318 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



The abacus probably first occurs in such half-excavated, half-erected 

 structures as some of the tombs at Gizeh, which are cellars covered 

 with a roof of dressed stone.* The abacus in such cases is only a con- 

 trivance for collecting the' roof-weight. In fact, in Egypt it frequently 

 appears in such hybrid buildings, but not in genuine, excavations like 

 those at Tourah, Bab-el-Moluk, or Benihassan,f except with piers 

 of a highly complex character. The decorations applied are deter- 

 mined by the intent of the excavation, and by the national genius for 

 decorative art. A plain surface and a rectangular shape are among 

 the earliest refinements of the jagged pillar. Inscriptions, rude out- 

 lines of pictures follow, and by gradual approaches such bas-reliefs 

 are reached as those found in Tomb 90 at Gizeh, X or in Tombs 1 and 

 2 at Zauiet-el-Meitin,§ where in the one case figures of men are in- 

 serted in the face of the pier, and in the other a beautiful little knot 

 of lotus-flowers, with a papyrus-bell or two, is shown tied up by a cord, 

 seemingly bearing on its apex the load of the ornamented architrave. 

 The plinth, although an important member of columns, is not required 

 by stone piers, especially when floor and pier are continuous. Hence, 

 in the earliest Egyptian examples, it is not to be found. || At Beni- 

 hassan, however, plinths are invariably present in the more elegant of 

 the tombs, but accompanying highly developed piers. They belong to a 

 time when the beauty and fitness of bases for columns have been 

 acknowledged and conventionally adopted for piers also.1T 



The pier idea has as yet progressed but a few steps. A new one is 

 now very readily taken. The rigid angles of the square pier are 

 broken by bevels beginning just below the upper, and ending just 

 above the lower end of the pier. For an illustration, take Tomb ol 

 at Sakkarah, where four piers, notably without abacus or plinth, are 

 adorned in this simple way.** Now, continue these bevels upward 

 and downward, and increase their surface until it equals that which 



* Lepsius, i. 21, Tombs 15, 16, and 17. 



t Ibid., i. 59, 60. 



J Ibid., i. 27. 



§ Ibid., i. 57 ; Schnaase, op. cit., i. 334 ; Reber, Kunstgesch. d. Altcrtluinis, 

 p 14. 



|| Tomb 24 at Sakkarah, which might at first sight seem to be an exception 

 to this, is really very late, belonging probably to the time of Psammitichua, 

 Dynasty XXVI. See Lepsius, i. 40; Wilkinson, Anc. Egyptians, ii. 262; Ken- 

 rick, Anc. Egypt, i. 259; Vyse, Pyr. of Gizeh, i. 218. 



1 Lepsius, i. 58-61 ; Rosellini, Monumeuti dell' Egitto, ii. 1, 2. See also 

 Essay II., § 4. 



** Lepsius, i. 42. 



