woman? To this we may reply that the other world was peopled
with foes--Typhonian genii, serpents, gigantic scorpions, tortoises,
monsters of every description--against which it was incessantly needful to
do battle. The poignards placed inside the coffin for the self-defence of
the soul were useful only for fighting at close quarters; certain weapons
of a projectile kind were therefore added, such as bows and arrows,
boomerangs made in hard wood, and a battle-axe. The handle of this axe is
fashioned of cedar-wood covered with sheet gold (fig. 306). The legend of
Ahmes is inlaid thereon in characters of lapis lazuli, carnelian,
turquoise, and green felspar. The blade is fixed in a cleft of the wood,
and held in place by a plait-work of gold wire. It is of black bronze,
formerly gilt. On one side, it is ornamented with lotus flowers upon a gold
ground; on the other, Ahmes is represented in the act of slaying a
barbarian, whom he grasps by the hair of the head. Beneath this group,
Mentu, the Egyptian war-god, is symbolised by a griffin with the head of an
eagle. In addition to all these objects, there were two small boats, one in
gold and one in silver, emblematic of the bark in which the mummy must
cross the river to her last home, and of that other bark in which she
would ultimately navigate the waters of the West, in company with the
immortal gods. When found, the silver boat rested upon a wooden truck with
four bronze wheels; but as it was in a very dilapidated state, it has been
dismounted and replaced by the golden boat (fig. 307). The hull is long and
slight, the prow and stem are elevated, and terminate in gracefully-curved
papyrus blossoms. Two little platforms surrounded by balustrades on a
panelled ground are at the prow and on the poop, like quarter-decks. The
pilot stands upon the one, and the steersman before the other, with a large
oar in his hand. This oar takes the place of the modern helm. Twelve
boatmen in solid silver are rowing under the orders of these two officers;
Kames himself being seated in the centre, hatchet and sceptre in hand. Such
were some of the objects buried with one single mummy; and I have even now
enumerated only the most remarkable among them. The technical processes
throughout are irreproachable, and the correct taste of the craftsman is in
no wise inferior to his dexterity of hand. Having arrived at the perfection
displayed in the _parure_ of Aahhotep, the goldsmith's art did not long