"The cylinders," says a very learned writer upon Oriental Glyptic Art; "whatever may be their material, have never shown the mark of a foreign influence upon the soil of Egypt. Nevertheless the relations of Egypt and Chaldea date from the very highest antiquity."[42] Scarabs became unfashionable in Egypt in the XIIth Dynasty and cylinders were largely used. They were used by the Usertsens and the Amen-em-has, but after the XIIth Dynasty cylinders are rare in Egypt. The shape of the cartouch does not appear to have been changed. Rings came into fashion with Amen-hotep IIIrd and died out under Rameses IInd, the last king whose name we find on a bezel. I do not deny that relations existed from the most archaic periods between the people of Mesopotamia and those of Egypt, the discoveries of the magnificent sculpture in and beautifully incised writing on, green diorite; one of the hardest, toughest, and heaviest, stones known; found at Telloh by M. de Sarzec, which had to be brought in large blocks from the quarries of Sinai; take us back to the most remote period, in which we have any knowledge of the inhabitants of Lower Mesopotamia. One of the most wonderful ancient statues in existence is that of king Khaf-Ra of the IVth Dynasty, the Khephren of the Greek writers, builder of the second Great Pyramid of Gizeh, (_circa_ 3666 B.C.,) now in the Museum of Gizeh, Egypt. This statue, a full sized portrait-statue, is made of green diorite highly polished and is a magnificent work of Egyptian art. Its base is inscribed: "Image of the Golden Horus, Khephren, beautiful god, lord of diadems."[43] This shows, that the Egyptians worked the quarries of diorite at Sinai and sculptured in it, about 4000 B.C.[44] The figures found at Telloh are in a seated position, are sculptured in archaic Egyptian style, and are covered with beautifully incised writing.[45] I also know from the cuneiform inscriptions, that relations existed between the First Empire of Chaldea and the pharaohs of the Great Pyramids of Gizeh, as early as the reign of the Chaldean king Naram-Sin; (_circa_ 3755 B.C.) Subsequent to the periods cited, there exist a number of historical facts showing the knowledge of each other, possessed by the inhabitants of the valley of the Nile and the people of Mesopotamia.[46] The same specialist in Oriental glyptics, says: "The efforts of some learned men to discover traces of a reciprocal influence have been fruitless. The pyramids of Egypt have no affinity with those of Chaldea, the sculpture of Egypt does not resemble in anything that of Nineveh or Caleh; would the glyptic art have escaped that individual development which characterizes the two peoples? I think not; at least we have no proof of it."[47] And a very erudite archæologist of our day, Hodder M. Westropp, holds; that the Assyrian cylinders came into that country from Egypt and did not come from Assyria into Egypt.[48]