CHAP. IT.—BAKAKHUIU, THE LAWYER OP SAN. 
43 
gods was found in blue glazed pottery, rough, 
and without detail; they are of interest as show¬ 
ing the style of this age, and what gods were 
worshipped here at the time; they include Ptah- 
Sokar, Har, Nefertum (one with a lion between the 
legs), Kbnum, Khem, Mentu, Bes, Bast, Isis and 
Taur, the figures varying from 2 to 4 inches high; 
thirty-one in all were found. A complete set are 
in the British Museum, but some, which were 
duplicates, have gone to other Museums. A small 
figure of Har-ur holding a club, f in. high, in blue 
glaze with yellow points. This style is found at 
Erment, and, already known as of Eoman age, 
is shown by this piece to be of the second century. 
A large brown pottery vase (13 in. high) has a 
figure of Bes roughly but forcibly modelled on it: 
tliis is now at Bulak. 
Of other figures, the most remarkable was the 
square tablet of limestone bearing a seated Gr®oo- 
Asiatic sphinx (Frontispiece, 8) : the turretted 
crowns seems to mark it as representing the 
genius of the city of Tunis. A gem with a very 
similar head-dress was found at San (pi. xii. 11) 
by Mr. Greville Chester. The fulness of the 
face is like the relief on the late Ptolemaic and 
Koman temples; but the style of the figure, the 
curved wing, and the pillar in front of it, is 
distinctly Syrian, and recalls Asiatic work rather 
than Egyptian. There are, however, two points 
wliich plainly mark it as of Greek inspiration, 
the figure being seated, and being a female. No 
Egyptian sphinx, nor Assyrian copy, is female 
(except in the rare cases of directly representing 
a queen); and the seated and winged female sphinx 
is purely a Greek idea, so well known on the Chian 
coins, the name of which was apphed by the 
Greeks to the very different class of Egyptian 
monsters. This proves that though so different to 
Egyptian work, this is nevertheless not an early 
piece nor a copy of such, but clearly of Syro- 
Greek origin; and it shows how much Syrian in¬ 
fluence there was on that border of Egypt, as is 
also shown by Syria and Egypt joining in revolt 
under Avidius Cassius at that time. 
Other animal figures are two lions in blue 
glazed ware (1 inch high), crocodile, hawk, bull 
and serpent, of the same style, as the above set of 
deities; also in blue glaze of large size (about 
4 inches) three dogs of different varieties (Frontis¬ 
piece, 3 and 4). A limestone stamp, with a figure 
of a bird on it, the hennu, rather roughly cut 
(Frontispiece, 6); this is of value as confirming 
the surmise of M. Maspero (“ Guide au Musee de 
Boulaq,” p. 289), that these hennu moulds were 
for cakes and not for pottery figures, as on either 
side of the bird is an upright triangle, the hiero¬ 
glyph of bread for offerings. The impression of a 
seal in clay was found with the papyri, having 
evidently been placed on the fastening of a docu¬ 
ment. The style of it (pi. xii. 12) is most like 
work of the first century. The eagle’s head recalls 
earlier engraving, such as the coins of Elis; but 
the row of heads below is clearly of the Julian or 
Augustan period, like the heads on coins of the 
Pompeys, of Caius and Lucius, and other such 
groups of the imperial family. The style is clearly 
before that of the family of Severus, on whose coins 
a row of heads again appears. The gem from 
which this impression came (and another impres¬ 
sion now at Bulak) may be attributed probably to 
the reign of Augustus; and the employment of it 
in the second century would be very likely. A 
small bronze representing cupid running, bearing 
a thyrsus, was also found, 4i in high. 
61. Turning next to remains of furniture, the 
woodwork has almost entirely disappeared in the 
fire, leaving only the bronze fittings and orna¬ 
ments. The best of these are four feet and 
corner ornaments of a stand; the feet are in the 
form of Bes, with arms a-kimbo, ending below in 
a griffin’s foot, something between an animal’s 
paw and an eagle’s foot; these are massive bronze 
castings, about 4 inches high; the top comers 
are heads of Alexandria (?) dressed in the ele¬ 
phant’s skin, with the tusks on either side, and 
the trunk projecting above the forehead. There 
are also three handles of a box, in the form of 
G 2 
