The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1886-08-08
inc mummy Of se.os,ri..

The mummy ono. 5Z33) hrSt taken out
from its glass case is that of Rameses ii,
Sesostris, as testified by the official entries
bearing date the sixth and sixteenth years
Of the reign of the High Priest Her-hor Sc
Amen, and the High Priest Pinotem /, writ
ten IN black ink upon the lid of the wooden
mummy case, and the further entry of the
sixteenth year of the High Priest PinotemI l,
written upon the outer winding sheet of the
mummy over the region Of the breast. The
presence Of this last inscription having been
verified by his highness the khedive. and
by the illustrious personages there assembled,
the fret wrapping was removed and there
were successfully discovered band of stuff
(sic) twenty centimetres in width rolled
round the body; then second winding sheet
sewn mp and kept in place by narrow bands
placed at some distance apart; then two
thicknesses Of small bandages; and then
piece Of fine linen reaching from the head TO
the feet. A figure representing the Goddess
Nut, one metre in length, is drawn upon
this piece Of linen, in red and white, as pre-
soribed by the ritual. The profile of the
goddess is Enthusiastically designed after the
pure and delicate profile Of Seti l, as he is
known to us in the bass. relief sculptures Of
Thebes and Abydos. Under this amulet
there was found another baDdage; then
layer of pieces of linen folded in squares and
spotted with the bituminous matter used by
the embalmers. This last covering removed.
Rameses II appeared. The head is long, and
small in proportion TO the body. The top Of
the skull is quite bare. On the temples
there are q few spare hairs, bat at the poll
the hair is quite thick, forming smooth,
straight locks about five ceniimetres in
length. White at the time Of death,
they have been dyed q light yellow by the
to-, hal
ia low and narrow, the brow-rdge prominent,
the eyebrows are thick and white, the eyes
are small and close together, the nose is
long, thin, hooked like the noOses Of the
Bourbons, and slightly crushed at the tip
by the pressure Of the bandages. The tenn.
Piles are sunken, the cheek bones very prom
inent, the ears round, standing far out from
the head and priced like those of woman
for the wearing of earrings. The jaw bone is
massive and strong; the chin very prominent,
the mouth small, but thick Tipped, and full
of some kind of black paste. This paste
being partly cut away with the scissors, dis.
closed some much worn and very brittle teeth,
which, moreover, are white and well pre-.
served. The moustache and beard are
thin. They seem to have been kept
ably allowed to grow during the kings
last illness; or they may have grown after
death. The hairs are white, like those OF
the head aud eyebrows, but are harsh and
bristly, and from two TO three millimetres In
length. The skin is OF earthly brown,
splotohed with black. Finally, il may BIZ
said that the face of the mommy gives fair
idea Of the face of the living king. The ex
preston is unintellectual, perhaps slightly
animal, but even under the somewhat gro.
tesque Disguise of naturalization there Is
plainly to b. seen an air Of sovereign mai sty,
Of resolve, and Of pride. The rest Of the
body is as we'll preserved as the head; but
in consequence Of the reduction Of the It's
sues Its external aspect is less lifelike. The
neck Is no thicker than the vertebral column.
The chest is broad; the shoulders are
square; the arms are crossed upon the
breast; the hands are small and dyed with
henna, and the wound in the left side,
through which the embalmers extracted the
viscsra, Is large and open. The legs aud
thighs are heshless; the feet are long,
slender, somewhat fiat -soled, and dyed, like
the hands, with henna. The corpse Is that
Of an old man, but Of vigorous and robust
old man. We know, indeed, that Rameses
II reigned for sixty-seven years, and that
he must have been nearly ono hundred
years old when he died.