiles on the Parthenon. To refer this artistic
-perception to the uniformity of the Nile, is about as true as if
-we attributed any deficiencies in German art or literature to the
-prevalence of cold and snow, which is a far greater tyranny than the
-inundation. Every physical circumstance is a factor in human work,
-but none of them singly dominates it. There is no point in calling
-the Egyptian childish in his abilities, as every other nation has
-been equally childish in some other respects--the Roman in his abject
-submission to omens, the Greek in playing with words, the Assyrian
-in his inaccuracy, the Arab in his drawing. In short, there is no
-essential difference in the capacity for showing national life and
-feeling by the art of each country; and in the facility and truth of
-expression Egypt stands in the first rank of those lands where Art has
-exhibited the character of man.
-
-
-
-
-INDEX
-
-
- Aah-hotep jewellery, 91, 92.
-
- Aahmes I, jewellery, 92.
- II, inlaid hawk-head, 103.
-
- Aahmes-si neit-rannu (fig. 9), 21.
-
- Abu Simbel, 28.
-
- Accuracy of work, 81, 82.
-
- Ainofer servant, 16.
-
- Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV), art of, 20, 53;
- sculpture, 41;
- relief, 53;
- death mask, 144.
-
- Alabaster sculpture, 25;
- vases, 78.
-
- Amenardys, statue of, 26, 44.
-
- Amenemhat, III, 39, 88.
-
- Amenhotep, I, 120.
- II, 26, 111, 129.
- III, 26, 28, 53, 111, 120, 129.
- official of, 41.
- IV, 26, 111, 120.
-
- Amethyst beads, 80, 86.
-
- Amulets of stone, 79.
- of glaze, 114.
-
- Animals, real and mythical, 49.
-
- Antef V, 119.
-
- Antimony used, 104.
-
- Arab art, 155.
-
- Arch avoided externally, 6.
- known early, 64.
- form of brick, 64.
- built without centring, 65.
-
- Architecture, 62-68.
-
- Armlets of flint, 81. _See_ Bangles.
-
- Art belongs to country, 1, 2, 152.
- absent from copying, 2, 53.
- conditions in Egypt, 2.
-
- Art dominated by strong light, 3.
- accepted strong contrasts, 4.
- ruled by level and vertical lines, 5.
- analysis by Tolstoy, 7.
- expression of character, 7-10, 19.
- truth of Egyptian, 9.
- greatest under pyramid kings, 16, 17.
- rapidity of development, 17, 51.
- decay of, 18.
- of character and of emotion, 19.
- of different peoples, 153-156.
-
- Asiatic conquests influence art, 19.
-
- Assyria, art of, 154.
-
- Aswan, school of, 27.
-
- Axe of Aahmes, 92.
-
-
- Baboon, ivory, 136.
-
- Bak-en-khonsu, head of, 44.
-
- Bangles, 94. _See_ Bracelets, Armlets.
-
- Basalt, green, sculpture in, 24, 40.
- black, for building, 70.
-
- Basalt, used for vases, 78.
-
- Beads, materials of, 80.
- gold, 84.
- open-work, 94.
- glazed, 119.
- glass, 121, 125.
-
- Bee amulet, 80.
-
- Blue, manufacture of, 117.
- paint on vases, 129.
-
- Bracelets of Zer, 84.
- of Aah-hotep, 92.
- of Ramessu II, 93.
- silver, 93.
- gold, 95.
- Coptic, 95.
-
- Brick building, sloping inward, 62.
-
- Bronze, use of, 100, 101.
- origin of, 101.
-
- Building transport, 74.
-
- Bull hunt, 54.
-
- Bull trampling on enemy, 14.
-
- Bull’s head amulet, 79.
-
- Bushman type, 29.
-
- Button seals, 86.
-
-
- Canon of drawing figures, 50.
-
- Capitals, early forms of, 67.
-
- Captives, influence on art, 19.
-
- Casting of gold, 85, 89.
- of bronze, 101.
- in plaster, 144.
-
- Ceiling pattern, 58.
-
- Celtic art, 157.
-
- Chains, patterns of, 86, 91.
-
- Character in art, 8, 9, 19.
-
- Chinese art, 156.
-
- Civil service, organizing, 16.
-
- Claw amulet, 79.
-
- Cleopatra Cocce (Ptolemaic), 21.
-
- Cloison inlaying, 87-89, 93, 95.
-
- Cobalt colour of glaze, 118.
-
- Colossi, raising of, 77.
- weight of, 26.
-
- Colours, making of, 117.
-
- Columns, palm, lotus, polygonal, 67.
-
- Comparative art, 152.
-
- Conditions of Egyptian art, 2-5.
-
- Conquest of Egypt by artistic race, 14.
-
- Constantine, pottery of, 129, 131.
-
- Contrasts of desert and cultivation, 4.
-
- Conventions absent in early art, 15, 35, 36.
-
- Copper, colours from, 116-118.
-
- Copper work, 98-100.
-
- Coptic pottery, painted, 130.
- tapestry, 148.
-
- Copying, a degradation, 2, 17, 20, 21.
-
- Cornice, origin of, 63.
-
- Crete, art of, 153.
-
- Crocodile amulet, 79.
-
- Crowns of XIIth Dynasty, 88.
-
- Cumaean glass, 121.
-
-
- Daggers of Aahmes, 92.
-
- Degradation of art, 17, 20, 51.
-
- Deir el Bahri, 5, 52.
-
- Desert, contrasts of, 4.
- art in Eastern, 25, 39.
-
- Detail, treatment of, 18.
-
- Diorite, sculpture in, 24, 34, 70, 78.
-
- Divisions, political and artistic, v.
-
- Drawing, 58-61.
-
- Dressing stone faces, 71, 72.
-
- Drills, tubular, 72.
- flint, 79.
-
- Dynastic new art, 14, 30.
-
- Dynasty I, 14, 49, 84-86, 108, 126, 135, 147.
- II, 32.
- IV, 16, 50, 129, 135.
- V, 67, 127, 131, 140.
- VI, 17, 86, 109, 131.
- XI, 17, 51.
- XII, 18, 26, 27, 36, 52, 87, 110, 127, 129, 131, 136.
- XVIII, 19, 26, 27, 40, 52, 91, 110, 120, 128, 129, 131, 139, 140,
- 143, 144, 148.
- XIX, 20, 27, 53, 92-94, 113, 128, 129, 131.
- XX, 21, 54.
- XXIII, 94, 113, 121.
- XXVI, 21, 54, 113, 128, 131, 136.
- Ptolemaic, 21, 95, 115, 131.
- Roman, 22, 95, 115, 123, 131, 145.
-
-
- Earrings, 93, 94.
- Coptic, 95.
-
- Embroidery, 149.
-
- Emery, used for cutting, 72, 73.
-
- Emotional art, 19.
-
- Enamel, Roman, 94.
-
- Eye amulet, 80.
-
- Eyes inserted in copper frames, 33.
- relation to brow, 36, 40.
- gibbous and narrow, 37, 38.
- not detailed, 77, 145, 146.
-
-
- Fan bearer, figure of, 114.
-
- Figures, canon of drawing, 50.
- modelled in pottery, 132.
-
- Fish offerers, 39.
-
- Fist amulet, 80.
-
- Flask of bronze, 101.
-
- Flint drills, 79.
- working, 80.
-
- Floret crown, 88.
-
- Fluted metal vases, 101.
-
- Fly amulet, 79.
-
- Foil, impressed, 86, 90, 93, 94.
-
- Foreign influences on art, vi.
-
- Foundations, 74.
-
- Frog amulet, 79, 80.
-
- Furnaces for glazing, 117, 118.
-
- Furniture, 138, 139.
-
-
- Gates of temples, immense, 138.
-
- Gazelles of palm, 15, 49.
-
- Geese of Medum, 56.
-
- Gilding, 84, 96.
-
- Girl somersaulting, 59.
-
- Glass, 119, 125.
- earliest, 119.
- black and white, 120.
- varied colours, 120, 122.
- patterns on, 120.
- forms of vases, 121.
- beads, 121, 125.
- engraved, 121.
- mosaic, 122.
- blown, 123.
- weights, 123.
- manufacture of, 123-125.
-
- Glazed ware, 107-119.
- origin of, 107.
- two-coloured, 108.
- tiles, 108.
- tablets, 109.
- colours of, 109-115, 118.
- pendants, 112.
- architectural, 112.
- ushabtis, 113.
- figures, 114.
- late, 114, 115.
- body, 115.
- stone ware, 116.
- decomposition of, 116.
- manufacture of frit, 117.
- moulded, 118.
- inlay in wood, 140.
-
- Glazing on quartz, 107.
- on pottery, 108, 115.
-
- Gleaners, paintings of, 56, 57.
-
- Gold, sources of, 83.
- leaf, 84, 96.
-
- Gold casting, 85, 89.
- wire, 85, 86, 90.
- soldering, 85, 86, 90.
- base, 94.
- over plaster, 95.
-
- Granite, black, school of, 24.
- red, school of, 27.
- temple, 65.
- quarrying, 70, 71.
- sawn, 72.
-
- Granulated work, 90.
-
- Greek art, 154, 157.
- influence in Egypt, 47, 146.
- pottery figures, 132.
-
-
- Hammer dressing of stone, 74.
-
- Hand amulet, 80.
-
- Hand work on stone vases, 78.
-
- Harvest scenes, 56, 57.
-
- Hatshepsut, sculpture of, 52.
-
- Hawk amulet, 79.
- protecting king, 35.
-
- Heads modelled in plaster, 145, 146.
-
- Helwan quarries, 70.
-
- Hieroglyphs, cutting of, 74.
-
- Hor, statue of, 42, 139.
-
- Hyaena and bull relief, 14, 49.
-
- Hyksos type, so-called, 24, 37, 38.
-
-
- Indian art, 156.
-
- Inlaid metal, 92, 103.
-
- Iron, rare appearances of, 104.
- sources of, 105.
- tools, 106.
- cores for bronze, 102.
-
- Isiemkheb, tent of, 150.
-
- Isis, head of, 114.
-
- Italy, art of, 155.
-
- Ivory carving, prehistoric, 12, 134.
- Ist dynasty, 31, 32, 134.
- IVth dynasty, 135.
- XIIth dynasty, 136.
- XXVIth dynasty, 136.
-
-
- Jackal head amulet, 80.
-
- Japanese art, 156.
-
- Jewellery, 83-97.
-
-
- Ka-aper, 33.
-
- Kauat, princess, 51.
-
- Keft inlaying, 103.
-
- Kha-em-hat, tomb of, 20.
-
- Khafra, statue of, 34.
- accuracy of, 82.
-
- Khaker ornament, 64.
-
- Kha-sekhem, head of, 32.
-
- Khety, copper brazier of, 99.
-
- Khufu, organizing by, 16.
- figure of, 34, 135.
- accuracy of, 81.
-
- Koptos, colossi from, 30.
-
-
- Lazuli beads, 80, 85.
- inlaying, 88, 91.
-
- Lead used, 103.
-
- Leather the earliest clothing, 147.
- appliqué work, 149.
- slit network, 150.
-
- Lifting of stones, 75.
-
- Light, conditions of strong, 3.
-
- Limitations of national arts, 157.
-
- Limestone sculpture, school of, 25.
- earliest, 31.
- working in, 69.
-
- Linen, fineness of, 147.
-
- Lines level and vertical in Egypt, 5.
-
- Lion, figures of, 30, 39.
- amulet, 80.
-
- Literature compared with art, 7, 8.
-
- Looms, 148.
-
- Lotus capitals, 67.
- flower, ivory, 136.
-
-
- Manganese colour of glaze, 118.
-
- Mastaba tomb-chapels, 16, 50.
-
- Materials of sculpture, 23.
-
- Medieval European art, 155.
-
- Medinet Habu temple, 66.
-
- Memphis, head from, 46.
-
- Mendes bowls, 96.
-
- Menkaura, accuracy of, 82.
-
- Mentu-em-hat, head of, 46.
-
- Merenptah, 44.
-
- Mertitefs, queen, 32.
-
- Middle kingdom style, 17, 18.
- statuary, 36-40.
-
- Min, statues of, 30.
-
- Modelling in pottery, 132.
-
- Mosaics of glass, 122.
-
- Moulding by pressure, 90.
-
- Moulds for casting copper, 99, 100, 102.
- for glazed ware, 118.
- of plaster, 144, 145.
-
- Mykenaean style of inlays, 92.
-
-
- Narmer, 31, 49.
-
- National arts, 157.
-
- Naturalism of early art, 17.
- later, 20.
-
- Necklace fastening, 91, fig. 109, 93.
-
- Necklets of silver, 95.
-
- Negress statuette, 43.
-
- New Kingdom, 18-20.
- statuary, 40-45.
-
- Nofert, head of, 33.
-
- Nubian sandstone, 27, 69.
-
-
- Obelisks, raising of, 77.
- transport of, 77.
-
- Observation in early art, 15.
-
- Organization, system of social, 16.
-
- Ovens for glazing, 117.
-
- Oxherd, 51.
-
- Ox, sacrifice of, 51.
-
-
- Pafaabast statuette, 94.
-
- Painting on tombs, 19.
- earliest, 55.
- in New Kingdom, 56-60.
- light and shade, 59.
-
- Palettes of slate, 13.
-
- Palm capital, 67.
- scenery, 4.
-
- Palm-stick construction, 63.
-
- Papyrus structures, 64.
- capital, 67.
-
- Pectorals of Senusert II, 87;
- Senusert III, 87;
- Amenemhat III, 88;
- Ramessu II, 93.
-
- Pedubast, 140.
-
- Pelicans, painting of, 56.
-
- Pepy, copper statue of, 99.
-
- Periods of art, 11-21.
-
- Persian glazing, 155.
-
- Pewter, 104.
-
- Plaited wire chains, 91.
-
- Planes for testing faces, 72.
-
- Plaster, 142-146.
- in masonry, 142.
- coating statues, 143.
- modelling, 144-146.
- castings, 144.
- moulds, 144, 145.
- heads, 145, 146.
- oiled, 145.
-
- Political divisions different from artistic, v.
-
- Porphyry used for vases, 78.
-
- Portraiture, late, 22, 38.
-
- Pot metal, 103.
-
- Pottery, 126-133.
- forms, 126.
- decoration, 128.
- materials, 130.
-
- Pottery, modelling, 132.
-
- Prehistoric character of art, 12, 13.
- statuary, 29, 30.
- reliefs, 48.
- painting, 55.
- stone vases, 78.
- amulets, 79.
-
- Princesses, fresco, 58.
-
- Ptolemaic art, 21.
-
- Pyramid age, 15.
- sculpture, 32-36.
-
- Pyramids, accuracy of, 81, 82.
-
-
- Qualities of Egyptians, 8, 9.
-
- Quarrying, modes of, 70, 71.
-
- Quartzite sandstone school, 26, 41.
-
-
- Races, types of, 60.
-
- Ra-hesy, panel of, 50, _frontispiece_.
-
- Rameses II, 24, 25, 27, 44, 113.
- III, 54.
- XII, 94.
-
- Ramesseum arches, 64.
-
- Ranofer, statue of, 36.
-
- Reliefs, quality of, 18, 48.
- oldest, 48.
- pyramid age, 50.
- Middle Kingdom, 51.
- New Kingdom, 52.
- late, 54.
- sunk, 52.
-
- Rock cutting, 70, 71.
-
- Roll at corner of building, 63.
-
- Rome, art of, 157.
-
-
- Sacrifice of ox, 51.
-
- Sandstone, Nubian, 27.
- quartzite, 26.
-
- Sawing of hard stones, 72.
-
- Scaffolding of brick, 74.
-
- Scenery, influence of, 4, 5.
-
- Scenes dominate wall surfaces, 3.
-
- Schools of art, 22.
-
- Scribe, figure of, 35.
-
- Sculptors, training of, 17, 77.
-
- Sculpture dominated by architecture and conditions, 6.
-
- Seals of gold, 86.
-
- Senoferu, 16.
-
- Senusert I, 37, 53.
- II, 82, 87.
- III, 38, 39, 87.
-
- Serapeum pectoral, 92.
-
- Sety I, 53, 61, 113, 139.
- II, 93, 112.
-
- Shells of gold, 86, 91.
-
- Sheykh el Beled statue, 33.
-
- Ship, painting of, 55.
- building, 138.
-
- Shrines of palm sticks, 63.
-
- Silsileh sandstone, 27, 69.
-
- Silver, early, 96.
- historic, 96.
- bowls, 96.
-
- Slate palettes, 13, 49.
-
- Sleep, position in, 31.
-
- Social organization, 16.
-
- Soldering, 85, 86, 90, 103.
-
- Spear-head amulet, 79.
-
- Spinning metal bowls, 96.
-
- Statuary, painted, 8.
- local art, 23.
- earliest, 29.
- pyramid age, 32-36.
- Middle Kingdom, 36-40.
- New Kingdom, 40-45.
- late, 45-47.
- outlined and cut, 77.
-
- Steatopygous type, 29.
-
- Steel tools, 106.
-
- Stone buildings copied from brick, 62.
- copied from wooden, 62.
-
- Stone vases, 78.
-
- Stones, moving of, 74.
-
- Stucco on wood statues, 33, 44, 143.
- _See_ Plaster, modelling, 144.
-
- Study in limestone, earliest, 31.
-
- Syenite used for vases, 78.
-
- Syrian influence, 19, 66.
-
-
- Taharqa, head of, 44.
-
- Tahutmes I, 19.
- II, 40.
- III, 19, 40, 110, 120, 129.
- IV, 148, xvi, fig. 139.
-
- Takushet inlaid statue, 103.
-
- Tapestry, woven, 148.
- use of, on clothing, 149.
-
- Tausert, 94.
-
- Temple, circuit wall, 65.
- of Khafra, 65.
- of Medinet Habu, 66.
- of Dakkeh, 66.
-
- Tin, sources of, 100.
- used, 104.
-
- Tiryns, stone-sawing at, 73.
-
- Toilet tray figures, 43.
-
- Tolstoy’s analysis of art, 7.
-
- Tombs, early sculptured, 16.
- later painted, 19, 56.
-
- Tools of modern types, 106.
-
- Torus roll, origin of, 63.
-
- Training of artists, 17.
-
- Trichinopoly pattern chains, 91.
-
- Tubular drills, 72.
-
- Turin statue of Ramessu II, 44.
-
- Turquoise beads, 80, 85.
-
- Tut-ankh-amen, 42.
-
-
- Ushabtis of glazed ware, 113.
- of pottery, 132.
-
-
- Vases of bronze, 99, 101.
- of glass, 121, 124.
- of pottery, 127-133.
- of stone, prehistoric, 78.
- from Eastern desert, 25.
-
-
- Wall surfaces dominated by scenes, 3.
-
- Wax used for modelling, 89, 102.
-
- Weaving, fineness of, 147, 148.
-
- Wigs, prehistoric, 30.
- put on over hair, 33.
-
- Wire, 85, 86, 90.
- amulets, 90.
- plaited chains, 91.
-
- Wooden statues stuccoed, 33, 34.
- sculpture, 42.
-
- Woodwork, 137-141.
- early, 137.
- shipbuilding, 138.
- doors, 138.
- coffins, 138.
- furniture, 138, 139.
- statuettes, 43, 139.
- inlaid, 140.
- methods, 140.
-
- Writing, start of, 14.
-
-
- Youths’ and maids’ procession, 54.
-
-
- Zer, bracelet of, 84.
- linen of, 147.
-
- Zeser, glazed tiles of, 109.
-
-
-
-
-PUBLICATIONS ON SUBJECTS OF THIS VOLUME
-
-
-By Prof. PETRIE _where not otherwise stated_
-
-
- General. Bissing, _Denkmaeler Aegypt. Sculptur_; Capart,
- _Recueil de Monuments_. _Decorative Art in
- Egypt_; _Racial Portraits_; _Student’s History,
- I, II, III_.
-
- Prehistoric. Capart, _Primitive Art in Egypt_. _Naqada, Diospolis_.
-
- I-II Dynasty. _Royal Tombs, I, II_; _Abydos, I, II_; Quibell,
- _Hierakonpolis, I, II_; _Koptos_.
-
- III _Medum._ Garstang, _Mahasna_ (E.R.A.).
-
- IV _Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh._
-
- V _Deshasheh._ Murray, _Saqqara Mastabas_. (E.R.A.);
- Davies, _Mastaba of Ptah-hetep_; Weigall, _Die
- Mastaba des Gem ni kai_.
-
- VI-XI _Dendereh._
-
- XI Naville, _Deir el Bahari, XI dynasty_.
-
- XII _Kahun._ _Illahun._ _Memphis, II_ (E.R.A.); Newberry,
- _Beni Hasan_. Houses in _Gizeh and Rifeh_ (E.R.A.).
-
- XVIII _Qurneh_ (E.R.A.); Naville, _Deir el Bahari, I-VI_.
- _Researches in Sinai_; _Tell el Amarna_; Davies,
- _Rock Tombs of El Amarna._
-
- XIX Caulfield, _Temple of the Kings_ (E.R.A.); Murray,
- _The Osireion_ (E.R.A.); _Six Temples at Thebes_.
-
- XXVI _Tanis, Nebesheh, and Defenneh_; _Naukratis_.
- Greek terra-cotta heads in _Memphis I_ (E.R.A.).
-
- Ptolemaic _Athribis._
-
- Roman Portraits in _Hawara_; _Kahun_; terra-cottas in
- _Roman Ehnasya_.
-
- Popular small volumes: _Ten Years’ Digging_, 6s.;
- _Egyptian Tales_, i, ii, 3s. 6d.; _Religion and
- Conscience_, 2s. 6d.; _Methods and Aims in
- Archaeology_, 6s.; _Religion of Ancient Egypt_, 1s.;
- _Personal Religion in Egypt before Christianity_,
- 2s. 6d.
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- E.R.A. Publications of Egyptian Research Account.
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-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Arts and Crafts of Ancient Egypt, by
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