rus as a very early invention, since we find instances of several persons sitting upon them; 2111 Fig. 1. A low seat, perhaps a carpet. No. 168. though we may, with equal reason, imagine, from the mode of representing them, that some were of wood, and that they closed or folded in the centre.t Mats were commonly used in their sitting rooms, as at the present day; and we not only see them represented in the sculpturest, but remnants of them have been found in the Theban tombs. Their couches evinced no less taste than the fauteuils. They were of wood, with one end raised, and receding in a graceful curve; and the feet, as in many of the chairs already described, were fashioned to resemble those of some wild ani The στρωμνας πολυτελεστατας, mentioned by Diodorus, as spread for the sacred animals of Egypt, are supposed to have been carpets. Lib. i. 34. As in wood-cut, No. 168. fig. 2. www. 3 No. 169. mal.* Fig. 1. A couch. 2. Pillow or head stool. 3. Steps for ascending a lofty couch. (Tomb of Remeses III.) Thebes. But, though the Egyptians had couches, they do not appear to have reclined upon them more frequently than modern Europeans, in whose houses they are equally common; and, indeed, we have authority, both from the sculptures and from sacred history, for believing that the Egyptians, like the early Greeks and Romans †, were accustomed to sit at meals; for, as Philo justly observes, when Joseph entertained his brethren, he ordered them to sit according to their ages, the custom of reclining at meals not having yet been introduced.‡ The couches appear, also, to have been intended as bedsteads; and it is not impossible that they were used to sleep upon at night, and, in the day * The Greeks ornamented the legs of their tables and other furniture in the same manner. †The custom of reclining is said to have been introduced from Carthage, after the Punic wars. time, a rich covering being substituted for the bedding, they were readily transformed into an ornamental piece of furniture; and the presence of the head pillow placed upon it, and the steps at the side for ascending it, argue strongly in favour of this supposition: nor is the custom unusual in the East at the present day. The Egyptian tables were round, square, or oblong; the former were generally used during their repasts, and consisted of a circular flat summit, supported, like the monopodium of the Romans, on a single shaft, or leg, in the centre, or by the figure of a man, intended to represent a captive.* Large tables had usually three or four legs, but some were made with solid sides; and though generally of wood, many were of metal or stone; and they varied in size, according to the purposes for which they were intended.† In ILI No. 169. a. 1 2 3 Fig. 1. Table, probably of stone or wood, from the sculptures. 3. Probably of metal, from the sculptures. Vide wood-cut, No. 169. a, fig. 2. + Vide wood-cuts, No. 169. a, b, c. has seen the peasants of Egypt, can fail to recognise a position equally common to the modern inhabitants of the country, as to other oriental people. When bearing sacred emblems before the shrine of a deity, or desirous of showing respect to a superior, they generally sat upon their heels ; and it is remarkable that this attitude continues to be adopted by persons of inferior rank in Moslem society. Of the furniture of their bed-rooms we know little or nothing but that they universally employed the wooden pillow above alluded to is evident, though Porphyry would lead us to suppose its use was confined to the priests, when, in noticing their mode of life, he mentions a half cylinder of well polished wood sufficing to support their head†, as an instance of their simplicity and selfdenial. For the rich, they were made of oriental alabaster, with an elegant grooved or fluted shaft, ornamented with hieroglyphics, carved in intaglio, No. 171. Wooden pillow or head-stool, found at Thebes. and painted of a blue colour §; others were of rare wood; and those of a more ordinary kind were • As figs. 4, 5. in wood-cut, No. 170. + Porph. de Abstin. lib. iv. s. 7. Vide wood-cut, No. 171, 172.; and Vol. I. p. 281. § Vide suprà, Vol. I. p. 214. Wood-cut, No. 6. |