fine. Sometimes Sixth Dynasty scarabs
are of obsidian and crystal, and early Middle Kingdom scarabs of amethyst,
emerald, and even garnet. From the time of the Eighteenth Dynasty scarabs
may be counted by millions, and the execution is more or less fine
according to the hardness of the stone. This holds good for amulets of all
kinds. The hippopotamus-heads, the hearts, the _Ba_ birds (p. 111), which
one picks up at Taud, to the south of Thebes, are barely roughed out, the
amethyst and green felspar of which they are made having presented an
almost unconquerable resistance to the point, saw, drill, and wheel. The
belt-buckles, angles, and head-rests in red jasper, carnelian, and
hematite, are, on the contrary, finished to the minutest details,
notwithstanding that carnelian and red jasper are even harder than green
felspar. Lapis lazuli is insufficiently homogeneous, almost as hard as
felspar, and seems as if it were incapable of being finely worked. Yet the
Egyptians have used it for images of certain goddesses--Isis, Nephthys,
Neith, Sekhet,--which are marvels of delicate cutting. The modelling of the
forms is carried out as boldly as if the material were more trustworthy,
and the features lose none of their excellence if examined under a
magnifying glass. For the most part, however, a different treatment was
adopted. Instead of lavishing high finish upon the relief, it was obtained
in a more summary way, the details of individual parts being sacrificed to
the general effect. Those features of the face which project, and those
which retire, are strongly accentuated. The thickness of the neck, the
swell of the breast and shoulder, the slenderness of the waist, the fulness
of the hips, are all exaggerated. The feet and hands are also slightly
enlarged. This treatment is based upon a system, the results being boldly
and yet judiciously calculated. When the object has to be sculptured in
miniature, a mathematical reduction of the model is not so happy in its
effect as might be supposed. The head loses character; the neck looks too
weak; the bust is reduced to a cylinder with a slightly uneven surface; the
feet do not look strong enough to support the weight of the body; the
principal lines are not sufficiently distinct from the secondary lines. By
suppressing most of the accessory forms and developing those most essential
to the expression, the Egyptians steered clear of the danger of producing
insignificant statuettes. The e