- [1]
- 'Odyssey,' xxi., 46-50. See translations by Pope, and by Butcher and Lang. I put aside all mention of knots and strings which as Mr. Syer Cuming has observed ('Journal of the British ArchÆological Association,' vol. xii., p. 117) must have formed the fastenings employed by dwellers in tents, and of which the Gordian knot was a complicated example. In early times seals must often have served as substitutes for locks, as we know was frequently the case in ancient Egypt and Assyria. The wooden door must have given rise to a totally different contrivance. It is possible, however, that something analogous to the Japanese book fastening, represented in fig. 1, Plate I., may have been employed under both systems.
- [2]
- Mr. John Chubb in a paper read before the Institution of Civil Engineers, April 9, 1850, quotes a work by L. Molinus, "De Clavibus veterum," the date of which is, however, not mentioned, in which that author states that the use of keys was in his time still unknown in many parts of Sweden.
- [3]
- 'Thebes, its Tombs and their Tenants,' by A. H. Rhind, F.S.A., London, 1862, p. 94.
- [4]
- Mr. Bonomi states that he found a similar lock in one of the Palaces at Khorsabad. The word used for lock in the Scriptures, 'Muftah,' he says is the same in use in the East at the present time. ('Nineveh and its Palaces,' by Joseph Bonomi, F.R.S.L.)
- [5]
- Wilkinson's 'Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians,' vol. i., p. 355. The date of this passage in Judges is open to question. Inman ('Ancient Faiths,' vol. ii., p. 193) puts the earliest introduction of locks amongst the Jews at about 300 B.C.
- [6]
- 'La Ferronnerie, Ancienne et Moderne,' par F. Liger, Paris, 1875, tome i., p. 266, fig. 213.
- [7]
- 'La Ferronnerie,' tome i., p. 261, fig. 208.
- [8]
- Ibid., p. 320.
- [9]
- Paper by John Brent, Esq., in the fifth volume of 'ArchÆologia Cantiana,' p. 312.
- [10]
- 'MÉmoires de la SociÉtÉ Royale des Antiquaires du Nord,' 1872-77, Plate VIII., figs. 1 and 2.
- [11]
- 'Isca Silurum,' by John E. Lee, F.S.A., Plate XXXVI., fig. 1.
- [12]
- C. Roach Smith's 'Collectanea Antiqua,' vol. ii., Plate VI., figs. 2 and 3, p. 20.
- [13]
- 'La Ferronnerie,' tome i., p. 320.
- [14]
- 'ArchÆologia,' vol. xlvi., Plate XXIV., "Excavations in Mount Caburn, conducted by General Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S., in September and October, 1877, and July, 1878."
- [15]
- 'Journal of the Anthropological Institute,' vol. vii., p. 425, Plate XI., fig. 12.
- [16]
- This passage is quoted from a paper "On the Construction of Locks and Keys," read before the Institution of Civil Engineers by Mr. John Chubb, April 9, 1850, and is extracted from Parkhurst's 'Hebrew Lexicon,' 5th edit., p. 600. London, 1807.
- [17]
- Isaiah xxii, 22. It has been suggested that this passage in Isaiah was introduced subsequently to the rest of the book, and dates from a period when keys came into general use amongst the Jews.
- [18]
- Since the discovery that these objects were keys, I have reason to think that other things found in the same place and represented in the same plate, as for instance figs. 9 and 14, may have been door fastenings. 'ArchÆologia,' vol. xlvi., Plate XXIV.
- [19]
- Mr. Bonomi gives an illustration of the way in which the modern Egyptian keys are carried by merchants at Cairo on the shoulder at the present time; these keys however are straight, and are hung to a stick over the shoulder, and are not sickle-shaped as described by Eustathius.
- [20]
- 'La Ferronnerie,' tome ii., p. 229.
- [21]
- 'Uriconium,' by T. Wright, p. 270; see also 'ArchÆologia Cambrensis,' vol. vi., 1860, p. 312.
- [22]
- 'La Seine InfÉrieure,' by M. L'AbbÉ Cochet, p. 223.
- Transcriber's Note:
Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed. |
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