b,
where Anubis received it in his arms. Recalled to life and movement, the
double reassumed, one by one, all the functions of being, came and went
and took part in the ceremonies of the worship which was rendered to him
in his tomb. There he might be seen accepting the homage of his
kindred, and clasping to his breast his soul under the form of a great
human-headed bird with features the counterpart of his own. After being
equipped with the formulas and amulets wherewith his prototype, Osiris,
had been furnished, he set forth to seek the "Field of Reeds." The way
was long and arduous, strewn with perils to which he must have succumbed
at the very first stages had he not been carefully warned beforehand and
armed against them.

[Illustration: 262.jpg CYNOCEPHALI DRAWING THE NET IN WHICH SOULS ARE
CAUGHT. 1]

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a facsimile by Deveria (E. de
Rouge, _Etudes sur le Rituel Funeraire_, pl. iv. No. 4).
Ignorant souls fished for by the cynocephali are here
represented as fish; but the soul of Nofirubnu, instructed
in the protective formulas, preserves its human form.

A papyrus placed with the mummy in its coffin contained the needful
topo-graphical directions and passwords, in order that he might
neither stray nor perish by the way. The wiser Egyptians copied out the
principal chapters for themselves, or learned them by heart while yet
in life, in order to be prepared for the life beyond. Those who had not
taken this precaution studied after death the copy with which they were
provided; and since few Egyptians could read, a priest, or relative of
the deceased, preferably his son, recited the prayers in the mummy's
ear, that he might learn them before he was carried away to the
cemetery. If the double obeyed the prescriptions of the "Book of the
Dead" to the letter, he reached his goal without fail.[*] On leaving
the tomb he turned his back on the valley, and staff in hand climbed
the hills which bounded it on the west, plunging boldly into the desert,
where some bird, or even a kindly insect such as a praying mantis, a
grasshopper, or a butterfly, served as his guide. Soon he came to one of
those sycamores which grow in the sand far away from the Nile, and
are regarded as magic trees by the fellahin. Out of the foliage a
goddess--Nuit, iiathor, or Nit--half emerged, and offered him a dish of
fruit, loaves of bread, and a jar of water.

* Manuscripts of this work r