Note 47: — XII.—DOMESTIC ARTS. (Table-Case G.)

Locks and Keys.—The earliest and simplest form of door fastening used by the Greeks seems to have consisted of a bar of wood set behind the door, and made to slide into a hole or staple in the sidepost. An advance on this arrangement was soon made, when the bar was pulled to by a strap from the outside, and could be opened again from the outside by means of a key passed through a hole in the door, and adapted to lift up the pegs which held the bar fast in position. This is the type of lock mentioned in the Odyssey,47 where Penelope releases the strap from the hook to which it was fastened, puts in the key, and lifts the pegs, "striking them fairly." The key for such a lock will probably have resembled No. 440, marked a in fig. 186 below, the working of which is shown in the sketch (fig. 184).48 It was passed narrow-wise through the central slot, then turned, and drawn back so as to lift up the pegs fitted in grooves in the side slots. The bar below would thus be freed and could be drawn to and fro by the strap. This type of lock is still sometimes used in the East.49