ite
linen vest and a long petticoat cover his chest and legs. His feet are shod
with elegant sandals. His arms lie straight along his sides, or are folded
upon his breast, the hands grasping various emblems, as the _Ankh_, the
girdle-buckle, the _Tat_;[69] or, as in the case of the wife of Sennetmu at
Gizeh, a garland of ivy. This mummiform type of sarcophagus is rarely met
with under the Memphite dynasties, though that of Menkara, the Mycerinus of
the Greeks, affords a memorable example. Under the Eleventh Dynasty, the
mummy-case is frequently but a hollowed tree-trunk, roughly sculptured
outside, with a head at one end and feet at the other. The face is daubed
with bright colours, yellow, red, and green; the wig and headdress are
striped with black and blue, and an elaborate collar is depicted on the
breast. The rest of the case is either covered with the long, gilded wings
of Isis and Nephthys, or with a uniform tint of white or yellow, and
sparsely decorated with symbolic figures, or columns of hieroglyphs painted
blue and black. Among the sarcophagi belonging to kings of the Seventeenth
Dynasty which I recovered from Deir el Bahari, the most highly finished
belonged to this type, and were only remarkable for the really
extraordinary skill with which the craftsman had reproduced the features of
the deceased sovereigns. The mask of Ahmes I., that of Amenhotep I., and
that of Thothmes II., are masterpieces in their way. The mask of Rameses
II. shows no sign of paint, except a black line which accentuates the form
of the eye. The face is doubtless modelled in the likeness of the Pharaoh
Herhor, who restored the funerary outfit of his puissant ancestor, and it
will almost bear comparison with the best works of contemporary sculpture
(fig. 262). Two mummy-cases found in the same place--namely, those of Queen
Ahmesnefertari and her daughter, Aahhotep II.--are of gigantic size, and
measure more than ten and a half feet in height (fig. 263). Standing
upright, they might almost be taken for two of the caryatid statues from
the first court at Medinet Habu, though on a smaller scale. The bodies are
represented as bandaged, and but vaguely indicate the contours of the human
form. The shoulders and bust of each are covered with a kind of network in
relief, every mesh standing out in blue upon a yellow ground. The hands
emerge from this mantle, are crossed upon the breast, and grasp the _Ankh_,
or Tau-cross, symbolic of eternal life