towns in front of each shop. A carpet is spread on the
'mastaba,' and the customer sits upon it to transact his
business, usually side by side with the seller. In the
necropolis of Saqqâra, there is a temple of gigantic
proportions in the shape of a 'mastaba.'The inhabitants of
the neighbourhood call it 'Mastabat-el-Farâoun,' the seat of
Pharaoh, in the belief that anciently one of the Pharaohs
sat there to dispense justice. The Memphite tombs of the
Ancient Empire, which thickly cover the Saqqâra plateau, are
more or less miniature copies of the 'Mastabat-el-
Farâoun.'Hence the name of mastabas, which has always been
given to this kind of tomb, in the necropolis of Saqqâra."

From a distance these chapels have the appearance of truncated pyramids,
varying in size according to the fortune or taste of the owner; there
are some which measure 30 to 40 ft. in height, with a façade 160 ft.
long, and a depth from back to front of some 80 ft., while others attain
only a height of some 10 ft. upon a base of 16 ft. square.*

* The mastaba of Sabû is 175 ft. 9 in. long, by about 87 ft.
9 in. deep, but two of its sides have lost their facing;
that of Ranimait measures 171 ft. 3 in. by 84 ft. 6 in. on
the south front, and 100 ft. on the north front. On the
other hand, the mastaba of Papû is only 19 ft. 4 in. by 29
ft. long, and that of KMbiûphtah 42 ft. 4 in. by 21 ft. 8
in.

The walls slope uniformly towards one another, and usually have a smooth
surface; sometimes, however, their courses are set back one above the
other almost like steps.