Berkley, E.: The pharaohs and their people: scenes of old Egyptian life and history (New York, [1883])

186 TRADE AND MANUFACTURES.

officiating in the temple rites, or the fisherman
directing his tiny craft upon the river. We see
the baker kneading the dough with his feet,
and the fiat loaves being carried round to the
customers ; the shoemaker, sitting on his three-
legged stool, is busy fashioning the leather
sandal ; spinning-wheel and loom are producing
the ' fine linen' of Egypt, and the needle is
skilful in beautiful embroidered work. The
pottery is of varied and graceful form, the
jewellery of exquisite workmanship. Glass is
fashioned, and so is brightly tinted porcelain
ware; veneering too is practised with much
skill.

We may picture to ourselves the active life
and gay animation that reigned in the streets
of the mighty city that had grown up around
the great temples of Amen, or, on the broad
waters of the stream, the scene of constant
traffic, where boats laden with merchandise,
fishing vessels, and gay-looking pleasure-boats
went to and fro in ceaseless motion. The Nile
valley is of unusual breadth on both sides of the
river here, and forms a sort of amphitheatre
closed in by mountain ranges of varied outlines.