Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/41

 Egyptian Civilization 19 He now sits before a small horizontal wheel, upon which he deftly shapes the vessel as it whirls round and round under his fingers. When the soft clay vessels are ready they are no longer unevenly burned in an open fire, as among the Late Stone Age potters in the Swiss lake-villages, but in closed furnaces. Here we also find craftsmen making glass. This art the Egyptians had discovered centuries earlier. They spread the glass on tiles in gorgeous glazes for adorning house and palace walls (see Ancient Times, plate, p. 164). Later they learned to make charming many-colored glass bottles and vases, which were widely exported. 28. Weavers, Tapestry-makers, and Paper-makers. Yonder the weaving women draw forth from the loom a gossamer fabric of linen. The picture on this wall could not show us its fineness, but fortunately pieces of it have been found, wrapped around the mummy of a king of this age. These specimens of royal linen are so fine that it requires a magnifying glass to distin- guish them from silk, and the best work of the modern machine loom is coarse in comparison with this fabric of the ancient Egyptian hand loom. 29. Life and Art in the Pyramid Age. Here on this chapel wall again we see its owner seated at ease in his palanquin, borne upon the shoulders of slaves. He is returning from the inspection of his estate, where we have been following him. His bearers carry him into the shady garden before his house, where they set down the palanquin and cease their song. This garden is the noble's favorite retreat. Here he may recline for an hour of leisure with his family and friends, playing at a game like checkers, listening to the music of harp, pipe, and lute, or watch- ing his women in the slow and stately dances of the time, while his children are sporting about among the arbors, splashing in the pool as they chase the fish, or playing with ball, doll, and jumping jack. The portrait sculptor was the greatest artist of this age. His statues were carved in stone or wood and painted in lifelike colors ; the eyes were inlaid with rock crystal. More lifelike