Part 26

+------------+-------------+-----------------+-----------+----------+-----------------+ | Sign. | Description.| Name. | Word-sign | Phonetic | Determinative | | | | | Value. | Value. | Value. | +------------+-------------+-----------------+-----------+----------+-----------------+ | [HRG: Xrd] | child | hrd (khrod) | | | youth | | | | | | | | | [HRG: Hr] | face | hr (hor) | hr | [hr] | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: ir] | eye | ir.t (yori.t) | ir | ir | see, &c. | | | | | | | | | [HRG: r] | mouth | r (ro) | r | r | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: a] | forearm | '('ei) | ' | ' | [action of hand | | | | | | | or arm] | | | | | | | | | [HRG: D40] | arm with | nht "be strong" | nht | | violent action | | | stick | | | | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: A24] | man with | nht "be strong" | nht | | violent action | | | stick | | | | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: zmA] | lungs and | sm; | sm; | | | | | windpipe | | | | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: ib] | heart | ib | | | heart | | | | | | | | | [HRG: nfr] | heart and | ? | nfr | | | | | windpipe | | | | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: wr] | sparrow | ? | sr | | evil, worthless-| | | | | | | ness, smallness| | | | | | | | | [HRG: zA] | widgeon | s;.t | s; | s; | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: in] | bolti-fish | in.t | in | in | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: Hw] | tusk | (1) ibh "tooth" | bh | bh | bite, &c. | | | | (2) hw "taste" | hw | | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: xt] | cut branch | ht | ht | [ht] | wood, tree | | | | | | | | | [HRG: zp] | threshing- | sp.t | sp | | | | | floor | | | | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: hrw] | sun | (1) r' "sun" | | | (1) sun | | | | (2) hrw "day" | | | (2) division of | | | | | | | time | | | | | | | | | [HRG: pr] | chamber, | pr | pr | | | | | house | | | | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: N17] | flat land | t' | t' | t' | boundless hori- | | | | | | | zon, eternity | | | | | | | | | [HRG: Hz] | libation | hs.t | hs | hs | | | | vase | | | | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: wD] | cord on | wz | wz | wz | | | | stick | | | | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: nb] | basket | nb.t | nb | | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: k] | looped | ? | k | k | | | | basket | | | | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: mA] | sickle | ? | m' | m' | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: U7] | composite | [mr?] | mr | mr | tillage | | | hoe | | | | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: U29] | fire-drill | z'.t(?) | z' | z' | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: Sms] | attendant's | sms "follow" | sms | | | | | equipment | | | | | | | | | | | | | [HRG: T30] | knife | ds | ds | | cut, prick, cut-| | | | | | | ting instrument | +------------+-------------+-----------------+-----------+----------+-----------------+

_Demotic._--Widely varying degrees of cursiveness are at all periods observable in hieratic; but, about the XXVIth Dynasty, which inaugurated a great commercial era, there was something like a definite parting between the uncial hieratic and the most cursive form afterwards known as demotic. The employment of hieratic was thenceforth almost confined to the copying of religious and other traditional texts on papyrus, while demotic was used not only for all business but also for writing literary and even religious texts in the popular language. By the time of the XXVth Dynasty the cursive of the conservative Thebais had become very obscure. A better form from Lower Egypt drove this out completely in the time of Amasis II. and is the true demotic. Before the Macedonian conquest the cursive ligatures of the old demotic gave birth to new symbols which were carefully and distinctly formed, and a little later an epigraphic variety was engraved on stone, as in the case of the Rosetta stone itself. One of the most characteristic distinctions of later demotic is the minuteness of the writing.

Hieroglyphic is normally written from right to left, the signs facing to the commencement of the line; hieratic and demotic follow the same direction. But monumental hieroglyphic may also be written from left to right, and is constantly so arranged for purposes of symmetry, e.g. the inscriptions on the two jambs of a door are frequently turned in opposite directions; the same is frequently done with the short inscriptions scattered over a scene amongst the figures, in order to distinguish one label from another.

In modern founts of type, the hieroglyphic signs are made to run from left to right, in order to facilitate the setting where European text is mixed with the Egyptian. The table on next page shows them in their more correct position, in order to display more clearly their relation to the hieratic and demotic equivalents.

Clement of Alexandria states that in the Egyptian schools the pupils were first taught the "epistolographic" style of writing (i.e. demotic), secondly the "hieratic" employed by the sacred scribes, and finally the "hieroglyphic" (_Strom._ v. 657). It is doubtful whether they classified the signs of the huge hieroglyphic syllabary with any strictness. The only native work on the writing that has come to light as yet is a fragmentary papyrus of Roman date which has a table in parallel columns of hieroglyphic signs, with their hieratic equivalents and words written in hieratic describing them or giving their values or meanings. The list appears to have comprised about 460 signs, including most of those that occur commonly in hieratic. They are to some extent classified. The bee [HRGs: bit] heads the list as a royal sign, and is followed by figures of nobles and other human figures in various attitudes, more or less grouped among themselves, animals, reptiles and fishes, scorpion, animals again, twenty-four alphabetic characters, parts of the human body carefully arranged from [HRGs: tp] to [HRGs: D54], thirty-two in number, parts of animals, celestial signs, terrestrial signs, vases. The arrangement down to this point is far from strict, and beyond it is almost impossible to describe concisely, though there is still a rough grouping of characters according to resemblance of form, nature or meaning. It is a curious fact that not a single bird is visible on the fragments, and the trees and plants, which might easily have been collected in a compact and well-defined section, are widely scattered. Why the alphabetic characters are introduced where they are is a puzzle; the order of these is:--[HRG Z91] [HRGs: r-H-kA-W] (?) [HRGs: wA] (?) [HRGs: s] (?) [HRGs: z-Db] (?) [HRGs: Z91-b-Z91-S-SA] (?) [HRGs: k] (?) [HRGs: xA-X-U29-p-a-g-x-t] (?) [HRGs: i-q].

Three others, [HRGs: XA-D] and [HRGs: f], had already occurred amongst the fish and reptiles. There seems to be no logical aim in this arrangement of the alphabetic characters and the series is incomplete. Very probably the Egyptians never constructed a really systematic list of hieroglyphs. In modern lists the signs are classified according to the nature of the objects they depict, as human figures, plants, vessels, instruments, &c. Horapollon's _Hieroglyphica_ may be cited as a native work, but its author, if really an Egyptian, had no knowledge of good writing. His production consists of two elaborate complementary lists: the one describing sign-pictures and giving their meanings, the other cataloguing ideas in order to show how they could be expressed in hieroglyphic. Each seems to us to be made up of curious but perverted reminiscences eked out by invention; but they might some day prove to represent more truly the usages of mystics and magicians in designing amulets, &c., at a time approaching the middle ages.

[Illustration: PLATE I. EARLIEST EGYPTIAN ART

1. TATOOED FEMALE, LIMESTONE SLAG. 2. 3. HEADS ON IVORY TUSKS. 4. 5. ANIMALS ON BONE COMBS. 6. IVORY HAWK. 7. LIMESTONE LION. 8. IVORY DOG AND GAZELLE. 9. IVORY HANDLE OF KNIFE. 10. 11. WHITE ON RED VASES; MEN AND ANIMALS. 12. SHIP ON A VASE. 13. SHIP ON A WALL PAINTING. 14. IVORY KING. 15. 16. ARCHAIC KING'S HEAD, STUDY IN LIMESTONE. 17. HEAD OF KHASEKHEM.]

[Illustration: PLATE II. EARLY EGYPTIAN ART.

18. LIMESTONE RELIEF. 19. ANIMALS ON SLATE PALETTE._Photo, Mansell._ 20. CONQUEROR AS A BULL. 21. GAZELLES AND PALM, SLATE. 22. ANIMALS, SLATE. 23. KING NARMER, SLATE PALETTE. 24. IVORY TUSK, WITH ANIMALS. 25. IVORY WAND, WITH ANIMALS. 26. WOODEN PANELS OF HESI. 27. RAHOTP AND NEFERT. 28. WOODEN FIGURE.]

+---------------------+----------+-----------+---------------+---------------------+ | | Demotic. | Hieratic. | Hieroglyphic. | | | +---------------------+----------+-----------+---------------+---------------------+ | _ent_, "who" | [SGN] | [SGN] | [HRG] | _nty_ | | | | | | | | _Perso_ ("Pharaoh") | [SGN] | [SGN] | [HRG] | _Per<o <nh wz, snb_ | | | | | | | | _yôt_, "father" | [SGN] | [SGN] | [HRG] | _itf_ | | | | | | | | _'ônkh_, "live" | [SGN] | [SGN] | [HRG] | _<nh_ | | | | | | | | _ekh_, "know" | [SGN] | [SGN] | [HRG] | _rh_ | | | | | | | | _ahe_, "stand" | [SGN] | [SGN] | [HRG] | _<h<_ | | | | | | | | _eine_, "carry" | [SGN] | [SGN] | [HRG] | _in_ | | | | | | | | _ms_ (phon.) | [SGN] | [SGN] | [HRG] | _ms_ | | | | | | | | _s_ (alph.) | [SGN] | [SGN] | [HRG] | _s_ | | | | | | | | _s_ (alph.) | [SGN] | [SGN] | [HRG] | _[/s]_ | | | | | | | | _m_ (alph.) | [SGN] | [SGN] | [HRG] | _m_ | | | | | | | | _n_ (alph.) | [SGN] | [SGN] | [HRG] | _n_ | +---------------------+----------+-----------+---------------+---------------------+

The early scribe's outfit, often carried slung over his shoulder, is seen in the hieroglyph [HRG]. It consisted of frayed reed pens or brushes, a small pot of water, and a palette with two circular cavities in which black and red ink were placed, made of finely powdered colour solidified with gum. In business and literary documents red ink was used for contrast, especially in headings; in demotic, however, it is very rarely seen. The pen became finer in course of time, enabling the scribe to write very small. The split reed of the Greek penman was occasionally adopted by the late demotic scribes.

Egypt had long been bilingual when, in papyri of the 2nd century A.D., we begin to find transcripts of the Egyptian language into Greek letters, the latter reinforced by a few signs borrowed from the demotic alphabet: so written we have a magical text and a horoscope, probably made by foreigners or for their use. The infinite superiority of the Greek alphabet with its full notation of vowels was readily seen, but piety and custom as yet barred the way to its full adoption. The triumph of Christianity banished the old system once and for all; even at the beginning of the 4th century the native Egyptian script scarcely survived north of the Nubian frontier at Philae; a little later it finally expired. The following eight signs, however, had been taken over from demotic by the Copts:

[Coptic: shai] = _s_, from [HRG] _si_, dem. [sign], [SGN].

[Coptic: horee] = _h_, probably from [HRG] _hw_ (or [HRG] _hi_), dem. [sign].

[Coptic: khai] (Boh.) = _h_, from [HRG] _hi_, dem. [SGN].

[Coptic: eksee] (Akhm.) = _h_, from [HRG], [HRG] _hy_, _ht_, dem. [sign].

[Coptic: fai] = _f_, from [HRG] _f_, dem. [SGN].

[Coptic: cheema] = _c_ from [HRG] _k_ (or [HRG] _h_), dem. [sign], [sign].

[Coptic: janja] = _g_, from [HRG] _di_ (or [HRG] _ti_), dem. [sign], [sign].

[Coptic: tee] = _ti_, from [HRG] _dy·t_, dem. [SGN].

For origins of hieroglyphs, see Petrie's _Medum_ (1892); F. Ll. Griffith, _A Collection of Hieroglyphs_ (1898); N. de G. Davies, _The Mastaba of Ptahhetep and Akhethetep_, pt. i. (1900); M. A. Murray, _Saqqara Mastabas_ (London, 1905); also Petrie and Griffith, _Two Hieroglyphic Papyri from Tanis_ (London, 1889) (native sign-list); G. Möller, _Hieratische Paläographie_ (Leipzig, 1909); Griffith, _Catalogue of Demotic Papyri in the J. Rylands Collection_ (Manchester, 1909). (F. Ll. G.)

E. _Art and Archaeology._--In the following sections a general history of the characteristics of Ancient Egyptian art is first given, showing the variation of periods and essentials of style; and this is followed by an account of the use made of material products, of the tools and instruments employed, and of the monuments. For further details see also the separate topographical headings (for excavations, &c.), and the general articles on the various arts and art-materials (for references to Egypt); also PYRAMIDS; MUMMY, &c.

_General Characteristics._

The wide and complex subject of Egyptian art will be treated here in six periods: Prehistoric, Early Kings, Pyramid Kings, XIIth Dynasty, XVIIIth-XXth Dynasties, XXVIth Dynasty and later. In each age will be considered the (A) statuary, (B) reliefs, (C) painting.

_Prehistoric._--The earliest civilized population of Egypt was highly skilled in mechanical accuracy and regularity, but had little sense of organic forms. They kept the unfinished treatment of the limbs and extremities which is so characteristic of most barbaric art; and the

## action was more considered than the form.

(A) In the round there are in the earlier graves female figures of two races, the Bushman type and European, both probably representing servants or slaves. These have the legs always united, sloping to a point without feet (Plate I. fig. 1); the arms are only stumps. The face has a beaky nose and some indication of eyes. Upon the surface is colouring; red for the Bushman, with black whisker though female; white for the European type, with black tattoo patterns. Other female figures are modelled in a paste, upon a stick, and the black hair is sometimes made separately to fit on as a wig over the red head, showing that wigs were then used. Male figures are generally only heads in the earlier times. Tusks with carved heads (Plate I. figs. 2, 3) are the earliest, beginning at S.D. (sequence date) 33;[16] heads on the top of combs are found, from S.D. 42 to the close of such combs in the fifties. All of these heads show a high forehead and a pointed beard; and such expression as may be discovered is grave but not savage. In later times whole figures of ivory, stone and clay are found, with the legs united, and the arms usually joined to the body. A favourite way of indicating the eyes was by drilling two holes and inserting a white shell bead in each. The figures of animals (Plate I. figs. 4, 5) are quite as rude as the human figures: they only summarily indicate the mature, and often hardly express the genus. They are most usual on combs and pins; but sacred animals are also found. The lion is the most usual (Plate I. fig. 7), but the legs are roughly marked, if at all: the leonine air is given, but the attitude is more distinct than the form. The hawk (Plate I. fig. 6) is modelled in block without any legs. The slate palettes in the form of animals are even more summary, and continually degraded until they lost all trace of their origin. There are also curious figures of animals chipped in flint, which show some character, but no detail.

(B) Reliefs with animal figures belong to the later part of the prehistoric age. The relief is low, and the form hatched across with lines (Plate I. fig. 8), a style copied from drawing. There is more animation than in the round figures. At the close of this age the fashion of long processions of animals appears (Plate I. fig. 9); some character is shown in these, but no sense of action.

(C) Drawing is found from the earliest civilization, done in white slip on red vases. Figures of men are very rare (Plate I. fig. 10); they have the body triangular, the waist being very narrow; the legs are two lines linked by a zigzag, as if to express that they move to and fro. The usual figures are goats and hippopotami; always having the body covered with cross lines to express the connexion of the outlines (Plate I. fig. 11). This technique is in every way closely akin to that of the modern Kabyle. An entirely different mode is common at a later time when designs were painted in thin red colour on a light brown ware. The subjects of the earlier of these examples are imitations of cordage, of marbling, and of basket-work; later there are rows of men and animals, and ships (Plate I. figs. 12, 13), with various minor signs. The figures are never cross-hatched as in earlier drawing, but always filled in altogether. The fact that the ships have oars and not sails makes it probable that they were rather for the sea than for Nile traffic, and a starfish among the motives on such pottery also points to the sea connexion. The ulterior meaning of the decoration is probably religious and funereal, but the objects which are figured must have been familiar.

For this whole period see Jean Capart, _Débuts de l'art en Égypte_ (1904; trans. _Primitive Art in Ancient Egypt_).

_The Early Kings._--The dynastic race wrought an entire transformation in the art of Egypt; in place of the clumsy and undetailed representations, there suddenly appears highly artistic work, full of character, action and anatomical detail.

(A) The earliest statues of this age are the colossi of the god Min from Coptos; that they belong to the artistic race is evident from the spirited reliefs upon them (see below, B), but the figures were very rude, the legs and arms being joined all in the mass. The main example of this early art is a limestone head of a king (Plate I. figs. 15, 16), which is a direct study from life, to serve as a model. For the accuracy of the facial curves, and the grasp of character and type, it is equal to any later work; and in its entire absence of conventions and its pure naturalism there is no later sculpture so good: as Prof. A. Michaelis says, "it renders the race type with astounding keenness, and shows an excellent power of observation in the exact representation of the eyes." By the portrait, it is probably of King Narmer or some king related to him, that is, about the beginning of the Ist Dynasty. The ivory statuette of an aged king (Plate I. fig. 14) is probably slightly later. It shows the same subtle sense of character, and is unsurpassed in its reality. Many ivory figures of men, women and animals are known from Nekhen (Hieraconpolis) and Abydos; and they all show the same school of work, simple, dignified, observant, and with an air which places them on a higher plane of truthfulness and precision than later art. There is none of the mannerism of a long tradition, but a nobility pervades them which has no self-consciousness. The lower class of work of this age is shown by great numbers of glazed pottery figures both human and animal. Later in the IInd Dynasty, the head of Khasekhem (Plate I. fig. 17) shows the beginning of convention, but yet has a delicacy about the mouth which surpasses later works.

(B) Reliefs abound at this age, and include the most important evidences of the development of the art. The earliest examples are those of animals (Plate II. fig. 18) and shells on the colossi of Coptos. They show a keen sense of form, and the stag's head, which is probably the earliest, already bears an artistic feeling wholly different to that of any of the prehistoric works (P.K. iii. iv.). The carvings on slate palettes appear to begin with work crudely accurate and forceful, the heavy limbs being ridged with tendons and muscles (Plate II. fig. 19), but there is more proportion, with the same massive strength (Plate II. fig. 20). Soon after, with a leap, the artist produced the first pure work of art that is known (Plate II. fig. 21), a design for its own sake without the tie of symbolism or history. The group of two long-necked gazelles facing a palm tree is of extraordinary refinement, and shows the artistic consciousness in every part; the symmetric rendering of the palm tree, reduced to fit the scale of the animals, the dainty grace of the smooth gazelles contrasted with the rugged stem, the delicacy of the long flowing curves and the fine indications of the joints, all show a sense of design which has rarely been equalled in the ceaseless repetitions of the tree and supporters motive during every age since. Passing the various palettes with hunting scenes and animals (Plate II. fig. 22), we come to the great historical carving of King Narmer (Plate II. fig. 23). Here the anatomy has reached its limits for such work; the precision of the muscles on the inner and outer sides of the leg, of the uniform grip in the left arm, and the tense muscle upholding the right arm, prove that the artist knew that part of his work perfectly. The large ceremonial mace-heads recording the _Sed_ festivals of the king Narmer and another, belong also to this school; but owing to their smaller size they have not such artistic detail. With them were found many reliefs in ivory, on tusks, wands and cylinders. The main motive in these is a long procession of animals (Plate II. figs. 24, 25) often grotesquely crowded; but there is much observation shown and the figures are expressive. No drawing of this age has survived.

_The Pyramid Kings._--A different ideal appears in the pyramid times; in place of the naturalism of the earlier work there is more regularity, some convention, and the sense of a school in the style. The prevailing feeling is a noble spaciousness both in scale and in form, an equanimity based upon knowledge and character, a grandeur of conception expressed by severely simple execution. There is nothing superfluous, nothing common, nothing trivial. The smallest as well as the largest work seems complete, inevitable, immutable, without limitations of time, or labour or thought.