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PART TWO Understanding the Dialogue   65
THE SELF AND MESSAGES   

Chapter 4 Symbolic Interaction Theory    68

History of Symbolic Interaction Theory    70
Themes and Assumptions of Symbolic Interaction Theory    71
Key Concepts   76
Mind   76
Self   77
Society   79
Integration, Critique, and Closing    79
Scope   80
Utility   80
Testability   81
Closing   81
Discussion Starters   81

Chapter 5 Coordinated Management of Meaning    83

All the World’s a Stage    84
Assumptions of Coordinated Management of Meaning    85
The Hierarchy of Organized Meaning    88
Content   89
Speech Act   90
Episodes   90
Relationship   91
Life Scripts   91
Cultural Patterns   92
Charmed and Strange Loops    93
The Coordination of Meaning: Making Sense of the Sequence    95
Influences on the Coordination Process    96
Rules and Unwanted Repetitive Patterns    97
Integration, Critique, and Closing    100
Scope   100
Parsimony   101
Utility    101
Heurism    102
Closing   102
Discussion Starters   102

Chapter 6 Cognitive Dissonance Theory    104

Assumptions of Cognitive Dissonance Theory    108
Concepts and Processes of Cognitive Dissonance    109
Magnitude of Dissonance   109

Contents    vii
 Coping with Dissonance   110
Cognitive Dissonance and Perception    111
Minimal Justification   112
Cognitive Dissonance Theory and Persuasion    113
Integration, Critique, and Closing    115
Utility   115
Testability   117
Closing   118
Discussion Starters   118

Chapter 7 Expectancy Violations Theory    119

Space Relations   121
Proxemic Zones   121
Territoriality   123
Assumptions of Expectancy Violations Theory    124
Arousal   127
Threat Threshold   127
Violation Valence   128
Communicator Reward Valence   129
Integration, Critique, and Closing    130
Scope   131
Utility   131
Testability   131
Heurism   131
Closing   132
Discussion Starters   132

RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT   

Chapter 8 Uncertainty Reduction Theory    135

Assumptions of Uncertainty Reduction Theory    138
Key Concepts of URT: The Axiom and Theorem    140
Axioms of Uncertainty Reduction Theory    140
Theorems of Uncertainty Reduction Theory    142
Expansions of Uncertainty Reduction Theory    143
Antecedent Conditions   143
Strategies   144
Developed Relationships   145
Social Media   147
Context   148
Integration, Critique, and Closing    150
Utility   151
Heurism   153
Closing   153
Discussion Starters   153

viii    Contents
Chapter 9 Social Exchange Theory    155
Assumptions of Social Exchange Theory    158
Evaluating a Relationship   161
Exchange Patterns: SET in Action    163
Exchange Structures   165
Integration, Critique, and Closing    166
Scope   167
Utility   167
Testability   168
Heurism   168
Closing   169
Discussion Starters   169

Chapter 10 Social Penetration Theory    170

Assumptions of Social Penetration Theory    172
“Tearing Up” the Relationship: The Onion Analogy    175
A Social Exchange: Relational Costs and Rewards    177
Stages of the Social Penetration Process    179
Orientation: Revealing Bit by Bit    180
Exploratory Affective Exchange: The Self Emerges    181
Affective Exchange: Commitment and Comfortability    182
Stable Exchange: Raw Honesty and Intimacy    183
Integration, Critique, and Closing    184
Scope   184
Heurism   185
Closing   186
Discussion Starters   186

Chapter 11 Relational Dialectics Theory    187

Assumptions of Relational Dialectics Theory    190
Core Concepts of Dialectics    191
Basic Relational Dialectics   192
Autonomy and Connection   192
Openness and Protection   194
Novelty and Predictability   194
Contextual Dialectics   195
Beyond Basic Dialectics   196
Responses to Dialectics   198
Integration, Critique, and Closing    200
Parsimony   201
Utility   201
Heurism   201
Closing   202
Discussion Starters   202

Contents    ix
Chapter 12 Communication Privacy
Management Theory   204
Evolution of Communication Privacy Management Theory    206
Assumptions of CPM   207
Key Terms and Principles of CPM    208
Principle 1: Private Information Ownership    209
Principle 2: Private Information Control    209
Principle 3: Private Information Rules     211
Principle 4: Private Information Co-ownership and Guardianship    212
Principle 5: Private Information Boundary Turbulence     214
Integration, Critique, and Closing    214
Logical Consistency   215
Utility   216
Heurism    216
Closing   216
Discussion Starters   216

Chapter 13 Social Information Processing Theory    218

Theoretical Turbulence: The Cues Filtered Out    221
Assumptions of Social Information Processing Theory    223
Hyperpersonal Perspective: “I Like What I Read
and I Want More”    227
Sender: Selective Self-Presentation   227
Receiver: Idealization of the Sender    228
Channel Management   229
Feedback   229
Warranting: Gaining Confidence Online    230
Integration, Critique, and Closing    231
Scope   232
Utility   232
Testability   233
Closing   234
Discussion Starters   234

GROUPS, TEAMS, AND ORGANIZATIONS   

Chapter 14 Groupthink   237
Assumptions of Groupthink   240
What Comes Before: Antecedent Conditions of Groupthink    243
Group Cohesiveness   243
Structural Factors   244
Group Stress   245
Symptoms of Groupthink   245
Overestimation of the Group    246
Closed-Mindedness   247
Pressures Toward Uniformity   248

x    Contents
 (Group) Think About It: It’s All Around U.S.    249
Think Before You Act: Ways to Prevent
Groupthink   249
Integration, Critique, and Closing    251
Scope   252
Testability   252
Heurism   253
Test of Time   253
Closing   253
Discussion Starters   254

Chapter 15 Structuration Theory   255

Assumptions of Structuration Theory    259
Central Concepts of Structuration Theory    262
Agency and Reflexivity   262
Duality of Structure   263
Social Integration   267
Application of Time and Space    267
Integration, Critique, and Closing    268
Scope   269
Parsimony    269
Closing   270
Discussion Starters   270

Chapter 16 Organizational Culture Theory    272

The Cultural Metaphor: Of Spider Webs
and Organizations   275
Assumptions of Organizational Cultural Theory    276
Ethnographic Understanding: Laying It On Thick    279
The Communicative Performance   281
Ritual Performances   282
Passion Performances   282
Social Performances   283
Political Performances   283
Enculturation Performances   283
Integration, Critique, and Closing    284
Logical Consistency   285
Utility   285
Heurism   285
Closing   286
Discussion Starters   286

Chapter 17 Organizational Information Theory    287

The Only Constant Is Change (in Organizations)    290
General Systems Theory   290
Darwin’s Theory of Sociocultural Evolution    291

Contents    xi
 Assumptions of Organizational Information Theory    292
Key Concepts and Conceptualizing Information    294
Information Environment: The Sum Total    294
Rules: Guidelines to Analyze    295
Cycles: Act, Respond, Adjust    297
The Principles of Equivocality    298
Reducing Equivocality: Trying to Use the Information    299
Enactment: Assigning Message Importance    299
Selection: Interpreting the Inputs    300
Retention: Remember the Small Stuff    300
Integration, Critique, and Closing    301
Logical Consistency   302
Utility   303
Heurism   303
Closing   303
Discussion Starters   303
THE PUBLIC   
Chapter 18 The Rhetoric   306
The Rhetorical Tradition   308
Assumptions of the Rhetoric   309
The Syllogism: A Three-Tiered Argument    311
Canons of Rhetoric   312
Invention   312
Arrangement   314
Style   315
Memory   316
Delivery   316
Types of Rhetoric   317
Integration, Critique, and Closing    320
Logical Consistency   320
Heurism   321
Test of Time   322
Closing   322
Discussion Starters   323

Chapter 19 Dramatism   324
Assumptions of Dramatism   326
Dramatism as New Rhetoric    328
Identification and Substance   328
The Process of Guilt and Redemption    329
The Pentad   331
Integration, Critique, and Closing    333
Scope   333
Parsimony   334
Utility   334
Heurism   336

xii    Contents
 Closing   336
Discussion Starters   337

Chapter 20 The Narrative Paradigm    338

Assumptions of the Narrative Paradigm    341
Key Concepts in the Narrative Approach    344
Narration   344
Narrative Rationality   345
The Logic of Good Reasons    347
Integration, Critique, and Closing    348
Scope    349
Logical Consistency   349
Utility   350
Heurism   351
Closing   351
Discussion Starters   351

THE MEDIA   
Chapter 21 Agenda Setting Theory    355
History of Agenda Setting Research    356
Pretheoretical Conceptualizing   357
Establishing the Theory of Agenda Setting    358
Assumptions of Agenda Setting Theory    359
Two Levels of Agenda Setting    360
Three-Part Process of Agenda Setting    361
Expansions and Refinements to Agenda Setting Theory    364
Integration, Critique, and Closing    365
Scope   366
Utility   366
Heurism   367
Closing   368
Discussion Starters   368

Chapter 22 Spiral of Silence Theory    369

The Court of Public Opinion    372
Assumptions of Spiral of Silence Theory    374
The Media’s Influence   377
The Train Test   379
The Hard Core   380
The Spiral of Silence and Social Media    382
Integration, Critique, and Closing    383
Logical Consistency   384
Heurism   385
Closing   386
Discussion Starters   386

Contents    xiii
Chapter 23 Uses and Gratifications Theory    387
Assumptions of Uses and Gratifications Theory    389
Stages of Uses and Gratifications Research    392
Media Effects   393
Key Concepts: The Audience as Active    396
Uses and Gratifications and the Internet, Social Media,
and Cell Phones   397
Integration, Critique, and Closing    399
Logical Consistency   400
Utility   401
Heurism   401
Closing   401
Discussion Starters   402

Chapter 24 Cultivation Theory   403

Developing Cultivation Theory   406
Assumptions of Cultivation Theory    407
Processes and Products of Cultivation
Theory   409
The Four-Step Process   409
Mainstreaming and Resonance   410
The Mean World Index    412
Cultivation Theory as Critical Theory    413
Integration, Critique, and Closing    416
Logical Consistency   416
Utility   417
Heurism   417
Test of Time   417
Closing   419
Discussion Starters   419

Chapter 25 Cultural Studies   420

The Marxist Legacy: Power to the People    423
Assumptions of Cultural Studies    424
Hegemony: The Influence on the Masses    426
Counter-Hegemony: The Masses Start to Influence
the Dominant Forces   429
Audience Decoding   431
Integration, Critique, and Closing    433
Logical Consistency   433
Utility   434
Heurism   434
Closing   435
Discussion Starters   435

xiv    Contents
Chapter 26 Media Ecology Theory    436
Assumptions of Media Ecology Theory    439
Making Media History and Making “Sense”    442
The Tribal Era   442
The Literate Era   443
The Print Era   443
The Electronic Era   443
The Medium Is the Message    444
Gauging the Temperature: Hot and Cool Media    445
The Circle Is Complete: The Tetrad    447
Enhancement   448
Obsolescence   448
Retrieval   448
Reversal   449
Carrying the McLuhan Banner: Postman and Meyrowitz    450
Integration, Critique, and Closing    452
Testability   453
Heurism   453
Closing   454
Discussion Starters   454

CULTURE AND DIVERSITY   

Chapter 27 Face-Negotiation Theory   459

About Face   461
Face and Politeness Theory    462
Facework   463
Assumptions of Face-Negotiation Theory    464
Individualistic and Collectivistic Cultures    466
Face Management and Culture    469
Managing Conflict Across Cultures    470
Integration, Critique, and Closing    472
Logical Consistency   472
Heurism   473
Closing   474
Discussion Starters   474

Chapter 28 Communication Accommodation Theory    476

Social Psychology and Social Identity    478
Assumptions of Communication Accommodation Theory    480
Ways to Adapt   483
Convergence: Merging Thoughts Ahead    483
Divergence: Vive la Différence   487
Overaccommodation: Miscommunicating with a Purpose    488

Contents    xv
 Integration, Critique, and Closing    490
Scope   490
Logical Consistency   491
Heurism   492
Closing   492
Discussion Starters   492

Chapter 29 Muted Group Theory    494

Origins of Muted Group Theory    496
Makeup of Muted Groups    498
Differentiating Between Sex and Gender    499
Assumptions of Muted Group Theory    499
The Process of Silencing    503
Ridicule   504
Ritual   504
Control    505
Harassment   505
Strategies of Resistance   506
Integration, Critique, and Closing    506
Utility   507
Test of Time   508
Closing   508
Discussion Starters   508

Chapter 30 Feminist Standpoint Theory    510

Historical Foundations of Feminist Standpoint Theory    512
The Critique of Theory and Research by Feminist Theorists    513
Assumptions of Feminist Standpoint Theory    514
Feminist Standpoint Theory and the Communication Field    518
Key Concepts of Standpoint Theory    519
Voice   519
Standpoint   519
Situated Knowledges   520
Sexual Division of Labor    521
Integration, Critique, and Closing    521
Utility   522
Closing   524
Discussion Starters   524
Afterward ConnectingQuests   527
Glossary   G-1
References   R-1
Name Index   I-1
Subject Index   I-11

xvi    Contents
Preface

As we present the sixth edition of Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis

and Application, we remain excited by its enormous success. The previous five
editions demonstrate that communication theory courses are vibrant, that teachers
of communication understand the importance of theoretical thinking, and that both
instructors and students appreciate the consistent and organized template we employ
throughout. This text explores the practical, engaging, and r­ elevant ways in which the-
ory operates in our lives. It is written primarily for students who have little or no back-
ground in communication theory. We originally wrote the book because we thought
that students need to know how theorizing helps us understand ourselves, as well as
our experiences, ­relationships, media, environment, and culture. We also wrote this
book because we believe that students should have a text that relates theory directly
to their lives. We felt that some books insulted the student and trivialized theory while
other books were written at a level that was far too advanced for an undergraduate. In
this book, we take great care to achieve the following additional objectives:
∙∙ Familiarize students with the principles and central ideas of important theories
they are likely to encounter in the communication discipline.
∙∙ Demystify the notion of theory by discussing it in concrete and ­unequivocal
ways.
∙∙ Provide students with an understanding of the interplay among theory, commu-
nication, and application.
∙∙ Introduce students to the research process and the role of theory within this
process.
∙∙ Assist students in becoming more systematic and thoughtful critical thinkers.
The sixth edition of this book maintains its original focus of introducing com-
munication theory to students in an accessible, appealing, and consistent way. We
believe that students understand material best when it is explained in a clear, direct
way through a number of realistic and applicable examples. Our hope is that students
will take away a basic knowledge of, and appreciation for, communication theory
from reading our text.
The theories in communication studies have roots in both communication and in
other fields of study. This interdisciplinary orientation is reflected in the selection of
the various theories presented in the text. We not only include the unique contribu-
tions of communication theorists, but also theories with origins in other fields of study,
including psychology, sociology, biology, education, business, and philosophy. Com-
munication theorists have embraced the integration of ideas and principles forged by
their colleagues across many disciplines. Yet, the application, influence, and inherent

xvii
 value of communication are all s­ ustained by the theorists in this text. In other words,
although theories cut across various academic disciplines, their relevance to communi-
cation remains paramount and we articulate this relevancy in each theory chapter. We
do not presume to speak for the theorists; we have distilled their scholarship in a way
that we hope represents and honors their hard work. Our overall goal is to frame their
words and illustrate their theories with practical examples and instances so that their
explication of communication behaviors becomes accessible for students.
Together, we have over 60 years of experience in teaching communication ­theory.
During this time, we have learned a great deal. Introducing Communication Theory:
Analysis and Application utilizes and applies all that we as teachers have learned from
our students. We continue to be indebted to both students and colleagues whose sug-
gestions and comments have greatly influenced this newest edition.

The Challenges of Teaching and Learning

Communication Theory
The instructor in a communication theory course may face several challenges that are not
shared by other courses. First, because many students think of theory as distant, abstract,
and obscure, teachers must overcome these potentially negative connotations. Negative
feelings toward the subject can be magnified in classrooms where students represent
a variety of ages and socioeconomic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds. Introducing
Communication Theory addresses this challenge by offering a readable and pragmatic
guide that integrates content with examples, capturing the essence and elegance of theory
in a straightforward manner. In addition, the book takes an incremental approach to learn-
ing about theory, resulting in a thoughtful and appropriate learning pace.
A second challenge associated with teaching and learning communication
theory relates to preconceived notions of research: Students may view scholarship
as difficult or remote. This book demonstrates to students that they already possess
many of the characteristics of researchers, such as curiosity and ambition. Students
will be pleasantly surprised to know that they operate according to many personal
theories every day. Once students begin to revise their misconceptions about re-
search and theory, they are in a position to understand the principles, concepts, and
theories contained in this book.
A third challenge of teaching and learning communication theory is capturing
the complexity of a theory in an approachable way without oversimplifying the theo-
retical process. To address this problem, instructors often present a skeletal version
of a theory and then fill in the missing pieces with personal materials. By providing
a variety of engaging examples and applications reflecting a wide range of classroom
demographics, Introducing Communication Theory facilitates such an approach.
A final challenge relates to a theory’s genesis and today’s students. Clearly, in
this technological age, students look for and usually crave a desire to find a “tech
angle” to communication theory. Although many theories were conceptualized de-
cades ago, in each chapter, we have provided the most recent research that represents
a theory–technology framework. Further we have added questions in each chapter
that are technological in nature, facilitating further student interest in the material.

xviii Preface
Major Changes in Content in the New Edition
The sixth edition has undergone significant modification, namely in the content of the
theory chapters and in the various learning aids available. EACH chapter has been
updated to reflect the most current thinking. In particular, the following chapters have
undergone major changes:
Chapter 2 (Thinking About the Field: Traditions and Contexts) includes the most
current scholarship in each of the seven contexts of communication.
Chapter 3 (Thinking About Theory and Research) is completely reorganized to reflect
both the quantitative and qualitative thinking influencing theoretical development.
Chapter 4 (Symbolic Interaction Theory) has been completely reorganized so that it
disentangles the assumptions and themes of SI.
Chapter 8 (Uncertainty Reduction Theory) has been overhauled and provides a more
thoughtful presentation of the various axioms and theorems related to the theory.
Chapter 12 (Communication Privacy Management Theory) has been substantively
reorganized. In addition, new information on the criteria used to for developing
privacy rules is discussed in detail.
Chapter 14 (Groupthink) includes new information on NASA and the Military
Whistleblower Protection Act and their relationship to groupthink.
Chapter 15 (Structuration Theory) provides the newest thinking on various caution-
ary tales related to social integration.
Chapter 20 (The Narrative Paradigm) delineates new research and practices related
to storytelling.
Chapter 21 (Agenda Setting Theory) presents a reorganization and reconceptualiza-
tion of the three levels of agenda setting.
Chapter 22 (Spiral of Silence Theory) employs the legalization of marijuana as an over-
arching template while discussing the influence and pervasiveness of public opinion.
Chapter 24 (Cultivation Theory) includes extensive additions throughout on how
technology and “mass-mediated storytelling” influence individuals.
Chapter 25 (Cultural Studies) uses both the Flint, Michigan water crisis and mar-
riage equality to demonstrate several of the issues and themes related to the theory.
Chapter 29 (Muted Group Theory) includes a brief history of sexual harassment as
computer jargon’s male-centeredness to exemplify several concepts associated with
MGT.

Features of the Book

To accomplish our goals and address the challenges of teaching communication the-
ory, we have incorporated a structure that includes number of special features and
learning aids into the sixth edition:
∙∙ Part One, Foundations. The first three chapters of the book continue to pro-
vide students a solid foundation for studying the theories that follow. This

Preface xix
“The first three groundwork is essential in order to understand how theorists conceptualize and
chapters of the book test their theories. Chapters 1 and 2 define communication and provide a frame-
continue to provide work for examining the theories. We present several traditions and contexts in
which theory is customarily categorized and considered. Chapter 3 provides an
students a solid foun- overview of the intersection of theory and research. This discussion is essential
dation for studying in a theory course and also serves as a springboard for students as they enroll in
the theories that fol- other courses. In addition, we present students with a template of various evalua-
low. This groundwork tive components that we apply in each of the subsequent theory chapters.
is ­essential in order ∙∙ Part Two, Theories and Theoretical Thinking. Updated coverage of all ­theories.
to ­understand how Separate chapters on each of the theories provide accessible, thorough cover-
­theorists conceptu- age for students and offer flexibility to instructors. Because of the feedback we
alize and test their received from the previous edition, we ­retained the original theories from the
theories.” fifth edition This updating results in a more thoughtful, current, and applicable
presentation of each theory. As noted earlier, in many cases, we have provided
the most recent information of the influences of culture and/or technology upon
a particular theory, ­resulting in some very compelling discussions and examples.
“Every theory chapter ∙∙ Section openers. The theory chapters in Part Two are organized into six sec-
is self-contained tions. We have written section openers to introduce these groups of chapters.
and includes a The overviews provide students with an explanation for our choices, placing
the theories in context and allowing students to have a foundation in order to
consistent format see the connections ­between and among theories.
that begins with a
∙∙ Chapter-opening vignettes. Each chapter begins with an extended vignette, which
vignette, followed is then integrated throughout the chapter, providing examples to illustrate the the-
by an introduction, a oretical concepts and claims. We have been pleased that instructors and students
summary of theoreti- point to these vignettes as important applications of sometimes complex material.
cal assumptions, a These stories/case studies help students understand how communication theory
description of core plays out in the everyday lives of ordinary people. These opening stories help
drive home the i­mportant points of the theory. In addition, the real-life tone of
concepts, and a
each vignette entices students to understand the practicality of a particular theory.
critique (using the
∙∙ A structured approach to each theory. Every theory chapter is self-contained
criteria established and includes a consistent format that begins with a story, followed by an intro-
in Part One). This duction, a summary of theoretical assumptions, a description of core concepts,
consistency pro- and a critique (using the criteria established in Part One). This consistency
vides continuity for provides continuity for students, ensures a balanced presentation of the theo-
students, ensures a ries, and helps ease the retrieval of information for future learning experiences.
balanced presenta- Instructors and students have found this template to be quite valuable since it
eliminates the stream-of-consciousness frequently found in other published
tion of the theories, resources.
and helps ease the
∙∙ Student Voices boxes. These boxes, featured in every chapter, present both new
retrieval of informa- and returning ­student comments on a particular concept or theoretical issue. The
tion for future learn- comments, extracted from journals in classes we have taught, illustrate the practi-
ing experiences.” cality of the topic under discussion and also show how theoretical issues relate to
students’ lives. In a sense, this feature illustrates how practical theories are and how
much their tenets apply to our everyday lived experiences.

xx Preface
 ∙∙ Theory in Popular Press. Students will be introduced to further applications
of the various theories and theoretical concepts by examining popular press
stories. Stories and articles exemplifying various parts of a theory are provided
from a number of different outlets, including Forbes, USA Today, the (U.K.)
Guardian, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, among many others.
∙∙ Visual template for theory evaluation. At the conclusion of each theory chap-
ter, a criteria for theory evaluation (presented in Chapter 3) is ­employed. In
addition, the theory’s context, scholarly tradition (based on Robert Craig’s
typology), and approach to knowing are articulated.
∙∙ Theory at a Glance boxes. In order for students to have an immediate and
concise understanding of a particular theory, we incorporate this ­feature at the
beginning of each theory chapter. Students will have these brief explanations
and short summaries before reading the chapter, thereby allowing them to have
a general sense of what they are about to encounter.
∙∙ Afterword: ConnectingQuests. This final section of the book provides students
with an integration of the various theories in order to see the interrelationships
between theories. We believe that theories cut across multiple contexts. To this
end, students are asked questions that address the intersection of theories. For
instance, to understand “decision making” from two theoretical threads, stu-
dents are asked to compare the concept and its usage in both Groupthink and
Structuration Theory. These questions form a foundation for future conversa-
tions about communication theory.
∙∙ Tables, figures, and cartoons. To increase conceptual organization and enhance
the visual presentation of content, we have provided several tables and figures
throughout the text. Further, we have provided cartoons to provide another en-
gaging reading option. Many chapters have visual aids for students to consider,
helping them to understand the material. These visuals provide a clearer sense
of the conceptual organization of the theories, and they support those students
who best retain information visually.
∙∙ Running glossary. Throughout each chapter, a running glossary provides stu-
dents immediate access to unfamiliar terms and their meanings.
∙∙ End-of-book glossary. Students have expressed interest in having a compiled
list of definitions at the end of the text. This glossary provides easily accessed
definitions of all the key terms contained in the book.

In addition to the aforementioned features, several new additions exist in the new
edition of Introducing Communication Theory:

∙∙ NEW Quantitative and Qualitative Research. In Chapter 3, we have reorga-

nized the information to make it more understandable for students. We first
discuss quantitative research methods and then qualitative research methods.
We also added an evaluative statement at the conclusion of each theory chapter
which notes whether the theory has primarily been investigated using a frame-
work that is qualitative, quantitative, or both.

Preface xxi
 ∙∙ NEW Theory-Into-Practice (TIP). We include this feature to provide further
application of the information contained in the chapter. We identify a conclu-
sion or two from the theory and then provide a real-world application of the
particular claim. This feature sustains our commitment to enhancing the prag-
matic value of a theory.
∙∙ NEW Socially Significant Themes and Noteworthy Celebrities. In an effort to
provide students with examples that are compelling and memorable, we make
a concerted effort to illustrate points with timely topics and recognizable news-
makers. Themes such as marriage equality, social media, medical marijuana,
whistle-blowing, internships, civility, among many others are woven through-
out the book. Important global issues, including Black Lives Matter, climate
change, the world refugee crisis, among others are woven throughout the text.
Cultural figures such as Dr. Oz, Samantha Bee, Maya Angelou, Jimmy Fallon,
Dr. Phil, Martha Stewart, and others are also identified at appropriate points
along the way. Although we never “dumb down” the theoretical material, we
feel it’s important for students to read examples that are somewhat contempo-
rary and not dated.
∙∙ NEW Tech Quest. Each chapter concludes with several Discussion Starters and
a new question that probes how the theory relates to technology. Students will
be asked to discuss the interface between a theory and several social media, for
instance, including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, among others.
∙∙ NEW Cartoons. Eight new cartoons have been added to the text, providing a
humorous break from the theoretical content.
∙∙ NEW Incorporation of over 200 new references. The explosion in communica-
tion research, in particular, is reflected in the incorporation of dozens of new
studies, essays, and books that help students understand the theory or theoreti-
cal issue. We also provide students with easy access to a citation by integrating
an APA format (the acceptable writing style of the communication field) so
that they can see the relevancy and ­currency of a theory. When appropriate, we
also have provided URLs for websites that have information which can be read-
ily available.
∙∙ NEW Theoretical Thought. Each theory chapter begins with a statement
made by a theorist or theorists that highlights the essence of the chapter’s
content. These quotations reflect further effort to honor the words of the
theorist(s).

The 6th edition of Introducing Communications Theory: Analysis and Application is

now available online with Connect, McGraw-Hill Education’s integrated assignment
and assessment platform. Connect also offers SmartBook for the new edition, which
is the first adaptive reading experience proven to improve grades and help students

xxii Preface
study more effectively. All of the title’s website and ancillary content is also available
through Connect, including:
∙∙ An Instructor’s Manual for each chapter with general guidelines for teaching
the basic theory course, sample syllabi for quarter and semester courses, chap-
ter outlines, and classroom activities.
∙∙ A full Test Bank of multiple choice questions that test students on central con-
cepts and ideas in each chapter.
∙∙ Lecture Slides for instructor use in class.

Organization
Part One, Foundations, provides a conceptual base for the discrete theory chapters in
Part Two. Chapter 1 begins by introducing the discipline and describing the process
of communication. Chapter 2 provides the prevailing traditions and contexts that
frame the communication field. In this chapter, we focus on Robert Craig’s guide to
the ways in which communication theory can be considered. The chapter then turns
to primary contexts of communication, which frame the study of communication in
most academic settings across the country. Chapter 3 explores the intersection of the-
ory and research. In this chapter, we provide students an understanding of the nature
of theory and the characteristics of theory. The research process is also discussed,
as are perspectives that guide communication research. Our goal in this chapter is to
show that research and theory are interrelated and that the two should be considered
in tandem as students read the individual chapters. Chapter 3 also provides a list of
evaluative criteria for judging theories as well as for guiding students toward assess-
ment of each subsequent theory chapter.
With Part One establishing a foundation, Part Two, Theories and Theoretical
Thinking, introduces students to 27 different theories, each in a discrete, concise
chapter. Many of these theories cut across communication contexts. For example,
Relational Dialectics Theory can be understood and applied in an organizational
context as well as in an interpersonal context. However, to facilitate understanding,
we have grouped theories into six sections according to primary focus: The Self
and Messages, Relationship Development, Groups, Teams, and Organizations, The
Public, The Media, and Culture and Diversity. We undertake this approach to align it
with the contexts identified in Chapter 1.
It was challenging for us to decide which theories to include because there are
so many from which to choose. In making our selections, we were guided by four
broad criteria: (1) whether the theory is significant in the field, (2) whether it reflects
the interdisciplinary nature of the field, (3) whether it is important in the context of
current thinking in the field, and (4) whether it contributes to a balance of pioneering
and contemporary theories in the book. In addition, we were sensitive to the need to
include theories developed by a diverse group of scholars. We know that there are
many theories that we were unable to include. Yet, our book provides an expansive
and respectful array of theories that in the end, we believe provides an important in-
troduction to this challenging and worthwhile area known as communication theory.

Preface xxiii
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 Sebek

The Crocodile

The crocodile was the incarnation of the god Sebek. It would seem
beyond doubt that abject fear was the primal origin of the worship of
this repulsive creature, and the idea that its evil and menacing traits
might be averted by propitiation, for in the dry season these reptiles
wandered over the cultivated lands and devoured all at will. Later,
beneficent attributes were ascribed to it, but the dark side always
persisted. In the benign aspect he is connected with Ra, and again with
Osiris, though in legendary lore he is both the friend and foe of Osiris.
One version tells how a crocodile carried the dead body of Osiris safely
to land upon its back, whilst another relates that only by Isis placing
Horus in a little ark woven of papyrus reeds was she able to protect him
against the attacks of the malevolent Sebek. This clearly identifies him
with Set, the murderer of Osiris, and in this connexion the powers of
darkness are symbolized by four crocodiles, who are shown in the Book
of the Dead as menacing the deceased. Whilst still living, men sought
deliverance from these horrible shapes of the underworld by means of
incantations.
But again he is said to be beneficent to the dead, and in the Pyramid
Texts it is Sebek who restores sight to the eyes of the deceased, who,
indeed, revives all his faculties, is his guide in the untried new life, and
helps him to overthrow Set, the evil one who preys upon every 'Osiris.'
In this character he is the helper and protector of the child Horus. But
his characters are multiple, and he is to be found participating in the
rites of all the other gods of the Egyptian pantheon.
Quite in consonance with this is the fact that while in some parts of
Egypt the crocodile was held sacred, in other districts it was killed;
indeed, the hunting of it was a popular sport with the nobles of the Old
Kingdom. By some the crocodile was looked upon as a protector of
Egypt, Diodorus stating that "but for them Arabian and African robbers
would swim across the Nile and pillage the country in all directions."
Herodotus also states these conflicting views regarding the crocodile,
together with many of the fabulous stories of its wisdom and habits. He
tells how at Thebes and Lake Moeris they were held sacred, and how
when tame the people bedecked them with jewels, placing bracelets on
their fore-paws, while they were fed on the most delicate foods. After
death the body was embalmed with many rites and buried in the
subterranean Labyrinth, a place held so sacred that Herodotus was not
allowed to enter it.
The centre of this worship was Krokodilopolis, in the Fayûm, and Strabo,
who visited Egypt during the reign of the Emperor Augustus, gives the
following account in which he tells that the sacred crocodile "was kept
apart by himself in a lake; it is tame and gentle to the priests. It is fed
with bread, flesh, and wine, which strangers who come to see it always
present. Our host, a distinguished person, who was our guide about the
city, accompanied us to the lake, and brought from the supper table a
small cake, dressed meat, and a small vessel containing honey and milk.
The animal was lying on the edge of the lake. The priests went up to it;
some of them opened its mouth, another put the cake into it, then the
meat, and afterward poured down the honey and milk. The animal then
leaped into the lake and crossed to the other side. When another
stranger arrived with his offering, the priests took it and, going round to
the other side, caught the animal and repeated the process in the same
manner as before."
This cult lasted far into the Roman period. Sebek also had his oracle,
and foretold the demise of King Ptolemæus by refusing to listen to him
or obey the attendant priests.
In religious art Sebek is often represented as a crocodile-headed man
wearing the solar disk with a uræus, or, again, with a pair of horns and
the plumes of Amen.

The Lion

The lion could hardly fail to be the centre of a cult, and there is ample
proof that this animal was, from early dynastic times, worshipped for his
great strength and courage. He was identified with the solar deities,
with the sun-god Horus or Ra. The Delta was the home of the Egyptian
lion, and the chief centre of the cult was the city of Leontopolis, in the
Northern Delta, where, according to Ælian, the sacred lions were fed
upon slaughtered animals, and sometimes a live calf was put in the den
that they might have the pleasure of killing it. Whilst the feeding was
proceeding the priests chanted and sang. But the same writer also
states that lions were kept in the temple at Heliopolis, as well as at
many other places throughout Egypt.
 Rameses II accompanied by a Lion—Evelyn Paul.

The Lion Guardian

The outstanding characteristic of the lion was that of guardianship, and this
is to be found in the part played by the ancient lion-god Aker, who guarded
the gate of the dawn through which the sun passed each morning. The later
idea that the sun-god passed through a dark passage in the earth which hid
his light, and so caused the darkness of night, while his emergence
therefrom was the signal of day, necessitated the existence of two guardian
lions, who were called Sef and Dua—that is, 'Yesterday' and 'To-morrow.'
From this was derived the practice of placing statues of lions at the doors of
palaces and tombs as guardians of both living and dead against all evil.
These statues were often given the heads of men, and are familiar under the
Greek name of 'Sphinxes,' though the characteristics of the Egyptian lion-
statue were very different from those of the Grecian 'Sphinx.'
The most famous of all is, of course, the wonderful 'Sphinx' at Gizeh, the
symbol of the sun-god Ra, or rather his colossal abode erected there, facing
the rising sun that he might protect the dead sleeping in the tombs round
about.
There were many lion-headed gods and goddesses, in some cases
personifying the destructive power. In the underworld lion-headed deities
guarded some of the halls and pylons there, and that the lion was connected
in some way with the dead is proved by the fact that the head of the bier
was always made in the form of a lion's head, while the foot was not seldom
decorated with a lion's tail.
A curious point is that it was evidently permissible to kill the lions of another
country, if not those of Egypt, for we find that Amen-hetep III boasted of
having shot with his own bow one hundred and two fierce lions. Rameses II
and Rameses III both kept a tame lion, which accompanied them into battle
and actually attacked the enemy. In this case, however, it is evident that
primarily the lion was a symbol of guardianship.

The Cat

The cat was regarded both as an incarnation of Bast, the goddess of

Bubastis, and therefore sacred to her, and as a personification of the sun.
Throughout Egyptian mythology the cat is to be found, and generally in a
beneficent aspect. In the Book of the Dead it is a cat who cuts off the head
of the serpent of darkness and who assists in the destruction of the foes of
Osiris. On every side there is ample evidence that everywhere in Egypt the
cat was held in great reverence after the Twenty-second Dynasty. The
classical writers are again our authorities. Diodorus relates that the cats were
fed on bread and milk and slices of Nile fish, and that the animals came to
their meals at certain calls. After death their bodies were carefully embalmed
and, with spices and drugs, swathed in linen sheets. The penalty of death
was meted out to anyone who killed a cat, be it by accident or of intent, and
a case is given in which a Roman who had killed a cat was set upon by the
enraged populace and made to pay for the outrage with his life. A passage
from Herodotus further illustrates the esteem in which these animals were
held: "When a conflagration takes place a supernatural impulse seizes on the
cats. For the Egyptians, standing at a distance, take care of the cats and
neglect to put out the fire; but the cats, making their escape, and leaping
over the men, throw themselves into the fire; and when this happens great
lamentations are made among the Egyptians. In whatsoever house a cat dies
a natural death all the family shave their eyebrows only, but if a dog die they
shave their whole body and the head. All cats that die are carried to certain
sacred houses, where, being first embalmed, they are buried in the city of
Bubastis."
 Mummied Cats—In the British Museum

The Dog

Dogs were held in great honour by the Egyptians, as in the city of Cynopolis,
yet strangely enough, they were never looked upon as a possible incarnation
of a god, though there seems to have been some confusion of the dog with
the jackal, sacred to Anubis, who ministered to Osiris and acted as guide to
the souls of the dead. Another animal so confounded was the wolf, which
was specially venerated at Lycopolis. The fact that the jackal was to be found
chiefly in the deserts and mountains where tombs were usually located led to
its early association with the dead and the underworld in Egyptian
mythology, the character ascribed to it being beneficent and that of a guide.

The Hippopotamus

Another cult probably founded on fear was that of the hippopotamus. Ta-urt,
the hippopotamus-goddess, came in time to be identified with nearly every
goddess in the Egyptian pantheon, and though her attributes are those of
benevolence and protectiveness, the original traits of ferocious
destructiveness were not wholly obliterated, for we find these personified in
the monster, half-hippopotamus, called Amemt, who attends the Judgment
Scene. In this same scene is the dog-headed ape, who sits and watches the
pointer of the scales and reports the results to Thoth. This animal was
greatly revered by the Egyptians. The cult is probably extremely ancient.
Apes were kept in many temples, mostly those of the lunar deities, as that of
Khensu at Thebes.

Other Animals

Two animals, the ass and the pig, attained a peculiar reputation for evil,
though in some aspects looked upon as sacrosanct. They were always
connected with the powers of darkness and evil. In the case of the ass
opinion seems to have fluctuated, for in some instances this animal figures as
a personification of the sun-god Ra. Many smaller animals are to be found in
the mythology of Egypt, among which may be mentioned the hare, which
was worshipped as a deity, the shrew-mouse, sacred to the goddess Buto,
the ichneumon, and the bat, whilst reptiles were represented by the tortoise,
associated with night, therefore with darkness and evil; and the serpent,
clearly propitiated through fear at first, though afterward credited with
beneficent motives. The uræus became the symbol of divinity and royalty, a
symbol worn by the gods and the kings. But the evil side was undoubtedly
prominent in the mind of the Egyptian, for all the terrors of death and the
Unknown were personified in the monster serpent Apep, who led his broods
of serpents against both gods and men in the gloom of the underworld.
Others were the scorpion, associated sometimes with evil, but also sacred to
Isis; and the frog, worshipped in pre-dynastic times as the symbol of
generation, birth, and fecundity. This cult was the most ancient in Egypt and
is connected with the creation myth. The goddess Heqt, identified with
Hathor, is depicted with the head of a frog.

The Ibis

Amongst birds worshipped by the Egyptians, one of the most important was
the ibis. It was associated with Thoth and the moon, and in the earliest
period the city of Hermopolis was the centre of this cult. A passage in
Herodotus gives many interesting details concerning the ideas held regarding
the bird. He tells us that he went to a certain place in Arabia, near the city of
Buto, to learn about the winged serpents, brought into Egypt by the west
wind, which the ibis was believed to destroy along with the ordinary reptiles
common to the country. Arriving there, he "saw the backbones and ribs of
serpents in such numbers as it was impossible to describe; of the ribs there
were a multitude of heaps, some great, some small, some of medium size.
The place where the bones lie is at the entrance of a narrow gorge between
steep mountains, which there opens upon a wide plain communicating with
the great plain of Egypt. The story goes that, with the spring, the winged
snakes come flying from Arabia toward Egypt, but are met in this gorge by
the birds called ibises, who bar their entrance and destroy them. The
Arabians assert, and the Egyptians admit, that it is on account of this service
that the Egyptians hold the ibis in so much reverence. The ibis is a bird of a
deep black colour, with legs like a crane; its beak is strongly hooked, and its
size that of the landrail. This is a description of the black ibis which contends
with the serpents."
Another bird held in great reverence was the bennu, a bird of the heron
species which gave rise to the mythical bird, the phœnix. It is identified with
the sun, a symbol of the rising and the setting sun. Many fables arose
concerning this bird, and are recounted by Herodotus and Pliny. Another sun-
bird was the falcon, sacred to Horus, Ra, and Osiris, and this was worshipped
throughout Egypt in the pre-dynastic period. In another form, represented
with a human head, it was symbolic of the human soul, a distinction it shared
with the heron and swallow, in both of which it was believed the human soul
might reincarnate itself. Plutarch says that it was in the form of a swallow
that Isis lamented the death of Osiris. Also sacred to Isis was the goose,
though one species of it was devoted to Amen-Ra; while the vulture was the
symbol of the goddesses Nekhebet and Mut. There is some evidence to
prove that certain fish were held as sacred, and worshipped because of their
mythological connexion with divers gods and goddesses.
 Sacred Trees

Though as a country Egypt was not rich in trees, yet certain of the family
played a not unimportant part in the religious cult, so much so that tree-
worship has been accepted as a fact by most Egyptologists. That these trees
were held in special veneration would support that belief, though recorded
instances of actual tree-worship are rare. This Wiedemann attributes to the
same reason that accounts for the scant notice taken in Egyptian texts of
animal-worship, though we know from other sources that it formed the most
considerable part in popular religion. And the reason is that official religion
took but little notice of the 'minor' divinities to whom the people turned
rather than to the greater gods; that the priestly class hardly admitted to
their pantheon the 'rustic and plebeian' deities of the lower classes. He goes
on to say that "so far as we can judge, the reception of tree-worship into
temple-service and mythology was always the result of a compromise; the
priests were compelled to make concessions to the faith of the masses and
admit into the temples the worship of the people's divinities; but they did so
grudgingly, and this explains the apparent insignificance of the official cult of
vegetation in Egypt as compared with the worship of the great gods and
their cycles."
In their religious symbolism we find the ancient sacred tree which grew in
the 'Great Hall' of Heliopolis on the place where the solar cat slew that great
serpent of evil, Apep, the place, too, from which the Phœnix rose. The leaves
of this tree possessed magical powers, for when Thoth or the goddess
Safekht wrote thereon the name of the monarch, then was he endowed with
immortality. Again, there was the wonderful tree, a tamarisk, which wound
its stem and branches about the chest that held the dead Osiris. An olive-tree
is mentioned, too, the habitation of a nameless demon.
The sycamore, whose shade was so welcome in the brazen glare of Egypt,
had its counterpart in the Land of the Dead, and from its midst leaned out a
Hathor, Lady of the Underworld, offering sustenance and water to the
passing souls. Sometimes it is a palm-tree from which she ministers to the
dead, and perhaps it is a leaf from this tree circled by inverted horns which
stands for the peculiar symbol of Safekht, the goddess of learning. But the
sycamore seems to have been first favourite, and on some monuments it is
represented with peasants gathered round fervently paying their devotions to
it and making offerings of fruit and vegetables and jars of water. It was
always held as sacred to Nut and Hathor, and their doubles were believed to
inhabit it, a certain species being regarded as "the living body of Hathor on
earth"; indeed, the Memphite Hathor was called the 'Lady of the Sycamore.'
As to the later development of this belief Wiedemann states: "In Ptolemaic
times a systematic attempt was made to introduce this form of cult into the
temple of every nome; according to the contemporary lists relating to the
subject, twenty-four nomes worshipped the Nile acacia, seventeen the Corda
myxa, sixteen the Zizyphus Spina Christi, while other trees, such as the
sycamore, the Juniperus Phœnica, and the Tamarisk Nilotica, are named but
once or twice. Ten kinds of sacred trees are here mentioned, in all of which
as many as three were sometimes worshipped in the same nome." Again,
there is evidence to prove that every temple had its sacred tree and sacred
groves, whilst it is recorded that rare trees were brought as precious spoil
from conquered countries, their roots carefully encased in great chests of
earth that they might be planted about temples and palaces.

The Lotus

Amongst flora the only kind which may be said to be sacred is the lotus. In
Egyptian symbolism and decoration it is to be found everywhere. From the
cup of a lotus blossom issues the boy Horus, the 'rising sun,' and again it is
the symbol of resurrection, when Nefer-tem, crowned with the flowers,
grants continuance of life in the world to come. On the altars of offering the
blossoms were laid in profusion.

Religion of the Late Period

The conclusion of the New Empire and the succession of political chaos
during what is known as the Libyan period witnessed what was really, so far
as Egyptian religion is concerned, the beginning of the end. Thenceforward a
gradual decline is apparent in the ancient faith of the Pharaohs, a subtle
decay which the great revival of the eighth century and onward was
powerless to arrest. The ever-increasing introduction into it of foreign
elements, Greek and Persian and Semitic, and the treasuring of the dry husks
of ancient things, from which the soul had long since departed—these
sapped the strength and virility of the Egyptian religion, hampered true
progress, and contributed to its downfall, till it was finally vanquished and
thrown into obscurity by the devotees of Christianity.
At the beginning of the Libyan period, then, there were a number of petty
rulers in the land of Egypt—a monarch held court at Tanis, in the Delta; at
Thebes the priesthood of Amen's cult were the rulers; other districts were
governed by the chief men among the Libyan soldiery. One of these latter,
Sheshonk by name, attained supremacy about the middle of the tenth
century B.C., and as his capital was at Bubastis, Bast, the cat-headed
goddess of that locality, became for a time supreme deity of Egypt, while
other Delta divinities also came into vogue. A share of the worship also fell to
Amen. It is remarkable that this deity was himself the ruler of Thebes, being
represented by a Divine Wife, always the eldest princess of the ruling family.
So firm was the belief in the divine government of Thebes that no human
monarch of the Late period, however powerful, made any attempt to take
the city. Meanwhile a revulsion of feeling occurred against Set, the dark
brother of Isis and Osiris. Hitherto his position among the gods of the
Egyptian pantheon had been unquestioned, but now he was thrown from his
high estate and confused or identified with the dragon Apep; he was no
longer a god, but a devil.
The cult of the oracle flourished greatly during the decadent period, and
afforded, as we may conjecture, considerable scope for priestly ingenuity.
The usual method of consulting the oracle was to write on papyrus certain
words, whether of advice or judgment, which it was proposed to put into the
mouth of the deity, and to which he might assent by nodding.

A Religious Reaction

Toward the end of the eighth century B.C. a great religious reaction set in.
Hitherto the brilliant opening of the New Empire, particularly the time of
Rameses II, had set a model for the pious of the Late period; now the Old
Kingdom, its monuments, rites, and customs, its fervent piety and its proud
conservatism, was become the model epoch for the whole nation. It was,
however, less a faithful copy than a caricature of the Old Kingdom which the
Decadent period provided. All that was most strange and outré in the ancient
religion was sought out and emulated. Old monuments and religious
literature were studied; the language and orthography of long-past centuries
were revived and adopted; and if much of this was incomprehensible to the
bulk of the people, its very mystery but made it the more sacred. In the
funerary practices of the time the antiquarian spirit is very evident. Ancient
funerary literature was held in high esteem; the Pyramid Texts were revived;
old coffins, and even fragments of such, were utilized in the burying of the
dead. The tomb furniture was elaborate and magnificent—in the case of rich
persons, at least—while even the poorest had some such furnishings
provided for them. Ushabti figures of blue faience were buried with the
deceased, to accomplish for him any compulsory labour he might be called
upon to do in the domain of Osiris, and scarabs also were placed in his
coffin. The rites and ceremonies of mummification followed those of the Old
Kingdom, and were religiously carried out. The graves of even the royal
Thebans were not so magnificent as those of private persons of this era. Yet
because their inscriptions were almost invariably borrowed from the Old
Kingdom, it is hard to guess what their ideas really were on the subjects of
death and the underworld. It may be that these also were borrowed. From
the tombs of foreigners—of Syrians belonging to the fifth century B.C.—some
little information may be gathered relative to the status of the dead in the
underworld which probably represents the popular view of the time.
Herodotus asserts that the Egyptians of this epoch believed in the
transmigration of souls, and it is possible that they did hold this belief in
some form. It may well have been a development of the still more ancient
idea that the soul was capable or appearing in a variety of shapes—as a bird,
an animal, and so on.

The Worship of Animals

A very prominent feature of the religion of the Late period, and one which
well illustrates the note of exaggeration already mentioned, was the worship
of animals, carried by the pious Egyptian to a point little short of ludicrous.
Cats and crocodiles, birds, beetles, rams, snakes, and countless other
creatures were reverenced with a lavishness of ceremony and ritual which
the Egyptian knew well how to bestow. Especially to Apis, the bull of the
temple of Ptah in Memphis, was worship accorded. The Saïte king Amasis,
who did a great deal in connexion with the restoration of ancient
monuments, is mentioned as having been especially devoted to the sacred
bull, in whose honour he raised the first of the colossal sarcophagi at
Saqqara. But these elaborate burial rites were not reserved for individual
sacred animals; they were accorded to entire classes. It was a work of piety,
for instance, to mummify a dead cat, convey the remains to Bubastis, where
reigned the cat-headed Bast, and there inter the animal in a vault provided
with suitable furnishings. Dead mice and sparrowhawks were taken to Buto;
the ibis found his last resting-place at Eshmunên; while the cow, the most
sacred of Egyptian animals, was thrown at death into the Nile.
It is notable that, despite the exclusiveness which characterized this phase of
the Egyptian religion and the contempt with which the Egyptians regarded
everything that was not of their land, several foreign elements crept into
their faith and were incorporated with it during the Saïtic and Persian
supremacies. The oracles, which played a conspicuous part in the religious
government of the country, were probably not of Egyptian origin; the burning
of sacrifices was a Semitic custom which the people of the Nile valley had
adopted. Already there was a considerable Greek element in Egypt, and in
the time of Amasis a Greek town—Naukratis—had been founded there. It is
therefore not improbable that Greek ideas also entered into the national
faith, colouring the ancient gods, and perhaps suggesting to Herodotus that
resemblance which caused him to identify the divinities of Egypt with those
of Greece—Osiris with Dionysos, Isis with Demeter, Horus with Apollo, Set
with Typhon, and so on. Naturally this identification became much more
general and complete in later years, when the Hellenes were masters in
Egypt.
Besides these foreign ideas grafted on the Egyptian religion, there were
innovations suggested by the native priests themselves, such as the
deification of certain national heroes admired by the populace for their skill in
learning and magic. Such hero-gods were Imhotep, a distinguished author
and architect under King Zoser at an early period of dynastic history, and
Amenhetep, son of Hāpu, who was thought to have seen and conversed with
the gods. Both heroes were adored with the gods at Thebes and Karnak.

Religion under Persian Rule

If the Saïte rulers endeavoured to keep on good terms with the priesthood,
the Persian monarchs who succeeded them were no whit behind in this
matter. Even the boldest of them found it to his advantage to bow before the
native deities, and to give to these his protection. Meanwhile the Egyptian
dynasts, who ruled contemporaneously with the Persians, were allowed to
proceed unmolested with the building of temples and monuments. Strangely
enough, in view of the nearness of the Greek conquest and the consequent
amalgamation of the religions of Greece and Egypt, this period was
characterized by a hatred and contempt on the part of the Egyptians for all
foreigners dwelling in their cities. Kambyses, who heaped indignity upon the
Apis bull and finally slew the animal, was afterward persuaded by his
physician, Usa-hor-res-net, to recant his heresy, and was further induced to
banish foreigners out of the temple area and to destroy their houses. Other
rulers levied taxes on Greek imports, devoting the revenue thus obtained to
the goddess Neith.
 Horus the Child.

The Ptolemaic Period

As has been said, Greek ideas had already found their way into the religion
of Egypt when the Alexandrine conquest in the fourth century B.C. made the
Greeks dominant. Yet the ancient religion held its ground and maintained its
established character in all essential respects. The Hellenic monarchs vied
with their predecessors in the tolerance and respect which they accorded to
the native religion. It was they who maintained the Egyptian deities in
splendid state; restored statues, books, and so on which the Persians had
taken from the country; even they themselves worshipped the absurd animal
deities of the Egyptians.
This was the great epoch of temple-building in Egypt. The temples of
Dendereh, Edfû, Kom Ombo, Philæ, and many other famous structures were
raised under Ptolemaic and Roman rulers. For the favours shown them by the
conquerors the priests were duly grateful, even to the extent of deifying their
rulers while they were yet alive. It was said of Ptolemy and his consort that
"the beneficent gods have benefited the temples in the land and greatly
increased the dignity of the gods. They have provided in every way for Apis,
Mnevis, and the other esteemed sacred animals with great sumptuousness
and cost." There was even a new order[3] of priesthood instituted, known as
the "priesthood of the beneficent gods."
During the period of Roman ascendancy the high-priest was the most
important religious official within a considerable area, acting as the
representative of a still higher Roman official, the high-priest of Alexander
and of all Egypt. The priests of the larger temples, on which grants of money
and land had been lavishly bestowed, were doubtless sufficiently well
provided for, but in the smaller temples things were far otherwise, if we are
to judge from the evidence at our disposal. The Theban priests especially
were regarded as sages well versed in the lore of antiquity, and as such were
much sought after by travellers from Rome. In Thebes also were priestesses,
consecrated to the service of Amen, the god of that district, to whom the
Greeks as well as the Egyptians rendered homage, identifying him with Zeus.
The worship of animals continued unabated during the Hellenic period; it is
even probable that this phase of the Egyptian religion had become more
pronounced under the Greek rule, for Strabo, writing in the time of Augustus,
asserts that statues of sacred animals had practically displaced those of the
gods. The sacred Ram (Khnemu) of Mendes was worshipped both by
conquered and conquerors, as was the Apis bull and the sacred crocodile,
and it would seem that the temple revenues were at times increased by the
displaying of these animals to the curious gaze of strangers.

Fusion of Greek and Egyptian Ideas

Meanwhile Greek and Egyptian ideas were becoming more and more
completely fused. As already mentioned, Amen was identified with Zeus, Isis
with Demeter, Hathor with Aphrodite, Osiris with Pluto, Set with Typhon, Bast
with Artemis, and Horus with Apollo. This feature was very strikingly
exemplified in the god Sarapis,[4] a deity equally reverenced by the Greeks
and the Egyptians. Sarapis, as the former called him, or Asar-Hapi, as he was
known to the latter, was a name compounded from Osiris and Apis. So early
as the beginning of the New Empire these two deities—Apis, the sacred bull
of Mendes, and Osiris, the 'Bull of the West'—had been to some extent
identified, and finally the Apis had been given the attributes of a god of the
underworld. To the Greeks, it would appear, Sarapis was the form taken by
the deceased Apis bull. Tradition assigns the identification of Sarapis with
Pluto to the reign of Ptolemy Soter. Plutarch gives the following version of the
legend.

The Legend of Sarapis

"Ptolemy, surnamed the Saviour, had a dream wherein a certain colossean

statue, such as he had never seen before, appeared unto him, commanding
him to remove it as soon as possible from the place where it then stood to
Alexandria. Upon this the king was in great perplexity, as he knew neither to
whom the statue belonged nor where to look for it. Upon his relating the
vision to his friends, a certain person named Sosibius, who had been a great
traveller, declared that he had seen just such a statue as the king described
at Sinope. Soteles and Dionysius were hereupon immediately dispatched in
order to bring it away with them, which they at length accomplished, though
not without much difficulty and the manifest interposition of providence.
Timotheus the Interpreter and Manetho, as soon as the statue was shown to
them, from the Cerberus and Dragon that accompanied it concluded that it
was designed to represent Pluto, and persuaded the king that it was in reality
none other than the Egyptian Sarapis; for it must be observed that the statue
had not this name before it was brought to Alexandria, it being given to it
afterward by the Egyptians, as the equivalent, in their opinion, to its old one
of Pluto."
Another version of the tale asserts that the people of Sinope would not
consent to part with the statue of their god, whereupon the statue of its own
accord set sail for Alexandria, which it reached at the end of three days. But
whatever the means by which Ptolemy contrived to bring the statue to Egypt,
there is no doubt that his provision of a god which could be worshipped both
by Greeks and Egyptians, without violation of the principles of either, was a
diplomatic move which was justified in its results. In the temples Sarapis was
figured as a mummy with a high crown and plaited beard; or, as Asar-Hapi,
he was represented as a bull, with the solar disk and uræus between his
horns. In the small figures which were worshipped privately, however, he is
shown in human shape, bearded and curly-haired after the Greek fashion.
If Sarapis was one of the most important of Egyptian deities of this period,
Horus the Child (the Greek Harpocrates) was one of the best-loved. In the
early centuries of the Christian era he is shown as a child, sometimes seated
in a lotus-blossom, sometimes in a ship, or again enthroned as a follower of
the sun-god; frequently he carries a cornucopia or a jar. It is as a child that
he was loved and worshipped by the people, with whom he seems to have
been a universal favourite. Another popular deity was Isis, some of whose
forms were decidedly Grecian. She was the goddess of Alexandria and patron
of sea-faring, the Aphrodite of the Greeks and the Isis of the Egyptians, and
at times she is confused with Hathor. She and Osiris are also figured as
serpents, though the god of the dead is more often represented in his
Sarapis form, ruling in the underworld and accompanied by Cerberus.
Another deity who became popular during the Hellenic period, though
formerly occupying a very obscure position in the Pantheon, was the god
Bes, figured as an armed warrior, still, however, retaining his grotesque
character. A figure borrowed, doubtless, from Christianity represents Isis and
Horus in a posture strongly reminiscent of the Madonna and Child.

An Architectural Renaissance

The cult of the Old Kingdom persisted through the early, and perhaps even
into the later, Hellenic period. Those temples raised in the time of the
Ptolemies exhibit strong resemblances to those of the Old Kingdom.
Dendereh, for example, was built to a design of the time of Kheops, and
Imhotep, the hero-god, was the architect of Edfû. The walls of these
Ptolemaic temples were covered with inscriptions dealing with the rites and
customs used therein. Temple ceremonials and festivals, such as that of
Horus of Edfû, were held as in ancient times. The ancient written language
was studied by the priests, who thus had at their command a tongue
unknown to the laity. A reversion to ancient things was evident in every
phase of the Egyptian religion, and the Greeks, far from dispelling the dust of
long-past centuries, entered partly into the spirit of the time, gave their
protection to the old customs and cults, and themselves worshipped at the
shrines of sacred cats, cows, and crocodiles. Truly a strange position for the
fathers of classicism!
During the early centuries of the Christian era foreign religions began to
penetrate the land of the Pharaohs and to mingle with the Græco-Egyptian
compound in a manner most perplexing to the student of the period. The
predominant alien faith, and the one which finally triumphed, was
Christianity. Osiris, the Greek gods, and the archangel Sabaoth are
mentioned in the same breath. In the magical texts especially this confusion
is noticeable, for they frequently contain Christian, Jewish, Greek, and
Egyptian allusions. Doubtless the magicians reasoned that if the deities of
one faith failed them those of another might prove more successful, and so,
to make assurance doubly sure, they included all the gods they knew in their
formulæ.

Change in the Conception of the Underworld

Meanwhile a change took place in the popular conception of the underworld.

It was still the Duat, governed by Osiris or Sarapis; but now it tended to be a
place of punishment for the wicked, where the future of the deceased was
influenced less by his tomb-furnishings and inscriptions than by the conduct
of his life while on earth. Nevertheless, the burial rites continued to be
elaborate and costly. Mummification was extensively practised even among
Christians, and amulets were buried in their coffins. In the fourth and fifth
centuries there was still a considerable proportion of pagans in the country:
in Alexandria Sarapis was the principal deity; in Memphis Imhotep was
worshipped under the name of Asklepios; Zeus, Apollo, and Rhea were
favourite divinities, while at Abydos the oracle of Bes was worshipped.

Twilight of the Gods

At length, however, Christian fanaticism blotted out the ancient religion of the
Pharaohs, as well as many of its priests and adherents. The temple of
Sarapis was stormed amid scenes of riot and turbulence, and the last refuge
of the Egyptian faith was gone. Henceforth the names and myths of the
ancient deities survived only in the spells and formulæ of the magicians,
while their dreary ghosts haunted the ruined temples wherein they were
nevermore to reign.
[1] In the earliest representations the feathers do not appear.
 [2] In the earliest sarcophagi in the Serapeum no mummies were found,
only a few bones.
[3] Cf. the priests of the kings of the Old Kingdom.
[4] Or Serapis.

CHAPTER IX: EGYPTIAN ART

The output of the great Egyptian masters of the graphic arts has virtually no
counterpart, and, bold as this statement may appear at first sight, it will be
found to withstand tolerably close scrutiny. Looking at some of the
incomparable embroideries of bygone Persia, studying the divine porcelain of
mediæval China, or turning over woodcuts by the great Japanese artists of
the Ukiyoé school—men like Hokusai and Utamaro, Hiroshige, Yeizan and
Toyokuni—we no doubt feel ourselves in touch with something different from
European art, yet only partly different. Strange as these Eastern objects are,
we find in them a certain familiarity, we find them expressive of emotions
and sentiments not altogether unknown to us; and herein Egyptian things
are different, for these seem to us entirely novel, they suggest some weird,
enchanted world untrodden by the foot of man, perhaps a supernatural
world. Nor is their strangeness, their almost sinister unfamiliarity so very
hard to explain, it being due not only to the curious conventions which the
Egyptian masters obeyed so implicitly century after century, but to the fact
that the arts were indigenous to ancient Egypt. Japan derived her painting
from China about the fourteenth century A.D.; Chinese work, in turn,
frequently discloses affinities with that of ancient Greece; and the great
Italian masters of the Renaissance owed much to the Græco-Roman school;
while the old Spanish artists, again, were under obligations to the Moors and
Arabs, and in England and in Scotland, in Germany and in France, painting
did not grow up like a flower, but was rather an exotic imported chiefly from
the Low Countries. In short, throughout bygone times, no less essentially
than in modern periods, the arts in nearly every country owed something to
those of other countries, a great interchange going forward perpetually; but
the mighty works of Egypt were mostly wrought long before the advent of
this interchange, and painting and sculpture, architecture and other domestic
arts, would seem to have arisen of their own accord in the land of Isis, there
to thrive and develop throughout æons of years a pure African product,
uninfluenced in any way by the handiwork of other races.
It is always difficult to speak of the origin of anything, for even the oldest
thing has its ancestry. And while it is possible to treat with some definiteness
of the first great period of Egyptian art, the Thinite, which commenced about
5000 B.C., we have to remember that the output of this period was no
exception to the rule aforesaid, but had its ancestry, this consisting in the
work of the shadowy pre-dynastic time. Even at that far-off era crude images
of living animals were made in Egypt, mud, of course, being the material
commonly used; while a great deal of pottery, some of it incised with quaint
patterns, was also produced; and if many of these vases and the like are no
better than those of most primitive artists, others, again, manifest a distinct
feeling for shapeliness and proportion. Nor did the Egyptians of this period
eschew that immemorial practice, the decoration of themselves; for among
the oldest relics of the country's art are numerous personal ornaments, some
made of bone or of shell, some of stone or ivory, and some even of precious
metals. Moreover, rude forms of architecture were early essayed, this in its
turn begetting pristine efforts at mural embellishment.
In pre-dynastic Egypt the dead were usually interred in shallow graves with
no embellishment, only one painted tomb of that early period being known.
When, however, we pass to the study of the period which succeeded, it is the
art of sepulchral decoration which first claims attention. Not even in Roman
Catholic countries, not even in China, has the welfare of the dead ever been
thought of so lovingly, so constantly and zealously, as in ancient Egypt. A
very solid affair was the Egyptian tomb of this era, built commonly of
limestone or sandstone, but occasionally of granite, or of breccia from the
Arabian mountains; and in the case of a notable person the sides of his tomb
were duly carved with pictures of his deeds while on earth, and more
especially with pictures illustrating his prospective passage through the
underworld. Generally, too, a statue glorified the outside of his tomb, this
statue being wrought of alabaster, schist or serpentine, diorite or limestone,
granite or sandstone; and the sculptor, be it noted, never aimed primarily at
decoration, but invariably at a portrait of the defunct. Moreover, he would
seem to have pondered very deeply on the question of durability, attaching
his work firmly to its repoussoir, or, more often, making it a very part
thereof; and to illustrate the Egyptian's predilection in this respect we may
mention two works, both in the Cairo Museum, the one showing the Pharaoh
Mycerinus seated, the other depicting a group of three people, likewise
seated. In both cases the statuary have been hewn out of the great pieces of
rock supporting them, and could not possibly be removed therefrom save by
elaborate cutting with mallet and chisel.
A wealth of other statues belonging to the early dynastic era are still extant,
many of them possessing rare artistic value. And if the same can hardly be
said with reference to existing specimens of the relief-cutting of this period,
when turning from these to early domestic art we are struck repeatedly by its
infinite loveliness. Prominent among such things as merit this praise are
numerous bracelets, while the Cairo Museum contains two fine carved ivory
feet of a stool which express great vigour of artistic conception, and the
same collection includes sundry tiny figures of monkeys, lions, and dogs, all
of them manifestly the work of a master who had a keen sense for the
curious beauty which lurks in the grotesque.
To an early period also, that of the Pyramid Kings, should be assigned those
amazing monuments of the industry and ingenuity of bygone Egypt, the
Pyramids and the Sphinx—works which have evoked nearly as much
eloquence, alike in prose and verse, as the Monna Lisa of Leonardo da Vinci
and the Elgin Marbles of Phidias. Usually supposed to have been wrought
early in the era in question, their inception is, however, wrapped in mystery;
but whatever the true solution of that enigma, this Memphite period was
certainly one which witnessed considerable developments in Egyptian art.
True, there is little opportunity of studying the architecture of the time, such
relics as exist consisting in little more than heaps of stone or masses of sun-
dried brick; yet in the field of sculpture, on the contrary, we are enabled to
note and scrutinize progress. Heretofore sepulchral statues had been virtually
a preserve of the rich and great, but now all sorts and conditions of tombs—
or, at least, the tombs of many comparatively poor people—were garnished
in this way; and as the defunct was often portrayed in an attitude indicating
his career on earth, this statuary offers a valuable sidelight on Memphite
Egyptian life. Thus we find, here a man engaged in brewing, there another
seated at secretarial work, his posture practically that of the modern tailor;
while we observe also that care for the welfare of a deceased magnate of
any kind was being manifested on a more intricate scale than hitherto. That
is to say, suppose his friends and relations should be anxious that he should
be well fed in the hereafter, they would embellish his resting-place with
statuary delineating a kitchen in being; while sometimes, with an analogous
end in view, they would represent in the tomb-chapel a group of musicians,
each depicted with his instrument in his hands.[1] And in all these works, as
also in divers others of a different nature, we notice a more fluent handling
than that characterizing the generality of those of pre-dynastic days, as
witness what is possibly the very crown of the Pyramid age (Fourth Dynasty)
sculpture, the full-length at Cairo of the 'Sheikh-el-Beled' (whose real name
was Ka-aper), a figure wrought in a fashion vigorous and confident as
anything from the hand of Rodin or Mestrovic. Furthermore, we mark again
and again that artists were now beginning to express their respective
individualities, they were showing themselves less prone to conform slavishly
to a given régime; and it is significant that one of the Pyramid age sculptors,
Ptah-Ankh, far from hiding his identity like all his predecessors, saw fit on
one occasion to model a stone relief in which he himself figured as sitting in
a boat.

The Materials of Painting

It should be noted at this juncture that these Egyptian bas-reliefs were not
usually left in a monochromatic state as is customary in modern Europe; for
the painter, on the contrary, was generally called to the sculptor's aid, while
even portrait statues were frequently coloured also. And apart from work of
this order, the craft of painting on sun-dried clay was carried to no mean
height of excellence during Pyramid days, as also was that of painting on
papyrus, while mummy cases were often decked with multitudinous hues.
The colours in many of these old Egyptian works still possess great depth
and brilliance, while, indeed, some of them have lasted far better than those
in divers Italian frescoes of the Renaissance, and infinitely better than those
in numerous pictures by Reynolds and Turner; and thus we naturally pause
to ask the questions: What manner of pigments were commonly used in
Egypt? and what, exactly, was the modus operandi of the country's painters?
Well, an Egyptian artist usually kept his paints in the condition of powder,
and on starting work he liquefied them with a mixture of water and gum
tragacanth; while he next proceeded to apply this solution with a reed pen,
or with brushes made of soft hair, few men being in the habit of using more
than two brushes, a thick one and a thin. Then as to the colours themselves,
the gold we sometimes see is, of course, easily accounted for; while black, it
would seem, was obtained by burning the bones of animals, and white was
made of gypsum mixed with honey or albumen. Red and yellow, again, were
procured by more familiar processes, the former being derived from
sulphuret of mercury, the latter simply from clay; while blue, a comparatively
rare shade in natural objects other than the sea and sky, and therefore hard
to obtain, was evolved from lapis-lazuli. The picture duly finished, some
painters would cover it with a coat of transparent varnish, made from the
gum of the acacia; but the men who did this were really few in number, and
the colours in their works have not lasted well—not nearly so well as those in
paintings by masters who left varnish severely alone.
Leaving these technical details and returning to the actual history of the arts
in Egypt, we must speak now of the Middle Kingdom, which commenced with
the Ninth Dynasty (c. 2445) and lasted to the Seventeenth Dynasty. During
this time the craft of building developed apace, among the results being the
obelisk of Heliopolis. And if these are works reflecting thaumaturgic
mechanical ingenuity rather than great artistic taste, the latter is certainly
manifest in two other vast structures of early Theban days, the temple of
Kom-es-Sagha and the portico of Sa Renput I. Much fine domestic art was
also made at this time, as witness the diadem and crown of Khnemit, both of
which are now at Cairo. A more natural style became discernible, both as
regards bas-reliefs and paintings. Indeed, many sketches and paintings of
this period, especially those which delineate scenes of sport, war, and
athletics, possess a spirit and dash which show that the race of Egyptian
artists was becoming more skilled in the free use of the brush. One of the
most remarkable paintings of this period is a picture at Beni Hassan, the
subject of which is a series of wrestling bouts.
 Hauling Blocks of Stone for the Pyramids—Evelyn Paul.

New Empire Art

In the period of the New Empire (Eighteenth to Thirty-first Dynasties) the

student of Egyptian art is confronted with a veritable embarrassment of
riches, chiefly architectural. It was this period which witnessed the
completion of such imposing structures as the hypostyle hall at Karnak, the
temple of Rameses III at Medinet-habû, and the great assemblage of
ecclesiastical edifices at Dêr-el-Bahari. The finest and most imposing
buildings at Luxor likewise belong to this era, as do the rock-cut temples at
Bêt-el-Wálî and Abu-Simbel. The sculptors of the period also achieved lasting
triumphs, especially in the two colossal figures of Memnon at Thebes, and
the famous Avenue of Sphinxes at Karnak. The statue of Thothmes III,
Amenophis, the son of Hapu, and Queen Tyi are also of great æsthetic
interest. Turning to bas-relief, the likenesses of Seti I (Abydos), Septah
Meneptah, and Queen Aahmes (a plaster cast in the temple at Dêr-el-Bahari)
claim our attention, the last-named being among the loveliest of all Egyptian
works of the kind. The delicacy and refinement of this masterpiece surpasses
almost any relief executed in Egypt before it. In fact, a greater refinement
begins to be apparent in the Egyptian art work of this period, even the
domestic arts showing greater attention to delicacy. Lines of great subtlety
appear chased on table utensils, while equal skill is apparent in numerous
amulets and much of the jewellery of the period. Little boxes, handles of
mirrors and spoons designed to hold cosmetics are in many cases the result
of craftsmanship of a very high order. One of the spoons depicts a woman
swimming behind a swan, and inevitably recalls the myth of Leda. Finally,
much beautiful furniture was made during this period, perhaps the best
existing specimen being a chair in the Cairo Museum, its arms adroitly carved
in the form of stealthy-looking panthers.
During this period the use of wood as a medium for artistic representation
seems to have been on the increase. Contemporaneously the craft of casting
in metal was improved and then virtually perfected, a consummation which
had an important influence upon sculpture. This, too, was the epoch at which
the Egyptian artists in colour revolted against the conventionality which had
in ancient times beset their craft. Until this time they had not attempted to
colour realistically. Certain objects were tinted according to tradition as
taught in their schools. Thus the flesh of a man was painted a reddish
brown, that of a woman yellow, that of a priest blue, and so forth. And it was
not until the period of the New Empire that artists began to revolt seriously
against this system. One unknown master went so far as to indulge in rosy
flesh-tints, and it is natural to inquire whether it was foreign influence which
aroused this iconoclastic act. Be that as it may, there can be no doubt that
Egyptian artists began to learn from those of other lands—the Assyrians, for
instance—and this circumstance renders the study of Egyptian art during this
period somewhat difficult and complex.
The last period of Egyptian art, the Saïte, commenced about 721 B.C. During
this epoch the incursions of the Persians, Greeks, and finally of the Romans
are seen acting materially on the country's productions, often to their
detriment, for instead of working naturally, instead of employing their own
national style, the Egyptian artists of the Saïte period were prone to imitate,
uttering themselves haltingly in fashions borrowed from other races.
But it is a mistake to maintain, as is occasionally done, that this waning of
lofty traditions began with the very advent of the Saïte age. It is a mistake to
contend that no vital art was executed by the Egyptians thenceforward. Not
till the eve of the advent of Christ did Egyptian jewellery and craftsmanship
in general begin to decline; while as to architecture, Herodotus speaks in the
most eulogistic terms of the great buildings at Saïs. Unfortunately most of
these are demolished, and we have no chance of studying them at first hand.
The Pharaohs of the Saïtic period lost the vast command of labour of their
Theban and Memphite predecessors; nevertheless the dawn of the last
period in Egyptian art saw the completion of many noble edifices. The
pronaos of Komombos, the temple of Isis at Philæ, and the kiosk of
Nectanebu at the same place, deserve citation, as also do the Mammisi and
temple of Horus at Edfû. Yet everywhere are to be seen structures of this
period influenced by Greek or Roman ideas, and others which are clearly the
work of Egyptian masons acting under the instructions of alien masters.
The painting of this period embraces numerous works equal to any product
of earlier times—for example, the vignette of the Judgment before Osiris
contained in the papyrus of Queen Mat-ka-ré. But we also observe Egyptian
artists forsaking their time-honoured colour-schemes and using such tints as
green and mauve, probably copied from Hellenic decorations. In the bas-
reliefs of the time, moreover, we find much which is sadly mechanical—so
mechanical that we are persuaded that it was done to order from drawing
supplied by foreigners. Nor is the history of Saïte statuary greatly different
from that of those arts mentioned above, for while at first a wealth of
splendid things were achieved—notably a study of Osiris recumbent and a
portrait of Petubastis—the mechanical element crept into this domain as it
had done into the others. Sculptors became mere artisans, slaving at the
reproduction of prescribed patterns. Some actually kept in stock ready-made
statues of the human body, the heads to be added as clients presented
themselves.
 A Head-rest—British Museum.

Egyptian Art Influences

Still, the expression of a nation's soul does not entirely vanish, and if
Egyptian artists were ultimately influenced by the conquering Romans, the
Italian craftsmen came no less surely under the sway of the great Egyptian
schools, and, as noted at the outset of this chapter, the Romans inspired
much of the work of the Italian masters of the Renaissance, whose output
was long regarded as the flower of European art. We find Egyptian influences
strong in Spain, for the art of the Nile had cast its potent spell over the
Arabs, who at a later date became almost the fathers of the domestic arts in
the Iberian peninsula; and so it is with no surprise that, when looking at old
Spanish ornaments, we frequently find them bearing a close resemblance to
analogous articles made for the belles of Memphis and of Thebes. Nor was
France without some more direct Egyptian influence than that which reached
her indirectly through Italy. The characteristic art of the French Empire was
directly descended from Egyptian art. Under Louis XIV French painting and
craftsmanship were ornate and pompous in the extreme, but in the following
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