As sculptured caryatide, we see woman of Egypt clad in transparent
sheath-like skirt, nude above the waist, with the usual extinguishing
head-dress and heavy collar, bracelets and anklets. We see her as woman,
mute, law-abiding, supporting the edifice; woman with steady gaze and
silent lips; one wonders what was in the mind of that lotus eater of the
Nile who carved his dream in stone.

Those would reproduce Egyptian colour schemes for costumes, house or
stage settings, would do well to consult the book of Egyptian designs,
brought out in 1878 by the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris, and available
in the large libraries.

On the walls of the Necropolis of Memphis, Thi and his wife (Fifth
Dynasty) appear in a delightful hunting scene. The man in the prow of
his boat is about to spear an enormous beast, while his wife, seated in
the bottom, wraps her arm about his leg!

Among the earliest portraits of an Egyptian woman completely clothed, is
that of Queen Taia, wife of Amenophis, Eighteenth Dynasty, who wears a
striped gown with sleeves of the kimono type and a ribbon tied around
her waist, the usual ornamental collar and bracelets of gold, and an
elaborate head-dress with deep blue curtain, extending to the waist,
behind.

Full of illuminating suggestions is an example of Woman in Egyptian
decoration, to be seen as a fresco in the Necropolis of Thebes. It shows
the governess of a young prince (Eighteenth Dynasty) holding the child
on her lap. The feet of the little prince rest on a stool, supported by
nine crouching human beings--men; each has a collar about his neck, to
which a leash is attached, and all nine leashes are held in the hands
of the child!

The illustrations of the Egyptian funeral papyrus, The Book of the Dead,
show woman in the role of wife and companion. It is the story of a
high-born Egyptian woman, Tutu, wife of Ani, Royal Scribe and Scribe of
the Sacred Revenue of all the gods of Thebes. Tutu, the long-eyed
Egyptian woman, young and straight, with raven hair and active form, a
Kemaeit of Amon, which means she belonged to the religious chapter or
congregation of the great god of Thebes. She was what might be described
as lady-in-waiting or honorary priestess, to the god Amon. She, too,
wears the typical Egyptian head-dress and straight, long white gown,
hanging in close folds to her feet. One vignette shows Tutu with arm
about her husband's leg. This seems to have been a naive Egyptian way of
expressi