Ramses XIII, Queen Niort's, and Sem, with some civil and military dignitaries entered the dining-hall. In the middle of the chamber stood a table covered with food, wine, and flowers, and at the wall sat a statue of the late sovereign carved out of porphyry. He seemed to gaze at those present, smile pensively, and beg them to eat in his presence.
The feast began with a sacred dance, which was accompanied by a hymn sung by one of the highest priestesses.
"Enjoy days of happiness, for life lasts but one instant. Enjoy happiness, for when ye enter the tomb ye will rest there the whole length of each day during ages."
After the priestess came a prophet, and to the accompaniment of harps he chanted,
"The world is endless change and endless renewal. That arrangement of fate is wise; the decision of Osiris deserves admiration; for as a body which belongs to past time decays and perishes, other bodies rise behind it.
"The pharaohs, those gods who were before us, rest in their pyramids; their mummies and their second selves remain, though the palaces which they built are no longer on their sites, and no longer in existence.
"Despair not, but give thyself to thy desires and thy happiness, and wear not thy heart out till for thee the day comes when Thou wilt implore, while Osiris, the god whose heart beats no longer, will not hear thy petitions.
"The mourning of a world will not restore happiness to a man who is lying in the tomb; use, then, thy days of happiness and in delight be no laggard. There is no man, indeed, who can take his goods to the other world with him; there is none who can go to that world and come back to this one." [Authentic]
The feast ended; the worthy assembly incensed the statue of the deceased once again and made ready to return to Thebes. In the mortuary temple only priests remained to make regular offerings to the deceased and a guard watching the tomb against sacrilegious attempts of robbers.
Thenceforth Ramses XII was alone in that mysterious chamber. Through a small secret opening in the rock a gloomy light barely broke in to him; instead of the rustle of ostrich plumes was the rustle of enormous bat wings; instead of music was heard, during night hours, complaining howls of hyenas, and at times the mighty voice of a lion, which greeted from the desert the pharaoh in his resting-place.