Such at least was the case with the statuary of the Old Empire, before the conventionalised art of a later day had placed restrictions on the sculptor and stifled his originality.

The great statue of King Khaf-Ra of the Fourth dynasty, seated on his throne with the imperial hawk behind his head, is carved out of diorite, and nevertheless the sculptor has thrown an idealised divinity over the face, which we yet feel to be a speaking likeness of the man.

The seated scribe in the Museum of Cairo, with his high forehead, sparkling eyes, and long straight hair divided in the middle, has a countenance that is the very ideal of intellectuality, and in the wooden figure of the "Shekh el-beled," we have an inimitable portrait of the sleek and wealthy _bourgeois_ as he walks about his farm.

All these statues are older than the Sixth dynasty.
In disposition the Egyptian was remarkably kindly.

He was affectionate to his family, fond of society, and, alone among the nations of antiquity, humane to others.