ABSTRACT
The general identity is likewise perceived in the forms of the architectural monuments, a point which is very apparent in the tombs of the Ancient Empire. At several periods in the history of Egyptian art people come across groups of rude and clumsy monuments whose “imitative character” is absolutely undeniable. This chapter examines the most important palettes and fragments of palettes. In some of the primitive tombs of Upper Egypt collars of enamelled beads have been found, but these same burials contain, more by exception than by rule, an occasional object of copper. Their presence there is to be explained apparently by commercial intercourse, and enamel, like copper, immediately indicates one and the same origin. Art is inherent in the service of the religious and funerary rites which the Egyptians had inherited from their forefathers and which they had the greatest scruples in modifying.
