DANCING PYGMY from the land of the spirits, and was hke the pygmy that had been brought to Egypt from the same neighbourhood in the reign of king Assa. Pepi II. applauds his official's devotion to his interest, and promises to bestow on his grandson very high honours. Following these words comes the royal command for Her-khuf to proceed without delay to Memphis by boat, and to bring the pygm}- with him, for Pepi II. would rather see the pygmy than all the tribute of Bata and Punt. Her-khuf was ordered to provide capable people to look after the pygmy whilst he was on the boat, so that he might be watched all night long, and not be allowed to fall into the river, and the king promised that if Her-khuf brought him safe and sound to Memphis he would confer upon him honours far greater than those which king Assa bestowed upon his officer Ba-ur-tet, who had brought a pygmy to his court [about one hundred years before]. The despatch of Pepi II. closes with some words which appear to form an order to the temple officials between Aswan and Memphis to furnish Herkhuf and his party with whatsoever they have need of on their journey. From the fact that the pygmy is described as one of the dancers of the god,' we must conclude that he belonged to the company of the dancers who performed before one of the gods, or perhaps the chief god, of his native country, and that the knowledge of the particular dance which they danced was rare in Egypt.

Professor Maspero has pointed out ' that the type of the pygmy whose dancing amused and delighted the heart of the king is well illustrated by the god Bes, who is represented as a thick-set, strongly-built dwarf, with a large head, and abroad face, which is sometimes jovial and at other times warlike. As Bes was the dwarf who pleased the gods by his dancing, so the pygmy from the south, by his dancing, amused and delighted the king. Apart from the pleasure which the pygmy caused by his dancing, he possessed a special interest from the fact that he came from the " Land of the Spirits," i.e., from the region which was supposed to lie between the border of this world, and that of the Other World, and near Aiau 7teter !] J " / QQQ " "] -Compare also, Wiedemann, Die Ati/dftge dramatisc/ier Poesie tin alteti Aegypten (Melanges Nicole).

Sur tin Forinule dii Livre des Pyramides (Etudes de Mythologie ii., p. 431). 523 I