Iron was reserved for weapons of war, and tools, in use for hard substances, such as sculptors’ and masons’ chisels, axe and adze heads, knife-blades, and saws.  Lead was comparatively useless, but was sometimes used for inlaying temple-doors, coffers, and furniture.  Also small statuettes of gods were occasionally made in this metal, especially those of Osiris and Anubis.  Copper was too yielding to be available for objects in current use; bronze, therefore, was the favourite metal of the Egyptians.  Though often affirmed, it is not true that they succeeded in tempering bronze so that it became as hard as iron or steel; but by varying the constituents and their relative proportions, they were able to give it a variety of very different qualities.  Most of the objects hitherto analysed have yielded precisely the same quantities of copper and tin commonly used by the bronze founders of the present day.  Those analysed by Vauquelin in 1825 contained 84 per cent. of copper 14 per cent. of tin, and 1 per cent. of iron and other substances.  A chisel brought from Egypt by Sir Gardner Wilkinson contained only from 5 to 9 per cent. of tin, 1 per cent. of iron, and 94 of copper.  Certain fragments of statuettes and mirrors more recently subjected to analysis have yielded a notable quantity of gold and silver, thus corresponding with the bronzes of Corinth.  Other specimens resemble brass, both in their colour and substance.  Many of the best Egyptian bronzes offer a surprising resistance to damp, and oxidise with difficulty.  While yet hot from the mould, they were rubbed with some kind of resinous varnish which filled up the pores and deposited an unalterable patina upon the surface.  Each kind of bronze had its special use.  The ordinary bronze was employed for weapons and common amulets; the brazen alloys served for household utensils; the bronzes mixed with gold and silver were destined only for mirrors, costly weapons, and statuettes of value.  In none of the tomb-paintings which I have seen is there any representation of bronze-founding or bronze-working; but this omission is easily supplemented by the objects themselves.  Tools, arms, rings, and cheap vases were sometimes forged, and sometimes cast whole in moulds of hard clay or stone.  Works of art were cast in one or several pieces according to circumstances; the parts were then united, soldered, and retouched with the burin.  The method most frequently employed was to prepare a core of mixed clay and charcoal, or sand, which roughly reproduced the modelling of the mould into which it was introduced.  The layer of metal between this core and the mould was often so thin that it would have yielded to any moderate pressure, had they not taken the precaution to consolidate it by having the core for a support.

[Illustration:  Fig. 276.—­Bronze jug.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 277.—­Same jug seen from above.]