CHAP. XVI. THE OLDEST TOMBS SMALL. 401 



attached friend, whose daily care was to fetch water 

 from the river, or from the wells on the edge of the 

 cultivated land ; and I have myself found remains* 

 of alluvial soil brought for this purpose, and placed 

 before some of the sepulchres at Thebes. 



It is reasonable to suppose that in early times 

 the tombs were more simple and of smaller dimen- 

 sions ; which is proved by the appearance of those at 

 Thebes, and in the vicinity of Memphis. The tombs 

 in the rock at the Necropolis of Thebes, of the 

 time of Amunoph I. and other early monarchs of 

 the 18th Dynasty, were smaller and more simple 

 than those made at the close of that dynasty ; and 

 this display in the mode of decorating them, and 

 extending their dimensions continued to increase, 

 to the time of Amasis, when, as Herodotus states, 

 the wealth of Egypt far surpassed that of any pre- 

 vious period. But as a detailed description of 

 them would encroach too much on the limits of 

 this work, I must be contented for the present 

 with referring to my ** Topography of Thebest;" 

 where I have spokenof their dimensions and general 

 plan, as well as the subjects that adorn the walls of 

 their passages and chambers, nearly all of which 

 are hewn in the limestone rock of the Libyan 

 mountain. 



Those tombs at Memphis and the Pyramids, 

 which are of masonry, differ in their plan, and in 

 many instances in the style of their sculptures. 

 The subjects, however, generally relate to the 



* I have indicated some of these in my Survey of Thebes. 

 ■f Fide p. 124. et seq. 



VOL. IL— Second Series. D D 



