to do, they admired the beauty of the rooms, and commended the furniture, taking care to bestow unqualified praise on those objects which were intended for their approbation. As usual in all countries, some of the party arrived earlier than others; and the consequence, or affectation of fashion, in the person who now drives up in his curricle, is shown by his coming some time after the rest of the company; one of his footmen runs forward to knock at the door, others, close behind the chariot, are ready to take the reins, and to perform their accustomed duties; and the one holding his sandals in his hand, that he may run with greater ease, illustrates a custom, still common in Egypt, among the Arabs and peasants of the country; who find the power of the foot greater when freed from the encumbrance of a shoe. To those who arrived from a journey, or who desired it, water was brought for their feet, previous to entering the festive chamber; and it was either now, or immediately before dinner, that the guests washed their hands †, the water being brought in the same manner as at the present day; and ewers not unlike those used by the modern Egyptians are represented with the * Joseph ordered his servants to fetch water for his brethren, that they might wash their feet before they ate. Gen. xliii. 24. Conf. also xviii. 4. and xxiv. 32. 1 Sam. xxv. 46. It was always a custom of the East, as with the Greeks and Romans; and they considered it a great want of hospitality to neglect to offer water for this purpose. Čonf. Luke, vii. 44. 46. + Conf. Petron. Satyric." Tandem discubuimus pueris Alexandrinis aquam in manus nivatam infundentibus, aliisque insequentibus ad pedes, ac paronychia cum ingenti subtilitate tollentibus. Ac ne in hoc . . tacebant officio, sed obiter cantabant." c. xxxi. 9, 10, 11. The guests assembled within. Fig. 1. An Egyptian gentleman driving up in his curricle to the house. Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, are his footmen. Figs. 8. The door of the house. 12, 13, 14, 15. The musicians. No. 176. Thebes. basins belonging to them, in the paintings of a Theban tomb. It is certain that basins were kept No. 177. 1 2 Golden ewers and basins in the tomb of Remeses III. Thebes. for the purpose of washing the hands and feet of the guests, and that in the houses of the rich they were of gold*, or other costly materials; but those who lived near their host were probably expected to perform their ablutions before they left home; and hence, I conceive, we may account for not finding any representation of this preliminary ceremony in the paintings at Thebes. Athenæus † seems to apply the same remark to the Greeks; and "it was deemed indecent,” says that author, "for any one to go to a feast without having previously cleansed himself;" though persons * Herodotus mentions a gold basin (odavin), belonging to Amasis, which he and the guests who dined with him used for washing their feet. + Athen. lib. iv. c. 27. arriving from a journey not only washed, but were even clothed, at the mansion of their host.* However, with the Greeks, as well as other people of antiquity, the usual custom was to bring water to the guests, numerous instances of which we find in Homer; as when Telemachus and the son of Nestor were received at the house of Menelaust, and when Asphalion poured it upon the hands of his master and the same guests on another occasion ‡; and Virgil describes the servants bringing water for this purpose, when Æneas was entertained by Dido. § Nor was the ceremony thought superfluous, and declined, even though they had previously bathed and been anointed with oil. || It is also probable that, like the Greeks, the Egyptians anointed themselves before they left home; but still it was customary for a servant to attend every guest, as he seated himself, and to anoint his head ¶; and this was one of the principal « Χερνιβα δ' αμφιπολος προχοψεπέχευε φέρουσα Καλη, χρυσείη, υπερ αργυρεοιο λεβητος ‡ Hom. Od. iv. 216. : Ασφαλίων δ' αρ υδωρ επι χειρας εχευεν Οτρηρος θεράπων Μενελάου κυδαλίμοιο.” § Virg. Æn. i. 705. “ Dant famuli manibus lymphas." Hom. Od. iv. 49. and 53. This is the case with the Moslems of the present day, who also require the water to be poured upon the hands. Conf. 2 Kings, iii. 11. Élisha, “who poured water on the hands of Elijah." The Egyptians were shaved, and wore wigs. Vide Herodot. ii. 36. and the sculptures. The Greeks, Jews, and other ancient people, were very fond of ointment and perfume. Prov. xxvii. 9. "Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart." Psalm xxiii. 5.; and Horace says, "Nardi parvus onyx eliciet cadum." Od. xii. 4. No. 178. A servant anointing a guest. Thebes. tokens of welcome. * The ointment was sweetscented, and, unlike the Lacedæmonians, who banished those who sold perfumed ointments from their country, the Egyptians were particularly partial to this species of luxury. It was contained, sometimes, in an alabastert, sometimes in an elegant porcelain vase; and so strong was the odour, and so perfectly were the different component substances amalgamated, that it has been known to retain its scent for several hundred years. + Servants took the sandals of the guests as they arrived, and either put them by in a convenient place in the house, or held them on their arm while they waited upon them.S After the ceremony of anointing was over, and, * Vide Athenæus, xv. 13. + Mary, when she washed Jesus' feet, brought an alabaster box of ointment. Luke, vii. 37. Matt. xxvi. 7. One of the alabaster vases in the museum at Alnwick Castle contains some of this ancient ointment, between two and three thousand years old, and yet its odour remains. § Vide suprà, wood-cut, No. 146. |