The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-12-07
DISCO VERY OF THE MUMMY
OF RA MSES THE GREAT

DAONO v En- I OF IHE M OMM I
OF AMSES THE GREAT.
The discovery of the mummy of Ramses
the Great in Egypt is very remarkable
affair. This Ramses (Ramses II was the
famous Sesostris of the Greeks. He be-
longed to the 10Th dynasty, was one of
the most splendid of all the Egyptian
monarchs, and distinguished himself by
the vast and magnificent works which he
executed. He was the Louis XIV-the
grand maonorque-of his day He en-
gagged In great engineering works, and
almost altered the face of the country by
the canals which he cut for the purposes
OF irrigation. He ran chain of fortifi-
cations extending $50 miles, along the
eastern frontier of Egypt. Seven of the
temples OF Thebes were erected by him,
and in all the cities of Nubia and Egypt
his works appeared in temples, monu-
ments, and other buildings. There is not
Y single ruin in the Delta on which his
name is not engraved. In short, he has
left behind him memorials and monuments
exceeding in number those of all the rest
of the Pharaohs put together. Among
these works are the wonderful rock-hewn
temples of Abou-Sina6eJ in Nubia, the
Rameseatna or Men,noniun1 at Thebes, a
large portion of the temple-palaces of
Karnak and Luxor, the four-seated colos-
sal statues carved in rock as the frontis-
piece to the great temple of A6ou- Sim,6e5,
the beautiful statue eco feet high) which
adorned the great court of the Ramese-
um, the bust of which was brought to
England by Belzoni, etc.
The great theatre of the military ex-
ploits of Ramses was in Syria and Assyr-
la, and his campaigns on the Tigris and
the Orontes have been celebrated in an
epic poem, written in the true Homeric
spirit, by the scribe Pentaour, and which
has been not inaptly called the Rameseid.
His antagonists were twelve nations OF
Western Asia, the famous Kheta or HIT
tites being at the head of the confederacy.
We are by no means satisfied our
selves of the TACT, but it is this monarch
who is identified by most of our Egyptol-
ogists with the Pharaoh of the oppression
&" who knew not Joseph" 1t was for him
that the Hebrews built "the treasure
cities Of Pithom and RaumaSes."
When the recent remarkable discov-
cries were made in the cave near Thebes
Ito which we have once or twice alluded) },
M. Maspero thought that this mummy
was that of Ramses XII. of the Goth dy-
nasty. But this proved mistake, M.
Maspero having been misled by the work
manship of the wrappings, which appeared
to belong to the later date. He was
right and he was wrong. The wrappings
were of later date, but the mummy was
Ramses the lis. The wrappings of fine,
rose-colored muslin having been removed,
there was found lying on the breast of
the mummy an inscription, declaring the
body to be that of Ramses the Great,
certifying to the circumstances under
which it was removed to the vault of
Dayr-el-Bahari, and stating that the an
cient coffin was destroyed, and new one
made at the time of the removal, of the
date and workmanship of the Goth dy-
nasty. So that we have now, beyond
question, the veritable remains of this
famous monarch who reigned in Thebes
1900 years ago And if he were indeed
the Pharaoh that made the lives of the
children of Israel bitter with hard bond
age" this unearthing Of his dust in the
nineteenth century of the Christian era
brings us face to face with the mcicna6uza
Of the Hebrew nation in most unex-
pected manner.