C 283' ) 



LI. LiteJUgence aiul Mifcellaneous Arllchs. 



ANTiaUITIES. 



VTENERAL RF.YNIER having prefented to the French 

 National Inltitute a tunic and the remains of ion^e antient 

 veltnients found near Sakara, in Eo;vpt, the three clalfes ap- 

 pointed conniiiflioners to give in a report on thefe curious 

 articles. A very exa6l idea may be given of this tunic by 

 comparing it to the tunics worn by the deacons and fuhdea- 

 cons of the Roman cathoHc church, if we fuppofc the latter 

 to have long clofe flceves, as was formerly the cafe. It is 

 ornamented with embroidered pieces, fome of which defcend 

 from the (lioulders ; others arc applied to the ihoulders, and 

 at the bottom before and behind : two pieces of the fiimc 

 kind furround the extremity of the fleevcs. 'I he colour of 

 the ituff is a fouci yellow, and the embroidery is puce co- 

 lour, or dark brown. The delign is of little importance, and 

 has no relation either to natural objcfts, to hieroglvphics, or 

 to written characters. The ftuff has been wove in the loom, 

 but the embroidery feems to have been executed according 

 to the procels of tapellry au petit po'mt. In regard to the 

 nature of them, chcmifts have round that the yellow ftuff of 

 the tunic is animal matter. In regard to the embroidery, 

 the yellow tidue or ground is vegetable matter, and the 

 brown thread, animal matter. 



General Reynier was not able to procure any further in- 

 formation from the inhabitants of Sakara, who fold him this 

 tunic, except that they had found it with other articles in a 

 pit filled with fand which they had dug up. 



No particular account can be given of the time when this 

 tifl'ue was wove, nor of the perfonage to whom it belonged. 

 In the report made on it to the fnititutc, the author (liowp 

 that it belonged neither to a Macedonian nor a Greek clia- 

 blillied in Egypt, as it has fleeve.s which defcend to the wrift, 

 whereas the Grecian tunic had no flceves, or fleevcs fo fliort 

 that they reached only to the elbow; but it appears certain 

 that the Macedonian tunic was not different from the Gre- 

 cian. The Macedonians were diltinguiflied from the other 

 Greeks only l)y their head-drefs [iiiujia) and their chlamys. 

 The tunic of Sakara belonged then fo an Egy|)tiau. But the 

 point is to determine at what period, 'i'he author of the re- 

 port only favs, that it cannot be older than the time when 

 Tiitbes was abandoned. The grottoes of Sakara, which are 



at 



