Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1874-08-26

me as the most interesting group in
the whole collection. 1t was found
only eighteen months ago, and in an
ancient metropolis, beside very singu-
lar pile of masonry, called by the ma
tives the H09an1 el-kedab, or Lying
Pyramids, on the western bank of the
Nile, about fifty miles south of Cairo.
On a broad pyramidal base rises q
tower, the sides of which are nearly
perpendicular, terminating in a plat
form, from which springs q smaller tow
er; the entire height cannot be less than
$50 feet. This singular structure has
never been opened or even adequately
examined, but the conjecture of some
psychologists that it was built by King
Sne-frou, the predecessor Of Cheops, is
possibly confirmed by Varieties dis
covery of the two painted limestone
statues which belong to the lid dynasty.
The Inscriptions show that they rep
resented the prince Ra-Hotep and the
princess Nefer-t. who may have been
either his wife OF sister. The size of
life, they sit side by side on plain mas
sive chairs; but the attitudes are easy
and natural, and the hands are not
laid upon the knees. Only the drapery
"a loin cloth for the man and simple
white garment, without folds for the
woman, is stiffly and avkwardIy repre-
scented. The muscles of the chest and
limbs, the joints, hands and feet are
carefully modelled, and the heads
might be boldly set beside the best
portrait busts ever made. Ra-Hotep's
flesh is painted fresh, ruddy color,
and Nefer-t's pale olive; yet the fea-
lures indicate that they belonged to
the same race. Nothing cam be finer
than the delicate indivuality expressed
in the two faces. He is strong, proud,
asserting authority; hers kind, sym
pathetic, yet carried with the air of one
to whom respect is inevitably paid.
The type is the same as that of the Evil
lage magistrate, % but greatly finer and
nobler. The eyes are inserted in the
same manner. and are even more adj
mirable workmanship for they fairly
CLEAN and sparkle, and there are mo-
ments when human intelligence sud-
denly lights up the face.
It is remarkable circumstance, and
one over which the ethnologists will
doubtless break their heads, that these
remains of the earliest, freest, and high
est arts yet discovered III Egypt should
represent quite different physical type
from that of the later dynasties. That
they are Caucasian, or Aryan, is evident
at the first glance; that they possess
ed intelligence, energy, and those NOR
al qualities which we express by the
word "character" seems equally GER
tain. Docking at Ra-Hotep's face,
your first impression is: Here is
gentleman " The remains of the An
cient Empire suggest a certain amount
Of freedom, continuous development,
among both rulers and people; those
of the Later Empire, on the contrary,
are rigidly stamped with the seal Of a
priestiy despotism.
Here, for instance, is splendid
granite statue of King Sha-fra (Ceph-
renes, the builder of the Second Pyra-
mid), which Mariette found at the bot
tom Of we'll in the very ancient granite
temple which he discovered eight years
ago, near the Sphinx. 1t bears all the
marks Of the same ardent, struggling
art which we detect in the wooden and
in the limestone statues. The head is
slightly lifted; the features are modelled
with care which attests to us the ex-
actness of the portrait; the eyes look,
and do not simply dream, as in the
forms of the Later Empire and while
one hand rests but not fatty, upon the
knee, the other is closed and brought
down upon the thigh, as who should
says, "Suoh is my will! !" The figure
speaks and commands, while the late
Thothmes and Rameses sit, like Brah-
ma, in endless passiveness. It will be
found, [ an sure, that the cadence of
the art of Egypt, during her most illus
trious historical periods, was due to the
despotic limitations Of her religion. It
was the same spirit which, during the
Middle Ages and since, has compelled
the artists to give particular color to
the drapery of each apostle, and to de-
sign annunclations, assumptions, trans
figurations, judgments, according to
one easll y recognizable pattern.
Marlette's discoveries, thus far, have
thrown less light upon the sojourn of
the lsraelites in Egypt than many
might have expected or wished. We
are apt to forget, in the great impor-
lance which the Biblical narrative pos
sesses for us, that asmall, subject race,
like the Jews, could only be accident
ally mentioned in the annals Of such a
proud and powerful people. A few
strange probabilities, however, are
worthy Of being noticed. The conjec-
tured period of Joseph's arrival in
Egypt corresponds with that of the
Hyktos, or Shepherd Kings, who, being
strangers themselves. would the more
readily confer high authority upon a
stranger. Moses, almost certainly, was
educated as an Egyptian priest under
the reign of Rameses lind, and the
Pharaoh of the Exodus was the latter's
son, Meneptah, a supurb bust Of whom
is in Varieties museum. The name,
Moses, is the Egyptian Mesu, signify
ing "child" or "boy." A recently
deciphered papyrus contains an official
report concerning a certain "Mesu,
who is declared to have much influence
over "the foreign people," as the de-
scendants of the Hyksos, the Israelites,
and other Semitic tribes settled in the
Delta, were collectively designated.