RUINS OF SALS. 3O9 
in process of time, the horizontal manner of cijap, 
tracing the signs was introduced, as we see by . ^^^•. , 
t\ie inscriptions \x^on the ^«/7/e/ found at Saccara^; 
and the characters were then read from left to 
right, if we may judge from the position of the 
figures introduced among the hieroglyphics upon 
that stone. 
When we had agreed with the Arabs for the 
purchase of this Tablet, and for its safe con- 
veyance on board the djerm, we prepared to 
examine the interior of the Mosque. Here we cmious 
found, among other materials loosely put to- aiuient 
gether for the purpose of supporting a stone 
table, the finest piece of Egyptian sculpture we 
had yet seen. This was the Torso of a statue 
of the kind of trap mentioned before, or green 
Oriental basalt. So perfect is its preservation, 
that the polish upon its surface equals that of 
glass. A zone, covered with hieroglyphics ^ 
fastens the apron round its waist; and this 
apron is believed to represent the leaf of some 
Egyptian plant. But that which particularly 
distinguishes this Torso, is the curious exhibition 
it offers of the process used by the antient 
sculptors of Egypt in graving the hieroglyphical 
(3) See p. 239, and the Plate. 
