| 34 A HISTORY OF EGYPT
to it in the northern kingdom was a suburb of Buto, called
Pe. Each capital had its patroness or protecting goddess:Buto,
the serpent-goddess, in the North; and in the South the
vulture-goddess, Nekhbet. But at both capitals the
hawk-god Horus was worshipped as the distinctive patron
deity of both kings. The people of the time believed in a
life hereafter, subject to wants of the same nature as those
of the present life. Their cemeteries are widely distributed
along the margin of the desert in Upper Egypt, and of late
years thousands of interments have been excavated. The
tomb is usually a flat bottomed oval or rectangular pit, in
which the body, doubled into the "contracted" or "embryonic"
posture, lies on its side (Fig. 12). In the earliest burials
it is wrapped in a skin, but later also in
woven fabric; there is no trace of embalmment. Beneath the
body is frequently a mat of plaited rushes ; it often
has in the hand or at the breast a slate palette for
grinding face-paint, the green malachite for which
lies near in a small bag. The body is besides accompanied
by other articles of toilet or of adornment and is surrounded
by jars of pottery or stone containing ash or organic matter,
the remains of food, drink and ointment for the deceased in
the hereafter. Not only were the toilet and other bodily
wants of the deceased thus provided for, but he was also
given his flint weapons or bone tipped harpoons that he might
replenish his larder from the chase. Clay models of objects
which he might need were also given him, especially boats.
The pits are
FIG. 12. A PREDYNASTIC GRAVE.
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