are disposed along the right bank of the Nile, and the most ancient are exactly opposite Minieh.  It is at Zawyet el-Meiyetin and at Kom-el-Ahmar, nearly facing Hibonu, their capital, that we find the burying-places of those who lived under the VIth dynasty.  The custom of taking the dead across the Nile had existed for centuries, from the time when the Egyptians first cut their tombs in the eastern range; it still continues to the present day, and part of the population of Minieh are now buried, year after year, in the places which their remote ancestors had chosen as the site of their “eternal houses.”  The cemetery lies peacefully in the centre of the sandy plain at the foot of the hills; a grove of palms, like a curtain drawn along the river-side, partially conceals it; a Coptic convent and a few Mahommedan hermits attract around them the tombs of their respective followers, Christian or Mussulman.  The rock-hewn tombs of the XIIth dynasty succeed each other in one long irregular line along the cliffs of Beni-Hasan, and the traveller on the Nile sees their entrances continuously coming into sight and disappearing as he goes up or descends the river.  These tombs are entered by a square aperture, varying in height and width according to the size of the chapel.  Two only, those of Amoni-Amenemhait and of Khnum-hotpu II., have a columned facade, of which all the members—­pillars, bases, entablatures—­have been cut in the solid rock:  the polygonal shafts of the facade look like a bad imitation of ancient Doric.  Inclined planes or nights of steps, like those at Elephantine, formerly led from the plain up to the terrace.  Only a few traces of these exist at the present day, and the visitor has to climb the sandy slope as best he can:  wherever he enters, the walls present to his view inscriptions of immense extent, as well as civil, sepulchral, military, and historical scenes.  These are not incised like those of the Memphite mastabas, but are painted in fresco on the stone itself.  The technical skill here exhibited is not a whit behind that of the older periods, and the general conception of the subjects has not altered since the time of the pyramid-building kings.  The object is always the same, namely, to ensure wealth to the double in the other world, and to enable him to preserve the same rank among the departed as he enjoyed among the living:  hence sowing, reaping, cattle-rearing, the exercise of different trades, the preparation and bringing of offerings, are all represented with the same minuteness as formerly.  But a new element has been added to the ancient themes.

[Illustration:  405.jpg THE MODERN CEMETERY OF ZAWYET EL-MEIYETIN]

     Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Insinger.