BRONZE ROOM.

THE BRONZE ROOм contains at present a large collection of miscel laneous objects of almost every class, and exhibits more than perhaps any other room in the Museum, the present transition state of a considerable portion of the Department of Antiquities, from the inevitable changes which have taken place owing to the increased number of new rooms which have been added to it, and which are not yet ready to receive their future contents into, we hope, their final resting-place. From this circumstance any complete classification of the objects in it is out of the question, and we shall, therefore, simply give some account of the contents of each Case, according to the order in which the different Antiquities are at present arranged.

The First to which we must call attention are the Egyptian Antiquities, a considerable number of which are placed in those Cases with which this Room at present commences, and, as we have already, in our description of the Egyptian Room, enumerated many similar articles, we shall notice the Egyptian objects in this Room very briefly.

Cases 1-3 contain Sepulchral Tablets in wood of a person not named, adorations to Ra, Osiris, and other deities; of Hesi-chebi, an assistant priestess of Amen-Ra; of Iri-a-haru, a priest, with adorations to Ra and to Isis; of Petas, a priest adoring Ra and Athom; small models of Sarcophagi, and mummies found deposited with the dead and formerly conjectured to be models for the embalmers; boxes for holding small figures of the dead :-Nos. 8522--23 containing two figures:-No. 8524, Karennu, a deceased personage adoring Amset and Kebhsnaut:-No. 8525, a box constructed for the use of Bak-en-maut, a priest of Maut, who, attended by his sister Maut-em-ua, a priestess of Amen-ra, is adoring Isis:-No. 8526, one made for Anchhar, and inscribed with a chapter out of the Ritual:-No. 8527, which was made for Maut-en-pennu, a priestess of the Theban Triad, Amen-ra, Maut, and Chons, and representing her adoring Osiris and Isis :-Nos. 8529-8534 are similar boxes, the last of the Roman period and decorated with gryphons :-No.

8535 is a box with representations of Osiris the Lord of Tattu and part of the litanies of the God Thoth :-No. 8536 is a box adorned with stripes:-Nos. 8537-8 are boxes of Sensao, surnamed Paa-ani, and of Thoth-er-tas, decorated with prayers and inscriptions painted yellow :-No. 8539 is the box of Naas-narut, a daughter of Usarkan, on which Neith, Selk, Sati, and Anubis are represented purifying the Genii of the dead.

Cases 4, 5 contain more boxes. No. 8541, a plain one, with the front of a box or Sarcophagus containing a representation of Isis and Horus erecting the standard of Osiris :-No. 8543 is a similar box inscribed with the name of Hesi, a priestess of Amen Ra, who adores the Genii of the dead. There are also on shelves 3, 4 a number of sepulchral figures in wood, representing the Dead equipped for that portion of his ordeal in the Future State when he ploughs and sows the Auru, surrounded by the great waters and canals of the mystical Nile; holding a hoe in each hand, and a cord attached to a basket of seed with which he is sowing the fields, slung over his left shoulder: they all contain a similar formula, with the name and titles of the Dead, and a prayer, taken from the sixth chapter of the Ritual, relative to their destiny in a Future State. From the great number of these figures deposited with the Dead it has been conjectured that they were offered by relatives of the deceased. Among them are several of Seti Menephtah I., and of scribes, priests, and military and civil functionaries.

Cases 6, 7 contain Sepulchral Figures in arragonite and calcareous stones. Nos. 8689-91 are portions of those of Amenophis III. (Memnon) of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Nos. 8933-34, of other Monarchs of the Eighteenth Dynasty. No. 8695, of Rameses III. Nos. 8696-8700, of Rameses IV., all found in the Tombs of the Kings at Bibán al Muluk. No. 8904 is a representation of Panehsi, a scribe of the Treasury, and is inscribed with a memorandum made on the side, of the number of figures made in one month.

Cases 8, 9 contain a large number of sepulchral figures in Porcelain.

Cases 10, 11 contain specimens of similar figures in Terracotta, and various models of Funereal Boats. Sir Gardner Wilkinson, in describing the funereal ceremonies of the ancient people, states that when the coffin had arrived at the Sacred Lake it was placed in the baris (the name which Diodorus gives to the vessel which carried the bodies of the dead), which was towed by a larger one furnished with sails and oars, and having also a spacious cabin, and that then, in company with other sailing boats carrying the mourners, and the

things appertaining to a funeral, it crossed over to the other side. When the boats reached the other side of the lake the yards were lowered to the top of the cabin; and all those who were engaged in the ceremony left the boats and proceeded to the tomb, from which they probably returned by land without recrossing the lake. There are considerable variations in the representations of the funereal processions on the walls of different tombs, and the Sacred boat constantly occurs with certain modifications. In these models may be seen different portions of the ceremony. In one of the boats there is a canopy in the centre, with priests kneeling; and, at the side, a representation of a lion devouring a goat; on another appear a priest reading the Ritual and a lighted altar.

On shelf 4 is a fragment of a Ritual in Hieratic and part of a document in the same character, on leather; a contract in Demotic or Enchorial letters, and other documents in the Enchorial character; and a caricature, executed during the Roman period, on papyrus, representing foxes driving geese, lions and goats playing at draughts, &c.

Cases 12, 13 contain additional objects from the Tombs; as sepulchral vases of the human-headed genius Amset, some of them coloured :-Cynocephalous heads of the genius Hapi from the tops of similar vases :-Jackal heads of the genius Siutmutf:-Hawk heads of the genius Kebhsnauf, from similar vases :-) -Models of a set of four vases for holding the entrails when embalmed separately in the shape of the four Genii abovementioned, in painted wood: -a similar set which have been deposited with the mummy of a person named Hapi :-Two models of vases, one in the shape of a bottle, the other in that of a goblet, with an inscription for a deceased Pai, a judicial scribe; coloured to imitate glass. Two model vases deposited in the place of more valuable materials, and bearing the names of Amen-hept, a judge, and Hernane, a female:-These sepulchral vases form a set, each with human heads-one for a deceased Aahmes-from a tomb in Upper Egypt, and made of terracotta :—and three vases coarsely painted of the Roman period, with vaulted covers on which are seated jackals. Sir Gardner Wilkinson states that the disposition of the various objects placed with the dead varied in different tombs according to the rank of the person, the choice of the friends of the deceased, and that other circumstances, as their number and quality, depended on the expense incurred in the funeral. Besides richly decorated coffins, many vases, images of the dead, papyri, jewels, and other ornaments were deposited in the tomb; and tablets of stone and wood were placed near the sarcopha

gus, engraved or painted with funereal subjects and legends relating to the deceased. These last, he adds, resembled in form the ordinary Egyptian shield, being squared at the base and rounded at the summit; and it is probable that their form originated in the military custom of making the shield a monument in honour of the deceased soldier. Many of the objects buried in the tomb were hence naturally memorials of the profession or occupation of the deceased. Thus the priest had the insignia of his office; the scribe his inkstand or pallet; the high-priest his censer; the hieraphoros, a small model of Sacred shrine, or a figure bearing an image of a Deity. In the soldier's tomb were deposited his arms; in the mariner's a boat; and the peculiar occupation of each artisan was indicated by some implement employed in his trade. The four vases of the Genii of the Amenti, which we have often alluded to, were placed in the tomb whenever the entrails were embalmed separately, and besides these there were often others of a smaller size, of alabaster, hard stone, glass, porcelain, and bronze, many of them of exquisite workmanship; but these were generally confined to the sepulchres of the rich, as were jewellery and other expensive ornaments. Papyri were likewise confined to the persons of a certain degree of wealth, but small figures of the deceased of wood and vitrified earthenware were common to all classes except the poorest of the community. Such figures generally present a Hieroglyphic inscription, either in a vertical line down the centre, or in horizontal bands round the body, containing the name and quality of the deceased, with the customary presentation of offerings for his Soul to Osiris, and a funereal formula resembling that on many of the scarabæi. In the hands of these figures, as observed above, are often a hoe and a bag of seed.

Cases 14-19 contain a collection of coffins, which may be considered as supplementary to those we have already described very fully in our account of the collections in the Egyptian Room. No. 6671 is the inner coffin of Nesbes, door-opener of the temple of the Sun; on it is Netpe, the judgment of the dead before Osiris, symbolical eyes, and other ornaments. It is of wood, and was formerly in the collection of the Earl of Belmore. No. 6668 is the inner coffin of Ameniriu, auditor of the palace of queen Amenartas, daughter of king Kashta, of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty; on it are rams, representing the Soul, and the judgment and embalmment scenes of the dead; from the collection of Signor Athanasi. No. 6699 is the coffin and mummy of Chons-thoth, a singing boy of the GræcoEgyptian period; the face gilded, and the body covered with

various divinities. No. 6672 is the inner coffin of Anchsennefer, a female; the face is coloured pink, and the body is covered with hieroglyphics, with various scenes on a yellow ground. No. 6663 is the inner coffin of a mummy now much mutilated, but which has been of the very finest style, and is elaborately decorated with painting, and varnished.

Besides these coffins there are several figures of Phtah-SocharisOsiris standing on pedestals, some with small cavities in the shape of boxes and covers, in which were originally deposited small detached portions of the body; and figures of Osiris Pethempamentes, which have been used as cases for papyri. These papyri, which are always portions or copies of the great funereal Ritual of the Egyptians, in Hieroglyphic or Hieratic characters, were either contained in the bodies of these figures, or else in small cells with a lid fitting to the body.

Cases 20, 21 contain sepulchral vases similar, in most respects, to those we have already described, and small sepulchral tablets bearing inscriptions. Besides these are a number of cones of brick, stamped with inscriptions in bas-relief. There has been considerable doubt as to what these objects were used for. They contain the names and titles of the functionaries in whose times they were deposited; and have been supposed to be either stamps and seals or votive offerings deposited with the dead. Sir Gardner Wilkinson states that all the tombs, and many of the separate apartments, had wooden doors with a valve turning on pins, and secured by bolts and bars and a lock, and that the last was protected by a seal of clay, upon which the impress of a signet was stamped, as Herodotus describes in the case of the Treasury of Rhampsinitus. Remains of this clay have been found adhering to some of the stone jambs of the doorways in the tombs at Thebes, and numerous stamps, such as those we are now noticing, have been discovered buried near them. It may be a question whether these objects were themselves the real seals whereby the impressions were made in the clay, because the characters upon them are in relief, and because their edges are sometimes unequally raised round their faces, both leading to the conclusion that they were themselves impressed by another seal. They are found square as well as round, and with a stamp on all the sides; they are all made of the same materials,—a clay mixed with fine ashes, and afterwards burnt, the exterior being of a finer quality than the inside. The red ochreous colour with which they are sometimes stained frequently extends halfway up their whole length, a circumstance which certainly suggests the idea that they must have