has
been preserved for the convenience of readers who may wish to consult
Mr. Petrie's work for more minute details and measurements. This
lettering refers to that part of Mr. Petrie's argument which disproves
the "accretion theory" of previous writers (see "_Pyramids and
Temples of Gizeh_" chap, xviii., p. 165).--A.B.E.

3.--THE TOMBS OF THE THEBAN EMPIRE.

_Excavated Tombs_.

Two subsequent systems replaced the mastaba throughout Egypt. The first
preserved the chapel constructed above ground, and combined the pyramid
with the mastaba; the second excavated the whole tomb in the rock,
including the chapel.

[Illustration: Fig. 144.--Section of "vaulted" brick pyramid, Abydos.]

[Illustration: Fig. 145.--Section of "vaulted" tomb, Abydos.]

[Illustration: Fig. 146.--Plan of tomb, at Abydos.]

[Illustration: Fig. 147.--Theban tomb, with pyramidion, from scene in a
tomb at Sheikh Abd el Gurneh.]

[Illustration: Fig. 148.--Theban tomb with pyramidion, from wall-painting.]

The necropolis quarter of Abydos, in which were interred the earlier
generations of the Theban Empire, furnishes the most ancient examples of
the first system. The tombs are built of large, black, unbaked bricks, made
without any mixture of straw or grit. The lower part is a mastaba with a
square or oblong rectangular base, the greatest length of the latter being
sometimes forty or fifty feet. The walls are perpendicular, and are seldom
high enough for a man to stand upright inside the tomb. On this kind of
pedestal was erected a pointed pyramid of from 12 to 30 feet in height,
covered externally with a smooth coat of clay painted white. The defective
nature of the rock below forbade the excavation of the sepulchral chamber;
there was no resource, therefore, except to hide it in the brickwork. An
oven-shaped chamber with "corbel" vault was constructed in the centre (fig.
144); but more frequently the sepulchral chamber is found to be half above
ground in the mastaba and half sunk in the foundations, the vaulted space
above being left only to relieve the weight (fig. 145). In many cases there
was no external chapel; the stela, placed in the basement, or set in the
outer face, alone marking the place of offering. In other instances a
square vestibule was constructed in front of the tomb where the relations
assembled (fig. 146). Occasionally a breast-high enclosure wall surrounded
the monument, and defined the boundaries o