DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3349#0024
i6
THE TERRA-COTTA HEADS
foreigners is well known throughout Egyptian history,
and some of the best and most characteristic work
was spent on foreign figures. This was not a subject
for the Greek, he despised the barbarian too much ;
but there is a Greek ability about many of these in
the technical detail. It seems probable that they are
the work of mixed Graeco-Egyptian artists. They
are almost all found in the foreign quarter.
47, The figures on PI. XXXV are all probably
Egyptians, with some southern mixture. Of these,
5 to 13 are the regular Egyptian figures of a woman
on a couch, sometimes with a child. Such were
made as early as the XVIIIth dynasty, and on to
Greek times; and they hardly belong to the general
class of these ethnic types. The large earring of
No. 1 is certainly Egyptian. No. 2 is like the sturdy
well-fed women of Middle Egypt; the swathing up
of the hair when at work is seen in the tomb of
Khnum-hotep at Beni-hasan. 3 and 4 are of
the southern type with prognathous face, and close
curly hair. 14 is Egyptian by the hair dressing,
and the face is of the higher-class type. 15 would
be probably Egyptian by the hair ; but the type is
not familiar. It is remarkable that all the Egyptian
figures are women ; whereas out of 44 others there
are only 3 foreign women and 3 Greek women.
This points to the immigrants being mainly men ;
and perhaps the Egyptian women were those living
in the foreign quarter.
48. PI. XXXVI. The great mover in promoting
this foreign mixture was the Persian empire. By
that magnificent creation the world-peace was es-
tablished from the Indus to the Balkans, roads
were made, trade was encouraged, and masses of
men were moved from land to land in the army,
so that Scythian and Indian fought side by side in
Greece. The possibilities of peaceful commercial
settlement had never been so extensive before. In
16 we see the Persian Great King, with his bushy
hair, close-fitting tiara, and disc on the front; each
of these distinctions may be seen on figures of
the Persian kings. The high-bred Aryan type is
well shewn in this head.
No. 18 is the cavalry officer, with the face swathed
to keep off heat and dust, like the horseman on the
Sidon sarcophagus (17). On the head is the lion's
scalp, probably a regimental badge. Herodotos
mentions of the Persian cavalry " that on their
heads some of them wore brazen and wrought steel
ornaments " (vii, 84). The face is delicate, and almost
effeminate, in the slight brow and refined eyes.
No. 20 is the most vigorously modelled head of
all. It is carefully finished, the detail of the ears
being precise. The flesh parts are coloured red
and the hair black. The type is that of the Semite
as shewn in the chief of the Amu at Benihasan (19)
but sturdier and fatter owing to a settled life. It
probably represents the Syrian or Jewish trader.
49. PI. XXXVII. No. 22 is of the old Sumerian
or Akkadian type, as shewn by the limestone head
from Babylonia (21). And 24 is another Sumerian
type, as shewn by a limestone head from Tell Loh
(23). These limestone heads have been recognised
as Sumerian by Dr. Meyer (Berl. Akad. Abhandlungen,
1906, III) ; and the resemblance of the pottery heads
from Memphis is so close that they must be accepted
as the same race. This has surprised Assyriologists,
as the racial type was supposed to have died out
with the Turanian language, before 2000 B.C. {Zeit.
Assyr. xxii, 199). Yet Dr. Pinches has remarked
that this type is seen in the Nestorian Christians
from Babylonia, who are likely to have had less
Arab mixture than the Muhamedans. It need not
be supposed that the old Sumerian stock was un-
mixed ; but rather that the type belongs to the land
and the climate, and has subdued and unified all
the mixture that was put into it. Likewise in Egypt,
within a thousand years of a mixture, the old type
of skull has entirely regained its dominance.
No. 26 is a peculiar type, from the high flat
forehead, and the short, prominent, sub-aquiline nose.
It may perhaps be compared with the type of
Khammurabi (25), which has the same form of fore-
head and lips, and only a slightly thicker nose. It
may be regarded as a Semitic Babylonian, unless
some closer resemblance may be found in the Persian
empire.
PI. XXXVIII. Here are grouped together the
various types for which no satisfactory connection
has yet been observed. Perhaps coinage would be
the fullest source for comparisons. Nos. 27 and 28
seem to be artificially flattened heads.
50. PI. XXXIX. The figures of Indians are of
different races. 35 is a Tibetan type, which is also
found in Orissa. There is an ape on each side of the
head. 36 is an Aryan Punjabi type; the attitude
with the hip raised high on one side, the arms bent,
and the loose lock of hair, are all Indian ; but the
band round the breast, the amulet hung round the
neck, and the artificial navel line, are all strange and
lack a comparison. 37 and 39 are seated cross-legged
with drapery round the waist; 38 and 40 have the
THE TERRA-COTTA HEADS
foreigners is well known throughout Egyptian history,
and some of the best and most characteristic work
was spent on foreign figures. This was not a subject
for the Greek, he despised the barbarian too much ;
but there is a Greek ability about many of these in
the technical detail. It seems probable that they are
the work of mixed Graeco-Egyptian artists. They
are almost all found in the foreign quarter.
47, The figures on PI. XXXV are all probably
Egyptians, with some southern mixture. Of these,
5 to 13 are the regular Egyptian figures of a woman
on a couch, sometimes with a child. Such were
made as early as the XVIIIth dynasty, and on to
Greek times; and they hardly belong to the general
class of these ethnic types. The large earring of
No. 1 is certainly Egyptian. No. 2 is like the sturdy
well-fed women of Middle Egypt; the swathing up
of the hair when at work is seen in the tomb of
Khnum-hotep at Beni-hasan. 3 and 4 are of
the southern type with prognathous face, and close
curly hair. 14 is Egyptian by the hair dressing,
and the face is of the higher-class type. 15 would
be probably Egyptian by the hair ; but the type is
not familiar. It is remarkable that all the Egyptian
figures are women ; whereas out of 44 others there
are only 3 foreign women and 3 Greek women.
This points to the immigrants being mainly men ;
and perhaps the Egyptian women were those living
in the foreign quarter.
48. PI. XXXVI. The great mover in promoting
this foreign mixture was the Persian empire. By
that magnificent creation the world-peace was es-
tablished from the Indus to the Balkans, roads
were made, trade was encouraged, and masses of
men were moved from land to land in the army,
so that Scythian and Indian fought side by side in
Greece. The possibilities of peaceful commercial
settlement had never been so extensive before. In
16 we see the Persian Great King, with his bushy
hair, close-fitting tiara, and disc on the front; each
of these distinctions may be seen on figures of
the Persian kings. The high-bred Aryan type is
well shewn in this head.
No. 18 is the cavalry officer, with the face swathed
to keep off heat and dust, like the horseman on the
Sidon sarcophagus (17). On the head is the lion's
scalp, probably a regimental badge. Herodotos
mentions of the Persian cavalry " that on their
heads some of them wore brazen and wrought steel
ornaments " (vii, 84). The face is delicate, and almost
effeminate, in the slight brow and refined eyes.
No. 20 is the most vigorously modelled head of
all. It is carefully finished, the detail of the ears
being precise. The flesh parts are coloured red
and the hair black. The type is that of the Semite
as shewn in the chief of the Amu at Benihasan (19)
but sturdier and fatter owing to a settled life. It
probably represents the Syrian or Jewish trader.
49. PI. XXXVII. No. 22 is of the old Sumerian
or Akkadian type, as shewn by the limestone head
from Babylonia (21). And 24 is another Sumerian
type, as shewn by a limestone head from Tell Loh
(23). These limestone heads have been recognised
as Sumerian by Dr. Meyer (Berl. Akad. Abhandlungen,
1906, III) ; and the resemblance of the pottery heads
from Memphis is so close that they must be accepted
as the same race. This has surprised Assyriologists,
as the racial type was supposed to have died out
with the Turanian language, before 2000 B.C. {Zeit.
Assyr. xxii, 199). Yet Dr. Pinches has remarked
that this type is seen in the Nestorian Christians
from Babylonia, who are likely to have had less
Arab mixture than the Muhamedans. It need not
be supposed that the old Sumerian stock was un-
mixed ; but rather that the type belongs to the land
and the climate, and has subdued and unified all
the mixture that was put into it. Likewise in Egypt,
within a thousand years of a mixture, the old type
of skull has entirely regained its dominance.
No. 26 is a peculiar type, from the high flat
forehead, and the short, prominent, sub-aquiline nose.
It may perhaps be compared with the type of
Khammurabi (25), which has the same form of fore-
head and lips, and only a slightly thicker nose. It
may be regarded as a Semitic Babylonian, unless
some closer resemblance may be found in the Persian
empire.
PI. XXXVIII. Here are grouped together the
various types for which no satisfactory connection
has yet been observed. Perhaps coinage would be
the fullest source for comparisons. Nos. 27 and 28
seem to be artificially flattened heads.
50. PI. XXXIX. The figures of Indians are of
different races. 35 is a Tibetan type, which is also
found in Orissa. There is an ape on each side of the
head. 36 is an Aryan Punjabi type; the attitude
with the hip raised high on one side, the arms bent,
and the loose lock of hair, are all Indian ; but the
band round the breast, the amulet hung round the
neck, and the artificial navel line, are all strange and
lack a comparison. 37 and 39 are seated cross-legged
with drapery round the waist; 38 and 40 have the