The venerable Ptah-hotep was buried in one of the tombs that are grouped around the ancient pyramid of Sakkara. Near his burial-place is the vast tomb of Thi, on which is recorded, in sculptured story, the course of his daily life. Of his own birth and parentage nothing is said, but he so distinguished himself that the king gave him his daughter in marriage. Thi was royal scribe, president of royal writings, and conductor of the king’s works. His tomb must indeed have been the work of a lifetime. We see him there, amidst the scenes of rural life, watching over the ingathering of the harvest, or fowling in the marshes; one while he is listening to the strains of music, another time he is steering his little vessel on the broad waters of the Nile. Servant girls are carrying on their heads and in their hands, in baskets or in jars, the produce of his estates—wine, bread, geese, pigeons, fruit, and flowers. Above is depicted a humorous scene, such as Egyptian artists delighted in. A number of donkeys pass in file, their saddle-cloths are ornamented with fringes, and they are laden with panniers of grain. Men walk by the side to steady the heavy loads. One load, however, has shifted from its place, and two men are trying to put it back; the animal is restive, and one man has hold of him by the tail while another has grasped his nose. The donkey coming immediately behind has seized the opportunity of the halt to give the man in front of him a poke with his nose. Each driver is armed with a stout stick, and one of them is just raising his against the unruly animal. It is evident that donkeys were considered troublesome and obstinate some four or five thousand years ago, that their humours amused the Egyptian artists, and that donkey drivers then, as now, were ready to use their sticks. In another drawing Thi is seen in a boat made of reeds, superintending a hippopotamus hunt. One of his men has succeeded in getting a rope round the neck of one savage-looking beast, and is preparing to despatch him with a long club. The river is full of fish, and one of the hippopotami has just seized a little crocodile between his enormous jaws. In another picture a crocodile hunt is represented, whilst in one drawing we see an angler who is evidently out for a day’s sport in one of the small reed boats. He is in the act of drawing a fish out of the water, and by his side he has loaves of bread, a cup, and a bottle. Nowhere is depicted a scene of battle or warlike display, everything speaks of rural and domestic life.