coffins of the British Museum and other collections. The first appears to be a sort of stand used by workmen for supporting vases, or other things they were chiseling which required a firm position; and the other resembles the knot or clasp of a belt worn by the Gods and Kings.'

Behind the hearse followed the male relations and friends of the deceased; some beating their breasts; others, if not giving the same tokens of grief, at least showing their sorrow by their siNo. 500. a. Knot of a belt. lence and solemn step as they walked, leaning on their long sticks. These closed the procession.

Arrived at the sacred lake, the coffin was placed in the barist, or consecrated boat of the dead, towed by a larger one furnished with sails and oars, and having frequently a spacious cabin‡, which, in company with other sailing boats carrying the mourners and all those things above mentioned appertaining to the funeral§, crossed to the other side. Arrived there, the procession went in the same order to the tomb; at which the priest offered a sacrifice, with incense and libation; the

* Vide suprà, p. 26. note *.

+ "The boat which carries over the bodies of the dead is called baris." Diod. i. 96. Vide infrà, p. 433. Baris signifies the" boat of the sun."

It is probable that Strabo alludes to these boats with cabins under the name of thalamegi or thalamiferi, in which the Egyptians made partics of pleasure on the water. Lib. xvii. p. 550. Some were very small, and towed on the lakes of their pleasure grounds by servants.

§ On the cabin of the baris is the case containing the Cynocephalus.

It

women still continuing their lamentations, united with prayers and praises of the deceased. frequently happened that the deceased, with his wife, if dead at the time of his funeral, was represented seated under a canopy*, in lieu of the coffin. Before him stood an altar laden with offerings; and a priest, opening a long roll of papyrus, read aloud the funeral ritual, and an account of his good deeds, " in order to show to Osiris and the Assessors the extent of his piety and justice during his life." his life." When the boats reached the other side of the lake, the yards were lowered to the top of the cabin; and all those engaged in the ceremony left them and proceeded to the tomb; from which they appear to have returned by land, without recrossing the lake.

Such was the funeral procession of a basilicogrammat, or royal scribe, a member of the priestly order. He lived during the four successive reigns of Thothmes III., Amunoph II., Thothmes IV., and Amunoph III., and held the office of tutor to one of the young princesses, as the sculptures inform us, which represent him nursing her on his knee, while entertaining a party of friends.† This, since it shows that the education of the daughters of kings was entrusted to members of the priestly order distinguished for their talents, is another trait of resemblance in the customs of

*This canopy was very similar to that mentioned by Herodotus, of wood, gilt, in which the statue of a God was placed in processions. Vide suprà, p. 310.

+ Vide Plate 12. Vol. II. p. 222.

ancient Egypt and the most refined of modern European nations.

The funerals of other persons differed in the order of the procession, as well as in the pomp displayed on the occasion; and the mode of celebrating them appears to have depended on the arrangements made by the family, except in those particulars which were prescribed by law. The funeral of Nofri-Othph, a priest of Amun at Thebes, is thus described on the walls of his tomb; the scene of which lies partly on the lake, and partly on the way thence to the sepulchre itself:

First came a large boat, conveying the bearers of flowers, cakes, and numerous things appertaining to the offerings,―tables, fauteuils, and other pieces of furniture; as well as the friends of the deceased, whose consequence is shown by their dresses and long walking-sticks,-the peculiar mark of Egyptian gentlemen. This was followed by a small skiff holding baskets of cakes and fruit, with a quantity of green palm-branches, which it was customary to strew in the way as the body proceeded to the tomb; the smooth nature of their leaves and stalks being particularly well adapted to enable the sledge to glide over them.

In this part of the picture the love of caricature common to the Egyptians is shown to have been indulged in, even in the serious subject of a funeral; and the retrograde movement of the large boat, which has grounded and is pushed off the bank, striking the smaller one with its rudder, has overturned a large table loaded with

cakes and other things upon the rowers seated below, in spite of all the efforts of the prowman, and the earnest vociferations of the alarmed steersman.

In another boat men carried bouquets, and boxes supported on the usual yoke over their shoulders; and this was followed by two others, one containing the male, the other the female mourners, standing on the roof of the cabin, beating themselves, uttering cries, and making other demonstrations of excessive grief. Last came the consecrated boat, bearing the hearse, which was surrounded by the chief mourners, and the female relations of the deceased. A high priest burnt incense over the altar, which was placed before it; and behind it stood the images of Isis and Nepthys. They were the emblems of the Beginning and the End, and were thought to be always present at the head and feet of the dead who had led a virtuous life, and who were deemed worthy of admission into the regions of the blessed.

Arrived at the opposite shore of the lake, the procession advanced to the catacombs, crossing the sandy plain which intervened between them and the lake; and on the way several women of the vicinity, carrying their children in shawls suspended at their side or at their back*, joined in the lamentation. The mummy being taken out of the sarcophagus,

*This is the common custom of the Arab women on the west bank of the Nile at this day. It may perhaps be analogous to "Thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side." Is. lx. 4.

was placed erect in the chamber of the tomb; and the sister or nearest relation, embracing it, commenced a funeral dirge, calling on her relative with every expression of tenderness, extolling his virtues, and bewailing her own loss. In the mean time the high priest presented a sacrifice of incense and libation, with offerings of cakes and other customary gifts, for the deceased; and the men and women without continued the ululation, throwing dust upon their heads, and making other manifestations of grief.

Many funerals were conducted in a more simple manner; the procession consisting merely of the mourners and priests, with the hearse conveyed, as usual, on a sledge drawn by two or three oxen, and by several men, who aided in pulling the rope. The priest who wore the leopard skin dress and who performed the sacrifice, was in attendance, burning incense and pouring out a libation as he went; and behind him walked a functionary of an inferior grade, clad in a simple robe, extending a little below the knees and standing out from the body. In form it was not altogether unlike a modern Abbaíeh, and was made of some stiff substance, with two holes in front, through which the arms passed, in order to enable him to hold a long taper. * At the head and foot of the hearse was a female, who generally clasped one arm with her hand in token of grief, her head being bound with

* I believe this to be a taper or torch. Vide Plate 83.