New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-04-25
THE BOULAK MUSEUM.
A VISIT TO THE GREAT TREAsURE-HousE
OF EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES.

t+'O- 49, CAIRO ApTll j.
Boulak was once the port and distant suburb oi
Cairo separated from II by the sweetwater Osnai
and sandy waste; but the new town of lsmailia
- .r,,,r, nm and connected them. and BOulak Is
now not only the port but an important manuiac-
,rring ouarter Here tie dahabeahs lie watingto
no chartered by the prodigal visitor Tor the Nile
vovoge ond here come down the stream the
cor, tba wheat and all the produce OF
rvnt that is not accelerated in its transit to tho
cantaI Inv transfer to the railroad at Assiout, Zoo
miles above But 10 the traveller tue magnet vi
Roulak is its museum, founded by SAID facha' los
t.rod nv lsmail. and stored by the lndefatlgable
aver,ions Of Mariette Bey. As it should this mu-
senm has within It's walls the most perfect records
of the history of the country and as beIore us
foundation the treasures discovered by each anu
every explorer were packed and labelled Ior every
museum in Europe, so now. to protect the ancient
dead who planned cunningy TO sleep on their
own soil. a law has been passed prohibiting the
fturc deportation of the treasures that may be I'M
earthed.
When Marietta first undertook in behalf OF
learned French society, to search for the MSS and
papyri H. Egypt, he did not contemplate spending
the remainder of his life in devout search for an
tiquities. But, as he tells IN his tre9tse on inc
monuments when no had transferred a rich store
TO the Louvre and the funds falled,the pursuit so
fascinated him that he urged the then khedlye,
Said TO engage in the search and thus just thirty
years ago they gathered the nucleus OF this mag
n6cent collection.
But there is a stir in the air that in this land OF
eternal repetition means something The wind
surges strangely ABOUT III fierce and htful gusts. and
the beautiful palms wave their arms IN trepidaton.
Let us enter for it is to-day pleasanter among the
dead within than with the moving active real
world without We enter-and where We looked
for repose we are startled by the appartons of four
custodisns who have only five eyes bet "een them,
and these are situated at such strange angles that
YOU fancy yourself in realm of story. and these
the fantastic gnomes of which you have read. Here
they 90 through all the ordinary cares OF appro-
priatinc and labelling all portable articles, but
their attentions do not cease there for until you
leave that museum their singular vaaaries OF
vision arc never directed from You for single
moment.
Within the entrance hall the building consists OF
two large corridors, a series OF rooms extending 10
the right and left with portal in the centre ana
Others communicating angular!y with the wings
| There il no catalogue 10 be obtained. and as the
numbers do not correspond with the descriptions IN
the published guides TO Cairo, you are left at the
| marcy Of the occasional pacards appended
70 some objects to the uncertain
knowledge and peculiar English OF the
| Arab custolans The walls of the first cham
Der are closely filled with selde or funeral slabs
gathered from tombs of all ages and covered with
| plctures or hieroglyphs. recording the virtues ana
rapL Of the deceased and the pious and rich offer
ings each had presented 90 the gods lprosts IL his
or her lifetime. Upon various altar5 there are
costly articles Of household use and there
IS bronze bolt in the form Of a croucmng hon OF
| beantiful workmanship and OF such enormous size
that il must have been shot by machinery IN
| the hands OF a giant.
At the left extremity Of this first corridor there is
a large and somewhat dark room. set apart LOT the
relics OF the "Hyksos," or shepherd kings who for
| centuries usurped the ancient rule on the Delta
and banishcd the Pharaohs to the Upper Nile
| Valley These five hundred years form dark
period in Egyptian history gap. indeed for 1T
Tie Il recorded OF them their dOngs, and few are
the tnonumeuts they have left. According TO Mar.
cite they were strangers tolerated settlers upon
| the seaboard until in numbers they wcro able 10
| overthrow the existing monarchs oil the twelfth OF
| thirteenth dynasty tB. c. 22O0l and they ruled
the rich lower provinces until they were driven into
Palestine by Amasis the first warrior OF the elgl-
| tenth The sitting figures and sphin1es oil these
| kings are rude and coarse in execution ana tue
faces hive none of the placid beauty and dignity OF
| those OF OtneT cpOCDb. luoN dl' dpPi"bi'"N'iJ 'N
I gated TO the darkest corner of the museum.
In contradistnction to this gloomy crowd the
| rooms 10 the right of this wing contain gay gath
ering of the rank and fashion Ct the Ptolemaic and
| Roman eras The conquerors OF Egypt whether
Persian, Greek OF Roman yielding doubtless 10 the
seductions Of the climate, seem to have remodelled
| their own beliefs, or combined them win the eh-
,stinp religion. and thus perhaps unconscionsy re-
.th ily nh IN
Nile Valley. The temples OF the Ptoomaic period
are modelled npon the plans of the ancient ediices
| and Edfou and Dendera, yet existing IN line pres
ervation. have enabled the Egyptologstst TO explain
| the meaning and previous uses of the many rooms
and passages Of such strange and mysterious sruc'
| lures.
In death as well the ladies and gentlemen under
| the PtocInies caused their bodies to DO as carefully
| embalmed as the very oldest nhabtant," aud III
| the decoration and gliding Of their mummy cases
they even went beyond the ancients IN splendor ana
| lavish ornamentation There Is one little COLIN
that possesses a touching interest. 1t is that OF the
baby of some wealthy Individual and upon the
erterior the arm of the child Is admirably carved,
with the chubby fingers still clutchlng in death the
drapery that covers it. while the other hand is out
! of sight beneath the quilt.
In the last mummies Of the Byzantine period the
art Of embalming eliminates, and the cases look
more like exquisite and elaborate bindings. and the
paintings upon them remind one of tho pages OF
richly illuminated medieval manuscript. The
faces of the ladies finished like mina ures. thei
eyebrows are enlarged as in life. and their eye'
deepened with dark rings to express the vivid effect
| of kohl upon the living beauty. Tho hair is care
fully painted in plaits and waving tresses, the
nails are touched rs with henna. aud there is q
catalogue of family jewels embroidered on theii
fingers on their feet long pointed shoes, and
about their ankles are the same massive gold ant
silver bangles which worn to-day by the danclnl
women of the Upper Nile. The careful execution
of these cases bespeaks the portrait. and 1t only
needs the card of the deceased appended" Ih'
inclosed Mr. - or Mrs. begs to request
| IL LIZ L. INN.