The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-09-07
Discovery of Mummies of
Egyptian Kings.

NNAAt NSSNAiOS q discovery Oh
antiquities in cave cut in solid rock
near Thebes. We copy from THE Times:
Besides being memorable for the APP
pearance of the comets, the year 1851
must ever hold high place in the annals
of Psychological discovery. M. Maspero,
the recently-appointed director of Boulak
Museum, is at the present moment in
Paris, actively engaged in preparing for
publication the texts of the pyramids of
the fifth and sixth dynasties, which were
opened last spring at Sakkara. The
Forthcoming number of the Receuil' will
contain the entire text of the pyramid of
King Ounasi, the last king of the fifth
dynasty. But the saying that it never
rains but it pours' may be now fairly
applied to archaeological discovery. Long
before the Savants have had time to pc
ruse, ponder over, or profit by the won
ders unearthed at Sakkara, they are now
suddenly overwhelmed with fresh sup
ply of material in the form of the largest
papyri yet known, and by the apparition
Of the mummies, with all their mortuary
appendages and inscriptions, of no less
than thirty royal personages. This dis
covery, which has just been made, calls
for special interest in England, for
among the thirty royal mummies are to
be found those of King Thotmes III and
OF King Ramses IL. 1t was the former
who ordered the construction of the
obelisk which now stands upon the
Thames embankment, and it was the
latter who, 27O years afterward, caused
his own official titles and honors to be
inscribed upon its faces, besides those
of Thotmes III. These two monarchs
now lie side by side in the Boulak
Museum, and even the flowers and gar
lands which were placed in their collins
may to-day be seen encircling the masks
which cover the faces of the deceased,
Just as they were left by the mourners
over three thousand years ago.
Last June, Daoud Pasha, governor OF
the Province of Keneh, which includes
the ancient Theban district, noticed that
the Bedaween offered for sale an unusual
quantity of antiquities at absurdly low
prices, The Pasha soon discovered that
the source of their hidden treasure was
situated in gorge of the mountain-range
which separates DER el-Bahari from the
Bah el.Malock. This gorge is situated
about four miles from the Nile to the
east of Thebes. Daoud Pasha at once
telegraphed to the Khedive, who forth
with dispatched to the spot Herr Emil
Brugsch, younger brother of Dr. Henry
Brugsch Pasha, who, during M. Mas
pero's absence in Paris, is in charge of
all archaeological excavations in Egypt
Herr Brugsch discovered in the cliffs of
the Libyan Mountains, near the temple
OF DER el-Bahari, or the Northern Con
vent, pit about thirty-fve feet deep,
cut in the solid rock. A secret opening
from this pit led to gallery, nearly two
hundred feet long, also hewn out of the
sohd rock; This gallery was filled with
relics of the Theban dynasties. Every
indication leads to the conviction that
these sacred relics had been removed
from their appropriate places in the
various tombs and teraples, and con-
cealed IN the subterranean gallery by the
Egyptian priests, to preserve them from
being destroyed by some foreign invader
In all probability they were thus con
cealed at the time Of the invasion of
Egypt by Cambyses.
Herr Brugsch at once telegraphed for
a steamer, which on Friday last safely
deposited her precious cargo at the
Boulak Museum. The full value of this
discovery, OF course, cannot as yet be de-
termined. The papyri have not yet been
unrolled, nor have the mummies been
unwrapped. Conspicuous by its massive
gold ornamentation, in which cartouches
are set IN precious stones, is the coffin
containing the mummy of Maui Nediem,
a daughter OF King Ramses II. Each of
the mummies is accompanied by an ala
baster canopic urn, containing the heart
and entrails of the deceased.
-Four papyri were found in the. gallery
at DER el-Bahari, each in perfect state
OF preservation. The largest of these
found in the coffin of
Queen Ra-maka-is most beautifully
with colored Examinations.
1t is about sixteen inches wide and
when unrolled will probably measure
from one hundred to one hundred
and forty feet in length. The other
papyri are somewhat narrower. but are
more closely written upon. These papyri
Will probably prove to be the most valu-
able portion of the discovery, for in the
present state of Egyptology rapyrus
may be OF more importance than an en-
tire temple, and, as the late Mariette
Pasha used to say, it is certain that, if
ever one of those discoveries that brine