almost certainly inspired--or perhaps, as Helen Gardner (1980, p. 69) puts it, demanded--the pyramidal shape of the pharaohs' tombs. The great pyramids were constructed as enduring monuments to immortal beings. Always buried on the side of the river where the sun sets, the body of the pharaoh was placed where it could follow the mythic journey established by Osiris, god of the underworld. The death and rebirth of Osiris presaged the travels the ruler would also take after death.
Eliade (1958) notes, "As supreme ruler [the pharaoh] automatically receives immortality and need not attempt to prove himself a hero at all" (p. 140). While the pharaoh's passage was his inherent right, the passage of mortals was dependent on proper preparation. Indeed, even the guaranteed journey of the immortals required sufficient planning and ceremony to ease the transition from the mortal world. From earlier traditions came the concept of a hero who must go through an initiation between worlds. Eliade (1958) describes the way this process was often seen by the Egyptians: "The departed was said to climb to heaven by a ladder or even sail across the starry seas till at las
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