Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in EgyptMaspero, G. (Gaston)
History
Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt
Maspero, G. (Gaston)
Art -- Egypt; Egypt -- Antiquities
four bronze wheels; but as it was in a very dilapidated state, it has been
dismounted and replaced by the golden boat (fig. 307). The hull is long and
slight, the prow and stem are elevated, and terminate in gracefully-curved
papyrus blossoms. Two little platforms surrounded by balustrades on a
panelled ground are at the prow and on the poop, like quarter-decks. The
pilot stands upon the one, and the steersman before the other, with a large
oar in his hand. This oar takes the place of the modern helm. Twelve
boatmen in solid silver are rowing under the orders of these two officers;
Kames himself being seated in the centre, hatchet and sceptre in hand. Such
were some of the objects buried with one single mummy; and I have even now
enumerated only the most remarkable among them. The technical processes
throughout are irreproachable, and the correct taste of the craftsman is in
no wise inferior to his dexterity of hand. Having arrived at the perfection
displayed in the _parure_ of Aahhotep, the goldsmith's art did not long
maintain so high a level. The fashions changed, and jewellery became
heavier in design. The ring of Rameses II., with his horses standing upon
the bezel (fig. 308), and the bracelet of Prince Psar, with his griffins
and lotus flowers in _cloisonné_ enamel (fig. 309), both in the Louvre, are
less happily conceived than the bracelets of Ahmes. The craftsmen who made
these ornaments were doubtless as skilful as the craftsmen of the time of
Queen Aahhotep, but they had less taste and less invention. Rameses II. was
condemned either to forego the pleasure of wearing his ring, or to see his
little horses damaged and broken off by the least accident. Already
noticeable in the time of the Nineteenth Dynasty, this decadence becomes
more marked as we approach the Christian era. The earrings of Rameses IX.
in the Gizeh Museum are an ungraceful assemblage of filigree disks, short
chains, and pendent uraei, such as no human ear could have carried without
being torn, or pulled out of shape. They were attached to each side of the
wig upon the head of the mummy. The bracelets of the High Priest Pinotem
III., found upon his mummy, are mere round rings of gold incrusted with
pieces of coloured glass and carnelian, like those still made by the
Soudanese blacks. The Greek invasion began by modifying the style of
Egyptian gold-work, and ended by gradually substituting Greek types for
native types. The jewels of an Ethiopian queen, purchased from Ferlini by
the Berlin Museum, contained not only some ornaments which might readily
have been attributed to Pharaonic times, but others of a mixed style in
which Hellenic influences are distinctly traceable. The treasure discovered
at Zagazig in 1878, at Keneh in 1881, and at Damanhûr in 1882, consisted of
objects having nothing whatever in common with Egyptian traditions. They
comprise hairpins supporting statuettes of Venus, zone-buckles, agraffes
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