Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-06-17
The Egypsisns who Wrote for the
FIXTURE.
Contemporary Review

1t Us look first Of all at the Egyptians,
y 30 seem 10 me 10 possess the conscious
Mes 81 the most distant an almost immei-
surllie-pasi. They did not adorn theif
tomJ les with inscriptions for their own
Ilia.ure only. They had a clear idea OF
;hr past and Of the future Of the world in
which they lived, and 30 ls they cherished
the TocollcciiOns a the past they wished
thcmselyc, TO De remembered by uDknO wn
generations in timCs 10 come. The
biographical inscription OF Aahmes. q cap
lain of marines OF the eighteenth dy-
nasty, Is addressed. ~ Champollion says.
"tO The whole human race tet-G cn-leh
rcf nh. i1GtiCr CObis hOminituS OmBi6HS.j
1 monument in the Louvre CA. 81 says:
- speak 20 Won who shall come a million
Of years after my DEATH These ere the
~ cripiOns OF private persons. kings.
naturally. are sin more anyipu, that pos
tcriiy and the world at large should De i1-
formed OF their deeds. Tins Sish1k l., the
cODqurroT 81 Judah, prlys in one Of his in
sCfiptiOns at Sil.iiis: My Srlcious Lord
Anon, grant that my words may live for
hundreds ~ thousands ~ years."
The graf Harris Papyru,, which records
the donations Of l,amcScs III. 10 the
temples Of Egypt, together with some i'm
poTtaut political event., was written 10 eN-
hibit 10 "thc gods, TO men nov living, and
10 unborn generations lhGmcmetl IN" many
good worn. and yalorou' deeds which hc
did upon earth, Is great King OF Egypt
Whatever other motive. high or low, may
have Influenced The author, OF these HE
roclyphlc inscriptions. one % them was
certainly their love or fear Of humanity,
their dim conviction that they belong q
10 race which would 20 on for
ever filing the earth. AID TO which they
were bound 10y some Kind 81 moral respon'
,ilihty. They wrote for the world, aud It
/, I'm that Spr>c that / call their writings
the first germs II 2 world literature And
A. in Egypt 80 il Was in Babylon, SiueYeh.
and Persia. when the jewellers on The
Euj hrAtc> and Tigris had learned that no.
thing seemed - cndurr-that fire and water
wOuid DESTROY wood and stone. even silver
aud gold, they took clay and baked il, and
hid the cylinders, covered with cuncliOrm
writing. in the foundation, ~ their temples.
50 that even after the destruction oi these
t.lnple. aud palaces future generations
mi.ht read tie story 81 the past And
there IN their safe blding-paccS these
cNiindci> have been found again ait-r three
thousand yelrs. unframed by water, I'M
-c4thcd ~ fire, aud fulfilling the very pur-
pose for which they were intended, Try-
iLg 10 u the living message which t1c
ancient ruler, 81 Ch1ldTa wished that We,
their distant descendants, should receive.
Often these Inscriptions end with imprccl-
tions against those who should dare % IN
lure or etacc thom vt khorSlb4d. u lh"
very interior n the construction. w3~ found
= large stone chest. which inclO,cG scyerl. in
-clitcd plates IN yariOu, i1ttcriil,-Onc
tablet Il gold, one Of silver. other, OF cop
per. lead. ANA tin: sixth test Wa, en-
erlvcd on alita.ter, and the seventh docu-
urnt WI, written on the chest Itself. They
40 commemorate the i0und,tion u city
by aflr,u. k.ne. commonly called SlrCou.
and thD end vita au iWFr, cAiion-"N no
ever alters The york, pi my had, destroy.
d." constructions, pnil. cptn the wall
which ! Lave r,i-cd-mly A~,hur. Nnib.
RamaH, lud tLa great 2od- who dwell
there. p'uch hi- name and SEED from the
land. and let him 1T bound q, The feet o.
BIS f0e."