. A history of art in ancient Egypt . counted fourteen rows of them, in each direction, on the west of theGreat Pyramid, and as many on the east, making nearly four hundred in all. Thesand under which many of them are buried leaves their forms easily the time of Jomard many of the mastabas have been changed by the excava-tions into mere formless heaps of debris, and yet the general arrangement canstill be clearly followed. The Tomb under the Ancient Empire, 169 irregularly placed, and they are often so narrow, many of thembeing nothing more than blind alleys, that the ine
. A history of art in ancient Egypt . counted fourteen rows of them, in each direction, on the west of theGreat Pyramid, and as many on the east, making nearly four hundred in all. Thesand under which many of them are buried leaves their forms easily the time of Jomard many of the mastabas have been changed by the excava-tions into mere formless heaps of debris, and yet the general arrangement canstill be clearly followed. The Tomb under the Ancient Empire, 169 irregularly placed, and they are often so narrow, many of thembeing nothing more than blind alleys, that the inexperienced visitormay well fancy himself in a maze. The Sakkarah mastabas are built either of stone or brick. The mastabas of stone are of two kinds : those of a very hardblue siliceous limestone and those of a softer chalky limestonewhich is found upon the spot. This latter stone was used for theStepped Pyramid. The tombs upon which it was used seem tobe much the oldest in the necropolis ; they are also the least richand PiG. 108.—Restoration of part of the Necropolis of Gizeh. Our general notion of Egyptian architecture would lead us tolook for the use of huge stones in these mastabas, and, in fact,certain important monuments, such as the Mastabat-el-Fm^aotui,and parts of important monuments, such as the Temple of theSphinx and the passages and chambers of the greater pyramids,were constructed of very large blocks. But the Sakkarah architectswere more modest. Apart from the ceilings, architraves and otherplaces where big stones were necessary, the blocks are of anaverage height of about half a yard, with a proportionate lengthand thickness. The brick-built sepulchres are of two kinds also. The more VOL. I. Z I/O A History of Art in Ancient Egypt. elaborate are of black brick, while a yellowish brick is used for theothers. The yellow bricks are a mixture of sand and pebbles witha little clay ; the black bricks are of earth and straw. The formerare always small {S
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