New-York tribune., 1875-09-25
EGYPTIAN TOMBS.
THE AMERICAN EXPLORERS IN EGYPT.

HlBITION-SIGNS OF PROGRESS IN Ebffi-hD'-
CATION SPREADING.
lFRoM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE ThnbUseI
ALEXANDRIA. Aug 6-The officers of the Amcri-
can Palestine Exploring Party, while waiting a icw
days i'm Alexandra for conveyance to Beirut inadc
good use of their time in visiting some OLD graves
that have recently been discovered abont n mile
from the Porto Rosetta in Alexandria, III the dlrrc-
tion of Rameh. new railroad IS beng buit 10
tween Ramlch and the road which goes to caro-. IL
we arc rightly informed and at section of this
there is cut through hill about 40 to 90 icet
deep and nearly three-auarters of mile long THIS
hill proves to have been vast ancient cemetery
On the summit there remains of earthworks,
with the angles and the parallels well preserved
But these earthworks belong of course to very re-
cent times The graves 3O 40, and in some
cases 80 feet below the surface of the ground
Probably the average depth would be 30 or 30 feet.
Then another remarkable fact is that there are sew
eral layers of graves. generally three or four Dut
in some places they go up as hlgh ~
six and even eight. These can be distinctly
counted. The bottom layer as it appears ut one
point has all the heads of its cOins toward the east
But at other points some distance of, thcTe appear
TO be LAYERS below the line of the one just referred
to- The coiins in some of the uppor layers cross
and rccross each other apparently without any reI"r
ence the points of the compass AT one section OF me
cutting and some feet below the lire of what appears
to be the lowest layer of cOifins there are scVera
pits or cjscrns egg shaped with the large end at the
bottom and from five to SIX feet III uiamcier. ~
present they are full of bones and sand. Thoy are
hr;It of brick and at the base are two feet thick
while the thickness of the sides only ten or
twelve inches. The outline of the bricks remains
but the bricks with the mortar or cement have con-
creted into a solid mass. In the one which we eX-
anined with the most care were found the
remains of burnt materials, charred bones
and the like while the inside surface Oh
the pit gave unmistakable evidence oi
having been subjected to strong heat. AT one point
obout ten feet above the level of the railroad track
the mouth of a well had been uncovered. we loui"
this by measure to be - feet deep, and al tIe Dol
TOM Judging by the light Of the candle which we let
down. an avenue or passage appeared to lead of IN
the direction Of the highest part of The hill' Inc
bottom of this we'll or shaft is fully 20 feet below
the general level Of the hilltop about it, We lacked
the means for descending this shaft, and hence can
say nothing further with regard To II.
The cohins were not all of the same pattern Those
in the lower layers were rather heavier than those
above but all were made of pottery thoroughly
baked The largest size six feet in length
They were III ova-shapcd. 4 common form was two
lars nicely fitted into each other in the widest p1rf
with plain ends or such cnls that the jars wond
stand tirml, if set MP cndYays. Then another COM
mon form was the same plain head with the foot
piece tapcring 10 poE: of different shapes. Some
had an ornamental hcad-pcce with edges projecting,
something in shape like the base of tower-pot
Others again. besides the jars which contained the
body, had separate compartment for the head,
winch nicely fitted TO the regular coffin about the
shoulders. In sone instances the body appeared to
have been incloscd in jar or coffin OF thinner and
perhaps finer material. ard this again was inclosed
IN "A pottery case of much heavier material We
broke open multudes of these collins ourselves, ana
the writer of these notes can testify that there Is
pl,asanter work in tine world than ridng OH graves.
Yet at such times curiosity is keen and overcomes
all unpleasant suggestions which the imagination
coniures up The coii.ns were filed in some cases
with fine sand which had to be dug out
carefully to get al the bones. Others con-
tanned but little dIst, and it was easy
10 observe the position of the body from the bones
that remained. In few cases the bones appeared
10 have been very much crowded, and in one or two
cases two skulls were found i'll one and the same
coffin The skulls would invariably crurnbie when
handled or touched with stick In these collins
we found lamps, small jars, vases, lachrymaiorieS,
some beautiful glass bottles, some copper rings,
one copper nail the seal part of ring of great SIZE
and number OF small coliS. III "t' '"'h
which was delicate case inccscd in a larger one
rs already described the writer found apparently
in the part where the arms had rested, some small
vases beautifully painted, and delicate vase set
into q bowl Also copper ring and the seal part of
onothc riny In n lar from another grave he found
some substance that had decayed and dried INTO
lump of dust. This perhaps can be anayzed hereafter
We found also among these graves the handles Oh
two lars with Greek inscriptions upon them.
great many relics have been taken from these Old
graves since they first discovered, and among
rhem one beautiful alabastcf vase was found. But
there are myriads of graves that have not yet been
rnuched and doubtless many interesting relies ana
po,sibly some of great historical value might ne us
covered if they could he carefully explored. Inc
ground is certainly interesting for here are buried
twenty or more centuries one above the other An
other interesting place in Alexandria for relics and
ru;ns is near the Rimeh station along the waters
edce of the old harbor Here also the debris OF CEN
turies has accumulated.
Beneath the water are the remains of ancient
walls. These are plainly visible when the
sun is at a proper angle. The bank has been
washed away, and is steep and from ten 10
thirty or mngc feet high. At some points III the
pcrpcndicular bank cotiins appear, and every
where there is debris of all sorts Here we found
nu,ul,cr of small coins. which are probably Roman,
and several Greek inscriptions on the handles of
lars On one is the head of an on, and the inscrip-
ton is neatly written about it. On another Is the
handle of "A dagger, with the inscription written as
in the last Some of these inscriptions we thihk We
have read but prefer to wait before publishing
them until they have been examined by Others, Tor
in such matters safety rs IN proportion To the NUM-
ber of wise eounselcrs that one consults.
Many of the readers of The TRIBUNE are already
familiar with the wonderful treasures which are
being gathered into the museum at Bouak. But
since Bavard iaylor's letter was written, the