sailors."
Sostratus the architect, wishing to claim all the glory of the
building, engraved his own name on the solid marble, and afterwards
coated it with cement. Thus, when time had decayed the mortar Ptolemy's
name disappeared, and the following inscription became visible:--
"Sostratus the Cnidian, to the Gods the Saviours, for the benefit
of sailors."
Of this remarkable tower not a vestige remains, and history gives us
no further information than we have here: of its gradual decay or of
its violent destruction we have no record; but that such a structure
as described stood there, there can be not a shadow of doubt, from the
fact that all buildings for like purposes among the Greeks and Romans
derive their designation from this.
SEPULCHRAL VASES OF ANCIENT EGYPT.
[Illustration: [++] Sepulchral Vase.]
In ancient Egypt terra-cotta pottery was extensively made use of for
vases or jars to hold the entrails of the dead. In order to preserve
the body effectually, it was necessary to remove the softer portions,
such as the thoracic and abdominal viscera, and these were embalmed
separately. In some instances they were returned into the stomach,
with wax models of four deities, commonly called the four genii of
the Ament or Hades. It was, however, usual in the embalmment of the
wealthier classes to soak them carefully in the requisite preparations,
tie them up in neat cylindrical packets, and deposit them in vases
having the shape of the four genii. The bodies of these deities, which
were usually represented as mummied, formed the bodies of the vases,
and were cylindrical below and rounded above. The mouths of the jars
were sometimes countersunk to receive the lower part of the covers
which fitted into them like a plug. The jar of the first genius, whose
name was _Am-set_, "the devourer of filth," held the stomach and large
intestines, and was formed at the top like a human head. This genius
typified, or presided over the southern quarter of the compass. He
was the son of Osiris or of Phtha Socharis Osiris, the pygmean god
of Memphis. The second vase of the series was in the shape of the
genius Hapi, the "concealed." Its cover was shaped like the head of a
cynocephalus, and it held the smaller viscera. This genius presided
over the north, and was also the son of Osiris. The third vase was that
of the genius Trautmutf, "the adorer of his mother." We here annex an
engraving of it. It had a cover in shape of the head of a jackal, and
held the lungs and heart. This genius presided over the East, and was
brother of the preceding. The last was that of the genius Kebhsnuf,
the refresher of his brethren. It had a cover shaped like the head
of a sparrow-hawk, and held the liver and gall-bladder. This genius
presided over the west, and was also brother of the preceding. Three
vases of a set, in the British Museum, have all human-shaped heads, and
are provided with handles at the sides of the bodies. Specimens of a
very unusual kind are also to be found in the same collection, having
the whole body formed without a cover, in the shape of a dome above,
and surmounted by a rudely modelled figure of a jackal, couchant upon
a gateway, formed of a detached piece. The entrails were introduced by
the rectangular orifice in the upper part. In some other instances the
covers appear to have been secured by cords passing through them to
the body of the vase. When secured, the vases were placed in a wooden
box, which was laid on a sledge and carried to the sepulchre, where
they were often taken out and placed, two on each side of the coffin.
It was only the poorer classes that used pottery for these purposes.
The viscera of high officers of state were embalmed in jars of fine
white limestone, and the still more valuable oriental alabasters or
arragonite, obtained from the quarries of Tel El Amarna, or the ancient
Alabastron.
THE SACRO CATINO.
The celebrated "Sacro Catino," part of the spoil taken by the Genoese
at the storming of Cesarea, which was believed to be cut from a single
emerald, and had, according to tradition, been presented by the Queen
of Sheba to Solomon, was for ages the pride and glory of Genoa, and an
object of the greatest devotional reverence at the yearly exhibitions,
which were attended with great pomp and ceremony. Such was the opinion
of its intrinsic value, that on many occasions the republic borrowed
half a million of ducats upon the security of this precious relic.
When the French armies, during the first Revolution, plundered Italy
of its treasures, it was sent with other spoils to Paris. Upon
examination, it was, instead of emerald, proved to be composed of
glass, similar to that found in the Egyptian tombs, of which country it
was, no doubt, the manufacture. At the Restoration the Sacro Catino was
returned in a broken state, and now lies shorn of all its honours, a
mere broken glass vessel, in the sacristy of the Church of San Lorenzo.
DINNER PARTY IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
[Illustration: [++] Dinner Party in the Seventeenth Century.]
The cut which we here present to our readers is taken from the English
edition of the Janua Linguarum of Comenius, and represents the forms of
dining in England under the Protectorate. It will be best described by
the text which accompanies it in the book, and in which each particular
object is mentioned. "When a feast is made ready," we are told, "the
table is covered with a carpet and a table-cloth by the waiters, who,
besides, lay the trenchers, spoons, knives, with little forks, table
napkins, bread, with a salt-cellar Messes are brought in platters, a
pie in a plate. The guests being brought in by the host, wash their
hands out of a laver or ewer, over a hand-basin, or bowl, and wipe
them with a hand towel: they then sit at the table on chairs. The
carver breaketh up the good cheer, and divideth it. Sauces are set
amongst roste-meat in sawsers. The butler filleth strong wine out of a
cruse, or wine-pot, or flagon, into cups or glasses, which stand on a
cupboard, and he reacheth them to the master of the feast, who drinketh
to his guests." It will be observed here that one salt-cellar is here
placed in the middle of the table. This was the usual custom; and, as
one long table had been substituted for the several tables formerly
standing in the hall, the salt-cellar was considered to divide the
table into distinct parts, guests of more distinction being placed
above the salt, while the places below the salt were assigned to
inferiors and dependents. This usage is often alluded to in the old
dramatists. Thus, in Ben Jonson, it is said of a man who treats his
inferiors with scorn, "he never drinks _below the salt_, _i. e._ he
never exchanges civilities with those who sit at the lower end of the
table." And in a contemporary writer, it is described as a mark of
presumption in an inferior member of the household "to sit above the
salt."
SAND-COLUMNS IN AFRICA.
Of this remarkable phenomenon, we extract the following interesting
account from the Rev. N. Davis's "Evenings in my Tent";--
"The heat, during the last day or two, has been intense. The
thermometer in my tent, during day and night, has been almost
stationary at 100 degrees. My men have done, and still do, everything
in their power to keep the tent cool, by erecting a high palm-branch
fence around it, and by a constant immersion of the ground, but all
this to very little effect. The wind, during this day, has been as
hot as the flames issuing from a furnace; and the clouds of sand it
raised, and carried along in its furious march, have been immense.
In the distance could be seen numbers of sand columns; but these did
not retain their form any considerable length of time. A contrary
blast brought them in collision with each other; and these, blending
their contents, raised a complete and dense barrier between us and the
country beyond. I am no lover of danger; but, I must confess, I had
an inward desire to see this phenomenon--one of the horrors of the
desert--in greater perfection. I believe Bruce witnessed one of the
most stupendous exhibitions of sand columns or sand spouts, caused by
circular or whirl-winds, on record. In his journey through the desert
of Senaar, his attention was attracted to a number of prodigious
pillars of sand, at different distances, moving at times with great
celerity, at others, stalking on with majestic slowness: at intervals,
he thought they were coming in a very few minutes to overwhelm him and
his companions. Again they would retreat, so as to be almost out of
sight, their tops reaching to the very clouds. There the tops often
separated, from the bodies; and these, once disjoined, dispersed in
the air, and appeared no more. Sometimes they were broken near the
middle, as if struck with a large cannon-shot. About noon, they began
to advance with considerable swiftness upon them, the wind being very
strong at north. Eleven of these awful visitors ranged alongside of
them, at about the distance of three miles. The greatest diameter of
the largest appeared to him, at that distance, as if it would measure
ten feet. They retired from them, with a wind at south-east, leaving an
impression upon the mind of our intrepid traveller to which he could
give no name, though he candidly admits that one ingredient in it was
fear, with a considerable deal of wonder and astonishment. He declares
it was in vain to think of flying; the swiftest horse, or fastest
sailing ship, could be of no use to carry them out of this danger,--and
the full persuasion of this riveted him to the spot where he stood.
Next day they were gratified by a similar display of moving pillars,
in form and disposition like those already described, only they seemed
to be more in number, and less in size. They came several times in
a direction close upon them; that is, according to Mr. Bruce's
computation, within two miles. They became, immediately after sunrise,
like a thick wood, and almost darkened the sun, his rays, shining
through them for near an hour, gave them an appearance of pillars of
fire. At another time they were terrified by an army of these sand
pillars, whose march was constantly south, a number of which seemed
once to be coming directly upon them, and, though they were little
nearer than two miles, a considerable quantity of sand fell around
them. On the 21st of November, about eight in the morning, he had a
view of the desert to the westward as before, and saw the sands had
already begun to rise in immense twisted pillars, which darkened the
heavens, and moved over the desert with more magnificence than ever.
The sun shining through the pillars, which were thicker, and contained
more sand apparently than any of the preceding ones, seemed to give
those nearest them an appearance as if spotted with stars of gold. A
little before twelve, the wind at north ceased, and a considerable
quantity of fine sand rained upon them for an hour afterwards."
ANTIQUITY OF INTOXICATING DRINKS.
It is a common belief that wine was the only inebriating liquor known
to antiquity, but this is a mistake. Tacitus mentions the use of ale
or beer as common among the Germans of his time. By the Egyptians,
likewise, whose country was ill adapted to the cultivation of the
grape, it was employed as a substitute for wine. Ale was common in
the middle ages, and Mr. Park states that very good beer is made, by
the usual process of brewing and malting, in the interior of Africa.
The favourite drink of our Saxon ancestors was ale or mead. Those
worshippers of Odin were so notoriously addicted to drunkenness,
that it was regarded as honourable rather than otherwise; and the
man who could withstand the greatest quantity was looked upon with
admiration and respect: whence the drunken songs of the Scandinavian
scalds: whence the glories of Valhalla, the fancied happiness of
whose inhabitants consisted of quaffing draughts from the skulls of
their enemies slain in battle. Even ardent spirit, which is generally
supposed to be a modern discovery, probably existed from a very early
period. It is said to have been first made by the Arabians in the
middle ages, and in all likelihood may lay claim to a still remoter
origin. The spirituous liquor called arrack has been manufactured in
the island of Java, as well as in the continent of Hindostan, from
time immemorial. Brandy was made in Sicily at the commencement of the
fourteenth century. As to wine, it was so common in ancient times as
to have a tutelar god appropriated to it; Bacchus and his companion
Silenus are as household words in the mouths of all, and constituted
most important features of the heathen mythology. We have all heard
of the Falernian and Campanian wines, and of the wines of Cyprus and
Shiraz. Indeed, there is reason to believe that the ancients were in
no respect inferior to the moderns in the excellence of the vinous
liquors, whatever they may have been in the variety. Wine was so common
in the eastern nations that Mahomet, foreseeing the baleful effects
of its propagation, forbade it to his followers, who, to compensate
themselves, had recourse to opium. The Gothic or dark ages seem to have
been those in which it was the least common; in proof of this it may
be mentioned that, so late as 1298, it was vended as a cordial by the
English apothecaries. At the present day it is little drunk, except by
the upper classes, in those countries which do not naturally furnish
the grape. In those that do, it is so cheap as to come within the reach
of even the lowest.
RUINS OF CLONMACNOIS.
[Illustration: [++] Ruins of Clonmacnois.]
A few miles south of Athlone are the famous ruins of Clonmacnois, the
school where, according to Dr. O'Connor, "the nobility of Connaught had
their children educated, and which was therefore called Cluan-mac-nois,
'the secluded recess of the sons of nobles.'" It was also, in ancient
times, a renowned cemetery of the Irish kings; and for many centuries
it has continued a favourite burial-place, the popular belief enduring
to this day, that all persons interred here pass immediately from
earth to heaven. The abbey is said to have been founded by St. Kieran
about the middle of the sixth century, and soon became "amazingly
enriched," so that, writes Mr. Archdall, "its landed property was so
great, and the number of cells and monasteries subjected to it so
numerous, that almost half of Ireland was said to be within the bounds
of Clonmacnois." The ruins retain marks of exceeding splendour. In the
immediate vicinity there are two "Round Towers." The above engraving
represents one of the many richly-carved stone crosses that are
scattered in all directions among the ruins.
THE BRICKS OF BABYLON.
[Illustration: [++] Brick of Babylon.]
Besides sun-dried bricks, remains of kiln-baked or burnt bricks are
found in all the principal ruins of ancient Babylonia, and were used
for the purpose of revetting or casing the walls. Like the sun-dried
bricks they are made of clay mixed with grass and straw, which have,
of course, disappeared in the baking, leaving, however, traces of the
stalks or stems in the clay. Generally they are slack-burnt, of a pale
red colour, with a slight glaze or polish. The finest sort, according
to Mr. Rich, are white, approaching more or less to a yellowish cast,
like our Stourbridge, or fire-brick; the coarsest are red, like our
ordinary brick. Some have a blackish cast, and are very hard. The
finest are those which come from the ruins of the Akerkuf. The general
measurement of the kiln-dried bricks, at the Birs Nimrud, is 1 ft. 1
in. square, and 3 in. thick. Some are submultiples, or half of these
dimensions. A few are of different shapes for particular purposes, such
as rounding corners. Those at the Akerkuf measured a trifle less, or
12-1/2 in. square, and 2-3/4 in. thick, and are placed at the base of
the monument. The bricks of Al Hymer, on the eastern bank, measure 14
in. long, 12-3/4 in. broad, 2-1/2 in. thick, and are of fine fabric.
There are bricks of two dimensions at this ruin of the Birs Nimrud;
those on the northern brow, a little way down it, measure 12 in.
square, and 3-1/4 in. thick; they are of a pale red colour, and used
for revetting the monument. Lower down to the east of this, they are
4-3/4 in. broad, and 12-3/4 in. long. Similar bricks were found at the
Mujellibe, and in one place was an entire wall of them 60 feet thick.
The whole plain here is covered with masses of brick work, and on one
of the mounds the bricks are so red, that it looks one bright gleaming
mass. The bricks from the Mujellibe or Kasr are described as very hard,
and of a pale yellow colour; and this edifice presents a remarkable
appearance of freshness. We have seen only one fragment of a brick from
Niffer; it is of a white, or rather yellowish white colour, and sandy,
gritty texture. This spot, it will be remembered, is supposed to be the
site of old Babylon. All these bricks are made by the same process as
those of Assyria, namely, stamped out of a wooden or terra-cotta mould,
and are also impressed with several lines of cuneiform character. This
impression is always sunk below the superficies, rectangular, and
often placed obliquely on the brick, with that disregard to mechanical
symmetry which is so usual on works of ancient art. The stamp is
generally about 6 inches long, by 4 inches wide, and the number of
lines varies from three to seven: an arrangement quite different from
that observed on the bricks of Assyria, and rather resembling that
adopted by the brick-makers of Egypt. The engraving on previous page
is of a brick stamped with the name of Nebuchadnezzar, which is now in
the possession of the Royal Society of Literature. The inscriptions
sometimes commence with the figure of a lion, a bull, or what may be
intended for an altar. These read, according to Sir H. Rawlinson,--
[of] Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon,
founder of Beth Digla, or Saggalu,
and of Beth Tzida
son of Nebopalasar [I am].
A TURKISH BAZAAR.
A Turkish bazaar is one of the most wonderful sights in the world, and
well deserves a place in our record of curiosities. We cannot do better
than quote the description which Mr. Albert Smith gives of one of these
extraordinary places in his "Month at Constantinople:"--
"Smyrna had, in some measure, prepared me for the general appearance
of an oriental bazaar; but the vast extent of these markets at
Constantinople created a still more vivid impression. To say that the
covered rows of shops must altogether be miles in length--that vista
after vista opens upon the gaze of the astonished stranger, lined with
the costliest productions of the world, each collected in its proper
district--that one may walk for an hour, without going over the same
ground twice, amidst diamonds, gold, and ivory; Cashmere shawls, and
Chinese silks; glittering arms, costly perfumes, embroidered slippers,
and mirrors; rare brocades, ermines, Morocco leathers, Persian
nick-nacks; amber mouthpieces, and jewelled pipes--that looking along
the shortest avenue, every known tint and colour meets the eye at once,
in the wares and costumes, and that the noise, the motion, the novelty
of this strange spectacle is at first perfectly bewildering--all
this, possibly, gives the reader the notion of some kind of splendid
mart, fitted to supply the wants of the glittering personages who
figure in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments; yet it can convey but
a poor idea of the real interest which such a place calls forth,
or the most extraordinary assemblage of treasures displayed there,
amidst so much apparent shabbiness. No spot in the world--neither the
Parisian Boulevards, nor our own Regent-street--can boast of such
an accumulation of valuable wares from afar, as the great bazaar at
Constantinople. Hundreds and thousands of miles of rocky road and sandy
desert have been traversed by the moaning camels who have carried
those silks and precious stones from Persia, with the caravan. From
the wild regions of the mysterious central Africa, that ivory, so
cunningly worked, in the next row, has been brought--the coal-black
people only know how--until the Nile floated it down to Lower Egypt.
Then those soft Cashmere shawls have made a long and treacherous
journey to Trebizond, whence the fleet barks of the cold and stormy
Euxine at last brought them up the fairy Bosphorus to the very water's
edge of the city. From the remote active America; from sturdy England;
from Cadiz, Marseilles, and all along the glowing shores of the
Mediterranean, safely carried over the dark and leaping sea, by brave
iron monsters that have fought the winds with their scalding breath,
these wares have come, to tempt the purchasers, in the pleasant, calm,
subdued light of the bazaars of Stamboul."
VARNISH-TREE OF THE JAPANESE.
The _urusi_ or varnish-tree, of which they make so extensive a use, is
a noble tree when grown to its full size. On incision it yields a rich,
milky, glutinous juice, out of which the Japanese make the celebrated
varnish, known by the name of _Japan_. With this varnish they cover
and coat all their household furniture, all their dishes and plates,
and all their drinking-vessels, whether made of wood or of paper. The
use of plate, or porcelain, or glass appears to be very limited, and
is probably interdicted by some rule of nationality or religion: from
the emperor down to the meanest peasant, all make use of the light
varnished or japanned cups and dishes, the inner substance of which is
wood or paper, or what we term papier-mache.
Another tree, called _forasi_, renders a varnish of an inferior quality.
TORTURE-CHAMBER AT NUREMBERG.
Nuremberg, being a "free city," was governed by its own appointed
magistrates, having independent courts of law. The executive council
of state consisted of eight members, chosen from the thirty patrician
families, who, by the privilege granted to them from the thirteenth
century, ruled the city entirely. In process of time these privileges
assumed the form of a civic tyranny, which was felt to be intolerable
by the people, and occasionally opposed by them. The fierce religious
wars of the sixteenth century assisted in destroying the monopoly of
power still more; yet now that it is gone for ever, it has left fearful
traces of its irresponsible strength. All who sigh for "the good old
times," should not moralise over the fallen greatness of the city,
and its almost deserted but noble town-hall; but descend below the
building into the dark vaults and corridors which form its basement;
the terrible substructure upon which the glorious municipal palace of
a free imperial self-ruled city was based in the middle ages, into
whose secrets none dared pry, and where friends, hope, life itself,
were lost to those who dared revolt against the rulers. There is no
romance-writer who has imagined more horrors than we have evidences
were perpetrated under the name of justice in these frightful vaults,
unknown to the busy citizens around them, within a few feet of the
streets down which a gay wedding procession might pass, while a true
patriot was torn in every limb, and racked to death by the refined
cruelty of his fellow-men. The heart sickens in these vaults, and an
instinctive desire to quit them takes possession of the mind, while
remaining merely as a curious spectator within them. The narrow steps
leading to them are reached through a decorated doorway, and the
passage below receives light through a series of gratings. You shortly
reach the labyrinthine ways, totally excluded from external light and
air, and enter, one after another, confined dungeons, little more than
six feet square, cased with oak to deaden sounds, and to increase
the difficulty of attempted escape. To make these narrow places even
more horrible, strong wooden stocks are in some, and day and night
prisoners were secured in total darkness, in an atmosphere which seems
even now too oppressive to bear. In close proximity to these dungeons
is a strong stone room, about twelve feet wide each way, into which
you descend by three steps. It is the torture-chamber, which we here
engrave.
[Illustration: [++] Torture-Chamber at Nuremberg.]