New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-04-22
THE BOULAK MUSEUM.
A VISIT TO THE GREAT TREAsURE-HoUSE
OF EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES.

fFRON OCCASIONAL COhEEoION
Ronlak wa, once the port and distant suburb of
Cairo. separated from II by the Sweetwater Csnai
and a sandy waste; but the new town Oh isihaiiIa
ho. snr,,no nm and connected them, and Boulak Is
nos, mt only the port but an important nanuiac-
tnrinp ouarter Here tie dahabeahs lie waiting 10
ne chartered by the prodlgal VISITOR LOT the Nile
VOYAGE and here come down the stream the
corn. the wheat and all the produce Oh
Frvpt that is not accelerated In Its transit 10 inc
cani,aI Inv transfer to the railroad at Assiout, $50
miles above But 10 the traveller the magnet Oh
Rou,ok ia it's museum, founded by Said Pacha, fos-
t.rod nv lsmail. and stored by the indefatigable
eyertons Of Mariette Bey. As it should. this mu-
sepm has within ITS walls the most perfect records
of the history of the country, and as before It's
foundation the treasures discovered by each and
every explorer were packed and labelled for every
museum in Europe so now. to protect the ancient
dead who planned cunningly to sleep on their
own soil. law has been passed prohibiting the
future 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
papyr IL Egypt, he did not contemplate spending
the remainder of his life in devout search Tor an
tiquites But, as he tells IN his tre9tse on the
monuments when no had transferred rich store
to the Louvre, and the funds failed.the pursuit so
fascinated him that he urged the then Khediye,
Said to engage in the search; and thus just thirty
years ago they gathered the nucleus of this mag
ni6cent collection.
But there is stir in the air that in this land OF
eternal repetition means something. The wind
surges strangely ABOUT fierce and ftful gusts and
the beautiful palms wave their arms IN trepdation.
Let us enter for il is to-day pleasanter among the
dead within than with the moving. active, real
world without. We enter-and where We looked
for repose are startled by the appartions OF four
custodisns. who have only five eyes between them.
and these are situated at such strange angles that
Won fancy yourself in a realm of story, and these
the fantastic gnomes of which you have read. Here
they 90 through all the ordinary cares of appro-
priating and labelling all portable articles but
their attentions do not cease there. for until you
leave that museum their singular yaearles OF
vision are never directed from you for a single
moment.
Within the entrance hall the building consists OF
two large corridors a series of rooms extending TO
the right and left with portal in the centre and
Others communicating angular!y with the wings.
| There IA no catalogue TO be obtained, and as the
numbers do not correspond with the descriptions in
the published guides TO Cairo you are left at the
mercy of the occasional placards appended
10 some objects, TO the uncertain
| knowledge and peculiar English Of the
Arab custodians. The walls of the first cham
Der are closely filled with stelde or funeral slabs
gathered from tOmbs of all ages and covered with
pctures or hieroglyphs. recording the virtues ana
rank Of the deceased and the pious and rich offer
ings each had presented 10 the gods prossl IN his
or her lifetime. Upon various altar5 there are
statues and costly articles of household use and there
| i.,It IN ba II a CrouCltuN lion. OF
beautiful workmanship and OF such enormous size
| that il must have been shot by machinery III
| the hands OF a giant
At the left extremity Of this first corridor there Is
| a large and somewhat dark room. set apart Tor the
relics of the Hyksos," shepherd kings. who toi
| 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 lit
tle Il recorded of them their dongs, and few are
| the monuments they have left. According to Mari
cite they were strangers or tolerated settlers upon
| the seaboard until in numbers they wcro able %
overthrow the existing mOnaTcbs OF the twelfth OF
| thirteenth dynasty iB. c. 22O0l and they ruled
the rich lower provinces until they were driven into
| Palestine by Amasis, the first warrior OF the eigh
| tenth The sitting figures and sphnHes OF these
| kings are rude and coarse in execution. and the
| faces hive none OF the placid beauty and dignity OF
those of other cpochs. They are appropriately rele
/ gated TO the darkest corner of the museum.
In contradistinction to this gloomy crowd the
rooms 10 the right of this wing contain gay gath
eripg of the rank and fashion Ct the Ptolemac and
| Roman eras. The conquerors OF Egypt. whether
| Persian. Greek OF Roman yielding doubtless to the
seductons Of the climate, seem TO have remodelled
| their own beliefs, or combined them with the eI-
Isting religion and thus perhaps uncOnscionsly re
| turned to the faith originally obtained from the
| Nile Valley. The temples OF the Ptolcmaic period
are modelled upon the plans OF the ancient edihceS
| and Edfou and Dcndera, yet existing IN hne pres
eryation have enabled the Psychologists TO explain
| the meaning and previous nses OF the many rooms
and passages Of such strange and mysterious struc
| lures.
| In death as well. the ladies and gentlemen unde
the PtoleInies caused their bodies be carefully
| embalned AZ the very oldest inhabitant," aud IL
| the decoration and gliding of their mummy cases
they even went beyond the ancents IN splendor anc
| lavish ornamentation. There Is one little coilir
that possesses a touching interest. 1t is that Of Tho
| baby of some wealthy Individual, and upon The
exterior the arm of the child Is admirably carved
with the chubby fingers still clutching III death the
drapery that covers it. while the other hand is out
! of sight beneath the quilt.
| In the last mummies Of tho Byzantine period the
| art of embalming eliminates, and the cases looA
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 lures, the
eyebrows are enlarged as in life, and their eye
deepened with dark rings to express the vivid efec
of kohl upon the living beauty. Tho hair Is care
| fully painted in plaits and waving tresses, thei
nails are touched as with henna, aud there is
catalogue of family jewels embroidered on theii
fingers on their feet are long pointed shoes, anC
about their ankles are the same massive gold ant
silver bangles which worn To-day by the dancing
women of the Upper Nile. The careful execution
of these cases bespeaks the portrait, and it ONLY
| reada the card of the deceased appended" Ih