d: already in the New Kingdom the
wealthiest persons had their mummies laid in several coffins, each of
which was gaudily painted with mythological scenes and inscriptions. The
costliest process of embalmment lasted no less than seventy days. Many
superstitious rites had to be observed in the course of the process: a
late book has preserved to us the magical formulae that were repeated by
the wise _kher-heb_ priest (who in the necropolis performed the
functions of taricheutes, "embalmer"), as each bandage was applied.

A large number of utensils, articles of furniture and the like were
placed in the burial-chamber for the use of the dead--jars, weapons,
mirrors, and even chairs, musical instruments and wigs. In the early
times statuettes of servants, representing them as engaged in their
various functions (brewers, bakers, &c.), were included for the same
purpose; they were supposed to perform their menial functions for their
deceased lord in the future life. In the Middle Kingdom these are
gradually replaced by small models of the mummy itself, and the belief
arose that when their owner was called upon to perform any distasteful
work in the nether world, they would answer to his name and do the task
for him. The later _ushebti_-figures, little statuettes of wood, stone
or faience, of which several hundreds are often found in a single tomb,
are confused survivals of both of the earlier classes of statuettes.
Still more important than all such funereal objects are the books that
were placed in the grave for the use of the dead: in the pyramids they
are written on the walls of the sepulchral chamber and the passages
leading to it; in the Middle Kingdom usually inscribed on the inner
sides of the sarcophagus; in later times contained in rolls of papyrus.
The Pyramid texts and the _Book of the Dead_ are the most important of
these, and teach us much about the dangers and needs that attended the
dead man beyond the tomb, and about the manner in which it was thought
they could be counteracted.

The burial ceremony itself must have been an imposing spectacle. In many
cases the mummy had to be conveyed across the Nile, and boats were gaily
decked out for this purpose. On the western bank a stately procession
conducted the deceased to his last resting-place. At the door of the
tomb the final ceremonies were performed; they demanded a considerable
number of actors, chief among whom were the _sem_-priest and the
_kher-heb_ priest