DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9059#0141
THE TRUE CHARACTER OF TOMBS. 129
varied in their composition, which adorn the
walls of the tombs of Tih and Phtah-Hotep.
What we wish to impress on the visitor's mind
is the general meaning of these pictures, that he
may thereby realize tbe character of that part of
the tomb in which they are placed. Let us
remember that we are in the interior of a masta-
hah, on a level, however, with the surrounding
plain. There is nothing mournful here, nothing
to remind us of death. The deceased seems to
be in his home ; he receives his relatives and the
people of his household. Moreover, he himself
commenced the tomb in his lifetime, and had
those scenes sculptured on the walls which we
have just endeavored to interpret.
" The Egyptians," says Diodorus, " call their
habitations hostelries, because of the short space
of time during which they sojourn there; whilst
they speak of their tombs as eternal abodes."
Such, indeed, is the true character of the monu-
ments we are examining. The house, the farm,
the cattle, the fields, the harvest, everything is
here represented, and by the solidity of its con-
struction the tomb becomes truly an "eternal
abode."
As to the soul, as to that life beyond the
grave which the Egyptians have made the basis
varied in their composition, which adorn the
walls of the tombs of Tih and Phtah-Hotep.
What we wish to impress on the visitor's mind
is the general meaning of these pictures, that he
may thereby realize tbe character of that part of
the tomb in which they are placed. Let us
remember that we are in the interior of a masta-
hah, on a level, however, with the surrounding
plain. There is nothing mournful here, nothing
to remind us of death. The deceased seems to
be in his home ; he receives his relatives and the
people of his household. Moreover, he himself
commenced the tomb in his lifetime, and had
those scenes sculptured on the walls which we
have just endeavored to interpret.
" The Egyptians," says Diodorus, " call their
habitations hostelries, because of the short space
of time during which they sojourn there; whilst
they speak of their tombs as eternal abodes."
Such, indeed, is the true character of the monu-
ments we are examining. The house, the farm,
the cattle, the fields, the harvest, everything is
here represented, and by the solidity of its con-
struction the tomb becomes truly an "eternal
abode."
As to the soul, as to that life beyond the
grave which the Egyptians have made the basis