Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 1.djvu/254

 164 A History of Art in Ancient Egypt. of the ascent, and of the overpowering- impression made upon the mind by their colossal mass, the Pyramids, as we see them to-day are far from being the most complete and interesting of the sepulchral monuments left to us by the early dynasties. The largest and best preserved are not so old as some of the tombs in the necropolis of Memphis, and, royal burying-places as they are, their arrangement and ornamentation are less rich and expressive than those of many sepulchres built by private individuals. Many of the latter, in their comparatively restricted dimensions, answer better to the definition of a tomb suggested to us by our study of the national beliefs. We shall, therefore, reserve the Pyramids for future treatment, and in our review of the successive forms taken by sepulchral architecture, we shall assign the first place to those private tombs, dating from the Ancient Empire, which are to be found in the necropolis of Memphis. Notwithstanding a few dififerences, to which we shall refer hereafter, these tombs, as a whole, can be traced to a single type, of which Lepsius was the first to perceive the interest.^ This type, which was first clearly brought to light by the many and deep excavations carried out by Mariette, has been known for some years past by the Arab term mastaba,'^ which means literally a bench, a bench of stone or wood. This name was given by the labourers employed upon the excavations, and seemed well adapted to their long and low shapes, which bear some resemblance to those divans, or ottomans, which are found in every room of an oriental dwelling. Mariette was struck by the fitness of the expression, and used it ever after to designate that particular kind of tomb. Mariette will be our constant guide in this part of our study. After having opened many hundreds of these monuments, he published in the Revue archeologiqite, what we may call a theory of the fjiastaba.^ In all essential matters we shall allow his words to speak for themselves ; when he enters into more detail than is necessary for our purpose, w^e shall content ourselves with epitomizing his descriptions. ^ Briefe aus ^Egypten, p. 23 et seg. Before the Prussian commission left Middle for Upper Egypt they had studied 130 private tombs, of which the principal ones are figured in the Denk)nceler. 2 Lexicographers do not seem to know the origin of this word ; they believe it to be foreign, perhaps Persian. ^ Vol. xix. (1869), pp. 1-22 and Si-89.