ten inches thick, though
dried, which underlay the pottery in chamber 11. In chamber 16 were
large dome-shaped jar sealings, with the name of Azab, and on one of
them the ink-written signs of the "King's ka."

The entrance passage has been closed with rough brick walling at the
top. It is curiously turned askew, as if to avoid some obstacle, but the
chambers of the tomb of Den do not come near its direction. After nine
steps, the straight passage is reached, and then a limestone portcullis
slab bars the way, let into grooves on either side; it was, moreover,
backed up by a buttress of brickwork in five steps behind it. All this
shows that the rest of the passage must have been roofed in so deeply
that entry from above was not the obvious course. The inner passage
descends by steps, each about five inches high, partly in the slope,
partly in the rise of the step. The side chambers open off this stairway
by side passages a little above the level of the stairs.

The interior structure of the tomb of Qa is rather different from any
other. Instead of the timber being an entirely separate structure apart
from the brick, the brick sides seem here to have been very loosely
built against the timber sides. Some detail yet remains of the wooden
floor. The roofing is distinct in this tomb, and it is evident that
there was an axial beam, and that the side beam only went half across
the chamber. This is the only tomb with the awkward feature of an axial
doorway, and it is interesting to note how the beam was placed out of
the axis to accommodate it.

The tomb of Perabsen shows a great change in form since the earlier
series. A new dynasty with new ideas had succeeded the great founders
of the monarchy; the three reigns had passed by before we can again see
here the system of the tombs. Even the national worship was changed,
and Set had become prominent. The type of tomb which had been developed
under Azab, Mer-sekha, and Qa seems to have given way to the earlier
pattern of Zer and Zet. In this tomb of Perabsen we see the same row of
small cells separated by cross walls, like those of the early kings;
but in place of a wooden central chamber there is a brick chamber, and
a free passage is left around it communicating with the cells. What was
the form of the south side of that chamber cannot now be traced, as, if
any wall existed, it is now entirely destroyed. The entirely new feature
is the continuous passage around the whole tomb.