a _triclinium_, though couches and ottomans formed part
of the furniture of an Egyptian. When Joseph entertained his brethren,
he ordered them to _sit_ according to their ages. Egyptians sometimes
sat cross-legged on the ground, on mats and carpets, or knelt on one
or both knees; these were rather the customs for certain occasions,
and of the poorer classes. To sit on their heels was also customary as
a token of respect in the presence of a superior, as in modern Egypt;
and when a priest bore a shrine before the deity he assumed this
position of humility; a still greater respect being shown by
prostration, or by kneeling and kissing the ground. But the house of a
wealthy person was always furnished with chairs and couches. Stools
and low seats were also used, the seat being only from 8 to 14 inches
high, and of wood, or interlaced with thongs; these, however, may be
considered equivalent to our rush-bottomed chairs, and probably
belonged to persons of humbler means. They varied in their quality,
and some were inlaid with ivory and various woods.

Those most common in the houses of the rich were the single and double
chair (answering to the Greek _thronos_ and _diphros_), the latter
sometimes kept as a family seat, and occupied by the master and
mistress of the house, or a married couple. It was not, however,
always reserved exclusively for them, nor did they invariably occupy
the same seat; they sometimes sat like their guests on separate
chairs, and a _diphros_ was occasionally offered to visitors, both men
and women.

Many of the fauteuils were of the most elegant form. They were made of
ebony and other rare woods, inlaid with ivory, and very similar to
some now used in Europe. The legs were mostly in imitation of those of
an animal; and lions' heads, or the entire body, formed the arms of
large fauteuils, as in the throne of Solomon (I Kings, x. 19). Some,
again, had folding legs, like our camp-stools; the seat was often
slightly concave; and those in the royal palace were ornamented with
the figures of captives, or emblems of dominion over Egypt and other
countries. The back was light and strong, and consisted of a single
set of upright and cross bars, or of a frame receding gradually and
terminating at its summit in a graceful curve, supported from without
by perpendicular bars; and over this was thrown a handsome pillow of
colored cotton, painted leather, or gold and silver tissue, like the
beds at the feast of