Historical studies

No. 69
intended to be represented as dead, No. 70.
The animal vases also shew a tendency to repre-
; the lion-cub, which from its position seems
sent inferior creatures. Of the beasts which have
a religious significance—the lion, calf, and hippo-
potamus—most are immature, and one is even
represented as dead. The elephant does not appear
in any religious cult, and seems to have been re-
morselessly hunted out of the country in very early
times. The hedgehog was not considered of any
great account for food or for religious purposes.
The other living creatures are birds, frogs, the
crocodile, fish, and the locust, none of which had
the same importance as the mammalia, though some,
e.g. the frog and the crocodile, had a religious signifi-
cance. The crocodile however was sacred only in
certain places ; elsewhere it was considered not only
inferior but accurst.
C. Bird-vases seem generally to occur in pre-
"JT.
dynastic times and in the Middle Kingdom ; later
they are very rare. The birds, when recognisable,
are usually ducks of various kinds, but the pigeon
(Nos. 26, 30) is also found. The bird on the nest
(No. 1
5
a) appears to be peculiar to Beni Hasan,
where several examples were discovered. Of the
sacred birds, such as the hawk, I know of only one
representation (No. 71).
D. Frogs {dofdah el moyyeh in Arabic) are ex-
tremely common in Egypt, therefore it is curious
to find that frog-vases occur but rarely, and seem
to be found only in two places, Naqada and Abydos
(Pet. Naq. pi. xii 82, 83). According to Anderson
{Zool. Eg. Rcptilia, pp. 34S-349, pi. L) Rami Esculenta
and Rana Mascareniensis are the two frogs known
in Egypt. The former, though apparently rare,
seems to be the prototype of No. 73.
tributed over Europe . . . Western
FIGURE-VASES 41
" It is dis-
Asia . . .
Afghanistan, Beluchistan, and over Northern Africa
from Egypt to the coast of Morocco." The descrip-
tion : " General colour varying from bright green,
blue, or olive to uniform brown ; spotted or marbled
with olive-brown or blackish." The colour of Rana
Mascareniensis is rather different : " General colour
greyish olive or brownish olive above, with dark spots
on the back . . . throat and chest more or less dusky
or livid, the remainder of the under surface pure
white." The descriptions shew clearly that though
the latter is "very common in the backwaters and
canals, and is found throughout the entire valley of
the Nile," yet it is Rana Esculenta that is represented
here. Frogs were considered sacred to the goddess
Heqt, one of the deities presiding over childbirth.
The predynastic frog from Naqada (No. 3) is made
of pink and white limestone, the marbling of which
seems intended to represent the markings on the
creature.
The tortoise is extremely rare as a vase. No. 14
being the only specimen I know. The notched
shell appears to be characteristic of Testudo Leithii
(" Carapace broadly notched . . . marginals forming
a more or less serrated border, with the undivided
supracaudal projecting beyond them." AND. Zool.
Eg. Reptilia,^^. 28-31, pi. ii). This creature however
seems to be found only near Alexandria and
in the Maryut district, which may perhaps be the
reason that the tortoise was taken by the conquering
race as one of the emblems of the evil one who took
refuge in the marshes of the Delta. The only other
kind of tortoise found in both Upper and Lower
Egypt, Trionyx Triunguis, is quite unlike the shape
of this vase.
The crocodile appears only once (No. 13). It is
of pottery ; the four legs, the head, and the tail are
missing, but the shape of the animal is unmistakeable.
E. Fish-vases are common in predynastic times,
and they also occur in the Middle and New
Kingdoms. The usual form is of Lates Niloticus.
No. 16 apparently represents a fish, though of what
kind it is impossible to say ; the tail is flat and
square, the head pointed, but both pottery and
modelling are too rough to admit of an exact
identification. The religious significance of the fish
was purely local.
F. The locust- vase is, I believe, unique. It is
of Roman date and was found at Memphis.
78. The provenance of the vases shews that those
of the predynastic period are found in the chief
predynastic sites ; those of the Middle Kingdom in
Upper Egypt only, Beni Hasan, Dendereh, and
Qurneh ; the Hyksos vases are confined to Tell el
Yehudiyeh in the Delta ; the New Kingdom vases
seem to be found only in Abydos and its neighbourhood
; the later forms are from Nebesheh,
Naukratis, and Memphis, the last two being great
trading centres in Graeco-Roman times.
In looking at these vases it is impossible not to
perceive a strong foreign influence. The xviiith
dynasty vases of polished red or brown pottery, with
spouts on the head or on the back, appear to be from
the same source as the late vases from the Greek islands
and from Naukratis (Gardner, Naukratis I, pi. xv
5, 8 ; //, pi. xvii 12). This form of spout is found with
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