The Press., 1886-09-09
(New York Journal of Commerce.l TWO KINGS OF EGYPT.

A few. days ago we remarked on the un-
 rolling, in the museiln at Boulag (the
 Nile port of Cairo,1 of the bodies of two
 renowned monarchs. On the last day of his official service Professor Maspero con- ! ducted the unrolling of two others, one q [ king of very ancient date, nearly 1900 B. | C.. the other little later. The revelations made were quite as interesting as those of the other two. s ..t gse
 {, The. King Ta-aken reigned long before lthe date of Moses. Nothing was known
 of him beyond his naine, and the fact that l he fought against the dynasty of the Hyk-
 sos. the shepherd kings, foreigners who I held sway Tn Egypt several centuries. Of This life and the manner of his death noth-
 ing was known. Without reciting the
 I minute and far from agreeable details of
 the condition in which the unrolling dis Iplayed the monarch's remains, it is of q great interest to note what an account of
 an event occurring more than 3, ,50O years !. ago Professor Maspero is able to give in z his careful report 4zss.s - Ta-aken fell in battle, oyerpoWere,l by a rush of the enemy. A blow from battle I axe split his skull, another m blow shattered This jaw, and other wounds disigured the royal countenance. His troops were vic- !, tors in the fight, at least in that part of the field where the king, fell, for they re- i covered his body. It is possible that Pro lessor Maspero errs lii this conjecture, for D ? the body was already much decomposed . ! when they recovered it, and this may inn U ply that it was in the enemy's hands for , some time. But from the character of the ,. wounds the Egyptologer judges that the 2 king was struck to the ground by the first i blow, and that a fierce oontest went on ' over his body, at the end of which his kl> zlz~z 31.S <
 II Far from home, and without the pres
 | once of the embalmers or their materials ? the battered corpse of the king was hastily ? rolled in cloths with such spices and pre- 2 Eservatives as could be fonnd at hand, anC was carried to Ghebes for deposit with tho ! kings of Egypt. s1 The preservation of his ' features was remarkable under these cir e cumstances. His head was small, covere ( ' with fine. black curling hair, some of i o matted in the wounds and blood. Hi . eyes were large, deep set, nose straight q mouth of medium size, teeth perfect. Ht 2 was tall man of powerful bald. So com o plete was the preservation of the skin tha Y Professor Maspero is able to affirm tha e the king had shaved in the morning be Z. fore going into battle. .sas"l5 -ss
 e The other ruler of the Nile valley, whose ls mummy case was found with those of hi e royal companions in death, was Seti l. n father of Rameses H., whose face was un > lcovered to view in the prevlous unrolling k The resem blance between father and sor e surprised and delighted the modern mel d in whose presence the long concealed faceI ,f were uncovered and compared. Professor d Maspero says that the unrolling of Set t. lexhibited the most beautiful head of al Q Eancient Egyptian ever seen in the museum
 He says the sculptors did not Aatter whC T gave him, on the monuments at Thebe z and Abydoa, that lovely, smiling profl' . which travellers have admired There wal ,; Ia medical gentleman present at the unron lliI ing. Perhaps it is on his authority tha
 the learned antiquarian; says the knotty Y state of the old kings fingers indicated 2 that he had suffered from gout. He wal ,, :, Ian aged man, had reigned long, died som' y thitkYstw hundred years ago, and ha < been Sleeping in spices ever since, and ye ! his facs wears the same smiling spiritua
 Repression which sculptors, not skilled il > tportraitnfe, caught in hig lifetime as char lal aacteristic sefshis counfenance. \,