Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 1.djvu/342

 252 A History of Art in Ancient Egypt. But at Beni-Hassan this painted decoration becomes more personal to the occupant of the tomb, the inscriptions enter into precise and copious biographical details, which are never found elsewhere." ^ l'"iG. i68. — Interior of a toiiib at Beni-Ha'-san. Drawn in perspective from the elevation of Lepsius (i. pi. 6e). The necropolis of Siout, in the Libyan chain, offers the same general characteristics. The tomb of Hapi-Tefa, a feudal prince of the twelfth dynasty, and consequently a contemporary of those princes of the nome of Meh who are buried at Beni-Hassan, is the most remarkable. It is composed of three large chambers communicating one with another, and with the external air by a wide portico. The mummy-pit is reached from the innermost of these chambers. Neither statues, mummies, nor any other movable objects have been found in these grottos. When their accessible situation and their conspicuous appear- ance is remembered, this should not cause surprise. Many centuries ago the acacia doors, which are mentioned in one of the texts at Beni- Hassan, disappeared, and, in spite of the accumulation of sand, the mouths of the wells could be found so easily, and could so readily be cleared, that all objects of value and interest must have been abstracted from the mummy- ^ Mariktte, Voyai:;e dans la Haute-Egvpte, vol. i. p. 51. U--1 1 1 1 1 1— J — 1 Fig. 169. — Plan of the above tomb.