to us. Their palaces were adorned with gold and painted with elaborate designs; their beds were long, graceful couches of braided palm-fibre and inlaid wood; their chairs, decorated with electrum, were low and deep-seated,1 or plated with hammered gold, and shaped in curiously Empirelike forms. A golden chair of the Queen Sat-amen was found with a cushion of pink linen, stuffed with pigeons' feathers. A chariot of rose-tinted leather overlaid with gold; stands and work-boxes of gold and sky-blue enamel ; vases, jars, and pots, of bronze, alabaster, gold, and blue or green glaze; articles of various sorts for toilet use, kohl tubes, mirrors and combs, pots for holding cosmetics and perfumes; lily-like cups of turquoise-blue faïence; scarabseals, amulets, and rings, splendid jewellery of gold and precious stones; all of these, and many more of a like nature, have come to the light of day from the tombs of a longburied world. The early Egyptians had a great love of flowers, and used them on all occasions. Flowers crowned their heads at festivals; lotus buds decked the princesses; queens carried bunches of lotus in ceremonials; the temples were wreathed with blossoms, which also lay thick among the offerings of the altar; guests at the feast were presented with garlands; the wine cups and dishes were adorned with flowers; and the dead were laid away covered with wreaths, many of which were destined to retain their beauty and form for thousands of years. The art of ancient Egypt usually demanded a portrayal of the human form in its natural lines, untrammelled by draperies; hence we have the queens generally represented nude, or with only slightly indicated garments, especially in sculpture. Many pictures and other indications remain, however, which show the manner of dressing to have changed 1 Chair of Queen Hatshepsut, in B.M. 2 See furniture found in tomb of Iuaa and Thuaa, Cairo Museum, Room T. considerably from time to time. The queen seems always to have worn a large wig, in early times simply arranged, or ending in a single curl lying on the breast, the forehead encircled by a jewelled band. Later, the hair was dressed in rows of small curls, and surmounted by a head-dress formed of a uræus on the brow, with vultures' wings dependent at the sides. The gown was of white or coloured linen,1 simple and clinging, open at the throat and ending above the ankles; or was made of a transparent stuff, a full skirt falling in many fine pleats from waist to feet; the same material, crossed over the breast and confined at the waist by a girdle tied in front, the ends reaching to the embroidered hem of the skirt. Long flowing sleeves, sandals, and a broad necklace and bracelets of gold and coloured stones, completed a costume which, as seen in the pictures of Queen Nefertari, was both graceful and elegant. The gold, of which many beautiful specimens remain, was of a soft yellow tone, frequently pure and without alloy. The so-called precious stones of the jewellery consisted for the most part of turquoise," Egyptian emeralds," lapis-lazuli, and red and white carnelian, while coloured glass and paste were much used for inlaid work. The houses had large gardens planted with flowers, and shaded by avenues of trees, being further ornamented with ponds and small lakes, in which ducks and many kinds of fish disported themselves. The tomb pictures show that the royal owners of all these great possessions once feasted and made merry with their people, presented gifts, watched their dances and games, and altogether conducted themselves as a happy, joy-loving people might in any age. At the opening of the XVIIIth dynasty, the first queen to appear is the famous daughter of Se-quenen-Ra and Aah-hetep I. 1 WILKINSON, Ancient Egyptians. AAHMES-NEFERTARI. 'Royal Daughter; Royal Sister; Great 66 This princess is, with one exception, the most brilliant figure in the long list of Egypt's queens. Born royal heiress to the crown, she so filled her high position that her fame became even greater than that of her mother. Divine law and human expediency having established the custom of marriages between brothers and sisters,1 Nefertari became the wife of her brother Aahmes, the great Hyksos conqueror, for whom her vigorous character and kingly spirit made her a fit mate. Her early youth, like that of her mother Aah-hetep, was passed in the stirring times of the great rebellion against the Hyksos. Aahmes was joint heir with her to the throne of their parents, and together they peacefully ruled the land for nearly twenty-five years. The rock tablets of Massarah, and the caves of Turah, preserve the records of their joint reign. On the death of Aahmes, their eldest son Amenhetep I. assumed the crown, and with him Nefertari still continued to reign. Commenting on the active part the queen seems to have taken in affairs, M. Maspero says: Amen-hetep I. had not attained his majority when his 1 NEWBERRY and GARSTANG, Hist. Eg., 127, suggest the XVIIIth dynasty for the origin of this practice; other writers consider it a more ancient custom. 2 M.'s S.N., 95. |