Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-03-09
Egyptian Writing.

Writing was as old in Egypt as archi-
lecture and soul pture. The papycus reed
furnished the most ancient material for
paper IN the days of the Oldest monu-
ments. The dry climate has preserved
a 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 sFuneral
Ritual" and Germans the Book CT 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
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,ooO) 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
hlngs 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. It was held to he 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 no; 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 NJ
De Rouge's patience and skill, the
general purport Of the work is now
understood. Its, throughout, text and
commentary, and curieusly, 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 q 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 tolnsure its scou1ttal. It
might be supposed that SO great matter
would have been treated III the Hottest
style OF which the language was capable,
with the simplicity OF the Egyptian
memoir, the pathos OF the dlrge, and the
occasional grandeur OF the historical
writings and the religious hymns. But
it is far otherwise. Nowhere is the 10 Y 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 wo,ty Of the ideas conveyed
through the eye by the pyramids and the
tombs Of the Kings He wanders through
a labyrinth peopled by the forms of the
lowest superstition, and the idea forces
itself upon him that the Negro element
Of the Egyptian mind is here dominan t,not
always in the thoughts, but always in
their expression. Nothing more forcibly
shows the strength OF his element, Dot
even animal worship. Side by side with
the ritual we find another work relating
to the underworld, tins Book of the Low
er Hemisphere describing the journey
ings Of the soul after death through 12
Zones corresponding to the 12hours Of the
nocturnal sun. TINS book was in fashion
at the period to which most of the tombs
of the Kings (ninetecnth and twnetieth
aynasties) belong. and their pictures af-
ford the illustrations of its chapters Con-
tenapoTQTY ReDiey.