DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4993#0017
xvi
PKEFACE.
ing 'respondents,' because they answered to the appeal of the
deceased. They were deposited with the dead to absolve the
deceased in the future state from certain duties which he was
supposed to be called upon to perform. When inscribed they
have a somewhat monotonous formula interesting only to Egypto-
logists for the philological variants which occur in its different
expressions. But these figures are generally when inscribed ac-
companied by the names of the persons for whom they were made,
and to these names are added their titles which are often con-
tributions to the knowledge we possess of the political condition
of Egypt. Some rarer specimens have the names of royal per-
sonages and thus help to complete the list of monarchs. The
figures, which commenced with the 11th dynasty, continued to be
deposited in the tombs till the end of the 2Gth dynasty, but it
is doubtful if they continued after that period. Another set of
objects deposited in the sepulchres were the sepulchral vases, four
in number for each complete set, which held the viscera of the
dead. They are first found in the tombs of the new empire com-
mencing with the 18th dynasty, and are remarkably fine at the
period of the 2Gth dynasty; they are of superior workmanship and
art, and some beautiful specimens are in the collection at Aln-
wick. Discovered, as it appears, in different places in the tombs
they were occasionally deposited in wooden boxes specially made for
their reception and accompanied the funeral cortege to the tombs.
These sepulchral vases are found in most collections and often
are one of the most interesting portions. Like the sepulchral
figures they are often inscribed with a formula which is constantly
recurring and uniform ; curiously enough, while that of the sepul-
chral figures is a chapter of the Book of the Dead or Ritual,
the formula found on sepulchral vases has not yet been found
embodied in any extant text of that book.
PKEFACE.
ing 'respondents,' because they answered to the appeal of the
deceased. They were deposited with the dead to absolve the
deceased in the future state from certain duties which he was
supposed to be called upon to perform. When inscribed they
have a somewhat monotonous formula interesting only to Egypto-
logists for the philological variants which occur in its different
expressions. But these figures are generally when inscribed ac-
companied by the names of the persons for whom they were made,
and to these names are added their titles which are often con-
tributions to the knowledge we possess of the political condition
of Egypt. Some rarer specimens have the names of royal per-
sonages and thus help to complete the list of monarchs. The
figures, which commenced with the 11th dynasty, continued to be
deposited in the tombs till the end of the 2Gth dynasty, but it
is doubtful if they continued after that period. Another set of
objects deposited in the sepulchres were the sepulchral vases, four
in number for each complete set, which held the viscera of the
dead. They are first found in the tombs of the new empire com-
mencing with the 18th dynasty, and are remarkably fine at the
period of the 2Gth dynasty; they are of superior workmanship and
art, and some beautiful specimens are in the collection at Aln-
wick. Discovered, as it appears, in different places in the tombs
they were occasionally deposited in wooden boxes specially made for
their reception and accompanied the funeral cortege to the tombs.
These sepulchral vases are found in most collections and often
are one of the most interesting portions. Like the sepulchral
figures they are often inscribed with a formula which is constantly
recurring and uniform ; curiously enough, while that of the sepul-
chral figures is a chapter of the Book of the Dead or Ritual,
the formula found on sepulchral vases has not yet been found
embodied in any extant text of that book.