Orientals, men and women alike, are great lovers of jewellery.  The Egyptians were no exception to this rule.  Not satisfied to adorn themselves when living with a profusion of trinkets, they loaded the arms, the fingers, the neck, the ears, the brow, and the ankles of their dead with more or less costly ornaments.  The quantity thus buried in tombs was so considerable that even now, after thirty centuries of active search, we find from time to time mummies which are, so to say, cuirassed in gold.  Much of this funerary jewellery was made merely for show on the day of the funeral, and betrays its purpose by the slightness of the workmanship.  The favourite jewels of the deceased person were, nevertheless, frequently buried with him, and the style and finish of these leave nothing to be desired.  Chains and rings have come down to us in large numbers, as indeed might be expected.  The ring, in fact, was not a simple ornament, but an actual necessary.  Official documents were not signed, but sealed; and the seal was good in law.  Every Egyptian, therefore, had his seal, which he kept about his person, ready for use if required.  The poor man’s seal was a simple copper or silver ring; the ring of the rich man was a more or less elaborate jewel covered with chasing and relief work.  The bezel was movable, and turned upon a pivot.  It was frequently set with some kind of stone engraved with the owner’s emblem or device; as, for example, a scorpion (fig. 296), a lion, a hawk, or a cynocephalous ape.  As in the eyes of her husband his ring was the one essential ornament, so was her necklace in the estimation of the Egyptian lady.  I have seen a chain in silver which measured sixty-three inches in length.  Others, on the contrary, do not exceed two, or two and a half inches.  They are of all sizes and patterns, some consisting of two or three twists, some of large links, some of small links, some massive and heavy, others as light and flexible as the finest Venetian filigree.  The humblest peasant girl, as well as the lady of highest rank, might have her necklet; and the woman must be poor indeed whose little store comprised no other ornament.  No mere catalogue of bracelets, diadems, collarettes, or insignia of nobility could give an idea of the number and variety of jewels known to us by pictured representations or existing specimens.  Pectorals of gold cloisonne work inlaid with vitreous paste or precious stones, and which bear the cartouches of Amenemhat II., Usertesen II., and Usertesen III. (fig. 297), exhibit a marvellous precision of taste, lightness of touch, and dexterity of fine workmanship.  So fresh and delicate are they we forget that the royal ladies to whom they belonged have been dead, and their bodies stiffened and disfigured into mummies, for nearly five thousand years.  At Berlin may be seen the parure of an Ethiopian Candace; at the Louvre we have the jewels of Prince Psar; at Gizeh are preserved the ornaments of Queen Aahhotep.