The walls of the men's apartment were painted of a reddish-brown color, against which the outlines of some white marble carvings, the gift of a Chian sculptor, stood out in sharp relief.
The floor was covered with rich carpets from Sardis; low cushions of panthers' skins lay ranged along the colonnade; around the artistically wrought hearth stood quaint Egyptian settees, and small, delicately-carved tables of Thya wood, on which lay all kinds of musical instruments, the flute, cithara and lyre.

Numerous lamps of various and singular shapes, filled with Kiki oil, hung against the walls.

Some represented fire-spouting dolphins; others, strange winged monsters from whose jaws the flames issued; and these, blending their light with that from the hearth, illumined the apartment.
In this room a group of men were assembled, whose appearance and dress differed one from the other.

A Syrian from Tyre, in a long crimson robe, was talking animatedly to a man whose decided features and crisp, curly, black hair proclaimed him an Israelite.

The latter had come to Egypt to buy chariots and horses for Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah--the Egyptian equipages being the most sought after at that time.