The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1850-06-27
Mr.. GliddOn and his Mummy--Great
Excitement among the Literati.

The third lecture upon the Egyptian
Mummification was given in the Ire
mont Temple, yesterday morning. The
mummy was exposed to public view
and presented more distinct appear
ance-some of the bitumen having beer
scraped off. Mr.. Gliddon presented {
female hand, sent in by DIR. o. w
Holmes, which had been embalmed BY
the natural process of drying. DR.
Holmes stated that the nails ana epider.
mis- were gone, and that the removal o.
these, with part of the cuticle, was pro.
badly the secret Of ancient embalment
Mr.. Giddon gave highly interesting
description of the Egyptian places o
burials. Formerly they buried theil
bodies in the said, which was, on &C.
count of its dryne.ss, a natural mode o.
embalmsnt. The foundations Of the Nile
brought up the crfcodiles, who exhumed
and devoured the: bodies. The Egyp-
tians then began go bake the bodies Of
their friends and bury them in the Gre
vices of the rocks. Soon the pyramids
were built, and es:ch one of these being
the tomb Of king they formed nu-
cleus around whica all other bodies were
inferred. The burial places Of the an
cient city of Memphis were referred to.
Memphis never had less than 500, ZOO
Inhabitants, during period Of 1000
years-its burial ground contains mill
ions of tonbs. The bodies at first were
baked in ovens, wrapped in woollen
cloths and inferred. Afterwards they
were simply dipped in boiling bitumen,
and swathed in linen bandages. The
age of mummies was ascertained by the
names on the collins, as they generally
corresponded with those of the reigning
kings. The priests obtained a large
revenue from embalming bodies: there
were three classes of mummies--for the
first the price was ST. $50; the second,
$500; the third, $50
The cause which induced the Egyp.
tians to embalm bodies has been fruit
full subject of discussion. Voiney and
others contended that it was from hyge-
mic motives refuge against the
plague ; but the fallacy of this idea is
apparent, as the plague was not known
till B. {. 635, and the process of en-
balment was used fifty centuries previ-
Gus. The most probable reason is found
in the fact that the Egyptians always
desired to be buried in some particular
place, and that e;nbalmcnt made the
bodies more portable and easier oi
transfer.
Mr.. Gliddon then went on to say that
he should now make statement which
would cause some surprise. 1t was ap-
parent that the faces on both coffins OF
the mummy before them were those OF
females that the, inscriptions clearly
stated that the occupant was a female
but still the doctor4 had found that the
body was that of asman, and not a wo-
man! The speaker then proceeded
plausibly to prove that this might have
been a mistake On the part of the
priests who eInbalnied the body. This
has been frequently found to be the case
male bodies had Been found in female
cotfins. and rice re tsd This accounts
for the fact that no valuables were
found about the cprpse. Mr.. Gliddon
read letters to PROVE that he did receive
this mummy from Egypt and we, who
are very much disappointed in this re-
suit, cheerfully admit that Mr.. Giddon
is free from all blaine in the matter
We believe him to BE perfectly sincere
Every one present seemed to be Of our
opinion. BY marks upon the body, it
was found that tn, man lived in the
year 900, b. c., in the reign of King
Orsocan Ill. Mr. Gliddon closed his
lecture with brill (ant peroration, and
thus ended the 'opehing of the mummy.
Boston Times.