Fig. 1. Bronze bracelet, or bangle, in the Museum of Alnwick Castle. 2. Gold bracelet in the Leyden Museum, bearing the name of Thothmes III., 1 inch high, and 3 inches in diameter. 3. Scarabæus of amethyst, with a sphinx, emblematic of the king trampling on a prostrate enemy; over it is the expression "Good God, Lord of the world." 4. A gold signet, mentioned in the last page. 5, 6, 7. The three other sides of the plinth. 8. A gold ring. 9. The engraved face of it. 10. A gold earring, about 1 inch in diameter. 11. The face of it, of the real size. 12. A gold ring, in my possession, four fifths of an inch in diameter. 13. Gold ring with two asps. 14. A snake bracelet of gold. A stone scarabæus. 16. Gold earring. 17. Gold earring with two pearls, a and b. 18, 19, 20. Other gold earrings. 21. Gold earring, 1 inch high and six tenths broad. 22, 23. Ring of porcelain, or blue glazed pottery, Museum of Alnwick Castle.

15.

of the 18th dynasty; on the other a lion, with the legend "lord of strength," referring to the monarch; on one side a scorpion, and on the other a crocodile.

Two cats sitting back to back, and looking round towards each other, with an emblem of the goddess Athor between them, seem to have been a favourite device on gold rings; and I have seen three or four of this pattern. (fig. 11.)

They also had large gold anklets or bangles, armlets, and bracelets, frequently inlaid with precious stones or enamel, and worn by men as well as women. Some were simple bands or rings of metal; others in the shape of snakes—the last a favourite device among women in all ages, who still continue to be ignorant of the connection between their taste and Eve's temptation by the serpent, so gravely set forth by Clemens in condemnation of this graceful ornament. Kings are often represented with armlets and bracelets; and in the Leyden Museum is a gold bracelet bearing the name of the third Thothmes, which was doubtless once worn by that monarch. (fig.2.)

Handsome and richly-ornamented necklaces were a principal part of the dress, both of men and women; and some idea may be formed of the number of jewels they wore, from those borrowed by the Israelites at the time of the Exodus, and by the paintings of Thebes. They consisted of gold, or of beads of various qualities and shapes, disposed according to fancy, generally with a large drop or figure in the centre. Scarabæi, gold, and cornelian bottles, or the emblems of Goodness and Stability, lotus flowers in enamel, amethysts, pearls, false stones, imitations of fish, frogs, lions, and various quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, flies, and other insects, shells and leaves, with numerous figures and devices, were strung in all the variety which their taste could suggest; and the sole museum of Leyden possesses an infinite assortment of those objects, which were once the pride of the ladies of Thebes.

Some wore simple gold chains in imitation of string, to which a stone scarabæus, set in the same precious metal, was appended; but these probably belonged to men, like the torques of the

471.

Various necklaces.

From the Leyden Museum.

B is composed of small covered cups, of bronze gilt. Ib is the other end of I a. These leaves are of gold, inlaid with lapis lazzuli and green and red Ma, a sort of gold torques or chain, of which a stone scarabæus found in gold forms the centre ornament. U, in the possession of the late Mr. V W X Y Z, gold catches of necklaces, one sliding into the other.

stones. Madox.

Romans.* A set of small cups, or covered saucers, of bronze gilt, hanging from a chain of the same materials, were sometimes worn by women, a necklace of which has been found, belonging to a Theban lady-offering a striking contrast in their simplicity to the gold leaves inlaid with lapis lazzuli,† red and green stones, of another she wore, which served, with many more in her possession, to excite the admiration of her friends. The devices engraved on scarabæi, rings, and other objects of ornamental luxe, varied according to the caprice of individuals. Rings frequently bore the name of the wearer; others of the monarch in whose reign he lived; others, again, the emblems of certain deities; and many were mere fanciful combinations. The greater number consisted of scarabæi, mounted upon a gold ring passing through them: the scarabæus itself of was green stone, cornelian, hæmatite, granite, serpentine, agate, lapis lazzuli, root of emerald, amethyst, and other materials; and a cheaper kind was made of limestone, stained to imitate a harder and dearer quality; or of the ordinary blue pottery. Cylinders of stone or blue pottery, bearing devices or hieroglyphics, were also common in necklaces and as signets, one of which, bearing the name of Osirtasen I. (in the Alnwick Museum), proves them to have been of the earliest date in Egypt, and the origin of, rather than derived from, the Cylinders of Assyria. From the number of scarabæi discovered, some have hastily supposed they served as money; but they were either ornamental, funereal, or historical; and some of these last of great size, bearing the name of Amunoph III. and his queen Taia, relate to his conquests, his lion hunts, her parentage, or to public works executed during their reign.

Of the various objects of the toilet found at Thebes and other places, the principal are bottles, or vases, for holding ointment, and kohl or collyrium for the eyes, mirrors, combs, and the small boxes, spoons, and saucers already mentioned. The ointment was scented in various ways; some preserved in the * Pharaoh "put a gold chain about (Joseph's) neck," Gen. xli. 42; and “a ring upon Joseph's hand." See woodcut 471, fig. M.

+ Woodcut 471, figs. B, I. a.

museum at Alnwick Castle has retained its odour for several centuries; and the great use of ointment by the Egyptians is sufficiently indicated in the paintings representing the reception of guests.

ments.

With the exception of the little found in the tombs, we have nothing to guide us respecting the nature of Egyptian ointSome appear to be made with a nut oil, but it is probable that animal as well as vegetable grease was employed for this purpose, the other ingredients depending on the taste of the maker or the purchaser. Julius Pollux mentions a black kind made in Egypt, and speaks of the sagdas (psagde) as an ointment of that country. Theophrastus, on the contrary, states that Egyptian ointments were colourless; but we can readily account for this variance of opinion by supposing that they had in view two different qualities, which is further proved by the fact of our finding them both preserved at Thebes. (See p. 23, 27, 32, and vol. i. p. 259.)

Ointment was frequently kept in alabaster bottles, or vases (whence the Greeks applied the name of alabastron even to one made of other materials); sometimes in those of the onyx, or other stone, glass, ivory, bone, or shells, specimens of all of which have been discovered in the tombs.

Strabo says that the common people, both men and women, used the oil of the kiki, or castor-berry, for anointing themselves, the general purpose to which it was applied being for lamps; and many oils, as from the simsim, olive, almond, flax, selgam (cole-seed), seemga, lettuce, and other vegetable productions, were extracted in Egypt. (See above, p. 23 to 32.)

The Egyptian combs were usually of wood, and double, one side having large, the other small teeth; the centre part was frequently ornamented with carved work, and, perhaps, inlaid. They were about four inches long, and six deep; and those with a single row of teeth were sometimes surmounted with the figure of an ibex, or other animal.

The custom of staining the eyelids and brows with a moistened powder of a black colour was common in Egypt from the earliest times; it was also introduced among the Jews and