er a king ascended the throne he used to begin hewing
out the sepulchre where he should lie. The scenes drawn on the walls
show what he expected to find in the other world. We see a pair of
scales with the heart of the dead man in one balance and a feather in
the other; a monkey sits on the top and adjusts the weight. The heart
must weigh the feather exactly, for to be over-righteous was as bad as
being wicked! The dead man also had to pass before forty-two judges, who
each examined him searchingly as to whether he had committed one
particular sin. As one of the party remarked in an awe-struck voice,
"And if he did pass them all safely and another started up and asked him
if he ever told a lie he'd be done, for no man could deny that he had
committed any of the forty-two principal sins and remain truthful!"

To accompany the soul to the other world many things used to be buried
in the tombs, clothes and food and utensils and weapons, and, thanks to
this custom, numberless things have been saved to show us how the
ancient Egyptians lived. These, however, have mostly been taken to Cairo
for safe keeping. But here in Amenhetep's tomb one thing has been left.
In a small side chamber, with the light falling full upon them, are
three mummies, each with a hole in the skull and a gash on the breast,
showing that they were the king's slaves, killed in order that their
souls might accompany him and serve him beyond the tomb!

They lie there with their hair still on their heads, and even the false
hair, they used to increase it, showing; on their faces is a ghastly
grin. We wonder if they submitted quietly, proud of having been chosen,
or if each fought fiercely for the life which belonged to him and was
not any man's to take away.

It is very hot and close down in the rock-hewn chamber, and we are glad
enough to stumble up and out again, though we are blinded by the
sunshine as we emerge.

The next part of the day is the hardest of all, for we scramble up a
mountain-side to gain a splendid view of gorges and valleys on one side
and the flat plain spreading to the Nile on the other. The view is
indescribable; from lemon-yellow to orange and saffron are the hills,
with blue-grey shadows in their folds. Right opposite is one absolutely
perpendicular, with immense rounded columns looking like giant organ
pipes rising on its face. A fresh wind is blowing, and when we mount our
donkeys, which have come round to meet us another way,