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SALAMIS IN THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS.
BY ALEXANDER PALMA DI CESNOLÀ, F.S.A.,
"Eyes of the Hawk of Ha", the Sun God, by the opening
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SALAMIS IN THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS.
BY ALEXANDER PALMA DI CESNOLÀ, F.S.A.,
"Eyes of the Hawk of Ha", the Sun God, by the opening of which that deity illuminated the universe. To the pointed oval opening of the eyelids were attached two appendages,—the drop, and the spiral line like a lituus. The Egyptian name of the eye is apparently derived from the word sound, or whole, and the appendages, according to Dr. Birch, may represent a tear dropping from the eye, or the cheek-bone of the "Cow of Athor", the "Mystical Mother of the Sun". The right eye represented the Sun, and the left, as in the object before us, the Moon. It is a not uncommon ornament in Egyptian collections of antiquity, and is found adapted to various purposes, such as pendants, or beads of necklaces and bracelets, in which cases it is generally per forated, or provided with a ring carved out of the same substance, for suspension. There can be no doubt that the symbolic eye was used as a kind of charm or amulet, not only of sepulchral, but of domestic use; and it is known that those made of hard stone were worn round the neck. They are formed of many and various substances, such as lapis-lazuli, serpentine, haematite, obsidian, red jasper, green felspar, cornelian, and even porcelain. There are several very fine specimens
1 Plate xvi, fig. 7. 2 Fig. 8. 3 Fig. 9.
of symbolic eyes in the British Museum and the museum of the Duke of Northumberland at Alnwick Castle. A little figure of the god Ptah-Socharis-Osiris,1 shewing that god, formed of a light blue chalcedony, in the shape of a naked dwarf, wearing a skull cap, with his legs bowed, and the hands, now broken off, on the hips, is given in the same plate. Another object is a figure of the god Chons, or Chonsu,8 the divine son of Amon and Mut, the third element in the Triad of Tlieban Divinities, and a lunar god, apparently the oracular enemy of the revolters or enemies of the gods and the expeller of demons. The lunar disk, with which he is always properly represented, is broken from.the head of this ancient carving, wherein the god is represented with a hawk's head, walking, the hands clenched, and the arms pendent. Among small miscellaneous objects of chalcedony or other allied stones, I may refer to an object resembling a human foot f a sow giving suck to her litter, with a carved ring on the back for suspension as a pendent amulet;4 a pendant, in form of a ram or goat, also with a pierced ring;6 a terminal figure of Hermes;8 a bunch of grapes;7 a bee, or wasp, the head wanting;8 a stud, or pin, with a hole pierced in the head f and a clenched hand,10 with the thumb protruded between the index and middle fingers, similar to that described among the gold objects in Plate i, fig. 15. A very beautiful bright blue-coloured unguentarium,11 carved out of chalcedony, is in form of a globe upon a circular foot, not unlike a modern goblet or wine-cup. It measures an inch and a half in height, and was probably used to contain a small quantity of precious ointment or perfume to be placed near the body of a departed relative in the Salaminian tomb from which I obtained it. Plate xvi, fig. 20, is a figure of Harpocrates treated in the Egyptian style. He is called Harpaχrat, or Harpocrates, "Horus, the Child of Isis", and is
1 PI. xvi, fig. 10.
2 Fig. 12.
3 Fig. 11.
4 Fig. 13.
6 Fig. 14. 7 pig_ 15.
9 Fig. 19.
10 Fig. 21.
11 Fig. 18.
seated, naked, in the attitude of being in his mother's lap, with the symbolic lock of hair, called rut, at the side of his head; the index finger of the right hand is raised to the mouth. Another chalcedony relic1 shews a standing figure of the same Horus, also with the finger in the mouth. An elegant aryballos in sapphirine chalcedony, with a body imitating the markings of a fir-cone; 2 a bowl with a radiated star-like ornament at the bottom inside, and having the rim adorned with a coloured band marked out in small squares, and carved with two