Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 1.djvu/267

 The Tomb under the Ancient Empire. 771 in granite, alabaster, or limestone. This was laid flat upon the ground (Fig. 92). " As a rule this was the only piece of furniture in the chamber ; but occasionally we find, on each side of the stele and always placed upon the ground, either two small limestone obelisks, or two objects in that material resembling table legs hollowed out at the top for the reception of offerings." This chamber was left open to every comer. The entrance was in fact left without a door. To this rule Mariette found but two exceptions in the many hundreds of tombs which he examined.^ " Not far from the chamber, oftener on the south than the north, and oftener on the north than the west, a passage in the masonry, high, narrow, and built of very large stones, is found. The workmen employed upon the excavations christened it the serdad, or corridor, and their name has been generally adopted." ^ In Figs. 1 16-1 19 we give the plan and three sections of a mastaba at Gizeh which has four serdabs. " Sometimes the serdab has no communication with the other parts of the mastaba, it is entirely walled in, but in other instances there is a narrow quadrangular opening, a sort of pipe or conduit, which unites the serdab with the chamber. It is so small that the hand can only be introduced into it with difficulty.^ " The use of the serdab is revealed by the objects which have been found in it ; it was to hold one or more statues of the deceased. The Egyptians believed these statues to be the most certain guarantees, always with the exception of the mummy itself, of a future life for the dead. Hidden from sight in their dark prison, they were protected from all violence, while they were separated only by a few stones from the chamber where the 1 One of these exceptions is furnished by the tomb of Ti, of which we shall often have to speak (Fig. 114). The large public hall near the entrance to the tomb was separated from the two chambers farther in by a corridor closed at two points by doors, some remains of which were found in place when the tomb was opened. ^ This is a word of Persian origin adopted by the Arabs. Its strict meaning is a dark subterranean opening, cave, or passage. ^ The tomb of Ti had two serdabs as well as three chambers; one of these was close to the door, the other in the innermost part of the mastaba. In the latter several statues of Ti were found, the best preserved being now in the museum at Boulak. VOL. I. A A