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2IO Symbolism of the East and West
Egyptian god I sis, while many of the heads bear a strong
resemblance to certain statues found in 1 884 on the island of
Cyprus, of which the author has seen drawings. The greater
number are female figures in a standing position, but there is
one male life-sized figure, said to be that of a priest, and also
a few detached male heads. Some of them are inscribed with
Greek characters ;
others
bear certain marks which at that
time none of the learned had been able to decipher. One or
two of the figures have the hair arranged in the Egyptian
fashion ; some have a veil arranged like the Sdrt of the
Hindu women ;
others again have the hair dressed very high
and the veil put over it. These remind one of the Sikh
women of the Panjab ; some
again look like Lapp women.
One or more large heads, presumably male ones, wear
turbans ;
while
a small male figure of Egyptian type has
strands of hair brought down on each side of the face and
twisted into a coil beneath the chin ;
but,
strange to say, not
one male figure is bearded, which would seem to point to a
non- Aryan origin. A little male statue, about ten inches high,
possesses in attitude and features the perfect look of repose
peculiar to the statues of Buddha ;
the
resemblance is still
further carried out in the arrangement of the hair and of the
folds of the robe.
The most interesting point in these sculptures as regards
the subject of Symbolism is, that all the female figures carry
pots in their hands at about the middle of the waist. From
some of these vessels flames are issuing, which would seem
to mark these figures as representing the votaries of some
religion connected with the Sun or with Fire. One very
remarkable female statue holds a pot of this kind, and on