4^0 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XVI. 



the same time applauding, and joining in the 

 praises of his memory." 



Sometimes this document was read from the 

 boat, immediately after the deceased had passed 

 that ordeal which gave him the right to cross the 

 sacred lake, and proclaimed the presumed admis- 

 sion of his soul into the regions of the blessed ; 

 and it is probable that the same was again re- 

 peated when the body arrived at the tomb. 



The order of the procession which accompanied 

 the body from the sacred lake to the catacombs 

 was the same as before they had passed it : the time 

 occupied by the march depending, of course, on 

 the position of the tomb, and the distance from 

 which tlie body had been brought ; some coming 

 from remote towns or villages, and others from the 

 city itself, or the immediate vicinity. The same 

 was the case at Memphis and other places ; and 

 the capital of each province appears to have had 

 its sacred lake, where the funerals were performed, 

 with the same regard to the ceremonies required 

 by the religion. 



The tomb, in the subject above described, is re- 

 presented at the base of the western mountain of 

 Thebes, which agrees perfectly with its actual 

 position ; and from this, as from several other si- 

 milar paintings, we learn that, besides the excavated 

 chambers hewn in the rock, a small building 

 crowned by a roof of conical or pyramidical form 

 stood before the entrance. It is probable that 

 many, if not all the pits in the plain below the hills, 

 were once covered with buildings of this kind, 



