Museum of Antiquity: A Description of Ancient LifeYaggy, L. W. (Levi W.)
History
Museum of Antiquity: A Description of Ancient Life
Yaggy, L. W. (Levi W.)
Civilization, Ancient; Classical antiquities
The above articles were in good preservation when found. _a_, _l_,
_n_, are hand-mirrors; _m_, is a wall-mirror; _c_, toilet-box, made of
ivory and beautifully carved; _d_ and _k_, bronze combs; _i_, fine
comb; _b_, ear and tooth-pick; _f_, pin-box, with glass and steel
pins; _h_, salve-box; _g_, hair-pins made of ivory and gold; _e_, is a
powder or paint-box.
Of the secrets of Greek _toilette_ we will only disclose the fact that
ladies knew the use of paint. The white they used consisted of
white-lead; their reds were made either of red minium or of a root.
This unwholesome fashion of painting was even extended to the
eyebrows, for which black color was used, made either of pulverized
antimony or of fine soot.
The mirrors of the Greeks consisted of circular pieces of polished
bronze, either without a handle or with one richly adorned. Frequently
a cover, for the reflecting surface, was added. The Etruscan custom of
engraving figures on the back of the mirror or the cover seems to have
been rare among the Greeks, to judge, at least, from the numerous
specimens of mirrors found in Greek graves. Characteristic of these
are, on the other hand, the tasteful handles, representing mostly
Aphrodite, as in a manner the ideal of a beautifully adorned woman.
These hand-mirrors frequently occur in vase paintings, particularly in
those containing bathing utensils.
The carrying of a stick seems to have been a common custom. It is
mostly of great length, with a crutched handle; young Athenian dandies
may have used shorter walking-sticks. The first-mentioned sticks seem
to have been used principally for leaning upon in standing still, as
is indicated by frequent representations in pictures.
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CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS; CONTRACTS, DEEDS, ETC.
Truth or justice was thought to be the main cardinal virtue among the
Egyptians, inasmuch as it relates more particularly to others;
prudence, temperance, and fortitude being relative qualities, and
tending chiefly to the immediate benefit of the individual who
possesses them. It was, therefore, with great earnestness that they
inculcated the necessity of fully appreciating it; and falsehood was
not only considered disgraceful, but when it entailed an injury on any
other person was punishable by law.
A calumniator of the dead was condemned to a severe punishment; and a
false accuser was doomed to the same sentence which would have been
awarded to the accused, if the offense had been proved against him;
but to maintain a falsehood by an oath was deemed the blackest crime,
and one which, from its complicated nature, could be punished by
nothing short of death. For they considered that it involved two
distinct crimes--a contempt for the gods, and a violation of faith
towards man; the former the direct promoter of every sin, the latter
destructive of all those ties which are most essential for the welfare
of society.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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