to the occupation of the whole trade, and not to any particular person.

Of all people, we may suppose Egyptian shopkeepers most likely to display the patronage received from royalty, the name of a monarch being so often introduced in the most conspicuous manner on the coffins of private individuals, and in the paintings of the tombs; many of the scarabæi they wore presenting the name of a king; and the most ordinary devices being formed to resemble a royal oval. But whether or not they had this custom, or that of affixing the name and occupation of the tradesman, it is difficult to determine; and indeed in those cities where certain districts were set apart for particular trades, the latter distinction was evidently uncalled for, and superfluous.

The great consumption of leather in Egypt, and the various purposes to which skins*, both in the tanned and raw state, were applied, created a demand far greater than could be satisfied by the produce of the country: they therefore imported skins from foreign countries, and part of the tribute, levied on the conquered tribes of Asia and Africa, consisted of hides, and the skins of wild animals, as the leopard, fox, and others; which are frequently represented in the paintings of Thebes, laid before the throne of the Egyptian monarch, together with gold, silver, ivory, rare

Skins were considered of great value by many ancient people: the rewards in the games at Chemmis in Upper Egypt, were skins, cattle, and cloaks, and we find the same custom among the Greeks. Vide Hom. Il. xxii. 159. Herodot. ii. 91.

woods, and the various productions of each vanquished country.

For tanning, they used the pods of the Sont, or Acacia (Acacia or Mimosa Nilotica), the acanthus of Strabo and other writers; which was cultivated in many parts of Egypt, being also prized for its timber and gum; and it is probable that the bark and wood of the Rhus oxyocanthoïdes, a native of the desert, were employed for the same purpose.t

FULLERS.

Many persons, both men and women, were engaged in cleaning cloth, and stuffs of various kinds; and the occupations of the fuller form some of the numerous subjects of the sculptures. It is, however, probable that they were only a subdivision of

* Some of these tributes put us in mind of the objects which came in Solomon's ships: "gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks," 1 Kings, x. 22.; see also Athenæus (lib. v.), where he mentions the presents brought to Ptolemy Philadelphus.

+ The Arabs also use the bark of the Acacia Sayal for tanning; it grows in the desert, but not in the valley of the Nile.

the dyers, whose skill in colouring cloth I have already noticed.

POTTERS.

A far more numerous class were the potters; and all the processes of mixing the clay, and of turning, baking, and polishing the vases, are represented in the tombs of Thebes and Beni Hassan.

They frequently kneaded the clay with their feet, and after it had been properly worked up, they formed it into a mass of convenient size with the hand, and placed it on the wheel*, which, to judge from that represented in the paintings, was of very simple construction, and turned with the hand. The various forms of the vases were made out by the finger during their revolution; the handles, if they had any, were afterwards affixed to them; and the devices and other ornamental parts were traced with a wooden or metal instrument, previous to their being baked. They were then suffered to dry, and for this purpose were placed on planks of wood; they were afterwards arranged with great care in trays, and carried, by means of the usual yoke, borne on men's shoulders, to the

oven.

Many of the vases, bottles, and pans of ordinary quality were very similar to those made in Egypt at the present day, as we learn from the

* Some suppose the potter's wheel to have been invented by Anacharsis, but, as Strabo observes, it was already known to Homer. Strabo, vii. p. 209. Seneca Epist. 90. Plin. vii. 56.

No. 363.

bed are cups already made.

Fig. 1 forms the inside and lip of the cup as it turns on the wheel a.
aeip the wheels on which the clay was put.
Fig. 2 forms the outside of the cup, indenting it with the hand at the base, preparatory to its being taken off.
Fig. 5 forms a round slab of clay with his two hands.
Fig. 3 has just taken off the cup from the clay Fig. 4 puts on a fresh piece of clay.
At s is the fire which rises through the long narrow tube or chimney of the oven, upon the top of which the cups are
Fig. 6 stirs and prepares the oven q.
placed to bake, as in v. Fig. 7 hands the cup to the baker 8. Fig. 9 carries away the baked cups from the oven.

representations in the paintings, and from those found in the tombs, or in the ruins of old towns; and judging from the number of Coptic words applied to the different kinds, their names were as varied as their forms. Coptos and its vicinity were always noted for this manufacture; the clays found there were peculiarly suited for porous vases to cool water; and their qualities are fully manifested, at the present day, in the goolleh or bardak bottles, of Qeneh.

That the forms of the modern goollehs are borrowed from those of an ancient time is evident, from the fragments found amidst the mounds, which mark the sites of ancient towns and villages, as well as from the many preserved entire; and a local tradition affirms that the modern manufacture is borrowed from, and has succeeded without interruption to, that of former days.

It is impossible to fix the period of the invention of the potter's wheel, and the assertion of Pliny, who attributes it to Corcbus the Athenian*, is not only disproved by probability, but by the positive fact that it was known at the earliest epoch of Egyptian history, of which the sculptures have been preserved, previous to the arrival of Joseph, and consequently long before the foundation of Athens.

But Pliny's chapter of inventions abounds with errors of this kind, and serves to show how commonly the Greeks adopted the discoveries of other

*Plin. vii. 56.