In this second division are fragments of couches, the decorations chiefly representing animals; fragments, in calcareous stone, from the propylon of the brick pyramid of Dashour; cramps, from Thebes and the temple of Berenice; iron keys from Thebes; bronze hinges; porcelain tiles from the door of a pyramid; an interesting stone model of a house; a model from Upper Egypt of a granary, with a covered shed at one corner from which a man apparently surveyed the operations of the workmen below.  A Leghorn mouse, setting aside the feelings of enthusiastic antiquaries

THE EGYPTIAN ROOM

consumed the grain that lay in the model granaries.  From this curious relic the visitor will turn with some astonishment to an ancient Egyptian wig:  it is curled on the top and plaited at the sides, and is in all respects a well manufactured article.  It is a state wig, worn only on great occasions—­the Egyptians going habitually closely shaven.  In the third division of the cases are assembled various bulky figures, which the visitor will recognise as various Egyptian deities:  there is Pasht with his lion’s head; Num, ram-headed; Thoth, ibis-headed, and others; also the figure of a Pharaoh, or Egyptian king, with the teshr, a royal cap, all taken from the tombs of the kings at Thebes.

In the two next cases (20, 21) the visitor will find various specimens of the dresses and personal ornaments of the ancient Egyptians.  In the first division are a leather cap, cut into net-work from a single piece, the ordinary male head-dress; a leather workman’s apron:  a palm-leaf basket, and a linen cloth tunic that was found in it at Thebes.  The toilet vessels of various substances and shapes, used to contain the metallic dye for the eye-lids, called sthem, worn by the ancient Egyptians, including the cylindrical case, bearing the royal names, are arranged in the second division, together with ivory, porcelain, and other hair studs, and a pair of cord sandals from Memphis.  The third division is filled with varieties of Egyptian mirrors, pins, combs, and sandals.  The mirrors of the Egyptians consisted of circular metallic plates, with variously ornamented handles.  The specimens in this case, which have lost their lustre under centuries of rust, include one with a lotus handle, ornamented with the Egyptian goddess of beauty, Athor; one with a tress of hair as a design for the handle:  and others ornamented with the head of the much reverenced hawk.  The pins are in bronze and wood, and were used by the Egyptian ladies either to bind the hair or to apply the sthem to the eyelids.  The combs show a double row of teeth, and are of wood.  The shoes and sandals are of various kinds, but the greatest variety of these articles is deposited in the fourth division of the cases.  These are made of palm leaves, wood, and papyrus:  those with high-peaked toes are the most ancient, having been worn in the eighteenth dynasty, about fourteen centuries before our era.