And here it is convenient to mention the unique blue-glazed porcelain Shabti figure (height, 9 inches) with coffin of Amen-mes (length, 11 inches) which forms one of the most striking objects in the collection of glazed Egyptian porcelain in the British Museum (53892). The deceased wears a wig and collar with a pectoral plaque inscribed with the name of Amen-Rã, A short cloak covers his shoulders and upper arms, and his arms hang by his sides, the extended hands resting upon his thighs. On each wrist is a wide bracelet. The deceased was a king's scribe and overseer of the

The porcelain coffin

is of the usual anthropoid form common to the period, and a curious feature of the cover is that the beard is gilded. The figures of the gods and the inscriptions are in black outline. The hands are crossed over the breast, the right grasping and the left. On the breast is a seated figure of Nut, with outstretched wings. Down the front is the inscription, "Osiris, fan-bearer on the right hand of the king, king's scribe, overseer of the Great House, overseer of the treasury of the sanctuary of Amen, Amen-mes of Thebes,"

$78

In the panels are figures of the Four Sons of Horus, two figures of Thoth opening the doors of two of the Four Winds (see Chapter LXI of the Book of the Dead), and Isis and Nephthys. The inscriptions mention Geb, Ånpu, Tuamutef, Sep, Ḥāpi, etc. On the outside of the body of the coffin are painted in black outline figures of Nephthys (at head), Isis (at foot), the Utchats, Mestȧ, Her-netch-tef, Qebḥsenuf, Anubis, and two figures of Thoth, each opening the door of one of the Four Winds. The text of Chapter VI of the Book of the Dead, which we should expect to find on the figure, is wanting. There is reason to believe that the coffin and figure were not found in a tomb, but on the ground under a large heap of sand near the entrance to the Valley of the Tombs of the Queens. They were probably votive offerings.

OBJECTS FOR THE TOILET IN THE OTHER

WORLD

In all periods the Egyptians have suffered severely from disease of the eyes, and there seems never to have been a time when they did not apply unguents and medicaments to them to minimize the effects of the heat and glare of the day and of the bitter cold of the night. They used many kinds of salves and ointments of a soothing nature, but these were not sufficient to preserve the eyes from

rheum and inflammation, and at a very early period the use of mineral compounds became common, both among men and women. The mineral powder in commonest use was

ሰ ቦ

mestem-t,1 the cтн of the Copts, and the oriμμ of the Greeks, or stibium. This seems to have been a black powder, the sesqui

sulphuret of antimony, but oxide of copper, ↑← uatch,

sulphide of lead, and many other substances were used. I brought home several specimens of the powder which was used in the Sûdân in 1905-6, and an expert chemist informed me that the substance was black oxide of manganese. Mesṭem-t was used in the countries to the East of Egypt, and in a painting on a wall in the tomb of Khnemuhetep at Bani-Ḥasan we see a company of the Nomads (Aamu) bringing a present of it to this nomarch in the reign of Usertsen II. And it will be remembered that Jezebel "set her eyes in stibium (THY THE D, II Kings ix, 30), and that the daughter of Zion was told that her lovers would seek her life, even though 'she rent asunder her eyes with stibium" (Jeremiah iv, 30), an allusion to the wide-open appearance which stibium gives to women's eyes in the East.

"

The stibium-pot or tube (or more commonly the koḥl-pot, from the Arabic) is one of the commonest toilet necessaries found in the tombs, and the varieties known are many. The simplest form consisted of a hollow tube of alabaster, steatite, ivory, wood or glass, from 2 to 6 inches high. A good example in ivory is B.M. 6179; the bone tube with circular bands grooved on the outside is still filled with the black paste (B.M. 6184). Another interesting example in bone or ivory is in the form of the god Bes (B.M. 2571). The god wears a decorated tunic and deep anklets, and stands on a cluster of lotus flowers. Sometimes a piece of a reed 71⁄2 inches long was used for a tube, and the example B.M. 51068 is inscribed (?), which seems to suggest

that the powder in the tube will make the user to attain to the greatest

beauties of the god Set, who is here drawn with emblems of life, †,

on each side of him. The inscription is written within notched palm branches, indicating length of years, and below the hieroglyphs is the sign. In short, it was claimed that the powder in the tube would give everlasting youth and beauty. Sometimes the single tube is in the form of a woman wearing a heavy pigtail (B.M. 2570), and when made of steatite or alabaster it is sometimes

1 Var.

ров

The Egyptians seem to have had a special

preparation, стне Пкёт.

supported by a dog-headed ape (B.M. 26355, 37190). The greenglazed steatite example B.M. 21895 is being embraced by the arms and legs of a dog-headed ape. The single glass koḥl-tube is well represented by B.M. 2589, which is in the form of a column with a lotus capital. Porcelain single tubes are often inscribed, e.g., B.M. 27376, which is glazed green and has written upon it in black ink

18

O

Af."Beneficent

god, Lord of the Two Lands, Lord of Crowns, Nebkheperurā (Tutānkhảmen), giver of life for ever." Another example gives the prenomen of Tutankhamen and the name of his wife Ankhnesȧmen,

(B.M. 2573). Of the double tube there are

several varieties. Sometimes they are uninscribed and are made of wood (B.M. 2598). An example in obsidian (B.M. 2599) has on it a figure of Bes in relief; an example in steatite has a flat back support on which are cut in outline figures of Osiris, Isis and Nephthys (B.M. 30052); and an example in wood (B.M. 37202) is inscribed with the prenomen of Amenḥetep III and Queen Tî,

O

Afty 144. In ivory

we have the beautiful example B.M. 22839. The two tubes are in the form of columns, between which is a triangular shaft, with a notched collar in which the koḥl needle is to rest when not in use. Each tube had a little rectangular cover which worked on a pivot, but one of these is wanting. The double tubes held, presumably, two kinds of eye-powder, one medicinal and one that was applied to the eyelids as an ornament. Kohl-pots with three tubes are not common, and the example B.M. 2612 is of unusual interest. It is made of terra-cotta and is in the form of the triple crown with plumes,

W, and the front of each crown is decorated with a different linear

design. The koḥl-stick, by which the powder was applied to the eyes, is made of wood, and its head is in the form of the hawk of Horus. This triple tube was probably made during the Ptolemaic Period, when the triple crown was in common use. Of koḥl-pots with four tubes several examples are known, and the example in wood which was made for the scribe Aāḥmes (B.M. 27196) gives us an idea of when the contents of the tubes were used. On the back of the plinth is an inscription which contains a prayer that Amen-Ra will give all kinds of good and pure things to the Ka of Aāḥmes, Scribe and