[Illustration: THE LAND OF THE DEAD.]

And as most of the papyrus-rolls of the ancient valley tell stories of a
religious nature we know with great accuracy just what gods the
Egyptians revered and how they tried to assure all possible happiness
and comfort to those who had entered upon the eternal sleep. In the
beginning each little village had possessed a god of its own.

Often this god was supposed to reside in a queerly shaped stone or in
the branch of a particularly large tree. It was well to be good friends
with him for he could do great harm and destroy the harvest and prolong
the period of drought until the people and the cattle had all died of
thirst. Therefore the villages made him presents--offered him things to
eat or a bunch of flowers.

When the Egyptians went forth to fight their enemies the god must needs
be taken along, until he became a sort of battle flag around which the
people rallied in time of danger.

But when the country grew older and better roads had been built and the
Egyptians had begun to travel, the old "fetishes," as such chunks of
stone and wood were called, lost their importance and were thrown away
or were left in a neglected corner or were used as doorsteps or chairs.

Their place was taken by new gods who were more powerful than the old
ones had been and who represented those forces of nature which
influenced the lives of the Egyptians of the entire valley.

First among these was the Sun which makes all things grow.