nderworld_ and the other was the _Book of the Portals_.

The walls of these tombs reveal extracts from the sacred books in great
variety, but all designed to serve as a guide to the dead kings. The
best tombs are those of Amenophis II, Rameses III, Seti I and Thotmes
III. They are all of similar design but the tomb of Seti I (discovered
by the Italian savant, Belzoni) is finer than any of the others. It
includes fourteen rooms, most of which are richly adorned with
inscriptions and designs from the sacred books. The sculptures on the
walls are executed with great skill and the decorations of the ceilings
show much artistic taste. In the tenth room are many curious
decorations, the ceiling, which is finely vaulted, being covered with
astronomical figures and lists of stars and constellations. From this
room an incline leads to the mummy shaft. The mummy of Seti I is in the
Cairo Museum, while the fine alabaster sarcophagus is in the Soane
Museum in London. The tomb of Amenophis II is noteworthy as the only one
which contains the royal mummy. In a crypt with blue ceiling, spangled
with yellow stars and with yellow walls to represent papyrus, is the
great sandstone sarcophagus of the king. Under a strong electric light
is shown the mummy-shaped coffin with the body of the king, its arms
crossed and the funeral garlands still resting in the case. The
effectiveness of this mummy makes one regret that the others have been
removed to the Cairo Museum, instead of being restored to their original
places in these tombs. Most of these royal mummies were removed to a
shaft at Deir-el-Bahri to save them from desecration by the invading
Persians, but when the mummies were found it would have been wise to
replace them in these tombs rather than to group them, as was done, in
the Cairo Museum. One or two mummies in that museum would have been as
effective as two dozen.

Not far from these tombs is the fine temple of Queen Hatasu at
Deir-el-Bahri. This queen was the sister and wife of King Thotmes III,
and for a part of his reign was co-regent. The temple, which was left
unfinished, was completed by Rameses II. A short ride from this temple
brings one to the Ramessium, the large temple (which is badly preserved)
erected by Rameses II and dedicated to the god Ammon. The pylon is
ruined, but one can still decipher some of the inscriptions that tell of
Rameses' campaign against the Hittites. The first court is a mass of
ruined masonry, bu