Behind the mummy was carried a box or case (Al. 12, fig. 13), contain ing four vases in which were deposited the different parts of the viscera, removed in the process of embalming, and treated with medicaments. The vessels containing them were placed with the coffin in the tomb. Some times, however, the viscera were replaced in the body.
The Egyptians believed firmly in a rigid judgment beyond the tomb, for they thought that shortly after the separation of the soul from the body, the former, before it could enter into the peaceful realm of the departed, had to appear before Osiris, the stern judge of the .lower world. Here its life upon earth underwent a close scrutiny, and according to the degree of its past piety or wickedness was the amount of reward or pun ishment awarded to it.
Figure 15 (p1. 14), represents the "Judgment of the Dead." Osiris sits enthroned beneath a canopy; opposite to him .1./a, the "goddess of justice," ushers in the dead. In the centre is erected a balance, one scale holding a vase with handles, a symbol of the heart, while the other sup ports the image of truth. Horus and Anubis, the sons of Osiris, are engaged in weighing, and watch the swaying balance, while from above it is guarded by the dog-headed ape, Hap, the symbol of measure. In front stands the ibis-headed Thah, the scribe of the gods, to record the result, and before him, in the form of a female hippopotamus, sits Amain, the accuser of the dead, who, if they have lived righteously, are vindi cated by Thoth. An altar and offerings are placed immediately before the throne of the god.
The Tombs and their decorations fall within the province of Archi tecture and Art (see Vols. III. and IV.), but we present a view of the interior of the great Pyramid of Cheops (p1. 12, fig. r), which will give an idea of the deep concealment in which the Pharaohs preferred to lie buried. Time mummy-rcceptacles were frequently enclosed in outer cases, and these again in others, while those of the nobles were enclosed in sar cophagi with richly-sculptured ornaments.
The pyramids are not sufficiently explained by calling them "the petri fied dreams of the Pharaohs," for every citizen imitated them as far as he was able in his own tomb. Indeed, the subject, making use of the free dom granted him by death, in this respect surpassed his sovereign. As already mentioned (p. 123), he carried his whole life with him in pictures to his tomb. There, freed from the influence of social repression and reconciled to his gods, he \vas permitted the free enjoyment of his mem ories, while the king could only surround himself with mythological or astronomical representations. It almost seems as though the subject
desired to protest from his tomb against that tyranny of society which had trammelled his individuality, and while in the company of his gods strove to recall the events of his earthly life.
Thus their tombs were to the Egyptians an eternal assertion of indi viduality. For all these artificial piles, these gigantic structures, colos suses, obelisks (fig. 2), granite mausoleums, etc. were in reality only attempts to escape oblivion and to announce to all future generations what this or that one in his little moment had thought, felt, and accomplished. This impulse had much to do with the influence of Egyptian civilization, which first raised men from the condition of empiricism—the mere hap hazard exertion of their energies—led them from an instinctive to a reflec tive existence, brought into play ideas of taste and form, and thereby impressed on all human history the stamp of intellectuality. Though the Egyptian was far from having subdued that all-prevailing duality by which humanity is swayed, the Sphinx, the symbol of this dualism, stood only at the entrance to his temples. He piled up grotesque figures as representations of the mysteries which surrounded him, but it was he who thus propounded these mysteries and thereby gave a clue to their solution. The riddle of existence was not to be solved in that stage of incipient progress, but the mode in which it was conceived and presented by the Egyptians must be regarded as having opened the path and pointed out the direction for all succeeding ages.
close our considerations with a reference to the hieroglyphic writings (pl. 12, fig. 16), which have at length been success fully deciphered. Their arrangement is based on the simple principle heretofore intimated (p. r31); namely, that every sign (animal, utensil, etc.) represents the initial sound or a consonant of its Egyptian name. This system underwent modifications in the course of its employment, and its development in modern times was rendered extremely difficult by the fact that in order to select the determinative letters it was necessary to discover the words, and consequently the lost language had first to be recovered. But it is scarcely credible that with the ancient Egyptians themselves the hieroglyphics constituted a secret writing to the extent that is commonly assumed.