The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1888-04-12
MOSES AND RAMEsEs II.

IClVlllZatlOn OF the Egyptians, ana tnelT
progress in the arts, sciences, literature.
etc. He referred also to the embalmIng
of their dead. AS Moses was adopted
into the royal household, having the
rank of prince whom the line of sue
cession would place upon the throne Of
a mighty empire, he had the Opportuni-
ty of studying in the best schools and
under the best Observation-Disclosures az
eminent among the Egyptians as CANA
liel among the Hebrews, or Aristotle
among the Greeks, the former the teach
er of Saul of Tarsus, and the latter the
teacher of Alexander the Great. As
Moses was instructed in all the wisdom
of theEgyptians' she studied the branches
taught in their schools. These included
as is shown by ancient records and in
scriptions-- geometry, astron-
omy, medicine, prose and peoetic COM
position, grammar, history engineering,
measuring of land construction of
buildings, making canals, instruments of
war, sculpture, ETC.. etc. Pupils belong
ing to the highest rank, like Moses were
received into the priestly caste, and
knew all the secret learning of the
| Egyptian priests. 1t is needless to say
that Moses distinguished himself as a
scholar in all the learning and wisdom
of this intellectual people. As the train.
ing OF Luther IN the Convent at Erfurt
fitted HIM to contend agiint the papal
church, so the training which Moses re-
cieved in the Egyptian Schools fitted
him to he the deliverer of his race, crush.
ed by heather system Of oppression.
Mr.. Tufts next gave an account of the
uncoveting of the mummy of Rameses
H., King Of Egypt, and oppressor of the
Jews in the time of Moses, and showed
the audience three pictures of the mum
my-from photographs-one, the head
and shoulders in profile, one with front
view, and one giving the whole mummy.
Among his perfumed wrappings Ramcses lay,
| Law of the sun, and conqueror without peers;
| The jewel-holes were in his rounded ears,
| His thick lips closed above the embamer's clay;
| Ungent had turned his white locks amber-gray,
but on his pussant chin, fresh from the shears,
The thin hair cleaned which full three thou.
sand years
or careless sleep could never disarray,
Hands henna stained across his ample breast
Were laid in peace but through the narrow eyes
Flamsd fires no more beneath the forward brow"
On the fifth of July, 1881, CASTOR Mas,
pero, keeper of the museum at Boulak,
| Egypt, and director general OF Egyptian
antiquities and excavations, discovered
number of Royal mummies at Thebes,
took them from their subterranean hid
ing and brought them to Boulak. 1t
was soon thought that it would be in the
interest of science to open the mummies
after their long centuries of rest and OBJ
llvion. Accordingly, says Maspero, on
Tuesday, TIE first day of June, 1885, by
order of and in the presence of His High
ness the Khedive OF Egypt; and in the
presence of Sir Henry Drummond Walff,
High Commissioner of Her BrittanIc
Majesty; Mouktar Pasha, High Com
missioner OF the Sultan; De Htroovo.
the Russian Consul General; and about
doz>n other distinguished men, the
mummy of King Rameses the Great
Rameses II.-was unbandaged. Inscrip.
lions, giving date, name, dynasty ETC.,
were written upon the outer winding
sheet of the mummy, over the region OF
the breast. After these inscriptions had
been verified by the Khediye and the
other illustrious personages present, the
| first wrapping was removed. Then
there was discovered a band of stuff
eight inches in width rolled round the
body; then a second winding sheet, sewn
up and kept in place by narrow bands
short distance apart; then two thick
nesses of small bandages; next piece
of fine linen reaching from the head to
the feet. A figure in profile, 80 inches
long, represent the Goddess Nut, is
drawn on this place of linen. Under
this was found another bandage; then
layer of pieces of linen folded in squares
and spotted with the bituminous matter
used by the embalmers. After this last
covering was removed Rameses ii. ap-
peared. Professor Maspero, in his Off
cial report, gives particulars in minute
detail, which were printed in the Lon
don Times: The head of the great king
is long, and small in proportion of the
body. The top of the skull is quite bare.
| On the temples are few sparse hairs.
but at the poll the hair is quite thick,
forming straight locks about five inches
in length. White at the time of death,
they have been dyed yellow by the
spices used in embalming. The fore
head is low and narrow, the eve. .brows
are thick and white. The eyes are small
and not far apart. The nose is long, but
slightly crushed at the tip by the band
ages of the embalmers. The cheek bones
are very prominent, The ears stand out
from the heads, and pierced for the
wearing of earrings. The jaw bone is
massive. The chin very prominent.
The lips very thick, and the mouth full
of black I aste that the embalmers had
put there. The teeth are worn, but
white and well preserved. The nous
tache and beard are thin. The rest of
the body is as well preserved as the
head. The chest is broad and the shoul-
ders are square. The arms are crossed
upon the breast. The hands are small.
The wound in the left side through
which the embalmers extracted the Wis
cera, is large and open. The feet are
long. The corpse is that of a vigorous
old man five feet, nine inches high. Ra.
meses IL. reigned over sixty years, and
at the time of his death was nearly one
hundred"
A writer on Egyptian antiquities says:
'Seti |. came the throne about 1455 B. G.
He was the second king of the great
nineteeth dynasty. and reigned fitty-one
years. His son Rameses IL. reigned
sixty seven years, thus making the rule
of the father and son extend over a
period of 1l8 years. Seti l., son of Ra-
meses l., was distinguished promoter of
the arts, and builder of temples. He
built the famous Hall of Columns, in the
temple of Karnak, the beautiful temple
of Goodneh, in Thebes; and the 'Tombs
of the Kings discovered by Belzoni in
1915, which is the finest rock-cut sepul-
chre in Egypt. He and his son Rameses
IL. Opprtssed the Hebrew colonists and
made their lives bitter with hard SER
vice in mortar and in brick, and in all
manner of service in the field.'"
Rameses H., third king of the Nine
teen Dynasty, was one of the mightiest
rulers of the Pharaohs. In his cam
paigns he went TO the boundaries of the
known world. At the head of great
army he pierced Asia, going as far south
as India, and as far north as Pontus, 900
miles north of Jerusalem. In the south
he conquered Ethiopia. But his military
achievements are entirely cast into the
shade when compared with the great
ness of the monuments and buildings he
caused to be erected along the banks Of
the Nile. Some of these temples, like
the Theseum at Athens, are still in their
ruins. One of his immense statues still
stands, partly buried in earth at the gate
way of the Temple OF Luxor. Another
amid the ruins Memphis. But the great
est statue of all is on the west bank of
the Nile at Thebes-a finely sculptured
statue OF the king himself-from a sin
gle block of Syenite red gIanIte, that
weighs over SS7 tons! Ii has fallen over
and lies broken into three pieces. To
soma OF the cities he built the Bible re-
fers thus: And they built for Pharaoh
treasure cities, Pithom and Rameses."
lex. 11D. Not the least famous Of his
works were his great canals, construct