Left to themselves, they would hasten to dissolution, and the man would thus die a second time; that is to say, he would be annihilated.
The piety of the survivors found means, however, to avert this catastrophe.
By the process of embalmment, they could for ages suspend the decomposition of the body; while by means of prayer and offerings, they saved the Double, the Soul, and the "Luminous" from the second death, and secured to them all that was necessary for the prolongation of their existence.

The Double never left the place where the mummy reposed: but the Soul and the "_Khu_" went forth to follow the gods.

They, however, kept perpetually returning, like travellers who come home after an absence.

The tomb was therefore a dwelling-house, the "Eternal House" of the dead, compared with which the houses of the living were but wayside inns; and these Eternal Houses were built after a plan which exactly corresponded to the Egyptian idea of the after-life.

The Eternal House must always include the private rooms of the Soul, which were closed on the day of burial, and which no living being could enter without being guilty of sacrilege.