Page images
PDF
EPUB

Coffin

ornamen

tation.

Scenes

the coffin.

handsome, and carpenter and artist have expended their best labour upon it; before Ani was embalmed he was measured for it, and due allowance having been made for the bandages, it fits the mummy exactly. It is in the form of a mummy, and the sycamore planks of which it is made are about two inches thick; the bottom is in one piece, as is also each of the sides, the rounded head-piece is cut out of a solid piece of wood, and the foot-piece is also separate; all these parts are pegged together with wooden pegs about two inches long. On the cover is pegged a solid face, carved out of hard wood, which is thought to have a strong resemblance to that of Ani; bronze eyelids and obsidian eyes are fixed in it, and a carved wooden beard is fastened to the chin. Solid wooden hands are next fastened to the breast. The whole coffin, inside and out, is next covered with a thin layer of plaster; over this a coat of light yellow varnish is painted, and the scenes and inscriptions are painted on it in red, light and painted on dark green, white and other colours. At the head is Nephthys, and at the foot is Isis, each making speeches to Ani, and telling him that she is protecting him. On the cover outside is Nut, and between two series of scenes in which Ani is represented worshipping the gods, are two perpendicular lines of inscriptions recording his name and titles; at the foot of these are figures of Anubis and Ap-uat. The sides of the coffin are ornamented with figures of gods in shrines, the scene of the weighing of the heart, Ani drinking water from the hands of a goddess standing in a tree, Shu lifting up Nut from the embraces of Seb, etc. Inside the coffin are painted figures of a number of gods and genii with instructions referring to them, and the goddesses Nut and Hathor; the first covers Ani with her wings, and the second, as mistress of the nether-world, receives Ani into her arms. Around the edge of the coffin near the cover, from head to foot, run two lines of inscription, one on each side, which repeat at considerable length the name and titles of Ani. The outer edge of the coffin, and the inner edge of the cover are "rabbeted" out, the one to fit into the other, and on each side, at regular intervals, four rectangular slots about 1țin. × 2in. × ĝin. are cut; to fasten the coffin hermetically, tightly fitting wooden dowels, four

inches long, are pressed into the slots in the coffin, and pegs driven from the outside of the coffin through them keep them firmly in position. Ani's body having been placed in this coffin, the cover is laid upon it, the ends of the dowels fit into the slots in the sides, and coffin and cover are firmly joined together; wooden pegs are driven through the cover and dowels, the "rabbets" fit tightly, the little space between the coffin and cover is "stopped" with liquid plaster, and thus the coffin is sealed. Any injury that may have hap- The outer pened to the plaster or paintings during the process of sealing is repaired, and the whole coffin is once more varnished. This coffin is, in its turn, placed inside an outer coffin, which is painted, both inside and outside, with scenes similar to those on the inner coffin; the drawing is, however, more free, and the details are fewer. The outer coffin being sealed in the same way as that inside it, Ani is now ready to be carried to his everlasting home in the Theban hills.

coffin.

funeral

procession.

On a day fixed by the relatives and friends, all the various articles of funereal furniture which have been prepared are brought to Ani's house, where also the mummy in its coffins now lies awaiting the funeral; the cher-heb sees that the things necessary for a great man's funeral are provided, and arranges for the procession to start on the first auspicious day. This day having arrived, the cher-heb's assistants come, and gathering together the servants and those who are to carry burdens, see that each has his load ready and that each knows his place in the procession. When all is ready the funeral train sets The out from Ani's house, while the female servants wail and lament their master, and the professional mourners beat their breasts, feign to pull out their hair by handfuls, and vie with each other in shrieking the loudest and most often. They have not a great distance to go to reach the river, but the difficulties of passing through the narrow streets increase almost at every step, for the populace of Thebes loved the sight of a grand funeral as much as that of any European country to-day. After some few hours the procession reaches the river, and there a scene of indescribable confusion happens; every bearer of a burden is anxious to deposit it in one of the boats which lie waiting in a row by the quay; the animals which

draw the sledge, on which Ani's bier is laid, kick out wildly and struggle while being pushed into the boats, people rush hither and thither, and the noise of men giving orders, and the shouts and cries of the spectators, are distracting. At length, however, the procession is embarked and the boats push off to drop with the current across the Nile to a place a little north of the Temple of Thothmes III., opposite Asâsîf. After an hour spent in disembarking, the procession reforms itself in the order in which it will march to the tomb, and we see for the first time what a splendid funeral has been Funereal provided. In the front walk a number of men bearing tables and stands filled with vases full of wine, beer, oil, perfumes, flowers, bread, cakes, ducks, haunches of beef, and vegetables; one man carries Ani's palette and box of instruments which he used for writing and drawing, another carries his staff, another his bed, another his chair, others bring the ushabtiu figures in a box with a vaulted cover and made like a tomb; and following them comes the stele recording his name and titles and prayers to the gods of the nether-world; and behind them, drawn by two men, is a coffer surmounted by a jackal, on a sledge decorated with lotus flowers, in which stand the four jars which contain Ani's intestines. Next follow the men bearing everything which Ani made use of during his life, as, for example, the palette which he carried when he followed his king to war in order to keep the accounts of the army and to make lists of all the precious things which were brought to his lord as gifts and tribute, and the harp on which he played in his leisure hours. Next comes the chest

Ani's personal property carried to

the tomb.

in which is laid the mummy of Ani, placed in a boat which is
mounted on a sledge drawn by four oxen; at the head of the
chest is a figure of Nephthys, and at the foot a figure of Isis,
the boat is supplied with oars as if it were really destined to
row down to Abydos, so that the body might be buried
there, and its soul pass into the nether-world through the "Gap"

Peka (ie., the 'Gap') the place whence, according to
the Egyptian belief, souls, under the guidance of Osiris, set out
on their last journey. At the head of the boat stands a white-
robed Sam priest wearing a panther skin; he holds a bronze

A

[graphic][subsumed]
« PreviousContinue »