ictures in the tomb of
Nofirhotpu at Thebes.

This lamentation is neither remarkable for its originality nor for its
depth of feeling. Sorrow was expressed on such occasions in prescribed
formulas of always the same import, custom soon enabling each individual
to compose for himself a repertory of monotonous exclamations of
condolence, of which the prayer, "To the West!" formed the basis,
relieved at intervals by some fresh epithet. The nearest relatives
of the deceased, however, would find some more sincere expressions of
grief, and some more touching appeals with which to break in upon the
commonplaces of the conventional theme. On reaching the bank of the Nile
the funeral cortege proceeded to embark.*

* The description of this second part of the funeral
arrangements is taken from the tomb of Harmhabi, and
especially from that of Nofirhotpu.

[Illustration: 015.jpg THE BOATS CONTAINING THE FEMALE WEEPERS AND THE
PEOPLE OF THE HOUSEHOLD]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from paintings on the tomb of
Nofirhotpu at Thebes.

They blended with their inarticulate cries, and the usual protestations
and formulas, an eulogy upon the deceased and his virtues, allusions
to his disposition and deeds, mention of the offices and honours he had
obtained, and reflections on the uncertainty of human life--the whole
forming the melancholy dirge which each generation intoned over its
predecessor, while waiting itself for the same office to be said over it
in its turn.

The bearers of offerings, friends, and slaves passed over on hired
barges, whose cabins, covered externally with embroidered stuffs of
several colours, or with _applique_ leather, looked like the pedestals
of a monument: crammed together on the boats, they stood upright with
their faces turned towards the funeral bark. The latter was supposed to
represent the Noshemit, the mysterious skiff of Abydos, which had been
used in the obsequies of Osiris of yore.

[Illustration: 016.jpg THE BOATS CONTAINING THE FRIENDS AND THE FUNERARY
FURNITURE]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from paintings on the tomb of
Nofirhotpu at Thebes.

It was elegant, light, and slender in shape, and ornamented at bow and
stern with a lotus-flower of metal, which bent back its head gracefully,
as if bowed down by its own weight. A temple-shaped shrine stood in
the middle of the boat, adorned with bouquets of flowers and with
green palm-branches. The female members