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that Egyptian ointments were colourless; but we can readily account for this variance of opinion, by supposing that they had in view two different qualities*: which is further proved, by the fact of our finding them both preserved at Thebes.

Ointment was frequently kept in alabastert bottles, or vases, (whence these obtained, among the Greeks, the name of alabastron, even if made of other materials); sometimes in those of the onyx ‡, or other stone, glass, ivory, bone, or shells§; specimens of all of which have been discovered in the tombs.

Strabo says that the common people used the oil of the kikki, or castor-berry for anointing themselves, both men and women; the general purpose to which it was applied being for lamps: and many oils, as from the simsim T, olive, almond, flax, selgam (coleseed), seemga, lettuce, and other vegetable productions, were extracted in Egypt.**

The custom of anointing the body is usual in hot climates, and contributes greatly to comfort. Even the Greeks, Romanstt, and others, whose limbs were mostly covered with clothes, and protected

* Plin. (xiii. 3.) says "Terrarum omnium Ægyptus accommodatissima unguentis." They adulterated their ointments. Plin. xiii. 1. + Conf. Matt. xxvi. 7. "An alabaster box of very precious ointment."

Conf. Hor. iv. Od. xi. 17. "Nardi parvus onyx."

Hor. ii. Od. v. 23. "Unguenta de conchis."

Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 567. Herod. ii. 94. Plin. xv. 7.
Sesamum orientale.

** Plin. xiii. 1

++ Ennius tells us that even in the time of Tarquin they had this

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from the dryness of the air, found the advantage of its use; and those whose skin was much exposed, in consequence of their scanty clothing, as the Ethiopians, and other inhabitants of Africa, felt the necessity of softening and cooling the skin by the application of oils or ointments; and we find the custom most prevalent among the blacks who wear the least covering to their body.

Their principal care is bestowed upon the hair of the head, which they are not in the habit of shaving, except some of the upper classes among the inhabitants of the large towns; and the highest ambition of the Ethiopians is to obtain a sufficient quantity of grease, whatever kind it may be, to cover their head, and to run down upon the shoulders, so as to give them a shining gloss, which they delight in displaying as they walk in the sun.

The Egyptian combs were usually of wood, and double; one side having large, the other small teeth; the centre part was frequently ornamented with carved work, and, perhaps, inlaid. They were about four inches long, and six deep; and those with a single row of teeth were sometimes surmounted with the figure of an ibex, or other animal.

The custom of staining the eyelids and brows, with a moistened powder of a black colour, was common in Egypt from the earliest times; it was also introduced among the Jews and Romans, and

* Conf. Virg. Æn. v. 135.

"juventus. Nudatosque humeros oleo perfusa nitescit.'

3

No. 410.

Combs found at Thebes.

1. Comb, with the centre part ornamented.

3. Side view of fig. 2.

4. An Ibex, supposed to have formed the top of a comb.

is retained in the East to the present day. It is thought to increase the beauty of the eye; which is made to appear larger by this external addition of a black ring; and many even suppose the stimulus its application gives to be beneficial to the sight. It is made in various ways. Some use antimony, black oxide of manganese, preparations of lead, and other mineral substances: others the powder, or the lamp black of burnt almonds, or frankincense; and many prefer a mixture of different ingredients.

Mr. Lane* is perfectly correct in stating that the expression "painted her face," which Jezebel is said to have done, when Jehu came to Jezreel, is

* Modern Egyptians, vol. i. p. 43.

in the Hebrew, "painted her eyes*;" the same is again mentioned in Jeremiah and Ezekielt; and the lengthened form of the ancient Egyptian eye, represented in the paintings, was probably produced, as Mr. Lane supposes, by this means.

Such is the effect described by Juvenal ‡, Pliny §, and other writers, who notice the custom among the Romans. At Rome it was considered disgraceful for men to adopt it, as at present in the East, except medicinally; but, if we may judge from the similarity of the eyes of men and women in the paintings at Thebes, it appears to have been used by both sexes among the ancient Egyptians.

Many of these Kohl bottles have been found in the tombs, together with the bodkin used for applying the moistened powder. They are of various materials, usually stone, wood, or pottery, sometimes composed of two, sometimes of four and five separate cells, apparently containing each a mixture, differing slightly in its quality and hue, from the other three. Many were simple round tubes, vases, or small boxes: some were ornamented with the figure of an ape, or monster, supposed to

2 Kings, ix. 30. п'y.

In our translation, "She painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window." In the margin "put her eyes in painting."

+ Ezek. xxiii. 40. "For whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thine and deckedst thyself with ornaments." In Jeremiah (iv. 30.), it is in Hebrew "eyes."

eyes,

Juv. Sat. ii. 93. :

"Ille supercilium madidâ fuligine tactum
Obliquâ producit acu, pingitque trementes
Attollens oculos."

Plin. Ep. vi. 2.

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No. 411.

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Boxes, or bottles, for holding the Kohl, for staining the eyelids,

1. In Mr. Burton's collection. c is the bodkin for applying the Kohl. The others are in the museum of Alnwick Castle.

assist in holding the bottle between his arms, while the lady dipped into it the pin, with which she painted her eyes; and others were in imitation of a column made of stone, or rich porcelain of the choicest manufacture.

Pins and needles were also among the articles of the toilet, which have been occasionally found in the tombs. The former are frequently of considerable length, with large gold heads; and some, of a dif ferent form, tapering gradually to a point, merely bound with gold at the upper end, without any projecting head, seven or eight inches in length, appear to have been intended for arranging the

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