hadst so many around
thee, thou art now in the land which bringest isolation! Thou who
lovedst to stretch thy limbs in walking, art now fettered, bound,
swathed! Thou who hadst fine stuffs in abundance, art laid in the linen
of yesterday!" Calm in the midst of the tumult, the priest stood and
offered the incense and libation with the accustomed words: "To thy
double, Osiris Nofirhotpu, whose voice before the great god is true!"
This was the signal of departure, and the mummy, carried by two men,
disappeared within the tomb: the darkness of the other world had laid
hold of it, never to let it go again.

The chapel was usually divided into two chambers: one, which was of
greater width than length, ran parallel to the facade; the other, which
was longer than it was wide, stood at right angles with the former,
exactly opposite to the entrance. The decoration of these chambers
took its inspiration from the scheme which prevailed in the time of the
Memphite dynasties, but besides the usual scenes of agricultural labour,
hunting, and sacrifice, there were introduced episodes from the public
life of the deceased, and particularly the minute portrayal of the
ceremonies connected with his burial.

[Illustration: 021.jpg NICHE IN THE TOMB OF MENNA]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger.

These pictorial biographies are always accompanied by detailed
explanatory inscriptions; every individual endeavoured thus to show
to the Osirian judges the rank he had enjoyed here upon earth, and to
obtain in the fields of lalu the place which he claimed to be his due.

The stele was to be found at the far end of the second chamber; it was
often let in to a niche in the form of a round-headed doorway, or else
it was replaced by a group of statues, either detached or sculptured in
the rock itself, representing the occupant, his wives and children, who
took the place of the supporters of the double, formerly always hidden
within the serdab. The ceremony of the "Opening of the Mouth" took
place in front of the niche on the day of burial, at the moment when the
deceased, having completed his terrestrial course, entered his new home
and took possession of it for all eternity. The object of this ceremony
was, as we know, to counteract the effects of the embalming, and to
restore activity to the organs of the body whose functions had been
suspended by death. The "man of the roll" and his assistants, aided by
the priests, who