more varied than that of the cook. Some sifted and mixed the flour *, others kneaded the paste with their handst, and formed it into rolls, which were then prepared for baking, and being placed on a long tray or board, were carried on a man's head to the oven §. Certain seeds were previously sprinkled upon the upper surface of each roll, and judging from those still used in Egypt for the same purpose, they were chiefly the nigella sativa, or kamóon aswed, the simsim¶, and the caraway. Sometimes they kneaded the paste with their feet**, having placed it in a large wooden bowl upon the ground; it was then in a more liquid state than when mixed by the hand, and was carried in vases to the pastrycook, who formed it into a sort of macaroni, upon a flattened metal pan over the fire. Two persons were engaged in this process; one stirred it with a wooden spatula, and the other taking it off when cooked, with two pointed sticks tt, arranged it in a proper place, where the rest of the pastry was kept. This last was of various kinds, apparently made up with fruit, or other ingredients, with which the dough, spread out with the hand, was sometimes mixed, *Wood-cut, No. 277., figs. 13. and 14. † Fig. 15. As at the present day. Conf. Pharaoh's chief baker, with "three white baskets on his head." Gen. xl. 16., and Herod. ii. 35. "Men carry loads on their heads, women on their shoulders." But it was not the general custom. Wood-cut, No. 277. Figs. 19. and x. **Conf. Herod. ii. 36., and figs. 1. and 2. and it assumed the shape of a three-cornered cake, a recumbent ox, or other form *, according to the fancy of the confectioner. That his department was connected with the kitchen † is again shown, by the presence of a man in the corner of the picture, engaged in cooking lentils for a soup or porridge; his companion § brings a bundle of faggots for the fire, and the lentils themselves are seen standing near him in wicker baskets. | The caldrons containing the joints of boiled meat, which were often of very great size, stood over a fire upon the hearth, supported on stones T, having been taken from the dresser ** where they were placed for the convenience of putting in the joints; some of smaller dimensions, probably containing the stewed meat, stood over a pan†† containing charcoal, precisely similar to the magoor, used in modern Egypt ‡‡; and geese, or joints of meat, were roasted over a fire of a peculiar construction, intended solely for this purpose SS; the cook passing over them a fan, which served for bellows. In heating water, or boiling meat, faggots of wood were principally employed, but for the roast meat charcoal, as in the modern kitchens of Cairo; and * Vide d, f, g, h, i, k. ƒ and g appear to have the fruit apart from the pastry. I found some cakes of the form of f in a tomb at Thebes, but without any fruit or other addition. Many of different shapes, have been found there. The chief baker (DEN) of Pharaoh carried in the uppermost basket" all manner of bake-meats," not only "bread," but "all kind of food." . Gen. xl. 17. Anciently, the cook and baker were the same, with the Romans. Fig. 9. ‡‡ At g. $ Fig. 10. ** At b. At p. ++ At c. $$ At e. At f. the sculptures represent servants bringing this last in mats of the same form as those of the present Cooking geese and different joints of meat. Figs. a a. Joints in caldrons, on the dresser b. 4 Tomb near the Pyramids. c. A table. 1. Preparing a goose for the cook (2.), who puts them into the boiler d. g. Stewed meat over a pan of fire, or magoor. 7. Joints on a table. day. They sometimes used round balls for cooking, probably a composition of charcoal, and other ingredients, which a servant is represented taking out of a basket, and putting on the stove, while another blows the fire with a fan. * THE PARTY. At an Egyptian party, the men and women were frequently entertained separately, in a different part of the same room, at the upper end of which the master and mistress of the house sat close together, on two chairs, or on a large fauteuil; each guest, *The same kind of fan was used by the Greeks and Romans. It is represented in the paintings of Herculaneum. as he arrived, presented himself to receive their congratulatory welcome *, and the musicians and dancers, hired for the occasion, did obeisance before them, previous to the performance of their part. To the leg of the fauteuil a favourite monkey, a dog, gazelle, or some other pet animalt, was tied, and a young child was permitted to sit on the ground at the side of its mother, or on its father's knee. In some instances, we find men and women sitting together, both strangers ‡, as well as members of the same family §; a privilege not conceded to females among the Greeks, except with their relations; and this not only argues a very great advancement in civilisation, especially in an Eastern nation, but proves, like many other Egyptian customs, how far this people excelled the Greeks in the habits of social life. With the Romans it was customary for women to mix in society, and their notions on this head are contrasted by Cornelius Nepos with the scruples || of the Greeks, in these words: "Which of us Romans is ashamed to bring his wife to an entertainment? and what mistress of a family can be shown, who does not inhabit the chief and most frequented part of the house? whereas, in Greece, she never appears at any entertainments, except those to which relations are alone invited, and con *Vide Plate 12. They may be married couples. $ Vide wood-cut, No. 279. + Ibid. Cornel. Nepos. Præfat. in Vit. Imperatorum, ad fin. No. 279. A party of guests, entertained with music and the dance. From Thebes, and now in the British Museum. Fig. 1 and 2. 4 and 5, 6 and 7, 8 and 9. Men and women seated together at the feast. 10, 11, 12. Women singing and clapping their hands to the sound of the double pipe, 13. 16. Vases on stands, stopped with heads of wheat, and decked with garlands. 3. A servant offering a cup of wine. 14, 15. Dancing women. * Γυναικωνίτις answering to the harcem of the East. called gynæconitis*, the women's apartments, into stantly lives in the uppermost part of the house, |