New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1886-06-23
Egyptian Mummy Presented to
the National Museum at WASH

OSypGlaH Mummy PRESENTED to
the National Museum at WASH
lngtOn.
Mr.. w. v. Cox, chief clerk OF the Ma.
tlonal Museum, has received a large
mummy, as pleasant souvenir from
his uncle. Hon. SIS. Cox, United States
Minister at Constantinople The re-
mains arrived at the National Museum
a few days ago, and were at once pre-.
sented to the museum by Mr.. w. V.
Cox. Minister Cox, in his lettert to his
nephew, simply stated that he had Sc
cured the deceased in the upper Nile
region during his recent visit to Egypt.
1t is on exhibition in one Of the balls
OF the museum. Prof. 0. T. Mason,
the curator of the department. OF eth
nology, spoke OF it to Star reporter
as being an unusually fine specimen,
one of the best in the country. The
beauty OF this mummy is that the
linen bandages with which it is swath-
ed have never been broken open. The
mark and the cartoons or painted
shields placed about the bandaged
body are perfect Persons who have
a fondness for mummies or Egyptian
antiquities will find much to interest
them in this specimen. The mummy
case is of acacia, or locust wood, the
exterior painted a dark color. The
wood is wonderfully we'll preserved.
The mummy case is carved out of
logs, and when closed has the shape
of a mummy. Upon this case is cary
ed and painted face with a. long
pointed beard. The interior was hol-
! lowed out with an adze, SO that the
mummy when placed in it exactly fits
it. This nice measurement in
dictates that the mummy case was
made to order and not bought ready
made. This fact and other indica-
tions about the remains lead to the
belief that the deceased was well-to-
do citizen, though there areno insignia
of official rank. The mask is painted
ana gilded 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
material like papier mache, formed by
COMPRISING layers of linen together.
These panels form a sort of painted
shroud. The colors used by the
Egyptian artist are still bright. A
peculiar kind of cement or stucco, the
secret of which was carried to the
tomb with the last of the old Egyp-
tians, was smeared over the surface of
these panels, and the artist painted
upon the stucco, which took the colors
and has preserved them in this casefor
about $500 years. Four of these lit
tie sections, about the size OF ordinary
playing Cards, lie upon the breast of
the mummy. Upon each IS paint
ed the figure OF the mummied Osiris.
These cards look so much alike that
some irreverent attaches of the muse
UNI call them the -four jacks" and
speak of the dead gentleman as hold
ing a pretty good hand. The other
panels beneath the four jacks are high
ly ornamented and bear representa-
tions OF various deities and funeral
emblems. The central figure is that
OF Isis, with ,outstretched. overshad-
owing wings. Unfortunately there was
no coffin-plate on 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 indications that the be.
reaved family spared no expense in fit
ting out the mummy, that the deceased
was a man of wealth and Importance
IN the cOmmnnitv Wa shin0ton Star