512 THE AGE OF BRONZE IN EGYPT. 



Fig. 8 shows us a i)oiiiartl of bronze deposited in the museum at 

 Berlin, the pommel of which is very much larger than the hilt. The 

 pommel, not round, but elongated, is of ivor\'; the rest of a dark sub- 

 stance (horn or rhiuocerous hide), fastened with large rivets incrusted 

 with gold. 



Sometimes the whole hilt is of metal, as in the case of one of the 

 poniards found in the tomb of Queen A'hhotep (Fig. IS), the blade being 

 of bronze the hilt of gold. Yet more precious is the hilt of the other 

 poniard discovered in the same tomb (Fig. 15). The mnral paintings of 

 the tomb of King Rameses III at Thebes represent a number of arms, 

 among others long poniards with double blades, as in Fig. 20. The 

 blades of some are painted red, others blue or green.* 



The hilts of these arms are yellow; probably they were made of gold 

 or were gilded. An arm of similar form (Fig. 19), which must have been 

 of bronze, since it is i)ainted red, is seen in another mural picture. 



Besides these poniards with double edges, a kind of long knife or 

 short sword with one edge was employed in Egypt. On the Theban 

 bas-relief, King Barneses II wears an arm of this form, and the god 

 Ammon is quite often represented with a like arm in his hand. A bas- 

 relief in a temple at Ibsambul, in Nubia, shows us Aramon and King 

 Rameses III, the latter raising his hand to strike a multitude of van- 

 quished enemies. In the hand of the god the arm reproduced in Fig, 13 

 is seen. It is painted red, and must consequently have been of bronze. 

 Among the arms of mural paintings already mentioned in the tomb of 

 Rameses III are several of this character, a few even carved (Fig. G), 

 but they are all blue, and consequently were of iron. 



The museum of the Louvre possesses an arm in bronze of this type 

 (Fig. 14). The blade and the hilt are fused in one piece ; the hilt, which 

 ends on the reverse side in a little eye, is ornamented with a dog very 

 well modeled ; on the blade is seen a legend in hieroglyphics. 



Egyptian monuments very often represent poniards rather long (Fig. 

 20), but veritable swords are not seen during the period we have under 

 consideration. Neither, as I am aware, has the discovery of a real 

 sword in bronze been made in Egypt. It is true that in the magniticent 

 collection of IVIr. John Evans, at Nash Mill, is deposited a bronze 

 sword which was discovered at Kawtara during the construction of the 

 Suez canal, and consequently near the frontier. It is very uncertain 

 therefore, whether it can be called Egyptian, at least considering that 

 it is the sole one of its kind. The blade, 43 centimeters long, ends 

 above in a tongue slight and curved forward in the form of a hook ; at 

 the base of the blade are two rivet holes.t 



The Berlin museum likewise possesses a bronze sword which is 

 reputed to have been discovered in Lower Egypt.J But this indication 



* Eosellini, Monuraenti Civili, PI. 121. 



tEvaus. 27(6 ancient hroncc implcmeiit.i of (h-eat Britain, p. 29"*. 



t Baatiua aud Voss. Des Bromeachwerter les K. Museums zu Berlin, PI. xvi, Fijj. 32. 



