612 Wilkinson's Manners and Customs 



cool and shady retirement of their gardens, where, like the Romans, they enter- 

 tained their friends during the summer season ; and, from the size of some of 

 the kiosks which occur in the paintings of the tombs, we may conclude they 

 were rather intended for this purpose, than for the sole use of the master of 

 the villa. That the gardens were originally laid out with a view to utility, 

 and were chiefly stocked with vegetables for the consumption of the family, 

 is more than probable ; but, as riches and luxury increased, to the simple 

 beds of herbs were added avenues of shady trees, and the usual variety of 

 aromatic plants and ornamental flowers. It then became divided into differ- 

 ent parts, distinguished by a peculiar name, according to the purposes for 

 which they were intended ; and the vineyard, orchard, "kitchen and flower- 

 garden, had each its own fixed limits, whose dimensions depended on the 

 means or the caprice of its owner. Some of the richer individuals extended 

 still further the range of their villas ; and a park (paradeisos) was added, 

 which, independent of its fishponds and preserves for game, contained 

 many different sections, as the gallinarium for keeping hens, the chenobos- 

 cium for geese, the stalls for fattening cattle, and for keeping the wild goats 

 and other animals originally from the desert, whose meat was reckoned 

 among the dainties of the table. It was in these extensive preserves that the 

 rich amused themselves with the pleasures of the chase ; and they also 

 enclosed a considerable space in the desert with net fences, into which the 

 animals were driven for the purpose of being hunted, though the usual 

 custom in those districts was to course in view over the open plains." 

 {Ibid., p. 189.) 



Orchard and Vineyard. — " The large gardens were usually divided into 

 different parts ; the principal sections being appropriated to the date and 

 sycamore trees, and to the vineyard. The former might be looked upon as 

 the orchard ; but similar enclosures being also allotted to other trees, they 

 equally lay claim to this name : we cannot, therefore, apply a fixed appellation 

 to any part but the vineyard itself. 



" Gardens are frequently represented in the tombs of Thebes and other 

 parts of Egypt, many of which are remarkable for their extent. The one 

 here introduced is shown to have been surrounded by an embattled wall, with 

 a canal of water passing in front of it, connected with the river. Between 

 the canal and the wall, and parallel to them both, was a shady avenue of 

 various trees ; and about the centre was the entrance, through a lofty door, 

 whose lintel and imposts were decorated with hieroglyphic inscriptions, con- 

 taining the name of the owner of the grounds, who, in this instance, was the 

 king himself. In the gateway were rooms for the porter, and other persons 

 employed about the garden, and, probably, the receiving-room for visiters, 

 whose abrupt admission might be unwelcome ; and, at the back, a gate opened 

 into the vineyard. The vines were trained on a trelliswork, supported by 

 transverse rafters resting on pillars ; and a wall, extending round it, separated 

 this part from the rest of the garden. At the upper end were suites of 

 rooms, on three different stories, and the windows looking upon green trees, 

 and inviting a draught of air, made it a pleasant retirement in the heat of 

 summer. On the outside of the vineyard wall were planted rows of palm 

 trees, which occurred again with the doms along the whole length of the 

 exterior wall ; four tanks of water, bordered by a grass-plot, where geese 

 were kept, and the delicate flower of the lotus was encouraged to grow, 

 served for the irrigation of the grounds ; and smalled kiosks, or summer- 

 houses, shaded with trees, stood near the water, and overlooked beds of 

 flowers. The spaces containing the tanks, and the adjoining portions of the 

 garden, were each enclosed by their respective separate walls, and a small 

 subdivision on either side between the large and small tanks, seems to have 

 been reserved for the growth of particular trees, which either required 

 peculiar care, or bore a fruit of superior quality. 



" In all cases, whether the orchard stood apart from, or was united with, 

 the rest of the garden, it was supplied, like the other portions of it, with 

 abundance of water, preserved in spacious reservoirs, on either side of which 



