Page:The Pharaohs and their people; scenes of old Egyptian life and history (IA pharaohstheirpeo00berkiala).pdf/98

 Egyptian in style, and are formed of slender reeds bound together, and expanding into capitals like papyrus or lotus buds or flowers. Here was buried Khnumhotep, grandson of Ameni, a man of high character and great renown. The walls of the interior are covered with pictorial representations, invaluable for the insight they afford into the daily life of those long past times. Amongst the scenes depicted on the walls of Khnumhotep's funeral chamber is one of much significance. A family group, consisting of 37 persons, is ushered into the presence of the great Egyptian lord, who receives them standing and surrounded by his dogs. They are Amu—foreigners of the East—and their errand is to bring from the land of Pitshu (Midian) a certain mineral substance from which was prepared a paint for the eyes much used in Egypt. Their faces are wholly unlike the Egyptians; they have aquiline noses and long black beards. They are evidently immigrants come to settle in the land. The men are armed, the women gaily dressed. They bring with them presents—the ibis and gazelle, and the splendid wild goat of the Sinai desert;