DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3720#0054
38 DOMESTIC HABITS OF THE EGYPTIANS.
gilding, some of which may have belonged to tables, couches
and other pieces of furniture.
Many chairs had arms or solid sides * which, in the richest
fauteuils, were ornamented with the figure of a walking or a
crouched lion; and those represented in the tomb of KernesesIII.
are as remarkable for the elegance of their form, as for the rich-
ness of the stuffs forming the seats and back.f Some were without
backs, like a couch, and intended for two persons (woodcut 21,
fig. 12) ; and some, like the thrones of the gods, had a very low
ridge behind the seat, over which the long end of the cushion was
made to fall (fig. 1,6); others had an inflated cushion, which sank
down when sat upon, like some of our own in old-fashioned
times (fig. 3), and some were in the form of our kangaroo-
chairs (fig. 5). A 8i.cj)pos, or double chair, was frequently provided
with a back. There were also low square stools, made of palm-
sticks ; and three-legged stools of wood, or metal, mostly adopted
by poor people, when not seated cross-legged on mats, or on the
ground (figs. 7, 8, 9). Low benches were also used (figs.
10, 11) ; and highly ornamented couches and ottomans formed
part of the furniture of an Egyptian drawing-room. J
It is remarkable that the Egyptians should have resembled
the Europeans, rather than Orientals, of the present day, in
the custom of sitting on chairs ; and if they had couches, they
were only used like our own, and were not for the purpose of
reclining. The floors of many apartments were covered over with
mats ; and sometimes part of a room, exclusively appropriated
to the master of the house and his most distinguished guests,
was marked as the post of honour, by having a mat of superior
quality; resembling in its patterns those in the modern houses
* See woodcut No. 20, in page 36.
+ See P. A. of Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. pp. 60, 61.
X See P. A. of Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. pp. 67, 69.
gilding, some of which may have belonged to tables, couches
and other pieces of furniture.
Many chairs had arms or solid sides * which, in the richest
fauteuils, were ornamented with the figure of a walking or a
crouched lion; and those represented in the tomb of KernesesIII.
are as remarkable for the elegance of their form, as for the rich-
ness of the stuffs forming the seats and back.f Some were without
backs, like a couch, and intended for two persons (woodcut 21,
fig. 12) ; and some, like the thrones of the gods, had a very low
ridge behind the seat, over which the long end of the cushion was
made to fall (fig. 1,6); others had an inflated cushion, which sank
down when sat upon, like some of our own in old-fashioned
times (fig. 3), and some were in the form of our kangaroo-
chairs (fig. 5). A 8i.cj)pos, or double chair, was frequently provided
with a back. There were also low square stools, made of palm-
sticks ; and three-legged stools of wood, or metal, mostly adopted
by poor people, when not seated cross-legged on mats, or on the
ground (figs. 7, 8, 9). Low benches were also used (figs.
10, 11) ; and highly ornamented couches and ottomans formed
part of the furniture of an Egyptian drawing-room. J
It is remarkable that the Egyptians should have resembled
the Europeans, rather than Orientals, of the present day, in
the custom of sitting on chairs ; and if they had couches, they
were only used like our own, and were not for the purpose of
reclining. The floors of many apartments were covered over with
mats ; and sometimes part of a room, exclusively appropriated
to the master of the house and his most distinguished guests,
was marked as the post of honour, by having a mat of superior
quality; resembling in its patterns those in the modern houses
* See woodcut No. 20, in page 36.
+ See P. A. of Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. pp. 60, 61.
X See P. A. of Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. pp. 67, 69.