uncoffined, were thrust into the sand at a depth of barely three feet
from the surface. Those of the better class rested in mean rectangular
chambers, hastily built of yellow bricks, without ornaments or
treasures; a few vessels, however, of coarse pottery contained the
provisions left to nourish the departed during the period of his
existence. Some of the wealthy class had their tombs cut out of the
mountain-side; but the great majority preferred an isolated tomb, a
"mastaba," comprised of a chapel above ground, a shaft, and some
subterranean vaults.

During the course of centuries, the ever-increasing number of tombs
formed an almost uninterrupted chain, are rich in inscriptions, statues,
and in painted or sculptured scenes, and from the womb, as it were, of
these cemeteries, the Egypt of the Memphite dynasties gradually takes
new life and reappears in the full daylight of history. The king stands
out boldly in the foreground, and his tall figure towers over all else.
He is god to his subjects, who call him "the good-god," and "the
great-god," connecting him with Ra through the intervening kings. So the
Pharaohs are blood relations of the sun-god, the "divine double" being
infused into the royal infant at birth.

The monuments throw full light on the supernatural character of the
Pharaohs in general, but tell us little of the individual disposition of
any king in particular, or of their everyday life. The royal family was
very numerous. At least one of the many women of the harem received the
title of "great spouse," or queen. Her union with the god-king rendered
her a goddess. Children swarmed in the palace, as in the houses of
private citizens, and they were constantly jealous of each other, having
no bond of union except common hatred of the son whom the chances of
birth had destined to be their ruler.