Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1886-05-25
MINISTER CoX's MUMMY.

NIL w. W OOA3 CulCl ClCl n ol UuO AN0UlOn-
al Museum, Washington, has received a ine
mummy, as souvenir from his uncle, Hon
S. S. Cox, United States minister at Con.
stantinople. The remains arrived at the
museum Monday, and were at once pre-.
sented to that institute by Mr.. w. V. Cox.
Minister Cox, in his letter to his nephew,
simply stated that he had secured the de-
ceased in the upper Nile region during his
recent visit to Egypt. 1t is supposed that
the minister had good reasons for not being
more explicit. Some years ago, owing to
thcatened exhaustion Of the stock of num-
mics, already depleted by Mehemet Ali's
reckless use of them as fuel for his locomo-
tives, the Egyptian government prohibited
the expectation OF mummies from the coun-
try. 1t is assumed then that Minister Cox
secured the mummy either by clandcstine
expedition into some burial place, or
through some neatly planned diplomatic
intrigue. In either case, of course, he would
not desire to explicitly state how it came
into his possession. 1t has been suggested
also that the sultan bestowed this mummy
upon the minister as a fitting return of the
compliment paid him by Mr.. Cox when the
latter presented his imperial highness with
a copy of his book. The mummy was
brought to this country on the steamship
Aurania, went through the New York Gus.
tom house without paying duty and arrived
in excellent condition, after its long journey,
at the museum where it now awaits the ac-
ton of the coroner. 1t is on exhibition in
one of the halls of the museum. Prof O.
t. Mason, the curator of the department of
ethnology, speaks Of it as being an unusual
ly fine specimen, one of the best in the coun-
try. The beauty of this mummy is that the
linen bandages with which it is swathed
have never been broken open. The mask
and the cartoons or painted shields placed
about the bandaged body are perfect. Per-
sons who have fondness for mummies or
Egyptian antiquities will find much 10 in,
terest them in this specimen. The mummy
case is of acacia, or locust wood, the exte-
rior painted dark color. The wood is
wonderfully we'll preserved. The mummy
has the shape of a mummy. Upon this case
pointed beard The interior was followed
out with an adze, SO that tho mummy when
placed in it exactly fits it, This nice meas
urement indicates that the mummy case
was made to order and not bought ready
made This fact and other indications
about the remains lead TO the be-
lief that The deceased was we'll
to.do citizen, though there are no
insignia Of official rank. The mask is
painted aud glded. The colors are still
vivid and the gold leaf bright. Covering
the body from the chin down to the feet are
painted panels or sections of n material like
papier mache, formed by COMPRISING layers
of linen together. These panols form a sort
Of painted shroud. The coors used by the
Egyptian artist are still bright. A peculiar
sort of cement or stucco, the secret of which
was carried to the tomb with the last of the
old Egyptians, was smeared over the suface
of these panels and the artist painted upon
the stucco, which took the colors and has
preserved them in this case for about $500
years. Four Of these little sections, about
the size of ordinary playing cards, lie upon
the breast of the mummy. Upon each is
painted the figure of the mummied Osiris.
These cards look so much alike that some
irreverent attaches Of the museum call them
the "four Jacks" and speak of the dead gen
tleman as holding pretty good hand. The
other panels beneath the four jacks are
highly ornamented and bear representations
of various deities and funeral emblems. The
central figure is that of Isis, with outstretch
ed, overshadowing wings. Unfortunately
there was no coffin plate Oh the mummy
case, so the identity of the remains has not
been established. 1t is considered as settled
by the cut of the beard carved upon the
wooden face Of the case, and the general in.
dications, that the bereaved family spared
no expense in fitting out the mummy, and
that the deceased was a man of wealth and
Importance in the community.