is carried for some way through the limestone rock; then it passes between walls, ceiling and floor of polished syenite; after which the limestone re-appears, and the passage opens into the vestibule (E).  The part built of granite is interrupted thrice, at intervals of two to two and a half feet, by three enormous portcullises of granite (D).  Above each of these a hollow is left, in which the portcullis stone could be held up by props, and thus leave a free passage (fig. 139).  The mummy once placed inside, the workmen, as they left, removed the supports, and the portcullises fell into place, cutting off all communication with the outside.  The vestibule was flanked on the east by a flat-roofed serdab (F) divided into three niches, and encumbered with chips of stone swept hastily in by the workmen when they cleared the chambers to receive the mummy.  The pyramid of Unas has all three niches preserved; but in the pyramids of Teti and of Merenra, the separating walls have been neatly cut away in ancient times, without leaving any trace but a line of attachment, and a whiter colour in the stone where it had been originally covered.  The sarcophagus chamber (G) extends west of the vestibule; the sarcophagus was placed there along the west wall, feet to the south, head to the north.  The roof over the two main chambers was pointed (fig. 140).  It was formed of large beams of limestone, joined at the upper ends, and supported below upon a low bench (1) which surrounded the chamber outside (Note 34).  The first beams were covered by two others, and these by two more; and the six together (J) thoroughly protected the vestibule of the vault.

[Illustration:  Fig. 140.—­Section of the Pyramid of Unas.]

The pyramids of Gizeh belonged to the Pharaohs of the Fourth Dynasty, and those of Abusir to the Pharaohs of the Fifth.  The five pyramids of Sakkarah, of which the plan is uniform, belonged to Unas and to the first four kings of the Sixth Dynasty, Teti, Pepi I., Merenra, and Pepi II., and are contemporary with the mastabas with painted vaults which I have mentioned above (p. 129).  It is, therefore, no matter of surprise to find them inscribed and decorated.  The ceilings are covered with stars, to represent the night-sky.  The rest of the decoration is very simple.  In the pyramid of Unas, which is the most ornamented, the decoration occupies only the end wall of the sepulchral chamber; the part against the sarcophagus was lined with alabaster, and engraved to represent great monumental doors, through which the deceased was supposed to enter his storerooms of provisions.  The figures of men and of animals, the scenes of daily life, the details of the sacrifice, are not here represented, and, moreover, would not be in keeping; they belong to those places where the Double lived his public life, and where visitors actually performed the rites of offering; the passages and the vault in which the soul alone was free to wander needed no ornamentation except that which related to