DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67419#0061
NEEDLEWORK OF THE EGYPTIANS.
39
the lively sally would be interspersed with the
graver details of thoughtful and reflective conver-
sation, or would give some point to the dull routine
of mere womanish chatter. It seems almost im-
possible to have lived amidst the stupendous mag-
nificence of Egypt in days of yore, without the
mind assimilating itself in some degree to the
greatness with which it was surrounded. The vast
deserts, the stupendous mountains, the river Nile-
the single and solitary river which in itself sufficed
the needs of a mighty empire—these majestic
monuments of nature seemed as emblems to which
the people should fashion, as they did fashion, their
pyramids, their tombs, their sphynxes, their mighty
reservoirs, and their colossal statues. And we can
hardly suppose that such ever-visible objects should
not, during the time of their creation, have some
elevating influence on the weakest mind; and that
therefore frivolity of conversation amongst the
Egyptian ladies was rather the exception than the
rule. But a modern author has amused himself,
and exercised some ingenuity in attempting to prove
the contrary:—
“ Many similar instances of a talent for caricature
are observable in the compositions of Egyptian
artists who executed the paintings on the tombs;
and the ladies are not spared. We are led to infer
that they were not deficient in the talent of conver-
sation; and the numerous subjects they proposed
are shown to have been examined with great anima-
tion. Among these the question of dress was not
forgotten, and the patterns or the value of trinkets
were discussed with proportionate interest. The
39
the lively sally would be interspersed with the
graver details of thoughtful and reflective conver-
sation, or would give some point to the dull routine
of mere womanish chatter. It seems almost im-
possible to have lived amidst the stupendous mag-
nificence of Egypt in days of yore, without the
mind assimilating itself in some degree to the
greatness with which it was surrounded. The vast
deserts, the stupendous mountains, the river Nile-
the single and solitary river which in itself sufficed
the needs of a mighty empire—these majestic
monuments of nature seemed as emblems to which
the people should fashion, as they did fashion, their
pyramids, their tombs, their sphynxes, their mighty
reservoirs, and their colossal statues. And we can
hardly suppose that such ever-visible objects should
not, during the time of their creation, have some
elevating influence on the weakest mind; and that
therefore frivolity of conversation amongst the
Egyptian ladies was rather the exception than the
rule. But a modern author has amused himself,
and exercised some ingenuity in attempting to prove
the contrary:—
“ Many similar instances of a talent for caricature
are observable in the compositions of Egyptian
artists who executed the paintings on the tombs;
and the ladies are not spared. We are led to infer
that they were not deficient in the talent of conver-
sation; and the numerous subjects they proposed
are shown to have been examined with great anima-
tion. Among these the question of dress was not
forgotten, and the patterns or the value of trinkets
were discussed with proportionate interest. The