EGYPTIAN ART. 
259 
arragonite, limestones, sandstones, jaspers, feldspar, carnelian, glass, 
gold, silver, bronze, lead, iron, the hard woods, fir or cedar, syco- 
more, ebony, mahogany, porcelain, and ivory and terracotta. All 
objects are found decorated with hieroglyphics, from the most gigantic 
obelisk to the minute articles of private life. In connection with the 
history of the nation, three great periods of art may be distinctly traced 
in Egypt. 
I. The archaic style, reaching from the date of the earliest known 
monuments of the country till the close of the 12th dynasty ; in which 
the hair is in rude vertical curls and heavy masses, the face is broad 
and coarse, the nose long, and forehead receding, hands and feet large 
and disproportionate; the execution rude, even when details are in¬ 
troduced ; the bas-reliefs depressed. This style continued improving 
till the 12th dynasty, at which period many of the monuments are 
finished with a purity and delicacy rivalling cameos. ( See the false 
doors from the tomb of Teta, Nos. 157, 157*; the small statue from 
the Pyramids , No. 70 ; and Tablets , No. 197 and following.) 
II. The art from the restoration of the 18th dynasty till the 20th: — 
the hair is disposed in more elegant and vertical curls, a greater har¬ 
mony is observable in the proportion of the limbs, the details are 
finished with greater breadth and care; bas-relief becomes rare, and 
disappears after Rameses 11.; under the 19th dynasty, however, the 
arts rapidly declined. ( See the colossal head of Thothmes HI. , No. 
15, Egyptian Saloon; the statues of Amenophis III., Nos. 14, 17; 
the statues and busts of Horus, No. 6; Rameses II., Nos 14—96; 
Seti- Menephtah II., No. 26; and the casts in the Vestibule; and , in 
the Egyptian Room , the alabaster sepulchral figures .) 
III. The epoch of the revival of art, commencing with the 20th 
dynasty, distinguished for an imitation of the archaic art. The por¬ 
traiture is more distinct, the limbs freer and rounded. ( See statues , 
Nos. 83, 134, under Apries; sarcophagus, No. 86; and figure , No. 
34, of a person living under Amasis;) the muscles more developed— 
the details executed with great care and accuracy, ( see obelisk of 
Amyrtceus, 523-24; his sarcophagus, No. 10; and the inter columnar 
slabs of Psammetichus II. and Nectanebo, Nos. 20, 22,) and the general 
effect rather dependent on the minute finish than general scope and 
breadth. Under the Ptolemies and Romans a feeble attempt is made 
to engraft Greek art on Egyptian. ( See tablets, No. 147; sides of 
temples. Cases 1—11.) But a rapid decay took place both in the 
knowledge, finish, and all the details. ( See tablets, Nos. 189, 398, 
399, 400,. 401, 402, of Tiberius; and the coffins of Soter and his 
family, under Hadrian, Egyptian Room, No. 6706—6714.) 
Hieroglyphics —In connection with the arts of the Egyptians are the 
Hieroglyphics, which are natural objects used to express language. 
They are divided into phonetics. 
I. Alphabetic, or those representing simple vowel or consonant 
sounds ; thus an arm is used for A; an owl for M. 
II. Syllabic, or those used to represent syllables, either with alpha- 
betics after and before them or not; thus, a chisel is used for ab, a 
mat for men, a loop for ua or va. 
III. Ideophonetics, or those representing one syllable in the same 
way as No. II., but only when the syllable conveys one idea; thus, a 
