After leaving Abydos, Rameses XIII. sailed up the Nile to the city of
Tan-ta-ren (Dendera) and Keneh, which stood nearly opposite each
other: one on the western, the other on the eastern bank of the river.
At Tan-ta-ren were two famous places: the pond in which crocodiles
were reared, and the temple of Hator, where there was a school at
which were taught medicine, sacred hymns, the methods of celebrating
divine ceremonies, finally astronomy.
The pharaoh visited both places. He was irritated when they directed
him to burn incense before the sacred crocodiles, which he considered
as foul and stupid reptiles. And when one of these in time of offering
pushed out too far and seized the sovereign's garment with its teeth,
Rameses struck it on the head with a bronze ladle so violently that
the reptile closed its eyes for a time, and spread its legs, then
withdrew and crept into the water, as if understanding that the
youthful sovereign did not wish to be familiar even with divinities.
"But have I committed sacrilege?" inquired Rameses of the high priest.
The dignitary looked around stealthily to see if any one were
listening, and answered,--
"If I had known, holiness, that thou wouldst make it an offering in
that way, I should have given thee a club, not a censer. That
crocodile is the most unendurable brute in the whole temple. Once it
seized a child--"
"And ate it?"
"The parents were satisfied!" said the priest.
"Tell me," said the pharaoh, after thinking, "how can ye sages render
homage to beasts which, moreover, when there are no witnesses, ye beat
with sticks?"
The high priest looked around again, and seeing no one near by, he
answered,--
"Of course thou canst not suspect, sovereign, that worshippers of one
god believe in the divinity of beasts. What is done is done for the
people."
In the temple of Hator the pharaoh passed quickly through the school
of medicine, and listened without great interest to predictions given
by astrologers concerning him. When the astrologer high priest showed
him a tablet on which was engraved a map of heaven, he asked,--
"How often do these predictions come true which ye read in the stars?"
"They come true sometimes."
"But if ye predict from trees, stones, or running water, do those
predictions come true also?"
The high priest was troubled.
"Holiness, do not consider us untruthful. We predict the future for
people because it concerns them, and we tell them, indeed, what they
can understand of astronomy."
"And what do ye understand?"
"We understand," said the priest, "the structure of the heavenly dome
and the movement of the stars."
"What good is that to any one?"
"We have rendered no small service to Egypt. We indicate the main
directions according to which edifices are built and canals are dug.
Without the aid of our science vessels sailing on the sea could not go
far from land. Finally we compose calendars and calculate future
heavenly phenomena. For instance, the sun will be eclipsed within a
short period."
Rameses was not listening; he had turned and gone out.
"How is it possible," thought the pharaoh, "to build a temple for such
childish amusements, and besides to engrave the results on golden
tablets? These holy men do not know what to snatch at from idleness."
After he had remained a short time in Tan-ta-ren, the sovereign
crossed over to Keneh.
In that place were no celebrated temples, incensed crocodiles, or
golden tablets with stars. But commerce and pottery flourished. From
that city went two roads to ports on the Red Sea: Koseir and Berenice,
also a road to the porphyry mountains, whence they brought statues and
great sticks of timber.
Keneh was swarming with Phoenicians who received the sovereign with
great enthusiasm, and presented him with valuables to the amount of
ten talents.
In spite of this, the pharaoh remained barely one day there, since
they informed him from Thebes that the revered body of Rameses XII.
was already in the palace of Luxor awaiting its burial.
At that epoch Thebes was an immense city occupying about twelve square
kilometres of area. It possessed the greatest temple in Egypt: that of
Amon, also a multitude of edifices, private and public. The main
streets were broad, straight, and paved with stone slabs, the banks of
the Nile had their boulevards, the houses were four or five stories
high.
Since every temple and palace had a great gateway with pylons Thebes
was called "the city of a hundred gates." It was a city on the one
hand greatly given to commerce and trade, and on the other, the
threshold, as it were, of eternity. On the western bank of the Nile,
in the hills and among them, was an incalculable number of tombs of
pharaohs, priests, and magnates.
Thebes was indebted for its splendor to two pharaohs: Amenophis III.
or Memnon, who found it a "city of mud and left it a city of stone,"
and Rameses II., who finished, and perfected the edifices begun by
Amenophis.
On the eastern bank of the Nile, in the southern part of the city, was
an entire quarter of immense regal edifices: palaces, villas, temples,
on the ruins of which the small town of Luxor stands at present. In
that quarter the remains of Rameses XII. were placed for the last
ceremonies.
When Rameses XIII. arrived all Thebes went forth to greet him, only
old men and cripples remained in the houses, and thieves in the
alleys. Here, for the first time, the people took the horses from the
pharaoh's chariot and drew it themselves. Here for the first time the
pharaoh heard shouts against the abuses of priests. This comforted
him; also cries that every seventh day should be for rest. He desired
to make that gift to toiling Egypt, but he knew not that his plans had
become known, and that the people were waiting to see them
accomplished.
His journey of five miles lasted a couple of hours amid dense crowds
of people. The pharaoh's chariot was stopped very often in the midst
of a throng, and did not move till the guard of his holiness had
raised those who lay prostrate before it.
When at last he reached the palace gardens where he was to occupy one
of the smaller villas, the pharaoh was so wearied that he did not
occupy himself with affairs of state on his arrival. Next day,
however, he burnt incense before the mummy of his father, which was in
the main royal chamber, and informed Herhor that they might conduct
the remains to the tomb prepared for them.
But this ceremony was not performed immediately.
They conveyed the late pharaoh to the temple of Rameses, where it
remained a day and a night. Then they bore the mummy with boundless
magnificence to the temple of Amon-Ra.
The details of the funeral ceremony were the same as in Memphis,
though incomparably grander.
The royal palaces on the right bank of the Nile were on the southern
end of the city, while the temple of Amon-Ra was in the northern part
of it. These were connected by a road unique in character. This was an
avenue two kilometres long, very broad, lined not only with immense
trees, but with two rows of sphinxes. Some of these with lions' bodies
had human heads, others had rams' heads. There were several hundreds
of these statues on the avenue, at both sides of which countless
throngs of people had assembled from Thebes and the surrounding
region. Along the middle of the avenue moved the funeral procession.
Advancing to the music of various regiments were detachments of female
wailers, choruses of singers, all the guilds of artisans and
merchants, deputations from some tens of provinces with their gods and
banners, deputations from more than ten nations which kept up
relations with Egypt. And again wailers' music and priestly choruses.
This time the mummy of the pharaoh advanced in a golden boat also, but
incomparably richer than that in Memphis. The car which bore it was
drawn by eight pair of white bulls; this car, two stories high, was
almost concealed under garlands, bouquets, ostrich plumes, and
precious woven stuffs. It was surrounded by a dense cloud of smoke
from censers, which produced the impression that Rameses XII. was
appearing to his people in clouds like a divinity.
From the pylons of all Theban temples came thunder-like outbursts and
with them loud and rapid sounds from the clashing of bronze disks.
Though the avenue of sphinxes was free and wide; though the procession
took place under the direction of Egyptian generals, and therefore
with the greatest order, the procession spent three hours in passing
those two kilometres between the palace and the edifices of Amon.
Only when the mummy of Rameses XII. was borne into the temple did
Rameses XIII. drive forth from the palace in a golden chariot drawn by
a pair of splendid horses. The people standing along the avenue, who
during the time of the procession had held themselves quietly, burst
out at sight of the beloved sovereign into a shout so immense that the
thunders and sounds from the summits of all the temples were lost in
it.
There was a moment when that mighty throng, borne away by excitement,
would have rushed to the middle of the avenue and surrounded their
sovereign. But Rameses, with one motion of his hand, restrained the
living deluge and prevented the sacrilege.
In the course of some minutes the pharaoh passed over the road and
halted before the immense pylons of the noblest temple in Egypt.
As Luxor was the quarter of palaces in the south, so Karnak was the
quarter of divinities on the northern side of the city. The temple of
Amon-Ra formed the main centre of Karnak.
This building alone occupied two hectares of space, and the gardens
and ponds around it about twenty. Before the temple stood two pylons
forty metres high. The forecourt, surrounded by a corridor resting on
columns, occupied nearly one hectare, the hall of columns in which
were assembled the privileged classes was half a hectare in extent.
This was not the edifice yet, but the approach to it.
That hall, or hypostyle, was more than a hundred and fifty yards long
and seventy-five yards in width, its ceiling rested on one hundred and
thirty-four columns. Among these the twelve central ones were fifteen
yards in circumference and from twenty to twenty-four metres high.
The statues disposed in the temple near the pylons, and at the sacred
lakes accorded in size with all other parts of Karnak.
In the immense gate the worthy Herhor, the high priest of that temple,
was waiting for Rameses. Surrounded by a whole staff of priests Herhor
greeted the pharaoh almost haughtily, and while burning a censer
before the sovereign he did not look at him. Then he conducted Rameses
to the hypostyle and gave the order to admit deputations within the
wall of the temple.
[Illustration: General View of the Ruins of Karnak]
In the midst of the hypostyle stood the boat with the mummy of the
departed sovereign, and on both sides of it, two thrones of equal
height stood opposed to each other. On one of these Rameses took his
place surrounded by nomarchs and generals, on the other sat Herhor
surrounded by the priesthood. Then the high priest Mefres gave Herhor
the mitre of Amenhôtep and the young pharaoh for the second time
beheld on the head of the high priest the golden serpent, the symbol
of regal authority.
Rameses grew pale from rage, and thought: "Shall I need to remove the
ureus and thy head at the same time?"
But he was silent, knowing that in that greatest of Egyptian temples
Herhor was lord, the equal of the gods, and a potentate perhaps
greater than the pharaoh.
During this time when the people filled the court, behind the purple
curtain dividing the rest of the temple from mortals were heard harps
and low singing. Rameses looked at the hall. A whole forest of mighty
columns covered from above to the bases with paintings, the mysterious
lighting, the ceiling far up near the sky somewhere, produced on him
an effect that was crushing.
"What does it signify," thought he, "to win a battle at the Soda
Lakes? To build an edifice like this is an exploit!--But those priests
built it."
At that moment he felt the power of the priestly order. Could he, his
army, or even the whole people overturn that temple? And if it would
be difficult to deal with the edifice would it be easier to struggle
with its builders? The voice of the high priest Mefres roused him from
disagreeable meditations.
"Holiness," said the old man; "thou most worthy confidant of the gods"
(here he bowed to Herhor); "ye nomarchs, scribes, warriors, and common
people,--the most worthy high priest of this temple, Herhor, invites
you to judge, according to ancient custom, the earthly acts of the
late pharaoh, and to acknowledge or deny to him burial."
Anger rushed to the head of Rameses. "It was not enough that they
insulted him in that place, but in addition they dare to discuss the
deeds of his father, to decide as to his burial."
But he calmed himself; that was only a formality, as ancient, in
fact, as the Egyptian dynasties. It related not to judgment, but to
praise of the departed.
At a sign given by Herhor the high priests took their seats on stools.
But neither the nomarchs nor the generals surrounding the throne of
Rameses were seated; there were not even stools for them.
The pharaoh fixed in his memory that insult also; but he had so
mastered himself now that it was impossible to learn whether he
noticed the disregard shown those near him.
Meanwhile the holy Mefres dwelt on the life of the deceased pharaoh.
"Rameses XII.," said he, "did not commit any of the forty-two sins,
hence the court of the gods pronounces a gracious verdict regarding
him. And since, moreover, the royal mummy, thanks to the exceptional
care of the priests, is provided with every amulet, prayer, direction,
and spell, there is no doubt that the late pharaoh is now in the
dwelling of the gods, sitting at the side of Osiris, and is himself
Osiris.
"During his earthly life the divine nature of Rameses XII. was made
manifest. He reigned more than thirty years. He gave the people
profound peace and erected or finished many temples. Besides, he was
himself a high priest and surpassed in piety the most pious. During
his reign honor to the gods and elevation of the sacred priestly order
held the chief position. Therefore he was beloved of the heavenly
powers, and one of the Theban gods, Khonsu, at the prayer of the
pharaoh, was pleased to go to the country of Buchten, and expel an
evil spirit from the king's daughter."
Mefres drew breath and continued,--
"When I have shown your worthinesses that Rameses XII. was a god, will
ye inquire with what object that higher being came down to the
Egyptian land and spent some tens of years here?
"He did so to reform the world, which, through decay of faith, is much
corrupted. For who is occupied in devotion to-day, who thinks of
obeying the will of the gods in our time?
"In the distant north we see the great Assyrian people who believe
only in the power of the sword, and who, instead of giving themselves
to devotion and wisdom, are subjecting other nations. Nearer to us are
Phoenicians, whose god is gold, and whose worship is mere fraud and
usury. There are others also: the Hittites on the East, the Libyans on
the west, the Ethiopians on the south, and the Greeks of the
Mediterranean,--those are barbarians and robbers. Instead of toiling
they rob, instead of working wisdom they drink, play dice, or sleep
like tired animals.
"In the world there is only one really wise and pious people, the
Egyptians; but see what is happening among us. Because of the influx
of infidel foreigners, religion has fallen here also. Nobles and
officials at their wine cups revile eternal life and the gods, while
the people throw mud at sacred statues and make no offerings to
temples.
"Excess has taken the place of devotion, riot the place of wisdom.
Each man wants to wear immense wigs, and anoint himself with rare
perfumes; he would have tunics and aprons woven with gold, wear chains
and bracelets set with jewels. A barley cake suffices him no longer:
he wants wheaten bread with milk and honey; he washes his feet in beer
and quenches his thirst with wine from foreign countries.
"Because of this all nobles are in debt, the people are beaten and
overloaded with labor; here and there rebellions break out. What do I
say! here and there? During a certain time through the length and the
breadth of Egypt, thanks to secret disturbances, we hear the shout:
'Give us rest after every six days of labor! Do not beat us without
judgment! Give each man of us a plot of land as his property!'
"This is a declaration of ruin for Egypt, against which we must find
rescue. The rescue is only in religion, which teaches that the people
should labor. Holy men, as persons knowing the will of the gods,
should indicate the labor, and it is the duty of the pharaoh and his
officials to see that this labor is carried out actually.
"Religion teaches all this; according to these principles Rameses
XII., who was equal to the gods, governed Egypt. We high priests,
knowing his devotion, will cut out the following inscription on his
tomb and on the temples:
"'The bull Horus, the mighty Apis who united the crowns of the
kingdom, the golden falcon wielding the sabre, the conqueror of nine
nations, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, the ruler of two worlds,
the son of the sun, Amen-Mer-Rameses, beloved of Amon-Ra, the lord and
ruler of the Theban region, the son of Amon-Ra received as son by
Horus, and begotten by Hormach, King of Egypt, ruler of Phoenicia,
lord of nine nations.'"[40]
[40] Authentic tomb inscription.
When this proposal was confirmed by a shout of those assembled,
dancers ran out from behind the curtain and performed a sacred dance
before the sarcophagus, and the priests burned incense. Then they took
the mummy from the boat and bore it to the sanctuary of Amon into
which Rameses XIII. had not the right to enter.
The service ended soon after and the assembly left the temple.
While returning to the palace of Luxor the young pharaoh was so sunk
in thought that he hardly saw the immense throng of people and did not
hear the shouts which rose from it.
"I cannot deceive my own heart," thought Rameses. "The high priests
insult me; this has not happened to any pharaoh till my time; more,
they point out to me the way in which I can gain their favor. They
wish to manage the state, and I am to see that their commands are
accomplished.
"But it will be otherwise: I shall command and ye must accomplish.
Either my royal foot will be planted on your necks or I shall perish."
For two days the revered mummy of Rameses XII. remained in the temple
of Amon, in a place so sacred that even high priests might not enter,
save only Herhor and Mefres. Before the deceased only one lamp was
burning, the flame of which, nourished in a miraculous manner, was
never extinguished. Over the deceased hung the symbol of the spirit, a
man-headed falcon. Whether it was a machine, or really a living being,
was known to no one. This is certain, that priests who had the courage
to look behind the curtain stealthily saw that this being kept one
place in the air unsupported while its lips and eyes continued moving.
The continuation of the funeral began, and the golden boat carried the
deceased to the other side of the river. But first it passed through
the main street of Thebes surrounded by an immense retinue of priests,
wailers, warriors, and people, amid incense, music, wailing and
chanting. This was perhaps the most beautiful street in all Egypt. It
was broad, smooth, lined with trees. Its houses, four and even five
stories high, were covered from roof to foundation with mosaic or with
bas-reliefs in colors. It looked as if those buildings had been hung
with immense colored tapestry or hidden by colossal pictures
representing the work and occupations of merchants, artisans,
mariners, also distant lands and their people. In one word that was
not a street, but a colossal gallery of pictures, barbarous as to the
drawing, but brilliant in colors.
The funeral procession advanced about two kilometres from the north to
the south, keeping more or less the centre of the city, then it turned
westward toward the river.
In the middle of the river opposite this point was a large island
connected by a bridge of boats with the city. To avoid accidents the
generals in command reformed the procession; they put four people in a
rank, ordered them to move very slowly and forbade them to keep step.
With this object the different bands of music at the head of the
multitude each played different music.
After a couple of hours the procession passed the first bridge, next
the island, then the second bridge, and was on the western bank of the
river.
If we might call the eastern part of Thebes the city of gods and
kings, the western quarter was that of tombs and mortuary temples.
The procession advanced from the Nile toward the Libyan hills by the
middle road. South of this road, on an eminence, stood a temple,
commemorating the victories of Rameses III., the walls of which are
covered with pictures of conquered nations: Hittites, Amorites,
Philistines, Ethiopians, Arabs, Libyans. A little lower down rose two
colossal statues of Amenhôtep II., the height of which,
notwithstanding their sitting posture, was twenty metres. One of these
statues was distinguished by the miraculous property that when struck
by the rays of the rising sun it gave out sounds like those of a harp
whenever chords snap in it.
Still nearer the road, but always on the left, stood the Ramesseum, a
beautiful though not very large temple which was built by Rameses II.
The entrance to this edifice was guarded by statues with the royal
insignia in their hands. In the forecourt towered the statue of
Rameses II. to the height of sixteen metres.
The road rose gradually, and a very steep eminence became more and
more visible; this was as full of holes as a sponge: those holes were
the tombs of Egyptian officials. At the entrance to them, among steep
cliffs stood the very strange temple of Queen Hatasu. This temple was
four hundred and fifty yards long. From the forecourt, surrounded by a
wall, there was an entrance by steps to the second court surrounded by
columns; under this was a subterranean temple. From the court of
columns the passage rose by steps again to a temple cut out in the
cliff under which was another subterranean temple. In this way the
temple was of two stories, each of which was divided into an upper and
a lower part. The stairs were immense, without railing, but furnished
with two rows of sphinxes; the entrance to each stairway was guarded
by two sitting statues.
At the temple of Hatasu began the gloomy ravine which led from the
tombs of high dignitaries to those of the pharaohs. Between these two
quarters was the tomb of the high priest Retemenof, the corridors and
chambers of which occupied about one hectare of subterranean area.
The road to the ravine was so steep that men had to help the draught
bulls, and push the funeral boat forward. The procession moved, as it
were, along a cornice cut into the cliff side; at last they halted on
a broad platform some hundreds of feet above the ravine counting from
the lower bed of it.
Here was the door leading to the underground tomb which during his
thirty years' reign the pharaoh had made for himself. This tomb was a
whole palace with chambers for the pharaoh, for his family and
servants, with a dining-room, bedchamber and bath, with chapels
consecrated to various gods, and finally with a well at the bottom of
which was a small chamber where the mummy of the sovereign would rest
for the ages.
By the light of brilliant torches the walls of all the rooms appeared
covered with prayers, and also with pictures which represented every
occupation and amusement of the departed: hunting, the building of
temples, the cutting of canals, triumphal entries, solemnities in
honor of the gods, battles of troops with their enemies, the labors of
people.
And those were not sufficient: the chambers were not only fitted with
furniture, vessels, chariots, weapons, flowers, meat, bread, and wine,
but they were furnished also with a multitude of statues. There were
various portraits of Rameses XII., his priests, ministers, women,
warriors, and slaves; for the sovereign could not dispense in the
other world any more than in this with costly vessels, exquisite food
and faithful servants.
When the funeral car halted at the entrance the priests drew forth
from its sarcophagus the mummy of the pharaoh, and placed it on the
earth resting against the cliff with its shoulder. Then Rameses XIII.
burned incense before the remains of his father, while Queen Nikotris
embraced the mummy by the neck, and said with weeping,--
"I am thy sister, Nikotris, thy wife; do not desert me, thou great
one! Dost thou desire really, my good father, that I should go? But if
I go thou wilt be alone, and will any one be with thee?"
Now the high priest Herhor burned incense before the mummy, and Mefres
poured out wine, saying,--
"To thy second self we offer this, O Osiris-Mer-Amen-Rameses,
sovereign of Upper and Lower Egypt, whose voice in the presence of the
great god is truthful."
Then the wailers and the chorus of priests were heard:
_Chorus I._ "Complain, complain, weep, weep, weep, without ceasing, as
loudly as ever ye are able."
_Wailers._ "O worthy traveller, who turnest thy steps to the land of
eternity, how quickly they are tearing thee from us."
_Chorus II._ "How beautiful is that which is happening to him! Since
Khonsu of Thebes was loved by him greatly, the god has permitted the
sovereign to reach that west, the world of the generations of his
servants."
_Wailers._ "O thou who hast been attended by so many servitors, thou
art now in the land ruled by loneliness. Thou who hadst splendid
robes and didst love spotless linen art lying now in the garments of
yesterday!"
_Chorus I._ "In peace, in peace, to the West, O our lord, go thou in
peace. We shall see thee again when the day of eternity comes, for
thou art going to the land which brings all men together."[41]
[41] Authentic.
The final ceremony began.
They brought a bull and an antelope which it was the duty of Rameses
XIII. to slay, but they were slain by his substitute before the gods,
Sem, the high priest. The inferior priests dressed the beasts quickly,
after which Herhor and Mefres, taking the hind legs, placed them in
turn at the mouth of the mummy. But the mummy had no wish to eat, for
it was not brought to life yet, and its lips were closed.
To remove that obstacle Mefres washed it with holy water and incensed
it with perfumes and alum, saying,--
"Here stands thy father; here stands Osiris-Mer-Amen-Rameses. I am thy
son; I am Horus; I come to purify thee and make thee alive. I put thy
bones again in order; I join that which was severed, for I am Horus,
the avenger of my father. Thou wilt sit on the throne of Ra who
proceeds from Nut, who gives birth to Re every morning, who gives
birth to Mer-Amen-Rameses daily, just as Re."
Thus speaking, the high priest touched with amulets the mouth, the
breasts, the hands, and the feet of the mummy.
Now the choruses were heard again,--
_Chorus I._ "Henceforth Osiris-Mer-Amen-Rameses will eat and drink all
things which the gods eat and drink. He will sit in their place, like
them; he is healthy and powerful."
_Chorus II._ "He has power in every limb; it is hateful to him to be
hungry and unable to eat, thirsty and unable to drink."
_Chorus I._ "O gods, give to Osiris-Mer-Amen-Rameses thousands of
thousands of pitchers of wine, thousands of garments, thousands of
loaves and of bullocks!"
_Chorus II._ "O ye who are living on the earth, when ye pass this way,
if life be dear to you and death be repulsive, if ye desire that your
dignities pass to your descendants, repeat this prayer for the
heaven-dweller who is placed here."
_Mefres._ "O ye great ones, ye prophets, ye princes, scribes, and
pharaohs, O ye other people who are to come a million years after me,
if any of you put his name on the place of my name the god will punish
him by destroying his person on earth!"[42]
[42] Authentic.
After this curse the priests lighted the torches, took the royal
mummy, placed it again in its casket, and the casket in the stone
sarcophagus which had the human form in its general outlines. Then, in
spite of the shrieks, the despair, and the resistance of wailers, they
bore that immense weight toward the tomb chamber.
After they had passed by the light of torches through a number of
corridors and chambers they halted in that one where the well was.
They lowered the sarcophagus in that opening, went down themselves,
and put away the sarcophagus in a lower subterranean space, then
walled up the passage to this space quickly and in such a manner that
the most trained eye could not have discovered it; then they went up
and closed the entrance to the well with equal effectiveness.
The priests did all this without witnesses; and they did the work so
accurately that the mummy of Rameses XII. remains to this day in its
secret abode, as safe from thieves as from modern curiosity. During
twenty-nine centuries many tombs of pharaohs have been ravaged, but
that one is inviolate.
While some priests were hiding the remains of the pious pharaoh,
others illuminated the underground chambers and invited the living to
a feast in that dwelling.
Rameses XIII., Queen Nikotris, and Sem, with some civil and military
dignitaries entered the dining-hall. In the middle of the chamber
stood a table covered with food, wine, and flowers, and at the wall
sat a statue of the late sovereign carved out of porphyry. He seemed
to gaze at those present, smile pensively, and beg them to eat in his
presence.
The feast began with a sacred dance, which was accompanied by a hymn
sung by one of the highest priestesses.
"Enjoy days of happiness, for life lasts but one instant. Enjoy
happiness, for when ye enter the tomb ye will rest there the whole
length of each day during ages."
After the priestess came a prophet, and to the accompaniment of harps
he chanted,--
"The world is endless change and endless renewal. That arrangement of
fate is wise; the decision of Osiris deserves admiration; for as a
body which belongs to past time decays and perishes, other bodies rise
behind it.
"The pharaohs, those gods who were before us, rest in their pyramids;
their mummies and their second selves remain, though the palaces which
they built are no longer on their sites, and no longer in existence.
"Despair not, but give thyself to thy desires and thy happiness, and
wear not thy heart out till for thee the day comes when thou wilt
implore, while Osiris, the god whose heart beats no longer, will not
hear thy petitions.
"The mourning of a world will not restore happiness to a man who is
lying in the tomb; use, then, thy days of happiness and in delight be
no laggard. There is no man, indeed, who can take his goods to the
other world with him; there is none who can go to that world and come
back to this one."[43]
[43] Authentic.
The feast ended; the worthy assembly incensed the statue of the
deceased once again and made ready to return to Thebes. In the
mortuary temple only priests remained to make regular offerings to the
deceased and a guard watching the tomb against sacrilegious attempts
of robbers.
Thenceforth Rameses XII. was alone in that mysterious chamber. Through
a small secret opening in the rock a gloomy light barely broke in to
him; instead of the rustle of ostrich plumes was the rustle of
enormous bat wings; instead of music was heard, during night hours,
complaining howls of hyenas, and at times the mighty voice of a lion,
which greeted from the desert the pharaoh in his resting-place.