The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1879-03-12
Egyptian Writing.


lecture and sculpture. The papyrus reed
furnished the NEST ancient material for
paper in the days of the oldest monu-
ments. The dry climate has preserved
great number of ancient rolls, of which
most are religious, and of these again the
greater part copies of one book, the Ritual,
which French scholars call the "Funeral
Ritual," and Germans the 'Book Of the
Dead" It is work evidently complied
from time to time, divided into sections,
originally separate books, and chapters,
each chapter being usually illustrated by
a representation of its chief subject above
the text. Part of this book has been found
of the date of the eleventh DYNASTY,
(before B. G. 2,00O,) and, according to its
own statement, which derives collateral
support from more general assertion of
Manetho, one chapter was discovered in
the time Of the great pyramid building
Kings of the fourth dynasty. There can
be no doubt that the greater part is of
extreme antiquity. Two great difficulties
assail us in the endeavor even to construe
this book. 1t was held to be especially
advantageous to the mummifed Egyptian
that copy should be deposited in his
tomb. consequently it became the
custom to write these copies in great
numbers, and, as they were NOT intended
to be read, the scribes were careless in
their copying. Hence arises multitude
of errors which at ever step embarrass the
student. The other difficulty is due to
the causes which render the Egyptian
religious writings more hard to interpret
than the historical. Yet thanks to M.
De Rouge's patience and skill. the
general purport of the work is now
understood. It is, throughout, text and
commentary, and curisusly, the text usu.
ally simpler than the commentary, which,
by its allegorizing method, renders the
obscurity of the subject greater. The
theme Of the ritual is the story of mans
fate in the neither world, and the next
consists of series of prayers to be said
in each of the several zones through
which the soul was to pass on its way to
Judgement, and the confession of inno-
cence that was to insure its acqulttal. 1t
might be supposed that so great matter
would have been treated In the loftiest
style Of which the language was capable,
with the simplicity OF the Egyptian
memoir, the pathos Of the dirge, and the
occasional grandeur Of the historical
writings and the religious hymns. But
it is far otherwise. Nowhere is the loa er
element of the Egyptian religion so evil
dent as the ritual. 1t is obscure and
mysterious, without elevation or dignity.
The student seeks in vain for a single
passage worthy of the ideas conveyed
through the eye by the pyramids and the
tombs of the Kings. He wanders through
labyrinth peopled by the forms of the
lowest superstition, and the idea forces
itself upon MIN that the Negro element
Of the Egyptian mind is here dominant, not
always in the thoughts, but always in
their expression. Nothing more forcibly
shows the strength of his element, not
even animal worship. Side by side with
the ritual we find another work relating
to the underworld, the ''Book of the Low.
er Hemisphere describing the journey.
ings of the soul after death through il
zones corresponding to the 12hours of the
nocturnal sun. This book was in fashion
at the period to which most of the tomb.
of the Kings (ninetesnth and twnetiett
dynssties) belong, and their pictures af
ford the illustrations of its chapters.
temporary ReuiesS. 49,. ...