The XIth dynasty temple at Deir el-Bahari .. - NYU | Digital Library ...

54 THE Xlru IJYNASTY TEiMPLE Al' DEIK BL-BAHAB,I.
him, the herds of cattle and flocks of fowls which
fill his farms.
It had loufj; heen thought that these were
descriptions of his life on earth. Mariette was
the first to show that as they were all alike for
all, they must rather be considered as descrip-
tions of the life which the deceased was to enjoy
in the next world. That life was supposed to be
a repetition of wliat was held to be happiness in
this world.
Mariette's point of view is all the more justi-
fied since ^ve have here examples of what has
been called the magical power of imitation. The
best, the surest way of granting to the deceased
this happy life is to represent it in painting or
sculpture. The fact of something being repre-
sented causes it to exist. This is the light in
which we are to look at the scenes on the coffins
of the Xlth Dynasty. For the first time we
have found coffins not covered with religious
texts, but with scenes of the ordinary life ; and
we may suppose that the offerings wliich are
made to the princess, the granaries where her
food is stored, the cows which provide her with
milk, are part of the riches and plenty which
she is fancied to enjoy in the other world.
We shall begin the description of these sarco-
phagi with tliat of Kauit (I'l. xx.), the preserva-
tion of which is perfect. Kauit was, like most of
the other princesses, " the royal favourite, the
only one. the priestess of Hathor." At the same
time she is said to be " beloved of the great
god, the lord of the sky."
The formula in the upper line of each side is
that which is found also on the tablets. An
oftering is made to a god, but not for him ; it is
for the princess, in favour of the princess. The
god is a mere medium, who has to hand over to
the deceased what has been given him.
On the left side the god is Osiris, " the lord of
Busiris, who resides in the Ament, the lord of
Abydos in all his good abodes." We must not
take the names of Busiris and Abydos in their
strict sense, as belonging to the terrestrial geo-
graphy ; they are two regions of the sky.
u ^ ©, as may be seen in the vignette of
Chapter XV. of the Book of the Dead, is a place
where the sun rises, and where the deceased,
like the sun, receives life and breath. It is
clearly in the East, while , Abydos
f J j:?^
is in the West ; these two names together, which
are found on nearly all stelae, mean in the
formula as much as " East and West." The
offerings consist of pure water, " a funereal
meal, a thousand cakes, beer- vases, calves, geese,
a thousand rolls of cloth, a thousand of all
good things to the beloved of the great god the
lord of the sky, the royal favourite, the only
one, the ^jriestess of Hathor, Kauit."
On the right side the a;od to whom the offerinoj
is made is " Anubis on his mountain," who is
also called Amut, when he has the appearance of
a skin on a pole. Besides his other gifts he
grants to the princess " a good burial in the land
of the West, in the tomb in the Underworld."
This coffin is an abridged representation of
the abode of the j^i'iestess in the other world ;
at the same time it is also her coffin, for the two
large eyes which we see on the left side are
supposed to be those of the deceased looking
through the stone. On both sides we have
doors leading into various parts of the abode of
the princess. On the small side preceding the
long one on the left, we see the offerings made
in the ,
Pa
Duat, a room sometimes very
narrow, where the dressing of the god took
place, and where ointments and scented oils
were brought to him. We see very nearly the
same thing at Deir el-Bahari in the w hich
is in the upper court ^ ; five kinds of ointment are
brought in both places, only the middle one
differs. At Deir el-Bahari we have the
ani of Punt ; here in its place is the substance
called I . Besides there are two kinds of
Illustrated in Deir el-Bahari V., pi. cxxx.
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