New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-06-05
~-.,,.s Of nm Egyptian Mummy nj b'''on'
s,a IN the Boston evening papers OF Monday

~ Iaf
-, Mummi6ca,ion, illustrated by tue opening OF
vsvptian Mummy. The process OF unroling tne
NANNY is to occupy three days We give the In
'.,;,o features Of the first days proceedings
-, the reports Of the Journal and 1TaveAeT'
r..r,o,, Temple was filed by highly respecta-
a., "a attentive audience. Mr.. Glddon was as
go by a number Of scientific gentlemen, pnysi-
s.ns and others He commenced oy sta''ng may
,As origin q the art OF Mummlhcaton lost "sei,
sns the nebulous periods Of mans history; and
~, an at 90 ancient, and interviewer with the
..,o,rs nd religious view oil the Egyptians, cond
-, a. 40 distant tune and place, be fully develop
SS;o brief lecture. From the very nature OF the
eores.es of unrolling Mummy, he said they cOnld
-. ex,ect very connected discourse, and there
Gre he must beg their Indulgence. BE referred 20
: .nsN work Of his lately published 10 London TO-
ssther with several other works, as containing
snore comulete explanation Of the subject
The mummy 70 be opened was placed IN s'aaa-
,g posiron upon the platform 10 front OF the 0rshi.
Itwas obtained for Mr. Gidi0n by Mr. A Y. i"i's
:, Tbebes in 1876, and was by him ofousn. ~
Alexandria ia his own boat. Here, onae5 ~ ~,
hibition issued by the Govern 'nen7 49, ~. 80,
expectation of mummes il lad lor Sc. S. VI III
srd did not reach Mr. Giiddon ~ NeF' ''H' va
sbout eiv months since, at which tiuis u - 20
fectlv blscs IL was eRclosed ~ . 49, b., u
cases the outer one Of which was te'Iotou - ~
C;Jddop Mr. GnddOn stated tiAs a''Si si0 P'I 'o
- lo5,, in The inner cOihn It appears 70 nave
ZIG Iocd In the outer one IN horizontal position
o. I. bich il was smesred over with coat OF d.
,unen or bot pitch. There IL no explanation way
49,. wss done The coffin was originally glded,
md the upper casing was modelled TO represent
ne features of the face Of the deceased. The eyes
ere nj glass set in copper sockets, and the case
.ss psinted with various figures, emblematcal OF
,hs sge and time in which the person enclosed
~tbip il lived. This smearing prevents the name
q "a age of the mummy from being ascertained
& Tbshistory of this mummy has been before stated
4 = orr colornus, so far as known. She was the
Ssnsbter OF the High Priest OF Thebes-one Of the
Tbebsn aiistocrscy-by name ANcH PHI
/ The ooeration of opening the collin was here
.,mmenced. A convenient frame work was placed
vnon the platform and the mummy laid on is side
I ,,cn Il One Of Mr. GhddJns assistants COM
L msuced saving it OPEN and Mr. Gllddon, IN the
/ neaDtime. explained the various charts with which
he had oTbameBted the platform and front oil the
organ These charts represented the Pyramids OF
T. Egypt the stamp OF the early tomOs the famous
4 Book Of the Dead" or the canonlcal Prayer BOOK
"A COPY Of which was buried with every Egyptian
Who could afford it-and which contain the funeral
ritual TO be performed by the deceased IN order
that the soul might pass TO its elys,um. This book
was considered as sacred by the Egyptians as the
,crptures are to the people of the present day
No full translation OF this book has been made.
meeting the manner by which the age OF the cola
could be determined; it Is by the shape or style
The Oldest which IS known to exist IS tina! OF the
builder OF the third pyramid who lived about 5,OOO
wears AGO; il was found in 1887. AT that time
btumen was not used, and the corpse was merely
ssted and wrapped in WOODEN cloths. WOODEN
cloths were discarded during the 18th dynasty, aud
he coiHns were changed to a square shape. Linen
daths were introduced IN the place OF wooden ones
Bitumen as not found in Egypt but had 10 be
imported
In these later days bodies had ceased TO be EN-
balmed, and it was found that the sexton or un-
dertakers sometimes imposed upon the friends Of
the diseased by plungng the body into bath
Of hot bitumen, and then gliding the extremtles.
Mr. Gliddon exhibited the head OF q mummy thus
preserved and also the foot OF female, embamed
without the bitumen. The loot, he said, must have
belonged to person living In the 22d century be-
fore Christ.
Mr. Ghddon also exhibited to his audience case
of embalmed sacred animals. Among them were
the calf from Memphis; the sacred ram; a cat;
w ibis two iackals serpentS, &c. In regard %
embaming the ibis, he said there were two modes
practisod-one was by enclosing them IN KIND
Of earthen vessel of the form OF sugar Loaf
This was the mode at Memphis and when brok en-
they " ere found TO contain nothing but the bones
little dust and few feathers AT Ihebes the
style was different. They were there wrapped
in bandages of linen. Mr.. Giddon here handed 70
the Board of Examiners behind him, an Ibis,
which was embalmed at Thebes, with the perms'
sion and request that they would open 1t IN the
presence of the company. This was done by
Professor Agassiz, and the feathers aud wing OF
he bird were plainly seen. a popularity noticed
was, that the bandages were composed OF smaI
pieces Of cloth about two inches wide and SIX
inches long, instead of being in one continuous
piece.
In answer to the question bow the different
classes of animals could be determined IN their EN-
hlmed state, Mr. Glddon said it was by their dli-
iient sS les He exhibited hawk, which was Jet
hck. aud had much the shape OF ham. Inc
Reatest curiosity he said was M their haoit oil EN-
bslming the crocodile. They were embaimed at all
ages, from the egg up to their reaching the size OF
Il feet or more.
The operator upon the coffin here announced that
he had completed his task OF saving open the cot
I'm and the attention of the whole a1ilence was ln-
tenty fixed upon it. II was turned over on the
back and the upper half Of the coiiin removed.
The mummy was then stood upon its feet on re-
voving pedestal and exhibited 10 the whole audi
ence.
1t came out in most perfect order. The band
ages were perfect except where the saw had torn
them In cutting the case open. The outer sheet
was put around the body, aad laced up the back
with strip OF linen tape or cloth. The front was
covered with hierosyphics corresponding 70 those
on the outer coffin, and OF which Nr. lidlon viii
give the translation on Wednesday.
The collin Mr. Gliddon SAID was composed of
thin layers Of wood and CLOTH soiered together by
kind Of pitch making very tough and hard sub.
stance. TIE coffin appeared alter being cut open,
as II Il had been originally placed around the corpse
In plastic condition the two edges were sowed
together ON the back.
The meeting was then adjourned until We3nes-
cay, and an opportunity given 10 all to inspect the
mummy We have only time TO say, in addition.
that the opening thus far has been most success.
full The bandages aroasd the corpse as bsore
stated, were IN most excellent stale OF pressrva.
ton and the audience manifested their satisfaction
ene delight By spontaneous outburst of applause.
oe unro'led Oh Wednesday.
Inc treat Dorchester Bank Robbery.
Inc boston Trarelcr of Monday bas the follow.