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In the same case is a good general collection of reels, spindles and spindle whorls, and carding instruments, etc., used by workers in linen. In Table-case J is a fine collection of pieces of linen ornamented with patterns and designs woven in coloured threads, or worked in wools, from the tombs of Egyptian Christians, dating from A.D. 300 to 900. Of special interest are the squares with figures of Adam and Eve (No. 4), St. George slaying the Dragon (No. 18), and God the Father among the Seraphim (Nos. 21-24). The fine pieces of yellow silk, one with arabesque designs and an Arabic inscription in the Kûfì character, are remarkable (Nos. 25-27). Of bier-cloths, the finest example in Europe is probably that seen in Wall-cases 70 and 71, in the Second Egyptian Room. This cloth is embroidered in coloured wools, with a frieze of cherubs holding necklaces, baskets of fruit, flowers, etc. In the centre two cherubs are supporting a crown, within which is worked a cross, and the rest of the cloth is ornamented with doves, vases of fruit and flowers, rosettes, etc. It belongs to the period after A.D. 350.

The Egyptian Tomb.-The care taken by the Egyptians to preserve the bodies of their dead would have been in vain if they had not provided secure hiding places for their mummies. The mummy had to be guarded against the attacks of thieves and of wild animals, and placed beyond the reach of the waters of the Inundation. In primitive times the dead of all classes were buried in graves which were dug on the skirts of the desert, in the sandy or rocky soil; this custom was dictated by economical considerations, for the mud soil of the country, every yard of which was cultivated, was too valuable to the living to be devoted to the dead. The graves were usually oval in shape, and comparatively shallow, and they were covered over with slabs and layers of sand (see Case A, First Egyptian Room); it is probable that they were marked by some kind of stone or stake driven into the ground near the head of the grave. The graves, in which bodies were buried in a sitting position, were, of course, deeper than those in which they were laid on their sides. Over the graves of chiefs, huts made of reeds and grass were built, and offerings of food and drink were probably placed in them, as well as in the graves. At a later period mud houses took the place of the reed huts, and, still later, such houses were built of stone. In the Archaïc Period the buildings over the graves of the kings were rectangular in form, and they contained many chambers, wherein, no doubt, the ceremonies connected with the burial

166

THE PYRAMID TOMB.

of kings were performed, and stores of provisions of all kinds for the use of the deceased were placed. At this time men and women of lower rank were buried in shallow graves, the sides of which were protected with crude bricks, and the poorest folk of all were buried together in pits, which belonged to the community.

In the IIIrd dynasty, king Tcheser

whose

name a late tradition coupled with a very severe Seven

[graphic][merged small]

Years' Famine, built himself, at Sakkârah, a' magnificent tomb in the form of an oblong pyramidal building with six steps, to which the name of Step Pyramid has been given. Its total height is about 197 feet, and the length of its sides at the base is: south and north 352 feet, east and west 396 feet. A common name for the tomb is Pa tchetta

"House

of eternity," and tombs were endowed with estates by wealthy folk in perpetuity. The commonest form of tomb made for royal personages and nobles at this time, and for several centuries afterwards, was the heavy, massive building of rectangular oblong shape, the four sides of which were four walls symmetrically inclined towards their common centre. To this building the name of maṣṭaba, i.e., "bench," has been given.

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False door from the Mastaba tomb of Asa-ankh, a high official, who flourished in the reign of King Assȧ, about B.C. 3400.

[Vestibule, South Wall, No. 53.]

It was thus called by the Arabs, because all the examples with which they were familiar, being more than half buried in sand, resembled the long low seats which are common in oriental houses. The exterior surfaces of the mastaba are not flat, for the face of each course of masonry, formed of stones laid vertically, is a little behind the one beneath it, and if these recesses were a little deeper, the external appearance of each side of the building would resemble a flight of steps. The height of the maṣṭaba varies from 13 feet to 30 feet, the length from 26 feet to 170 feet, and the width from 20 feet to 86 feet. The plan of the maṣṭaba is an oblong rectangle,

[graphic][merged small]

and the greater axis of the rectangle is usually in the direction from south to north. Mastabas were arranged in rows symmetrically on all sides of the Pyramids at Gizah. The mastabas at Sakkârah are built of stone and brick. The entrance to the mastaba is usually on the east side. Near the north-east corner is sometimes found a series of long vertical grooves, or a "false door" (see Plate XIV), which is sometimes called the stele. Near the south-east corner is generally another opening, but larger and more carefully made; in this is sometimes found a fine inscribed limestone false door, and sometimes a small architectural façade, in the centre of which is a door. The top of the mastaba is quite flat.

The interior of the complete maṣṭaba consists of: 1. A chamber. 2. The Serdâb. 3. A pit. 4. A mummy-chamber. The walls of the maṣṭaba chamber may be ornamented with sculptures or not. In it, facing the east, is a false door, which is

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