, 1881-09-24

(See No, y
No. 12.-Princess Mes sont-ta- me, hou, a
Princess of the 18th Dynasty. General
appearance of the three mummy.cases,
DC. similar to those of King .Amenhotep
!. See No. Il
No 13.-Queen An, a Queen of the 18th
Dynasty. General appearance same as
No. Z,
No. l4,-Queen set-ka, a Queen of the
18th Dynasty. General appearance same
as No. Z,
No, 15.-King RamSes l., the founder of
the 10Th Dynasty, The three mummy.
cases resemble those Of King Amenhotep,
except that they have upon the outside of
the lids richly gilt representations of the
features Of the king. The colours of the
inscriptions are yellow, green, and blue.
Ramses l. was the father Of Seti T., and
grandfather of RamSeS Ii. 1.-THE Great(,
and his tomb at Biban-el. Molook. or
" Gates of the Kings" near TAebes, was
among the number of those opened by Bel.
zoui, and is the oldest hitherto discovered
i'll that valley. The granite s~arcophagus
bearing the lame and titles of Ramses ]
still remains III the tomb.
No. liking Seti t., the second king
OF the 10Th Dynasty, who regained some
of the foreign |conqueSts of PhotmeS III.
W hiCu IiN bOCn tOSU Nv htIIl SCS L. LILO
mummy is in a good state Of preservation,
but only one of the mummy cases remains.
This mummy-case is inscribed with three
longitudinal rows Of texts upon a white
ground, and bears the facsimile of the
Kings features, surmounted by the Royal
crown and IRE SerpentS. Tae linen
Shrouds of the mummy bear hieratic
inscriptions, stating that the remains of
Sell l.. were thus concealed in a pit
during the time of a foreign invasion.
None who have visited AbydoS need to
b9 reminded of the Temple of S8ti, where
all the gods of the Egyptian pantheon
seem to have been worshipp4d, and where
each had its separate shrine. AS I
mentioned III Il previous letter, the Sar.
cophagus of Seti l. was brought to
England by Belzoni, and is in Sir J. Soane's
Museum. 1t is carved from a single block
OF the finest all5lSter, and is covered with
mclSel hierOglyphic texts and several
hundred figures descriptive of the passage
of the sun through the hours of the night.
N. I1.-Alu5 Ren'8s II, Tne tnird
king Of the l9 h Dypas.y AMI the Pharaoh
OF th4 J5wisa CAPTIVITY. The mummy is
IN a perfect state OF preservation, but of
the three mummY.clses in which 1T once
probably reposel only one remli0s. This
mummy-case is Of plain sycamore wood,
implanted and unvarnished. 1t is carved to
rpfesent Ramses in the position of Osiris.
The crossed arms rest upon the breast. la
the right hand is the royal whip, and 10
the lett is the royal hook. The features
are most beautifully and delicately carved,
and are snrmouuted by ths crown of
Upper and Lower Egypt, with the uraus
serpent. The mummy case is a most
graceful and animated specimen of sculp-
ture, displaying, IN all its purity, the firm
and flowing lines of the period of the
Egyptian Renaissance. The M and pre-.
nomW cartouches Of Rlmses are written ia
plain black Characters upon the mummy
case, which bears nO other text or re2resen-
tafion whateyer,and 10 its beautiful simpli-
city contrasts strangely with the pompous
aud exaggerated dedioations of almost all
other inscriptions which mention the name
OF Ramses The Great. The mummy itself is
wrapped 10 rose-coIoured and yellow linen
of a texture finer than the finest Indian
muslin, upon which lotus howars are
slrewn. Ole OF the banis which pass
across the shrOuds to keep them ia place
bears a hieratic inscription stating that this
the mummy OF RAmsesII, was concealed in
a pit at a time Wien a foreign army invad-
ed Egypt.
No. 1S.-Qleen Nout jsnt, A queen
OF the 2Ist Dynasty. Ths mummy-case
49,, -ana, -kyNI 80