type is neither grand nor handsome ; bnt they are truthful and most
lively portraits of Egyptians, stamped with such a striking individuality,
às to leave the impression that they must have resembled their
originals, notwithstanding that the imitation of nature is with them
not at all painfully scrupulous, and rather evinces considerable
artistical tact in the execution. The correctness of the position of
the ear in these early Egyptian monuments is peculiarly interesting,
since it confirms the observation of Dr. Morton, before alluded to,
that its misplacement on the later and more ordinary monuments is
not founded upon strict imitation of nature, but.that it belongs altogether
to conventional hieratic mannerism.
The relief portrait of king M e n -e a -h e r , of the Yth dynasty {Plate
VII.)—[say, about 30 centuries b. c.] certainly deserves a place of
honoras the earliest royal effigy in existence, not mutilated in its
features.63 It was found, 1851-4, by M. Mariette, on the lower side
of a square calcareous stone employed by later hands in a construe-
tion of the XTXth Dynasty [14th century b. c.] in the Serapeium of
Memphis. The stone belonged originally to a different monument,
probably destroyed by the Hyksos, the ruins of which were thus
adopted for building materials by a posterior and irreverent age,—
just as Mehemet Ali and his family have destroyed Pharaonic and
Ptolemaic temples for the construction of barracks and factories, out
of stones inscribed with the signs of a much higher civilization than
that of Egypt’s present rulers.64 It is remarkable that the ear of
M en -ka-h e r is placed too high on this relief, whereas on the relief of
the “ royal daughter” H eta (TVth Dynasty), lithographed by Lep-
sius for the Denkmäler, it is entirely correct.
The greatest pains have been taken to present a correct facsimile
of this ante-Abrahamie Pharaoh’s beautiful face. The original was
stamped, drawn, and colored at the Louvre, by Mrs. Gliddon ; and
the shade of paper on which it is lithographed, is intended to resemble
that of the stone, whiqjh has been divested of its pristine colors.
Under the XHth Dynasty [ b . c. 22 centuries] the expression of
statues becomes peculiarly refined, and the short and clumsy proportions
are more elongated. “ It seems,” says De Rougé,65 “ that in
the course of centuries the race has become thinner and taller, under
the influence of climate,”—or perhaps by the infusion of foreign
63 T h o s e o f S h u p h o a n d o t h e r s a t W a d e e M a g à r a a r e r a t h e r e ffig ie s t h a n lik e n e s s e s , and
a r e to o a b r a d e d t o b e r e l i e d o n .
64 Gl id d o n , Appeal to the antiquaries of Europe on the destruction of the monuments of Egypt,
London, 1841 :—P r is s e d ’Av e n n e s , Collections (VAntiquités égyptiennes au Kairef R e r u e Archéologique,
15 Mars, 1846.
65 Notice Som., p . 24 :—I d . , Rapport sur les Coll. égyptiennes en Europe, 1851, p 14.
Pahou-er-nowre.
Skhem-ka. (Profile.)
(Louvre Muséum.)