We were astonished to see the perfect state of preservation in which the tomb remains. The sculptures on the walls are as sharp and clear and the colours apparently as bright as when laid on. Sand is a good preservative when not in motion, and to this must the marvel be ascribed. Over the door is the inscription giving Tih’s name, and stating that he was a priest; and on the walls of the first chamber are representations showing statues of Tih being embarked in boats and oxen being brought for sacrifice, one of them being offered up. There is another showing Tih with his wife and family watching his people at work in the farmyard. Some of them are bringing sacks of grain for the poultry; others are fattening the birds by making and forcing pellets of flour down their throats. Behind this there is a view of the farm-buildings, the roofs being supported on carved wooden pillars.
In the middle there is a pool where ducks are swimming, while cattle are seen pasturing in the fields around. Among the birds Tih kept are cranes and pigeons, ducks and geese. He had also cattle of every size and kind, including antelopes, gazelles, and wild goats. Then come the boats filled with jars and bales transporting farm produce down the Nile. In another place men are shown carrying fruits and vegetables, and pigeons in cages. Farther on are seen men drawing statues enclosed in temples of wood, half-a-dozen dragging with ropes, while one pours water on the road to make it easier. In another room Till is shown as a sportsman in a boat; in one hand he holds a decoy-bird, while with the other he hurls a curved stick like an Australian boomerang. In the water are seen crocodiles and hippopotami: a crocodile and hippopotamus are fighting, the latter being evidently victorious; some of the servants are trying to catch them, and the hippopotamus is just being hooked with a sort of harpoon. (This scene recalls the verse in Job, “Canst thou draw out the leviathan with a hook?”) Here again the fish are being drawn in nets into the boats, while the work of the farm goes vigorously on. Cows are seen crossing a ford and browsing in a field, while herdsmen are driving a flock of goats. Oxen are ploughing just as we saw them in the fields to-day, and with a very similar plough. The seed is being sown, corn reaped, and men with three-pronged forks are gathering it into heaps while the oxen are treading it out. In another place the corn is being tied into sheaves, and donkeys are being brought up with much fuss and use of the stick to take it to the granaries. Some of these scenes are drawn with inimitable humour. Carpenters are engaged in making furniture, and shipwrights in building boats, while Tih is always present directing each operation.
The Egyptians were said by Diodorus to call their houses hostelries, and their tombs their everlasting homes.
We now remounted our donkeys, and for an hour rode over the sandy desert through dreadful mud villages, from which all the population turned out as we passed, crying with all their might—’sheesh, ’sheesh, backsheesh, ’sheesh, ’sheesh.
Passing several strings of camels—which I described as “camelcades,” coining a word for the purpose—we soon regained the delightfully fertile country which is watered by the Nile. For more than two hours we trotted and galloped along through a very rich country, where hundreds of acres of date-palms were growing—where the young corn was waving, and peas, beans, and cucumbers in great luxuriance—no more dust nor sand, but a pleasant breeze and bright sun, with nothing to mar the pleasure except the sight of the wretched natives. Most of the children are absolutely naked, while their parents’ clothes are of the most limited description.
We halted for lunch under some palm-trees by a branch of the Nile, and then proceeded to the carriages, which we had ordered to meet us in the Gizeh road. Some of us had to ride back into Cairo on our donkeys, and on our way we passed the Khedive, who cordially acknowledged our salutation. All our party agreed in saying that to-day’s excursion was one of the most delightful we had ever had.
