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without material change; by these monuments we are enabled to build up piece by piece a trustworthy representation of the Egyptian people both in their labours and in their pleasures. Finally it is from these tombs of private individuals that the best works of Egyptian artists have been obtained, the works in which they

Fig. 27.—Shepherds in the fields. From a tomb at Sakkarah. (Boulak. 8¾ inches high. Drawn by Bourgoin.)

approached most nearly to the ideal which they pursued for so many centuries.

Thanks to these monuments erected at the expense of the great lords and rich burghers of Egypt, thanks also to the climate and to

Fig. 28.—Winnowing corn. From a tomb at Sakkarah. (Boulak. Drawn by Bourgoin.)

the desert sand which has preserved them without material injury, the art of Egypt appears to us more comprehensive and varied than that of any other nation of which we shall have to treat; than that of Assyria for instance, which represents little but scenes of battle and conquest. A faithful mirror of Egyptian society, it has