"The hieroglyphics," said my companion, "contain the name and qualities of the deceased."
At this moment an official, partly in a priestly dress, advanced in an imposing manner, touched the coffin with a wand, and said aloud:
"Approved! Let the good be entombed, and may their souls dwell in Amenthe with Osiris. Judgment is passed in her favor! Let her be buried!"
Upon hearing this address, I asked the high-priest what it signified. He replied, with that courtesy which has always distinguished his replies to my numerous questions:
"This act has reference to the judgment of Osiris. We did not witness a similar ceremony at the lake, because the deceased was brought from On, and had already been judged at the crossing of the Nile. If we had sooner seen this funeral procession, which came only from the city to the lake, we should have beheld forty-two just persons, chosen as judges, seated upon a semicircular stone bench along the shore."
"I noticed the stone seats," I answered, "and intended to have inquired their use."
"Seated upon them, the forty-two judges await the procession. The baris, or gilded galley, which is to receive the body, is then drawn alongside of the steps. Before it the bearers stop, and turning to the judges, rest their burden on the ground before them. Then, while all the friends stand anxiously around, and hundreds of spectators line the shores, one of the judges rises and asks if any one present can lawfully accuse the deceased of having done wrong to any man. If the dead has done injustice or evil, his enemy, or the one wronged, or their relatives, advance and make the charge. The judges weigh the accusation, and if it be sustained, the rites of sepulchre are commanded not to proceed."
Such a judgment, dear mother, I afterwards witnessed on our return from the pyramids. It was the funeral of a woman of respectability.
The accuser said, advancing into the space before the judges—
"I accuse the deceased of suffering her father to perish in want."