DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5538#0053
THE EXPLORER IN EGYPT. 33
are less than half that size. Last of all—last and lowest—so
firmty attached by a hed of rust to the handle of a second min-
iature bronze trowel that it could not be removed without dan-
ger of breakage, was found a little plaque of oval lapis lazuli
in the form of a royal cartouche, engraved with the names and
titles of Ptolemy Philadelphus. The model clay hrick shows
the material of the mass of the building; the plaque of glazed-
ware represents the tile-facings and general surface decora-
tion ; while the plaques of precious stones show the more
costly substances used for inlaying. These objects are now
in the British Museum. They are most beautifully wrought,
in perfect preservation, and so small that they would all lie
upon a sheet of letter-paper. This was the first discovery of
masonic deposits ever made in Egypt, and it marks an en-
tirely new departure in the field of exploration. It is impos-
sible, indeed, to over-estimate the historical value of a' dis-
covery which thus places in our hands for future use a key to
the age and date of every important huilding in Egypt.
This discovery was made five years ago, and it has already
borne abundant fruit. Masonic deposits were found by Mr.
Petrie in 1SSG, at Tell Nebesheh, under the substructions of a
temple built by Amasis II. in the ancient Egyptian city of
VOTIVK BOWL
(mended) discovered in the great trench of the Temple of Aphrodite, Naukratis.
British Museum.
3
are less than half that size. Last of all—last and lowest—so
firmty attached by a hed of rust to the handle of a second min-
iature bronze trowel that it could not be removed without dan-
ger of breakage, was found a little plaque of oval lapis lazuli
in the form of a royal cartouche, engraved with the names and
titles of Ptolemy Philadelphus. The model clay hrick shows
the material of the mass of the building; the plaque of glazed-
ware represents the tile-facings and general surface decora-
tion ; while the plaques of precious stones show the more
costly substances used for inlaying. These objects are now
in the British Museum. They are most beautifully wrought,
in perfect preservation, and so small that they would all lie
upon a sheet of letter-paper. This was the first discovery of
masonic deposits ever made in Egypt, and it marks an en-
tirely new departure in the field of exploration. It is impos-
sible, indeed, to over-estimate the historical value of a' dis-
covery which thus places in our hands for future use a key to
the age and date of every important huilding in Egypt.
This discovery was made five years ago, and it has already
borne abundant fruit. Masonic deposits were found by Mr.
Petrie in 1SSG, at Tell Nebesheh, under the substructions of a
temple built by Amasis II. in the ancient Egyptian city of
VOTIVK BOWL
(mended) discovered in the great trench of the Temple of Aphrodite, Naukratis.
British Museum.
3