The Egyptians at a very early period made use of this material in decoration. The cover of a small ivory box in the Egyptian collection at the Louvre is " in- scribed with the pranomen Nefer-ka-re, or Neper-che- res, adopted by a dynasty found in the upper line of tlie tablet of Abydos, and attributed by ]\I. Bunsen to the fifth. ... In the time of Thothmes HI ivorj' was im- ported in considerable quantities into Egypt, either ' in boats laden with ivory and ebony' from Ethiopia, or else in tusks and cups from the Ruten-nu. . . . The cel- ebrated car at Florence has its linchpins tipped with ivory" (Birch, in Trans, of Roy. Soc. of Lit. iii, 2d se- ries). The specimens of Egyptian ivory work, which are found in the principal museums of Europe, are, most of them, in the opinion of Mr. Birch, of a date anterior to the Persian invasion, and some even as old as the 18th dynasty. Tlie jiractice of inlaying or covering the walls with ivory and other valuable substances was in very extensive use among the Egyptians, who used it likewise for ornamenting articles of furniture, as may be seen in the British Museum. Amongst the articles of household furniture there is a seat with four turned legs inlaid with ivory, brought from Thebes; also a high-backed chair on lion-footed legs; the back solid, inlaid witli panels of darker wood, with lotus (lowers of ivory. The ivory used by the Egyptians was princi-
pally brought from Ethiopia (Herod, iii, 114), though their elephants were originally from Asia. The Ethio- pians, according to Diodorus Siculus (i, 55), brought to Sesostris " ebony and gold, and the teeth of elephants." Among the tribute paid by them to the Persian kings were " twenty large tusks of ivory" (Herod, iii, 97). The processions of human figures bearing jiresents, etc., still extant on the walls of palaces and tombs, attest, by the black, crisp-haired bearers of huge teeth, that some of these came from Ethiopia or Central Africa; and by white men similarly laden, who also bring an Asiatic elephant and a white bear, that others came from the
Tribute of Elephants' Tusks brought to Thothmes III. (Thebes.)
East. In the Periplus of the Red Sea (c. 4), attributed to Arrian, Coloe {Calai) is said to be " the chief mart for ivory." It was thence carried down to Adouli {Zulla, or Thulla), a port on the Red Sea, about three days' journey from Coloe, together with the hides of hippo- potami, tortoise-shell, apes, and slaves (Plinj', vi, 34). The elephants and rhinoceroses from which it was ob- tained were killed further up the country, and few were taken near the sea, or in the neighborhood of Adoidi. At Ptolemais Theron was found a little ivory like that of Adouli {Periplus, c. 3). Ptolemy Philadelphus made this port the depot of the elephant trade (Pliny, vi, 34). According to Pliny (viii, 10), ivory was so plentiful on the borders of Ethiopia that the natives made door- posts of it, and even fences and stalls for their cattle. The author of the Periplus (c. 16) mentions Rhapta as another station of the ivory trade, but the ivory brought down to this port is said to have been of an inferior quality, and "for the most part found in the Avoods, damaged by rain, or collected from animals drowned by the overflow of the rivers at the equinoxes" (Smith, Diet, of Class. Geography, s. v. Rhapta). The Egyptian mer- chants traded for ivory and onyx stones to Barj'gaza, the port to which was carried don'u tlie commerce of Western India from Ozene {Periplus, c. 49).
The Assyrians appear to have carried on a great traf- fic in ivory. Their early conquests in India had made them familiar with it, and (according to one rendering of the passage) their artists supplied the luxurious Tyr-
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Apes, Elephant, and Ivorv as Tribute. (From the Nim- rud Obelisk.)
lYORY
718
IXORA
ians with carvings in ivory from the isles of Cliittim (Eeek. xxvii,G). On the obelisk in the British Muse- um the captives or tribute-bearers are represented as carrying tusks. Among the merchandise of Babylon enumerated in Rev. xviii, 12 are included "all manner vessels of ivory." Mr. Layard discovered several orna- ments made from ivory in the Assyrian mounds {Nine- veh, ii, lo), but they are of micertain date, and exhibit marks of Egyptian workmanship {ib. p. 1 63, 168). IMany specimens of Assyrian carving in ivory have been found in the excavations at Nimrud, and among the rest some tablets "richly inlaid with blue and opaque glass, lapis- lazuli, etc." (Bonomi, Nineveh ami its Palaces, p. oS-i ; comp. Cant, v, 14). Part of an ivory staff, apparently a sceptre, and several entire elephants' tusks, were discov- ered by Mr. Layard in the last stage of decay, and it was with extreme difficulty that these interesting relics could be restored {Nin. and Bab. p. 195).
In the early ages of Greece ivory was frequently em- ployed for purposes of ornament. The trappings of horses were studded with it (Homer, //. v, 584) : it was used for the handles of keys {Odysseij, xxi, 7) and for the bosses of shields (Hes. Sc. Here. 141, 142). The " ivory house" of Ahab (1 Kings xxii, 39) was probabh' a pal- ace, the walls of which were panelled with ivorj-, like the palace of Menelaus described by Homer {Och/s. iv, 73; compare Eurip. /ph. Aid. 583, tXefavroSkroi 6('>i.ioi. Comp. also Amos iii, 15, and Psa. xlv, 8, unless the " ivo- ry palaces" in the latter passage were perfume-boxes made of that material, as has been conjectured). It is difficidt to determine whether the " tower of ivory" of Cant, vii, 4 is merely a figiu-e of speech, or whether it had its original among the things that w'ere. Beds in- laid or veneered with ivory were in use among the He- brews (Amos vi, 4; compare Homer, Od. xxiii, 200), as also among the Egyptians (Wilkinson, .4 »(e. £'(/. iii, 1C9). The practice of inlaying and veneering wood with i\ory and tortoise-sheU is described by Pliny (xvi, 84). By the luxurious Phoenicians ivorj- was employed to orna- ment the boxwood rowing-benches (or "hatches" ac- cording to some) of their galleys (Ezek. xxvii, 6). The skilled workmen of Hiram, king of Tyre, fashioned the great ivory tlirone of Solomon, and overlaid it with pure gold (1 Kings x, 18; 2 Chron. ix, 17). The ivory thus employed was supplied by the caravans of Dedan (Isa. xxi, 13 ; Ezek. xxvii, 15), or was brought from the East Indies, with apes and peacocks, by the navy of Tarshish (1 Kings x, 22). As an instance of the super- abundant possession and barbarian use of elephants' teeth may be mentioned the octagonal ivori/ hunting- lover built by Akbar, about t>venty-four miles west of Agra: it is still standing, and bristles with 128 enor- mous tusks disposed in ascending lines, sixteen on each face. ISIr. Roberts, remarking on the words of Amos (vi, 4), they "that lie ui)on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon couches," refers the last word, in con- formity with the Tamul version, to swinging cots, often mentioned in the early tales of India, and still plenti- fidly used by the wealthy. But it does not appear that they were known in Western Asia, or that figures of them occur on Egyptian bas-reliefs. It is more likely that palkies (those luxurious travelling litters) are meant, which were borne on men's shoulders, while the person within was stretched at ease. They were in common use even among the Romans, for Cicero fell into liis assassin's hands while he was attempting to es- cape in one of them towards Naples. Among the Ro- mans, inlaying with ivory seems to have become, at length, rather a common method of ornamenting the interiors of the mansions of the wealthy ; for Horace mentions it as an evidence of his humble way of Hfe that " no walls inlaid with ivory adorned his house."