of sycamore, tamarisk, and other woods of the country; the poorer classes being contented with a cheaper sort, of pottery or stone. Porphyry

No. 172.

Fig. 1. Wooden pillow of unusual form.

2. Another found by me at Thebes, and now in the British Museum. The base was lost.

mentions a kind of wicker bedstead of palm branches called baïs*, which, he says, was used by the priests; but it is reasonable to conclude they were also met with in the houses of other individuals, at least among the middle and lower classes; and it is remarkable that the same species of framework is still employed by the modern Egyptians, as a support to the diwans of sitting rooms, and to their beds. In size they vary according to the dimensions of the room and other circumstances; but they are invariably made of the geréet, or sticks of the palm branch, and are known by the general name of kaffass. † Each side consists of a number of upright bars, which pass through three rods at right angles with them, the upper

+ Hencoops, and all other wicker-work made of the geréet, have the

and lower one forming the edge of the framework. The summit, on which the bed is placed, is constructed in the same manner with transverse geréets, and in the centre is a small mass of them in closer order, intended more for ornament than for use; and the usual dimensions of these bedsteads are about seven feet, by three and a half, and from one foot to two feet in height. Wooden, and,

No. 173.

Fig. 1. Kaffass bedstead of palm sticks used by the modern Egyptians.
2. Ancient bier on which the bodies were placed after death.

perhaps, also bronze bedsteads *, may have been used by the wealthier classes of the ancient Egyptians; and it is at least probable that the couches they slept upon were as elegant as those on which their bodies reposed after death; and the more so, as these last, in their general style, are very similar to the furniture of the sitting room.t

* We read of a bedstead of iron belonging to Og, King of Bashan. Deut. iii. 11.

GUESTS AND ENTERTAINMENTS.

In their entertainments they appear to have omitted nothing which could promote festivity and the amusement of the guests. Music, songs, dancing†, buffoonery, feats of agility, or games of chance, were generally introduced, and they welcomed them with all the luxuries which the cellar and the table could afford. The party, when invited to dinner, met about midday ‡, and they arrived successively in their chariots, in palanquins § borne by their servants, or on foot. Sometimes their attendants carried a sort of parasol to shade them from the sun, as represented in the accompanying wood-cut, which in the present instance appears to have been of leather, stretched over a light frame ||; but those which were borne behind, and belonged exclusively to, the king, were composed of feathers, and were not very unlike the flabella carried on state occasions behind the Pope, in modern Rome. The same custom prevailed in Persia, and other eastern countries; and in the sculptures of Persepolis, we have a satisfactory in

Conf. Isaiah, v. 12. "The harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine, are at their feasts."

+ Conf. the feast given on the arrival of the prodigal son: "Bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat and be merry:" and his brother, when he drew nigh to the house," heard music and dancing." Luke, xv. 23. 25.

Joseph said," These men shall dine with me at noon." Gen. xliii. 16. § Vide wood-cut, No. 174.

From the man having a battleaxe in the other hand, I was inclined to suppose it a shield; but from his being in the act of raising it aloft,

No. 174. Military chief carried in a sort of palanquin, an attendant bearing a parasol behind him. Beni Hassan.

stance of the use of a parasol, or umbrella, which bears a greater resemblance to those of the present day*, and conveys a better idea of its form, than an Egyptian artist would have given; though, from their general character, presenting so strong an analogy to those of Egypt, we may suppose many of these sculptures executed by captives taken from Thebes at the Persian conquest.

When a visitor came in his car, he was attended by a number of servants, some of whom carried a stool, to enable him to alight, and others his writing tablet, or whatever he might want during his stay

Figs. 1,2,3 Attendants bearing a parasol and flyflap over a Persian chief, in some sculptures of Persepolis, which have a very Egyptian character. Fig. 4. Is evidently borrowed from the winged globe,

at the house.

In the accompanying wood-cut* the guests are assembled in a sitting room within, and are entertained with music during the melancholy interval preceding the announcement of dinner; for, like the Greeks, they considered it a want of good breeding to sit down to table immediately on arriving, and, perhaps, as Bdelycleon, in Aristophanes †, recommended his father Philocleon

* Vide wood-cut, No. 176.

† Aristoph. Vesp. line 1209.:

« Επειτ' επαινεσον τι των χαλκωμάτων
Οροφην θεασαι, κρεκαδι' αυλης θαυμασον.”

Noticed by Athenæus, lib. iv. c. 27.