28 FLOUR MILLS. 



in the hand of the woman who grinds, weighs 

 about three pounds, beneath which, as it is moved 

 up and down the inclined plane of the under mill- 

 stone, the grain is crushed, and gradually con- 

 verted into a coarse flour. 



This is the same kind of mill that was used by 

 the ancient Egyptians, and is represented in the 

 excellent work upon those people, recently written 

 by Sir G. Wilkinson, although he describes it as 

 being used for fulling clothes, having mistaken, 

 I suppose, the flour represented as falling into the 

 cup-like recipient for a stream of water. I observe, 

 also, in another plate in the same work, a repre- 

 sentation of this mill, but without any allusion to 

 its real purposes. Moses, in the fifth verse of the 

 eleventh chapter of Exodus, describes exactly the cha- 

 racter of the occupation, and the instrument, where 

 he speaks " of the maid-servant that is behind the 

 mill," for women are only employed on this duty, 

 and they always stand in the rear, leaning forward 

 over their work. Very few houses, those only of 

 the poorest people, have but one mill ; generally 

 two or more stand side by side in a row, and 

 the number is always mentioned when the idea is 

 wished to be conveyed of the large dependent 

 retinue that the master of the house feeds. 



A few large jars containing water, or ale, 

 ranged along one side of the house, and a shield 

 hung from the projecting end of one of the sticks 

 that formed the front, were the only articles that 



