EGYPTIAN AND ASSYRIAN ANTIt^UITIES. 57 



2. A series of black, painted wooden figures of certain 



gods of the dead, which formerly stood in the 

 doorways of tombs, and near the bier. The chief 

 of these are : — 



3. A seated wooden figure of the Snake goddess Neheb- 



kau, on a pedestal. She was the goddess of the 

 mountain in which the tomb was situated, and 

 protected the door. 



4. A seated wooden figure of Ta-urt, the Hippopotamus 



goddess, the maternal ancestress of the Egyptians. 

 She guarded the sarcophagus 



5. A seated wooden figure of the Ape god. 



G. A seated wooden figure of the Gazelle god, who 

 protected the deceased from the attacks of evil 

 spirits from the mountains. 



7. A seated wooden figure of Horus, or Harmakhis. 



8. A seated wooden figure of the Sheep-god, or Goat- 



god, i.e., Amen, or Amen-Ra, the great god of 

 Thebes. His arms are extended, and, when the 

 figure was complete, each hand held in it a croco- 

 dile ; this is proved by the Vignette to Chapter 

 clxxxii. of the Book of the Dead. 



9. A seated wooden figure of Apesh, the Tortoise-god, 



or Turtle-god, whose duty was to supply the 

 deceased with fresh air in the tomb. 



All the above figures date from the XVIIlth 

 dynasty, and come from Thebes. 



ii. A very important collection of objects of the 



Predynastic Period, from a cemetery in Upper 

 Egypt ; the}^ appear to belong to the end of the 

 Period, and a few may be early dynastic :— 



1. A seated figure of a youth, or young man, with 

 a bent head. This is probably the oldest known 

 example of the plastic art as applied to the human 

 figure. 



2-C. Five terra-cotta figures of men, two of them having 

 their arms raised. 



7, 8. Two red terra-cotta figures of women of the 

 steatopygous variety. 



9. A yellow terra-cotta figure of a steatopygous woman, 

 with designs on the back, and left side, and right 

 leg, which probably represent tattu markings. 

 She wears a head-dress. 

 10. A stone figure of similar shape, but undecorated. 

 11-27. A group of seventeen terra-cotta women with large 

 pendent breasts and raised arms. These probably 

 represent the women who were buried alive in 

 the tomb of their master. 



