instances occur, both in large and small objects, and no illustration of it is required; the latter is peculiar, and shows the great care taken to make every thing durable, which characterizes all the works of the Egyptians. When two boards are joined together by our modern carpenters, they fix small round pins horizontally, into corresponding parts of the edges, which are then applied together, so as to form as it were a single piece; but the cautious Egyptian carpenter was not content with this; and having used flat pins for the purpose about two inches in breadth, he secured these again, after the boards had been put together, by round pins or wooden nails, driven vertically through the boards, into each of the flat pins; and thus the possibility of the joint opening was effectually prevented, even should the glue, which was added as in our modern boxes, fail to hold them. After the wood had been reduced to a proper size by the saw, the adze was the principal tool employed for fashioning it; and from the precision with which even the smallest objects are worked with it at the present day, by the unskilful carpenters of modern Egypt, we may form some idea of its use in the hands of their expert predecessors. Many adzes, saws, and chisels, have been found at Thebes. The blades are all of bronze, the handles of the acacia or the tamarisk ; and the general mode of fastening the blade to the handle appears to have been by thongs of hide. It is probable that some of those discovered in the tombs are only models, or unfinished specimens ; and it may have been thought sufficient to show their external appearance, without the necessity of nailing them, beneath the thongs; for those they worked with were bound in the same manner, though I believe them to have been also secured with nails. Some, however, evidently belonged to the individuals in whose tombs they were buried, and appear to have been used; and the chisels often bear signs of having been beaten with the mallet. The drill is frequently represented in the sculptures. Like all the other tools, it was of the earliest date, and precisely similar to that of modern Egypt, even to the nut of the dóm* in which it turned, and the form of its bow with a leathern thong. The chisel was employed for the same purposes, and in the same manner, as at the present day, and was struck with a wooden mallet, sometimes flat at the two ends, sometimes of circular or oval form; several of which last have been found at Thebes, and * Woodcuts 390, part 2, fig. s; and 395; and vol. i. p. 56. VOL. II. I are in our European museums. The handles of the chisel were of acacia, tamarisk, or other compact wood; the blades of bronze; e, a ruler; and f, a right angle, similar to those used by our carpenters. a, a piece of dark wood applied to one of ordinary quality, b. Fig. 2 is grinding something. i, glue-pot on the c, adze, fixed into a block of wood of the same colour as b. g, a box. j, a piece of glue. Fig. 3 applying the glue with a brush, p. fire. *Woodcut 363, above in p. 18. and the form of the points varied The mode of sawing timber was primitive and imperfect, owing to their not having adopted the double saw; and they were obliged to cut every piece of wood, however large, singlehanded. In order, therefore, to divide a beam into planks, they placed it, if not of very great length, upright between two posts, firmly fixed in the ground, and being lashed to them with cords, or secured with pins, it was held as in a vice.† Among the many occupations of the carpenter, that of veneering is noticed in the sculptures of Thebes, as early as the time of the third Thothmes; and the application of a piece of rare wood of a red colour, to a yellow plank of more ordinary kind, is clearly pointed out. And in order to show that the yellow wood is of inferior quality, the workman is represented to have fixed his adze + Woodcut 398, a. carelessly in a block of the same colour, while engaged in applying them together, Near him are some of his tools, with a box or small chest, made of inlaid and veneered wood, of various hues; and in the same part of the shop are two other men, one employed in grinding something with a stone on a slab, and the other in spreading glue with a brush. It might be conjectured that paint, or a varnish were here represented; but the pot on the fire, the piece of glue with its concave fracture, and the workman before mentioned, applying the two pieces of wood together, decide the question, and attest the invention of glue nearly 3300 years ago. This is not, however, the only proof of its use at an early period, and several wooden boxes and coffins have been found, in which glue was employed to fasten the joints. It appears sometimes to be a fish glue. Various boxes, shrines, articles of furniture, and other works of the cabinet-maker are frequently introduced in the paintings of Thebes, many of which present not inelegant forms, and are beautifully made. Several of the smaller objects, as boxes for trinkets and ointment, wooden spoons, and the like, have been mentioned among the furniture of their rooms; where I have also described a curious substitute for a hinge, in some of those discovered at Thebes.* Many boxes had lids resembling the curved summit of a royal canopy†, and were ornamented with the usual cornice‡; others had a simple flat cover; and some few a pointed summit, resembling the shelving roof of a house.§ This last kind of lid was divided into two parts, one of which alone opened, turning on two small pins at the base, on the principle of the doors of their houses and temples; and when necessary, the two knobs at the top|| could be tied together and sealed.¶ When not veneered, or inlaid with rare wood, the sides and lid were painted, and those intended for the tombs, to be deposited there in honour of the deceased, had usually funereal inscriptions, *In chap. iii. p. 158 to 164. Fig. 1. Woodcut 397, figs. 1, 2, 3, 6. See vol. i. p. 163. |