e subjects
after their own manner, grouping them afresh and blending them with
new designs. The intrinsic value of the metal upon which these artistic
conceptions had been impressed led to their destruction, and among the
examples which have come down to us I know of no object which can be
traced to the period of the Egyptian conquest. It was Theban art for
the most part which furnished the Phoenicians with their designs. These
included the lotus, the papyrus, the cow standing in a thicket and
suckling her calf, the sacred bark, and the king threatening with his
uplifted arm the crowd of conquered foes who lie prostrate before him.

[Illustration: 117.jpg EGYPTIAN TREATMENT OF THE COW ON A PHOENICIAN
BOWL]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, after Grifi.

The king's double often accompanied him on some of the original objects,
impassive and armed with the banner bearing the name of Horus. The
Phoenician artist modified this figure, which in its original form
did not satisfy his ideas of human nature, by transforming it into
a protective genius, who looks with approval on the exploits of his
_protege_, and gathers together the corpses of those he has slain. Once
these designs had become current among the goldsmiths, they continued to
be supplied for a long period, without much modification, to the markets
of the Eastern and Western worlds. Indeed, it was natural that they
should have taken a stereotyped form, when we consider that the
Phoenicians who employed them held continuous commercial relations
with the country whence they had come--a country of which, too, they
recognised the supremacy. Egypt in the Ramesside period was, as we
have seen, distinguished for the highest development of every branch of
industry; it had also a population which imported and exported more raw
material and more manufactured products than any other.

[Illustration: 118.jpg THE KING AND HIS DOUBLE ON A PHOENICIAN BOWL]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch by Longperier.

The small nation which acted as a commercial intermediary between Egypt
and the rest of the world had in this traffic a steady source of profit,
and even in providing Egypt with a single article--for example, bronze,
or the tin necessary for its preparation--could realise enormous
profits. The people of Tyre and Sidon had been very careful not to
alienate the good will of such rich customers, and as long as the
representatives of the Pharaoh held sway in Syria, they h