e
outline of the sides and in the general arrangement from the plan of that
same tomb which is preserved on a papyrus in the Turin Museum (fig. 153).
Nothing, however, could be more simple than the ordinary distribution of
the parts. A square door, very sparingly ornamented, opened upon a passage
leading to a chamber of more or less extent. From the further end of this
chamber opened a second passage leading to a second chamber, and thence
sometimes to more chambers, the last of which contained the sarcophagus. In
some tombs, the whole excavation is carried down a gently inclined plane,
broken perhaps by only one or two low steps between the entrance and the
end. In others, the various parts follow each other at lower and lower
levels. In the catacomb of Seti I. (fig. 158) a long and narrow flight of
stairs and a sloping corridor (A) lead to a little antechamber and two
halls (B) supported on pillars. A second staircase (C) leads through a
second antechamber to another pillared hall (D), which was the hiding-place
of the sarcophagus. The tomb did not end here. A third staircase (E)
opening from the end of the principal hall was in progress, and would no
doubt have led to more halls and chambers, had not the work been stopped by
the death of the king.[33] If we go from catacomb to catacomb, we do not
find many variations from this plan. The entrance passage in the tomb of
Rameses III. is flanked by eight small lateral chambers. In almost every
other instance, the lesser or greater length of the passages, and the
degree of finish given to the wall paintings, constitute the only
differences between one tomb and another. The smallest of these catacombs
comes to an end at fifty-three feet from the entrance; that of Seti I.,
which is the longest, descends to a distance of 470 feet, and there remains
unfinished. The same devices to which the pyramid builders had recourse, in
order to mislead the spoiler, were adopted by the engineers of the Theban
catacombs. False shafts were sunk which led to nothing, and walls
sculptured and painted were built across the passages. When the burial was
over, the entrance was filled up with blocks of rock, and the natural slope
of the mountain side was restored as skilfully as might be.

[Illustration: Fig. 159.--Wall-painting of the Fields of Aalu, tomb of
Rameses III.]

The most complete type of this class of catacomb is that left to us by Seti
I.; figures and hieroglyphs alike are models of