up water from the river, the peasant villager had little to amuse him, except games played with counters and draughts, and the converse of his companions in the “beer-house.” [Illustration: Egyptian house, with inner chamber and two flights of steps leading to the roof. About B.C. 4000. [No. 292, Wall-case 107, Third Egyptian Room.]] =Dwelling Houses.=—The king usually lived in a palace or large building within the precincts of some temple, or at a very little distance from one. His palace was probably like the large houses of modern times in Egypt, _i.e._, it had a courtyard with trees in the middle of it, and a large garden round about it. In the garden were fish-ponds and groves of fruit trees, palms, acacias, flowering shrubs with scented blossoms, and a limited number of flowers. There were arbours, too, covered with creepers and vines, and the gardeners watered the ground daily by means of small channels into which water was poured from the _shâdûf_, or the water wheel. The courtyards were paved, or tiled, or covered with floors made of inlaid painted porcelain work. The walls and ceilings of the rooms were painted with rich and intricate designs, and in a few of the rooms there were openings near the roof which served as windows. The royal furniture was probably richly painted and inlaid with ebony, ivory, porcelain, and, under the New Empire, metal vases of all shapes and sizes would be seen everywhere in the dwelling rooms. Certain large rooms were set apart for receptions and entertainments, and these probably contained large raised benches placed along the walls for the guests. The kitchen, pantry, stables, and general servants’ quarters were outside the house, but the personal attendants on the king and queen, the steward, the master of the chambers, etc., had their apartments in the palace. The storeys were rarely more than two in number, and the roof, which was flat, was approached by a flight of steps, either from the courtyard or from the roof of the storey on the ground floor.