Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt by Gaston Maspero (popular books of all time txt) 📖

used for inlaying temple-doors, coffers, and furniture. Also small statuettes of gods were occasionally made in this metal, especially those of Osiris and Anubis. Copper was too yielding to be available for objects in current use; bronze, therefore, was the favourite metal of the Egyptians. Though often affirmed, it is not true that they succeeded in tempering bronze so that it became as hard as iron or steel; but by varying the constituents and their relative proportions, they were able to give it a variety of very different qualities. Most of the objects hitherto analysed have yielded precisely the same quantities of copper and tin commonly used by the bronze founders of the present day. Those analysed by Vauquelin in 1825 contained 84 per cent. of copper 14 per cent. of tin, and 1 per cent. of iron and other substances. A chisel brought from Egypt by Sir Gardner Wilkinson contained only from 5 to 9 per cent. of tin, 1 per cent. of iron, and 94 of copper. Certain fragments of statuettes and mirrors more recently subjected to analysis have yielded a notable quantity of gold and silver, thus corresponding with the bronzes of Corinth. Other specimens resemble brass, both in their colour and substance. Many of the best Egyptian bronzes offer a surprising resistance to damp, and oxidise with difficulty. While yet hot from the mould, they were rubbed with some kind of resinous varnish which filled up the pores and deposited an unalterable patina upon the surface. Each kind of bronze had its special use. The ordinary bronze was employed for weapons and common amulets; the brazen alloys served for household utensils; the bronzes mixed with gold and silver were destined only for mirrors, costly weapons, and statuettes of value. In none of the tomb-paintings which I have seen is there any representation of bronze-founding or bronze-working; but this omission is easily supplemented by the objects themselves. Tools, arms, rings, and cheap vases were sometimes forged, and sometimes cast whole in moulds of hard clay or stone. Works of art were cast in one or several pieces according to circumstances; the parts were then united, soldered, and retouched with the burin. The method most frequently employed was to prepare a core of mixed clay and charcoal, or sand, which roughly reproduced the modelling of the mould into which it was introduced. The layer of metal between this core and the mould was often so thin that it would have yielded to any moderate pressure, had they not taken the precaution to consolidate it by having the core for a support.

Domestic utensils and small household instruments were mostly made in bronze. Fig 276.--Bronze jug. Fig 276.--Bronze jug.
Such objects are exhibited by thousands in our museums, and frequently figure in bas-reliefs and mural paintings. Art and trade were not incompatible in Egypt; and even the coppersmith sought to give elegance of form, and to add ornaments in a good style, to the humblest of his works. The saucepan in which the cook of Rameses III. concocted his masterpieces is supported on lions' feet. Here is a hot-water jug which looks as if it were precisely like its modern successors (fig. 276); but on a closer examination we shall find that the handle is a full-blown lotus, the petals, which are bent over at an angle to the stalk, resting against the edge of the neck (fig. 277). Fig 277.--Same jug seen from above. Fig 277.--Same jug seen from above.
The handles of knives and spoons are almost always in the form of a duck's or goose's neck, slightly curved. The bowl is sometimes fashioned like an animal--as, for instance, a gazelle ready bound for the sacrifice (fig. 278). On the hilt of a sabre we find a little crouching jackal; and the larger limb of a pair of scissors in the Gizeh Museum is made in the likeness of an Asiatic captive, his arms tied behind his back. A lotus leaf forms the disk of a mirror, and its stem is the handle. One perfume box is a fish, another is a bird, another is a grotesque deity. The lustration vases, or situlae, carried by priests and priestesses for the purpose of sprinkling either the faithful, or the ground traversed by religious processions, merit the special consideration of connoisseurs. Fig 278.--Spoon (or lamp?). Fig 278.--Spoon (or lamp?).
They are ovoid or pointed at the bottom, and decorated with subjects either chased or in relief. These sometimes represent deities, each in a separate frame, and sometimes scenes of worship. The work is generally very minute.

Bronze came into use for statuary purposes from a very early period; but time unfortunately has preserved none of those idols which peopled the temples of the ancient empire. Whatsoever may be said to the contrary, we possess no bronze statuettes of any period anterior to the expulsion of the Hyksos. Some Theban figures date quite certainly from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties. The chased lion's head found with the jewels of Queen Aahhotep, the Harpocrates of Gizeh inscribed with the names of Kames and Ahmes I., and several statuettes of Amen, said to have been discovered at Medinet Habû and Sheikh Abd el Gûrneh, are of that period. Our most important bronzes belong, however, to the Twenty-second Dynasty, or, later still, to the time of the Saïte Pharaohs. Many are not older than the first Ptolemies. A fragment found in the ruins of Tanis and now in the possession of Count Stroganoff, formed part of a votive statue dedicated by King Pisebkhanû. Fig 279.--Bronze statuette of the Lady Takûshet. Fig 279.--Bronze statuette of the Lady Takûshet.
It was originally two-thirds the size of life, and is the largest specimen known. A portrait statuette of the Lady Takûshet, given to the Museum of Athens by M. Demetrio, the four statuettes from the Posno collection now at the Louvre, and the kneeling genius of Gizeh, are all from the site of Bubastis, and date probably from the years which immediately preceded the accession of Psammetichus I. The Lady Takûshet is standing, the left foot advanced, the right arm hanging down, the left raised and brought close to the body (fig. 279). She wears a short robe embroidered with religious subjects, and has bracelets on her arms and wrists. Upon her head she has a wig with flat curls, row above row. The details both of her robe and jewels are engraved in incised lines upon the surface of the bronze, and inlaid with silver threads. The face is evidently a portrait, and represents a woman of mature age. Fig 280.--Bronze statuette of Horus. Fig 280.--Bronze statuette of Horus.
The form, according to the traditions of Egyptian art, is that of a younger woman, slender, firm, and supple. The copper in this bronze is largely intermixed with gold, thus producing a chastened lustre which is admirably suited to the richness of the embroidered garment. The kneeling genius of Gizeh is as rude and repellent as the Lady Takûshet is delicate and harmonious. He has a hawk's head, and he worships the sun, as is the duty of the Heliopolitan genii. His right arm is uplifted, his left is pressed to his breast. The style of the whole is dry, and the granulated surface of the skin adds to the hard effect of the figure. The action, however, is energetic and correct, and the bird's head is adjusted with surprising skill to the man's neck and shoulders. The same qualities and the same faults distinguish the Horus of the Posno collection (fig. 280). Standing, he uplifted a libation vase; now lost, and poured the contents upon a king who once stood face to face with him. This roughness of treatment is less apparent in the other three Posno figures; above all in that which bears the name of Mosû engraved over the place of the heart (fig. 281). Fig 281.--Bronze statuette of one Mosû. Fig 281.--Bronze statuette of one Mosû.
Like the Horus, this Mosû stands upright, his left foot advanced, and his left arm pendent. His right hand is raised, as grasping the wand of office. The trunk is naked, and round his loins he wears a striped cloth with a squared end falling in front. His head is clad in a short wig covered with short curls piled one above the other. The ear is round and large. The eyes are well opened, and were originally of silver; but have been stolen by some Arab. The features have a remarkable expression of pride and dignity. After these, what can be said for the thousands of statuettes of Osiris, of Isis, of Nephthys, of Horus, of Nefertûm, which have been found in the sands and ruins of Sakkarah, Bubastis, and other cities of the Delta? Many are, without doubt, charming objects for glass-cases, and are to be admired for perfection of casting and delicacy of execution; but the greater number are mere articles of commerce, made upon the same pattern, and perhaps in the self-same moulds, century after century, for the delight of devotees and pilgrims. They are rounded, vulgar, destitute of originality, and have no more distinction than the thousands of coloured statuettes of saints and Virgins which stock the shelves of our modern dealers in pious wares. An exception must, however, be made in favour of the images of animals, such as rams, sphinxes, and lions, which to the last retained a more pronounced stamp of individuality. The Egyptians had a special predilection for the feline race. They have represented the lion in every attitude--giving chase to the antelope; springing upon the hunter; wounded, and turning to bite his wound; couchant, and disdainfully calm--and no people have depicted him with a more thorough knowledge of his habits, or with so intense a vitality. Several gods and goddesses, as Shû, Anhûr, Bast, Sekhet, Tefnût, have the form of the lion or of the cat; and inasmuch as the worship of these deities was more popular in the Delta than elsewhere, so there never passes a year when from amid the ruins of Bubastis, Tanis, Mendes, or some less famous city, there is not dug up a store of little figures of lions and lionesses, or of men and women with lions' heads, or cats' heads. The cats of Bubastis and the lions of Tell es Seba crowd our museums. The lions of Horbeit may be reckoned among the chefs-d'oeuvre of Egyptian statuary. Upon one of the largest among them is inscribed the name of Apries (fig. 282); but if even this evidence were lacking, the style of the piece would compel us to attribute it to the Saïte period. It formed part of the ornamentation of a temple or naos door; and the other side was either built into a wall or imbedded in a piece of wood. The lion is caught in a trap, or, perhaps, lying down in an oblong cage, with only his head and fore feet outside. The lines of the body are simple and full of power; the expression of the face is calm and strong. In breadth and majesty he almost equals the fine limestone lions of Amenhotep III.