wasteland with pack animals. The Egyptian Supreme
Council of Antiquities has undertaken a mission to the
region to determine the origin of the find.
Libyan Palette A fragment of a palette discovered in
ABYDOSthat reflects the start of Egypt’s historical period,
dating to c. 3,000 B.C.E., the palette has two sides, both
elaborately carved. One side has four panels, depicting
bulls, donkeys, and sheep in a typical Naqada II design.
The fourth panel depicts eight trees and two hieroglyphs
forming Tjehenu, a people of Libya. On the other side a
single panel has representations of seven fortified towns,
an owl, a crested bird, a SCARAB, a reed hut, a bush, and a
symbol of two raised arms. Symbols of animals crown the
towns depicted, including falcons, a lion, and a scorpion.
Destroying the towns, or the same town on several occa-
sions, obviously in Libya, the animals represent Egypt’s
might.
See also MACEHEAD; PALETTE.
Lighthouse of Alexandria(Pharos) This monument
was called the Pharos, started by PTOLEMY I SOTER(r.
304–284 B.C.E.) in 279 B.C.E. and completed by PTOLEMY
II PHILADELPHUS(r. 285–246 B.C.E.). Pharos is the name of
the island containing the lighthouse, a wonder of the
ancient world. The structure was 400 feet tall, and the
light reflected from its mirrored fires could be seen some
25 miles out to sea, even at night. SOSTRATUS, who was
brought to ALEXANDRIAfrom Cnidus, on the southwest
coast of Asia Minor, designed the structure and aided in
the construction.
The building had three separate tiers on a base, with
square cross sections. The base was a square foundation
20 feet high, measuring 350 feet on either side and made
of limestone, covered by marble. The first tier was
200–235 feet high, with an 80-foot terrace. The tier con-
tained 300 chambers with windows and had parapet
walls on the top. An inscription on this tier honors Sos-
tratus, the Cnidian. The second tier was 115 feet high
and octagonal in design. It was 55 feet across and faced
with white marble. This tier also had a walled terrace.
The third tier was 60 to 80 feet high, cylindrical in
design, and fashioned out of brick, plastered to match the
marble of the lower section. This tier was 30 feet in diam-
eter at the top and had an open space surrounded by
eight marble columns. A fire was burned in this cavity,
reflected in a mirror to shine seaward. The dome cover-
ing the area was decorated with a 20-foot bronze image of
the Greek god Poseidon, although some sources state that
the statue depicted ALEXANDER [III]THE GREAT or the
Greek god Helios.
The Egyptian government is now undertaking the
task of building a duplicate of this wonder. In the Middle
Ages, the lighthouse underwent alterations, as the Arabs
placed a mosque at the beacon level. It was still standing
in the twelfth century C.E., but falling into ruins. In 1477,
the Mamaluk Sultan Qa’it Bay stripped the remains in
order to build a fort for Alexandria.Suggested Readings:Clayton, Peter, and Martin Price,
eds. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.New York:
Routledge, 1990; Romer, John, and Elizabeth Romer.
Seven Wonders of the World: A History of the Modern Imagi-
nation. New York: Seven Dials, 2001; Forster, E.M.
Alexandria: A History and a Guide Including “Pharos and
Pharillon.”London: Marsilio, 1999.Lily Lake This was a name given to a paradise await-
ing the dead in AMENTI, the eternal resting place. This
mortuary image of eternal bliss was the domain of Hraf-
hef, “HE-WHO-LOOKS-BEHIND-HIMSELF,”the irritable deity
who rowed worthy candidates to their repose.linen This is a material fashioned from flax, a plant
cultivated in Egypt from c. 5000 B.C.E. Flaxseeds were
sown in mid-November and harvested four months later.
The flax stems were sorted and bound together to dry,
then rippled by large wooden combs. The flax was also
soaked in water to soften the woody parts, which were
removed when dried. A final combing produced waste
products used for various purposes, such as lamp wicks.
The final flax fibers became threads, and the youngest,
greenest stems provided the fine varieties of materials,
while the older, yellow stems produced fibers for quality
linen. The fully mature plants were used for ropes and
mats.
In the early settlements of Egypt, flax was hand spun
to provide linens. The grasped spindle technique was
adopted. The suspended spindle, with small weights and
whorls, was also used. Middle Kingdom (2040–1640
B.C.E.) whorls were made from pottery or stone. The flax
was spun counterclockwise. When two or more threads
formed plied yarns they were spun in the opposite direc-
tion. The earliest linens produced in Egypt were plain,
but various techniques were added in time. Looped pat-
terns, warp ends, and other decorated touches were
incorporated into the process, and in time the linen tex-
tures available were designed for climatic changes and
rank. The linen ranged from the translucent gauze to
coarse canvas. BYSSUS, called the “royal linen,” a truly fine
cloth, well made, was popular in Egypt.“Linen of Yesterday” A poetic image employed by
the ancient Egyptians to denote death and the changes
that dying brings to humans, the phrase was included in
the dirges sung by the kites,the professional women
mourners at funerals. The mourners referred to the
deceased as one who dressed in fine linen but who now
sleeps in “the linen of yesterday.” That image alluded to
the fact that life upon the earth became yesterday to the214 Libyan Palette