1914] on the Mortuary Chapels of the Theban Nobles 165 



acquires the property due to some colloidal bodies extracted from the 

 straw of a highly plastic clay which sets extremely hard on being 

 dried in the sun. This affords an explanation of tlie complaints of 

 the Hebrews — as recorded in Chapter 5 of Exodus — who were engaged 

 in the erection of the granaries of the cities of Ramses and Pithom, 

 that they could not make bricks without straw. 



With very few exceptions the mummy-pits and their chambers 

 were left entirely undecorated, in marked contrast to the elaborate 

 and Vteautiful scenes of a mystical and ritual character which are 

 found in the tombs of the kings. The sculptor provided seated and 

 standing figures either cut from the living rock, or carved in lime 

 or sandstone or granite for placing in the niches. The flat surfaces 

 of the walls, which lent themselves to this treatment, were decorated 

 in low relief of the champleve type. In a few cases we find the reliefs 

 modelled in stucco and then painted. Where the walls are painted, 

 the colours are applied to a lime-wash laid on the surface. The usual 

 Egyptian colours, the different iron ochres, ground copper glazes, 

 rose-madder and lamp-black, were put on in flat washes, with ordinary 

 gum-arabic as a binding material. As this work had to be done in 

 dark chambers by means of oil-lamps, we only occasionally find an 

 attempt at modelling. 



The text and scenes depicted on the walls, varying with the 

 exigencies of space and the individual taste of the owner and of 

 the artist, in most cases represent : — 



1. The bestowal of honours on the deceased by the king. 



'1. The representation of the deceased occupied in his daily 

 avocations, surrounded by his family, and supervising his servants. 



o. A stele, or tablet, containing, besides invocations to the gods, 

 generally some important biographical notice. 



4. A hunting or fishing scene. 



5. The deceased, generally accompanied by his wife, adoring 

 Osiris. 



6. The funeral banquet. 



7. A number of religious texts, including the gifts and funeral 

 furniture provided for the interment, the weighing of tlie heart, the 

 revivification of the mummy, and lists of the offerings to be made 

 to the deceased at the funeral festivals. 



The ceilings were decorated either with a five-rayed star in yellow 

 on a dark blue ground, or with beautiful geometrical patterns in 

 various colours, containing frequently one or more lines of inscrip- 

 tions. 



When the architect and his assistants completed their task, we 

 may feel sure that the owner would show the same to his friends with 

 pride and gratification, as we frequently find smnll inscriptions made by 

 subsequent visitors expressing their satisfact'on at their visit. When 

 seventy days after his death, the mummy of the owner was brought at 

 night on sledges after a real or fictitious journey to Abydos, where he 



