Of this remarkable tower not a vestige remains, and history gives us no further information than we have here: of its gradual decay or of its violent destruction we have no record; but that such a structure as described stood there, there can be not a shadow of doubt, from the fact that all buildings for like purposes among the Greeks and Romans derive their designation from this.
SEPULCHRAL VASES OF ANCIENT EGYPT.
In ancient Egypt terra-cotta pottery was extensively made use of for vases or jars to hold the entrails of the dead. In order to preserve the body effectually, it was necessary to remove the softer portions, such as the thoracic and abdominal viscera, and these were embalmed separately. In some instances they were returned into the stomach, with wax models of four deities, commonly called the four genii of the Ament or Hades. It was, however, usual in the embalmment of the wealthier classes to soak them carefully in the requisite preparations, tie them up in neat cylindrical packets, and deposit them in vases having the shape of the four genii. The bodies of these deities, which were usually represented as mummied, formed the bodies of the vases, and were cylindrical below and rounded above. The mouths of the jars were sometimes countersunk to receive the lower part of the covers which fitted into them like a plug. The jar of the first genius, whose name was Am-set, "the devourer of filth," held the stomach and large intestines, and was formed at the top like a human head. This genius typified, or presided over the southern quarter of the compass. He was the son of Osiris or of Phtha Socharis Osiris, the pygmean god of Memphis. The second vase of the series was in the shape of the genius Hapi, the "concealed." Its cover was shaped like the head of a cynocephalus, and it held the smaller viscera. This genius presided over the north, and was also the son of Osiris. The third vase was that of the genius Trautmutf, "the adorer of his mother." We here annex an engraving of it. It had a cover in shape of the head of a jackal, and held the lungs and heart. This genius presided over the East, and was brother of the preceding. The last was that of the genius Kebhsnuf, the refresher of his brethren. It had a cover shaped like the head of a sparrow-hawk, and held the liver and gall-bladder. This genius presided over the west, and was also brother of the preceding. Three vases of a set, in the British Museum, have all human-shaped heads, and are provided with handles at the sides of the bodies. Specimens of a very unusual kind are also to be found in the same collection, having the whole body formed without a cover, in the shape of a dome above, and surmounted by a rudely modelled figure of a jackal, couchant upon a gateway, formed of a detached piece. The entrails were introduced by the rectangular orifice in the upper part. In some other instances the covers appear to have been secured by cords passing through them to the body of the vase. When secured, the vases were placed in a wooden box, which was laid on a sledge and carried to the sepulchre, where they were often taken out and placed, two on each side of the coffin. It was only the poorer classes that used pottery for these purposes. The viscera of high officers of state were embalmed in jars of fine white limestone, and the still more valuable oriental alabasters or arragonite, obtained from the quarries of Tel El Amarna, or the ancient Alabastron.
THE SACRO CATINO.
The celebrated "Sacro Catino," part of the spoil taken by the Genoese at the storming of Cesarea, which was believed to be cut from a single emerald, and had, according to tradition, been presented by the Queen of Sheba to Solomon, was for ages the pride and glory of Genoa, and an object of the greatest devotional reverence at the yearly exhibitions, which were attended with great pomp and ceremony. Such was the opinion of its intrinsic value, that on many occasions the republic borrowed half a million of ducats upon the security of this precious relic. When the French armies, during the first Revolution, plundered Italy of its treasures, it was sent with other spoils to Paris. Upon examination, it was, instead of emerald, proved to be composed of glass, similar to that found in the Egyptian tombs, of which country it was, no doubt, the manufacture. At the Restoration the Sacro Catino was returned in a broken state, and now lies shorn of all its honours, a mere broken glass vessel, in the sacristy of the Church of San Lorenzo.
DINNER PARTY IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
