The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1877-01-18
CI-PRIAN RELICS.
Massive Rings, Necklaces Of GO'd and Gu
riOstIes of the CTyptic Arts-The
Seal of q King tCbO Lircd Four
reem HmMdTtd Years
BEFORE the Christ
ian Era.


reen HmHdTtd Years
Before the Christ
iGN Era.
It would be premature for US to specu-
late upon the results that will 'OllOw
such an extraordinary recovery of relics
in so wonderfully perfect a state of an
age and people cotemporary, at least, with
the great Theban kingdom of Egypt.
Among them is the official seal of ThOth-
mesis Ill, the Egyptian conqueror of
Cyprus, in whose minority the third and
fourth pyramids were built, and whose
name is borne upon the famous OBJ lisk
we knew so we'll as CIeopatra's needle,
the date of which, for the sake of illus
! tration, may be given as 1443 B, c. This
| is not a defaCed and broken stone, but a
fnely-cut stone, pierced and mounted in
! gold, with its ancient movable handle OF
silver, which is very rarely met with
Other objects of this nature, which serve
to fix the date, as we'll as show the sur
prising perfection to which the gIyptic
art had been carried there, are some
Babylonian cylinders, in meteoric, hema-
tite, and carnelian, and ChalcedOny,
with intaglie characters, pronounced by
such authorities rs Mr.. Savce and Sir
Henry RawlinsOn to refer to dates of
$40, l, 200, and 1900 B. G. A seal, en-
graved with the Egyptian deity Anubis
and Ph9nician letter, is another exam
pie which may give rise to some interest
ing speculations. Here, however, it may
be stated that the greater number of the
seals and signet rings-some in gold, 9th
ers in silver-remain attached by the
spindle on which they turn, which is
rivited at each end to very simple half
ring of the metal. Those ofgold are gen.
orally perfect and finely Ornamented,
while those of silver are universally near
Iy black and SO much oxidized that they
cannot be moved. General di CesnOla
discovered two hundred and seventy OBJ
iects in silver, many of which are fairly
perfect, while there are many fragments
of others, and among these is compact
mass of pateras, stuck together by 0xida
ton, Just as they were placed in the
treasury of the temple more than two
thousand years ago The most perfect
object is an elegant bulb-shaped Iecythus
with lip and handle, seven and five
Fights inches high, the surface much OK
idized, but still showing patches of bright
silver but with very little trace of Orna-
ment left. Others which may be men
toned are an mnOchoe of the same size
a calyx five inches in diameter, with re-
mains of ornament in vine branches a
patera, with a gold boss in center and a
band of honeysuckle and lOtOs ornament
round it, several bowls, some Of which |
are futed by repousse work, others en-
graved in lines of geometrical pattern,
and one especially fine example, with
the inside filled with a pattern of radiat-
ing lines from a circle center ending in
star points.
A great number of cOiled rings in gold,
silver and bronze were found, some plain,
others frequently ornamented with the
head of the asp at each end, exceedingly |
we'll carved but whether all these were
intended to be worn or had even been
used it is somewhat puzzling to decide,
for some are toe small to admit of the
hand so as to be passed on to the wrist or
the arm, or be worn as anklets. Two
massive plain gold rings, but the ends
overlapping, weighing more than three
pounds, which were found in what the
general calls the gold room, are most in
teresting, as having each of them the
name in the ancient CypriOte dialect and
letters of Eteander, king of Paphos, who
probably presented these. as an offering
to some divinity in the temple where
they were found. The date of these must
be somewhat doubtful in the present
state of Cypaiote photography, but it is
they are of the sixth or sew
enth century B. G. This, however, is
confirmed by the inscription on cylin-
der in the British museum, in which the
name of this king appears as paying
tribute to Assur Bhani-Pal, the Sarda-
naDaIns nj the bible. MANY are the size