ere isolated as
much as possible, so that each man's profile might not cover that of his
neighbour. When this was not done, they were arranged to overlap each
other, and this, despite the fact that all stood on the one level; so that
they have actually but two dimensions and no thickness. A herdsman walking
in the midst of his oxen plants his feet upon precisely the same ground-
line as the beast which interposes between his body and the spectator. The
most distant soldier of a company which advances in good marching order to
the sound of the trumpet, has his head and feet on exactly the same level;
as the head and feet of the foremost among his comrades (fig. 169). When a
squadron of chariots defiles before Pharaoh, one would declare that their
wheels all ran in the self-same ruts, were it not that the body of the
first chariot partly hides the horse by which the second chariot is drawn
(fig. 170). In these examples the people and objects are, either
accidentally or naturally, placed so near together, that the anomaly does
not strike one as too glaring. In taking these liberties, the Egyptian
artist but anticipated a contrivance adopted by the Greek sculptor of a
later age. Elsewhere, the Egyptian has occasionally approached nearer to
truth of treatment. The archers of Rameses III. at Medinet Habu make an
effort, which is almost successful, to present themselves in perspective.
The row of helmets slopes downwards, and the row of bows slopes upwards,
with praiseworthy regularity; but the men's feet are all on the same level,
and do not, therefore, follow the direction of the other lines (fig. 171).
This mode of representation is not uncommon during the Theban period. It
was generally adopted when men or animals, ranged in line, had to be shown
in the act of doing the same thing; but it was subject to the grave
drawback (or what was in Egyptian eyes the grave drawback) of showing the
body of the first man only, and of almost entirely hiding the rest of the
figures. When, therefore, it was found impossible to range all upon the
same level without hiding some of their number, the artist frequently broke
his masses up into groups, and placed one above the other on the same
vertical plane. Their height in no wise depends on the place they occupy in
the perspective of the tableau, but only upon the number of rows required
by the artist to carry out his idea. If two rows of figures are sufficient,
he divides his space horizontall