The writing materials consisted of papyrus, palette, reed-pens, ink and ink-pot. Papyrus was made from the stem of the papyrus plant (Cyperus Papyrus), which grew in the marshes and pools near the Nile; it is no longer cultivated in Egypt, but is found in the Sûdân, where it grows to a height of from 20 to 25 ft., and has very thick stems. The exact meaning and derivation of "papyrus" are unknown, but the word is probably of Egyptian origin. A sheet of papyrus was made in the following way: The stem was cut into thin strips, which were laid side by side perpendicularly, and upon these another series of strips was laid horizontally; a thin solution of gum, or paste, was run in between them, after which the sheet was pressed and dried. By joining a number of such sheets together rolls of almost any length could be made. The longest papyrus in the Egyptian Collection in the British Museum, No. 9999, is 135 ft. long and I ft. 5 in. wide; the Papyrus of Ani measures 78 ft. by I ft. 3 in.; the Papyrus of Nebseni, 76 ft. by 8 in.; the Papyrus of Nu, 65 ft. 6 in. by I ft. 1 in.; the Papyrus of Nekht, 46 ft. 7 in. by I ft. 1 in.

The palette, in Egyptian mestha

, usually

consisted of a rectangular piece of wood, from eight to sixteen inches long, and from two to three broad, at one end of which were sunk a number of oval or circular hollows to hold ink or paint. Down the middle was cut a groove, sloping at one end, in which the writing reeds were placed; these were kept in position by a piece of wood glued across the middle of the palette, or by a sliding cover, which also served to protect the reeds from injury. A very good collection of palettes is exhibited in the Third Egyptian Room, Table-case C. Of special interest are the palettes of Ba-nefer, of the reign of

1 These words mean : "I have given bread to the famishing, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, and a boat to him that was shipwrecked." 2 A recent view makes papyrus" to be derived from the conjectural name pa-p-ior "that which is of the river."

66

Pepi II, B.C. 3200 (No. 12,782); the palette of Aähmes I, the first king of the XVIIIth dynasty, about B.C. 1600 (No. 12,784); the palette of the scribe Pa-mer-aḥau, who lived in the reign of Amen-hetep III, about B.C. 1450 (No. 5513); and the palettes of Amen-mes (No. 12,778) and a scribe. (No. 5514), who lived in the reign of Seti I and Rameses II respectively. The hollows for the ink, or paint, generally black and red, are usually two in number, but some palettes have a dozen. The inscriptions on palettes usually contain prayers to the great gods of the Other World for sepulchral offerings; but sometimes they are dedications to the god Tehuti, or Thoth

to whom the invention of the art of writing is attributed. The writing reed, in Egyptian qesh , which served as a pen, was about 10 inches long, and from th to th of an inch in diameter; the end used for writing was bruised and not cut. After the XXVIth dynasty, an ordinary reed, similar to that used in the East at the present day, was employed, and the end was cut like a quill, or steel pen. The ordinary palette will hold about ten writing reeds easily. The ink was made of mineral or vegetable substances mixed with gum and water. The earths, or ochres, or preparations of copper, were rubbed down on slabs with little mullers, several of which may be seen in the Third Egyptian Room, Table-case C. The ink-pot was called pes, and was usually made of faïence or porcelain. The hieroglyph represents the palette, an ink pot, and a reed, united by a cord; the whole stands for "scribe" and "writing."

Besides papyrus, scribes frequently used slices of white limestone of a fine texture, or boards plastered with lime, for writing purposes. On these they wrote drafts of literary compositions, hymns, school exercises, and sketches in outline of the figures of kings, gods, etc., made to scale. As examples may be mentioned No. 22, inscribed with the draft of a legal document which was drawn up in connection with a robbery of weapons from the Royal Arsenal by the Chief of the Treasury, about B.C. 1100, and No. 41, inscribed in the hieratic character with a draft of a part of a famous work called the "Instructions of Amen-em-hat I," king of Egypt, about B.C. 2500 (Third Egyptian Room, Table-case C). In the Ptolemaïc Period pieces of broken earthenware vessels, or potsherds,

commonly known as ostraka, were much used for writing purposes. The inscriptions on these are chiefly of a business. character, receipts or acquittances, etc.; but certain of them contain extracts from literary works, e.g., a school exercise consisting of lines 105-117 and 128-139 of the Phoenissae of Euripides (No. 88, Third Egyptian Room, Table-case C). After the introduction of Christianity into Egypt, the Copts, or Christian Egyptians, imitated their pagan ancestors, and wrote letters, lists of objects, prayers, extracts from the Scriptures, etc., on slices of white limestone. A fine collection of such Coptic inscriptions is exhibited in the Fourth Egyptian

Slab of limestone inscribed with a draft of a deed. Dated in the reign of Heru-em-heb, about B.C. 1400.

[No. 22, Table-case C, Third Egyptian Room.]

Room, Table-case M; and of special interest are: No. 3. Liturgical fragment. No. 5. An undertaking by Abraham to take charge of a camel. No. 8. Religious exercise, Coptic and Greek hymns. No. 17. Extract from Psalm xcviii, "Sing unto the Lord a new Song," etc. No. 19. Part of the Alexandrian Canon of the Mass, written in corrupt Greek by Apa Eihannes. No. 20. Fragment containing part of a Greek hymn and a letter in Coptic, conveying the salutations of Dioskoros to his brother Ounaref and his mother Tnouba. No. 26. Letter from the priest Victor and Matthaios, to Germanos and Isak (Isaac), authorizing them to sow their share of a field, and specifying the rent. No. 28. Document referring to the sale of a camel. It is dated on the second of the month Pashans, and witnessed by three persons:-Dioskle and

Ouanafre1 of Pallas, and Gergorios of Remmosh. No. 41. Part of a letter requesting some monks to bless the writers, and to send holy water to them that they might sprinkle their sick beasts with it. No. 53. List of measurements of land, in which Greek arithmetical signs, etc., are employed. No. 57. Receipt for a holokotinos (solidus) paid as tax or rent by Zaêl for the "camels' field" for the ninth year. No. 60. School exercise in Greek and Coptic grammar; on the obverse is a portion of a letter addressed to the authorities of a monastery. No. 61. Reading exercise. No. 62. Fragment of a school exercise, with rough drawings of animals. No. 65. Acquittance of Mizael Konstantinos for the first instalment of taxes for the year, signed by Severus. No. 66. Writing exercise for the formation of letters. The Copts sometimes covered the outside of an unbroken jar with lists, etc., eg, the amphora, No. 166F, Fourth Egyptian Room, Wall-case No. 163. On this are written six lists of names of men, with those of their fathers and mothers, and it is probable that the inscriptions were written not later than the eighth century.