148 GALLERY OF ANTIQUITIES. [x. EGYPTIAN 
from Grand Cairo, where it was used by the Turks as a cistern, which 
they called “ The Lovers’ Fountain.” Black granite. 
No. 24. f The Rosetta stone, containing three inscriptions of the same 
import, namely, one in hieroglyphics, another in a written character, 
called demotic or enchorial, and a third in the Greek language. These 
inscriptions record the services which Ptolemy the Fifth had rendered 
his country, and were engraved by order of the High Priests, when they 
were assembled at Memphis for the purpose of investing him with the 
royal prerogative. It is the key to the deciphering of the hierogly- 
phical and demotic characters of Egypt. This stone was found near 
Rosetta, and it appears to have been placed in a temple dedicated to 
Atum by the monarch Nechao. Basalt. 
No. 25. f Mutilated statue, without its head, of a high officer of 
state, kneeling upon a square plinth. Thebes. Black granite. 
No. 26. Statue of Seti Menephta II., monarch of the' 19th dy¬ 
nasty, seated on a throne, and holding a ram’s head, placed on a small 
altar, by both hands on his knees; his names and titles are inscribed 
round the pedestal and on the plinth behind. The name of Set has 
been erased, and that of Osiris substituted for it throughout these in¬ 
scriptions. Found by Mrs. Belzoni at Karnak. Sandstone. From 
Mr. Salts collection. 
No. 27. Lower part of a statue of Rameses II., the Great* 
kneeling, and holding a shrine, on which is a scarabaeus. The 
hieroglyphics in front express the names and titles of the king, and 
that the scarabseus god, Cheper, “gives the breath of life to his 
nostrils.” Dark granite. Presented by Earl Spencer, 1805. 
No. 28. A circular vessel, decorated with the head of Athor; 
on it is a dedication from several legal functionaries of Thebes to 
Ta-ur, or Thoueris, who was another form of the goddess Athoiv 
Sandstone. 
No. 28*. Circular bason, probably to hold holy water, having at 
each handle, in eavo-rilievo, a head of the cow-eared terrestrial Athor,. 
full face, surmounted by the pylon or gateway. These basons (see 
Nos. 28, 465) were dedicated to this goddess on account of her pre¬ 
siding over the element of water. Basalt. Presented by B. Goff, 
Esq., 1848. 
No. 29. Iri-nefru, guardian of the temple of Amen-ra, and his 
wife A-pu, seated on a throne, on the sides of which are dedications 
to Amen-ra, Osiris, Mut. The upper part of this group is restored. 
Age of the 18th dynasty. Calcareous stone. 
No. 30. Colossal bust from a statue of Amenophis III., much 
mutilated. Nunimidite limestone. Gournah. From Mr. Salts col-> 
lection. 
No. 31. A group of Atu, a sacerdotal functionary, seated on a 
throne or chair by the side of his sister Han-ur, a priestess of Amen, 
holding a nosegay of lotus flowers ; between them, of smaller propor¬ 
tions, is his son Neferhebf, second priest of the monarch Amenophis 
II., of the 18th dynasty. Found in a tomb near Thebes. Sandstone . 
From Mr. Salts collection. 
No. 32. Sarcophagus with its cover, on which, in bas-relief, is the 
goddess Athor: in the interior is the Sun, aud the Heaven represented 
