mastabas built for royalty,
at Bet Khallaf, and the first pyramids, in the Memphite necropolis.
In the mastaba of Tjeser at Bet Khallaf stone was used for the great
portcullises which were intended to bar the way to possible plunderers
through the passages of the tomb. The Step-Pyramid at Sakkara is, so to
speak, a series of mastabas of stone, imposed one above the other; it
never had the continuous casing of stone which is the mark of a true
pyramid. The pyramid of Snefru at Medum is more developed. It also
originated in a mastaba, enlarged, and with another mastaba-like
erection on the top of it; but it was given a continuous sloping casing
of fine limestone from bottom to top, and so is a true pyramid. A
discussion of recent theories as to the building of the later pyramids
of the IVth Dynasty will be found in the next chapter.

In the time of the Ist Dynasty the royal tomb was known by the name of
"Protection-around-the-Hawk, i.e. the king"(_Sa-ha-heru_); but under
the Hid and IVth Dynasties regular names, such as "the Firm," "the
Glorious," "the Appearing," etc., were given to each pyramid.

[Illustration: 086.jpg FALSE DOOR OF THE TOMB OF TETA, about 3600 B.C.]

We must not omit to note an interesting point in connection with the
royal tombs at Abydos, In that of King Khent or Tjer (the reading of
the ideograph is doubtful) M. Amelineau found a large bed or bier of
granite, with a figure of the god Osiris lying in state sculptured in
high relief upon it. This led him to jump to the conclusion that he
had found the tomb of the god Osiris himself, and that a skull he found
close by was the veritable cranium of the primeval folk-hero, who,
according to the euhemerist theory, was the deified original of the god.
The true explanation is given by Dr. Wallis Budge in his _History of
Egypt_, i, p. 19. It is a fact that the tomb of Tjer was regarded by
the Egyptians of the XIXth Dynasty as the veritable tomb of Osiris.
They thought they had discovered it, just as M. Amelineau did. When the
ancient royal tombs of Umm el-Ga'ab were rediscovered and identified at
the beginning of the XIXth Dynasty, and Seti I built the great temple of
Abydos to the divine ancestors in honour of the discovery, embellishing
it with a relief of himself and his son Ramses making offerings to the
names of his predecessors (the "Tablet of Abydos "), the name of King
Khent or Tjer (which is perhaps the really correct original form) was
read by the