e, hemp, linen,
or twisted cord. Of the latter there are some curious specimens in the
interesting museum of the United Service Club. Alexander had a double
thorax of linen; and Iphicrates ordered his soldiers to lay aside
their heavy metal cuirass, and go to battle in hempen armour. And
among the arms painted in the tomb of Rameses III. at Thebes is a
piece of defensive armour, a sort of coat or covering for the body,
made of rich stuff, and richly embroidered with the figures of lions
and other animals.

The dress of the Egyptian ladies of rank was rich and somewhat gay: in
its general appearance not very dissimilar from the gay chintzes of
the present day, but of more value as the material was usually linen;
and though sometimes stamped in patterns, and sometimes interwoven
with gold threads, was much more usually worked with the needle. The
richest and most elegant of these were of course selected to adorn the
person of the queen; and when in the holy book the royal Psalmist is
describing the dress of a bride, supposed to have been Pharaoh's
daughter, and that she shall be brought to the king "in raiment of
needlework," he says, as proof of the gorgeousness of her attire, "her
clothing is of wrought gold." This is supposed to mean a garment
richly embroidered with the needle in figures in gold thread, after
the manner of Egyptian stitchery.

Perhaps no royal lady was ever more magnificently dowered than the
queen of Egypt; her apparel might well be gorgeous. Diodorus says that
when Moeris, from whom the lake derived its name, and who was
supposed to have made the canal, had arranged the sluices for the
introduction of the water, and established everything connected with
it, he assigned the sum annually derived from this source as a dowry
to the queen for the purchase of jewels, ointments, and other objects
connected with the toilette. The provision was certainly very liberal,
being a talent every day, or upwards of L70,700 a year; and when this
formed only a portion of the pin-money of the Egyptian queens, to whom
the revenues of the city of Anthylla, famous for its wines, were given
for their dress, it is certain they had no reason to complain of the
allowance they enjoyed.

The Egyptian needlewomen were not solely occupied in the decoration of
their persons. The deities were robed in rich vestments, in the
preparation of which the proudest in the land felt that they were
worthily occupied. This was a source of