THE EXCAVATIONS AT ABUSIR, EGYPT. 077 



the pyramid temple, as it was supposed; for the sanctum — the room 

 in which the solemn sacritices were performed — was in Eg-ypt, as else- 

 where, an organic part of the temple. It seems to me probable that 

 the 1)1 ind door was to serve as a passage for the deceased when he 

 wished to leave the pyramid, his tomb. It had thus the same object 

 as the Idind doors frequently painted or sculptured upon the Egyp- 

 tian coffins or tomb walls. The departed king- could pass throug-h this 

 door to the building near the sanctum, and from there assist at the 

 sacritices, listen to the prayers, and inhale the odor of the oti'erings. 

 Jt thus served the same purpose as the so-called ''serdab" or narrow 

 vaulted chamber found in the private tombs, the so-called ''mastaba,'' 

 alongside of the cult room, with which it occasionally conununicated 

 by a narrow opening. In this serdab there was usually placed a statue 

 of the dead, in which he could embody himself and participate in the 

 sacrifices offered in his honor. 



This door also served the dead pharaoh as passage when he wished 

 to revisit the earth and as specter to remind the living of the obla- 

 tions to be ofiered to him, and to manifest upon earth the divine posi- 

 tion to which he attained ])v dint of the magical formula. It may 

 seem strange that this outlet for the deceased led not directly to the 

 grave temple, but to a structure lying aside from it. The reason of 

 this arrangement, also found in the mastaba, is probably to be sought 

 in the belief of the Egyptians, of which numerous indications are found 

 in the texts, that the souls of the dead, when not receiving a sufficient 

 amount of offerings, and consequentl}^ in want of nourishment, would 

 crowd at the gates of the locality searching the garbage heaps for food 

 and attacking and robbing passers by. For this i)urpose the}' would 

 also gather before the temples and the entrances to the tombs, whither 

 offerings of food were brought and refuse dropped. It was therefore 

 dangerous for the occupant of the tomb to pass such hungry preda- 

 tory souls. The blind door located off' the temple was to enable the 

 dead to pass from the grave into the open unseen b}^ the hostile souls, 

 and thus escape the danger of being attacked by them. Thus also this 

 find at the pyramid of Ra-en-user harmonizes in an excellent manner 

 with what we otherwise know of the old Egyptian religious views. 



The walls of the edifice are adorned with reliefs that in part corre- 

 spond to the usual representations in the tombs of the valley of the 

 Nile. We find here th(». killing of the sacrificial animals, the leading 

 them up in procession, the long rows of women who, as representatives 

 of the possessions of th(^ departed, offer gifts. Alongside of them 

 stand images which usually are seen only in temples — adoration of 

 various gods by the king; the massacre of captured enemies whom the 

 ruler kills with an uplifted club. etc. In these two kinds of pictures 

 Ihc twofold object of the edifice, that of tomb and temple, finds a 

 distinct expression. In this comiection it is interesting to observe 



