Thebes. The toilet vessels of various substances and shapes, used to
contain the metallic dye for the eye-lids, called sthem, worn by the
ancient Egyptians, including the cylindrical case, bearing the royal
names, are arranged in the second division, together with ivory,
porcelain, and other hair studs, and a pair of cord sandals from
Memphis. The third division is filled with varieties of Egyptian
mirrors, pins, combs, and sandals. The mirrors of the Egyptians
consisted of circular metallic plates, with variously ornamented
handles. The specimens in this case, which have lost their lustre
under centuries of rust, include one with a lotus handle, ornamented
with the Egyptian goddess of beauty, Athor; one with a tress of hair
as a design for the handle: and others ornamented with the head of the
much reverenced hawk. The pins are in bronze and wood, and were used
by the Egyptian ladies either to bind the hair or to apply the sthem
to the eyelids. The combs show a double row of teeth, and are of wood.
The shoes and sandals are of various kinds, but the greatest variety
of these articles is deposited in the fourth division of the cases.
These are made of palm leaves, wood, and papyrus: those with
high-peaked toes are the most ancient, having been worn in the
eighteenth dynasty, about fourteen centuries before our era.

The nine following cases (22-32) are devoted to the vases and other
domestic vessels of the Egyptians; an intervening case (27) being
filled with the cedar coffin of a prophet priest of Amoun in Thebes,
elaborately ornamented with various religious symbols. Some of the
vases are inscribed with royal names of early dynasties, proving their
great antiquity: some of the most elegant dating so far back as
fourteen centuries before our era. These specimens of ancient Egyptian
workmanship suggest a state of high artistic refinement of a remoter
antiquity than the Grecian, wrecks of which lie in the Elgin and other