DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3720#0131
114 DOMESTIC HABITS OF THE EGYPTIANS.
of the same plant threaded in between thein; so that the boat
was not inaptly said to be " sewed together;" * and the whole
was covered with a coating of pitch, like the "ark of bulrushes"
in which Moses was deposited, and which was of similar con-
struction.
And here, in speaking of the word "ark," I avail myself of
the opportunity to mention a strange attempt to connect the
name of Thebes with the Hebrew word Thcbeh, and thence
with the Ark of Noah; which is at once shown to be erro-
neous, from the name of that city being a corruption of the
Egyptian " dpi," or, with the article Tape, (in the Memphitic
dialect Thdpi,) "the head," or "capital," converted by the
Greeks into their own " Thebai."
Some of these pappus boats were large enough to hold
several men; t and they were generally propelled by long poles,
or by paddles; but they were rarely, if ever, furnished with a sail.
Those who made the wooden parts of chariots, as the frame-
work, the wheels, pole, and yoke, were of the class of car-
penters ; the fittings of the inside and the bindings of the
framework, as well as the harness, which were chiefly of raw
hide and leather, being the work of the curriers, who, with the
tanners, were a numerous trade. In Thebes a district of the
town was assigned to the "leather cutters;" and a great
quantity of leather was used for shoes and sandals, in house-
hold furniture as well as in chariots, for harness, for bow-cases,
shields, and various objects connected with a soldier's outfit,
for covering musical instruments, and as a substitute for
writing paper, besides other purposes; and the skill of the
Egyptians in preparing and in stamping leather is fully testified
by the few specimens of that perishable material that have
* P. A. of Ancient Egyptians, vol. ii. p. 120, woodcut 399.
t S«e aVove, woodcut 6, p. IS.
of the same plant threaded in between thein; so that the boat
was not inaptly said to be " sewed together;" * and the whole
was covered with a coating of pitch, like the "ark of bulrushes"
in which Moses was deposited, and which was of similar con-
struction.
And here, in speaking of the word "ark," I avail myself of
the opportunity to mention a strange attempt to connect the
name of Thebes with the Hebrew word Thcbeh, and thence
with the Ark of Noah; which is at once shown to be erro-
neous, from the name of that city being a corruption of the
Egyptian " dpi," or, with the article Tape, (in the Memphitic
dialect Thdpi,) "the head," or "capital," converted by the
Greeks into their own " Thebai."
Some of these pappus boats were large enough to hold
several men; t and they were generally propelled by long poles,
or by paddles; but they were rarely, if ever, furnished with a sail.
Those who made the wooden parts of chariots, as the frame-
work, the wheels, pole, and yoke, were of the class of car-
penters ; the fittings of the inside and the bindings of the
framework, as well as the harness, which were chiefly of raw
hide and leather, being the work of the curriers, who, with the
tanners, were a numerous trade. In Thebes a district of the
town was assigned to the "leather cutters;" and a great
quantity of leather was used for shoes and sandals, in house-
hold furniture as well as in chariots, for harness, for bow-cases,
shields, and various objects connected with a soldier's outfit,
for covering musical instruments, and as a substitute for
writing paper, besides other purposes; and the skill of the
Egyptians in preparing and in stamping leather is fully testified
by the few specimens of that perishable material that have
* P. A. of Ancient Egyptians, vol. ii. p. 120, woodcut 399.
t S«e aVove, woodcut 6, p. IS.