CHAP. XVI. ANOTHER FUNERAL. 419 



ately before the sledge bearing the coffin was the 

 sprinklei'y who, with a brush dipped in a vase, or 

 with a small bottle, threw water upon the ground, 

 and perhaps also on those who passed. The same is 

 done in the funeral ceremonies of the East at the 

 present day ; and so profusely do they sometimes 

 honour the passengers, that Mr. Lane* found his 

 dress wetted very uncomfortably on one occasion 

 when he happened to pass by. Next came the high 

 priest, who, turning round to the hearse, offered 

 incense and libation in honour of the deceased, the 

 chief mourner being seated in the boat before it : 

 other men followed ; and the procession closed 

 with eight or more women, beating themselves, 

 throwing dust on their heads, and singing the fu- 

 neral dirge. Arrived at the tomb, which stood 

 beneath the western mountain of Thebes, the 

 mummy was taken from the hearse ; and being 

 placed upright, incense was burnt, and a libation 

 was poured out before it by the high priest as he 

 stood at the altar, while other functionaries per- 

 formed various ceremonies in honour of tlie de- 

 ceased. The hierogammat or sacred scribe read 

 aloud from a tablet, or a roll of papyrus, his eu- 

 logy, and a prayer to the Gods in his behalf; "not 

 enlarging,*' says Diodorust, "on his descent, but 

 relating his piety and justice, and other virtues ; 

 and supplicating the Deities of Hades to receive 

 him as a companion of the pious, the multitude at 



* Modern Egyptians, vol. ii. p. 297. 

 -f- Diodor. i. 92. Vide infra. 



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