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SALAMIS IN THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS.
BY ALEXANDER PALMA DI CESNOLÀ, F.S.A.,
page 47

1, The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, "It is turned as clay to the seal."—(Job xxxviii, 14.) The use of seals is amply illustrated in the Scriptures, especially in the Book of Revelation. Daniel was sealed up in the lion's den (Dan. vi, 17); and in another place the same prophet was bidden to " shut up the words, and seal the book" of the record.—(Dan. xii, 4.) " Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures ?" is one of the demands of Moses.—(Deuteronomy xxxii, 34.) The custom of carrying seals in rings on the hand or attached to bracelets is often shown in the same collection of records of manners and customs. "Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm", occurs in Solomon's Song (viii, 6). Judah asked of Tamar, whom he did not know: " What pledge shall I give thee?" And she said: " Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thy hand." Afterwards, she said: " Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, the bracelets, and staff?" The stone of the sepulchre of Christ was sealed: "So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch."—(Matth, xxvii, 66.)

bearing the impressions of the owners seals upon their mouths, and within retaining traces of the fluids thus guarded during more than twenty centuries. The collection contains a similar ring to that which has just now been mentioned. In it is set an oval disk of green glass.1 Another bears the head of a woman in bas-relief; it is probably a cameo of Arsinoe.2 The other articles include the pin of ivory, on which one of the strings of a lyre has been turned; and parts of ivory boxes, severally sculptured with a Cupid and a lioness, both in animated actions.3 Scarabǽ of ivory are mentioned below. Some curious rods of ivory were exhumed, having staples or little braces of bronze. They were designed for attaching the strings to a lyre.4 In the chapter of this work which contains an account of terra-cotta figures of musicians, other notices of similar objects are given. There are, also, spoons of a kind similar to those of silver which have been already mentioned in the chapter which treats of articles formed of that metal. One hair-pin, round which a woman's tresses were wound, bears a figure of Venus at its extremity.5 The handle of another ends in a coronetted head. Among miscellaneous objects are a die, an ear-pick, fragments of pins, or bodkins, which retain parts of their ancient coating of gold, and afford additional examples to many others which illustrate ancient devices for making a little of the precious metal go far. There was found also the engraved head of a hair-pin, of the kind represented more than once in the collection, which is a nearly perfect relic.6 During the course of my excavations, I had given particular directions that objects of terra-cotta should be brought to me whenever they were taken from the ground. In such remains, owing to the varieties of their forms and dates, I took great interest. One day, a man, who made it his business to discover stones for building, and who, therefore, might be called a quarryman among the ancient ruins he helped to destroy for the convenience of the living, came to me with the terracotta

1 See Plate VII, fig. 7.
2 Ibid., fig. 2.
3 Ibid., fig. 1.
4 Ibid., fig. 13.
5 Ibid., fig. 15.
6 Ibid., fig. 14.

figure of a cock, which still remains in my collection, and, in bearing traces of colour, has an interest of its own/ such as is enlarged on in the account below of such relics. On further inquiry, I was taken to the place where this article had been found. Excavations made there resulted in my recovering, from a hole enclosed by rough stones, similar terracotta alabastra, making six in all, being—1, a crouching cat; 2, a ram in a similar position; 3, a goat, likewise crouching; 4, the grotesque figure of a fat man. laughing, and with his hands clasped before his belly, and in the attitude of waddling rather than walking; 5, a head of Hercules, laughing, and with the lion's head drawn over his brows, the claws of the creature being placed against the cheeks of the hero; 6, the figure of a man, supposed to be a priest, squatting on his haunches; both hands are on the knees of the figure, his large beard is trimmed to a heart-shape, the face is laughing, and the nose is turned up in a very quaint manner. These works are still in the numerous body of terra-cottas which are alluded to further on, and some form the subject of illustrations there given.

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