Had their climate been like that of London or New York, they would have constructed a different religion, as they would have known they could not successfully carry out the mummy part of it.
Not far from the Bull-Pits, as they are irreverently called, is a portion of a tomb of a very early date, which is known as the Tomb of Tih. The body of Mr. Tih was buried in the rock below, and the portion now visible is the entrance chamber to the establishment. The interesting feature about it is the mass of sculptures and paintings on the walls. Most of them are done in low relief, and very well done too. The drawing and execution show great artistic skill, and some of the groups evince a knowledge of perspective. The scenes represented are supposed to be incidents in the life of Tih; they represent him at home and in the field, and also at the chase. Tih was a priest who lived at Memphis about the Vth dynasty of the ancient empire; that is to say, about thirty-seven hundred years before Christ, or fifty-six hundred years ago. We wont be particular about a year or two. He is dead now, or at all events they buried him here. To describe all the scenes pictured on the walls of this tomb, would keep me writing for a week, and then I shouldn’t be through. In some of them Tih is hunting crocodiles and hippopotami; in others he is looking on, while his servants till the fields; in others he is superintending the building of a wall; and so on through all the incidents of a life of that period. The life of the Ancient Empire can be studied from the pictures on this and other tombs of the locality, and we can learn what they did and how they did it, what animals they used, and what most delighted them to engage in. Some of the pictures on the Tomb of Tih have a comic touch about them, and show that there was fun even so far back as fifty-six centuries ago.
There is one picture which shows some donkeys, brought up to be laden, and they are raising their heels in a miscellaneous sort of a way, and making things rather lively for those who are trying to control them. In another picture, where some men are fishing, one has fallen from the boat, and his friends are pulling him out of the mud. In another, a man has evidently been pulling at a rope, which has broken, and left him to fall in an attitude which is decidedly comical.
Evidently Tih was no slouch. He got up his tomb regardless of expense, and made it the best of the kind. The Egyptians often spent more money on their tombs than on their houses; they considered that they were only temporary occupants of their houses, but that the tomb was to be their eternal dwelling place. The tomb was the real home, and hence the effort to surround the occupant with the scenes he had witnessed on earth.
One of the pyramids of Sakkarah is built in degrees or terraces, is nearly two hundred feet high, and, next to Gizeh, is the largest of the pyramids. It is supposed to belong to the period of the First Dynasty of the Ancient Empire, and to be the oldest monument, not only in Egypt, but in the whole world. According to several archaeologists, it was erected five thousand years before Christ. It is built, not of stone, but of sun-dried brick, and though portions of it had crumbled, they have not altered the general appearance of the pyramid. Could you wish for better evidence of the preservative qualities of the climate of Egypt? This pyramid was opened in 1825, but nothing of consequence was found in it. I had had quite enough of climbing at Gizeh, and therefore did not attempt to ascend here, and I have not heard of any other person trying to climb it.
Some of the archaeologists say that the bricks of which this pyramid is composed were made by the Israelites, during their captivity. I shouldn’t be surprised if this was the case. I certainly don’t know that the bricks were not made by them.
