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the "wool" of the negro, his eyes black and slightly almondshaped, his cheek-bones high and often prominent, his nose straight-sometimes aquiline-and inclined to be fleshy; his mouth wide, with somewhat full lips, his teeth small and regular and his chin prominent, because his under jaw was thrust slightly forward. The women were yellowish in colour, probably because their bodies were not so much exposed to the rays of the sun as those of the men. The general character of the physique of the Egyptian has remained

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Ivory figure of a king. Ist dynasty (?)

Bone figure of a dwarf. Archaic Period.

[No. 197, Table-case L, Third Egyptian [No. 42, Table-case L, Third Egyptian

Room.]

Room.]

practically unchanged to the present day, and no admixture of foreign elements has affected it permanently.

The physical features and dress of the primitive dynastic Egyptians are well illustrated by the accompanying drawings and photographs. From Nos. 1-6 (page 23) we see that their hair was short and curly, their noses long and pointed, their eyes almond-shaped, their beards pointed, their arms and legs long, their hands large, and their feet long and flat. They wear in their hair feathers, probably red feathers from the tails of parrots, such as are worn at the present day, and their loin cloths

are fastened round their bodies by belts, from which hang short, bushy tails of jackals (?). No. 1 bears a hawk-standard, the symbol of the god of the tribe, and is armed with a mace having a diamond-shaped head. No. 2 bears a hawk-standard and wields a double-headed stone axe. No. 3 is armed with a mace and a bow. No. 4 is shooting a flint-tipped arrow

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from a bow. No. 5 is armed with a boomerang and a spear, and No. 6 with a mace and a boomerang. The above illustrations are drawn from the green slate shield exhibited in Table-case L in the Third Egyptian Room.

To about the same period belongs the ivory figure of a king here reproduced (No. 7). He wears the Crown of the South, and a garment worked with an elaborate diamond pattern. The

nose is flatter and more fleshy than in the drawings from the slate shield, and the lips are fuller and firmer. In figures 8-10 we have representations of the women of the Archaïc Period, about B.C. 4200. No. 8 is a female dwarf, or perhaps a woman who belonged to one of the pygmy tribes that lived near the Equator. No. 9 is a most interesting figure, for it illustrates the hair-dressing and dress of the period. The features of the child, who is carried partly on the back and partly on the left shoulder, as at the present day, are well preserved. No. 10

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PORTRAIT FIGURES OF OFFICIALS OF THE IIIRD OR IVTH DYNASTY.

ABOUT B.C. 3700.

represents a woman of slim build, with blue eyes, and wearing an elaborate head-dress, which falls over her shoulders.

National Character.-Herodotus, who was an acute observer of the manners and customs of the Egyptians, states (ii, 64) that the Egyptians were "beyond measure scrupulous "in all matters appertaining to religion," and the monuments prove him to be absolutely correct. The Egyptian worshipped his God, whose chief symbol to him was the sun, daily and

regularly, and prayed to him morning and evening. His attitude towards his Maker was one of absolute resignation. The power of God, as displayed by the Sun, and the River Nile, and other forces of nature filled him with awe, and made him to realize his helplessness. His views as to the dependence of men on the sun are well illustrated by the following extract from a hymn to Aten, the god of the Solar Disk: "When thou settest in the western horizon of heaven, "the earth becometh dark with the darkness of the dead. "Men sleep in their houses, their heads are covered up, their "nostrils are closed, and no man can see his neighbour; "everything which they possess could be stolen from under "their heads without their knowing it. All the lions come "forth from their dens, every creeping thing biteth, the smithy

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The fox playing the double pipes for a flock of goats to march to. [From a papyrus in the British Museum, No. 10,016.]

"is in blackness, and all the earth is silent because he who "made them (ie., all creatures) resteth in his horizon. When "the dawn cometh, and thou risest and shinest from the Disk, "darkness flieth away, thou givest forth thy rays, and the "Two Lands (ie., Egypt) are in festival. Men rise up, they "stand upon their feet-it is thou who hast raised them-they "wash their bodies, and dress themselves in their clothes, and "they [stretch out] their hands to thee in thanksgiving for thy "rising." To the god of the city, or local deity, he also paid due reverence. He worshipped Osiris, the type and symbol of the resurrection, most truly, for on his help and succour depended his hope of eternal life. The Egyptians, who were men of means, spent largely during their lifetime in making preparations for their death, and they spared neither money

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