Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1881-10-20

Iu0 following are eX1faClS from q let
ter received by the London Times: from
Mr. Alexander Peake (dated Cairo1, who
holds the Office of inspector of prov
inces in Upper Egypt under the Con-
trole Generate: "All these who take
an interest in the past life of this coun-
try have been waiting with the utmost
anxiety the arrival from Upper Egypt
OF the proofs of the reported grand dis
covery made lately, and which Herr e.
Brugsch has gone to bring home to
Cairo, said to consist Of various kings
and queens who have long been known
by name, but have scarcely been thought
to exist longer in the state in which
they are we'll known to have been pre-
served after their death.
Through the kindness of friend [
had the pleasure of visiting the mu-
scum, and the most interesting of many
interesting objects, to an ordinary yisi-
tor, are its various and numerous cases
containing the mummies of ancient
Egyptians and over twenty-five royal
personages. English people will gen.
orally feel more deeply the value Of
these discoveries when it is known that
among the royal mummies are to be
found the embalmed bodies of the King
Thothmes I'LL, about B. G. 1000, and
Rameses H.. abont B. @. 1880. The
former it was who ordered the execu-
tion of the obelisk which now orna-
ments the Thames Embankment, and
the latter who, 270 years later, added
his own titles to those already inscribed
by order of his predecessor. Thothmes
III. It is difficult to realize the fact
that side by side in the Boulak museum
one can now see the actual bodies. in
closed in their respective cases, of men
whose orders caused the execution of
the monument so lately the object of
SO much interest in England, and which,
in almost perfect preservation, has sur
vived 5000 years. It is curious to
note in these cases containing
the royal mummies the flowers
(among the number the now obsolete
lotos,) and garlands with which it was
the custom to encircle tho neck of the
embalmed body after swathing with
cloth, perfect in form, but, perhaps, not
unnaturally faded or dry. It is sup
posed that these royal mummies were
removed from their own tombs and sar-
cophagi to prevent their being desc
Grated by an invader, perhaps Cambyses,
and placed for safety in the pit just dis
covered. This would seem to be cor
roborated by the fact that Belzonif found
and took away to England a sarcopha-
gus, but without any mummy, some
years ago, and that the body for which
that same sarcophagus was made and
said to contain at one time is now found
among the number collected in the
Dayr ell Bahari, and now lying at Boulak
side by side with the supposed father
of Rameses H., during whose reign, it
is said, Moses was born, somewhere
about the sixth year.
"One Of the most magnificent of the
mummy cases is that containing the
body OF King Rameses' daughter (pos-
sibly the identical lady who found
Moses in the cradle among the bull
rushes,) which is in most perfect state
of preservation, looking, as it lies in its
coffin, just as if it had only few hours
previously left the hands OF the people
whose duty it was to embalm and swathe
it in its cloth. The coffin is most beau
tifully finished aud ornamented with
colors and sort of mosaic with precious
stones. The colors are as fresh as
though only done yesterday. It is to
be regretted that much of the valuable
mosaic has been robbed, having been
Clipped off, evidently with some sharp
instrument. The crystal eyes have
also been removed, but the breast orna-
mentations fortunately remain perfect
and untouched, thus giving one ali idea
of the grandeur of this case before its
mutiIation. If all the wives and chill
dren Of this distinguished monarch
were treated in the same fashion as
this daughter, one may hope to some
day find other specimens of this gran
deur, for he is said to have had many
wives and ITO children. It was during
his sons reign (his successor) that the
plaques Of Egypt occurred and the Exc
dus of the Israelites." "