A pilgrimage to the temples and tombs of Egypt, Nubia, and ...

296 BELZONl'S TOMB.
long- ridge of solid rock, in the face of which are
pierced the several entrances to the Royal tombs ;
but as, in order to reach each of those sepulchral
gates, a flight of steps must be descended, they
are not to be distinguished until one is close to
them. The first into which we entered is that
known by the name of Belzoni's Tomb, being
the one opened in 1817, by that enterprizing
traveller, and in which he discovered the beau-
tiful alabaster sarcophagus, which was taken to
England, and purchased by Sir John Soane. This
was the sepulchre of the Pharaoh Osirei, the
father of Rhamses Sesostris, and is perhaps the
most beautiful of all the tombs of western Thebes,
from the size of its galleries and chambers, and
the character and preservation of its painted walls
and ceilings, wheron are depicted not only
those mythological mysteries which I do not pre-
tend to decypher or comprehend, but whole series
of paintings representing the domestic habits of
the ancient Egyptians, their agricultural pursuits,
their games, amusements, punishments, &c. &c.,
many of which are astonishingly similar to the
customs and habits of the present natives of the
land.
Belzoni's Tomb is entered by two long flights
of degraded steps, leading to an extensive gallery,