embattled wall, with a canal of water passing in front of it, connected with the river. Between the canal and the wall, and parallel to them both, was a shady avenue of various trees; and about the centre was the entrance, through a lofty door, whose lintel and imposts were decorated with hieroglyphic inscriptions, containing the name of the owner of the grounds, who in this instance was the king himself. In the gateway were rooms for the porter, and other persons employed about the garden, and, probably, the receiving room for visitors, whose abrupt admission might be unwelcome; and at the back, a gate opened into the vineyard. The vines were trained on a trellis-work, supported by transverse rafters resting on pillars; and a wall, extending round it, separated this part from the rest of the garden. At the upper end were suites of rooms, on three different stories, and the windows looking upon green trees, and inviting a draught of air, made it a pleasant retirement in the heat of summer. On the outside of the vineyard wall were planted rows of palm trees, which occurred again with the dóms along the whole length of the exterior wall; four tanks of water, bordered by a grassplot, where geese were kept, and the delicate flower of the lotus was encouraged to grow, served for the irrigation of the grounds; and small kiosks or summer houses, shaded with trees, stood near the water, and overlooked beds of flowers. The spaces containing the tanks, and the adjoining portions of the garden, were each enclosed by their respective separate walls, and a small subdivision on either

side between the large and small tanks, seems to have been reserved for the growth of particular trees, which either required peculiar care, or bore a fruit of superior quality.

In all cases, whether the orchard stood apart from, or was united with, the rest of the garden, it was supplied, like the other portions of it, with abundance of water, preserved in spacious reservoirs, on either side of which stood a row of palms, or an avenue of shady sycamores. Some

No. 131.-Egyptian mode of representing a tank of water with a row of palms on either side. Thebes.

times the orchard and vineyard were not separated by any wall, and figs* and other trees were planted within the same limits as the vines. But if not connected with it, the vineyard was close to the

* Conf. Luke, xiii. 6. " A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard," and 1 Kings, iv. 25. "Every man under his vine and under his fig-tree."

orchard*, and they displayed much taste in the mode of training the vines. Rows of columns, supporting wooden rafters, divided the vineyard into numerous avenues, which afforded great facility for communication from one end to the other, and retained a certain degree of moisture at the roots, by intercepting the rays of the sun.

The columns were frequently coloured, and were ornamental as well as useful; but many were simple wooden pillars, supporting, with their forked summits, the poles that lay over them. Some vines were allowed to grow as standing bushes †, and, being kept low, did not require any support; others were formed into a series of bowers; and from the form of the hieroglyphic, signifying vine

No. 133. Plucking grapes in a vineyard: the vines trained in bowers.

4

Thebes.

yard, we may conclude that the most usual method of training them was in bowers, or in avenues formed by rafters and columns.‡ But they do not appear

* Vide wood-cut, No. 132.

Vide wood-cut, No. 139., and plate 10. fig. 1.
Vide wood-cut, No. 134.

to have attached them to other trees, like the Romans*, and the modern Italianst; nor have the

m

No. 134. Figurative hieroglyphic signifying vineyard.

Egyptians of the present day adopted this European

custom.

When the vineyard was enclosed within its own. wall of circuit, it frequently had a reservoir of water attached to it, as well as the building which

Elms and poplars were generally used by the Romans :

"Intexet vitibus ulmos." Virg. Georg. ii. 22.

The Romans also supported vines on reeds and poles. Plin. xvii. 22. They generally prefer the white mulberry tree.