white skin, blue
eyes, and yellow hair. The draperies about the figures were painted in
pleasing colors, and were sometimes transparent, so that the figures could
be seen through them.

The execution of Egyptian paintings was very mechanical. One set of
workmen prepared the plaster on the wall for the reception of the colors;
another set drew all the outlines in red; then, if chiselling was to be
done, another class performed this labor; and, finally, still others put
on the colors. Of course nothing could be more matter-of-fact than such
painting as this, and under such rules an artist of the most lofty genius
and imagination would find it impossible to express his conceptions in his
work. We know all this because some of these pictures exist in an
unfinished condition, and are left in the various stages of execution;
then, too, there are other pictures of the painters at their work, and all
these different processes are shown in them. The outline drawing is the
best part of Egyptian painting, and this is frequently very cleverly done.

As I have intimated, the greatest value of Egyptian painting is that it
gives us a clear record of the habits and customs of a very ancient
people--of a civilization which has long since passed away, and of which
we should have a comparatively vague and unsatisfactory notion but for
this picture-history of it. The religion, the political history, and the
domestic life of the ancient Egyptians are all placed before us in these
paintings. Through a study of them we know just how they hunted and
fished, gathered their fruits, tilled the soil, and cooked the food,
played games, danced, and practised gymnastics, conducted their scenes of
festivity and mourning--in short, how they lived under all circumstances.
Thus you see that Egyptian painting is a very important example of the way
in which pictures can teach us; you will also notice that it is not even
necessary that they should be pretty in order that we may learn from
them.

Another use made of Egyptian painting was the illustration of the papyrus
rolls upon which historical and other documents were written. These rolls,
found in the tombs, are now placed in museums and collections of curious
things; the paintings upon them may be called the oldest book
illustrations in the world. Sometimes a single color is used, such as red
or black; but others are in a variety of colors which have been put on
with a brush. Indeed, some rolls exist