DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0042
IO EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE.
and concealed from danger. Out of this, its stony body, it was believed that
the shade could wander, walking among men in true ghostly fashion.23 But
a single statue might perish, or become mutilated, and future happiness be for-
feited. Hence that unique feature of earlier Egyptian statuary, the multiplica-
tion of the figures of the deceased in his tomb.
Like other men, the Egyptian dreaded the helplessness and solitude of the
grave ; the more so, that he attached such reality to it. This' phantom would
suffer hunger, and be in danger of annihilation, did not surviving friends care
for its wants, and piously bring it offerings of food and drink.2+ Did they,
however, neglect such sacred duties, then the dead would be roused to anger;
and the spirit, or Ka, would have its revenge.25
But the Egyptian did not depend upon the pious devotion of surviving
friends alone. His family might become extinct, and then his shade would
be neglected. Consequently, in his lifetime he took every precaution to
insure its future well-being. The poor and down-trodden could hope for little;
and, as remains show, a few amulets, a bath of natron, a few windings of linen,
and a grave in the dry, conserving sand, were all the precautions taken against
dissolution.26 But the Pharaoh and the rich were better able to provide for
their future.
The site of the tomb was always chosen high above the overflowing
waters, in strong contrast to the abodes of the living, built within reach
of the swelling Nile, and of which scarcely a vestige remains. The Egyp-
tians, as we are told by the Greek Diodoros, called their dwellings " inns," on
account of the shortness of life ; but the tombs they called "eternal dwelling-
places," and this expression is met constantly in inscriptions within the tombs.2?
On the plateau of the Libyan, or Western range, behind which the sun dropped
every evening, there to commence his dangerous journey through the sombre
land of Ament, the Egyptian chose the site for burial. The western shore of
the Nile was thus the land of the dead : graves are found on the eastern shore,
only where the distance over to the Libyan mountains was too great for friends
to go with food for the dead, and return by easy journey. Wherever found,
the tombstones, however, always face the East, as though the mummy were
watching for the rising sun, which should illumine his night, and put an end
to his long sleep.
The tomb of the rich of the oldest period is the original form from which
those of later times seem to have been derived. It consists, as a rule, of three
parts, — first, the mummy-chamber; second, the shaft; and third, the chapel,
with its adjoining dark recess filled with statues, and called by the Arabs
serddb.2^
The mummy-chamber is hewn deep within the living rock: and its walls,
massive and enduring as eternity, are pictureless ; showing, at the most, traces
of ritual phrases.2? In the centre stands the lonely sarcophagus, hermetically
and concealed from danger. Out of this, its stony body, it was believed that
the shade could wander, walking among men in true ghostly fashion.23 But
a single statue might perish, or become mutilated, and future happiness be for-
feited. Hence that unique feature of earlier Egyptian statuary, the multiplica-
tion of the figures of the deceased in his tomb.
Like other men, the Egyptian dreaded the helplessness and solitude of the
grave ; the more so, that he attached such reality to it. This' phantom would
suffer hunger, and be in danger of annihilation, did not surviving friends care
for its wants, and piously bring it offerings of food and drink.2+ Did they,
however, neglect such sacred duties, then the dead would be roused to anger;
and the spirit, or Ka, would have its revenge.25
But the Egyptian did not depend upon the pious devotion of surviving
friends alone. His family might become extinct, and then his shade would
be neglected. Consequently, in his lifetime he took every precaution to
insure its future well-being. The poor and down-trodden could hope for little;
and, as remains show, a few amulets, a bath of natron, a few windings of linen,
and a grave in the dry, conserving sand, were all the precautions taken against
dissolution.26 But the Pharaoh and the rich were better able to provide for
their future.
The site of the tomb was always chosen high above the overflowing
waters, in strong contrast to the abodes of the living, built within reach
of the swelling Nile, and of which scarcely a vestige remains. The Egyp-
tians, as we are told by the Greek Diodoros, called their dwellings " inns," on
account of the shortness of life ; but the tombs they called "eternal dwelling-
places," and this expression is met constantly in inscriptions within the tombs.2?
On the plateau of the Libyan, or Western range, behind which the sun dropped
every evening, there to commence his dangerous journey through the sombre
land of Ament, the Egyptian chose the site for burial. The western shore of
the Nile was thus the land of the dead : graves are found on the eastern shore,
only where the distance over to the Libyan mountains was too great for friends
to go with food for the dead, and return by easy journey. Wherever found,
the tombstones, however, always face the East, as though the mummy were
watching for the rising sun, which should illumine his night, and put an end
to his long sleep.
The tomb of the rich of the oldest period is the original form from which
those of later times seem to have been derived. It consists, as a rule, of three
parts, — first, the mummy-chamber; second, the shaft; and third, the chapel,
with its adjoining dark recess filled with statues, and called by the Arabs
serddb.2^
The mummy-chamber is hewn deep within the living rock: and its walls,
massive and enduring as eternity, are pictureless ; showing, at the most, traces
of ritual phrases.2? In the centre stands the lonely sarcophagus, hermetically