64 ACCOUNTS, ETC., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



2, 3. Two fine green porcelain ushabtiu figures, with whip, 

 hoe, and socket. XXVIth dynasty. 



4. A small green ushabti figure, which was cast in a 

 mould. XXVIth dynasty, or later. 

 5, 6. Two blue glazed ushabtiu figures, on which is cut a 

 version of the Vlth Chapter of the Book of the 

 Dead. Very fine colour. XXVIth dynasty. 

 iv. — 1. Wooden case for a mummied ibis, made in the form 

 of the bird, with bronze head and claws. XXIInd 

 dynasty. 



V. — 1. A bronze serpent, probably intended to represent 

 the species of serpent which was sacred to the 

 goddess Mer-Sekert. From Thebes (?). XXth- 

 XXIInd dj'^nasty. 

 vi. — 1. Massive stone sarcophagus of Qem-Ptah, a man of 

 very high rank who filled several ofiices, both 

 ecclesiastical and civil, at Memphis, and flourished 

 about the middle of the Ptolemaic Period, B.C. 200. 

 The cover is inscribed with a series of religious 

 texts and prayers which are based on certain 

 Chapters of the Book of the Dead. The inside 

 of the sarcophagus is decorated with figures of 

 all the gods which were regarded as gods of the 

 dead at that period, and with figures of several 

 of the Thirty-Six (or, Thirty-Nine) Dekans. 

 These are arranged in panels, and by the side of 

 each god is a short text which explains his duties 

 in connection with the dead. 



The whole of the outside is occupied with the 

 scenes and texts of the famous Guide to the Other 

 World, which the Egyptians called "Am-Tuat." 

 This Book is based upon ancient works, such as 

 the " Book of the Two Ways," and contains 

 ideas and beliefs which are as old as the earliest 

 dynasties. 



According to these the Other World was divided 

 into ten portions, which originally represented 

 the underworlds of Heliopolis, Kher Aha,Bubastis, 

 Sai's, Memphis, Busiris, Herakleopolis, Abydos, 

 Thebes, etc. At each end of the group was a vesti- 

 bule, which communicated directly with this world. 

 The Book " Am-Tuat " was intended to make the 

 spirits of the dead acquainted with the various 

 regions through which they had to pass, and to 

 supply them with pictures of the beings which 

 dwelt in them, and generally to guide them to the 

 Fields of Peace. It taught that the righteous 

 were rewarded by Osiris, and that the wicked 

 were slaughtered by his executioner Shesmu, who 

 hacked their bodies in pieces and cast them into 

 pits of fire. 



