About the same period they appear as a continuous coil pattern in relief on the columns of the _harim_ well at Tell el Amarna. The spiral in relief being in yellow, it probably was copied from a jewellery pattern in which a strip of gold was twisted into spirals, and the spaces filled with squares of coloured stones or pastes, judging from the analogy of the inlaid capitals. This example being earlier than most of the spiral decorations of surfaces may thus open our eyes to the meaning of some such designs; and, in general, a close continuous coil returning on itself may well be a copy of a strip of sheet metal, doubled, and rolled up. [Illustration: 50.—P. 85. I.] The next stage is where continuous lines of spiral patterns are placed side by side, and other patterns developed in the spaces between them. Sometimes the intervening patterns become so complex as to overshadow the mere spirals, as in the splendid ceiling of Neferhotep, in the XVIIIth dynasty. And in this the far more complex quadruple spiral begins to appear, as we shall see presently. [Illustration: 51.—P. 85.] [Illustration: 52.—C.M. cclv.] The lines of spirals were not only placed parallel, but were also crossed. For some reason this type was never well developed, but remained one of the coldest and most mechanical of all, looking in the later stage of the XXVIth dynasty like a most debased wall paper. But the glory of Egyptian line decoration was in the quadruple spiral, of which the most elementary example is on a boat cover as late as the XXth dynasty (Ramessu IV.); though it has passed through this stage long before that time—if indeed this may not be regarded as a degraded simplification of it. It is also sometimes rhombic in plan. [Illustration: 53.—P. 86.] [Illustration: 54.—XIIth dyn. R.C. lxxii.] From this was developed a peculiar pattern by the omission of the lines which define the spirals, thus reducing it to a system of rows of hollow-sided quadrangles without any apparent connection. The main development of the quadruple spiral was with rosettes or lotus filling the hollow squares. This became a stock subject with the Egyptian, and from thence a main pattern in other lands. The filling in was either a flower pattern or a rosette, which might be either a flower or a leather pattern, as we shall notice further on. [Illustration: Fig. 55.] [Illustration: 56.—P. 86.] The insertion also became more complex, four lotus flowers being placed in each angle of the hollow square; and the spirals being more heavily developed, in order to gain enough space for complexity in the squares between them. Such a system could hardly be carried further, but reached its limits; like the limit of size in the Great Hall of Karnak, where the columns occupy too large an area in proportion to the clear space. [Illustration: 57.—P. 83.]