ye must accomplish.
Either my royal foot will be planted on your necks or I shall perish."

For two days the revered mummy of Ramses XII remained in the temple of
Amon, in a place so sacred that even high priests might not enter, save
only Herhor and Mefres. Before the deceased only one lamp was burning,
the flame of which, nourished in a miraculous manner, was never
extinguished. Over the deceased hung the symbol of the spirit, a man-
headed falcon. Whether it was a machine, or really a living being, was
known to no one. This is certain, that priests who had the courage to
look behind the curtain stealthily saw that this being kept one place
in the air unsupported while its lips and eyes continued moving.

The continuation of the funeral began, and the golden boat carried the
deceased to the other side of the river. But first it passed through
the main street of Thebes surrounded by an immense retinue of priests,
wailers, warriors, and people, amid incense, music, wailing and
chanting. This was perhaps the most beautiful street in all Egypt. It
was broad, smooth, lined with trees. Its houses, four and even five
stories high, were covered from roof to foundation with mosaic or with
bas-reliefs in colors. It looked as if those buildings had been hung
with immense colored tapestry or hidden by colossal pictures
representing the work and occupations of merchants, artisans, mariners,
also distant lands and their people. In one word that was not a street,
but a colossal gallery of pictures, barbarous as to the drawing, but
brilliant in colors.

The funeral procession advanced about two kilometers from the north to
the south, keeping more or less the centre of the city, then it turned
westward toward the river.

In the middle of the river opposite this point was a large island
connected by a bridge of boats with the city. To avoid accidents the
generals in command reformed the procession; they put four people in a
rank, ordered them to move very slowly and forbade them to keep step.
With this object the different bands of music at the head of the
multitude each played different music.

After a couple of hours the procession passed the first bridge, next
the island, then the second bridge, and was on the western bank of the
river.

If we might call the eastern part of Thebes the city of gods and kings,
the western quarter was that of tombs and mortuary temples.

The procession advanced from the Nile toward the Libyan