The Pillar of Fire; or, Israel in Bondage

by J. H. Ingraham

Dearest Mother:

Your last letter, assuring me of your health, and that of the Princess Thamonda, I received by the chief pilot, Onothis, who, in his new and handsome galley, reached the head of the Delta two days ago. Thence he came here in his boat, his ship being too large, in the present depth of water, to come up to Memphis.

I will now continue the description of the funeral of "the lord of the royal gardens." When the procession reached the steps leading down to the sacred lake, the hearse was borne upon a gilded and carved baris, the consecrated boat for the dead. This was secured to a decorated galley with sails and oars and a spacious cabin, richly painted with funeral emblems. The friends and relatives of the deceased embarked in other barges in waiting, and to the strains of wailing music, the procession, reverently joined by the boats of several gentlemen, in gay apparel, who were fishing on the lake, crossed to the other side. Reaching the opposite shore, it formed again, as before, and moved down "the Street of the Tombs," crossed a narrow plain, and entered the gate of the great burial-place of Memphis. We slowly followed the procession; and, alighting from the chariot, I saw them take the mummy from the sarcophagus on the car, and place it upright in a chamber of the tomb. An assistant priest then sprinkled all who were present with sacred water, and the chief-priest burnt incense before an altar of the tomb, and poured libations upon it, with other ceremonies. To close the scene, the mummy was embraced by weeping friends, and a funeral dirge played by the musicians without, which was wildly answered by the mourning wail of woe from within.

Driving around the Acherusis Lake, under the shade of its solemn groves, the priest directed his charioteer to take me in again at the gate of the tombs. Reseating myself by his side—for the chariots of the priests, as well as those of ladies, are provided with a movable curved chair which holds two persons—we proceeded in a direct line towards the greatest of the three pyramids that stand near Memphis. We were upon what is called "The Sacred Way." It commenced at the gate of a temple to the god of the winds, beneath the pylon of which we passed, and extended nearly a league in length over a vast plain crowded with funeral temples, monuments, mausolean porticos, statues, and fountains. All the architectural magnificence which is found in other avenues, seemed to be combined here to form a royal road which has no parallel on earth; not even the long column-lined approach to the Temple of the Sun, at the end of the straight street in Damascus, can be compared with it.

This noble thoroughfare, as we drove slowly along that I might admire its grandeur and beauty, was thronged with people going to and coming from the city. There were processions returning from having deposited their dead in one of the many tombs which covered the vast plain; processions of the humbler orders, with but few signs of display and wealth, proceeding, with real mourners, to the tomb. There were groups of children, their hands filled with garlands, going to place them upon the sarcophagus of a departed parent; for the custom of decorating the resting-places of the dead with wreaths often renewed, belongs to Egypt as well as to Syria.

We overtook a rich lady in a gilded palanquin, borne on the shoulders of four slaves. She was opulently and handsomely attired, and carried a blue and green fan, while an attendant walked behind and held over her head a large parasol.

Two chariots, containing young Egyptian lords, dashed by us at full speed in the excitement of a race, each driving his own ornamented car, the charioteers standing a little in the rear.

People selling little images of gods, or of eminent deceased persons, or fruit, or flowers, or scarabæi, and amulets, were seated all along the highway, upon pedestals, or in the shade of statues and tombs; while along the road walked sellers of vegetables, and fowls, and bread. Indeed, the way was crowded with life and activity. With no other people would the avenue to its tombs be the most thronged of any, and the favorite of all in the city; for Memphis, which extends from and includes Jizeh, past the pyramids south for six miles, has noble streets, but none like this leading to the pyramids. The Egyptians say that the house is but the temporary abode of man, but in the tombs his embalmed body dwells forever. "Let us, therefore, decorate our tombs with paintings and art, and fill them with flowers, and adorn the homes which are to be permanent."

Hence the "dead-life" of the sepulchres is not less a reality to the Egyptian than his life in the city. The poor, however, do not find tombs. They are buried in graves or pits, like the Hebrew people. On the other side of the river lies the most ancient burial-place of Memphis; but since the construction of the Lake of the Dead, it is no longer necessary to cross the Nile (for the dead must be ferried across water) for interment.

As we drove on, we came to a stately sepulchre, before which was gathered a large multitude. The coffin had just been removed from a gorgeous hearse and set down upon the step of the tomb. It was the funeral of a lady. I never saw any painting so rich as that which adorned the mummy-case. It was an Osirian coffin, and covered in every part with columns of hieroglyphics or emblematical figures, among which were represented the winged serpent, the ibis, the cynocephalus or the genii of Amenthe, and the scarabæus.