[Illustration: PLATE IX. ALABASTER. 1, 3, 4, 6 & 8. Kohl pots. 2. A head, Greek period. 5, 7 & 9. Vases. 10 & 11. Bowls.] Plate IX shows various kinds of alabaster pots, all of which are forgeries. Of recent years, a demand has arisen for heads carved out of alabaster. As it is quite certain that the value of these would be considerable, were they genuine antīcas, and the supply would be extremely small, the Egyptian has stepped in, and is endeavouring to supply the want after his fashion. Fig. 2 shows a head in alabaster. The style is of the Greek period. The workmanship is only fair, and carelessly done, the ears not having been formed at all. However, it represents a period when Egyptian Art was declining. * * * * * I remember an up-river man, who was employed on an excavation, picking up a piece of stone, and in his spare time fashioning a head out of it with his knife. Later on he showed it to his employer. The excavator looked at it grimly for a few moments. Then, remarking that the man was far too clever to be a simple workman on a digging, he discharged him and sent him back to his village. A few years ago some life-sized alabaster statues of Mykerinos, the builder of the Third Pyramid, were found by the Harvard University Expedition. They had been considerably mutilated, but some of them were put together, and fortunately the heads were but little damaged. The statues showed three periods in the life of Mykerinos: youth, early manhood, and then a rather later period. The workmanship was exquisite, and the value of the statues was enormous. It is safe to say that this discovery has not been lost sight of by the spurious antiquity makers, as alabaster is a soft stone to work in, and offers a fair scope for the exhibition of their talent. I have already been shown a very rough copy in alabaster of what one of these spurious antiquity makers called the features of Mykerinos. Fortunately they presented no resemblance, a fact which I did not impart to him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER IX PORCELAIN, SERPENTINE AND GRANITE ON the way to Deir-el-Bahari, a man offered to sell me the small blue vase with a handle shown in Plate X. He asked 25_s._ for it, but a glance served to show that it was not genuine; the colour was too blue, and the weight of it showed that it was solid, not hollow. This was confirmed by testing it with a hatpin belonging to one of our party, and I proceeded to bargain. Eventually I bought it for 5_s._ On leaving Deir-el-Bahari, a youth accosted me and offered another small vase, similar to the first one. This I bought for 3_s._, wrapped it up carefully, placed it in my pocket, and a moment later bent over my saddle and smashed it. However, the first one was safe.