Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 1.djvu/271

 The Tomb under the Ancient Emph^e. i8i constructed of large and perfect stones, and in this we find one of the distinguishing characteristics of the tombs of the ancient empire." In the tomb of Ti the well takes the form of an inclined plain like a passage in the pyramids. In the common form of well the mum.my pit could only be reached by means of ropes, "When the bottom of the well is reached a gaping passage is seen in the rock which forms its southern wall. This passage, which is not high enough to allow one to walk upright, does not run quite parallel to the axis of the mastaba. It is directed obliquely to- wards the south-east, like the chamber above. Suddenly it becomes enlarged into a small cavern, which is the mortuary chamber properly speaking, that is to say, the room with a view to which the whole structure has been planned and to which all its other parts are but accessories. " This mortuary chamber is vertically under the public hall above, so that the survivors who came together in the latter for the funeral ceremonies had the corpse of the deceased under their feet, at a distance which varied according to the depth of the well." The mortuary chambers are large and carefully built, but generally without ornament or inscription. Of all those explored by him Mariette found but one which had its walls ornamented ; in the middle of its decorations, which he does not describe, he contrived to make out a few phrases which seemed to belong to the Ritual of the Dead. The sarcophagus was placed in one corner of the chamber. It was generally of fine limestone, sometimes of red granite, and on a few occasions of opaque black basalt. It was rect- angular on plan with a round-topped lid squared at the angles. Fig. 121. — The upper chamber, well, and mummy chamber. ^ ^ This figure is a composition by Mariette for the purpose of showing the relation between the subterranean and constructed parts of the tomb. {^Notice des principaux Monuments, p. 22.) [It shows, however, the well opening from the floor of the upper chamber, an arrangement which is not characteristic of the mastaba. — Ed.]