Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 2.djvu/238

 2IO A History of Art in Ancient Egypt. of flowers in his right hand (Fig. 190).^ A man seated upon the ground holds a vase between his knees, into which he has plunged his right hand (Fig. 191).^ Another bends over a wide-mouthed jar of mortar in which he is mixing flour and water (Fig. 192). A young woman, in a similar attitude, is occupied over the same task (Fig. 193). Other women are rolling the paste thus obtained on a plank, or rather upon a stone slab, before which they kneel upon the ground. The muscular exertion necessary for the operation is rendered with great skill (Figs. 193 and 194).^ Women are still to be encountered at Elephantine and in Nubia, wearing Fig. 191. — Limestone statue, Boulak. Drawn by Buurgoin. Fig. 192. — Limestone statue, Boulak Drawn by Bourgoin. the same head-dress and carrying out the same operation in the same attitude and with exactly similar utensils. We reproduce two sketches by M. Bourgoin, which show the details of this head- covering, which, among the women of the lower orders, supplied the piece of the wig ; it consists of a piece of stuff held upon the head by a ribbon knotted at the back of the neck (Figs. 196 and 197). ^ Notice, No. 771. This is the person represented in profile in Fig. 47, Vol. I. '- Notice, No. 766. •^ The four last quoted figures belong to the series noticed in the Boulak Catalogue under numbers 757 to 764. The statue reproduced in Fig. 197 has been already shown in profile in Fig. 48, Vol. I.