,,forged ,,egyptian ,,antiquities ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,agents ,,america ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company #fd #ff ,,fifth ,,avenue1 ,,new ,,york ,,australasia ,,the ,,oxford ,,university ,,press #bje ,,flinders ,,lane1 ,,melbourne ,,canada ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company ,,of ,,canada ,,ltd4 ,,st4 ,,martin',s ,,house1 #gj ,,bond ,,street1 ,,toronto ,,india ,,macmillan ,,company ,,ltd4 ,,macmillan ,,building1 ,,bombay #cji ,,bow ,,bazaar ,,street1 ,,calcutta ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,illustration3 ,,plate #a4 ,a ,,blue ,,canopic ,,jar1 ,,with ,,anubis ,,head4 ,this is an imitation of porcelain and shows very well the unevenness of the modern glaze4 ,such jars were used to contain the internal organs of the dead and were placed in the tomb beside the mummy4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,forged ,,egyptian ,,antiquities ,,by ,t4 ,g4 ,,wakeling ,,author ,,of 8,,the ,,white ,,knights0 ,,etc4 ,illustration3 ,decoration ,,adam ,,charles ,,black #d ,,soho ,,square ,,london #aiab ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,ballantyne ,,company ,,ltd ,,tavistock ,,street ,,covent ,,garden ,,london ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,prefatory ,,note ,i ,,wish to express my indebtedness to ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,firth1 of the ,nubian ,archological ,survey1 and to ,dr4 ,g4 ,a4 ,reisner1 of the ,harvard ,university ,expedition1 for their kindness in assisting me4 ,plates ,i1 ,,ii1 ,,xii and ,,xvi were prepared from water-colour drawings made by ,miss ,enid ,stoddard1 but all of the others have been reproduced direct from the objects themselves4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,i4 ,,introductory #a ,,ii4 ,,gold ,,ornaments #aa ,,iii4 ,,lapis ,,lazuli ,,figures ,,and ,,iridescent ,,glass #bg ,,iv4 ,,figures ,,in ,,wood #ce ,v4 ,,stone ,,figures #de ,,vi4 ,,porcelain ,,figures #fa ,,vii4 ,,scarabs #fg ,,viii4 ,,alabaster #ie ,,ix4 ,,porcelain1 ,,serpentine ,,and ,,granite #ii ,x4 ,,mummies ,,and ,,mummy ,,cases #aac ,,xi4 ,a ,,forged ,,tomb #aai ,,xii4 ,,the ,,makers ,,and ,,sellers ,,of ,,forged ,,antiquities #abe ,,xiii4 ,,egyptologists #ace ,,references #aea ,,index #aec ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,,in ,,colour ,,plate ,,page ,i4 ,a ,,blue ,,canopic ,,jar ,,with ,,anubis ,,head ,frontispiece ,,ii4 ,,necklaces ,,and ,a ,,bracelet #bd ,,iii4 ,,wooden ,,ushebti ,,figures #cc ,,iv4 ,,funerary ,,figures ,,in ,,wood ,,and ,,plaster #dj ,v4 ,,wooden ,,articles #di ,,vi4 ,,stone ,,and ,,composition ,,figures #ef ,,vii4 ,,stone ,,and ,,other ,,figures #fe ,,viii4 ,,scarabs ,,and ,,amulets #gb ,,ix4 ,,alabaster #ig ,x4 ,,porcelain1 ,,wood ,,and ,,glass #ajd ,,xi4 ,,blue ,,porcelain #ajg ,,xii4 ,,porcelain #aaj ,,xiii4 ,,blue ,,porcelain #aac ,,xiv4 ,a ,,piece ,,of ,,mummy ,,case #abj ,,xv4 ,,beads ,,and ,,mummy ,,cloth #acg ,,xvi4 ,,reproductions ,,found ,,in ,,nubia #aad ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,list ,,of ,,figures ,,printed ,,in ,,the ,,text ,,page ,,model ,,of ,a ,,funerary ,,chamber2 ,,view ,,of ,,interior #ce ,,model ,,of ,a ,,funerary ,,chamber2 ,,complete ,,object #cg ,,horus ,,hawk #dj ,,bes #da ,,figure ,,of ,a ,,nubian1 ,,made ,,of ,,slate #db ,,sandstone ,,tablet ,,and ,,kneeling ,,figure #ed ,a ,,winged ,,scarab ,,and ,,the ,,four ,,genii #id ,a ,,sealed ,,jar1 ,,made ,,of ,,wood1 ,,and ,,painted ,,to #aja ,,represent ,,stone2 ,,period1 #bj,,th ,,dynasty ,a ,,hawk',s ,,head1 ,,the ,,lid ,,of ,a ,,canopic ,,jar #ajb ,,small ,,rough ,,model ,,of ,,an ,,ibis1 ,,in ,,porcelain #ajf;a ,,hathor #ajf;b ,,jar ,,made ,,of ,,serpentine #ajh ,,the ,,goddess ,,taurt #aab ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,forged ,,egyptian ,,antiquities ,,chapter ,i ,,introductory ,,there are a great many people in the world who are interested in ,egypt1 in its antiquities1 and in the unfolding of its pages of ancient history2 a number collect specimens of old ,egyptian art1 such as scarabs1 pottery1 small statues1 c41 and others1 when in ,egypt1 buy them as presents for friends at home4 ,it is for this numerous class1 which is year by year defrauded of large sums of money by the plausible sellers of forged antiquities1 that this book has been written1 for most of them1 sooner or later1 find out to their dismay that that which they had thought was a genuine relic of ancient days1 and prized accordingly1 is nothing more nor less than a clever fraud1 and1 from a collector's point of view1 worthless4 ,the ,egyptologist1 museum authority1 and expert collector may be safely left to take care of themselves2 a perusal of the following pages might even prove interesting to them1 although it is exceedingly unlikely that the book contains anything new so far as they are concerned4 ,the selling of spurious ,egyptian antiquities is not confined to ,egypt alone4 ,london1 ,new ,york1 ,paris1 and even ,algiers1 are also the hunting-ground of the makers of imitations1 who often make large sums of money by imposing upon those who do not possess the knowledge requisite to detect the fraud4 ,it is interesting to analyse the frame of mind of the people who have been cheated4 ,as a rule1 they are angry1 but they are extremely careful to keep their feelings to themselves4 ,if you inquire1 they pooh-pooh the transaction as one of little moment1 and pass it over1 although1 as ,i shall presently show1 many pounds may have been lost4 ,but if the conversation is not changed1 and you wait patiently1 you will presently find that under the carefully repressed annoyance runs a vein of genuine regret that the nice-spoken1 honest-looking and plausible ,hassan or ,mohammed had cheated them4 ,the subsequent history of the fraudulent antiquity is often interesting4 ,as a rule1 it is packed up and taken home1 to be presented in due course to some friend with the cautious remark that 8perhaps it is genuine40 ,then some day an unfortunate ,egyptologist is brought face to face with it1 and he has to make his escape as best he may1 with a certain loss of reputation4 ,i have heard a hostess remark sarcastically that she did not know what post was held by her victim in the ,antiquities ,department in ,egypt1 but it certainly did not require a clever man to see that hers was an important antiquity4 ,there is no more trying moment in an ,egyptologist's life than when1 after a good dinner1 while he is feeling at peace with all the world1 a charming hostess brings out an antiquity for him to pass judgment upon4 ,i have seen men literally squirm1 and many are the subterfuges employed by them to avoid giving an opinion4 ,woe betide the unhappy expert if a mischievous friend happens to be there who will lead their hostess on to ask questions1 and who will assure her1 despite mute appeals1 that her victim is an expert in the particular branch to which her statue or jar1 as it may be1 belongs4 ,and when the ,egyptologist is cornered1 and huffily declares to be a forgery the object upon which he is asked to pass judgment1 the lady is1 as a rule1 angry or hurt2 and then it is that the mischievous friend saves the situation by murmuring1 8,how shocking that these ,egyptologists should be so jealous60 ,the straw is caught1 the hostess smiles again1 and peace is restored1 while the unfortunate man from ,egypt1 vowing vengeance1 makes his escape4 ,if a buyer of some specimen wishes an expert opinion upon his purchase1 he usually lays a deep plan4 ,perhaps he knows a man connected with the museum1 whose opinion is worth having2 or1 if not1 he gets some one to introduce him4 ,then1 one day1 in a casual off-hand kind of way1 he produces his specimen1 and explains that he did not buy it as a 8real thing1 you know10 but it seemed very clever1 and he did not pay much for it4 ,inquiries as to how much has been paid are met by 8regrets that he has forgotten--it was so unimportant40 ,most probably it was pounds1 but the buyer will seldom or never tell you4 ,the expert groans1 but cannot escape4 ,the clever ones temporise1 and tell tales of the marvellous cleverness of the forgers1 and explain that it is almost impossible to distinguish some forgeries from genuine antiquities4 ,then come other stories of how such and such a one was taken in1 and names are mentioned which stand high in the list of savants4 ,it is assumed by the expert that his friend will never mention the matter4 ,then he expresses the opinion that it would be very difficult to be certain in the case of the specimen under consideration1 that he himself would not like to say definitely1 8and you know1 my dear fellow1 it has become almost impossible to tell1 for these things are made by the descendants of the men who made the originals40 ,so the friendship is preserved1 and the subject drifts away into the safe region of 8perhaps and if40 ,it does not seem to occur to the general public that so great has been the demand for antiquities on the part of foreign museums1 private collectors1 and learned societies all over the world that the supply may threaten to give out2 that the districts in which the relics lie are carefully watched2 and that the ,cairo museum is a jealous guardian4 ,so important are the links between the past and the present times that stringent laws have been passed against unauthorised persons taking genuine and important relics out of the country4 ,moreover1 the enormous numbers of antiquities sold yearly would require extensive expeditions to supply the demand1 and few of the finds are obtained surreptitiously4 ,in fact1 since the above was written1 an even more stringent law has been passed by the ,egyptian ,government1 which took effect on ,july #a1 #aiab4 ,under this law all finds of examples of the ,arts1 ,sciences1 ,literature1 ,religions1 ,customs1 ,industries1 c41 will belong to the ,state4 ,the definition of the term ,antiquities is most comprehensive1 and covers every possible find4 ,all dealers will now require to have a licence1 the export of antiquities is quite prohibited unless by special permit from the department responsible1 and any attempt to evade this law will be followed by the confiscation of the objects4 ,any one discovering antiquities must notify the ,antiquities ,department at once2 should the articles found be of a movable nature the finder will receive half the objects discovered or their value in money4 ,a licence from the ,ministry of ,public ,works1 issued with the consent of the ,director of the ,antiquities ,department1 must be obtained before any excavation may be undertaken4 ,this new law is sure to give a great impetus to the manufacture of forged ,egyptian antiquities4 ,there is indeed a great fascination in possessing jewels1 beads1 necklaces1 vases1 and statues belonging to a people who lived thousands of years ago1 but it is obvious that there must be a limit to the quantity available4 ,as the supply becomes less1 so the prices rise2 for the demand does not fall off1 and to-day #cj or #dj will be paid for a specimen which1 a few years ago1 would hardly have brought in as many shillings4 ,the intrinsic value of these antiquities is very little4 ,they are prized for their association with the past and as evidences of the advanced state of culture existing in those far-off days4 ,the love of money has always been a marked characteristic of the ,egyptian1 and here the ingenuity of the descendant of the old craftsman asserts itself4 ,there is no doubt that he has1 from time to time1 been assisted by various ,europeans1 but he is producing replicas of antiquities1 scarabs1 figures1 models1 so cleverly cut and made that it puzzles many of the best experts to say whether they are false or real4 ,some of these imitations are sold for very high prices4 ,if the discovery of a fraud is made in time1 part of the money will sometimes be refunded4 ,the ,egyptian forger would not consider that he had done anything particularly dishonest in deceiving a man in that kind of way4 ,his only regret would be that the fraud had been discovered1 and he would muse upon the unfairness of ,fate1 for here he had been with a fortune within his grasp1 only to lose it4 ,such cases are seldom brought before the courts1 for there seems to be a tacit understanding between the buyer and seller whereby each accepts his own risk4 ,think for a moment what such a transaction means to the ,egyptian4 ,supposing he got #cjjj for certain objects and made #bejj clear profit3 that would mean at least twenty feddans of land1 probably more4 ,these should bring him1 if he lets them out for hire1 over #bjj a year2 or1 if he farmed them himself1 #fjj or #gjj a year4 ,it is a perfect craze with the ,egyptians to get rich1 and perhaps our forger has been earning a precarious living for years1 receiving in pay the equivalent of a shilling or two a day4 ,he has always kept in mind the possibility of making a coup such as ,i have described4 ,he has worked hard and cultivated a plausible manner and learned ,english with this single object in view4 ,if he is successful1 and the fraud is not discovered until too late1 he will occupy a high position in his village and will live happily1 but always with the hope of making a further haul4 ,to such a pitch has the art of manufacturing imitations been carried that ,i propose to give a few of the more common examples1 and here ,i may say that the morality of dealing in antiquities resembles1 to a great extent1 that involved in the buying and selling of horses4 ,if you go to a respectable and responsible dealer1 you pay more1 but you are sure either to get a genuine article or to have your money returned if things go wrong4 ,but if you go to a horse coper1 you buy at your own risk4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,ii ,,gold ,,ornaments ,,the making of copies of ancient gold ornaments has been going on for some years1 and is one of the most lucrative branches of the business4 ,the most extraordinary prices are sometimes paid for these replicas in the full belief that they are genuine4 ,a gentleman who is deeply interested in the study of ,egyptology was once approached by a native1 who1 after some conversation1 hinted that he had some gold antiquities to sell4 ,the interpreter1 who was evidently 8in the swim10 pretended to have the utmost difficulty in persuading the native that he might speak freely1 assuring him that he was quite safe--the gentleman would not inform against him--and that he could with perfect confidence bring his spoils to be looked at4 ,this at last he agreed to do4 ,excitement grew1 and at the hour the man appeared--a stolid1 clownish1 apparently ignorant fellah2 he seemed the last one to be suspected of a clever fraud4 ,the articles were various figures wrought in gold1 and after a protracted interview1 a bargain was struck4 #cjjj was paid for them1 and then they were brought in triumph to ,cairo1 where ,i saw them4 ,they were submitted to expert after expert1 and then the truth came out4 ,they were forgeries4 ,part of the money paid was returned1 but the remainder was lost4 ,another case occurred recently4 ,a man from the ,delta went to a dealer in ,cairo and said that one of the farmers in his district had found some gold things in a tomb while taking soil from the ground1 and now he wanted to find a rich man to buy them1 one who would keep his secret so that the ,government should not punish him and take them from him4 ,when the dealer agreed to go and see them1 the man advised him to take #bjj or #cjj with him4 ,the dealer cautiously said1 8,no1 ,i shall take only #bj40 ,it was arranged that he should go to his informant's village1 and that the finder of the jewels should be brought to him there4 ,next day the dealer went to the village1 and found that his informant was out1 collecting rents for his land1 and some time elapsed before he came back1 carrying in his hands an inkpot and some papers to show how busy he had been4 ,the dealer asked where the farmer was who had found the antiquities4 ,the man replied1 8,i have sent for him1 but he has not yet come40 8,where does he live80 asked the dealer4 ,the man pointed to a collection of huts in the distance behind a ruin4 8,come1 let us take donkeys and ride there10 said the dealer1 8,i cannot stay here all day40 ,donkeys were procured and they set off4 ,on arrival1 they found the farmer working his land4 ,when he came in answer to their call he refused to admit that he had ever seen any gold antiquities1 and vowed that he had none4 ,when pressed1 he swore by all the ,prophets and their beards that he was innocent of finding anything2 but1 in an aside1 he muttered that he thought the dealer was a member of the secret police1 who had come to take all he had got4 ,then the dealer swore to him by all the most sacred oaths that he was not a member of the police force1 so the old man took courage1 and produced one piece--a leaf of gold with two oxen engaged in a fight stamped upon it4 ,the dealer asked if this was all4 ,the farmer replied1 8,well1 you buy this1 and when ,i know how you value it ,i will go and get you another40 ,then the dealer1 doubting if the specimen was really genuine1 asked the farmer if he had found it1 or whether any one had given it to him to sell4 ,the man swore by the divorce--the talak bi talata--that he had found the things himself1 and had dug them up out of the ground4 ,the dealer thereupon bought some stamped leaves of gold to the value of #cj1 and the farmer told him to come again in two days and perhaps he would show him some more4 ,then the man who had lured the dealer there said1 8,oh1 ,i have seen in this man's house a gold sword and a gold belt1 and lots of coins1 and if you can get five thousand pounds you can buy them from him40 ,when the dealer got back to ,cairo with his purchases1 he showed them to an authority on the subject1 who offered to buy them for #bej1 but the dealer refused1 saying that he wished to wait until he could buy the rest of the find4 ,then the prospective purchaser said that1 as he had not time to wait1 he would ask a friend to come and buy for him4 ,the friend came and in the end bought the gold leaves for #bej1 and asked the dealer to go and get the rest of the things4 ,thinking that he was going to make a good season's work1 the dealer took #cjj with him and went back to the place4 ,this was1 in itself1 a risky proceeding1 as he might have been murdered and the money stolen2 needless to say1 he did not sleep that night4 ,the intermediary entered into an agreement with the dealer that he would take no money for introducing him to the finder1 but would accept a commission on the profits made when the articles were sold4 8,i will send for the man to come10 he declared1 8because people will see us going to his house1 and they will become suspicious and inform the authorities1 who will put the man in prison or punish him in some way4 ,stay here1 my friend4 ,it is better so4 ,i will send for the farmer to come40 8,but when will he come80 asked the dealer4 8,in the night1 when it is dark10 replied the intermediary4 ,the dealer waited and waited1 and between his fear of being killed and robbed1 and his anxiety to get more things1 he had no sleep4 ,each time the door opened--and it opened many times--he sat up and asked if the man had come4 ,the reply was always1 8,no1 not yet40 ,in the early morning the dealer became suspicious and said1 8,well1 ,i must go home now1 ,i cannot wait any longer40 ,the intermediary said1 8,yes1 you go home1 and if the man brings anything ,i will come over to your shop and bring them with me40 ,after two days he came alone1 bringing a gold ring with a ,greek head upon it1 and asked the dealer for #aj in order to buy some more things from the farmer1 who had grown suspicious and would not disclose what else he had4 ,the dealer gave the money1 and after two days the intermediary returned1 this time with two gold coins1 some more rings and stamped gold foil1 and saying positively that they were from the same tomb4 ,so the dealer bought the coins1 rings1 and some of the other things for #hj4 ,he took them to an expert authority1 who said1 8,this is excellent1 for now we shall know from the date on the coins the age of the relics40 ,a stamp in wax was taken1 and sent at once to the museum4 8,may ,i show this coin to a friend80 asked the expert4 ,the dealer gladly gave permission1 and it was taken to a collector of coins1 who told them that that particular coin was never found in ,egypt1 and1 most probably1 it was not genuine4 ,then the dealer said1 8,well1 if this coin is not real1 then all the things which ,i have bought are frauds2 let us examine all of them40 ,this was done1 and after three hours' hard work with magnifying glasses1 the expert came to the conclusion that the articles were not really genuine antiquities1 but very clever frauds4 ,then the dealer returned the #bej to his patron who had bought the gold leaves4 ,after this he took the things straight back to the intermediary1 who now declined all responsibility1 saying1 8,you bought from the farmer1 who is an ignorant man and knows nothing40 ,the assistance of the police was invoked1 and the head of the village paid #bj to the dealer1 intending to reimburse himself from the proceeds of the farmer's crops4 ,in the meantime1 the dealer was not idle4 ,he found out that a ,jewish goldsmith in ,cairo had prepared some plain gold leaves and had sent them over to ,athens to be stamped4 ,he had then sold them to the intermediary1 and this man had passed them on to the fellah1 and between them they had made this plan4 ,they buried the things in the ground1 and after a time the fellah dug them up1 thus being able to swear by the 8triple divorce0 that he had taken them out of the ground4 ,then the intermediary had looked about him for a promising victim1 and selected the dealer1 who lost over the transaction some #fj4 ,some time later1 the forgeries were again sold to a well-known man for #cj1 and were again detected4 ,this time the money in full was returned1 and the forgeries were melted down4 99 99 99 99 99 ,one night1 thirteen years ago1 while ,i was strolling about in the moonlight after dinner1 an ,arab came up1 and after some conversation slipped a small parcel into my hand1 made a sign of silence1 and went away4 ,i knew the man1 so1 after a few minutes1 ,i made an excuse and went indoors to look at the parcel1 which was rather heavy and of a peculiar shape4 ,after undoing the knotted ends of a piece of native cloth1 there came into view a magnificent pair of gold bracelets made in the form of snakes1 with three rings of heavy gold4 ,the make was antique and the design splendid4 ,i was young at the game then1 and the beauty of the bracelets made them attractive4 ,i hesitated for a time1 and the more ,i hesitated the less ,i liked the idea of buying them4 ,i could not be sure that they were real1 and an expert opinion could not1 under the circumstances1 be got1 to say nothing of the questionable morality of buying them and thereby encouraging riflers of tombs and stealers of important links between the present and ancient days4 ,for who can say what valuable pieces of evidence may not1 in this way1 be lost8 ,i wrapped them up again in their dirty cloth and went out into the moonlight once more4 ,soon the ,arab sidled up to me1 and ,i put the parcel back into his hand4 8,you will buy them80 he queried4 8,what is your price80 ,i asked4 8,thirty pounds10 he replied4 8,they are worth a hundred and fifty40 ,i told him it was a lot of money4 ,he shrugged his shoulders1 and held up his hands as if to show me that he was positively giving them to me4 ,then ,i definitely declined to buy them4 ,and now1 after thirteen years have passed1 ,i hear that they were afterwards sold for the price of the gold plus a quarter for the antique design4 ,old ,egyptian gold is #bd carat1 and an ,english sovereign is #ah carat1 so that the price came out at about the price of ordinary gold4 ,and one of those implicated in the transaction has since admitted to me that the bracelets were forgeries4 99 99 99 99 99 ,last year ,i was shown by a collector a small gold scarab4 ,it was quite hollow and made of very thin gold1 and it had the appearance of having been pressed out in a mould4 ,i was asked to give an opinion on it1 but was able to escape without committing myself4 ,my opinion was that the scarab was not genuine1 but as it was the first example of its kind that ,i had seen1 ,i did not care to express too definite an opinion upon the subject4 ,this year ,i have seen other gold ornaments bought at the same place1 and ,i have no hesitation in saying that the scarab was an exceedingly well-made copy of a genuine one4 99 99 99 99 99 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,ii4 ,,necklaces ,,and ,a ,,bracelet4 #a4 ,a necklace composed of genuine old carnelian beads1 with spurious gold bottles4 #b4 ,part of a necklace made of silver-gilt filigree work1 with coloured glass scarabs--bought in ,algiers4 #c4 ,a bracelet made up of imitation scarabs set in gold of a low carat4 #d4 ,a string of genuine old carnelian and spurious gold beads4 ,in ,plate ,,ii are shown some interesting forged gold antiques4 ,the necklace 7,no4 #b7 was bought by a lady in ,algiers4 ,it was represented to have been brought from ,egypt1 and was said to be composed of ,egyptian scarabs made of precious stones and mounted in gold filigree work4 ,the price paid for it was #af4 ,examination showed that the scarabs were composed of coloured glass1 very badly cut1 and the setting was merely silver gilt4 ,the real value was under ten shillings4 ,no4 #a shows a combination necklace composed of genuine old carnelian beads and spurious gold bottles4 ,this was a fashionable form of necklace in the ancient days1 and the present specimen is extremely well calculated to take in the unwary4 ,the price asked for it was #ah4 ,the man had two others of a somewhat different design with him4 ,the prices were #ab and #f respectively4 ,in each case the beads were old1 and the gold had been covered with a kind of lacquer which gave it the appearance of age4 ,so clever were the gold imitations that at first ,i really thought that they were real1 and proceeded to bargain for them4 ,we did not agree upon a price for the two largest necklaces1 but ,i bought the smaller one 7,no4 #d7 for twelve shillings4 ,no4 #c is a bracelet made up of imitation scarabs set in real gold of a low carat4 ,the seller also showed me a heavy gold ring1 fashioned like the ring of ,akhnaton1 but lacking an inscription on the face of it4 ,for this he asked #h1 but ,i remembered a tale told me by an excavator to the effect that in ,december of #aijj a man of ,qus took a gold ring to his camp at ,derr-el-,ballas4 ,on the face was the name of an eighteenth-dynasty queen4 ,careful examination showed that the ring was a forgery4 ,four months later the excavator saw the same ring in the shop of a dealer in ,luxor1 who had paid #e for it1 and this made me cautious4 ,the following day the man returned with a friend1 and again we proceeded to bargain for the two large necklaces4 ,hamid ,ibrahim1 to whom ,i am much indebted for his assistance1 and in whose shop the transaction was taking place1 was suspicious and uneasy4 ,time after time he examined the necklaces with a powerful magnifying glass4 ,the men watched him calmly1 never showing by the quiver of an eyelid that they minded his examining them as much as he liked4 ,we had narrowed the transaction down until now there was little separating us in price1 when again ,ibrahim took up the bottle necklace1 and began looking at it with his glass4 ,suddenly he made a quick movement which ,i understood at once1 and then he laid the necklace down4 ,silently he handed me the glass1 and pointed out a bottle4 ,i took up the necklace1 and there on the bottle he had indicated1 was a very fine line where the gold had been folded over4 ,i handed the necklace back to ,ibrahim1 who took a needle and ran it along underneath the edge of the gold1 which he thus turned back4 ,then we saw that it was no thicker than a sheet of thin paper1 while the bottles had been cast in plaster of ,paris1 and the gold foil very cleverly folded over them4 ,i did not buy the necklaces1 but ,i obtained the loan of one of them 7,no4 #b1 ,plate ,,ii74 ,as ,i have said1 the men made no objection to our examination of the bottles4 ,they looked us frankly in the face2 they would have cheated us if they could1 but they had failed4 ,they did not consider that they were in any way to blame for their attempt4 ,they told us frankly1 after we had found them out1 that the gold forgeries were all made by one man1 who was such a wonderful artist that he had been offered a high rate of pay to go to ,europe to work there1 but that he had refused4 ,it is certain that more will be heard of this man's work1 for1 said my informant1 8,there is no one in the world so clever as he is in making gold imitations40 ,i have purposely refrained from describing the gold forgeries made and sold by ,europeans in ,egypt1 preferring to keep entirely to the ,egyptians and their work4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,iii ,,lapis ,,lazuli ,,figures ,,and ,,iridescent ,,glass ,,genuine lapis lazuli figures are extremely rare1 and generally small1 the most valuable ones in the museums being only a few inches high4 ,it was thought at first that it would be impossible to make imitations which would pass for the real stone1 but on the demand arising it has been met4 ,i was riding from ,deir-el-,bahari down to the river one day when a youth rose up from the side of the road1 and shuffled forward to speak to me4 8,you buy antcas80 he said in a whisper1 casting a sidelong glance of apprehension at a mounted policeman who was following at about seventy yards distance4 ,i told him to show me what he had1 whereupon he produced a blue bowl of earthenware with a pattern of the lotus flower on it4 ,porcelain1 he called it1 8and very fine work1 sir4 ,i dig in the tombs1 sir40 ,now if there was one thing that this youthful ,ananias did not do1 it was to dig in the tombs4 ,it is one of the worst offences in ,egypt to dig and take away antiquities without permission4 ,this constitutes a crime not to be expiated without years of imprisonment in the ,tourah stone quarries4 ,the price of the blue bowl was #c4 ,this at once betrayed it1 for no one knows better than these sellers of antiquities the value of the genuine article4 #bj or more would not have bought it1 had he really dug it up out of a tomb4 ,when ,i declined to buy the bowl1 he produced various fragments of alabaster vessels which were genuine enough1 and then some odd ,ushebti figures1 genuine but very poor in make and colour1 and not worth the trouble of taking home4 ,when these were declined1 he still ran alongside of my donkey for perhaps half a mile1 from time to time casting hunted looks at the mounted policeman not very far away4 ,presently he cast an agonised look at me and made a sound indicative of silence2 then he produced a statue bound up in old rags1 thrust it on my saddle in front of me1 and with exceedingly well-acted fright1 implored me not to let the policeman see it4 ,our conversation was carried on in ,arabic1 so that he knew well that ,i lived in the country1 and yet he looked me straight in the face1 and with his hand on his heart1 lied4 ,i unrolled the rags1 and there was a wonderful statue of ,horus1 about six inches high1 beautifully moulded1 in what was apparently lapis lazuli1 with most natural cracks and fissures running through the substance4 ,it was the first time ,i had met with this particular imitation1 and for a moment ,i was dumfounded4 ,i thrust the statue under my coat1 and turned to look at our friend1 the policeman4 ,he was still at the same distance away1 watching us1 but the smile had broadened on his face1 and this gave the whole thing away4 ,he had evidently witnessed the same play a dozen times before1 and perhaps a dozen people had thrust that statue under their coats1 and turned to look at him2 so that he knew at once the stage which the negotiations had reached4 ,sometimes the young man would bring off the coup1 when1 no doubt1 they would celebrate the occasion in a manner which would recompense the policeman for his non-interference4 8,how much80 ,i asked4 8,thirty pounds10 was his reply4 8,but it is very dear10 ,i objected1 8and it does not seem to be a genuine antiquity40 8,by the ,prophet10 swore the boy1 8,i dug it up myself in the tombs4 ,please1 gentleman1 do not let the policeman see40 ,his intense anxiety was well acted4 ,i looked at the statue again4 ,it was the work of an artist1 made in glass1 with all the characteristics of the precious stone1 and then sand-blasted to give it the appearance of age4 ,its value1 had it been genuine1 would have been many hundreds of pounds4 ,its actual value was a few shillings4 ,then we proceeded to bargain4 ,i could have bought the figure for #c1 but lower than that he would not come down2 so ,i wrapped the statue up1 and gave it back to him4 ,again he tried to sell me the blue bowl1 offering this time to take ten shillings for it4 ,when ,i said that ,i had no change1 he produced a bag with a considerable quantity of gold and silver in it1 and extracted an ,english half-sovereign4 ,his perseverance was so marked that in the end ,i bought a few imitations1 so that he might not have had his long run for nothing4 ,on returning to ,luxor1 ,i found in a shop a large head of ,horus in blue1 apparently lapis lazuli4 ,it was in a glass case1 and was evidently considered to be very valuable4 ,i asked to see it1 and inquired from the dealer what it was4 ,he1 decent old fellow1 smiled1 and1 turning his hands upwards1 mentioned the name of a well-known ,egyptologist1 connected with the museum1 and said1 8,he says perhaps it is lapis lazuli40 ,as a matter of fact1 it was glass imitation4 ,at the last ,agricultural ,show in ,cairo1 there were several stalls for the sale of antiquities4 ,at one of these ,i was shown ,hathor1 the sacred cow1 and the figure of a man4 ,the price asked was #dj for the cow1 and #cj for the figure of a man4 ,they were both wrapped up in pieces of old rag1 and only brought out after ,i had seen most of the antiquities on the stall4 ,after informing the man that ,i knew they were only glass imitations1 ,i tried to buy the figures1 but it was impossible to get them for a reasonable sum4 ,the lowest amount he would accept for the cow was #h1 and #d for the man4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,iii4 ,,wooden ,,ushebti ,,figures4 ,made at ,gurna4 ,later on1 an itinerant vendor offered to sell me the figure shown in ,plate ,x41 ,no4 #d4 ,when we had agreed that it was imitation1 and made of glass1 ,i asked him to name a price4 ,the lowest that he would take was #c4 ,i was somewhat puzzled by the consistent high prices asked even for a fraud which had been detected1 and after a great deal of argument1 the man indignantly informed me that some men from ,america come each year to ,cairo1 at the end of the season1 and purchase these blue glass figures for sums ranging between #c and #g4 ,they take them back to ,america1 where they are sold for very high prices--my informant mentioned #ej and #ajj each4 ,this would quite explain why they refused to sell them to me at their intrinsic value4 99 99 99 99 99 ,there is a very considerable market for old iridescent glass4 ,a small bottle will fetch from #a to #c1 and good specimens from #b to #h4 ,there is a moderate quantity of these bottles found in a district called ,rakah4 ,the bottles are extremely fragile1 but good specimens are very beautiful objects and find quick buyers4 ,there is a demand1 and the ingenuity of the ,egyptian is keenly exercised to meet it4 ,imitations are being made by pouring a chemical on the inside and the outside of specially made thin bottles and glasses4 ,this forms a film which gives an appearance of iridescence2 but in many cases the film can be detached with the point of a knife1 and thus the fraud is made palpable4 ,one day a youth brought an iridescent bottle for me to buy1 and as ,i happened to be out he sat down in the sun and waited4 ,upon my return he came up and began to explain that he had brought a beautiful bottle to sell to me1 but had sat upon it and smashed it4 ,now he would sell it to me very cheap4 ,bottles made of iridescent glass are very thin1 and the fragments were quite useless1 but day after day the boy haunted the place1 wanting to sell me the broken bottle 8very cheap40 ,i much regretted the unfortunate accident1 for the bottle1 though small1 had been of perfect shape and beautiful colour4 ,at last ,i offered to buy another should he have one for sale1 but he walked sullenly away and never came back4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,iv ,,figures ,,in ,,wood ,,it was the custom in the ancient days to place small statuettes made of wood1 stone1 porcelain or composition in the tombs4 ,these were supposed to do the work of the dead in the ,underworld1 and are called ushebti1 funerary figures1 or answerers1 because they were expected to answer the call made on the name of the dead1 and to stand in their place4 ,illustration3 ,model of a funerary chamber2 view of interior ,nos4 #a1 #b and #e of ,plate ,,iii are very cleverly carved1 then dipped in liquid plaster of ,paris1 allowed to dry1 and coloured to represent the ancient models4 ,all these figures are made by a man who lives at ,gurna4 ,i expressed to him the desire to have a figure in a boat4 ,three days after he returned1 bringing with him the object in the centre 7,no4 #c71 which he called a dahabeyah1 that he had made in the interval4 ,this man could never understand how it was that ,i was able to detect his forgeries1 and time after time he asked me to tell him4 ,he would look up with a sort of admiration and say1 8,nothing is hid from his ,excellency4 ,he knows everything1 even the mind of his servant40 ,later on1 when ,i told him that the smell of the wood of which the figures were made was new1 and not old1 he looked me straight in the face without changing countenance and exclaimed1 8,allah kerim6 ,god is merciful4 ,i said well that nothing was hid from his ,excellency4 ,if he does not see that which is false with his eyes1 he smells it with his nose40 ,then he clasped his hands together1 as if there was nothing more to be said or done1 and shortly after took his leave4 ,illustration3 ,model of funerary chamber2 complete object4 ,about a week later1 my servant told me that 8the man belonging to the antiquities0 was waiting to see me4 ,it was my friend again1 and he said1 8,this time ,i have an antiquity of the highest value40 ,we proceeded to a room to examine it1 and there he produced a bundle of paper which he began to unroll2 and as he neared the end1 a most appalling stink arose1 a curious1 penetrating1 abominable odour4 ,i drew back while he finished the unwrapping1 and presently he held up the wooden figure of ,anubis 7,plate ,,iii1 ,no4 #d74 ,it was extremely light1 and evidently made of mummy-case wood1 which is occasionally used for these wooden figures4 ,but the smell was so awful that ,i quickly pushed it as far as possible away from me4 ,all the time the man watched my face without the flicker of a smile on his own4 8,it is indeed an antca10 he assured me4 8,i have my doubts on that point10 ,i replied4 8,then will not the gentleman apply his test and smell it80 asked my friend1 with the ghost of a smile on his face4 ,no1 the gentleman would not smell it4 ,the odour pervaded the whole room as it was1 and ,i verily believe the old scoundrel had boiled down a piece of mummy and painted the statue with the liquid1 either to hide the smell of the new wood1 or to play off a joke upon me4 ,finally ,i bought the thing for three shillings1 although he had asked #ad for it2 but ,i had to cover it all over with varnish to seal up the smell before ,i could keep it in my room4 ,for that reason it appears rather more shiny than the other figures4 ,illustration3 ,horus ,hawk ,plate ,,iii1 ,no4 #f represents a ,nubian of an early dynasty4 ,there is a cartouche and an inscription on the base4 ,it stood in the window of a shop in ,luxor in company with several other wooden figures4 ,the dealer told me a long story about his brother having died1 and how he had taken over the antiquities belonging to him1 and was selling them at a very cheap rate4 ,the man assured me that the statue was a genuine antiquity1 but ,i had my doubts about it4 ,our bargaining was not a long process1 and ,i bought it for a small sum4 ,as ,i went out of the shop1 the man said 8,i hope you will have good luck with the antca10 which at once told me what ,i had already suspected1 that it was indeed a fraud4 ,and yet it is cleverly made4 ,the nose has been rubbed down to flatten it after the manner of the ancient statues4 ,the back is beautifully moulded1 and the splitting of the wood very cleverly done1 but the sculptor had not taken the pains with his work that the ancient ,egyptians were accustomed to do4 ,the ears are badly shaped and the hair should have stood up a little further from the forehead4 ,the legs are too short1 the ancient ,egyptian ,statues being remarkable for small heads1 broad shoulders1 fineness about the hips1 and long powerful limbs4 ,the feet are badly moulded1 and not up to the standard of ancient work4 ,the cartouche on the base is poorly cut1 and in the inscription on the side one of the letters is placed upside down4 ,the removal of a small piece of wood with a knife showed it to be deeply stained1 but underneath the staining the wood was white4 ,the most important test1 however1 for wooden reproductions is the smell of the wood4 ,the hawk here represented is about one foot in height1 carved out of wood and painted4 ,the wings are a dull green and the breast and back a light brown1 with a decoration upon the back4 ,as a rule these figures have a crown above the head1 but in this specimen it had been broken off4 ,these figures are frequently to be met with in the ,mousky4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,iv4 ,,funerary ,,figures ,,in ,,wood ,,and ,,plaster4 ,plate ,,iv contains some other funerary figures4 ,no4 #a is a composition figure1 part of which is old and part new4 ,the white foot of the statue is new1 while the remainder is old4 ,illustration3 ,bes ,made of soft white composition and painted black ,the head and chest have been repainted4 ,no4 #e represents a small mummy figure1 and is composed of old rags covered with plaster of ,paris1 and painted4 ,the red paint used on the figure is correct1 but the artist has made the mistake of using ,prussian blue4 ,the use of this colour was not known until the eighteenth century1 therefore it could not have been in use in ancient times4 ,the red is derived from the oxide of iron found in the desert4 ,on the front and also on the back of the figure there is a passage from the ,book of the ,dead4 ,the modelling is good1 but the use of the ,prussian blue gives it entirely away4 ,nos4 #b1 #c1 #d1 and #f represent also the funerary figures which used to be placed in the tombs to do the work of the deceased in the ,underworld4 ,the specimens shown are made from pieces of old mummy cases so as to give them the appearance of age4 ,illustration3 ,figure of a ,nubian1 made of slate ,the plough in ,no4 #b1 ,plate ,v1 is a very clever imitation4 ,the shaft is long and exactly proportioned1 and the end takes the form of the head of a snake4 ,there is a ridge a quarter of the way down the shaft1 to which was evidently attached the collar of the oxen4 ,the model was made1 then dipped in liquid plaster and faintly coloured a reddish-brown4 ,the artist made the mistake of tying the pieces together with modern string instead of using raw hide thongs as the ancient ,egyptians did4 ,on the end is a figure representing ,min1 the god of the harvest4 ,all the wooden figures in the illustrations are made by the man at ,gurna1 who told me with many a chuckle that he had sold one plough for #d to an eminent ,egyptologist1 and that he had obtained #b for another model from the representative of a foreign museum4 ,plate ,v1 ,no4 #a represents a paint-box of the early dynasties2 it is made of new wood1 covered with plaster1 and coloured4 ,on the top of this has been applied some size1 and then some rough dirt has been thrown over it while still wet4 ,there is a long slit for rush brushes1 and three holes for the colouring material1 one of which contains some colour4 ,its companion1 ,no4 #d1 is light1 and made of old wood dipped in plaster1 then covered with size and cleverly coloured reddish-brown in places with bars of deep green round it4 ,two knobs1 one for opening the lid1 and the other for holding the case1 are to be noted4 ,it contains four wooden sticks for writing4 ,there are four holes1 each containing a small amount of colouring material4 ,as already mentioned1 there is a way of detecting these forgeries4 ,in addition to the smell of the new wood there is the sour odour of the size with which the artist covers them before sprinkling them artistically with various dusts4 ,in the case of the boxes1 they are too short and the sticks are wrong2 they should have been rushes or very thin reeds teased out at one end and made into a brush4 ,it was owing to the use of these rush or reed brushes that the letters of the ancient writings were usually made in the same way4 ,no4 #c of the same plate shows a reproduction of a dove1 in wood1 the colouring copied from an original4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,v ,,stone ,,figures ,,one day an up-river man offered for sale some small stone figures1 and told me that he had others4 ,i appointed a day to see them at ,ibrahim's shop4 ,the man1 accompanied by a friend1 came in before ,i arrived there1 and showed them to ,ibrahim1 to whom he swore by ,allah that they were genuine antiquities1 and well worth buying4 ,failing in his attempt to get ,ibrahim to buy them1 he asked his help to persuade me to do so1 offering him a commission out of what ,i should pay for them4 ,ibrahim1 in order to lead him on1 said he would do his best4 ,when ,i arrived1 a few poor specimens of worthless antiquities were taken out of the many receptacles which these men have about their clothes4 ,these were put aside in silence1 as unworthy of consideration4 ,then there was a pause4 8,what else have you80 ,i asked4 ,one by one the things were brought out1 until all the objects shown on ,plate ,,vi were lying before us4 ,the stone head 7,no4 #a7 is composed of green basalt4 ,it is supposed to represent a royal personage1 possibly ,akhnaton4 ,it is peculiar in that the eyes show a distinct oriental tilt4 ,the sculpture is poor1 the ears badly made1 the urus--the sign of royalty--is cut in1 instead of being raised1 as in all the old examples of sculpture1 and the sculptor has not placed the centre of the urus in a line with the nose4 ,these are mistakes of which the ancient sculptor would hardly have been guilty4 ,the second head 7,no4 #c7 shows a different tilt of the eyes4 ,the work is by the same man1 is also in green basalt1 and is no better done4 ,after the heads were finished they were dipped in a kind of thin plaster1 and then buried in a manure heap1 where they remained for a time4 ,the price asked was #a each1 and ,i eventually bought them for #cs4 each4 ,no4 #b shows a bottle of steatite4 ,this was made in two halves1 one of which broke4 ,the fragments were embedded in a soft cement and moulded to correspond with the other side1 and then coloured4 ,this is a favourite way of faking various bowls or bottles4 ,i have had small granite bowls offered to me1 one part of which was whole1 but the remainder was composed of small fragments embedded in a coloured wax1 so soft that you could indent it with your nail4 ,in addition to this it had the smell of wax4 ,plate ,,vi1 ,no4 #d represents a ushebti figure1 bearing the cartouche of ,thothmes ,,iii1 and a passage from the ,book of the ,dead4 ,it is composed of ordinary ,nile mud1 and made in a mould4 ,it was then taken out and left to dry1 and later on blackened over a charcoal fire4 ,in many of the houses in the vicinity of ,gurna and ,deir-el-,bahari1 in a little hole above the door1 or in some other convenient place1 these statues may be seen1 lying in their roughened condition1 just as they have been taken out of the mould4 ,the price paid for this was one piastre1 or twopence halfpenny4 ,many hundreds of these figures are sold all over ,egypt during the season1 and many a museum1 no doubt1 considers itself enriched by the possession of what is nothing more than a very crude modern model of a funerary figure4 ,no4 #e represents a woman with a wig4 ,she should not have been represented carrying cylinders in her hands4 ,the maker has mixed two periods1 the predominating one being probably the twelfth dynasty4 ,no4 #f is composed of serpentine1 and represents the work of about the twelfth dynasty1 and possesses the dolichocephalic features of the skull which1 according to ,elliot ,smith1 are characteristic of the ancient ,egyptian race4 ,this1 however1 is not apparent in the illustration4 ,generally speaking1 the artist has not quite conformed to the ,egyptian style4 ,the ancient sculpture at all periods acquired its distinctive features from being produced in conformity with a canon4 ,as everything was done by rule1 there was an absolute certainty that each article of the period would have the distinguishing marks of this rule upon it1 and that no stroke of the chisel1 however rough or hastily applied1 would be tentative4 ,the effect would be produced rapidly and surely1 and the amount of labour expended upon these statues would have produced a greater amount of detailed modelling4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,v4 ,,wooden ,,articles4 ,representing objects found in the tombs4 #a #d4 ,paint boxes4 #b4 ,a model of a plough4 #c4 ,a dove4 ,plate ,,vi1 ,no4 #g1 is a copy of a ushebti of the nineteenth dynasty1 made of soluble composition1 probably plaster of ,paris1 with a weight inside1 and representing basalt4 ,the materials are very fine1 and hold tightly together4 ,it was roughly modelled first1 then trimmed and cut4 ,the maker has observed ancient modelling sufficiently to make the ears large1 but he has not carried his observation to the point of studying by what conventional strokes of the chisel the details of the ears and the features of the face were produced4 ,all ,egyptian features were produced by conventional means with hardly any variety4 ,the tools were held and the strokes made in the same manner1 or the same effect could not be arrived at4 ,a favourite price with these men is #dj1 and this is what the man asked for the first figure he brought out2 #bj for the mummy figure1 and #aj for the other4 ,i offered #a for the three4 ,on hearing this he very scornfully packed them up again1 and we proceeded to bargain for the smaller antiquities he had brought with him4 ,then the touch of the money in his palm seemed to quicken his desire for more4 ,quickly some black beads1 a forged wooden paint-pot1 alabaster pots1 scarabs1 and various other things changed hands for a shilling or two each4 ,then ,i prepared to go4 8,what you give for these80 demanded his companion1 indicating the figures4 8,they are frauds1 and useless10 ,i replied4 8,but you are well known4 ,you buy new things40 8,yes1 at a price40 8,what you give then8 ,you say something40 ,eventually for #b #aes4 ,i became owner of the statuettes and four other things1 for which they had1 in the first place1 asked nearly #ajj4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a few years ago a large hotel was erected near ,cairo1 and ,italian workmen were brought over to make scagliola1 or imitation stone1 for pillars1 c4 ,there is no doubt that the ,egyptians seized the opportunity to acquire further knowledge1 which has been applied to the forging of antiquities4 ,the maker of these stone forgeries is an up-river man with a keen1 clever face4 ,the skin of his left hand is soft1 but that of his right hand is much harder2 the fingers and thumb of this hand are bent back1 showing that they have been used for hard pressure4 ,he informed me that he always copied from a genuine antiquity or from one of the ancient carvings upon a temple wall4 ,a collector was approached one day by a young man who offered some small objects for sale4 ,these were worthless1 colourless scarabs and sacred eyes4 ,some were real enough1 but broken1 and of no value4 ,the collector bought a few1 and the man hinted at a statue1 and gave certain vague particulars about it4 ,a time was appointed1 and in a hole in a room1 which had been covered up by boards1 the statue was seen1 standing upright and at least two feet in height4 ,it was taken out1 and the collector examined it carefully4 ,it seemed to be a splendid piece of work4 ,the features were finely chiselled1 and it was apparently the work of one of the best periods4 8,let me show it to the museum authorities10 said the collector4 ,but the owner objected4 8,no10 he said4 8,they will keep it1 and send me to prison for having it40 ,in the end a bargain was struck for #bbj1 and the money paid4 ,one day the collector showed it to a friend1 who after some time made a remark which aroused the owner's suspicions4 ,he then sought the advice of an expert1 who was extremely guarded in expressing his opinion4 ,after a long and careful examination1 however1 he pronounced it a forgery4 ,it is only fair to say that in this instance the money was returned4 ,the seller was willing to do this rather than run the risk of a prosecution1 which would give him a bad name1 and possibly a long term of imprisonment4 ,i saw recently a forged granite statue which was of quite good workmanship1 and another which had a fault1 in that the face was turned ever so slightly to one side4 ,in ,plate ,,vii1 ,nos4 #a1 #b1 #d1 #e are supposed to represent the sons of ,horus4 ,they are made of bone and have some plaster sticking on the reverse side4 ,badly cut1 they are not even correct in form1 as the faces should be those of a man1 a dog-faced ape1 a jackal1 and a hawk4 ,no4 #c is an ,osiris figure of unusual form4 ,no4 #f shows a ram's head in red ,aswan granite4 ,this was the first example of forgery in granite that ,i had seen4 ,the work is crude1 and the features are not well brought out1 but it is a remarkable example of the length to which these natives will go1 and the trouble they will take in order to impose upon the credulous and get money4 ,there is no doubt that a large number of the ,egyptians have learnt to work the harder kinds of stone while employed in building the ,aswan ,dam4 ,no4 #g is a small stone hawk of incorrect shape4 ,no4 #h represents a frog cut in serpentine4 ,no4 #i is a crocodile made of slate4 ,part of the tail is lacking4 ,nos4 #aj and #aa4 ,few people buy these as antiquities now4 ,their principal use seems to be that of paper-weights4 ,they are made of plaster of ,paris1 and coloured4 ,the price is about #as4 or less1 but there is no doubt that some years ago they were freely sold as genuine antcas4 ,illustration3 ,sandstone ,tablet and kneeling figure ,the figure on page #ed shows the statue of a kneeling man holding a tablet4 ,it was said to have been taken out of a serdab1 but the inscription has no meaning4 ,the statue was some fifteen inches in height1 and the maker had reproduced the old colours very cleverly4 ,the history of this tablet is somewhat curious4 ,it was bought at ,luxor for #ej1 and brought down to ,cairo1 where a doubt was cast upon its authenticity4 ,a corner of the tablet was cut off with a saw1 and it was found to be composed of sandstone4 ,eventually the owner became convinced that it was not a real antca1 and being unwilling to burden his luggage with so heavy a weight1 gave it away4 ,i found it standing in an out-of-the-way corner1 with its face to the wall4 ,it is an undoubted fraud4 ,on another occasion a ,jewish collector of antiquities was approached by a ,bedouin who said that he had some things to sell4 ,a day was arranged1 and they proceeded to inspect the find4 ,there was a large stone statue and some small1 almost worthless articles4 ,after long haggling1 a price was agreed upon1 #ge for the lot1 apportioned in the following way4 ,the small articles were priced by the ,bedouin at #ce1 #cj1 and #e respectively1 leaving #e only as the price of the statue4 ,the ,arab seemed very stupid and it was hard to make him understand1 but eventually the bargain was struck1 and the relics were taken to the ,jew's house4 ,there photographs of the statue were taken1 and sent to ,paris and ,berlin4 ,after a time1 the reply came back that the statue was an imitation4 ,the ,jew made a great outcry1 but the ,bedouin1 who no longer appeared stupid1 pointed out that no question had been raised about the genuineness of the smaller objects1 nor could there be1 as they were real1 and that only #e had been paid for the statue4 ,to show his good faith1 he would return the #e and let the ,jew keep the other antcas at the price he had paid for them1 and this was eventually accepted4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vi4 ,,stone ,,and ,,composition ,,figures4 #a #c4 ,heads cut in green basalt4 #b4 ,a bottle made of steatite4 #d4 ,ushebti figure made of ,nile mud and blackened4 #e4 ,composition figure representing granite4 #f4 ,statue made of serpentine4 #g4 ,statue made of plaster of ,paris with a weight inside4 ,here is a curious story about another statue4 ,there were two very clever men who lived in a village not far from the ,great ,pyramid4 ,both sold antiquities1 but for some reason one was under the suspicion of the ,government ,department4 ,a beautiful statue came into his possession1 but he was afraid to offer it for sale himself1 so he applied secretly to his confrre for assistance4 ,shortly afterwards his people called me in to see him medically4 ,at first sight the case was a perplexing one4 ,there were no evidences of disease1 and yet the man was sunk in a profound depression2 he could not sleep1 nor take any interest in the affairs of his family4 ,he sat1 sighing and silent1 clasping and unclasping his fingers1 day after day1 surrounded by his sympathising men-friends1 who smoked and drank coffee1 as their custom is4 ,the action of the heart got weaker and weaker1 and his stomach would not 8walk well10 while he said that he was very tired and thought he would like to die4 ,one day ,i ordered all his friends out of the room1 and then1 after rolling out a verse of the ,koran1 asked him what it was that was taking 8the blood from his heart08 ,at first he would not answer1 but after ,i had pointed out to him that he was walking with his eyes open towards the tomb1 where the angels ,munker and ,nakir would not be so gentle in questioning him as ,i had been1 he gave way and told me the whole story4 ,he had bought a statue from some of the fellaheen who had dug it up out of their fields4 ,they had been hard to deal with1 but he had sat for days1 threatening them with the police and the wrath of the ,antiquities ,department4 ,in the end he had bought the statue for the price of a feddan of land4 ,he was as innocent as milk of doing wrong things1 but some kelb 7dog7 had told the ,department of ,antiquities lies1 and now he could not conduct his business without fear4 ,it was best to be honest1 as he had always said1 but what could one do with men whose breath poisoned the air around them8 ,life was hard1 and only fools went out of their way to seek for trouble4 ,therefore had he called in his neighbour to assist him in disposing of his treasure4 ,his neighbour had taken the statue into his house1 and in a week came an up-river man1 who stayed there for a time4 ,after many weeks1 his neighbour had sent back a statue which was not the original1 but a good copy1 made by the man from up the river4 ,now1 he could not take an action in the ,courts to recover his statue1 which was worth many hundreds of pounds1 and meant1 as the ,pasha would understand1 many acres of land1 so 8it is finished40 ,sorrowfully he rocked himself to and fro in the most abject misery as he told the tale1 and looked appealingly at me for sympathy4 ,it was difficult to treat a man hit so hard as this man was4 ,it was 8his chance10 which comes only once in a lifetime1 and he had missed it4 ,bromides procured a little sleep1 but the patient wasted away1 and seemed not to want to live4 ,then one day came some news4 ,his neighbour had sold the statue to a museum in ,america for a large sum4 ,it had been discovered to be a fraud1 and had been returned2 the money had had to be refunded1 and the man had lost the cost of making the second statue1 also his good name1 and incurred sundry other expenses4 ,when the patient heard this1 his eyes brightened forthwith4 ,he got up from his bed1 called for water1 and ordered food to be prepared4 ,then he washed and prayed1 and after that he ate a hearty meal4 ,later ,i found that he had inspected his land1 ordered alterations to his house1 and given his wives extra money4 ,i came across him in one of his fields1 and he told me the news with many pious sayings4 ,when we parted he clasped my hand warmly1 saying1 8,good-bye1 oh ,doctor ,pasha4 ,allah kerim ,god is merciful1 and we are all his children2 but1 as my father said1 it is always best to be honest40 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,vi ,,porcelain ,,figures ,,ushebti figures in blue porcelain1 of varying sizes1 are now being made in ,luxor1 and ,i believe also in the ,delta1 near ,zagazig4 ,the modelling is good in some cases1 and very bad in others1 but the glaze is the wrong colour4 ,the old ,egyptian glaze was thin1 and evenly distributed1 while the new glaze is thicker in parts1 patchy1 and not quite the proper blue 7see ,frontispiece71 but these faults will probably be rectified in a very short time4 ,the old ,egyptian blue is commonly supposed to have been produced by grinding down turquoise1 but there is no evidence that the ,egyptians used these stones for such a purpose1 although they mined turquoise in ,sinai from prehistoric times4 ,some time ago ,i came across a visitor and a friend sitting examining some specimens of ,egyptian antiquities with a view to purchase4 ,the seller1 an ,arab1 was squatting on the ground beside a small table1 which was covered with various objects from scarabs to small statues4 ,near by were sitting two charming ladies1 who watched the proceedings with much interest4 ,i came up in time to hear an offer of #bj for a small1 but handsome1 black statue of ,isis with the infant ,horus1 and some blue ushebti figures4 ,the goddess and her son were represented as being seated upon a kind of throne4 8,you know about these things10 said the visitor to me4 8,come and tell me what you think40 ,modestly disclaiming any special knowledge1 ,i took a seat and examined the figures for which ,i had heard the offer of #bj4 ,the model of ,isis and ,horus was beautifully cut1 and appeared to be made of polished diorite1 but close examination showed that it was composed of plaster of ,paris1 coloured black1 similar to the black scarab 7,no4 #h on ,plate ,,viii74 ,the three ushebti figures were also very suspicious1 for the blue was not the right colour1 and the glaze was too uneven to be the work of the old ,egyptians4 ,as ,i laid the figures down1 the ,arab1 who knew me well1 looked straight into my face4 ,not a feature moved1 and his eyes were steady and expressionless4 ,then1 pushing a tin box towards me1 he said1 8,here are some very good scarabs4 ,look at them40 8,what do you think of the figures80 whispered the visitor4 ,at that moment ,providence sent a wandering ,egyptologist on the scene4 8,ah1 here is the man who knows10 was my reply4 ,by careful shepherding1 the expert was got across to the table1 and comfortably settled in a chair4 ,i saw an angry look come over his face when he caught sight of the specimens1 and ,i very quietly withdrew4 ,as ,i left ,i heard the visitor say1 8,ah well1 you wouldn't take my offer of twenty pounds1 and now ,i shall retire from the business40 ,an hour later1 the charming ladies who had watched the scene fell foul of me for having permitted an ignorant visitor to be robbed of twenty pounds for worthless frauds4 8,why1 we could see that they were not genuine60 they cried4 8,then why didn't you say so80 was my testy reply4 8,it was not our business2 he didn't ask us10 they said scornfully4 8,but we heard him ask you1 and you did not answer40 ,now1 it was quite useless to explain that ,i had stopped the sale by bringing the ,egyptologist into the affair4 ,i was put down as 8a mean thing10 and not forgiven for some time after4 ,nor was this all the misfortune that befell me1 for later the ,egyptologist said huffily1 8,look here1 when next your opinion is asked upon antiquities1 spurious or otherwise1 do the work yourself1 and don't bring me into it40 ,later1 the visitor loftily denied that he had offered #bj for the figures4 ,then it was that the ladies partly forgave me1 for they had heard the offer made4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vii4 ,,stone ,,and ,,other ,,figures4 #a1 #b1 #d #e4 ,the ,sons of ,horus1 or the four genii1 carved in bone4 #c4 ,osiris figure1 also in bone4 #f4 ,ram's head in red granite4 #g4 ,stone hawk4 #h4 ,frog cut in serpentine4 #i4 ,crocodile made of slate4 #aj #aa4 ,sphinxes made of plaster1 used as paper-weights4 ,recently a bronze statue was sent from the ,oasis of ,khargeh to a dealer in ,cairo1 with the statement that it had just been discovered there4 ,the sum of #ejj was asked for it4 ,curiously enough1 on the dealer's shelf stood a reproduction of that particular statue4 ,a comparison of the two showed that they were identical4 ,the new piece was probably made by ,italians and taken to the ,oasis1 where it was buried1 and after a time dug up and sent to the dealer1 who blandly refused to buy it4 ,khargeh is an oasis in the ,libyan ,desert1 lying more than one hundred miles to the west of the ,nile4 ,in the ancient days the ,romans had an outpost there4 ,now it is the scene of the labours of a land company1 and the ,egyptian ,government sometimes banishes habitual criminals and bad characters to this place4 ,on another occasion1 when ,i was purchasing spurious antiquities1 the seller produced a well-made statue of ,isis with the infant ,horus4 ,it was cut in white stone1 and the work was very good4 ,he offered it to me for a low price1 but ,i unfortunately tried to beat him down4 ,at this he took umbrage1 although he carefully concealed it from me4 ,when ,i said that ,i would take the statue1 he quietly pointed out to me that the price was #f1 not #fs4 ,nor would he abate one piastre1 but wrapping his statue up in some old rags1 saluted me and went away4 ,later on ,i inquired from ,ibrahim why it was that the man had become angry2 his reply was1 8,these men are like that2 sometimes they will sell you a thing cheaply and make no trouble over being beaten down2 another time they will take offence1 and though you may afterwards offer them their own price1 yet they will not sell the thing to you1 but will wrap it up and take it away40 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,vii ,,scarabs ,,this is1 perhaps1 one of the most difficult chapters to write1 for to such a pitch of perfection have the forgers brought their reproductions1 that it is now extremely difficult for even well-known ,egyptologists to give a definite statement concerning the genuineness or otherwise of a specimen submitted to them4 ,some years ago the authorities at the ,museum in ,cairo would give their decision regarding antiquities shown to them by visitors1 but now that is all changed1 and they refuse to express an opinion4 ,the ,egyptians1 however1 still loudly protest that they are willing to have their scarabs submitted to the ,museum authorities1 knowing perfectly well that the experts there will give no opinion at all2 but they hope that by so frankly and freely making this offer1 the collector will take it for granted that the specimen is genuine1 otherwise they would not be willing to take the risk of submitting it to such authorities4 ,from time to time the vendors make a coup1 which1 as there is a certain freemasonry amongst them1 becomes known1 and stimulates others to renewed efforts4 ,the novice in antiquities is extremely likely to be taken in1 and should he show any disposition to buy1 or express a wish to purchase1 articles other than those shown to him1 by some mysterious means the news goes round1 and immediately there gather from all parts sellers of specimens both false and real4 ,these men will never give each other away1 but will back up the most lying assertions with surprising assurance mingled with the most childlike assumption of innocence4 ,if found out1 they will swear by their gods that it is you who are mistaken1 not they4 ,they will look you straight in the face while telling you the most bare-faced untruths4 ,this attitude they will carry to a great length and then suddenly break down1 grin1 and admit that the supposed antiquity is a fraud1 but will deny any desire to cheat you4 ,later on they will make a special journey to see you again1 bringing with them some more forgeries1 fondly hoping that you may be induced to buy one of them4 ,the scarab1 or replica of the sacred beetle of ,egypt1 was used as a seal1 an amulet1 or a charm1 and was buried with the dead in large numbers1 sometimes arranged in a certain form upon the mummy's chest4 ,in the place of the heart there is frequently to be found a large scarab with sayings from the ,book of the ,dead inscribed upon it4 ,it was supposed that the sacred beetle would ward off attacks of evil spirits1 and give the dead a better chance of resting in peace in the other world4 ,sometimes a scarab would be inscribed with the records of an event1 such as a voyage to ,punt4 ,amenhotep ,,iii1 in celebration of his marriage with ,queen ,tiy1 issued a large number of scarabs1 carved in stone and engraved with a record of the event4 7,breasted47 ,the forgeries of scarabs are very numerous1 and date back to remote periods4 ,a few thousand years ago1 it was not uncommon for a maker of charms to forge scarabs and amulets belonging to a king or a period long past1 and sell them as the real article1 for then1 as now1 the real antique had the greater value4 ,during the past few years1 the making of forgeries has received a great impetus owing to the scarcity of the real articles1 and the ever-increasing demand4 ,many are the humorous tales told about the difficult positions in which experts have found themselves1 when suddenly confronted with palpable frauds and a demand for an expression of opinion4 ,a story is told of an expert who wished to play off a joke upon a very old and valued friend4 ,so he fashioned two scarabs1 and cut upon them the story of the circumnavigation of ,africa4 ,there is an ancient record that two scarabs were really in existence bearing inscriptions concerning this journey4 ,it is said that ,necho had them made during his lifetime and had the record of the journey cut upon them1 but up to the present they have not been found4 ,the expert intended to send those he had made round to his old friend as a birthday present1 and the two would have laughed and chuckled together over the joke4 ,finally he put them away in his desk to await the proper time to send them1 and then other matters claimed his attention so that he forgot all about them4 ,some years later an illness came on1 and he died4 ,when his effects were disposed of1 these scarabs were found and sold to a museum for #djj4 ,after a time they were discovered to be forgeries1 and an action at law was brought in ,europe4 ,despite the fact that the sellers pleaded ignorance and good faith1 one was sentenced to imprisonment1 not for fraud1 but for the civil debt1 owing to inability to refund the amount4 ,that the scarabs were imitation was first discovered by a grammatical error in the inscription1 and this led to a closer examination of the material used1 which proved to be lithographic stone4 ,on another occasion1 an excavator was being entertained by a very rich man4 ,while smoking after dinner a number of scarabs were produced1 and the excavator's opinion was asked as to their being genuine or not4 #gd had been paid for them1 and the excavator was obviously in a dilemma1 for not one of them was genuine4 ,he looked at them carefully1 one by one1 and then laid them down1 saying that he would not like to express an opinion4 8,come10 urged his host1 8tell me what you think4 ,i know you are an expert1 and ,i want your opinion on them40 8,well1 if you really want to know1 they are all forgeries10 said the expert grimly4 ,there was silence for a moment1 and the host looked ruefully at the row of sacred beetles4 ,then1 being a good sportsman1 he said1 8,don't say a word to the ladies4 ,we will keep it to ourselves40 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,viii4 ,,scarabs ,,and ,,amulets4 ,that gives the essence of the whole thing4 ,the intrinsic value of a scarab is1 perhaps1 sixpence2 the archological value is whatever one likes to put upon them4 ,and so cleverly are the forgeries made that people are just as happy with the imitations as they would be with the real articles1 provided1 of course1 that they remain in blissful ignorance of the truth4 99 99 99 99 99 ,one day1 a big hand was laid upon my shoulder1 and a broad ,american voice chuckled in my ear1 8,hello1 ,doc1 fancy meeting you here40 ,he was an old friend1 and the meeting was a pleasant one4 ,in answer to the question how he had come there1 so far from his beloved ,new ,york1 he answered3 8,wal1 ,i just sort of blew in1 wanted a change1 and ,wall ,street not being what ,i call a business proposition at this moment1 ,i thought ,i'd come4 ,and now ,i'll just go up the ,pyramid40 ,later on he came back with a chastened mien4 8,well1 how did you get on80 8,why1 it was fine4 ,the view ain't exactly like the ,rocky ,mountains scenery1 but it was fine all the same4 ,and ,i bought some sca-rabs40 8,you didn't6 ,let me see them40 ,as he fumbled about for three miserable little specimens1 he explained how it came about4 8,you know that place1 half-way up1 where the stones jut out8 ,wal1 when we got there1 them durned ,a-rabs stopped and said1 #8,say1 mister1 this is the place where they buy sca-rabs4' ,i looked down1 and saw that it was a two hundred feet clean drop to the bottom1 and ,i said that ,i thought it was1 so ,i bought them40 8,how much did you pay for them80 8,two dollars40 8,let me see them40 ,then he produced his scarabs4 8,they are forgeries10 was my remark4 8,that may be10 said my friend complacently1 8but it was a clean drop to the bottom from that durned stone1 and ,i guess ,i am not hankering after eternal glory just now40 ,among the scarabs was one with the name of ,khaf-,ra1 the builder of the ,second ,pyramid 7,plate ,,viii1 ,no4 #cj7 upon it4 ,the workmanship is quite modern1 and up to the present no contemporary scarabs have been found bearing ,khaf-,ra's name4 ,however1 as he had only paid #hs4 for them1 he had not been very badly done4 ,a very large number of scarabs have been found which are made of composition material1 or cut out of a piece of stone and left uncoloured4 ,these fetch very small prices1 although they may be the genuine articles1 therefore the up-river men have taken to re-glazing them4 ,they obtain pieces of old glaze from the ushebti figures and pieces of old glass and melt these down4 ,but the re-glazed scarabs can usually be detected1 even although the colour may be correct1 by the irregularity of the glazing1 and the fact that between the legs of the beetle the dirt can usually be seen under the glaze4 ,sometimes the makers grind up these poor and broken scarabs and remould them4 ,then they re-glaze them1 and swear to you by ,allah that they are indeed old4 ,the natives oil antiquities to make them look polished or to enhance the colour4 ,this method the forgers are applying now to their productions4 ,there is a man at ,qus who is a most clever forger of gold jewellery1 but he also does a good deal of work recutting scarabs4 ,his procedure is to grind the inscription off the base of the original scarab1 recut the cartouche1 and re-glaze it4 ,the scarabs can be detected by the thinness of the base plate1 and by the peculiar manner in which the hawks are made1 with a hump on the back1 like the ,mut vulture4 ,most of the spurious scarabs were1 until a year or two ago1 made at ,luxor1 where one man in particular is an artist at the work4 ,i have known him ask #hs4 for one which he had just finished1 and obstinately refuse to take less4 8,i am not like the fellaheen1 who work for five piastres a day10 he declared4 8,i do good work1 and am going to be paid for it40 ,he did not see any harm in what he was doing1 nor did he try to keep his business secret1 and he took a pride in turning out work which was very difficult to tell from the original4 ,it is curious in what out-of-the-way places these scarabs turn up4 ,recently1 in a consulting-room in ,harley ,street1 one was put before me and my opinion asked4 ,it had been given to the physician by a grateful patient4 ,i did not answer1 but after a good look laid it down4 8,i thought so10 said the doctor quietly1 as he picked it up and slipped it into a drawer4 ,one of the most remarkable features of scarab buying is the number of people who will avoid respectable shops where the proprietors have a reputation to lose1 on the score that they are too dear1 and then pick up with some boy in the street who has a glib tongue and a plausible manner1 and who brings out the inevitable tin box with a motley assortment of worthless odds and ends4 ,once let such a boy get an inkling of the fact that you mean to buy1 and he will be back next day with a fresh lot of good-looking antcas4 ,where they come from is a mystery1 but ,i suspect that there is a system of interchange between these men1 and that they sell for one another and settle up afterwards4 ,i remember a lady who scornfully declined to buy from a respectable shop1 and then found a boy who told her a long story of how he dug antcas up and sold them cheaper than other people4 ,i know that she bought nearly #ej worth from him1 but how much more ,i never heard4 ,later on1 the buyer will to a certainty get a rude shock over some of her cherished possessions4 ,amulets1 or wishing scarabs1 are frequently to be bought4 ,the frauds can1 as a rule1 be told by their light weight and velvety feel1 and by the crudeness of the work2 but this last is not invariable1 and every year the scarab forgers are producing a better article4 ,walking along the river-front at ,luxor one day1 ,i was accosted by an old man who produced a rag in which was tied up a piece of old broken pottery4 ,this was the lure1 for upon my refusing to buy it1 he took out a small object rolled up in pink paper4 ,this turned out to be a fine specimen of a walking scarab4 ,the colour was good1 and the inscriptions were very fair1 while the undercutting was extremely good4 ,but somehow ,i do not like antiquities which are taken out of a piece of pink paper1 and ,i refused it4 ,a ,german who had been for many years in the country came along and snapped it up4 ,later on he informed me that he had paid only one and a half dollars for it1 and that it was worth #d or #e4 ,for a long time he held forth upon its beauties and its wonderful cutting1 declaring that he had not seen so fine a specimen for years4 ,i had another good look at it1 and saw plainly enough that it was an imitation1 so ,i left him to enjoy his purchase4 ,it must be clearly understood that the majority of the vendors of scarabs are far better judges of their value than any ordinary collector1 and therefore a man1 even though he be only an old and dirty individual1 would be most unlikely to sell for a dollar and a half a scarab which was worth #d or #e2 and the natives usually take their finds first of all to dealers1 who would certainly not let a good scarab pass them4 ,european makers have now entered the arena1 and are competing with the natives as makers of antiquities1 but so far the latter have had the best of it4 ,the group of scarabs numbered #a to #e1 ,plate ,,viii1 are either ,german or ,italian work4 ,they are very good indeed1 perhaps too good4 ,i had to pay #ahs4 for those specimens1 nor could ,ibrahim get them for me any cheaper4 ,but ,i have always felt that ,i was done4 ,some weeks after the man from whom these were purchased came again with some more4 ,i was busy and ,ibrahim was away1 so the matter was placed in the hands of his son1 who was instructed to obtain some for my collection if possible4 ,later he handed me four1 and on looking them over1 ,i saw to my astonishment that one was real4 ,i asked how this had happened4 8,yes10 replied the youngster1 8when ,i had picked out these four the man objected1 and said that one was real4 ,i looked at it with my father's glass1 and then offered to bet him a sovereign that it was not4 ,he then said that he did not know that ,i understood scarabs so well1 and let me have the four for #hs40 ,later ,ibrahim examined the scarab4 8,yes10 he said1 8the scarab is genuine1 and bears the name of ,khonsu4 ,it is worth at least #b4 ,my son has done well4 ,now we are even1 for the man charged too much for the other five2 but my son must never offer to bet again1 as he might lose my money40 99 99 99 99 99 ,once1 when in a great hurry1 ,i was stopped by a young lady1 who produced what looked like a damaged scarab1 on which she asked my opinion4 ,the light was very bad1 and ,i had no time to spare1 so ,i gave but a glance at the thing4 ,she told me that she had found it at ,abou ,roash ,pyramid4 ,i wanted to be polite1 and said that ,i thought it was a real scarab1 but that it had by some chance been in the fire4 ,she thanked me1 and ,i hurried away4 ,at dinner that night she told the story to a large and appreciative table1 and handed the specimen round for the guests to see4 ,she had made the thing with a penknife out of a piece of soft rock1 and had coloured it with paint4 ,i must admit that1 when seen in a good light1 the work was very rough1 and that ,i ought not to have been taken in2 but let any one who thinks himself wiser be placed under similar circumstances and see what happens4 ,i have found1 too1 that the female sex is very apt to lay traps for the unwary male1 whenever he affects1 rightly or wrongly1 to possess a superior knowledge upon any subject4 ,mr4 ,weigall1 the author of 8,life and ,times of ,akhnaton10 told me that one day a lady showed him a scarab which she said she had bought from a little boy1 who told her that he had stolen it from ,weigall's excavations4 ,she finished up her story by saying1 8,and ,i am sure it must be true1 for he had such an honest little face40 ,here is another scarab story4 ,a friend was once in the ,khan ,khaleel bazaar in ,cairo1 and was approached by a young man in native dress who offered for sale a handful of scarabs4 ,my friend1 who is an expert and very well known1 was considerably astonished at the man's impudence1 for they were the common green scarabs made in great quantities at the present day to sell to the native women1 and these are now being exported even as far as the ,sudan4 ,after a few pointed remarks1 it seemed that the man was acting in good faith4 ,he was very much taken aback by my friend's ridicule1 and immediately ran off to a native who was dressed in ,european clothes and seated outside a shop about fifty paces away4 ,a violent quarrel was started1 the end of which my friend did not wait to see1 but it was quite clear that the scarabs had been sold by the shopkeeper under some sort of guarantee that they were genuine antiquities4 ,in some cases scarabs are brought straight from the manufactory and placed upon the market4 ,in other cases they are buried in dung-heaps to give them the odour of antiquity1 then taken out1 oiled and rubbed with dirt1 which makes them look old and worn4 ,then the man will carry them about with him for a considerable time1 and eventually they are ready to be offered to the unwary collector4 ,to my own personal knowledge1 experienced dealers in antiquities are being taken in frequently by these modern forgeries4 ,the following are a few of the defects which are to be noted in some of the specimens illustrated on ,plate ,,viii4 ,the first five scarabs are of a turquoise blue colour1 made of china1 and most probably of ,european manufacture4 ,the modelling is good1 but the colour is unusual and too glossy4 ,no4 #a has a wish1 8,may you live for ever10 cut upon its base4 ,no4 #b has a cartouche of ,thothmes ,,iii4 upon it4 ,no4 #c is very well cut4 ,the inscription is a little uneven1 but the only sign of imitation is that the glazing is too bright4 ,no4 #d has also the cartouche of ,thothmes ,,iii4 upon it1 but is badly cut4 ,in ,no4 #e the pro-thorax of the beetle is out of proportion4 ,no4 #f is a small and very well-shaped scarab of a beautiful colour4 ,the modelling is very good1 and the maker has imitated the wear upon the old scarabs exceedingly well4 ,he has run a very fine line of glaze between the wings and the thorax1 but the features of the head are indicated by marks and not by cuttings4 ,this is only to be seen with a magnifying glass4 ,the above was bought for three piastres1 but represents one of the most beautiful forged scarabs ,i have ever seen4 ,no4 #g is of good colour1 but badly shaped4 ,the inscription is fairly well cut1 except that the serpents come out from the bottom of the cartouche instead of from the side1 and the name of ,thothmes ,,iii4 is not clearly cut4 ,no4 #h4 ,this scarab is made of soft white composition1 and painted black4 ,the inscription1 ,ra-,men-,kheper1 is beautifully cut1 but unfortunately this does not show well in the illustration4 ,the making of forged black scarabs is a new departure which has been seen for the first time this year4 ,the price paid was #bs4 ,no4 #i4 ,the cutting and shape are not good4 ,the lines on the back of the beetle are uneven1 and the inscription is wrong4 ,it is supposed to be 8,horus of ,lower ,egypt10 but the lotus is cut wrongly and should be more pointed at the bottom of the flower4 ,no4 #aj is a scarab made from an old amethyst bead4 ,the hole for the thread is from side to side1 whereas in an old scarab it is from before backwards4 ,there is no inscription on the base4 ,no4 #aa is bad in every way--too thick and uneven in make1 and the inscription has no meaning4 ,no4 #ab4 ,the colour is too dark4 ,the letters in the inscription are poorly made1 but mean 8,life and ,truth for ever40 ,the hole through the scarab is too narrow4 ,the ,egyptians did not possess a straight drill1 therefore the holes made by them are slightly larger at one end than at the other4 ,no4 #ac is an amulet1 and supposed to be of the time of ,usertsen in the twelfth dynasty4 ,the name is correctly written1 but the letters are not well cut4 ,no4 #ad4 ,this might be ,rameses ,,ii41 but it is not correctly cut4 ,both these amulets are of very soft composition1 and for this reason can be easily recognised as imitations4 ,no4 #ae4 ,in this case the inscription is incorrect and uneven4 ,nos4 #af1 #ag1 #ah are made of carnelian1 and are very poor1 both as regards cutting and shape4 ,they have no inscription4 ,no4 #ai4 ,this is not the conventional way of making scarabs4 ,the legs are too pronounced4 ,the letters of the cartouche are badly cut1 and the line across the bottom of the cartouche is too low down4 ,the inscription on the base is meaningless1 and the glazing is obviously new4 ,no4 #bj4 ,the hare is badly cut and proportioned4 ,the inscription is uneven4 ,no4 #ba4 ,this is a beautifully-cut double scarab of very unusual form4 ,i bought it from a boy in the streets of ,cairo for three piastres4 ,it is extremely well moulded1 and the colour is very good4 ,it had been oiled1 and had what looked like ancient dirt on its back4 ,upon rubbing this dirt ,i found a speck of gold underneath4 ,for some time opinions differed as to whether this was a genuine scarab which had been stolen and sold by a man who did not know its real value1 or whether it was a very clever imitation4 ,examination of the base showed that there were two inscriptions1 divided in half by an ankh 7key of life74 ,but one sign was upside down1 and some of the symbols are longer and larger than those on the corresponding side4 ,the front legs are too broad1 and quite standing up4 ,it must have been a very difficult matter for the imitator to produce this unusual specimen4 ,no4 #bb4 ,this represents a frog1 and is very poor work4 ,it is made of composition1 is insufficiently glazed1 and the shape is bad4 ,no4 #bc4 ,this was meant for a goat1 and bears three cartouches on its back4 ,the inscriptions are incorrectly cut4 ,the features are absent1 and the glaze has been put on after the break across the back was done4 ,no4 #bd4 ,this is unevenly glazed1 and the inscription is incorrect and uneven2 but the beetle is well shaped4 ,no4 #be is of good colour and shape1 but rather thick4 ,the inscription is of the time of ,thothmes ,,iii41 but the cartouche is unfinished1 the serpents being only on one side of it1 whereas they should be on both4 ,no4 #bf is too thick1 of a bad shape1 and the cutting is poor4 ,it is supposed to represent ,horus4 ,no4 #bg is of good colour1 but the inscription is unevenly cut4 ,it is supposed to represent ,hathor1 the goddess of beauty1 love1 and joy4 ,no4 #bh4 ,this is made of old scarabs1 which have been ground down and re-cast4 ,for this reason the seller was able to swear the most sacred oath that it was real antca4 ,the cutting of the letters is too shallow4 ,no4 #bi is well cut1 a good blue1 supposed to be ,amenhotep1 but the letters are not in proper order1 and are meaningless4 ,no4 #cj4 ,this scarab bears the name of ,khaf-,ra1 and the story about it has been told on pages #gc and #gd4 ,it is made of composition1 and the glaze is thick on one side and has not adhered properly to the other2 but the scarab is well made4 ,no4 #ca is a good colour1 is made of stone1 fairly cut1 but the inscription has no meaning4 ,no4 #cb4 ,this scarab bears the name of ,rameses ,,iii4 and has the inscription 8,the ,governor of ,on0 upon its base4 ,the cutting is partly in high and partly in low relief4 ,it is made of pottery and not quite correct in colour4 ,no4 #cc is poor in make and cutting4 ,no4 #cd is made of soft stone1 fairly cut1 but too pointed in shape4 ,the inscription is not well done4 ,no4 #ce is a bad colour1 being a pale blue4 ,the head is too large for a real beetle1 and too flat2 the legs too thick4 ,the inscription is not cut evenly1 and does not mean anything4 ,no4 #cf is a very good colour4 ,the burnt mark on the head was caused in the firing4 ,the cartouche is cut too low down4 ,no4 #cg4 ,a large stone scarab bearing the name of ,thothmes ,,iii41 incorrectly cut4 ,no4 #ch is a blue decorative scarab1 fairly well done4 ,no4 #ci is a large beetle1 bearing the cartouche of ,thothmes ,,iii41 but of a bad shape4 99 99 99 99 99 ,some years ago1 when crossing the ,kasr-el-,nil bridge1 a youth of the fellaheen class edged up to me and asked if ,i would purchase some seals4 ,he said1 8,i have some very good ones40 ,i asked to see them and he produced one4 ,i knew very little about seals1 but thought there was no harm in buying a few4 ,in the end ,i spent #hs4 upon them1 and when ,i got home examined them carefully4 ,apparently some of them were made of carnelian and had the characteristic marks of the stone1 though they were considerably weathered4 ,one does not show antiquities in the frank manner that is common to other hobbies1 so ,i put one in my pocket1 and placed the others away in a safe drawer4 ,some days went past1 and then my opportunity came4 ,i was in the shop of a dealer noted for his keenness in detecting frauds1 and after discussing various objects with him1 ,i said1 8,oh1 ,i came across a seal the other day4 ,just look at it1 will you80 and ,i casually passed it over the counter to him4 ,he examined it carefully1 and then a grim smile overspread his face4 8,how much did you pay for it80 8,i paid #hs4 for a lot10 ,i replied4 8,oh1 well then1 you need not grumble1 for they did me out of as many pounds as you paid shillings10 said the dealer4 ,the seals were imitation1 very cleverly made of glass1 and rubbed with sand to produce the appearance of age4 ,,ancient ,,pigments ,ancient pigments always show at some part the unfaded colour4 ,there is no such thing as uniform degradation of colour4 ,there should be no general appearance of decay4 ,the ancient things were made of fresh material1 and were preserved carefully4 ,egyptian blue is composed of sand1 copper oxide1 and soda1 mixed together1 ground finely1 then moistened with water1 tied up in a tiny bag the size of a walnut1 put into a furnace and heated to the temperature of red-hot copper4 ,this must be done in a small furnace1 and the temperature must not be carried too high1 or an ordinary green glass will result4 ,the temperature must be just enough to fuse the copper1 soda1 and silica into what is called a frit1 that is1 the stage which immediately precedes the fusion of the ingredients which would result in glass4 ,the ball of frit is taken out and pulverised1 mixed with glue or gum arabic1 and used as a paint4 ,the depth of colour decreases if the paint is ground too finely4 ,the green colour is either the natural green ore 7malachite71 or an oxide or artificial carbonate4 ,the purple colour is manganese oxide4 ,the red colour is simply earthy hmatite or iron oxide4 ,the black colour is either carbon or black oxide of iron1 or both mixed together1 or the black oxide of manganese4 ,the yellow is plain yellow ochre1 sometimes mixed with a little white4 ,grey is wood ash1 mixed with lime white1 or powdered gypsum4 ,lime white is merely ordinary lime which has got stale or slacked4 ,illustration3 ,a ,winged ,scarab and the four ,genii4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,viii ,,alabaster ,,alabaster jars were used in the old days to contain pigments1 ointment1 kohl1 and similar commodities4 ,they were also placed in large numbers in the graves1 hence the quantity that comes into the market4 ,the price is moderate1 from a few shillings to several pounds1 and one would hardly have thought it worth while for the forgers to copy them2 yet it is now regularly done4 ,but there is something about the old alabaster jar or pot which makes it somewhat easier to distinguish from forgeries than is the case with scarabs4 ,in the old pots there are certain irregularities of make1 a kind of lumpiness from the way in which they were cut out4 ,the pots are thin and drilled out to the bottom with the bow-drill1 and the outsides are worn4 ,forgeries are made on the lathe1 and are turned out regular in shape4 ,they are thicker1 heavier1 and not drilled down to the bottom4 ,the work on the interior is rough1 and gives signs of having been hastily done4 ,some of the smaller pots are made in two halves1 an upper and a lower1 and joined by a cement about the middle4 ,sometimes old pots are recut or re-shaped1 in order to give them a better appearance4 ,the ones most difficult to tell from the originals are those made with the old bow-drill1 for here comes in the slight irregularity of shape1 and the work approaches much more nearly to that of the ancient ,egyptians1 as it is most probable that the originals were made in the same way4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,ix4 ,,alabaster4 #a1 #c1 #d1 #f #h4 ,kohl pots4 #b4 ,a head1 ,greek period4 #e1 #g #i4 ,vases4 #aj #aa4 ,bowls4 ,plate ,,ix shows various kinds of alabaster pots1 all of which are forgeries4 ,of recent years1 a demand has arisen for heads carved out of alabaster4 ,as it is quite certain that the value of these would be considerable1 were they genuine antcas1 and the supply would be extremely small1 the ,egyptian has stepped in1 and is endeavouring to supply the want after his fashion4 ,fig4 #b shows a head in alabaster4 ,the style is of the ,greek period4 ,the workmanship is only fair1 and carelessly done1 the ears not having been formed at all4 ,however1 it represents a period when ,egyptian ,art was declining4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i remember an up-river man1 who was employed on an excavation1 picking up a piece of stone1 and in his spare time fashioning a head out of it with his knife4 ,later on he showed it to his employer4 ,the excavator looked at it grimly for a few moments4 ,then1 remarking that the man was far too clever to be a simple workman on a digging1 he discharged him and sent him back to his village4 ,a few years ago some life-sized alabaster statues of ,mykerinos1 the builder of the ,third ,pyramid1 were found by the ,harvard ,university ,expedition4 ,they had been considerably mutilated1 but some of them were put together1 and fortunately the heads were but little damaged4 ,the statues showed three periods in the life of ,mykerinos3 youth1 early manhood1 and then a rather later period4 ,the workmanship was exquisite1 and the value of the statues was enormous4 ,it is safe to say that this discovery has not been lost sight of by the spurious antiquity makers1 as alabaster is a soft stone to work in1 and offers a fair scope for the exhibition of their talent4 ,i have already been shown a very rough copy in alabaster of what one of these spurious antiquity makers called the features of ,mykerinos4 ,fortunately they presented no resemblance1 a fact which ,i did not impart to him4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,ix ,,porcelain1 ,,serpentine ,,and ,,granite ,,on the way to ,deir-el-,bahari1 a man offered to sell me the small blue vase with a handle shown in ,plate ,x4 ,he asked #bes4 for it1 but a glance served to show that it was not genuine2 the colour was too blue1 and the weight of it showed that it was solid1 not hollow4 ,this was confirmed by testing it with a hatpin belonging to one of our party1 and ,i proceeded to bargain4 ,eventually ,i bought it for #es4 ,on leaving ,deir-el-,bahari1 a youth accosted me and offered another small vase1 similar to the first one4 ,this ,i bought for #cs41 wrapped it up carefully1 placed it in my pocket1 and a moment later bent over my saddle and smashed it4 ,however1 the first one was safe4 ,on my return to ,luxor ,i found in an antiquity shop a whole string of them at #bs4 each1 the proprietor being open to a deal4 ,they are made of soft material1 gir1 a kind of native mortar1 and will stand very little rough usage4 ,most of the porcelain objects are supposed to date from the eighteenth dynasty1 but up to the present ,i have not seen in any museum a genuine antiquity similar to the small blue vase4 ,the possibility is that the ,arabs may have one1 which they are using as a pattern in the manufacture1 or this style might even be a creation of their own4 ,on the same ,plate is a bottle 7,no4 #a71 with two handles1 and two monkeys sitting on each side of the neck1 also made of porcelain2 but it has a thick glaze over it1 and has been buried for some time in a heap of manure taken from the courtyard of the house1 which was fresh enough for active chemical action to take place1 and the effect of this is well shown on the bottle4 ,nos4 #c1 #g1 and #h are of the same period1 and have a peculiarity common to the previous one also--namely1 they are all extremely light in weight1 and are made by the same maker4 ,no4 #b is a jar with a handle1 made of wood and painted4 ,it is partly hollowed out1 and the wood is new4 ,illustration3 ,a sealed jar1 made of wood1 and painted to represent stone2 period1 #bjth dynasty4 ,it was produced by the same maker as ,no4 #b1 ,plate ,x4 ,the blue bowl 7,plate ,x1 ,no4 #e7 is very pretty4 ,it was not made on a wheel1 but modelled first and then glazed4 ,the material is a soft brownish gir1 or lime mixed with very fine sand4 ,these bowls are very fragile1 and are held together by the glaze4 99 99 99 99 99 ,on ,plate ,,xi we have some examples of blue porcelain4 ,nos4 #a and #i represent the ,goddess ,taurt1 who was usually shown as a hippopotamus1 and was supposed to have been the wife of ,set4 ,no4 #b is an unusual form of jar with rudimentary spout4 ,no4 #c is a small ,anubis figure4 ,no4 #d represents a porcelain boat with a ram's head on the bow4 ,no4 #e is a pectoral which was placed on the chest of the mummy1 and should have a scarab in the opening4 ,no4 #f is the girdle buckle of ,isis1 and was placed on the neck of the mummy4 ,it is not correctly shaped and should not be cut straight off across the bottom4 ,no4 #g is a small papyrus cup with reeds shown upon it1 but very roughly done4 ,no4 #h is a ram-headed hawk bearing the sun disk2 it is composed of soft plaster painted over and very badly shaped4 ,the above figures would be known as forgeries from the softness of the material used1 and from the glaze being too glossy4 ,illustration3 ,a ,hawk's ,head4 ,the lid of a canopic jar4 ,the blue canopic jar shown in the frontispiece and the top of another1 a hawk's head1 represented in the above line engraving1 were1 after prolonged bargaining1 bought for #gs4 and #fs4 each4 ,the seller1 an up-river man1 took a most solemn oath that they were old1 but that the glaze was new4 ,when ,i pinned him down to definite statements1 he explained to me that he meant that the earth of which they were composed was old2 which of course is true1 but that is not the sense in which the ordinary buyer would understand it4 ,with this reservation he would feel himself at liberty to take the most solemn oaths that1 with the exception of the glaze1 his specimens were really old4 ,as ,i have said1 the forgers are now also in the habit of melting the old glass fragments and pieces of glaze1 and using it to recolour their productions4 ,in some of the antiquity shops in ,luxor there may be seen cases containing admitted imitations of ancient pottery ware4 ,the prices asked for these imitations are from l #ajs4 to #c each4 ,when ,i pointed out to the dealer that this was a stiff price to pay for what was an admitted forgery1 he indignantly denied any intention of fraud1 and declared that these objects were artistic in design and execution1 and well worth the money he asked for them4 ,one cannot help feeling1 however1 that should an unwary tourist or an ignorant collector arrive on the scene1 it is possible that he might become the possessor of one of these porcelain objects without having any idea that it was not a genuine antiquity4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,x4 ,,porcelain1 ,,wood ,,and ,,glass4 #a4 ,bottle with two handles4 #b4 ,wooden jar with handle4 #c1 #g #h4 ,vases made of composition and coloured4 #d4 ,a glass figure made to represent ,lapis ,lazuli4 #e4 ,blue bowl4 #f4 ,blue vase4 ,on ,plate ,,xii are shown some very beautiful objects4 ,no4 #c is a winged scarab1 which represented the sun crossing the heavens from east to west within a day4 ,it is a fine piece of work1 but is made of plaster of ,paris and painted4 ,no4 #b shows a lotus cup1 well designed1 copied from the original1 and made of soft composition1 but spoilt in the firing4 ,this1 however1 gives the effect of age4 ,it is beautifully coloured1 and the date is about the eighteenth dynasty4 ,by the side of it is a lotus bowl 7,no4 #a7 made by the same maker4 ,these are really charming objects of interest1 and are very cleverly made2 the shape1 however1 is not quite right4 ,large sums of money were asked for them1 but they were purchased for a few shillings each at the end of the season1 when the up-river men were anxious to go home to their villages1 and did not want to take back any unsold goods with them on their long journey1 preferring during the summer to make fresh objects for the next season4 ,plate ,,xii1 ,no4 #d is a blue jug having a piece of genuine mummy cloth stuffed in it4 ,it was offered to me at ,deir-el-,bahari4 ,the seller asked #a for it1 but after some bargaining ,i bought it for #es4 ,it is made of very soft material and irregularly glazed4 ,no4 #e shows a false-necked bottle4 ,this is a good copy and has also been buried in manure4 ,plate ,,xiii1 ,no4 #a is a well-made winged scarab1 but the four little figures1 #b1 #c1 #d1 #e1 representing the sons of ,horus1 are not correct1 as the faces should be those of a man1 a dog-faced ape1 a jackal1 and a hawk2 #f and #h are poppy heads1 of beautiful colour4 ,no4 #g4 ,the egg-shaped object represents sacred eyes4 ,it is composed of soft material1 is a very exact copy1 and must have been most difficult to make4 ,illustration3 ,small rough model of an ,ibis1 in ,porcelain ,there is a small blue-and-black porcelain ball also made and sold1 but so soft is the material of which they are composed1 that ,i failed to get one home in safety4 ,nos4 #aj and #ac are two pectorals1 one with the ,hathor cow represented on it2 the smaller one1 which is extremely well made1 bears the cartouche of ,thothmes ,,iii41 and has fixed upon it1 near the top1 a piece of an ancient bead--a clever idea and one well calculated to take in the unwary4 ,illustration3 ,hathor ,no4 #aa is a blue lotus vase1 made of soft material1 and unevenly glazed4 ,no4 #ab4 ,this small bottle can hardly be called a forgery1 and is well described by ,wilkinson1 who says3 8,years ago some small bottles1 having upon them ,chinese inscriptions1 were found in some tombs4 ,these were held to establish a link between ,china and the ancient ,egyptians4 ,it is now known1 however1 that these bottles are of a comparatively recent period4 ,m4 ,prisse discovered1 by dint of questioning the ,arabs of ,cairo who were engaged in selling objects of antiquity1 that the bottles were never found in tombs1 and that the greater part of them came from ,tous1 ,keft1 and ,kosseir1 depts of commerce with ,india on the ,red ,sea4 ,the quality of these bottles is very inferior1 and they appear to have been made before the manufacture of porcelain had attained the same degree of perfection in ,china as in after times4 ,the interpretation of the inscriptions on some of these bottles has been given by ,medhurst1 and they are verses of poets who flourished in the seventh or eighth centuries ,a4,d40 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xi4 ,,blue ,,porcelain4 #a #i4 ,represent the ,goddess ,taurt4 #b4 ,jar with spout4 #c4 ,anubis figure4 #d4 ,boat with ram's head4 #e4 ,pectoral4 #f4 ,buckle of ,isis4 #g4 ,lotus cup4 #h4 ,ram-headed hawk4 ,the line engraving on page #ajh represents a jar made of serpentine4 ,it differs somewhat in shape from the originals1 and has been made in two parts and then stuck together4 ,the join is clearly shown in the illustration4 ,illustration3 ,jar made of serpentine ,two years ago ,i saw four granite bowls in a shop at ,luxor4 ,they were magnificent specimens1 large and beautifully made1 and seemed indeed objects to be coveted4 ,the price asked was #bej each1 or #ajjj for the four4 ,at first ,i looked at them with awe and admiration1 but on making a careful examination1 ,i found that they showed none of the small irregularities which are found on the old work1 and that their edges were too clean cut4 ,it seemed as if they must have been made1 buried1 and forgotten at once1 as there were no signs of wear upon them4 ,while handling them ,i felt sure that they were not genuine1 but the work of some very clever sculptor1 perhaps an ,italian1 for many of the latter were employed in working granite at the barrage at ,aswan1 and they are adepts in the art of working the harder stones4 ,last year ,i was again in ,luxor1 and1 possessing somewhat more knowledge of antiquities1 ,i called upon the dealer and asked to see the bowls again4 ,he had sold them1 but he told me1 in a deprecating manner1 clasping and unclasping his hands as though the luck had been too great and undeserved1 that he had been fortunate enough to get three more1 just like them4 ,these he produced1 and beautiful specimens indeed they were1 but without committing myself too definitely1 ,i should question very much their genuineness4 ,but this man will sell them1 as he sold the other four4 ,some one will buy them and take them to ,america or ,england1 or some other country1 and after a time they will1 perhaps1 find their way to a museum1 where there will be whispered consultations amongst the experts1 and queries as to the wisdom of looking a gift horse in the mouth4 ,or it may be that they will adorn a private collection1 in which case1 sooner or later1 some unfortunate ,egyptologist will be brought face to face with them1 and will have to make his escape the best way he can4 ,think of what it means to this man at ,luxor4 ,out of these seven bowls1 he may make1 allowing for the cost of producing them1 about #afjj profit4 ,he can buy about twelve acres of ground1 perhaps more1 for this sum4 ,if he farms it himself1 he may make as much as #cjj a year from this4 ,if he lets it out1 preferring to sit in idleness and play the part of a big man1 he will find his income increased by about #abj a year through this little transaction4 ,this means that he is a comparatively rich man4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xii4 ,,porcelain4 #a #b4 ,lotus bowl and cup4 #c4 ,winged scarab4 #d4 ,blue jug with a piece of mummy cloth in it4 #e4 ,false-necked bottle4 ,granite bowls offered for sale by vendors of antiquities are frequently made up of fragments4 ,perhaps1 when the bowl was discovered1 a third part of it may have been missing1 but a few bits were found from time to time1 and these were carefully preserved and put away4 ,on turning over heaps of debris1 more bits are found1 and when there are sufficient pieces the missing part of the bowl is made up of composition or wax1 and the fragments stuck in in such a way as to reproduce the characteristics of the stone4 ,then the whole is carefully rubbed with dirt1 and set to harden4 ,later on1 a tourist pays #aj or #bj for that which is in part a real antiquity1 but in part is only composition4 ,i remember seeing in a museum two bowls which had fallen to pieces since they had been placed in the case4 ,it was supposed that the influence of the air had caused them to crumble away1 but this was not so4 ,they had been made up with wax4 ,the museum authorities had bought them from a dealer1 and for years they had stood in the case4 ,then the wax gave way1 and they fell to pieces4 ,examination with a glass showed mould on the wax4 ,i have repeatedly been offered similar bowls1 and at first ,i found it difficult to tell which was the made-up part4 ,one way is to engage the seller's attention with something else1 and then scratch the suspected part with the finger nail1 or some other suitable instrument4 ,it is quite certain that the finger nail will not make an impression on granite1 so that1 if an indentation or a scratch appears1 you may be sure that the bowl is made up2 but if the material used to make up the bowl is scagliola1 it becomes more difficult to tell1 and you may require the aid of a powerful magnifying glass before the fraud can be detected4 ,illustration3 ,the ,goddess ,taurt ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xiii4 ,,blue ,,porcelain4 #a ,a winged scarab4 #b1 #c1 #d #e4 ,the four genii4 #f #h4 ,poppy heads4 #g4 ,sacred eyes4 #i4 ,chinese bottle4 #aj #ac4 ,pectorals4 #aa4 ,lotus vase4 #ad4 ,winged scarab4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,x ,,mummies ,,and ,,mummy ,,cases ,,it may be thought hardly possible that the makers of spurious antiquities could copy the mummies and their cases4 ,and yet there is no doubt that this has been done4 ,in the tale told by ,dr4 ,g4 ,a4 ,reisner in the next chapter1 he mentions that in a tomb which had been 8faked up10 there were coffins and other objects4 ,recently a gentleman became possessed with the idea of obtaining a mummy in its case4 ,he spoke of this openly1 and on several occasions was warned to be careful1 or he would be imposed upon4 ,people rarely thank one1 however1 for such advice1 preferring to believe the smiling1 plausible1 ready-tongued dragoman or dealer1 with whom they are in negotiation4 ,indeed1 sometimes advice given under these circumstances tends to bring about a certain coolness1 and the expert may have reason to regret1 by the loss of cordial relations1 that he had ever attempted to save his friend from an act of folly4 ,the gentleman in question desired to present to his native town a mummy in its case1 and1 though warned1 persisted in carrying on the negotiations4 ,eventually a handsome case1 containing what appeared to be a genuine mummy1 was submitted to him4 ,the price finally agreed upon was #bjj4 ,a little later1 an ,egyptologist saw the case1 and without hesitation pronounced it to be a forgery4 ,the man who sold me the wooden figures seen in ,plate ,,iii1 told me with great glee that he had made mummy cases from bits of old mummy cases and other wood4 ,one he sold to an ,american for #d1 and when1 later on1 this ,american showed it to the authorities of a museum1 he was at once offered #ab for it4 ,however1 he was so pleased with his bargain that he refused the offer4 ,plate ,,xiv shows a piece of new wood made up to represent a piece of genuine mummy case4 ,,mummy ,,cloth ,the mummy cloth of ancient times was made with the warp and woof of different thicknesses--the warp being thicker than the woof1 so that it would hang and fold better4 ,the piece of mummy cloth shown in ,plate ,,xv1 ,no4 #c is genuine1 but the painting on it has been done recently1 as one may be pretty sure from several signs4 ,the painting has been put on with a brush1 instead of having the design outlined with a reed and then painted4 ,the colour has run1 and shows beyond the edge of the design2 and the cloth1 being dirty1 shows signs of where the paint has wetted it4 ,it may belong to the twenty-second dynasty4 ,in ancient days the workmanship1 however bad or however hastily executed1 was always done according to fixed rules1 and each line had its meaning4 ,this year1 for the first time1 ,i have seen copies of the long beads for which ,egypt is so famous4 ,these are probably made in ,venice4 ,the colour is beautiful1 and mixed with the imitations are a few really old beads4 ,the material used is glass1 and can be easily broken between the fingers4 ,the mode of selling these spurious beads is to have them made up in a pattern1 and to have genuine beads made up with them4 ,they are manufactured in various colours1 but ladies especially admire the blue beads1 and the men sell six of the blue colour to one of the other4 ,i bought three lots1 made up as seen in the illustration1 ,plate ,,xv1 ,no4 #b4 ,two were genuine1 but the blue one was false4 ,the price ,i paid was #cs4 #f;d4 each1 and the seller looked at me ruefully1 and said1 8,you have got three pounds' worth of beads there40 ,in the case of the forged blue beads the colour is equal all the way round4 ,the old beads are made of a kind of composition2 they are thicker1 less regular1 and there is usually one part upon which the colour has failed to be equal--that is the side upon which the beads were laid when fired4 ,no4 #a shows some glass beads supposed to be ,roman1 but they were made recently in ,venice4 ,no4 #d is a string of imitation sacred cats with genuine old beads1 used as a necklace4 99 99 99 99 99 ,there is a beautiful story1 the humour of which would be spoilt by too searching an inquiry into its authenticity1 about what is jokingly called 8the predynastic mummy40 ,the tale opens about the time when the predynastic graves were found in ,nubia4 ,there was a great rush on the part of museums all over the world to acquire specimens4 ,it will probably be remembered that the bodies were placed in the graves lying upon one side1 the legs drawn up1 and one hand placed before the face4 ,they were unembalmed1 but the dryness of the climate had given the skin the appearance of light-coloured leather4 ,around the body were placed a number of jars and rough vessels4 ,as the demand increased1 prices rapidly rose4 ,the ,arabs vied with a ,coptic antiquity dealer in finding and selling the graves1 which were then taken whole to the museums4 ,after a time the supply ran short1 and the demand became urgent4 ,the natives were hard put to it1 but with their customary adaptability1 they rose to the occasion2 and it is said that they killed their business opponent1 the ,coptic dealer1 and buried his body in the approved position4 ,under the peculiar climatic conditions obtaining in ,nubia1 a body often dries before decomposition can take place1 so1 some time later on1 when a special request came from an important museum for a specimen of the predynastic burials1 they 8discovered0 the grave in which they had buried their opponent1 and sold the whole thing1 pots and all1 to the museum4 ,but they could not keep their good fortune to themselves1 and later on were heard in the village to boast that they had sold old ,aboutig for #dej4 ,the above story is almost too good to spoil1 but what really happened1 ,i believe1 was that1 when the supply of predynastic burials fell short1 the natives took a body from a neighbouring cemetery and arranged it in one of the predynastic graves which was minus a body1 and later sold the lot4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,xi ,a ,,forged ,,tomb ,i ,,am indebted to ,dr4 ,g4 ,a4 ,reisner for the following story and incidents1 and for others which are incorporated in the earlier chapters of this book4 8,it was in the summer of #aijb1 ,i think1 that a couple of young men from the west bank of the ,nile at ,thebes visited a dealer in antiquities whose shop is in ,luxor4 ,after general conversation1 coffee drinking1 and so forth1 they finally asked the proprietor if he wished to buy any antiquities4 8#8,certainly1' he said1 #8if they are genuine4' 8#8,will you believe they are genuine if you see them in position in the tomb in which they were found8' they asked4 8#8,yes1' he replied4 #8,have you got a tomb8' 8,they said they had1 and made arrangements to take him to it at midnight1 two or three nights later4 8,when the night and the hour came1 they met at the appointed place and proceeded towards the tomb4 ,on the road there was a fierce whispered alarm that the guards were coming1 and the party scattered in all directions4 ,the next night a second appointment was made1 and this time the party reached the entrance to the tomb4 ,the doorway was blocked up1 except for a small hole1 and sealed with what seemed to be ancient mud-plaster4 ,they tore down this block and entered the tomb1 a large rock-cut chamber1 literally filled with antiquities--stel1 ushebti1 coffins1 vases1 and other objects1 apparently covered with the dust of ages4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xiv4 ,a ,,piece ,,of ,,mummy ,,case4 ,this is new wood made up to represent a part of a genuine mummy case4 8,the party then adjourned to ,luxor to discuss the price4 ,the dealer finally bought the lot for something like #fjj1 and was obliged to raise a mortgage on some property in order to get the money4 ,after great difficulties in avoiding the guards1 the objects were finally transferred from the tomb to the dealer's house in ,luxor4 ,the summer passed in pleasant dreams of winter profits1 and finally the first ,museum buyer arrived on the scene4 ,the dealer selected a stone from the purchased lot1 and carried it round to the house of a friend where the ,egyptologist happened to be engaged in negotiations for the purchase of some antiquities4 ,the dealer called his friend to the door1 and asked him to show the stel to the buyer4 ,his friend smiled and said1 #8,it is a forgery4' 8,the dealer laughed in derision1 and insisted on the stone being shown to the expert1 who took one look at it and said1 #8,rank forgery4' 8,the dealer1 who had found this in what seemed to be an untouched tomb1 now became thoroughly alarmed4 ,at his request1 his friend and the ,egyptologist went to his house to inspect all the objects from the tomb4 ,they were all forgeries1 and the dealer had been swindled out of his #fjj by a cleverly-planned trick of the west bank forgers40 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,egyptians who are engaged in the making of spurious antiquities are now specialising4 ,one man in ,luxor has perfected the manufacture of glazed or faience vessels4 ,another at ,qeneh has developed the cutting and inscription of stone scarabs4 ,at ,aboutig a forger makes woodwork and carved ivories1 and somewhere in ,egypt they are making stone vessels of all periods1 apparently on a steam lathe1 but copying the ancient forms with great success4 ,a dealer in ,cairo once showed me an enormous head of ,amenemhat ,,iii41 which he said was offered to him as coming from ,tanis4 ,this must have been the work of ,european stone-masons4 ,it was cut from a single large boulder of sandstone1 an exact copy of the existing portraits of that king1 but the cutting had been done with modern stone-masons' tools1 the marks of which were plainly visible1 even without a glass4 8,on another occasion10 ,dr4 ,reisner tells us1 8,i was once looking through the stock of a dealer1 now dead4 ,suddenly ,i caught sight in the back of a drawer of what appeared to be a ,babylonian object4 ,the dealer1 who happened to know that ,i have some knowledge of ,babylonian antiquities1 was very reluctant to show me the object1 protesting openly that it was a forgery4 ,i persuaded him1 however1 and he produced a dozen or more very beautifully made ,babylonian sculptures1 but all perfectly impossible4 ,he said that he received them from a ,persian1 an agent who came through ,cairo every year1 and left him a certain number of pieces to sell on commission4 ,i tried to buy one of these pieces1 offering even as high as #e for it1 against the #dj he demanded1 but he refused4 ,when ,i came back in the spring1 he told me with a grin that he had sold them all at his own price to various travellers4 8,i afterwards learned the forger's name1 and that he lived in ,baghdad1 from an excavator who had been working in ,mesopotamia4 ,this man also forged cuneiform tablets1 and ,i have seen examples of his work in other shops in ,cairo besides the one ,i have mentioned4 ,he first began his forgery of the cuneiform tablets by making moulds of the two sides1 pressing clay into the moulds and sticking the two halves together before baking4 ,these forgeries were always discernible by the shallowness of the little wedges of which the writing is composed4 ,this seems to have been pointed out to him1 for after a time he began going over these tablets with a pointed stick before baking1 and thus deepening the wedges4 ,finally1 with the practice thus gained1 he even went so far as to copy tablets freehand2 and ,i know of at least one large tablet in a ,european museum which he made freehand without any tablet to copy from4 ,it has all the appearance of one of the great tablets from the temple at ,telloh1 but the writing has no meaning40 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,xii ,,the ,,makers ,,and ,,sellers ,,of ,,forged ,,antiquities ,,as ,i have already said1 the majority of the makers of forged antiquities are to be found among the very adaptable 8up-river men40 ,at ,qus lives the maker of gold reproductions4 ,most of the wooden forgeries come from ,gurna and the scarabs from ,luxor4 ,in the villages near to ,deir-el-,bahari are made the porcelain vases and figures1 whence come also the stone heads and statuettes4 ,a number of composition figures are made in the ,delta1 and may be met with at ,zagazig and ,benha4 ,a few years ago the forgers used to make and sell their own work1 but now that they are becoming rich and rising in the social scale they are content to leave the selling part of the business to others and themselves stay at home to carry on the making of further imitations4 ,in appearance they are tall1 broad-shouldered men with keen1 clever faces and long soft fingers1 direct descendants of the ancient ,egyptians1 with very dark skins1 thin lips and persuasive manners4 ,one member of the family usually leaves his village in the month of ,october1 and with his bundles of carefully wrapped up reproductions drifts lazily down the ,nile on a trading boat4 ,arrived at ,cairo1 he takes up his quarters with a friend1 and the next day may be seen in one of the principal streets with his hands full of strings of beads and his pockets bulging with some of the results of the summer's work4 ,dressed in a dark blue galabeyah1 with a white turban and red slippers1 he makes an imposing figure4 ,he has a smattering of various languages1 in which 8,real antcas1 gentleman10 looms large4 ,also he has an intimate knowledge of the various coinages and generally manages to come out on the right side in making a deal--at least1 ,i never heard of one who owned to the contrary4 ,he possesses largely the gift of perseverance and is like a sleuth-hound in tracking down a possible purchaser4 ,in this he is assisted by the bowabs and servants1 many of whom are his own blood-relations or friends4 ,it must be remembered that most of the servants in ,egypt are ,berberines1 from ,nubia1 and as the cultivable land up the ,nile is in places reduced to a few hundred yards1 and travelling by boat is cheap1 it will be seen that the men can easily get to know each other well even though miles of the ,nile waterway may separate the villages4 ,but the 8up-river man0 is not the only itinerant seller of antiquities4 ,a donkey boy may have found out that he can make more money by selling antcas to his patrons than he can by running after his donkey1 even though the bakshsh be included2 so he ponders over this until it becomes an obsession and fills his thoughts day and night4 ,no longer will he remain a donkey boy1 he determines2 he has a good arbeyah or cloak and decent slippers1 and a long black cloak will hide a multitude of unwashedness4 ,visions of untold wealth spread themselves out before him4 ,a man he has heard of got #ab1jjj for a papyrus1 and #dj for a gold-mounted scarab is an ordinary price4 ,by a merciful dispensation1 ,allah has given the ,nazarenes into the hands of the ,faithful4 ,so he chooses riches2 for1 after all1 money means strength and honour in his village1 and perhaps--who knows8--one or more wives who will be beautiful as the houris of ,paradise of whom he heard the ,mullah discourse in the mosque only the last ,friday4 ,the prospect is dazzling and fills the boy's brain4 ,rich and powerful1 men will look up to him with respect1 he will possess feddans of land and children will rise up around him4 ,he clasps his hands and looks at a donkey distastefully4 ,did he ever run miles across the desert behind such uncleanliness8 ,why1 even ,allah had named it 8ass10 which means1 as he has been told1 8a fool0 in the language of those who buy antcas4 ,why had he slumbered and why had his eyes been shut in the past8 ,here was wealth1 only waiting for him to seize it4 ,it was not too late2 he would force fortune to come to him4 ,so thinking1 the boy sat gazing with unseeing eyes at the scene before him4 ,girls passed and giggled4 8,he hath seen an ,afrit10 said one4 8,nay1 a woman hath cast her eyes on him10 said another4 ,he heard and frowned1 then bending forward1 took up a stone and threw it at a passing dog4 ,the yelp of pain brought him back from the dream world4 ,his resolve was taken2 he would become an antca-seller and1 8,inshallah10 might perhaps reap fortune at one swoop4 ,so the plunge is taken1 the summer is spent in gathering together his materials and arranging to sell for others on commission2 and the following season the erstwhile donkey boy1 his pockets bulging with small tin boxes containing his wares1 haunts the neighbourhood of the hotels where live the buyers of antiquities4 ,genuine antiquities are few and not to be had without considerable outlay1 so in the boxes mixed with the real fragments lie the imitations4 ,it was just such a boy as this who came to my notice some years ago1 and one day ,i saw him arrested by the police and conveyed to the ,caracol 7police station74 ,upon making inquiries ,i was informed that he had been taken up for annoying people by pestering them to buy scarabs4 ,later in the day ,i saw him leaning disconsolately against a wall outside the ,caracol4 8,well1 how much have you to pay80 ,i asked4 8,fifteen piastres0 7about three shillings71 was his reply4 8,or0--and he shrugged his shoulders--8or ,i stay three days in prison40 8,have you paid the money80 8,no40 8,why not80 8,i have none40 ,now this was untrue1 for1 otherwise1 how could he give change to purchasers8--and these boys will rarely risk losing a sale for the want of change4 ,this ,i pointed out to him1 and spoke of the shame1 but he shook his head obstinately4 ,prison has no taint for these men1 it is merely an incident in the day's work4 ,on the following morning1 when he was to surrender1 ,i saw him again1 his pockets no longer bulging1 his clothes clean washed1 his cloak brushed1 and wearing his new red slippers4 ,he was going to prison4 ,calling him to me1 ,i handed over the amount of the fine1 saying1 8,go and pay it at once and get to work again40 ,the boy looked sullenly at the three shillings2 it was a lot of money to give to the prison authorities1 and that was not the way to get rich4 ,then he saluted and walked away4 ,after three days he returned and asked to see me4 ,solemnly he produced a piece of dirty rag1 untied it1 and handed me back the three shillings4 8,what is this80 ,i asked4 ,the boy grinned4 8,well you see1 sir1 when ,i got to the prison1 the officer who takes the money had gone away4 ,i waited there for one day1 and then he came back4 ,when ,i pay the money ,i give him two shillings1 but he look at a paper and say #8,three4' ,i say #8,no2 three shillings or three days in prison4 ,you were away when ,i come4 ,i stop here one day1 and here are two shillings4' ,he say1 #8,no1 three4' ,then ,i wrap up the money and stay two more days in prison2 after that ,i come out1 and here is your money40 ,obviously there was only one thing to be done1 and he departed with a broad smile and the conviction that he had done a good day's work4 ,one cannot help feeling that such a boy ought to succeed4 ,on another occasion ,i saw the same youth strolling about his village when ,i knew that he should have been in prison for a contravention of the law4 ,calling him1 ,i inquired how this came about4 8,i have business in my village10 he said1 8so my brother he come to the prison and take my place4 ,i give the policeman one shilling1 ,i come out to do my business1 then go back again40 ,let me say that this took place years ago1 and ,i do not think he would get out of prison so easily now2 but even quite recently ,i heard of a sale of antiquities running into hundreds of pounds1 one of the parties to the transaction being in prison at the time4 99 99 99 99 99 ,then there are the more prosperous sellers with their feet firmly set in the path to fortune1 who combine the selling of forged antiquities with dealings in the real articles4 ,sometimes a dragoman varies his legitimate business by bringing before the notice of his party antiquities which he declares are genuine1 or introduces a seller1 who at the conclusion of the bargain hands over to the dragoman a fair percentage of the spoils4 ,his part in the transaction may be limited to the introduction of the seller and the assurance that 8,this man very good man1 dig in the tombs1 lady4 ,don't be afraid1 he very honest40 ,lastly there is the polished seller1 tired of mien1 suave of manner and high in price1 producing only upon pressure his store of treasures4 ,apparently casual about selling anything1 he is probably the most dangerous1 for if no business is done1 one leaves him feeling very mean1 and conscious of having committed an offence in doubting the authenticity of the articles shown by him4 ,nor does the silence of your guide on the way home tend to relieve the feeling of oppression and smallness1 until perhaps by some good fortune one meets a man who knows2 then the feeling changes to one of relief at the escape and wrathfulness at the attempt that has been made to swindle you4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,egyptologists ,,it would not1 perhaps1 be out of place to make some special reference to the men who are doing so much to throw light upon the thoughts and lives of the old ,egyptians2 but here is need to tread as warily as may be1 for these are a race apart4 ,charming companions they are1 delightful hosts1 brilliant guests1 generous and painstaking to a degree when once you have presented your card and asked to be shown around4 ,so clever are they that after a time one learns wisdom1 and refrains from advancing theories in their presence as to how the old ,egyptians cut and worked their diorite1 granite1 and other hard stones3 what lights they used when making and painting the tombs in the ,valley of the ,kings3 or what system of mechanics they employed in raising blocks of stone weighing many tons to the tops of the ,pyramids1 #dhj feet up3 if it was an inclined plane1 cradles1 or levers1 or what it was8 ,these men have seen many workmen hard put to it to pull a small granite statue weighing three or four tons up an inclined plane of less than #de degrees4 ,and yet what wonderful patience and courtesy most of these experts show to well-meaning but ignorant questioners1 even when they are perhaps burning to be free to turn back more pages of hidden history4 ,there is something about them which seems strange to new-comers4 ,perhaps1 indeed probably1 it is the inhalation and absorption of the desiccated and pulverised remains of the ancient ,egyptians which influences them4 ,every one knows that the dust from tombs produces irritation of the air passages1 and possibly this also accounts for the divergence of opinion among them2 for never yet have ,i known two ,egyptologists agree absolutely upon a given subject4 ,i have heard a story that two savants read an inscription1 the one beginning from right to left1 and the other from left to right1 and both made sense of it4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xv4 ,,beads ,,and ,,mummy ,,cloth4 #a4 ,forged ,roman beads4 #b4 ,egyptian blue beads4 #c4 ,genuine mummy cloth recently painted4 #d4 ,sacred cats1 with genuine mummy beads4 ,i was somewhat surprised recently by the remarks of a learned friend to me4 8,you are getting more and more like an ,egyptian4 ,i notice the change every time ,i see you10 he said4 ,it may be so1 although the idea is startling4 ,we know that ,continents produce types1 of which fact a good example is ,america4 ,then add to this the daily dose of ancient ,egyptian remains1 and the mystery is one no longer1 but the effect becomes possible if not probable4 ,among the savants some of the old characteristics reappear to-day4 ,listen to the speech of ,amenemhat to his son1 ,sesostris1 during the twelfth dynasty4 8,hearken to that which ,i say to thee1 ,that thou mayest be ,king of the earth1 ,that thou mayest be ruler of the lands1 ,that thou mayest increase good4 ,harden thyself against all subordinates2 ,the people give heed to him who terrorises them2 ,approach them not alone4 ,fill not thy heart with a brother2 ,know not a friend1 ,nor make for thyself intimates1 ,wherein there is no end4 ,when thou sleepest1 guard for thyself thine own heart1 ,for a man has no people ,in the day of evil4 ,i gave to the beggar2 ,i nourished the orphan2 ,i admitted the insignificant1 ,as well as him who was of great account4 ,but he who ate my food made insurrection2 ,he to whom ,i gave my hand aroused fear therein40 7,breasted47 ,the spirit of these sayings creeps into the work1 and excavators may be trusted to keep their own counsel4 ,they will take immense trouble and pains in their explanations1 and endeavour to render into popular language the hieroglyphics1 and the meanings of the dead past2 but let the ignorant only intrude upon a piece of their sacred earth1 and 8ice is not in it with them40 ,once1 while going through some excavations1 a friend pointed out a small blue bead lying on the top of one of the low mud walls which separate tomb from tomb4 8,shall ,i steal it80 he asked4 ,knowing the ways of excavators1 ,i whispered a warning1 8,better not40 ,a few steps further on the excavator turned round and explained pointedly1 8,every article found in the diggings is taken note of2 even a small bead0 7here he paused1 and we felt uncomfortable7 8is placed on the top of the wall near where it was found1 and is catalogued in its turn40 ,after this little admonition upon righteousness1 we walked thoughtfully along1 and my friend edged up to me4 8,good job ,i did not steal it10 he whispered4 8,i am perfectly certain he0 7indicating the excavator7 8did not hear what ,i said to you1 unless he has ears as well as eyes in the back of his head40 ,excavators are1 as a rule1 extremely good judges of humanity4 ,they know that an ancient predatory instinct is present in most people of the ,anglo-,saxon race1 and who knows how many short lectures on honesty that one small blue bead gave rise to4 ,but even excavators1 or perhaps it is more correct to say some of them1 have their failings4 ,they are apt to look down from an immense height upon an amateur digger as something too ignorant for words2 and a pained look comes over their faces when you mention the work done by ,so-and-so1 and the conclusions to which he has come4 8,what is the country coming to80 their expression seems to say4 ,but the excavators have their trials too4 ,sometimes a digger has been working for weeks at some deep burial pit4 ,suppose now that 8something0 has been found4 ,perhaps a door is about to be opened4 ,at the critical moment1 some tourists appear on the scene4 ,the unearthing or opening must stop1 for who knows what may be found1 and the greatest care must be taken to get full notes and photographic records1 that nothing may be lost4 ,the afternoon passes1 and night begins to come on4 ,it is too late now to open the find1 it must wait1 strongly guarded from thieves1 till to-morrow2 and the excavator passes an uneasy night1 pondering and wondering what he will find1 and saying evil things about those who hindered him in his work4 ,i have been in the habit of showing my forged antiquities to ,egyptologists1 not bumptiously1 but humbly1 and with a due knowledge of my own colossal ignorance4 ,the specimen would be passed across the table in silence1 accompanied by a magnifying glass4 ,the expert would frown heavily1 but the specimen and the glass would1 in the end1 prove irresistible4 ,as ,i produced scarabs made more perfect1 a certain uneasiness would be shown1 and the question asked me1 8,is this genuine or not80 ,to this ,i would never reply otherwise than to say1 8,i should be glad to have your opinion on the matter40 ,a very careful examination of the specimen would follow1 and the reasons for considering it to be a forgery would be explained in terse plain language4 ,there is a certain disadvantage in collecting spurious antiquities and getting expressions of opinion upon them2 for after a time your association with these forgeries causes an inclination in the expert to condemn off-hand any specimen you may submit to him4 ,to meet this occasionally ,i would hand over a genuine scarab1 which would be detected1 and inquiry made as to 8what ,i was up to now1 or whether ,i had really bought this as a fraudulent antiquity80 ,occasionally remarks would be pointed1 and expressed in the bluff way which 8hides a heart of gold40 ,this ,i always accepted humbly1 conscious of my own inferiority4 ,these experts were goodness itself1 and would spend hours over a close examination of a specimen submitted to them4 ,on one occasion1 when showing the figure seen on page #ed1 the excavator demanded 8where on earth0 ,i had obtained it8 ,filled with the spirit of mischief1 ,i refused to answer1 but dropped vague hints about black granite statues1 life size2 at which he turned round1 saying crossly1 8,really1 ,i believe you are in league with every disreputable person in the country40 ,modestly ,i disclaimed this1 and pointed out that ,i was actuated simply and solely by a zeal for science4 ,i asked him if he would be kind enough to read the inscription upon the tablet before him4 ,this he was unable to do himself1 but he made a copy which he took away for a friend to read4 ,day after day went past1 and the translation did not arrive4 ,after about a week or ten days1 ,i reminded him1 but for some reason or other1 the translation was not forthcoming4 ,weeks after1 ,i learnt that my friend had been afraid to hand the inscription to the man whom he knew could read it1 lest it should be a further trick on my part1 and should contain nothing more than a message of thanks from a grateful patient4 ,on another occasion ,i made an experiment as to whether my association with modern forged antiquities would be sufficient to bias an expert in expressing his opinion as to the genuineness of articles of known antiquity submitted to him4 ,i obtained four specimens 7see ,plate ,,xvi71 of undoubted antiquity1 although even these are examples made in or for ,nubia about #cejj years ago of ,egyptian ,funerary objects of ,new ,empire period 7reign of ,thothmes ,,iii74 ,the largest scarab is of very poor workmanship4 ,the head1 which took the unusual form of a sphinx1 was badly made and proportioned1 and was turned slightly to one side4 ,the workmanship of the smaller scarab was also poor4 ,the sacred eye was well made1 of a beautiful blue1 and looked as if it had only just left the workshop4 ,the monkey was one of the most startling things ,i have ever seen found in an excavation in ,egypt4 ,the glaze was modern and the whole thing looked as if it had recently come out of a cheap bazaar4 ,but there can be no question about the authenticity of these things1 for they were found and taken out of the graves by the archologists of the ,nubian ,survey4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xvi4 ,,examples ,,found ,,in ,,nubia4 #a4 #f4 ,a steatite monkey made #c1ejj years ago4 #b4 ,cheap ornament made five years ago4 #c4 ,sacred eye of beautiful colour4 #d4 #e4 ,scarabs4 ,on the mantelpiece of a house in ,egypt stood a cheap ornament4 ,this appears in ,no4 #b1 side by side with the monkey found in ,nubia4 ,the ancient specimen is much the better work1 but the likeness between the two is so strong as to be absolutely bewildering4 ,when the ancient monkey vase was first found it was shown to an eminent ,egyptologist1 not in the ordinary way as a valuable antiquity1 but a few matches were placed in it 7see ,no4 #f71 and it was put quietly upon the table in front of him in the evening when the party were smoking4 ,however1 he was not to be taken in1 but at once recognised it as a valuable antca4 ,entering casually into conversation with my friend1 ,i led up to the subject of antiquities4 ,he was expressing his views freely1 and ,i waited patiently4 ,during a pause ,i slipped my hand into my pocket1 brought out one of the specimens and pushed it across the table towards him4 ,a scornful smile came over his face4 8,one of your forgeries1 ,i suppose10 he remarked4 ,i said1 8,i should like to have your opinion on the object40 ,he examined it carefully1 and then laid it down4 ,i passed another across to him1 and then the remaining two4 ,one by one he discarded them1 giving it as his opinion that the large scarab was a forgery for the following very sound reasons1 bearing in mind the excellence of the old ,egyptians' work4 ,the inscription1 he said1 was not very well done3 the two holes on the side were not usual in heart scarabs3 the head was badly made and turned to one side2 the work on the feet was clumsy4 ,the small scarab he classed as imitation for the following reasons4 ,the two antelopes are supposed to be alike1 but one is larger than the other1 and has a larger neck and ears4 ,the branches of a tree over the back of the antelopes were irregular in size1 one being small and one large4 ,a round eye appears on the under surface of the scarab1 which should have had a duplicate on the opposite side4 ,the back and head1 he decided1 were very good4 ,the monkey1 which was shown to him with a few matches placed in the receptacle before it1 was declared to be a shameless fraud1 and he wondered that ,i should take up my time in collecting such obvious imitations4 ,when he was shown the photograph which had been taken of a common vase from the mantelpiece of a house1 and compared it with the specimen he was examining1 he sarcastically inquired if ,i bought all my antiquities in a cheap ,jack's booth at home4 ,meekly ,i produced the sacred eye1 which he would scarcely deign to look at1 contemptuously pushing it aside on account of a small white mark in the blue4 8,have you got any more80 he inquired4 ,modestly ,i said that ,i had not1 when1 with some muttered remarks about the strangeness of the pursuits taken up by people with more time on their hands than sense1 he strode away4 ,there had gathered round us a little silent group of listeners who seemed rather to sympathise with me1 although1 of course1 thinking that ,i had brought all this upon myself4 ,presently one of these bystanders said3 8,does not a monkey appear in ,plate #gb1 ,vol4 ,i41 of the #8,archological ,survey of ,nubia8'0 ,there was a dead silence1 and many inquiring eyes were turned upon me4 ,i said1 8,that is so40 ,then another man said1 8,it is described as a steatite monkey holding a kohl pot1 for ,i remember reading it with great interest4 ,and the sacred eye is shown in ,plate #gi1 ,vol4 ,i40 ,now the interest became intense1 and smiles began to appear on the faces of the bystanders4 ,it was all true4 ,the small scarab is shown in the second volume1 and the large scarab is illustrated in the second report of the 8,archological ,survey of ,nubia40 ,it was1 perhaps1 an unkind experiment to make1 but yet it was necessary to know whether one's association with admitted forgeries were sufficient to bias the mind of a clever man in giving his opinion on specimens submitted to him4 ,ten years ago1 when discussing with an eminent excavator the excellence of the fourth dynasty work1 ,i said3 8,here we have the climax1 so to speak1 of ,egyptian culture--the period of the ,great ,pyramid of ,cheops1 which is so marvellous for the mathematical exactitude with which it is built4 ,but where are the evidences of the evolution which preceded this period1 the time when they were trying their dawning ideas8 ,no architect would have dared offer to build ,cheops a pyramid1 the base of which should be thirteen acres in extent and #dhj feet in height1 were he not absolutely certain of his ability to overcome those mathematical and mechanical difficulties which would be met with in lifting heavy blocks of stone #dhj feet4 ,and then the sides face due ,north and ,south1 ,east and ,west4 ,where is the period of evolution which preceded this excellence80 ,the excavator's reply was startling4 8,i do not believe that there was one10 he said4 8,the demand was made and met3 the same would be the case to-day if a similar need arose40 ,perhaps this explains why ,egyptians1 without preliminary tuition in sculpture or painting1 are copying the old work in such a way that only the most experienced are able to tell the real from the false4 ,most excavators1 however1 have a sense of intuition which tells them if a thing is false or not4 ,not that they depend in any way upon this1 for they weigh up the evidence in a strictly scientific manner1 and give their decision backed up by reasons which are difficult to dispute4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,references ,,maspero1 8,new ,light on ,ancient ,egypt40 ,,breasted1 8,history of ,egypt40 ,,wilkinson1 8,ancient ,egypt40 ,,weigall1 8,treasury of ,egypt40 ,,brodrick and ,,morton1 8,a ,concise ,dictionary of ,egyptian ,archology40 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,index ,alabaster1 attempt to reproduce the features of ,mykerinos in1 #ih forgeries made on a lathe1 #ie head in1 #if irregularities in old pots1 #if jars1 #ie pots1 #if ,amulets1 #gh ,ancient pigments1 #ib ,answerers1 #ce ,antiquities1 laws regarding1 #f licence necessary for excavating and selling1 #g forged1 makers and sellers of1 #abe ,beads made of glass1 #aaf ,roman1 #aaf ,bes1 #da ,blue1 old ,egyptian1 #fa ,blue bowl1 #bg ,bone figures1 #ec ,bronze statue from ,khargeh1 #fe ,canopic jar1 #ajb ,chinese bottles1 #ajf ,co-operation of sellers1 #fh ,cuneiform tablets1 #abc ,earthenware blue bowl1 #bg ,egyptologists1 #ace ,fourth ,dynasty work1 excellence of1 #adh ,frauds on buyers seldom made public1 #i ,funerary chamber1 model of1 #cg figures1 #ce1 #da1 #db ,glazing1 methods of1 #ajc ,goddess ,taurt1 #aja1 #aab ,gold bracelets1 #bj1 #bc bottles1 detection of fraudulent1 #bd necklace from ,algiers1 #bb of genuine carnelian beads and spurious bottles1 #bb ornaments1 #aa price paid for1 #ab relics1 fraud discovered by date on coins1 #ag ring1 spurious1 #bc scarab1 #ba worker in1 #be ,granite bowls1 fraudulent1 #ajh price paid for1 #ajh way of making1 #aaj ,hawk's head1 #ajb ,horus hawk1 #dj sons of1 #ec1 #aje ,ibis1 model of1 #ajf ,imitations1 excellence of1 #aj ,iridescent glass1 #cb ,jewish collector and the ,arab1 story of1 #ee ,lapis ,lazuli imitations1 #bg1 #bi1 #ca1 #cb ,figure1 ,plate ,x1 ,no4 #d ,laws regarding antiquities1 #f ,licence necessary to excavate antiquities1 #g ,makers and sellers of forged antiquities1 #abe ,mummy and mummy cases1 #aad ,mummy1 story of 8predynastic10 #aag cloth1 #aae figures1 #da ,nubia1 examples of ,egyptian objects found in1 #adc ,nubian figure1 #db ,opinion as to genuineness of scarabs not given by ,cairo ,museum ,authorities1 #fg method of obtaining expert1 #d ,pigments1 ancient1 #ib ,porcelain1 #ii bottle1 #ajj bowl1 #aja examples of blue1 #aja1 #ajb figures known as forgeries1 #ajb jug1 with a piece of mummy cloth in the mouth1 #aje lotus cup and bowl1 #ajd paper-weights1 #ed price of forgeries1 #ajc sacred eyes1 #ajf winged scarab1 #ajd ,prussian blue1 use of1 #da ,reeds used as brushes1 #dd ,scagliola1 use of1 introduced1 #ea ,scarab1 the ,abou ,roash1 #ha bearing story of ,khaf-ra1 #gc the story of the circumnavigation of ,africa1 #gj ,weigall's story of a1 #hb winged1 and the four ,genii1 #id ,scarabs1 #fi1 #hd exported to the ,soudan1 #hc made in ,europe1 #hj maker of spurious1 #gf recutting1 #gf remoulding1 #ge ,sculpture1 ancient1 produced in conformity with a canon1 #dh ,seals1 #ia ,serpentine1 jar made in1 #ajh statue in1 #dh ,slate1 crocodile in1 #ed ,speech of ,amenemhat1 #acg ,statues of ,isis and ,horus1 #fb1 #fe ,steatite bottle1 #dg ,stone figures1 #de price of1 #ej forgeries1 maker of1 #ea heads1 #df imitation of1 #dg-di kneeling figure and tablet1 #ed1 #ee statue1 bronze1 from ,khargeh1 #fe ,tale of ,jewish collector and an ,arab1 #ee of spurious gold articles found in the ,delta1 #ab of two ,arabs1 #eg of the 8predynastic mummy10 #aag of the ,scarab of ,khaf-ra1 #gc ,taurt1 ,goddess1 #aja1 #aab ,tomb1 a forged1 #aai 8,triple divorce40 ,talak-bi-,talata1 #ad1 #ai ,ushebti figures1 #ce1 #dg composition of1 #dg1 #di ,woman1 figure of a1 #dh ,wood1 figures in1 #ce forgeries in1 ways of detecting1 #cf-dj makers of1 #dc ,wooden figure of ,anubis1 #cg jars1 #ajj model of dove1 #dd model of plough1 #db mummy figures1 #d paint boxes1 #dc ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,ballantyne ,,company ,,ltd4 ,,tavistock ,,street ,,covent ,,garden ,,london ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,missing or obscured punctuation was corrected4 ,typographical errors were silently corrected4 ,inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book4 ,text in italics is enclosed by underscores 7italics74