Nicholson, Charles: Aegyptiaca (London, 1891)

catalogue of egyptian antiquities, 59

This is the ordinary position of the seated statues
of ancient Egypt. The hands lay stretched on the
thighs, and the joints bent at right angles. The
colossal statues of Amonoph in the plain of Gorna,
were each of a single block of conglomerate.

296. Fragmented Leaf of a set of Tablets, still
retaining the wax and some Greek letters marked on
it with the pointed end of the stylus, or instrument
that was commonly used for the purpose.

The other end of the stylus was chisel shaped, and
was used for obliterating and smoothing the wax.
From this ancient writing apparatus is derived
several of the phrases used in talking of writing, as
in Proverbs iii, 3 : " Write them on the table of
thine heart ;" and our phrase, "style of writing," is
derived from the Latin name of the bone or brass
instrument used to scratch or mark the wax. The
wax was deposited or melted into the cavity bounded
by the half-inch margin, and it seems to have been
mixed with red powder to render it opaque, and the
letters or writing consequently more visible. This
tablet is 7 inches long, and was probably 4 inches
wide.

297. Part of the Canvas Pasteboard Cover
of a Mummy.—The chest necklace, or breast-plate,
on which is elegantly depicted the figure of a human-
headed bird with expanded wings, representing the
soul. It is painted in a water colour called by the
Italians tempera, on the prepared canvas, which has
been cut out of the entire cover in a semilunar form,
the diameter measuring 1 foot.

298. Fragment of the Pasteboard Cover of a