eligious and funereal
pictures, offerings to the two deceased parents, sacrifices to a god or
goddess, and incidents in the Osirian life. The funerary beds consisted,
like those intended for the living, of a rectangular framework, placed
upon four feet of equal height, although there are rare examples in
which the supports are so arranged as to give a gentle slope to the
structure. The fancy which actuated the joiner in making such beds
supposed that two benevolent lions had, of their own free will,
stretched out their bodies to form the two sides of the couch, the
muzzles constituting the pillow, while the tails were curled up under
the feet of the sleeper. Many of the heads given to the lions are so
noble and expressive, that they will well bear comparison with the
granite statues of these animals which Amenothes III. dedicated in his
temple at Soleb. The other trades depended upon the proportion of their
members to the rest of the community for the estimation in which they
were held. The masons, stone-cutters, and common labourers furnished
the most important contingent; among these ought also to be reckoned
the royal servants--of whose functions we should have been at a loss
to guess the importance, if contemporary documents had not made it
clear--fishermen, hunters, laundresses, wood-cutters, gardeners, and
water-carriers.*

* The Cailliaud ostracon, which contains a receipt given to
some fishermen, was found near Sheikh Abd el-Qurneh, and
consequently belonged to the fishermen of the necropolis.
There is a question as to the water-carriers of the Khiru in
the hieratic registers of Turin, also as to the washers of
clothes, wood-cutters, gardeners and workers in the
vineyard.

[Illustration: 048.jpg THE SWALLOW-GODDESS FROM THE THEBAN NECROPOLIS]

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

Without reckoning the constant libations needed for the gods and the
deceased, the workshops required a large quantity of drinking water for
the men engaged in them. In every gang of workmen, even in the present
day, two or three men are set apart to provide drinking-water for the
rest; in some arid places, indeed, at a distance from the river, such
as the Valley of the Kings, as many water-carriers are required as there
are workmen. To the trades just mentioned must be added the low-caste
crowd depending oh the burials of the rich, the acrobats, female
mourners, dancers and