a state of domestication. The horse, on the
other hand, had been imported into the valley of the Nile, and is depicted
pawing the ground where formerly the gazelle was seen cropping the
pasturage. The trades are also more numerous and complicated; the workmen's
tools are more elaborate; the actions of the deceased are more varied and
personal. In former times, when first the rules of tomb decoration were
formulated, the notion of future retribution either did not exist, or was
but dimly conceived. The deeds which he had done here on earth in no wise
influenced the fate which awaited the man after death. Whether good or bad,
from the moment when the funeral rites were performed and the necessary
prayers recited, he was rich and happy. In order to establish his identity,
it was enough to record his name, his title, and his parentage; his past
was taken for granted. But when once a belief in rewards and punishments to
come had taken possession of men's minds, they bethought them of the
advisability of giving to each dead man the benefit of his individual
merits. To the official register of his social status, they now therefore
added a brief biographical notice. At first, this consisted of only a few
words; but towards the time of the Sixth Dynasty (as where Una recounts his
public services under four kings), these few words developed into pages of
contemporary history. With the beginning of the New Empire, tableaux and
inscriptions combine to immortalise the deeds of the owner of the tomb.
Khnumhotep of Beni Hasan records in full the origin and greatness of his
ancestors. Kheti displays upon his walls all the incidents of a military
life--parades, war-dances, sieges, and sanguinary battle scenes. In this
respect, as in all others, the Eighteenth Dynasty perpetuated the tradition
of preceding ages. Ai, in his fine tomb at Tell el Amarna, recounts the
episode of his marriage with the daughter of Khuenaten. Neferhotep of
Thebes, having received from Horemheb the decoration of the Golden Collar,
complacently reproduces every little incident of his investiture, the words
spoken by the king, as also the year and the day when this crowning reward
was conferred upon him. Another, having conducted a survey, is seen
attended by his subordinates with their measuring chains; elsewhere he
superintends a census of the population, just as Ti formerly superintended
the numbering of his cattle. The stela partakes of these new
characteristics