HKB
than as a probable incident. The place of the penalty, in front of the harem, or the private portion of the palace, was evidently for the intimidation of other ladies.
At the close of each tale, King Khufu, to whom it is told, orders funerary offerings by the usual formula, to be presented in honour of the king under whom the wonder took place. On the tablets of the tombs in the early times, there is usually recorded the offering--or, rather, the pious desire that there should be offered--thousands of loaves, of oxen, of gazelles, of cranes, &c., for a deceased person. Such expression cost no more by the thousand than by the dozen, so thousands came to be the usual expression in all ordaining of offerings.
We are so accustomed to think of tedium as something modern, that it seems strange to find in the oldest tales [Page 16] in the world how the first king of whom we know anything was bored by his pleasures. A reward for discovering a new pleasure is the very basis of the tale of Sneferu; and the wise man's remedy of a day in the country is still the best resource, though all that we know as human history has tried its experiments in enjoyment since then. The flavour of the ballet thrown in, by the introduction of the damsels of the household clad in fishing nets, is not yet obsolete in modern amusements; and even in this century Muhammed Ali had resource to the same way of killing time, as he was rowed about by his harem, but on an artificial lake.
The use of two large oars for steering explains the detail of the story. The oars were one on each side of the stern, and were each managed by a steerer. From the tale we see that the steerer led the song of the rowers, and if the leader ceased, all that side of the boat ceased also.. The position of the lost jewel upon the hair shows that it was in a fillet set with inlaying, like that seen on early figures, such as Nefert at Medum, who wears a fillet of rosettes to retain the hair; and the position of the steering oar attached to a post, with the handle rising high in the air, explains how it could strike the fillet and displace the jewel.
The last tale is really double, a tale within a tale. It begins with the wonders done by Dedi, and then goes on with the [Page 22] history or the children about whom he prophesied to Khufu.
The village of Dedi was probably near Medum, as in the temple of Sneferu at Medum an offering was found presented by a worshipper to the gods of Ded-sneferu: hence the background which is here given for the scene of Hordedef leading old Dedi. The translation of "the designs of the dwelling of Tahuti" is not certain; but the passage seems to refer to some architectural plan which was desired for the pyramid.