Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/205

 Egyptian Sculpture. 175 amphorce (wine- vessels), canopi (funereal vases), delicately- carved, etc. We may add that the most valuable relic of Egyptian colossal sculpture known to exist is the head of the young Memnon, taken from the Temple of Memnon, and now in the British Museum. In the Berlin Museum,, in addition to the bas-reliefs already mentioned, the chief Egyptian object is a tomb,* discovered in 1823 in the necropolis of Thebes, and re- moved exactly as it was found. A quadrangular tomb rises in the centre, covered with hieroglyphics, round which are grouped boats, containing figures representing the mummy's escort to Hades, amphorae, etc. In 1881, Herr Emil Brugsch discovered a cave near the temple of Deir-el-Bahari, about four miles from Thebes, in which the mummies of several of the most celebrated of the Theban sovereigns were found — including King Amen- hotep, 1666 B.C. ; Thotmes I., II., and III. ; and Rameses I. and II. (the Great). There were also found in the same cave several illuminated papyri, and numerous mortuary statues. Bronze Statues, with a leaden or other core, are supposed to have been first cast in Egypt ; and it was from the Egyptians that the Greeks learnt the art. Speci- mens may be seen in the various collections of Egyptian antiquities. Babylon and Nineveh. In the chapter on Assyrian architecture we have already alluded to the important discoveries of ruins at Mosul, on the right bank of the Tigris, with which the names of the seen. — Owen Jones.
 * The most perfect specimen of Egyptian Art I remember to have