he feet were shod
with sandals, the arms were outstretched or were folded over the breast,
and the hands clasped various objects--either the _crux ansata_, the
buckle of the belt, the _tat_, or a garland of flowers. Sometimes, on
the contrary, the coffin was merely a conventional reproduction of
the human form. The two feet and legs were joined together, and the
modelling of the knee, calf, thigh, and stomach was only slightly
indicated in the wood. Towards the close of the XVIIIth dynasty it was
the fashion for wealthy persons to have two coffins, one fitting inside
the other, painted black or white. From the XXth dynasty onwards they
were coated with a yellowish varnish, and so covered with inscriptions
and mystic signs that each coffin was a tomb in miniature, and could
well have done duty as such, and thus meet all the needs of the soul.*

* The first to summarise the characteristics of the coffins
and sarcophagi of the second Theban period was Mariette, but
he places the use of the yellow-varnished coffins too late,
viz. during the XXIInd dynasty. Examples of them have since
been found which incontestably belong to the XXth.

[Illustration: 024.jpg THE MUMMY FACTORY]

Later still, during the XXIst and XXIInd dynasties, these two, or even
three coffins, were enclosed in a rectangular sarcophagus of thick wood,
which, surmounted by a semicircular lid, was decorated with pictures and
hallowed by prayers: four sparrow-hawks, perched on the uprights at the
corners, watched at the four cardinal points, and protected the body,
enabling the soul at the same time to move freely within the four houses
of which the world was composed.

[Illustration: 025.jpg THE PARAPHERNALIA OF A MUMMY OF THE XXth TO THE
XXIInd DYNASTIES]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Mariette.

The workmen, after having deposited the mummy in its resting-place,
piled upon the floor of the tomb the canopio jars, the caskets, the
provisions, the furniture, the bed, and the stools and chairs; the
Usha-btiu occupied compartments in their allotted boxes, and sometimes
there would be laid beside them the mummy of a favourite animal--a
monkey, a dog of some rare breed, or a pet gazelle, whose coffins were
shaped to their respective outlines, the better to place before the
deceased the presentment of the living animal.

[Illustration: 026.jpg THE FUNERAL REPAST--MUSIC AND DANCING]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a fragment