In the Vth dynasty, in the tomb of Ptahshepses at Abusir the clustered papyrus stems are a new feature; at Benihasan they are well developed; and they continued in use to the XVIIIth dynasty. But a different type then arose into predominance in the wide bell-topped lotus capitals, and with long sheath-leaves around the root; and this continued for several dynasties. But this was displaced by the elaborate composite capitals of Ptolemaic and Roman age, which were made up of varied elements of incongruity. [Illustration: Fig. 153.] The palm, though the most important tree of the country, has had but little effect on the architecture. There is not a single example of columns copied from a palm stem; and the only instances of the imitation of the stem are in two or three instances of copies of roofing beams. The branches are not copied on columns until other subjects were well used. In the XIIth dynasty the imitation of a bundle of palm branches was made in the capitals, and it became common in the XVIIIth. Perhaps, however, as we shall see in considering the hieroglyphs, the palm column originates with a bundle of palm-sticks bound together. It is strange that the simple element of grouping branches round a post should not have been a very usual early motive. Was the palm really common in early Egypt? It does not enter into the hieroglyphs, and it is seldom shown on monuments till the XVIIIth dynasty; while grapes, figs, and pomegranates all seem to have been commoner than dates. In late times not only the branches but the fruit was sculptured; and at Esneh and other Roman temples the bunches of dates are carefully rendered. The vine is one of the oldest cultivated plants in Egypt, and all the designs copied from it are based on the idea of its climbing and trailing over the houses. It appears mainly in the florid work of the XVIIIth dynasty. The ceiling was often painted of a golden yellow, with vine leaves and bunches of grapes hanging from a trellis pattern which covers it. At Tell el Amarna some fragments found were very free and natural, but in the XXth dynasty it became a stiff and formal affair. (Tomb of Aimadua, Ramessu X.). [Illustration: 154.—P. 86.] Bunches of grapes also formed favourite pendants; as such they are painted in rows hanging from architraves of wooden buildings (tomb of Ra, Amenhotep II.); and frequently in blue glazed ware bunches of grapes are found of varying sizes, with half of the upper part cut away so as to affix them by a peg-hole to a square wooden beam of the ceiling. [Illustration: 155.—P. 79.] [Illustration: Fig. 156.] In the Greco-Roman decoration of capitals the vine and grapes also appears, and is often very beautifully treated, as at Esneh, though essentially as a mere surface decoration, and not as an organic element.