g PYRAMIDS AT GEBEL BARKAL dress in which the deceased is represented is Nubian, and the physical characteristics indicate that the reigning family was of local and not Egyptian origin. The reliefs which accompanied the large figures of the dead represented priests burning incense, and rows of members of the royal household and slaves bringing offerings to the tomb. The Nubians accepted the cult of Osiris, as they did that of Ra, and we find figures of the gods of the cycle of Osiris in many places on the reliefs ; but whether they understood much of the Egyptian doctrines of immortality, or even of VIEW OF THE rVRAMIDS AT GEBEL BARKAL, SHOWING THE CHAPELS AS THEY EXISTED IN 1820. [From Cailliaud, Voyage, Plate LII.

the scenes which were cut on the walls of the chapels, is doubtful. The door of the chapel, which sometimes consisted of one chamber, and sometimes of two chambers, was in- the form of a pylon, more or less elaborately sculptured with reliefs. In the space immediately behind the pylon of the chapel I believe a stone altar stood, for the altar seems to have been an important feature in all Nubian religious or funerary buildings. If such an altar existed, it would probably be inscribed with the name and titles of the deceased, and on the top of it the offerings made to the deceased would be laid. Outside the pylon was a small court, enclosed by a wall, wherein assembled the relatives and friends of 167