40b THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XVI. 



Who bringeth to nought (all) his creatures, with mankind. 



They shall all lie in tlie graves : 



The absolute glory of the Lord of the East* : 



The absolute glory of the Lord of the West f : 



The absolute glory of the illuminator of the two lights ; 



The sun, to wit, and the moon : 



His absolute glory : how bountiful is He ! ' 



" The schoolboys immediately precede the bier, 

 which is borne head foremost. Three or four 

 friends of the deceased usually carry it for a short 

 distance ; then three or four other friends ; who 

 are in like manner relieved. Behind the bier walk 

 the female mourners ; sometimes a group of more 

 than a dozen or twenty, with their hair dishevelled, 

 though generally concealed by the head-veil, cry- 

 ing and shrieking ; and often the hired mourners 

 accompany them, celebrating the praises of the 

 deceased. Among the women the relations and 

 domestics of the deceased are each distinguished 

 by a strip of linen, or cotton stuff, or muslin, ge- 

 nerally blue, bound round the head, and tied in a 

 single knot behind, the ends hanging down a few 

 inches. Each of these also carries a handkerchief, 

 usually dyed blue, which she sometimes holds over 

 her shoulders, and at other times twirls with both 

 hands over her head, or before her face. The 

 cries of the women, the lively chanting of the 

 youths, and the deep tones uttered by the Yeme- 

 nech, compose a strange discord. 



" The ivailing of women at funerals was forbidden 

 by the Prophet; and so also was the celebration of 



* " Literally, ' the two Easts,' or ' tlic two places of sunrise ; ' the 

 point wlicre the sun rises in summer, and that where it rises in winter, 

 •f- " Or ' the two places of sunset.' " 



