The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1864-05-10

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ihigh@whith opening is itself reached
by a descent Of 10 to 20 feet. Passing
through this low opening, you are soon
where you can stand erect, in q long
hall ten or twelve feet wide, with thou
sands OF embalmed lbises piled up ON
either side, each one hermetically scaled
in an earthen jar. The Ibis, it viii be
borne IN mind, was once the sacred bird
OF Egypt: and here are large and cost
ly tombs, IN which for generations they
were deposited with sacred reverence.
Visitors in later years have been anx-
lous to carry home as relic one Of
these iembalmed birds, and SO for the
purpose OF gettmg one that was III
good state Of preservation, the jars
have been broken open on the spot
Sometimes q pa.f dozen are opened be-
foreia good one isfo,tnd--most of them
containing only a handful OF dust, into
which the mummy has passed. These
broken jars liegin your path, and seri-
oudy obstruct it. ~
But the "Apis Cemetery" is the
''marvel of maryels," even in this mar
velous region. This is the burial place
of the "sacred bulls" of old Egypt in
the days Of its glory. The bulls here
buried were once the object of wor-
ship. One bull succeeded another, and
received in its turn divine honors,s its
predecessor being embalmed and en-
tombed in this wonderful cemetery
Let me describe it. Passing down q
e;oa ~ ~, ,,,,, ~,
sand that may have blown ingupon
them and buried them up, we reach an
entrance INTO long hall, twenty feet
wide, pefhdps, and a third of mile
long. This hall has on either side of it
inches twenty feet square, and there is
one similar hall running at right angles
and connected with another that is par
allel to the first. The height of the
several halls and inches is'about twenty
feet. In each of these inches is sar
cophagus Of sienite, in which was plac-
ed the emhalmed BEAST that had been
for its period OF twenty years, perhaps,
the great goa OF this great nation! L
measured one OF these sarcophagl-lt
was ~ feet vide, 2 feet 8 inches high
and nearly Ia feet long: In eXcavating
for the animal, the walls were left about
foot thick. Each OF these is made
OF single block OF sienite. The COW
er was slightly roof-shaped--being two
feet thick at the sides and three feet IN
the middle. Ilns appeared to be solid.
The height, including the. cover, was
about feet .A..s.sts.gr0o.y
The covers OF all these sarcophagi
have been shipped to one.end, by those
VINO nave prosecuted tho work OF dis
covery IN these strange subteranean re-
glons. Whether III any case the EN-.
rbalmed bun has been fou'id IN good
state OF preservation, l have not been
able to learn. Probably not. There
would be too large q mass OF matter to
be kept from decay by all the chemicals
knowii to the Egyptians. 's i.- 'f'''P
About thirty OF these sarcophagi are
found in this place. One stands in the
parallel street, that-Mas- evidently on its
way to some niche, but for some rea-
son its progress was arrested Its COW
er lies in the same streeg q few rods be-
hind 1t. l. was interested to notice
that while those that are in place
are highly polished and the. covers
fitted accurately and perhaps air-tilghr,
this one was still III the rough, both In
side and out-showlng that the custom
was to finish the sarcophag. after it had
reached its destination. One OF those
that L measured, besides beng polish I
ed, was ornamented with many hero
glyphics, which We're better executed
than usual-Tevidenty by a skillful
hand. al. .at +. ..i,s!9 ~ I'D ,iiJ II
Before visiting the APIS cemetery,
labored under the impression that i
had seen some large sarcophagi in the
Vatican and elsewhere: but it was
quickly dissilhted by look at these
One of them would be Distinguishing
object in any museum; but they are
not more likely to be removed than hne !
statue of Ramesesy TO got them down
into this subteranean cemetery was a
sufficiently difficult achievement; and
the curious archeologist will puzzle ms |
brain for a long time before he satisiac-
toriy solves the problem how it was |
done, .i 10 get 'lienl ~ out wouia @ req REQUIRE m
~ .he s,,,aS. sn,ns " : ~ Hfnrd lfn.y,' ." "
'''S ~ nU" ,,,o;.,tro % mon tt;s .tronoo s,,oc
49, dt ,.g ~, - anl;o Pfe,,ed nst;on or IN
~ ~ H., ~. ~ e ,nt Sa,n o;;SS % 49,, n.as
W. W. ra. n'ost '" n,i;nhtonea nat;o5 o., tbe s,ce
'ae ,,o', o'oo,ti LII ;o''aaar, th;na, axoant
,,,orais :, ,ie ond u' rsl;n;on II uorsh;m;,e such such
~, III -" a"d T h,,n';np tha,n u,;th smsh hon
SouS, anu o'u my 'iSiii VIII S"N'i ',O"-